Mike

Great trip report and great writing! If this trip report is meant to be read by non-climbers, you might need to make the text a little more descriptive - rope-length instead of pitch or something. Also, "fuck" is a very useful word for climbing especially on lead but not all english teachers support it's use in class assignments.

A fun (???) alternative is the SW approach listed in CAG. We hadn't been up Persis before and took Beckey at his word; we think the route description pre-dated the clear-cut that we had to bushwack through. The west ridge sure was a nice way down! As we were heading up I kept telling Doug and Jason "Everybody does the west ridge" and they'd reply "Beckey says that the SW approach is very aesthetic and scenic."

Our 1987 Dodge Caravan is in great shape inside and out, and it runs great as well. It's got a V6, automatic transmission, cruise, AC and very good tires (at least 20,000 miles still left on tires.) The odometer stopped working at 66,000 miles, but we estimate total mileage at about 100,000 miles. We only used our van for occasional road trips which is why the mileage is low and it's in such good shape. We recently got a new wagon so the van has to go - $1100 OBO. You can call me at 206-783-2810 or e-mail mlawrenc@starbucks.com

Ace proof reading - "to Golden" should have said "toward Golden"; we were staying in Canmore and we scouted Guiness Gully on our way back from Pretty Nuts.

Me and a buddy flew into Calgary and climbed from Mar 6 to Mar 9. The new snow and cold weather was a drag. We took our rented Ford Explorer into the Ghost. All the new snow was a problem. We got stuck in the snow drift at the top of the hill - lame rental 4x4's don't have posi. We dug out and continued down only to find that everybody else had stopped at the bottom of the hill; there were one set of foot tracks going in. We hadn't been there before, so we walked in to check it out, crossed the bridge, only to be stopped by the stream crossing. It was windy and -15F, so we wussed out, kept our boots on (e.g. no stream crossing) and turned back. The other foot tracks did the same thing (wusses!) It was -20F in the mornings and overcast the next two days. It nevered warmed up past -15F during the days, but we got some climbing in at Johnston Canyon, Grotto and the Canmore junkyards. They were all pretty fat, but a poor replacement for "This House of Skye" in the ghost. We headed down to Golden on Sunday to take a swing a guiness gully. We also scouted Pretty Nuts and Riverview; both were thin and the construction is pretty major. It was a lot warmer - actually got above 0F although it was windy. When we got to Guiness Gully, there was two feet of new powder, but the gully was dry as a bone - absolutely no ice on the first pitch. We scouted the upper sections and they were also thin and discontinuous. We had to pack it in after that to catch our flight out of Calgary that evening. Cascade Falls Beta: Lots of new snow, but no avy releases in the basin above - this ones a loaded gun!

We did a Green Mountain to Chaval Traverse, exiting via Bluff Lake. This was a great trip except for side-hilling on the succulent hellebore (very slick) on the first day from Green. The trail from Bluff Lake out to the road is pretty spotty. You don't see very many names in the summit register on Buckindy - the original register is up there from the 1960's.

I did the NE ridge last summer and it was an easy descent - combination of rappeling the moderate stuff and scrambling the easy stuff (there's nothing hard). It was exposed in places, usually at the rappels. And the easy stuff was broad ridge crests with almost zero exposure. Of course that was all on dry rock (and moss and shrubbery). I've heard that the scramble route thoroughly sucks, but somebody else who's done it will have to provide details.

Thanks for the info. I was across the valley helping my friend Steve plow a trench to the top of dickerman. We got our exercise, but we didn't get good views of Big Four. It'll probably have to fatten up a lot for me to take a swing at it, since I'd rather sink my tools into ice than scratch my way up.

Has anybody scoped out the N face of Big Four lately? Given the new snow, it's probably not looking good but I'm curious about conditions of the north facing routes.

From Phil's picture, it looks like the NW face/rib is clear. The lower buttress juts up out of the glacier which you can see around the base of the peak in the picture. We traversed snow to the west (right) side of the rib, ascended c. 200' on snow before crossing onto the rib. Then we bivi'ed since we came in via Sharkfin Col and it had already been a full day. We were able to scramble the first few pitches above our bivi which were class 3-4. We roped up at the point where the buttress narrows and steepens - you can't miss it!

Current Conditions: The north slope is still glissadable and the west ridge is entirely free of snow. Also, black flies are hatching and mosquitoes are swarming - bring your bug juice. If you do this trip, be sure to ride/push a mountain bike in. It took about four hours to get from the cars to summit, but only 1 hour, 35 minutes from summit to cars with a fun glissade and a so-so mountain bike ride (beats walking 6 or 7 miles!)

We did the Sitkum later in the season - some open crevasses in August. Probably better conditions for boarding early in the season.

We left the cars at 6:20am and were at our camp at 6300' by about 10:20 - so about 4 hours cars to camp. Overnight packs, moderate pace - the approach is still very doable. I've heard that the NPS is not planning to repair the damage to the trail. There's a swath about 150' wide between the first and second of the major creek crossings that is probably the worst section; everything else isn't too bad - not if you're used to bushwacking.

We were up there last weekend. They are still doing self-registration at Marblemount. And it's a good thing that we registered. Ranger Bob was waiting for us right as we entered the basin (e.g. as we exited the trees) with his Glock on one hip and a handful of blue bags. He checked our permit, lectured us on the evils of "smearing" and handed us some blue bags. He was a nice enough guy - but it didn't look like he would cut any slack. We met some BC skiers doing a five day traverse and told them about the ranger; they moved on quickly since they probably didn't want to carry five days worth of blue bags!

Got it! See Heinrich's post. The weather was looking dubious earlier last week, but it all came together and we had perfect conditions!

I climbed the route with Heinie and it was truly fabulous. We did think about the climbers who died, but it was hard to be morbid on such a perfect, blue sky weekend. Plus, we were watching the weather with hawk-like intensity.

The Aether 60 looks like a cool pack - light with the right amount of volume. I use a Khamsin 50 and often wish for another 10 liters. Then I suck it up and leave all that extra stuff at home. But I'll crack sooner or later and get either an Arc'teryx Khamsin 62, the Aether 60 or the Mountainsmith Auspex. A buddy of mine owns an Aether 75 which he carried on a five day Green Mtn/Buckindy/Chaval traverse. There wasn't enough padding in the hip belt and he finished the trip with bleeding, oozing raw spots about 3" on either side of the base of his spine. He now replaces the hip belt with a regular Osprey hip belt when he hauls heavier loads and that seems to help.

I was up there this weekend. The Teanaway River Road is open to within 1/2 mile of the end. The horse outfitters at Camp Wahoo cleared the road for the rest of us. It's too bad that the forest service can't buck it up and clear these roads - it'd make me happier about buying a trail park pass.

Thanks for the info! The rest is up to us and the weather gods.

The weather looks okay, but we'll have to see how it develops. I'm just wondering if we'll need snowshoes for the approach. I spent the weekend trudging through calf-deep slop in the Chiwaukums and kept wishing for my ski gear. The approach from White River looks long enough for snow conditions to play a major roll in our success, aside from any avalanche considerations. Hopefully somebody got in there this weekend - even on the Emmons - and can give me the scoop.

I'm hoping to do Liberty Ridge next weekend and looking for current conditions. Sounds like the road is open to the fork to the White River Campground. Has anybody been in there this season? I was up in the Chiwaukums and the snow conditions sucked, so I'm hoping for better conditions.

Bivi on the summit of Ruth if the weather is good. We bivied there on a beautiful weekend - incredible sunset and views!

Yet a third option for the impasse. We traversed from easy ridge and ran into the impasse. Looked down into the valley - too much work! There's a 3rd/4th class buttress immediately above where we hit the impasse. First we tried to scramble the right-hand side of the buttress above the impasse - it didn't seem like a good option for big packs. So we went up and slightly left on this buttress, gained about 400' and crossed just above the impasse. No 5th class stuff and just a few 4th class moves; plenty of 3rd class with exposure. We camped on Challenger arm at the end of day 2. Day 3 - Climbed Challenger, and moved camp down to Luna Lake - fabulous camp. Descending into the cirque requires some route finding. Day 4 - Moved camp to Luna Col and scrambled Luna. This was an easy day. Day 5 - Climbed Fury. The summit of Fury was cool - felt like we were at the center of the bushwacking universe looking down the three cirques which intersect at Fury. Day 6 - exited via Access Creek, hit the trail and then hiked to the Ross Lake parking lot. This was a long day (5 hours from camp to trail and then 18+ miles on trail to the parking lot). You can arrange to have a boat pick you up which will shorten this by 6.5 miles. Day 7 - it rained like hell - lucky timing! This was a fun route and you won't run into a lot of other people. Avoid bushwacking up or down any of the major cirques like Luna or McMillan. Lots of different types of blood sucking insects along the Big Beaver - encourages you to hike out in one day instead of camping. The boat ride would have been nice...

I've done Prusik in mid-June. It was great! Still plenty of snow on the approach, but you could bivy on nice flat slabs of granite - fabulous!

I was on the trip with Heinie and we wished we had brought bikes for the trip out. Two ways around the washout: (1) trail cut into the slope above washout marked with flagging (2) Descend to river bank and scramble along river - also marked with flagging Option 2 is probably the better bet for lugging a bike. The washout is pretty impressive. About 100+ feet of road has been replaced by a gaping pit about 20' deep with a high bank forcing you down to the rivers edge or 100' above the washed out road.