timmatsui
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Posts posted by timmatsui
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Trip: Flow Reversal: Conditions - Alpental Valley
Date: 2/2/2017
Trip Report:
Today's report, it's in and good.
in case the image doesn't come through, see it here:
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Scarpa Phantom Guide Size 42
Worn only three days in the Canadian Rockies last season.
They fit pretty wide, which surprised me.
$400
...and this image upload interface is too complicated for my meager mind.
You can see pix at this link:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/spo/5911670482.html
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Trango Ice Evo Size 41.5
Solid boot with lots of sole left, not too much wear on the uppers, integrated gaiter fully intact.
Fit was never quite right. Last season I promised myself I'd find something different for this year.
Good description of the boot:
http://www.summitpost.org/outdoor-gear/trango-ice-evo/1811
$150
Link to CL post for pix:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/spo/5388351247.html
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Scarpa Phantom Guide Size 42
Sadly, I chose the wrong size.
Worn (literally) only three days in the Canadian Rockies in early November.
They fit pretty wide, which surprised me.
$430
Link to CL post for pix:
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[sOLD]
Petzl S12 Mountaineering Crampon
Well used in the Cascades, but with lots of life left in them.
Semi-flexible, adjustable heel bail and toe strap. Horizontal frontpoints.
$45
Failing to upload images through CC interface so here's the CL post:
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Petzl M10 Ice/Mixed Climbing Crampon
Originally used as mono point crampons, I’ve installed the second points on the inside.
Though heavy, they’re excellent mixed/ice crampons I’d still consider using at the local mixed crag.
No anti-bot plates included…but duct tape works well.
$75
I'm failing at uploading images using this interface so, here's the CL post:
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Trip: Mt. Stuart - Full North Ridge
Date: 7/12/2014
Trip Report:
Sorry if I messed up the pictures posting, the vertical that's horizontal, etc. I'm not super savvy with this interface. This is mostly for a conditions report to help people decided their gear/strategy.
It was super warm conditions so the aluminum crampons weren't needed. Light axe was. We wore approach shoes.
Mosquitos are horrendous from Ingall's Pass elevation to about the notch on the N. Ridge of Stuart; must be a hatch happening.
Snow in Ingalls basin, lake still partly frozen. Possible to climb/descend snow from the lake all the way to base of South Face route on Ingalls Pk. Water is available at outflow of lake.
Snow as you drop from base of W. Ridge Stuart to boulder field below Goat Pass.
Substantial snow crossing to base of N. Ridge. Stuart Glacier, if you're going to the half-ridge, is not blue ice yet. Still a finger of snow in the gully getting to the notch. Plenty of water at base of ridge (either on you way there or just below), still a snow patch at the notch, and plenty of snow on the south side of the summit.
For W Ridge climbers, there's still a bit of snow in the approach couloir and a couple patches on the ridge line.
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Thanks Russ. It's mostly about being willing to take out the camera when you see an image. I also used my iphone that day. Much lighter that the DSLR!
T
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We were the party of four coming from Paradise (Dan Aylward, Frank Huster, Joe Sambatoro, myself). We left at 3.30, got to Muir around dawn, past the party of four coming down, then a party of two with a soloist attached.
Got to the ledges with increasing winds and decreasing visibility. We traversed the ledges until we could see the Nisqually ice fall during periodic breaks in the snow. We gave up near 12,000' just before entering the last snowfield leading to the top of Gibraltar Rock.
Conditions were firm from the parking lot, we put on crampons to gain Panorama Point and left them on the whole way. The ledges weren't very icy, mostly frozen rock and dirt with bands of firm snow. While I suppose you could put in a picket here and there, but there isn't really any pro along the ledges and would recommend climbers be comfortable soloing moderate but exposed and loose terrain. We had two tools but each of us only used one; it wasn't very steep.
If high winds continue, I would imagine this route will stay in great, consolidated shape for some time. We have no idea about the higher reaches; if they're icy or neve, but we were prepared for late season conditions.
Here's a pic from near our high point to give you an idea of terrain:
More pix for route info in that gallery and some on my IG at @timmatsui ; aviatorruss and crew ended up in a few.
Best
T
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Patagonia is working on a book with Fred Beckey and they're looking for a shot I don't have.
Do you guys have or know someone who has this:
(from Fred)
"do you happen to have an overall shot of Ranier showing the Kautz glacier Route? Needs to be a head on shot."
The image must be high-resolution and high quality meeting Patagonia's photography standards.
Please respond to me if you think you may have an image.
tim@timmatsui.com
Thanks for your help!
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Nice work Mikey! Breathing some life back into the local classics!
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Mikey freed it mid sept. last year with a variation on the pendulum pitch. Pix are here:
http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/timmatsui/gallery/20090915-mikey/G0000tO4p6qcQxnQ
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I'm bumping this post. Some folks have responded to this offer, much appreciated, but I'd like to have a few more people on the roster so we have at least two people per night, some route setters, and some alternates in case someone can't make it in because they're sick or injured or leaving for Columbia University (been known to happen).
The gym is downtown, it's pretty darn nice, and the wall is something you could get a great pump on. Hell, you could start with a kickboxing session, followed by a climbing session, then get your crossfit set in, and finish up with a yoga session. You know, the multisport athlete.
And women: one of the new volunteers would like to start a women's night, which is great because most of the interest in the wall comes from female gym members.
Again, if you're interested:
Tim Matsui
206.409.3069
tim (at) timmatsui (dot) com
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I'm managing a 28x24 meter Entreprise climbing wall installed by Allstar Fitness at their Westlake Executive Club facility, downtown in the Medical Dental Building near Westlake Center. I'm looking for additional volunteers.
Duties are belaying, belay instruction, belay testing, teaching of technique, and route setting. You will be working mostly with rank beginners so your patience and psych will be important.
Hours available are Mon-Thurs from 5.30-8.30 (class times are between 6-8). If you would like to work on route setting you can do that anytime the gym is open.
In exchange for your once-a-week duties you are entitled to a free membership to Allstar which means you can use any of their facilities (Westlake, Seattle Municipal Tower, West Seattle, Tacoma). There are two other Allstar climbing walls, swimming pools, classes, steam rooms...it's a pretty plush gym and you'll have access to all the other ones. Also, to its credit, the Executive Club has a well-equipped women's only workout room.
Check out the facilities: http://allstarfitness.com/club_locations.htm
And let me know if you're interested:
Tim Matsui
206.409.3069
tim (at) timmatsui (dot) com
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yes, though there is some technical climbing on the ridge and substantial exposure in places. see previous posts about technical level, etc. many people do this in two days, many are benighted (as the bivy corrals indicate), some choose to rope up, some solo as i did this time. i hope my post helps others know the conditions and choose gear appropriately; axe/no axe, crampons, and/or the possibility to melt snow for water if staying the night. best,t
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Trip: Alpine Lakes - Stuart Conditions: W Ridge /N Ridge / Cascadian
Date: 7/28/2008
Trip Report:
Hoping the rain would lift (it did) I went up the W. Ridge of Stuart today and after seeing folks lugging extra weight up the Cascadian, and because I had my own unanswered question, here are some notes on current conditions:
• there is snow just south of the summit, a large patch of it so you can melt it for water if you're bivying. you can scramble around it so you don't need an axe; stay on the ridge crest and be prepared for a few bouldery moves
• there is snow below the false summit. currently you can down-climb ball bearing covered slabs and face only 60' or so of snow. if i had an axe i would glissade the snow--I hate ball bearings--but you don't need an axe.
• there is still some snow between long-john tower and the west ridge notch, but you can get around it; no axe or crampons needed.
• according to a party that just did it, you can descend the gully from the west ridge notch south toward ingall's creek. you will need a rope for short rappels. apparently it is interminable. i feel sorry for those guys.
• looking from above, the stuart glacier looks like it's still snow covered (ie. not bare ice which sucks balls to chop steps in if you chose to go light/sans crampons)
• looking from above, the NE slabs over the Ice Cliff glacier are more-or-less non-threatening with regard to avalanches. Couldn't say on the glacier itself, but one objective hazard to the Girth Pillar is minimized.
Have fun.
Gear Notes:
ski poles are nice on the knees.
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Please attend this service for Lara Kellogg on Saturday, May 5. Details in the links and in-line text below.
Lara-Karena Bitenieks Kellogg Memorial Service
http://rememberlara.blogspot.com/2007/05/memorial-service-saturday-may-5th.html
Lara-Karena Bitenieks Kellogg Memorial Conservation Grant
http://rememberlara.blogspot.com/2007/05/lara-karena-bitenieks-kellogg-memorial.html
Memorial Slide Show Submission Guidelines
http://rememberlara.blogspot.com/2007/05/memorial-service-photo-submission.html
FUNERAL INFORMATION:
The funeral will be held Saturday May 5th at the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The viewing will be from 12-1PM and the ceremony will be from 1-2PM.
There will be memory boards to display pictures of Lara.
Please bring up to 3 pictures; if they are originals please take them with you after the service.
Following the ceremony there will be a gathering at the Bitter Lake Community Center from 2-5PM.
This will be a potluck gathering so please bring food to share.
(No alchohol is allowed at the Community Center.)
Location information:
Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church
11710 3rd Ave NE
You approach it from 5th Ave NE which is immediately east of I-5.
Bitter Lake Community Center
In lieu of flowers, Chad has asked you donate to the Lara-Karena Bitenieks Kellogg Memorial Conservation Fund.
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A friend of mine in SLC is having a yard sale and is likely to be in Seattle soon. I'll let you figure out what will work; she ships or she brings it here.
Her info: photos(at)bethlockhart.com, 801.243.7703
The Gear, prices negotiable:
Women’s Patagonia Stretch Entrant Jacket ‘02
Size S, Like new- worn 6x, cornflower blue color with contrast.
$80.00 plus freight
Women’ Patagonia Stretch Entrant Pants ‘02
Great condition, size 6, tan with contrasting light brown
$70.00 plus freight
Women’s Patagonia Stretch Entrant Pants ‘04
Like new, size 8, black/tar
$95.00 plus freight
Women’s Patagonia Guide Pants
Size 8 Long (rare find) Very Light Use! Black
$95.00 plus freight
Telemark Skis, Rossignol T4
185 cm, used 5x, with G3 Targa T-9 Bindings. Fresh tune on them.
$395.00 plus freight
Telemark Skis, Rossignol T4
178 cm, great condition, with G3 Targa T-9 Bindings. Fresh tune on them.
$365.00 plus freight
Telemark Skis, Karhu Jaks
180 cm, great condition, with G3 Targa T-9 Bindings. Fresh tune on them.
$350.00 plus freight
Telemark Boots, Garmont Ener G- G Fit
Size 23.5 (wmns 8-8.5/ mns 7?)
Used one month, too big L In the box… 2005 Retail $680.00
Sell for $395.00 plus freight
Mamiya 645 AFD Medium Format Camera Kit
Includes Camera, 80mm lens and Film Back HM401, and all original packaging.
Used 2x only. Plus 6 rolls of various film!
Sell for $2450. Plus freight.
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Howdy Geordie! We only exchanged hello's as your roommate and I passed each other but I do recall shouting down to them as they appeared on the south side--feeling like a doofus and wondering if they had a better clue than me because my north face traverse was wet, cold, run out, and required more concentration than I had anticipated the route would need. But I'll say this, the BD Raven Ultra (thanks to Roger Strong) is light and cams pretty well in cracks. Last I saw of those two was from the crest of the S. Ridge right near the summit. They were belaying some wet slabby crack system...if it was their anchor found on Sunday, well that sucks. But it does make me wish I'd found the booty...I could use another yellow alien.
Regarding the route, we soloed all the way to the north face traverse. Yes, my partner didn't enjoy that part and it would probably be a show stopper for some. She also noted that the finishing cracks on the south side, while not terribly hard, would probably be hard for the 5.7 leader. Maybe that's why there's so many bivy platforms out there. What's sick is that after the tricky snow stuff her energy level went out the roof while mine sunk into the gutter.
We left the car at 4.30am and were back by 7.30pm with plenty of lolly-gagging and pow-wowing on the summit with some older fellow who had his 10 year-old daughter/granddaughter with him. Wish I were that cool when I was 10. We had a seven-piece rack, a 40m rope, and I'd have taken the hexes too but I wasn't allowed. If the snow is firmer then, yes, crampons would be essential. As it was I chopped a few steps instead of taking the time to pull out the crampons.
Again, the (product endorsement) Montrail D7's, while wet most of the day, were awesome approach and climbing shoes.
If you can move fast on/off trail and feel comfortable soloing on 4th class with lots of exposure I'd recommend ditching the bivy gear and doing it in a day. Much lighter, less tiring. However, if you're less comfortable with constant movement, exposure, route-finding, and steep snow I'd recommend the two-day approach and take the time to enjoy a night out in a spectacular setting. It's been about a year since I've been able to alpine climb like that and...wow...Mt. Stuart is an amazing place to go.
Geordie, the pics are so-so. I've gotten lazy with shooting digital and the ones i really wanted to turn out are a bit over-exposed.
cheers,
tim
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Climb: Mt. Stuart-W Ridge
Date of Climb: 5/28/2005
Trip Report:
Saturday, 5/28 was forecast for 90 degrees--and it WAS warm.
Ingalls Lake Basin was snow-filled though trail up to ridge crest was snow free. Lake still frozen but not cross-able. Ingalls Peak is snow-free.
Take the SECOND couloir, which is largely snow free, up to the ridge crest then pass on south-side of ridge tower. Some of the bivy sites are snow free, but there's plenty of snow for water still. I can't believe just how many walled-in bivy sites there are on this route.
Crossing and ascending the next couloir involves snow with sub-surface ice. The chimney to the left of Long John Tower has snow in it still but looks entirely reasonable. We headed back up to the ridge crest and got some great pose-down images (on film so sorry, not posting any time soon).
More snow-covered ledges to the West Ridge Notch. Stuart Glacier Couloir looks fine from above, has a little ice at the 'bulge' on climber's right. Would be great if it were cooler.
Now here's the question for those who've done the route in the summer: departing the notch, you go up ~100' until it steepens in a headwall. There is an obvious right-hand departure to the south face and an obvious left-hand departure to the north face. We went left and it quickly became mixed climbing/traversing because of the amount of snow still on the north face. Sloppy, wet snow with ice or rock underneath, you know the blobs that you can't ever be sure will stay adhered to the rock. Not too difficult but run out and precarious. We traversed/simul-climbed until we crested out of an obvious gulley. It was a little over a full (60m) rope length. Challenging in approach shoes w/out crampons and one ice axe. I thought with the end of winter I'd be done with the screamie-barfies.
Anyhow, is this on-route?? Some other guys opted for the right hand variation onto orangish rock and it looks like they were stymied once they got on the south face. We never saw them again.
After reaching the crest we traversed/downclimbed ~10m onto a chossy gray ledge system and found a couple old pitons as we ascended a stair-step of low-fifth cracks to the summit proper.
Still snowy over to the false summit and then glissadable snow all the way down the Cascadian until you reach the large boulder field/shoulder and cross into the gulley that takes you down to the Long's Pass Trail. North side of Longs Pass still has snow just below the crest.
If the heat stays with us, expect it to be snow free shortly.
If you go, have a great time and i hope the snow condition beta helps you choose your gear and style.
tim
Gear Notes:
Montrial D7 approach shoes all the way, minimal rack, half rope, light axe, lightweight crampons taken but not used because snow so warm. This route is completely soloable and can be an easy day...though it'd be nice if it were snow-free.
Approach Notes:
Teeanaway snow free to trailhead, trail snow free to ridgecrest. Post-hole-fest if warm all the way to Stuart Pass; stay high/follow the summer trail even though you'll post-hole.
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I've got for sale on the floor at Feathered Friends:
Scarpa Inverno Standard Liners, unused size 8, $105
Scarpa Inverno 8.5 Boots w/ Std. Liners, used, $105
Garmont Thermaform Liner for SynerG Tele boot, size 8, molded once, $60
Garmont Thermaform Liner for SynerG Tele boot, size 8, new, $120
I will mold the Thermaform Liners to your feet if you buy them.
Also this weekend (April 2-4) is a big sale at Feathered Friends.
cheers,
t
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I've got a pair of used but still very serviceable new-model Scarpa Invernos with standard liners at Feathered Friends. Plenty of sole left on them, liners aren't too packed out. $105.
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Colin and I climbed Rebel Yell on Saturday. Nice climb, very little snow/ice on the approach which could be avoided if necessary but is easier to cross with light crampons. No snow at base.
We tightened the left Petzl bolt at the first rappel anchors off the summit with 13mm wrench. All others looked fine. Webbing looks good too on the other. You definitely want two 60m ropes though Colin's 6mm 50 meant only a little down climbing. It is possible to rap the actual climbing route, which traverses slightly left, instead of rapping straight down the fall line as we saw some others had done.
A party came up behind us and did a stellar, steep, short crack that rises off the slabs and skips the 5.8 ramp and the 5.9 offwidth. It is to the left of the offwidth, looks thin hands to fingers, then they did an exposed traverse right to get back on route. They seemed to enjoy it.
Who is user 'telemarker'? Email me at photo@timmatsui.com.
Tim
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Mt. Maude, N Face, is in excellent condition as of Saturday, 6/16. All neve, had to go out of our way to find any ice. Nelson's suggested approach is pretty easy and straight forward now--still a fair amount of snow to ease the traverse. I wouldn't descend all the way to the moraine then back up the N face, too much work. Same with the Icy Lake approach.
If you're comfortable on snow slopes of that angle you don't need a rope, pro, or a second tool. If you like a safety margin, you may want some of that stuff.
As for the descent: hit the saddle, the flatish spot, go left (south) down the obvious couloir but at the point that the rock wall on skier's right stops, cross over the shoulder and descend that system of gullies (southwestward). You can see this from the bivy spot. While our continuing descent down the initial gully system was more interesting and challenging than the ascent, it did take some extra time and involved some extra risk.
Tim Matsui
PS: N Face looks totally skiable. You could do it today, but a little earlier might have been better.
[TR] Colfax Beta photo - Cosley-Houston and Polish Route 5/7/2017
in North Cascades
Posted
Trip: Colfax Beta photo - Cosley-Houston and Polish Route
Date: 5/7/2017
Trip Report:
FYI:
Photos from 7 May, 2017. From the iphone, sorry they're not more detailed.
Looks like Cosley-Houston and the Polish Route are both in on Colfax. CH looks fat. Polish Route looks like it touches down, but I think the pillar is still free-hanging.
We were just up there to ski. Have fun.
From Frank Huster's insta (this is best beta photo):
Approach Notes:
~2miles of snow on road, went up Grouse Creek to Heliotrope Ridge. Stream crossings are getting interesting, but it's passable on the west side of Grouse.