rat

when wi5 feels like 5.9, hooking is damn close to 100% of the placements. then again, i'm weak and lack the "right" tools. i wasn't differentiating between swinging and hooking when referring to sticks. i agree that taking advantage of any hookable features (holes, spaces between icicles, ledges, etc.) is a skill that will transport you to the land of milk and honey where all the routes are doable, even the hard ones.

"My thought is now a days if you can climb a vertical 5.9 hand crack you can climb WI5 in decent conditions." sure, if by "decent" you mean picked-out plastic hero ice with bomber pro. i'm more of a wise-ass but your friend might be wise to also learn to place screws with either hand. if you're not on "decent" ice or aren't aiming for a beautiful weakness, over-reaching with your swings may result in wasted energy if you don't get a secure stick. matching (tools at same level vs. one hooked over the other or hand matching) is gonna happen sometimes but be careful not to place the tools too close together.

http://www.adn.com/2010/03/09/1176236/bush-pilot-hudson-inexorably-linked.html

it was a poor choice of word ordering on my part. "fra" was meant to refer to the line wayne and i climbed, not the face itself. wayne and marko, thanks for the additional info on the cotter/rusch route.

cool kick 'n stab.

classy, straight up.

nice tr. i have often wondered about that approach from the east portal. skinning back up the west face then descending the drainage immediately west of the summer trail works well when avy hazard is reasonable...an up/down two-fer.

Trip: pyramid peak - fra ne face--larson/wallace, III wi 5 (1 pt a0) Date: 2/21/2010 Trip Report: wayne and i climbed a worthy variation to a minor obsession of mine on the ne side of pyramid peak. wayne was instrumental in getting us off the ground and things fell into place, so to speak, after that. we belayed 8 pitches to the junction with the north ridge then stomped up to the summit from there. five pitches were full value, the other three were change. hard to rate but the water ice crux seemed like a short but steep wi5 and was tough enough that wayne had to take a bit of rope tension to put in a screw and de-pump. the other pitches probably clocked in at snice/ice 4/4+ with some feet on the rock but i decline to give it any m-wtf grade just to keep things simple. expect runouts. on the hopefully attached photo, the route is immediately right of the red line on the lower face and immediately left of it on the upper face. the photo was taken by retrosaurus (mm) on a previous spring attempt in the mid-2000's. we found conditions similar to what is shown on the photo. as you can see, a direct start is still in the offing. i wrote this up as the fra of the ne face but am curious where the cotter-rusch route actually lies. the beckey bible says north face but having started up a route over there one spring, i never saw an chimney with "incipient ice". is it possible we repeated or did a variation to their route? anyone have some insight? Gear Notes: nuts and cams to 3", kb's and la's, a handful of shorter screws and a specter. Approach Notes: thanks to the party who tramped in before us on saturday morning. you saved us a ton of effort.

that estimate is for flow past the dalles dam and includes mid/upper columbia and snake river basins. here is info that describes subbasin differences http://www.cbbulletin.com/375793.aspx from 2/5/10. the majority of spring runoff comes from below 7k elevation. snow depth may be less but the area is much greater. geek out here http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/snow/snow.cgi

talk with mr. briody about climbing near the palisades and the colockum.

"I know that Bold Bob pitch with hooks for pro on lib bell sounds kinda badass!" i don't recall any hooks on the bold bob pitch...maybe i wouldn't have fallen so far if there were. the hooks pitch was lower down as i recall.

yeah, it's been climbed a bunch. i also have never heard a name for it (ditto for the various routes climbed on icicle butt). think one up for the masses. i don't recall seeing "pivotal moment" fully formed since the winter of '96-97.

burn him , he's a brujo. technical skill must always trump your heresy.

so, i'm confused....no suprise there. isn't the route you climbed left of "the visor" roof. "air roof", the rock climb, is far left of this. is "pivotal point" the same as "pivotal moment" discussed here http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/931196/TR_entiat_valley_and_leavenwor#Post931196 ? regardless, both routes are quite fun but whoever gave that route left of the visor a wi4 rating was high.

thanks, i lost that link. it is the better of the two.

if you don't already know, the 2nd edition (1997) of the s. arizona guide is here: http://www.climbaz.com/Backcountry/backcountry.html

this will get you going: http://www.escalando.org/lugares-y-rutas/deportiva/ www.translate.google.com an excellent source for info on the many sport/trade/alpine areas in chile/argentina. watch out for the assassin bugs.

never climbed it. i looked around that area but that wasn't what i was looking for.

i don't have a guidebook so am unsure of the names. however, the first set of photos (those you don't think are pivotal point), are of a 3 pitch 5.7/wi2-3 starting in the left-facing corner immediately left of the visor. the little area where you climbed above air roof has a number of short and, as far as i know, unnamed routes around wi3. pivotal point (named by mitch merriman?) may be the unformed pillar immediately left of the flow you climbed. last time i climbed it ('96 or '97 shortly after mm led and named it?), it was a short thick wi4 pillar to the tree ledge then a shorter hollow pillar to the top. hope that helps.

we found easy travelling starting at the t-intersection you mention. it's mirkwood second growth timber with little/no brush. cross the iron horse trail at mile 2120 (to chicago) and continue up and slightly right to the talus field/avy path below the climbs. it's a little over 1 hour with good conditions. a longer alternative would be via the annette lake trail then west on the iron horse trail to 2120. peter might want to call the upper right wall in his photo the "personal best wall".

first, glad to hear everyone survived. second, i agree with pete and craig's opinions that risking your stupid ass-hat is part of climbing on that side of the river. there was a botched tyrolean set up there a few years ago. unnamed ass-hats made it disappear just like the fixed dirt-head slacker lines/broken beer bottle camps in the icicle....good fucking riddance. as for lake jolanda, the landing on the northwest side is private property and posted as such (at least a couple years ago). while i never had a problem with the owners, you'll want to keep a low profile. put your boat in, put your delicate drumsticks in downstream of swiftwater, or hike from one of the bridges. if you have an epic, consider it a gift.

the westside approach to baboquivari may now be closed. friends made a trip a couple years ago and got shut down....lots of smuggling (drugs and humans) in that area and the locals used to burn the occasional vehicle. you might inquire in tuscon before committing to the drive. great routes though. mendoza canyon is also well worth a visit. it's probably the warmest backcountry area in arizona and has some fine longer routes (not gonna find much in s. arizona longer than 6 pitches). seasonal closure used to start march 1st for javelinas. mid-late february is a great time to go.

good catch. how was the ice looking in the alcove to the left?

a bit hard to say from that photo but the brush looks right! the climb is above the campsite we discussed along ingalls creek trail. there is another route between it and gray falls.

Trip: Ingall's Creek - Falls Creek Falls & No Rest for the Wicked Date: 12/12/2009 Trip Report: i went hoofing around ingall's creek over the weekend. after wacking up craig and mark's fine route, grey falls, i went looking for a sabbath day objective. enroute back down the trail i tromped over to falls creek falls and found the right side, as far away from the roar as possible, in wi4 shape. a couple hundred yards of exploration farther up the drainage didn't produce more ice so i hooked right into the forest and down a ridge to the base. this is a high-flow waterfall located in a localized terrain trap (lots of older avy debris). future parties will probably prefer to rap off a tree or v-thread(s). approx. 100' in length. located about 20 minutes from ingalls creek trail and easily combined with grey falls. bill gaines and i returned on sunday and hiked approximately 1 mile farther up the trail from grey falls to another nice 3 pitch route, "no rest for the wicked". look for it on the south facing slope near the west edge of a severely burned patch of conifers. pitch 1: >60m wi2/3 depending on your line. short slope to pitch 2: 60m wi4-/4 up cauliflowered pillars in the center (our line, probably wi4), or slightly easier to the left. short slope to pitch 3: 60m wi3. walk off to climbers' right.