sverdina

thx

Looking to the southeast (I think) from Whirlwind Pk. (Spearhead Traverse). Shot taken from same location - view is just to the right of previous image.

How's this?

Well, I was thinking that, until we descended back to the car following trail the entire way. I found the trail relatively pleasant, definitely quicker, compared to the off-trail portion we followed early on our ascent. It probably isn't too bad, save for the unavoidable snagging of skis in the alder...axe & pickets gave us enough grief as it is. Once up in the basin, however, I quickly developed an appreciation for the area's touring potential...most notably, the S. Face of Gunsight (?) and the N. Face of Pt. 5842.

Highly recommend floatation...with this warmth, and last week's snow, it'll be nothing but bottomless mush down low, particularly in the afternoons. There was between 6 inches to almost 2 feet of wind-transported fresh on the slopes below Cashmere last Sat.

N. or W. Van...close to The Edge and Lighthouse Park & easy access to Rte.1

Attempted the route in early July a couple years ago (low snow year). We encountered steep, wet, and unconsolidated snow. Nobody, it appeared, had attempted the route yet. Whiteout & route finding issues eventually turned us back. Having successfully repeated the route in early August of that same year, I can say that ascending the Chimneys while they're free of snow is probably preferred. Winnies Slide and the Upper Curtis Glacier were also non-issues that year, though I suspect both generally go out-of-shape towards late Aug - Sept. But, then again, I know of at least one party that has skied (and presumably climbed) the chimneys in winter.

Had a partial MCL rupture similar to Doug's a couple years ago (felt a slight "pop"). Iced the knee and tried to keep it immobile as much as possible for the first week or so. Doc wanted me to walk on it ASAP to cut down on loss of mobility and so I did, though with some pain that gradually subsided. With the swelling gone, the doc wasn't able to detect any instability in the joint and cleared me to start some light physical activity. I was boarding again within 2 or 3 weeks after the injury...though with noticeable stiffness, and hesitation (ironicaly, I wasn't able to run yet). Just easy turns and definitley no jumping. The injury occurred just before xmas, and I didn't feel 100% in the knee for the remainder of the ski season. I think I did some cartilage damage that wasn't nearly as serious as the MCL tear, but still took a VERY long time to heal. The pain wasn't particularly bad, but it was enough to remind me that I had some damage in the knee & undermine my confidence while riding. Rode with a brace the entire following season. I continued to feel mild discomfort in the knee for about a year after the injury.

This Sunday. Never made it up out of the lower basin in early Dec. thanks to the slide alder. Hard to imagine the amount of snow required to make that slope passable.

Ahh...got it. Sweet flick indeed!

What video? Or is that the point?

Called the number and confirmed that this is definitely the skin Andy lost while we were up on Heliotrope Ridge a couple weeks ago. I'll let Andy know. Thanks!

Yep. PM me for details.

Any recent beta concerning Mary Green route? I gather that the snowbridge referenced earlier in this thread is all but gone now. Are there other ways to get on the rock? Other considerations worth mentioning?

Just teasing... It can be a freaky out there, especially if you get off route and spend an unplanned night on a ledge. The grief never seems to end. Not on the way up, and certainly not on the way down. The traverse back to the SK col also was quite a bit farther than I expected. Still, a classic tho...

Yeh, we found ourselves scoffing at your 5.8 a1 rating for that final move as well. Seriously, the route is a punisher. I'm walking like a 90 yr old today. What's the deal with the 2nd rap from the summit? Could it be any scarier?

Quite true...however, many would argue that this is exactly the sort of revitilazation the city/province needs. Logging & fishing is all but defunct. If it weren't for the sale of passports and investment brought in by wealthy Chinese, the province would prolly go broke. That being said, the olympics will sadly forever change the valley and draw increasingly more crowds to the slopes long after the olympics have ended.

Real estate is going to go through the roof. I guess now they have cause to seriously figure out what to do with Lions Gate Bridge, Sea to Sky Hwy and that shitty drive to the airport.

Good job! Most likely headed that way this weekend. What did you use for pro?

Snapped lower shaft of said poles. Any suggestions as to how to go about getting that one shaft replaced? Tried REI...they offered to inquire with BD (no word yet). Also had repair dept. dude check their misc. used parts bin...nuthin'. Thoughts?

Since you asked... Baker NR was serious work. Left car around 12:30am and made it to the summit at around 5:30pm. We were impossibly sloooooow! Some solid 60 - 70 ice getting up to the ridge. Chopper would visit us shortly thereafter. Then, took a wrong turn up there among the dripping seracs (same mistake Stanton made...go straight up! Duh!) and ended up climbing near vertical serac ice with horrifying exposure below. A fall on those screws...hmm...I'd rather not think about that. Beyond that, it was pretty much straight sailing on the easier but still steep and very exposed crest of the ridge...in soft (fresh?) snow. We were extremely exhausted by this point and in the interest of safety belayed/running belayed the entire route to the summit. My crampons were balling up big time, so that further added to the stress factor. It simply took us FOREVER to reach the summit. I thought it was never going to end. Kudos to Dan (Mystic Nacho) and Corey (Squid) for this was their "first alpine ice climb". I was blown away by the shit they were able to pull off with relatively minimal experience. I sucked my my 70oz water bladder dry shortly before reaching the summit, and I had a whopping two cereal bars before leaving the car, one snickers bar, and two gu's for the duration of that entire 20+ hour day, car-to-car. Oddly enough, I had enough energy to snowboard down from the summit at speeds bordering on reckless. Yeh, carrying that splitboard underneath that overhanging dripping serac was really fun! Scott and I skied down to where the trail enters the trees in like 30 - 40 minutes (~6000ft descent). At last glance, Dan and Corey were still working their way down the Roman Wall. Thoroughly crushed by the time we reached the car. Call in sick to work the next day.

Exactly! Had this ominous feeling that something bad was about to happen. Was on edge for the rest of the climb. Definitely put a damper on my enjoyment of the route.

So, was up on Baker NR on Monday. Got visited by the red/white rescue chopper while we were halfway up the ice cliff ~ 10am?. The chopper circled the mountain twice and stopped over the Coleman, apparently to see how we were doing. Looks like they were specifically looking for us, though I know of nobody that would have called in a "rescue". Is this a common occurrence? Kinda spooked me...

Original image here: http://www.sverdina.com/images/dload/wedge/pict0040.jpg Looks like there's some bigger peaks left (south?) of QB.

The image is actually cropped from a horizontal shot, showing much more of the horizon. As Dru suggested, more clues can be found there...