genepires

canyoneering would be much more fun than trying to find a moderate in zion good company for beta and gear near zion http://www.zionadventures.com/ a mini online guide to canyons in zion. with ratings for beginners. http://www.canyoneering.net/content/inde...=20040213074631 too bad the canyons are so far away, I could spend more time there.

So the cover of this summers MEC catalog has some stunning looking rock from cathedral park somewhere. Anyone know what the rock is named? Maybe amphetheatre peak or the deacon? The catalog and beckey guide don't offer much help. thanks

Well it took us a while, I would not suggest to everyone it would take 3 hours unless you were intent on sandbaggin them. Without much belaying, three hours would seem reasonable. Come to think about it, I can't do simple math cause we were out 9am to 6pm is 9 mellow hours camp to camp. Any idea when the new beckey guide is coming out?

Climb: grimface-matriarch-macabre-grimface traverse Date of Climb: 7/3/2006 Trip Report: Pasayten matriarch-macabre-grimface traverse trip report So, my good friends Jeff Irving, Laura Bedford, my wife Gabi and I went into the Pasayten range on the 4th of july weekend. It was a great time and it was surprising that we had the wall creak basin to ourselves. I theorized it was because of the lack of a “select guide” or supertopo to the area. Maybe it is the long drive and no one can afford the gas. Maybe it is the bad exchange rate. Whatever. This TR is written around the idea offering a detailed description of the route (along with beckey’s guide beta) and helpful ideas for trips in the area. No chestbeating as it is an easy route. Approach driving: Beckey’s guide is spot on. Park at the stated mileage and look for the large pedestrian bridge to cross the river. Expect 4 to 5 hours from Bellingham. Approach hiking: the trail is very easy to follow. Start on the centennial trail. The going is either flat or a slow steady moderate uphill. After the major slow uphill, there is a cutoff the main trail you must take. It is about 1.5 hours from the TH and right before the only trail sign on the trail. The sign says that straight ahead is centennial trail and some lake. Look for a right branch that may have tree branches blocking. It is very flat from here to the camp meadows. Expect 4 to 5 hours on trail, car to meadows. Don’t know the mileage but maybe 10 to 12 miles. They go by really quick. There are some bogs but it is easy to follow if you stay on the logs laid down to keep feet from getting wet. Camp meadows: we stayed at the first meadows we came to because we were running late and tired. Unfortunately, we camped on pristine grass and meadows. Yeah we impacted the place. But keep going another 5 minutes and you will get to another set of meadows with camping on dirt. They are really nice with trees for hanging food bags and running water nearby. Bring lots of bug dope and netting. Forget about bivy sacks alone. If anything, I would just bring a BD betta bug or mega bug or make your own with a bunch of bug netting and hang it from trees. Route approach: from meadows, beeline for the right side of the traverse. Don’t go to the saddle but rather up a scree/boulder/flowery gulley that leads to ridge, just right of the 1st summit. Most of the elevation gain will be done there and is in the shade in the morning. Route: The route has been equipped with some bolts (after the latest Beckey guide written) but you still need an alpine rack. The bolts are some belay anchors and the aid section. 1ST pitch was around 90feet and ended before the notches. 5.4 seems right. One of the notches has a fixed rope to bolt anchors. Easy walking to the easy but tight chimneys. There is a sweet looking 5.8 crack to it’s right that avoids the scraping. Need a couple #2 camalots for this crack. Might be the only place where this size is really needed. This gets you to the top of matriarch. From the top, scramble to another rappel (bolts?) and then walk over to another drop off. You must downclimb to another set of bolts that is hard to see from above. Downclimb on the crest, nice fixed sling and cracks for downleading. Rappel from anchors to another set of bolts in notch. (look up to find them) Pretty much a full ropelength gets you up 5.4-ish ground to the steep and blank looking wall. There are bolt anchors about 20 feet from this wall. 3 or 4 closely spaced new bolts allows easy aiding over this blankness and a sling belay right on top and then some more scrambling to the top of macabre tower. Walk over to a bolted rappel anchor and about 40 feet to another bolt anchor in the notch. This next part is confusing. We climbed up and wrapped the rope around a big horn for a belay. Then we traversed from just below the summit of the dome and downclimbed somewhat dirty slabs to big cleft chimney and flat area. Our friends traversed in from lower and seemed to have a cleaner time, coming in from just above the cleft. A rappel off of pin and bolt or something else gets you down to some dirt. I think it was a 100 foot rappel. The going up ahead to grimface looks grim, but it is not as bad as it looks. There is a steep and thin looking ridge that you can easily cross via a gulley then it is a walk to the base of grimface SE notch route. One pitch of easy then a little bit of dirt walk to another pitch or two of chockstone filled chimneys and such. Could have used a larger cam in there but you could get by without with a little running it out. Top is nice and flat. Descent: There are several cairns that show the way down. STICK CLOSE TO THEM! The way down is full of several little drop offs and is more of a maze. But the cairns will get you down the right way, even when it seems to go the wrong way. Lots of little 4th class bits and a single rappel bolt for one tricky part. This gets you down to dirt and a small trail traverses over another ridge to more dirt and a final shot down scree and little flowers a long way to the meadows. Expect a longer time than one would think for the day. Maybe 10 to 12 hours depending. 1 hour if you last name is croft. The guidebook says 5.7 but I am not sure where that was. It was mostly low 5th. We used one 8.8 mm 50 m rope. We had one person tie in the middle and the other tie into both ends. This way we had two 25m ropes for leading short pitches (which most of them are) and able to rappel the many short raps. My rack consisted of: set of nuts (not used very much), tricams (pinkie to violet, fairly used), hexes (#4 through 8, used heavily), #1 and #2 tcu (use a couple times). Would have been nice to have either a BIG hex or a 3 camalot for the se notches grinface pitches. If you want the 5.8 hand crack on matriarch, then you will need a couple hand sized pieces. There is a possibility of thunderstorms in this country. Our third day in the area had lightning at 10am. There are numerous possibilities for bailing from the traverse down gullies between summits. (will probably involve a few raps though) There are lots of potential for new routes in the area. Everywhere, solid looking granite. SE chimneys look sweet. I bet it would be very nice up there after the first cold snap kills all the mosquitoes, maybe early September? Sorry about lack of photos but the website doesn’t seem to want my photos today. Will try to post them later as well as a scanned topo map. Gear Notes: nuts, tricams, tcu, hexes, 8.8 mmx 50m rope Approach Notes: see above

I've had stuff stolen at the smoke bluffs and the apron. Also index. I didn't think snow creek had such a problem. I have witnessed some break ins at the north side of baker TH and heard about one at sulphide TH.

I have had a couple la sportiva shoes (never owned trad master) do the same thing. When they were resoled, the soles stayed on fine. Bad glue?

ditto with the two previous repies. 17 to 20 feet of 7mm perlon cord. This will very often become rappel anchors so skip the spendy stuff. I would also reccomend that a climber carry two cordelettes, for anchors (7mm) and rescue situations (6mm fine). You would be surprised how much cord you could go through.

plus if one rope is cut, then the other may save you. These ropes have less resistence to cutting than single lines. yeah you will fall farther if one cuts.

Not two hardman, but just three normal guys not smart enough to realize how much traversing and walking we were getting into.

thanks for the advice. I was actually thinking of chamois and not anderson river mtn. who says this site is full of trash talk? good info! gene

I was wondering about the access to the Anderson river mtn area. I know what is said in the alpine select guidebook but has things changed since then? I seem to remember hearing that the gate situation is different. Hopefully for the better? Also, how is the road situation? Still drivable in 2wd to 25K mark? thanks a ton, gene

Climb: Mt Buckner-N face Date of Climb: 6/24/2006 Trip Report: So here is a TR from a trip that Alex K, Scott and I did this last weekend. Sorry about no photos, but my partners had the technology. Maybe later, scott will drop some photos in here. We got a late start to the trip on friday cause Alex is a decent man and had to entertain friends who flew into town. So we pulled into marblemount ranger station around 11pm and couldn't find a self register permit. Bah with permits! We crash out at BB TH along with 5 other people whom we wake up. Three guys are off to boston peak and the other two are in stealth mode and keep their destination a secret. Saturday: Morning comes way to early as Alex is cracking the whip on us to get up. We are off on the trail around 5am, an hour after the other groups. A pretty steady clip gets us to BB in 2 hours and Alex is not ready for a break. The whipping starts again as he marches uphill. The sharkfin col in another hour. A quick half rope rappel onto the glacier and we are off to buckner, with Alex in the lead again. whipping continues and becomes the theme for the day. Another couple of hours of constant rightward traversing and we are at the bottom of Buckner. So what is it with our north faces? How come they all seem to get sun all day long? (maude seems the same way) Where are the constantly shadowed and frigid north faces that spring fear? Maybe they need to be steeper. The N face has been in the sun since sunrise and the snow is sloppy. Nice slough grooves in the face. We unrope and start to kick buckets up the left side of the face. Alex is finally getting worn down so we trade off for a little till he recharges and attacks the slope again. We manage to find one small ice blob for a couple sticks but the route went mostly as shin to knee deep snow. We manage to pull over the top around 3:30pm and crash out on the summit. There are very few entries in the summit register, something like 5 a year. strange for a "select route". So descend or bivy? Even though we have plenty of time to descend, we decide to bivy on the summit. I am so tired by this point so I like the idea of hanging out. A nice platform was carved out of a wind scoop and some good lounging is had. Later on in the year, I don't think there would be a good bivy spot up there. Scott's snoring doesn't wake either Alex or me up. Sunday: We pack it all up and head down into horshoe basin in great plunge stepping snow, still a little soft from the high reezing levels. But the problem is that now we have to traverse rightwards more and then hike UP again to get to sahale arm. When will it all end? Eventually, we got to the upper part of sahale arm, then down to some meadowed part of the arm, where a strangly confident marmot gets within a foot of Scott. The marmot wants his apple. Or maybe his blood. It took all three of us to chase the little bastard back into his hole. The rest of the hike is uneventful except for being busted by a park ranger for not having a camping permit. He lets us off this time. 34 switchbacks down the cascade pass trail. Icecream, burgers and asleap at home. Oh yeah, it was a good one. Looking back at the trip, I really liked to way we did it. Carrying minimum gear and sleeping were ever is convienent or possible. Doing loops to see new terrain instead of returning the climbing route. Getting a early start and getting mellow in the late afternoon instead of busting ass all day. This is a route that should see more traffic as it is possible by a majority of climbers with alpine interest. It is not such a "hardman route" but rather lots of alpine travel and a endurance burn. Heck, if I can do it two months after a climbing accident that broke my lower vert and forearm, then why couldn't most people? Gear Notes: 2 tools, crampons, glacier travel gear. Approach Notes: Road is open. trail is pretty much snow free to boston basin camp, then all snow till sahale arm.

These stores have lots of employees with varying expertise and skills. Might be a good idea to flat out ask when you go in, "I have challenging feet to fit, who here is the boot expert?" I have a pair of garmont towers that I like. Got them at FF. They fit a bit snugger than the la sporti trango s. More of a "boot is one with foot" feel instead of sloppy. I have a low volume foot. Don't know what type of technical climbing you are looking for, but it will be challenging to find a decent mountaineering boot that will be comfortable with a 15 mile approach. The more technical the climb, the less comfortable the boot is for walking. And of course, vice versa. You might want to consider hiking in approach shoes and carrying the mountain boots cause if such a boot existed, we would all have one. Good luck with your boot buying and let us know if find a good one. I'll buy it

As mentioned above, depends on the time of year and luck. I have been on it in late june and it was definately nice to have the extra tool. We barely squeeked by without any gnarly ice climbing but a week after, serious ice falls would have been required climbed to get through the upper schrund. Better to be prepared for gnar-gnar than to have to bale because of terrain/gear issues. Or worse, some climbing rangers hinted that one of the deaths years ago on lib ridge may have a lack of second tool as one of the factors. There is very little doubt as to the descent option. Going back down the glacier is plain stupid. The crevasses are plenty and chaotic. The ground is steep. It is hardly a "glacier route" in the typical nature of glacier climbs. I have never been on lib ridge so I can't compare the two. But from other people's descriptions of lib ridge, I would say that adams glacier is harder. A fine route.

What is the brew pub in downtown mt vernon? skagit river brew pub? They got great pizzas, burgers and such and of course, beer. Well worth the wait of 30 minutes or so over the "good food".

What are your expectations from a climbing store? Me thinks you expect too much. I have had great service from all three stores you mentioned, especially when I knew what I wanted. If the store doesn't have the type of shoe you want, then why blame the help? On an unusual side note, while having excellant help at FF and marmot, a saleperson at REI did the best job with a thorough education on physiology of foot beds. Unfortunately I forgot all the info.

I know it is not close but would be worth the drive for sure, the classic routes at washginton pass in july through september. Also, prime rib on goat wall is pretty good, very well protected bolts, and fairly alpine. Not a bad weekend area from tacoma. I enjoyed the improbable traverse on guye peak in sno pass. The traverse is very protectable and not as bad as it looks. Ingals peak would be an excellant choice too, as mentioned above. The farther north you go,the more good routes are available. so get used to driving.

I like the ushba handle-less ascender. The crazy czeck who owns the climbing store in squamish swore by it and it is very smooth. I have used the rock exotica (petzl now) microsender with good results too. heard good things about the yates. I assume you are talking about solo tr'ing? Not solo leading?

Solid rock climbing skills are a must. As ovious or inobvious as it may be, go cragging lots. Learn rock skills in a controlled environment with fewer complications. People who want to skip the cragging apprentieship and jump right into the alpine world as asking for epics or worse. For example, one could learn to tele in the back country but learning is accelerated in a ski area. Same is true for alpine rock. Second, don't underestimate the back country survival skills. Simple hiking in rough terrain, camping in various enviroments and dealing with a slew of hazards and inconviences are not to be underestimated. So my advice to get out in the hills and move around. Work the legs. Live in the wilds. Like mentioned above, a key element of good alpine rock climber is the ability to solo 4th class terrain. Speed is safety and belaying easy ground will chew up the day. A pro course will do you good as long as you take what is taught and do it afterwards. Don't let months go by after the class or you may forget. Also, don't get in over your head assuming you have skills. Start small, make small increments in difficulty and you hopefully will have a long climbing career. One last bit of advice, keep aware of safety 100% of the time. 99% is not enough as that 1% will catch up to you. Did to me.

start in squamish and stay there for a week. Work your way down the cascades, doing whatever suites your skills and desires. After rainier, turn the van north and go to the bugaboos for a week. While in the area, climb Sir Donald. While in the area, climb every cool thing that is up there. Actually, start in squamish and head to the canadian rockies. Forget about our foolishness. Oregon will be too hot. Yosemite in summer will be yosemite in summer. BC and alberta is where it is at in the summer. just my 2 cents. gene

Anybody have a estimate for a time when the insects are not bad at clean break? before June and after September?

Even with all the people, that is one cool looking camping spot. I am not up on my everest info, but is this the high camp for the standard route? The slope above looks gnarly for a oxygen deprived foo.

glad to hear you are ok. Is it me or this turning out to be a more than usual, year of trauma for climbers in washington?

Hells Highway is the major glacier chute between the sulphide and curtis glacier. It is called hells highway due to the bizarre tortured crevassed nature there. Hells highway is definately not the flat part of anything. Hourglass is a steep gulley to the left of hells highway (maybe four hundred yards) that has some thick waterice in the winter (visable from ski area) and holds snow for part of the summer. A spicier alternative to the highway. As per Beckey guide.

Pickets....but what the heck do I know about them since I have never been in there.