Don_Serl

mozy, i seldom get into expressing opinions about gear and clothing, cuz so much of it is just personal opinion (not objective performance difference), but i'll make an exception here... the Arc'terxy Gamma LT pants have got to be the finest climbing pants on the face of the planet. the Tweave fabric is way more real-world abrasion-resistent, puncture-proof, and snow- and water-repellent than any of the Schoeller options. i had water spewing over my leg on the pillar on red wall wanderers last winter, and arrived at the belay totally DRY - without gaiters! i fell off a log bushwacking out from the same waterfall and punched a snag-end into the back of my thigh, and did NO visible damage to the fabric. i've got lots of experience with Schoeller pants (various generations of MEC ferrata pants, plus North Face too), and the Gammas cut them dead in both situations. i was SHOCKED by the superiority. i bought "talls" (2" longer inseams) so as to get lots of leg length, then installed a double-length loop of tent shock-cord and a cordlock thru the cuffs to cinch 'em down around my boot-tops. i haven't had gaiters on since. [the one serious criticism i'd make of the pants is that for US$200/cdn$300, they ought to come with pre-installed cuff elastics! aside from that, i would not change a single detail on the design. the name, on the other hand...] the fabric is not as "insulative" as any of the Schoeller options, which means u gotta pop on long johns when you might otherwise go without, but that same "thinness" keeps them cooler in warm weather. some people don't like the relatively "hard hand" of the Tweave fabric (it has less "appeal" in the shop), but it softens up a bit with use and washing, and it's indicative of greater toughness, water-resistence, and snow-shedding. you're making a GREAT choice... (and, no, i do NOT work for the bird!) oh, just a suggestion, but why not go for a CHEAP pair of shell pants (even just PU-coated waterproof, not breathable) - you probably won't be using them much. cheers,

i hope i'm wrong, but i'm dubious of the likely quality of the upcoming indian summer alpine ice. we had a low snow winter, and it's been hot and dry since april. stuff is already way more "burned out" than usual. from polish bob's account of his climb on Joffre, it sounds like the couloirs there are half-gone already (the central couloir was all ice on Oct 1st when i did it a few years back...), and i hear that someone told george at the Climb On shop in Squamish that the N arete on Wedge has very little white left on it. i haven't been on anything local and snowy recently, so it'd be interesting to hear from others... btw, i'd second dru's suggestions of the paymaster and plutocrat - both are superb, moderate, attractive, and the approaches are both short and beautiful (altho the drive is long). do 'em both on a 3-day weekend! u can probably search them up on this site, or check out bivouac.com (lotsa photos!): http://bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=6250 http://bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=6249 cheers,

actually, dru, if i understand adrian correctly, it DOESN'T all go to the same place. you're talking about descending south off the south peak (i.e., dropping off the peak directly); they went NORTH over the central and north summits to do the traverse before bailing. that takes longer - just depends on what the "objective" for the day is... cheers,

how long, car to car? sans bikes, it sounds? any reason why not? cheers,

earlier, Craig also climbed a line further left, in and near the flaw-zone that you exit through. this line is very loose, which is the reason he shit on the quality of the rock on our original route in his note in the FA book at MEC. he discovered the error later, and "took back" the comments to me personally, altho i guess that doesn't change the public perception. the rock lower down is pretty broken (biggish flakes, as shown in 2 of the photos in the other thread); on the upper part of the main face, before the leftward traverse, it's superb (see page 144 of Alpine Select). i'd fully agree that the route-line is undefined. there are many flake-systems - if you're between the black streak to the right and the loose zone to the left and not trying to pull huge overhangs, you're probably doin' fine... as for the length, i don't like to carry much weight, so i typically travel with a pretty skimpy rack, and belay whenever gear runs short. i don't recall the pitches being especially short, but i guess they must have been. apologies for misleading... cheers,

i thought the slickest thing at the show was Patagonia's new "Compound Seam System" glued-seam waterproof-breathable jacket collection (i hope i got the acronym right!), but then i'm way into clothing, not so much hardware. no sewing, no taping - very clean, very light, very flexible. many people have been working on this "dream" for a long time, so all credit to the guccis for being out there first. (on the other hand, when i questioned Mike Blenkarn and Tom Fayle, Arc'teryx's designers, why THEY weren't first, they offered the explanation that their testing of this construction showed that it's not very tough, and that with fabrics heavier than 15 or 20 denier, you'll likely experience seam failure. also, the requirements for accuracy are extreme, whereas sewing is pretty forgiving - therefore you're gonna get lots of rejects, so sewing remains cheaper. time will tell...) in a similar vein, Mountain Hardware is showing both down and synthetic bags with glued seams/baffles on the outer shell. probably a worthwhile advance for waterproof-breathable outers; maybe no real advantage otherwise? on the climbing gear side, i thought the whole collection of new Grivel crampons, axes, and screws was awesome. Camalots have been redesigned, and look like they'll be superb. there is more going on in headlamps than you can keep up with - next up, a Petzl that'll drive you home when you're drunk! cheers,

see p.142 alpine select ...my wife's bike, but my sore ass! cheers,

awww, come on, ya wussies! walk or mtn bike the effing road - it isn't that far. living proof: first time i climbed old settler, the road was gated at the very bottom (cogburn creek). we mtn biked the road (and, believe me, i'm NOT a keen mtn biker!); walked in from the end of the logging spur (which was twice as far out, back then); fzkced up on the approach by going too high and right above daiphy lake; got confused and climbed the W ridge of the subsidiary tower right of the "true" west buttress (2 belayed pitches at the bottom, and a rap off the top - see: shadowed notch, centre-foreground, at about half-height; Alpine Select pg 330); wandered out the angling ledge above and finished up the west buttress; completed the traverse over the centre and north peak (one short rap somewhere); descended the NW "gulch" on the N peak; walked the high meadows way out west, then dropped thru bush directly to the end of the logging road; and rode the bikes out, having to push for the final 2km-3km cuz of a flat. all this took about 11 hrs, car-to-car. we did not get an early start, and it was still light enuf to see at the end of the day, without headlamps, on august 29th. not the longest day of the year... enuf of the moaning, eh? if ya wanna climb it, just go climb it! cheers,

the Haberl-Reid route starts in the next gully sysytem to the left, are carries on more directly to the summmit ridge. see photo page 274 in the wadd guide. cheers,

i stand corrected on the Risse Route: FA: Steve Risse and Andy Tuthill; Aug 5, 1988. 2nd: Bruce Anderson and Mark bebie; Aug 6, 1988. This (ttbomk) is the 3rd ascent. cheers,

btw, that's probably the 8th ascent of the Wiessner-House, depending on whether i've missed any ascents, and whether you count the Anderson climb as complete or not: 1. Fritz Wiessner, Bill House; July 21, 1936 2. Fred Beckey, Helmy Beckey; Aug 6, 1942 [right of W-H on upper wall] 3. Jack Tackle, Ken Currens; July 30, 1977 [direct from Triangular Snowfield to Amphitheatre; direct on upper wall via left chimney to upper NW ridge] 4. Bruce Anderson, Joe Bajan, Mark Bebie, Steve Risse, Andy Tuthill; July 30, 1988 5. Henrey Hazbrook, Don Mank, Jon Miller, Hal Tompkins; early August, 1988 [rapped Notch Couloir] 6. Loren Glick, Kennan Harvey; May 14, 1993 see: CAJ’94, p76 7. Mark Anderson, Michael Anderson; June 22, 2000 [to NW ridge crest only] see: http://naclassics.com/climbs/wadinton/ma_600.pdf 8. Bill Enger, Jake Larson, Colin ? from Calgary, Nick ? from Vancouver; July 25, 2004 maybe more to come this summer... cheers,

this info was posted with weissner-house, so will be duplicated here to keep the thread together... this is the 5th or 6th ascent of serra 5: serra five history, prior to 2004: culbert, woodsworth 1964, N face, from radiant. croft, foweraker, serl 1985, NW face, part of traverse. davis, diedrich 1989, S buttress. heselden, richardson 1997, N face, after SE ridge asperity. 2004: i hear colin haley and mark bunker completed the traverse from fury gap to the tellot, so they've obviously climbed serra 5 too. syudla + friend also up the thing; possible variation of NW corner. not sure whether before or after colin and mark... cheers,

good trip, guys - a couple very fine routes done in good style and decent times, and (despite the conflict re: the seracs on the firey route), a relatively controlled recovery when the weather unloaded on you. a couple other parties in the range this summer have had MUCH worse times in the col and at fury gap, with destroyed camps and waning food and fuel supplies. people who have not suffered through several days of unremitting coastal storm will continue to underestimate the "exposure" of being at 3000m in the waddington range - there ain't no help possible, and just because it isn't as high and cold as alaska or the yukon doesn't mean it's gonna be easy to escape if you have to. down on the tiedemann (at rainy knob or sunny knob) or in the radiant, mike can get in and out in most weather, but this is NOT the case in locations that parties more and more frequently want to base themselves at: the col, the upper tellot, fury gap, high on the dais... even the hut requires good weather for heli-transport. to re-iterate, the lessons of experience are that: 1. if you're basecamping high, have extra fuel available and at least minimal extra food for 2 or 3 days - and be patient; the weather comes and goes at its own pace, and the helicopter can't land at 3000m when conditions aren't stable. as AlpineK points out: "The col is a bad place to get stuck. Helicoptor flights out are impossible when the weather is bad. I recommend packing light and having an escape plan." DEAD ON! 2. if you're climbing a big route, you need to balance the desire to travel light with the potential need for clothing and shelter to endure a storm. don't scrimp on fuel, but extra food is optional. move fast. getting caught out in a big multi-day storm would be mighty unpleasant. 2 parties have been stormed-in on the summit ridge of teidemann after 2 or 3 day ascents of the S buttress and been lucky enough to be able to get down after only one bad-weather day, but i've endured 4 to 8 day stretches of bad weather in july and in august in which descents off big routes would be life or death situations. you need to be clothed, fueled, and - most important - mentally prepared for tough situations before setting off. as guy davis so eloquently put it in the 1990 CAJ, "this ain't the cascades, jack!" i'm glad to see so much climbing going on in the range this summer, and i'm happy to see most people, most of the time, coping with "the demands" with calm confidence. the waddington range remains a place where you get "tested", not just a locale where you climb away your summer vacation. that's not for everyone, but it's a powerful experience for those who are up to the challenge. cheers,

5th or 6th ascent... serra five history, prior to 2004: culbert, woodsworth 1964, N face, from radiant. croft, foweraker, serl 1985, NW face, part of traverse. davis, diedrich 1989, S buttress. heselden, richardson 1997, N face, after SE ridge asperity. 2004: i hear colin haley and mark bunker completed the traverse from fury gap to the tellot, so they've obviously climbed serra 5 too. syudla + friend (who are you? i'll PM you to get details of your trip, if you don't mind) also up the thing; by what route? getting busy... cheers,

good work, u guys! far's i know, the first repeat of the risse, yes. and, i think, if i've kept count correctly, about the 8th ascent of the weissner-house (including various upper variants). cheers, (p.s. if you've got any comments on guidebook accuracy (or INaccuracy, pls post 'em, so the record gets straight...)

best place near vancouver is wedgemount lake. see: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/271610/page/4/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1 in short days from the hut u can do: outlet couloir on rethel, N couloir on parkhurst, slot couloir and/or west couloir on wedge, N face on weart, snowy owl couloir on owls. some good photos on bivouac.com. search by peak name. also joffre NE face and/or matier NW face are very fine in autumn. u can search out TRs on cc.com, or check bivouac.com. the finest autumn alpine ice route in SWBC has got to be the N face on whitecap; see: http://bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=1041 also CAJ'88 p69. the access has been messy, but i understand there are some small community-based cuts going on up the valley behind seton portage/shalalth, so the road may be OK again. beyond that, once u go further north into the "heart" of the coast mtns, there are almost limitless autumn ice routes to do, but it takes a lot of time to ferret them out - start with the CAJ... cheers,

thread drift: old settler becomes harvey's pup! parking in lions bay is no problem if you go early. space is restricted, but you can still get maybe ten or a dozen cars at the end of the road. robert and i were 8:30am to 11pm round trip on the butt. shoulda started earlier, but we reckoned we'd get soaked in the dewy bush. we fzcked around trying to find the beginning of the route (too far left, near the big "gut" behind the thing) and lost maybe 1/2 hr or 45 minutes. the start is improbable, out on the "front" face, up some flakes, then horizontally rightwards maybe 20m. some fixed gear, a cpl small nuts, some cams, trees for belay at end. forget about trying to find a cairn (of all things!!!) at the start - there is gravel and boulders everywhere, and this is a prime avvy zone! then there's a wonderful, straightforward, spectacular chimney; then two pitches out onto and up open face - not sure i found the best "route" here, and the 1st belay was awkward to arrange. a pretty hard (say, 5.10-) leaning crack/flake started a short section to a cave/niche beneath the offwidth. the OW is really strenuous, but not very technical - there are some small edges inside. there is adequate gear in small cracks and flakes on the outside - no need for huge cams, altho it'd be nice to have one if you're willing to carry it. robert spent a LONG time working up and down, up and down, feeling it out, slotting more gear, at the start of the crux before going for it, so it's hard - he's good at wide cracks. i followed this with a pack, and had a bitter battle - it'd be nicer to climb a very short pitch and haul. there are a cpl technical sections above that, but way less demanding. one long overhanging rappel puts you into the notch - or rather, into the gully left (E) of the notch. stay on rappel to climb ledges rightwards to the notch itself. downclimb the gully to the west. we did one short rappel almost immediately, and two short ones well down - probably could have downclimbed the whole thing, but the sun had set as we reached the notch, and we were headlamping. overall, a far more serious undertaking than old settler. dark, gloomy, some lichen - feels oppressive, kinda "gothic". and pro is only "OK" here and there, not "easy and bomber". don't know if that makes it TD-... enjoy! cheers,

tks j b. an inspiring recommendation - gotta get there this summer! 1. is the topo in red fred volume 3, 2nd edition, pg126 accurate? (i presume so, cuz Alpine Select follows it almost exactly; however kearney in his Classic Climbs is a bit different, and he did the FA) 2. do u need crampons (say, in july or 1st half of august - likely thereafter in typical conditions as the neve ices up and the nites cool out, i presume...) cheers,

the smorgasbord was SUPERB! special highlight was the shrimp sauteed in fresh basil and papaya with lemon pepper (bet you didn't know papaya was a swedish fruit). honorable mentions go to the various varieties of "Abba" brand bottled herring (no connection to the band, apparently) and (of course) the meatballs! so, my choices for the six GREATEST alpine rock routes around vancouver, more or less in descending order: *** NE buttress on slesse: the finest alpine rock route around here: huge, impressive, committing, a bit vegetated but puts you in superb situations; not very hard (belay 6 pitches on the summit tower, plus maybe 2 low down and 2-3 more on the half-height pillar, and solo to no more than mid-5th) but challenging; don't even consider bivvying - sleep at the mouth of the cirque, get up early, take a light rack and travel like hell, do the crossover return - all in a reasonable day. *** yak check on yak peak: my personal favorite - i cld climb this every weekend (but i love the apron at squamish)! a bit of chossy rock here and there, but it doesn't interfere with the climbing; roadside, south-facing, technical but not strenuous. *** tuning fork on bardean: the most consistent and "representative" chehalis route. some mossiness, but superbly firm high-friction granite at the back of a wonderful valley. *** W buttress of S peak on old settler: the best climbing rock imaginable. the easiest route technically on the list, by far, but just imagine the steeper sections on the W ridge of N twin sister for the equivalent of 10 pitches - not that you ever have to put the rope on! *** life on earth on habrich: only 5 pitches, but every one is 5.10b or 5.10c; the nicest "line" on the peak; south-facing; sometimes feels a touch run-out, but then pro appears once you make a few more moves. rap the route. *** springbok arete on les cornes: big, steep, physical - it just goes on and on without relenting - and (despite some graininess on the first 2-3 pitches), superbly solid for anderson river rock, which tends to decomposition. honorable mentions: ** articling blues buttress on wahoo tower ** lillarete on randy stoltmann tower (athelstan) ** E ridge on rexford ** SW ridge on N nesakwatch spire ** DNB on bear mtn ** derektisssima on viennese ** N ridge on clarke ** Flavelle-Rohn or SE pillar on grainger (i can't choose between them, sorry! the F/R has the advantage of history, but i've heard stories of route-finding challenges in the initial corner systems. the SE pillar is one of my routes, so i'm biased towards it - i'll let it stand as a toss-up) ** cross-border bonus: W ridge of N twin sister ** an unknown "likely": SW buttress of N peak of hozomeen so, that's 16 in all. i've climbed all the GREAT 6 (to dru's point, 2 are my FAs, as are 2 of the other mentions, so my "interests" are public); i have NOT climbed the DNB on bear or the SW butt on hozomeen, but i've heard good things about them both. i have also not climbed derektissima, altho i've done 2 other routes on this aspect of viennese, and DT just sounds SOOOOO good... let the spray begin! have a good summer, cheers,

michael layton and fern webb recently climbed the springbok arete on steinbok peak, which prompted the comment from me that this was one of the half dozen or so GREAT alpine rock routes around vancouver, and that it thus deserved much more traffic. that prompted michael to ask if i'd mind listing the other 5 or 6. right!!! i know enuf about this site to know that this is like asking if you'd "like" to get out of trenches at gallipoli... but, what the hell, you only live once. somebody in the BCMC had the temerity to list their view of the 12 great mountaineering problems way back in 1970; i did something similar in the early '80s; i followed that with a listing of about a dozen "great" alpine rock routes in Coast magazine maybe a decade ago [not that i remember what they were!]; so maybe i can take heart that the millenium is still reasonably young, and that the flak will eventually die down. my standards: 1. long enough to matter 2. hard enough to challenge 3. easy enough for most to get up 4. mostly solid (this is the mtns, not squamish, so some loose rock is tolerable) 5. decent gear 6. minimal or no bush 7. pretty this covers SW BC, same as Alpine Select. i did not take remoteness into account. there turned out to be more than 6 routes that i'd consider GREAT: 13, actually. but the listing itself will have to wait till later, cuz i gotta go take in a smorgasbord with some swedish friends RIGHT NOW! catch ya tomorrow, cheers,

yup, fully agreed, from a "hard to do" perspective. Mind rattling off the other 5 or 6? jeez, now i'm gonna really get myself in it, but why not - however, let's move this discussion to a new thread so everyone gets a great chance to spray! see: GREAT alpine rock routes in SWBC. cross your fingers, cheers,

toby, good work, man. amazing u guys climbed in 5 pitches what we did in twice that many - long ropes, bigger racks, and higher standards really do bring progress! congrats. to clarify: 1. Alpine Select clearly underestimates the approach time. adding the interval times on pg41 gives 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 hrs, so i'm not sure where 2-3hrs came from. i don't recall (and can't easily unearth) McNab and my times, but i do know that i previously was on the summit via rugged lake and the west ridge scramble in 4 1/2 hrs from the road (with light packs). i think the best approach line is a fair way up the hillside above the initial creek. 2. i suspect the descent gully line off the W ridge to the glacier basin is mis-marked in A/S, and i'm probably responsible for that. it sounds like you went down a gully right at the base of the steeper section of the ridge, before the "toothy" part - i certainly didn't cross any technical or time-consuming terrain at all, either on the "scramble", or following the S face route. 3. i think kevin means 2-3h TOTAL descent time on pg 180, not time back to the base of the route. 4. i've walked out on the S side of shortcut creek below the drainage from rugged lake, and recall the travel as perhaps easier than the N side, but it's easier to reverse your approach if you're travelling late by headlmap than it is to "explore" new ground, and McNab and i did the route in october... also, i recall the creek being in a bit of a canyon in some sections, and there remains a bit of a concern about being able to cross it where you'd like to. cheers,

craig mcgee, as well as climbing the SE buttress route noted in bivouac.com further right (5-6p x 60m, mid 5.10), also repeated the original route and said the rock was fine. the chossy comment came from yet another of craig's ascents, which by mistake mostly followed the broken zone to the left. those whistler boys stay busy! cheers,

well done michael and fern - one of the half-dozen or so GREAT alpine rock routes around vancouver, for sure, which otta get climbed more frequently. pretty full-on, eh? think: angel's crest without the forest, and without the "easy" bits.... cpl comments/queries: 1. any issues getting the key from cattermole, aside from (i presume) having to be in chilliwack during business hours? 2. u say p1-6 (as numbered in Alpine Select) total choss, but i recall p1-3 as chossy/grainy, then firm rock on the arete for the 2nd half of the ramp to p6? (i'd guess from your description you stretched this for p1-2 in poor rock, then p3-4 on the ramp?) 3. sounds like u took the left-hand option for p7 (first half of your p5)? did u really think this went at 5.9? my understanding was it was 5.9+/5.10- with one point of aid - that came from the barley/cheesmond/lacey/lomax FA party. (we climbed the right, blocky option on this section, so i can't comment first hand...) 4. any problems with rope drag and/or communication runnning together the headwall pitches? 5. i recall the "10c" crux as quite a lot harder than most 10's i had previously come across, and was pleased to pull on graham's aid gear (3 or 4 points) while following. it sounds like you also might reckon this could be "high in the grade"? cheers,

well, this move now allows Omega Pacific carabiners to be imported into Canada, not that i imagine that had much bearing on the decision. the law up here forbids importation of ANY products produced by prison labour - no judgement is applied on whether it's "voluntary" or not, and the USA is treated no differently under Canadian law than, say, China or Myanmar (to single out a couple particularly repressive "employers"). sleep well... cheers,