crazy_t

Hiked in Wednesday night and climbed Silver Star via Burgundy col Thursday. No snow until camp plateau, some dry flat patches melted out for tents. Didn't see water to pump nearby but didn't look too hard. The way up to the notch was about 1/2 dirt or rock and 1/2 snow. There was a small stream running, a good place to pump water about 1/3 the way up, on the side of the main snow patch in the middle. The snow was not ideal for travel even on a cold morning, but it went ok. Still good bits of snow on some of the spires, verglas n-facing. The snowfield-glacier was straightforward. As of Saturday probably 6-10" of fresh on the glacier from Thurs-Sat, with the next layer about a foot of semi mushy yet generally strong stuff. Good bonding in general. Getting up on the glacier the snowpack became firmer. From the col to the summit was great semi steep snow climbing. *Skiers + boarders- This would make a great descent. Thursday would have been good, but with snows th-sat maybe wait for 1 day of sun to consolidate things again first. Skiable terrain all the way from the summit blocks (so all but the last 10-15' vertical), at up to 45 degrees +/-. The upper glacier/bowl was looking ideal for turns, the last 1000' or more (going up)in nice shape. The snow continued a lot further down as well, though my guess is that it'd be getting more rotten w/ loss in elevation. A bit slabby in the gut of the main bowl but nice overall. We "tested" the upper slope all the way down to the plateau below the col with a large rock; no loose or slab propagation. It's a burl to get there but setting up a mega mid for a day of turns there would be pretty nice. Upper bit of descent recommended for strong skiers/boarders only; a fall from the upper mountain would be, on a scale from good to bad, bad. Liberty Bell + SEWS friday and saturday- approached from trailhead fri and hairpin sat. Blue lake side snow and dirt to meadow under slabs, the more snow, a lot of it rotten and postholey. Approached LB via boulders and snow, took a little while. Last bit to notch was all firmer snow, no need for crampons. From hairpin Sat was pretty good. Generally better snow, and a 90% glissadable downhill (watch for rocks)which saved a lot of time vs. the other side. Southern facing routes were generally dry, most N facing walls had a retained over the 2 days verglas in and around cracks, etc. S arete SEWS in good shape, a tiny bit of ice in the chimney, snow on the big upper ledges but all in all very easy going. Was pleased to meet a nice group of Mountaineers Saturday who, after the chimney, cruised the route in very good, efficient style (i.e. solo and with a fixed rope on the hand traverse) which got seven of them from the flat 100' above the top of the chimney to the summit in under an hour. They were also kind enough to let us pass. They were a credit to their group, and a nice change from what can sometimes be a cluster of confusion, over-sieged techniques and bossy leaders. Cheers to you guys! It snowed for about an hour each afternoon, and looked like more of the same moving in when we left. We got spanked by 6" of snow in 40 minutes while climbing the 5.6 chimney on the Beckey route Friday, but the route seemed to be back in shape again Saturday (via the view from SEWS). Felt nice to be in the hills and see some snow!

Nice job on Grandmother's Challenge. That crux is some awkward, pumpy stuff. Quality trad lead! I used to live in Eldo, wish I still did.

Thanks for the encouragement CB. Still hoping to hear from anyone who was up there last weekend or yesterday. Thanks!

You must be in a bad mood.

Has anyone been up to Washington Pass this week? I'm wondering about the approaches, route conditions, recommendations. My guess is that it's pretty dry? Thanks in advance.

exactly

No, really, it just takes money to get up those mountains- K2, Kanchen. Haven't you heard? What's an objective hazard? Motivation? Suffering? Strategy, technique? None of this big mountain bunk can compare to redpointing a bolted pitch of 5.14. We all really know that. Come on folks. Climb your own in your own style for your own reasons. And unless someone public is actually making a bs claim about their accomplishments or fucking with the rock or with others, what's it to you? Did Ed start this thread with some major boasting? No, it was just reported that he summitted Annapurna this time and had completed a publicly stated goal. This wouldn't be my ultimate goal in climbing, it may not even be Ed's but so what? I'll do my own thing. Who needs to waste time slandering these climbs? Especially while we're all sitting here on our asses now in front of a computer screen? Climbing is fun, it is varied, it is personal, we all value our own experiences with it. We should respect other's accomplishments too. No one says the world should bow down to Ed, or that he alone stands at the cutting edge of climbing today. But hell, it's a solid accomplishment. I say nice work completing it w/o O2- a huge difference and erring on the side of safety.

truly a blase accomplishment compared to successfully logging over 25,000 posts here, eh? Cheers to you both though!

Hard Grit.

Thanks for the info. A few ?s- did you go to the summit? If so, how were crevasses? How's the consolidation lower? Thanks.

Thanks guys. Ended up checking the weather 1 last time and seeing that it was going south, rescheduling for Mon-Tues. Some good suggestions, I've only done a couple of them. The aqueduct-LLady linkup is definitely an inspired option I hadn't considered.

Beautiful place, some of the best climbing in the state is on Prusik. South face 5.9 is a classic. It's a long hike in either way you go. You could do it in a long day, but then you would miss the chance to spend a little time up there. Friendly Dall sheep, beautiful lakes full of trout, classic white granite, limited # of permits daily so a really nice experience overall.

I was hoping to have a big day up at Washington Pass, but a sick tot is precluding the combined alpine start and early drive RT from Seattle. Does anyone know about approach and rock conditions for Darrington or Mt. Garfield? Or something else- hoping for a 1-2 1/2 hour drive then 1 hour or so approach to a long route, vs a 3-4 hour drive and longer approach. Snow Creek wall? Ideal would be 5-10 pitches up to easy 5.10 trad. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the reports. Sounds a bit funkier than I had hoped for. Anyone have recommendations for a good day tomorrow, maybe skiing just for approach to alpine rock? Washington Pass approach? It looks to be a warm one.

Thanks for the word. What day did you go up?

Has anyone been up Baker or the approach roads in the last couple of days? Or up to camp Muir? I'm considering a car to car Baker summit and ski descent tomorrow (Saturday 4-23), or a Muir snowfield ski. Or if anyone has beta on something similar that's in good shape, I'd appreciate it. Might be interested in carpooling with people with similar ideas too. Thanks!

http://www.aspendailynews.com/

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20050307/NEWS/103070007

shashlik i pivo

You'd definitely enjoy yourself there then. There's some rock climbing in the area, bouldering, and amazing alpine climbing in the Caucasus, although access for foreigners into some of the mountains directly next to or in Georgia has been more restricted lately. But shashlik and beer, with a view like that, is hard to beat !

a somewhat better view of Ushba, in winter. Approach for aforementioned route is via icefall on left.

Donguz-Arun (L peak) and Nakra-Tau ® sliding after a 5' storm. The ridgline is the Georgia border. Shot taken from a chairlift at the Cheget ski area, 10 mins from the base of Elbrus.

Ushba, a beauty. It lies in Georgia. Easiest route is on L ridge of L summit. The Ushba traverse is pretty burly. Unfortunately I only know this second hand!

Vid vsegda otlichno! Horoshije mestnije, shaslik vkusni. Ya vsegda rad, tuda vernutsja.

looking towards main Caucasus ridge