bobinc

Brush is a protector of wilderness values.

Kyle -- we did the route 3 yrs ago (or, more accurately, it did us...) and had a similar experience, in terms of time up/down and problems with the descent. We did stay high near the top (and bivied probably where you did, as there is really only one flat place to do so) and made it down to the Sill at C-J col then descended that way. It was 13 hrs up and 13 hrs down. As far as the 5.3 chimney goes, we didn't go up there but instead did the rap into the gulley (that may have been our pin/sling). Going up the snow in the gulley was the least stressful part of the whole climb. (Above there, on the snow slopes near the top, there isn't much technical difficulty, but the stress comes from the inevitable wonderings about the descent...) Really impressed you guys were able to pull this off in the fog. As you said, I wouldn't recommend doing the route again...

MattP is good to point out the very steep grass slopes on J'berg; on the NE Buttress main route, there is equally steep heather with quite a bit of exposure. Really, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to wear crampons on some of it, but we elected to just not fall.

If you stay in the corner on the std Garfield route, you avoid most of the brush. You are right, though, that down lower, there is some first-class vertical brush (though in small quantity and with less objective danger than on JBerg) so perhaps VB2 or VB3 is still applicable.

Mr. Blister did the heavy lifting on the TR. John -- you should put up a link (plus one to the other TR we read around then -- it was even better). I agree on Garfield, although now there seems to be something resembling regular maintenance on the middle portion of the approach (thus threatening a B1 rating) and an embarrassing number of bolts on the gully (even two full anchors less than 75' apart on the upper slab -- anyone know about why this was done?)

For alpine sport brush, it's hard to beat. Doubtless you've seen the bushwhacking rating scale.

Matt: If you have something to atone for in this life(or past lives), by all means do it. Otherwise, I can recommend plenty of brush closer in (for example, anything in the Mid Fork drainage). Phil: there isn't really a line to climber's left of the col; but since the slope is a NE aspect, it generally doesn't get too overheated and if you pick your time right, you shouldn't have to dodge too many rocks. There must be much better snow/ice lines in the Cascades, but the view from the end of the road tends to draw one in to climbing up there...

I think it's worth doing the climb up to the col (as long as you do it when it isn't a bowling alley) but don't bother going up that chossy ridge. When you look at it from below, you legitimately wonder why anyone would ever go up there.

Okay -- did some quick research and appears it WAS a Hollywood thing: Hansons played for the Charlestown Chiefs in the film but, in real life, all had played at some level of pro hockey, including the WHA. Apparently, the sequel to the film is now being shot in Vancouver.

Daylward and Forrest claim the Schoeller pants they wear came for only $70CAN from MEC but if so, MEC realized their mistake and has jacked the price back up where everyone else has it. Can this fabric be obtained from a place such as Seattle Fabrics? Probably worth a phone call.

An excellent read is "Men Against the Clouds", about a 1932 expedition to China to climb Sikang. This is way back in the era of steel, canvas, and wood; the things these guys did, given what they had to work with, are truly amazing. I skimmed this book years ago and have tried to get it through the Seattle Library but it has been unavailable for a long time; they are trying to repair the binding or somesuch.

Beck -- given I am American, I couldn't even spell "Hansen" right; I assume what NoMeansNo and real Canadians were talking about were NHL players, not Yoopers. You need to straighten us all out on the facts.

Actually, the correct answer is, "a college education".

Amen to that. What a drag to have the neighborhood burn every 5 yrs or so...

Kinda off the subject, but I went to a NoMeansNo (Victoria, BC band) show yrs ago and the band was poised to give away free Hanson Bros CDs if ANYONE in the audient could answer even the easiest Hanson Bros trivia question. No one could do it (non-hockey literate Americans) and the band was rightly horrified...

Glad you brought that one up. The Long Walk is the ne plus ultra of the genre. The author's name contains no vowels, as far as I remember; it's much easier to search the library or Evil Empire (aka Amazon) under the book's title. This one is a must-read.

Carolyn -- if you don't care too much about looks, you can get a canvas duffel bag at the surplus store. They're harder to kill than cordura, although some of the newer bags are pretty bombproof. Also, you get better value if you stay away from the higher end labels: North Face, etc. Outdoor Products sells some big duffels for good money. On clothes, bring wool and a shell that won't weight 10 lb when wet. You can pick up secondhand boots for reasonable prices in Seattle at Second Ascent.

The Nikon 775 gets high marks but I haven't actually used it and there may be concerns about durability. It does have a 3x zoom, is under $500 (from cameraworld), and is said to take amazing macro shots.

Right now the meteor showers are spectacular. I never get tired of the flowers and observing the marmots, either.

Matt-- when we did that route yrs ago in Sept, I recall we didn't really need crampons. An ultralight ice axe sounds a little better than a sharpened stick... but you should be fine as long as you're a good judge of wood. I like the Guide Almighty idea; something like the Garmont Kevlar Climber would also be great.

Can't believe no one mentioned the glissade off The Brothers in the Olympics. Around 1500' of 25-35 degree snow which, when in shape, is a total hoot.

Has anyone taken the route from Park Creek Pass up and over to Horseshoe Basin? It looks like a steep snow gully from Buckner Glacier, but I haven't gotten very close to get a better look. Also, how feasible is it to link up from upper HBasin over to Sahale Arm? A route is described in one of the CAGs but wonder if anyone has done it.