Tony_Bentley

Hey have fun flyfishing up there. There are plenty of places in the Enchantments to catch fish as most of the lakes have naturally reproducing trout. If packing a flyrod is more of a secondary to actually trying to catch fish, a small film canister with a few select dries and small streamers are all you need. 4x tippet for the streamers and 5x for the dries works well for me. Most of the fish are westslope cutthroat and average from 6" to 14" with an occasional 15 or 16"er. You may want to encourage your buddies to crimp their barbs and cut the treble hook to only have one point so releasing the little guys is much easier and also so the ones released are more likely to live after being released. Although the habitat is prolific, it is also still pretty easy to make a dent in the population by being careless. Have fun out there! It rocks. Good times!

IN AKSHUN!!!

Here is another photo of Pernod's West face. An excellent route indeed!

I'm not certain about when exactly it had been previously climbed but Dan and Erik claimed a first ascent on their route. Our climb was not a first and based on the kinds of previously grubbed out places for protection, I believe that the pro was a combination of stoppers and pitons. It is difficult to tell because a few of the placements I used required some gardening but the cracks were also naturally clean in most places. I do remember pulling out some dirt and moss in one place and seeing what looked like a piton scar behind it. Tough to say exactly. I would guess a previous ascent between the 60's and 70's but this is all merely speculation. I am pretty certain that Dan and Erik did not climb this route based on the topo Erik sent me and the state of the climb. There was also a single stopper on the second pitch that looked very old.

Climb: Black Pyramid - Temple Ridge - Enchantments-Northwest Face direct Date of Climb: 7/11/2006 Trip Report: This is one of those climbs that require a partner willing to put up with dirt, lichen and a good amount of loose blocks. Ross was the perfect candidate. I did a trip last year around Temple Ridge trying to find some really good looking routes to come back and try later on. The route on the Northwest Face of the Black Pyramid was by far one the coolest looking. Black Pyramid, Professor, Comet and Meteor We left Seattle around 5am and were hiking by 8am. The trail up Nada Creek was a breeze in the shade with a slight breeze but the mosquitoes were out in full force. They proved to be the crux of our trip and the bane of The Enchantments. Direct Northwest Face route with the face cracks showing in the sun. We took a quick break and headed over to the base of the route. The climbing followed a number of finger to hand cracks and Ross decided it was about 5.9. The summit was an awesome boulder move to a very small summit block big enough for one person. The rappel from the summit sent us down the Southeastern side and we were able to traverse back to the Meteor-Black Pyramid col and descend back to our packs. The hike out was insanity thanks to the little devils eating us alive. After passing Nada Lake they went away and the wind picked up which made it pleasant the rest of the way out. Pitches 1 and 2 Pitches 3 and 4 and summit Gear Notes: Standard rack

Hey Sarah I mentioned the ice axe to Dave and Amar so maybe they picked it up? Dave frequents this site so he will give a shout if it turned up. Nice job getting LibRidge. You guys are animals!

Climb: Mt Rainier ski in-a-day-Emmons Date of Climb: 7/9/2006 Trip Report: Ben called at about 3pm on Saturday afternoon and was wondering if I’d be up to climbing the Emmons glacier Saturday night and summiting sometime Sunday. “Would I? Umm sounds good but you will need to pick me up at 7pm.” He was at the house by 7:15 and we were hiking from the White River campground by 10pm. Neither of us had ever been on that side of Rainier, which was fine considering all of the tracks showing us the way. The irony is that we still managed to go the “direct” way but felt lost once we were looking down and seeing a faint trail heading down. “This feels wrong.” Is the feeling we were getting but just when we decided to take another look a headlamp went on which gave us the clue we needed to continue scrambling down to Camp Sherman. It turned out that the headlamp was our good friend Dave and he just happened to be getting up to use the bathroom and photo op. We were glad that he showed us the way and saved us the time it might have taken to turn around and go the “other” way. After a 30 minute break at Camp Sherman we began heading up. At about 12k the sun was starting to show some sign and the photo ops were awesome! We worked our way up the Emmons without any problems. No rope needed and plenty of ways through the crevasses. Around 13k I was beginning to feel the elevation and dehydration. The last few hundred feet took forever. After a brief rest on the summit we put on our skis and picked our way down being careful about the crevasses. At one point we were through most of the hard snow and the snow was starting to soften to corn. At about 13k the snow was perfect. Ben jumping a snow bridge. Emmons Glacier with boot and ski tracks A nice hour break at Camp Sherman and then an awesome ski down the Inter glacier. The snow was great and although we both felt worked, it was well worth a 9000’ ski run and a 10,000’ climb. We hydrated at the first grocery store and were home by 7:20pm. Not a bad day trip and a great ski! Thanks Ben for the last minute idea. Gear Notes: Crampons Didn't use ice axes, skins or rope

I just read through these posts and really there is nothing better than just accepting the possibility that humans make mistakes. Condor Buttress, Vantage and Yellow Jacket Tower all are perfect places for textbook accidents. It is excellent to see all of these examples discussed and the information readily available for other new climbers so they know what kinds of accidents are most common and how to avoid them as they progress through this inherently dangerous sport. Of course, even the most experienced climbers will make a mistake that results in injury or death. Avoiding it may be impossible but one can hope that the mistake will be small enough to learn from without the cost of one's life or a season spent recovering from a climbing injury. The information on these 4 pages is readily available but still requires some skill to find it. Perhaps we may use this forum to help organize it in a fashion similar to the AAC Accidents book. These discussions are by far the best part of CascadeClimbers.com in my opinion but due to the method in which the discussions and topics are organized, I do not see how a lurker can easily find it without being to some degree, computer savvy. A big button on the home page leading to the case studies would be a start. There are some really good writers here and each one of these accidents are already organized in a way that would make it relatively easy to publish a report.

Thanks G

Forks had a great 10 minute show. I saw your party while I was being a day hiking gaper this week. We hiked a whole 3 miles in and then hung out on a gravel bar for an hour.

I was just getting ready to post a WTB for the same thing. Guess I will have to pay full retail. Can't wait any longer.

http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/35999819

Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong is the one that stuck with me I just received The Things they carried in the mail. After the hype from you guys I thought I'd give it a read. So far so good! Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm taking full responsibility for most of what you guys are objecting to. If you do not see any merit or truth to it, there is no reason not to censor the content for whatever you are attempting to conceal, be it poor behavior or rampant and off-topic discussions. In the mentioned thread, I also participated in a thread drift to a discussion regarding the selected routes of the Mountaineers, which I thought had some strong value. Had the thread been censored, it wouldn't have been mentioned. It may or may not lead to a change in the climbing policies or curriculum of the Mountaineers but it seems like a step in the right direction from my perspective. Sorry if I offended anyone.

The last time I went up Hook Creek drainage I almost died. There are hooks on all of the downed trees and they seem to reach out and grab any bare skin. When I get to the top my entire body is covered in soot from wrestling with the trees on the way up. I am sceared to drink the water cause I think Tina has pooped in it a few times.

Spoken like a vetran Hook Creek Shwacker. No trail this year either I take it. What routes do you think would be a good alternative? I am trying to think of some good 5.4 multipitch routes but I've drawn a blank. I suppose someone could go scrub something cool in honor of the fallen comrades at YJT. Maybe something above the Pearly Gates or nearby so they can use the Snow Creek parking lot. Place some good belay bolts and make it go to a sort of "summit" so it also has cool factor. 3 pitches would be perfect. VK, RC, DB- Any thoughts?

Taken out of context.

Gary, a single bolt anywhere is fine. Adding a bolt isn't going to keep people from getting injured though. The point is, it isn't the nature of the route that causes injuries but the climbers themselves. Avoiding an epic is through your learning experiences and other people's experiences and wisdom, not by adding a bolt. So the statement above regarding the way The Mountaineers are doing their curriculums seems to have some merit. Last year on Sharkfin a group of climbers were injured because a rappel anchor failed. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/475282/an/0/page/0#475282 It wouldn't be fair to say that either this or last year's incident is because of the way The Mountaineers are teaching their classes. A slip in a "no-falls" zone will certainly teach a new climber the do's and don'ts of climbing. People are "guided" up mountains and rocks all of the time. I certainly am no exception. Last week for instance...

Jack Kerouac Samuel Clemens Clive Cussler Dashell Hamett John Gierach Stephen Hawking George Orwell Patrick McManus Jack London William S Burrows Allen Ginsberg Leary, Timothy Malcom X Plato Thoreau Emerson James Swan John Muir

I did a search looking for the first ascent party and have yet to find the original traverse story. Anyone have a source or know of the exact peaks and routes?

Climb: Sahale Ski-Cascade Pass -> Sahale Arm Date of Climb: 5/4/2006 Trip Report: After cranking hard to meet a deadline, no sleep was to be had last night. I tried but Justin knocked 15 minutes after I laid down. In 40 minutes we were packed with food, coffee and gear and Justin was bombing down I-5. He made record time up Cascade River road drifting corners and taking the pothole hits at full speed. We were making good time and were skinning up Sahale Arm by 10am and had only stopped to chow and gauk at the snowy North Cascades a couple of times. I kept stopping and looking at all of them. North facing slopes are more fun! By noon we were at the base of the final crag of Sahale trying to find the least sketchy way to ski from the summit. There were two options; drop down a bit to the west face or go around the eastern side. We picked the northeastern slope but skiing from the direct summit wasn't an option for either of us. We hung out at the top and Justin then downclimbed and took some video of my single "don't botch it" turn from about 15' from the summit. A screw up would have sent me sliding down a slope that dropped off into who knows where. Forbidden Peak looked great in snow. After Justin came around and put on his ski gear he took the first run which was nice and steep with great snow conditions. Another few thousand feet and we were looking back at our tracks and loving the sun and perfect corn. J-Berg was puking snow and the rumble and dumps were fun to watch. Soon we were back at the car driving for Mexi and listening to Dr Dre. By the way.. I believe this was Justin's first ever trip into the backcountry on skis and I must say, he did pretty good! Keep it up!!! Gear Notes: Axe, cramps, sunblock and a red bull Approach Notes: melting fast

After extensive reviews of your trip reports, I've concluded that all of your adventures are classics Mr. Sjue.

Oly, have you attempted Gunsight? I think the approach is what makes it tough. Especially Bachelor Creek with overnight, glacier and rock equpiment(with pins and bolt kit). Once you are at the base with the proper equipment and ability to send you could be good to go. I am speculating though, since I have only looked at it from Dome Col.

Huh. The last party I know of to have climbed it, did it in a day. I think if you are from midwestern or southern states it could take that long though.