wayne

Wow glad it ended up without harm to anyone!

Wow . great argument you have started here Dru. I guess I cant really grade a climb I havent done yet. I havent heard of anyone claiming a 7 yet in N. America either. I have operated on the assumption that a 3 is twice what a 2 is and a 5 is half of a 6 and so on. I dont know what one should rate a climb over 100 pitches but 6 seem inadiquate have done many to compare it to. I guess I can call it what ever I want and the second ascentionist can just down-rate it?

Way to pull it out of the hat Forrest! Would you tell us what you did last time you were in tht backside area of the No. Picks?

A notable Picket Pioneer wrote me a series of interesting questions regarding this trip. Here it is: 1. "Did you guys do most of the intervening pinnacles, or the most prudent high line? 2.Had anyone been up Ghost since our '86 climb? 3.Was this a reconnoiter trip (as you did in the Southerns, Wayne) to be followed by the whole Whatcom to Luna line in one gulp at a later date? (Except for the arête from Ghost-Phantom col to Phantom, then over "Cub Scout Salute" to the notch before "Apparition" (and Swiss), most of it is known. 4.Adding Challenger V,IV,III, and II to the line would be a nice exercise.) 5.If you ran out of rap webbing before CT, were you cutting the rope for raps, ala Bertulis and Half Zantop on the first S to N Picket traverse? 6.Where was Colin? " Very good Q's! Here goes the answers to the best of my knowledge. 1.Yes 2.There was no register on any peak except a bad one on Challenger. There was was some newer webbing in places along the way which we had to snag, also found a slightly rusted cam. These items could have been from Forrest M's party ,I would be interested to hear what he did a while back. 3. No , this was a full blown attempt. We had 6 days food gear etc.The weather was obvy coming in and we were staggered by not only the effort it took to get there. We were devastated by the veiw of what lay ahead! I may just try to finish the last half later. 4. It would be grade 7 without the Chall summits, but we were game for them till we found ourselves tired on just the 1st day. 5. Fortunatly no. I took 40+ feet of half inch aid webbing for rapping and we burned it up way before even the crooked thumb. 6. at his age he should be doing drugs and chasing chicks but.He had just done the Terror rt and he doesnt seem super interested in the N. Traverse. Wayne

Nice job Iaxe and Nick , We were hoping you guys got it with the weather and all.

Nice work on the TR Josh. You are as fun to read as you are to climb with. Just to add a couple of footnotes...Of course we were trying the complete traverse, but MAN this thing was way more than I expected . If it is ever completed it will be the burliest thing imaginable. Not in terms of technical difficulty but size and intricateness.(is that a word?) There are other issues too with it I wont go into. It is a bit loose but it is VERY committing in terms of exposure and retreat. It is rare that I was as scared as I was. One of the best calls I have ever seen is when Josh demanded that I consider going down the sick looking snow gully to get down after Ghost. It proved to be our lucky charm in the retreat. To try to pin a grade on the thing, I would have to say , V+-5.8 R, loose. The whole traverse could easily be Grade 7!

That would be Bob McGown. He is an old-time partner of mine and he says good things about D-fly, I was thinking of going after a repeat of the rt myself. In 88 we went and did a wild route on that big white headwall that cant be ignored. its called Dragons of Eden and goes at V-5.11d-A2 . We freed the cruxes on tr(2 aid Pitches of free tr)at the 12b range and hoped to return to an all free but we got old.Sweet route though with many hard pitches! Let me know if you go to d-fly

its been out of print for decades, you can put a hold on one in Powells, they turn up there about once a year or so. I have been lucky enough to find 2 old ones and 2 new . good luck

MMMMmmmmm.....Dodge....aaaallllgggghhhh..

No sick lines in Ore? I dont think so Dur, I know someone going for the Mcloughlin Memorial Route on Theilsen this weekend. I would put that up against almost any N cascade tour. Try Baradur route on Wolf Rock , Steins Pillar, Turkey Monster, Parking lot Wall.... etc, etc. Me I plan on doing Ruth mt!!

Hoe come we cant veiw the results? I wasnt able to poll either?

Just because a route is "Commonly Attempted", it doesnt mean it isnt serious. I am amazed at how trivial feeling a route can seem if people are lapping it. Never let your guard down. So very sorry to those affected...Words wont do much here Peace All

The shizz of the hood, southern Pickets

Yippy, Its today! Thanks Tony for your work putting it together....!

In between binges, you should check out the East Ridge of the Middle Sis. It is worthy!

I did not see the route in any of the guide books... There are 2 older books on just Rocky Butte itself. They were written by Bob Mcgown and occasionally show up at Pows but I am sure the Maz'es have copies in their amazing library.. Bob put way more stuff in that is in PRC. It is likley someone scrubbed out that and many more now dirty cracks. Heck, the housing development bulldozed in dozens of bolted classics, of course illegally

The more practice our prospective rescuers get the better. Its only a matter of time before these fast-light ascents produce one

Scott was that incident back in August of 96?

Just as they are leaving the guy behind ,who was taking a piss,. ..You can see the wonderful north face of Colonial Peak

Nice job again,tough guys!

Go prepared to Summit, not to climb in the best style. It is a mix for sure on a couple of pitches, but never desparate. Seek Dodge and go Old School on it.

Young Robert, I did it back in 88, as part of a Nooksack-Price Glacier, Summit of Shucksan to Lake Ann Traverse. We stashed a mt bike there and rode back to the car. Fun though strenuous.

Hey, again: Good Job, My girlfriend and I were the ones you ran into on the way out

The n ridge rock is reasonable till the end , it turns to big loose blocks. Good Job Guys!!

Whens someone gonna step up and do St Peters Dome.? Come on you Dodge chasers!