Don_Serl

I love some of those names - so appropriate, right above the traffic circle. "Turn-Style". "Circle Jerk". Still missing "The Runaround"; "Dizzy", etc, etc...

well done Wayne and Jenn. I can well understand the time pressure; there is a LOT of terrain, and while not much of it is 'hard', it's really serious, eh? btw, the South Peak it pretty quick, from more-or-less its upper saddle. I recall maybe 2 pitches? and quick rap back down... but that's for next time...

Does anyone have a copy of Gripped magazine Vol 15 / issue 3: 6/7 ( i.e. June/July 2013) lying around, that they could part with. I have a hole that I'm trying to fill, and the Gripped people don't have that back issue available. Message me, or ( better yet) email at dserl@telus.net . Thanx. Don.

as an fyi, I've had a conversation with Mike King, who as most of you will know, is the pilot at White Saddle Air Services, who fly most climbers in and out of the Range (and who flew Laurel). from what he tells me, special commendations must go to both the BC SAR officials and to the BC Forest Service regarding their responses to this unfortunate accident. in the former case, first, no effort was spared in the actual search, even with a dog team and special handlers from Alberta being long-lined into a very dangerous field of operation; and secondly because they covered the helicopter costs for the family and partner to visit the scene to help 'make peace' with the outcome and bring closure. and to the BCFS, in the midst of fighting an intense nearby forest fire ( at Dumbbell Lake), with a hundred man camp in operation and every available resource ( including the White Saddle helicopters) in action, they said " take a couple hours; you go do what you have to do; we'll fight the fire afterwards". Laurel's death rends my heart, but responses such as these gladden my soul.

The Request: Twenty five years ago the world of outdoor apparel was about to undergo a revolution, and Mountain Equipment Co-op was at the forefront. YKK, which supplied the zippers for MEC apparel (and still does) is looking for examples of I) the Couloir Jacket ( Fall/Winter 1993); II) the Couloir 2 Jacket (1994 onwards); and III) the Super Couloir Jacket (1999 onwards). If you have an old Couloir, Couloir 2, or Super Couloir sitting in your basement, a few years beyond its days of being your stalwart for the outdoors, they'd like to add it to their collection. How does this work? Well, YKK doesn't want ALL the old Couloirs, just one or two examples in reasonably presentable condition. The Couloir and Couloir 2 ran for half a dozen years virtually unchanged ( 3-ply construction, chest pockets, removable hood) and went thru a variety of two-tone colour combinations, but they can be distinguished from the later Super Couloir by a sewn-on label on the chest - the Super Couloir evolved to a logo embroidered directly to the chest fabric. What to do? The contact at YKK is Masaki Ichimura. Email a 'full frontal' photo of your jacket ( phone is fine) to Mr. Ichimura at masakiichimura@ykk-usa.com. If your jacket is 'of interest' YKK will contact you and will provide you with shipping details. If your jacket is kept, then YKK will reimburse you for the purchase of a new jacket, with a value up to $800 Canadian ( $600 US) - any size, any colour, any brand, any style - completely your choice. Simply pass along the receipt for reimbursement. If your jacket is not kept, YKK will ship it back to you prepaid, together with payment to cover your outbound shipping costs and a $50 'thank you' gratuity.

The Preamble: The early 90s were an exciting time in the outdoor industry, with expansion and innovation taking place with great vigour. At that time, I was the buyer for outerwear at MEC, and I had the privilege of working with the brilliant designer, Mike Blenkarn, later to go on to achieve even more wondrous things at Arc'teryx. We both had a role in the introduction of reversed-coil, exposed, polyurethane-coated, water-resistant zippers in Gore-Tex jackets, and I'm pleased to be able to help YKK in their quest to recover some 'artefacts' from that time. Details follow...

I'm trying to post some info about a quest by YKK for old MEC Couloir Jackets, and I'm having trouble. Content to follow when I get things sorted...

The precision of the toe bail type system is unbeatable. Also, they're warmer in really cold conditions. As for the welt wear issue, it's for sure an issue, but judicious use of a rat-tail file will keep the attachment groove plenty secure for years... And don't be afraid to bend the toe bails a bit to improve the mating between your boots and the crampons.

Summer 2103 I stayed in Bozeman at the Royal 7, which was clean, cheap, and local. Dinner at the nearby Fresco Café was really good.

I sense a story... cheers, Don

awful news, Lowell. my sincere condolences.

Rad, I think you're better off with two ropes, but you could use one plus a tag line for the raps. No idea on current approach... Btw, my recollection of the first 4 pitches up the ramp is not as bad as this TR makes them sound. Chossy cracks, for sure, but not very hard, so non-life-threatening! Good luck

nice to see that the bush, bugs, and excellent granite of the Chehalis have not been entirely abandoned. your report takes me back about 35 years, to the early days of exploration in the area, when there were no trails at all, except up to Statlu Lake. now, THAT was bushy!

holy moses - ten years later...

winter, then!

strong ethic: didn't want to take away from the first ascent, so just free-climbed thru the runouts... right on, Marc!

nice posting Vernman. useful information... altho "back in the day" when I was climbing routes of this sort I fully subscribed to the "pickets are worthless" school. Edgewood, good on you for telling the tale in the first person, which couldn't have been easy. you and your partner are lucky dudes. recover well!

Marc nearly leaves me speechless. All I can say is "good heavens"! Here's another report, with a good route-line photo, from Canada's climbing magazine, "Gripped". http://gripped.com/news/marc-andre-leclerc-and-his-epic-patagonia-solo/

An outstanding climb from two great climbers. It's wonderful to see Marc Andre linking up with a guy like Colin, from whom he can learn a lot. I'm always wondering, 'what next?', when it comes to Marc...

^^^ good heavens KL, did you never use that pack? it looks pristine! and certainly a classic...

The secret to success for winter climbing 'round here is to hit the mountains after a warm spell (best is a full-on Pineapple Express which puts the freezing level way up at 3000 m), followed by a cold snap. That turns the lower-level snow into iron, and settles the upper snow too for easy progress. Bush is a problem in early season, but by March much of it is well buried... and the days are longer and warmer too. Outside of these sorts of rare conditions, southwestern BC is not very favourable for winter climbing - there's just too much snow, with too big approaches! But it's fun to try! The West Lion is really good in the right winter conditions. I've enjoyed the 'normal' route several times. Ditto the Ramp on Harvey. Sky Pilot will see renewed traffic now that the tram is in. The West Face of Habrich has been done in winter. But most winter climbs 'round here are snow/ice lines, not 'rime climbs' of the sort you get in Scotland, or drytooling lines like the Rockies. If you DO find a pitch of rimed rock herabouts, my experience was that given the need to clean the rime before you can climb, a pitch of middle 5th class will take 2 hours. You don't get much done in a day in 'technical' winter mountaineering, except by following snow/ice lines. You sound keen, so just get out and do it. Winter mountaineering can be brutally harsh and cold and demanding, plus sometimes frightening, but the rewards of even the 'easiest' ascents are very rich indeed.

I don't wanna beat up on you too badly, but the FWA is reported on page 265 of Fairley's guide. Not still in print, I realize, but readily available for research. March 5, 1978: D. Serl with Greg Yavorsky and John Wittmayer. We came at the mountain from Nesakwatch Creek. At that time, the creek was bridged pretty much directly east of the summit. We crossed the bridge and immediately headed uphill, gaining about 3000 ft (with little bush except in the lowest sections) and breaking right (north) into the basins east of the summit. The snow was deep but reasonably settled (it was March) - we did not use snowshoes. We worked our way up the southeastern flanks of the peak, and somewhere along the way put on the rope. There were hazy but mighty impressive views south to Slesse from the top. Our problems occurred on the descent. We intended to traverse the ridge north towards McFarlane, then drop off east eventually. The ridge is narrow and was heavily snow-crested, with occasional small towers and cornices. We passed one or two, then reached a section which didn't look very feasible on the crest. It appeared, however, that we could drop about 100 feet down a gully on the west side and traverse northward beneath the crest. Once we got down this section, however, the traverse didn't look so do-able, and the snow was too steep and deep to get back up without super-human effort, so we were kinda screwed - we had no choice but to try to follow complex branching ridges down west to escape. Somehow, we made all the right choices and didn't get cut off - we didn't even have to rappel. We spent a cold night shivering in our clothes by a tiny fire next to Slesse Creek. In the morning we walked out to the Chilliwack River Road. We must have hitched a ride to the Nesakwatch road, but then, because it was my vehicle, I was elected to walk in and retrieve it - there was virtually no snow at main valley level, so we'd been able to drive the 3km or so along the south side of the Chilliwack, which was where the road ran back then, and maybe another 2km up into Nesakwatch. I can recall barely having the energy to put one foot in front of the other, and of laying down in the sun on a log beside the road at one point and falling fast asleep for maybe an hour. Eventually, of course, I got to the truck and the story came to an end... But this remains one of my favorite winter mountaineering outings. It doesn't have to be hard to be hard! Btw, judging by the difficulties we encountered on just a short section of the north ridge, that would be a HUGE winter undertaking! Go give it a try - the descent could be made SE, via our ascent route...

Matt, there have been several ice climbs done up the Sumallo valley: see pages 106-107 in West Coast Ice. Bob Koen was "the man" for those. I don't doubt there is plenty more to do, and it'll be interesting to hear where your routes lie relative to the earlier ones...

Oh man, Marc, the number of times I took the gear for a walk in the Chehalis 'back in the day' is staggering (maybe a poor double entendre there?). My favourite "I'm an ass" episode involved packing off for the (then unclimbed) north face of Clarke with John Wittmayer in iffy weather, and getting in about 4 hours (nearly to Nursery Pass) before it started to rain. On the way back out we came across a slabby little gully which was slimey and sorta dangerous in the wet, and I suggested to John that he get the rope out... and he replied, "The rope? You've got the rope!" ...or not, as the case may be! Damn, mountaineering is a great activity!

Nicely done. It's good to see that there are still people around who are willing to bash in the bush a bit in order to get to great alpine routes. And who are smart enough to NOT climb loose blocks above a belay...