specialed

You should never feel bad about cleaning garbage from the mountains. Plus, the people who rap the S Arete usually carry reams of 1" tubular or cord on their harnesses anyway.

The best way is to find a sweet crack then add bolts every three feet next to it.

Wild. Very Imaginative. Nice job boys!!

Yeah, we weren't sure exactly where the lower pitches of Dragons of Eden were. We just knew it went up that crazy splitter through the roof off the big ledge. Sick.

I actually don't think we shared one pitch with Dragonfly, as we were climber's left of D-Fly from the start. As there is little beta on D-Fly, this is just what we've pieced together from a couple attempts and a lot of scoping of the buttress. D-Fly is technically a variation to the NE Butt Direct, and like I said, so is our route. It was actually a lot easier and quicker than I thought to get from where we hit the ridge to where we finished climbing - mostly class 4. Would also have been pretty easy to get over to the east side and off the peak sooner and on good rock. I'm suprised that wall hasn't seen more ascents as the rock, while dirty, has killer cracks, and getting up and off really isn't bad at all.

Unfortunately, that's often the way it is in the Cascades. You need crampons and poons for about five minutes to get on the route, then have to lug them up the route and down. But if you didn't bring them it would be impossible or real dangerous to get on the route without them. However, now that I think about it, we were up on the north face of Stuart mid August and I do believe one could have circumvented the Stuart Glacier completely then by going to the skier's left (west) and around to the moraine where the lower north starts. To do just the upper, you'd want crampons, of course.

That glacier is probably pretty ugly in spots in September. I'd be pretty careful venturing up there by yourself.

Light weight 'poons and axe don't weight too much these days. Go talk to Jim at Pro Mountain Sports, Eldiente, he'll hook you up.

If you can dump a car off at Ingall's Lake TH you should go in from the north side (Mtneers Creek TH)then you wouldn't have to cross any glaciers.

Nice job Marike!! Everyone's been talking about doing that traverse, glad to hear you guys finally got on it. Some serious effort, indeed. When do the t-shirts come out?

Climb: Dragontail Peak-Puff the Inflatable Sex Dragon Date of Climb: 8/23/2005 Trip Report: With Sharma and Davey G bailing on us to go on their summer European tour, our plans to burn incense and grid bolt super top-secret Renton granite were dashed. It appeared Eric (Lunger) and I would have to make other plans. It was a good thing gas was cheap, because we dream big. The Bugaboos, Canadian Rockies, the Sierra, it was all within the grasp of our greasy claws and my gas slurping ’91 F150. Since our country invaded and occupies one of the world’s largest oil producers, we can afford to go anywhere we want! Not so fast, son, said Eric. Petrol is at a record high and according to my calculations it will cost us approximately 1.2 million dollars to drive to Banff and back. It’s a good thing my climbing partner has a PHD in international finance. In reformulating plans, our long term goal of adding a sit start to Liberty Crack and renaming the route “Enumclaw Sex Farm,” just didn’t sound prudent as neither of us had really been bouldering much and everyone I know who owns a boulder pad sleeps on it in the back of their truck every night. Eventually, after drinking way too much coffee, consulting the oracle at Delphi and slaughtering lamb or two, we settled on making another attempt at the abstruse and phantom Dragonfly route on Dragontail. Eric and I had attempted the route late last year on a blustery late summer day. Unfortunately, our lazy 9 A.M. start from the trailhead didn’t prove effective as Eric repeatedly peeled off the kitty litter 5.11 funky undercling crux pitch. With the unknown still above us and only couple hours of daylight left we reluctantly fixed a couple nuts and bailed. We had, on the first attempt, gone a bit left (we think) of the original ascentionists line, adding a powerful 10+ variation pitch to the lower section. This year, when we got there, Eric, intended to find an easier line by going even further left. Unfortunately, he ended having to power through not only the 10+ section from the prior year, but groveling up another dirty 10+ finger crack to finish up the pitch. In the middle of this section, Eric took the BIGGEST WHIPPER I have ever seen in the mountains. I’m talking a rolling down the windows, calling the tower up to come in for a landing whipper. Some serious air time. Good thing the wall was steep, because Eric only ended up with some minor flesh wounds on his arm from the fall. Of course, Eric got back on the horse and finished up the pitch. All in all, a burly 5.11 affair indeed. Eric and I regrouped on the big ledge where the two crux pitches of Dragonfly begin. Even though the rock on the buttress is a bit dirty and flaky, some of the most beautiful splitters I’ve seen in the Cascades emanate from that ledge. I noticed a choice splitter starting on the far left side of the ledge, and since Eric and I were justifiably feeling a bit worked after the burly pitch and whipper, I suggested we climb it and try to take an independent line to the ridge. Eric concurred. The steep splitter would have been a four star classic at any crag if it was clean. I had to throw down a substantial amount of soil and vegetation to the belay, but I enjoyed the moves in between the plant matter. The splitter continued up a beautiful and featured steep hand crack with two roofs, but was dripping with black lichen and flaky rock, so I made some face moves and took a cool undercling around left to an easier crack with led to a small ledge and another undercling. Here I had to pull on some gear as the undercling turned into a blunt and smooth super awkward layback. Eric and I felt it would be solid .11 free. From there a 5.8 off width and some easier climbing led the ridge, where we simul-climbed on the northwest side of the ridge all the way to the notch at the top of the northwest colior. From there, we descended on some shitty kitty litter rock to the east to easy slabs and a short walk to the top off Asgard pass. All or some of our route may have been climbed before, so feel free to call us on that if you know. We did decide to claim a FA and name the route though, because the route was real dirty and we didn’t see any tat or fixed gear. Also, I guess it technically is a variation to the Northeast Buttress since it shares the same finish along the ridge more or less. Gear Notes: Standard Rack some extra small shit, but no pins this time. Approach Notes: Easy. I didn't whine once.

Two days is fast! Eric and did that route a couple weeks ago too. You guys are stalking us. Nice tights, by the way.

Looks great guys. Real nice work. Definitly worth the wait.

Ha Ha. Reminds me of the classic joke: what do you call a climber who just broke up with his girl / boy friend? Homeless. Fishing operation, IMHO.

yeah.

N Face of Alberta has been tried quite a few times recently by some pretty strong parties, who all retreated due to inadaquate ice. We did the NE Ridge last August and read some reports in the hut journal. The N face looked pretty bad - I think I posted some pics of it - I can't imagine it would be much better in September. Seems to me if you want to do it, earlier in the season, like April, would be better.

OK. Some girl named Felicia, I have your biner I found on Stuart. DMB: I have your pink rigid friend I found mildly stuck on the R & D route this spring. To "Ron:" I've got about ten meters of the blue tat you left at the rap station on Lib Bell this summer. If you claim your junk, I'll return it

Nice job guys!! Sounds like a real deal adventure.

Your pink glitter press-on nails don't count, dude.

That's a bunch of fucking horseshit. You find it you keep it, regardless of whether you know whose gear it is or not. Someone's retarted enough to abandon their shit and if you put forth the effort to hike / climb up there to get it, then it's yours. If the original owner really wanted it they wouldn't have been wasting time posting about their sorry ass leaving trash all over the fucking mountain, they'd be hiking up there to get it back.

You still have toenails? Hiker.

Those routes are gay.

There was velcro on the moon boots I was wearing.

In that case, my favorite climb is called "Shit Infection" It's a mega-hard ultra-shit-yourself testpiece on Around the Wayback Buttress. Characterized by steep drytooling on frozen moss and tied off loose blocks for pro. Belays were on #0 RP's and half-in talons. If we had tools and 'poons it might have been M9 R, but in rock shoes and wool gloves it was nothing less than a horror show. Thank god there was a sheep at the top.

Is this the thread where everyone posts the hardest climb they've ever done, then declares it their "favorite" one so they can get away with a free chestbeat?