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telemarker

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Everything posted by telemarker

  1. The Ice Cliff Glacier will eventually slide in its entirety at some point soon. I hope I'm climbing the North Ridge when that happens!
  2. You bring the cabbage and I'll supply the hammers next time you're over.
  3. Badass! Nice going you guys! Nice topo and all, but it still doesn't explain Brexit.
  4. Wow! Nicely done! Stuart to Sherpa is easy. Sherpa to Argonaut isn't. But someone with your drive I bet you could suffer through.
  5. It's been cold on the east side all spring. Very little freeze/thaw happening. Not surprising there's no ice yet.
  6. I climbed this once and was entirely uninspired compared to all the other offerings nearby. I wouldn't climb it again. But oh well. It's there, and an alternate way to access the second/third pitch of Midway etc. if Midway and/or South Crack are bottlenecked. But then again if that's the case, you can always climb Rainshadow. Again, I don't want to be critical of those people out there expanding our Leavenworth climbing options on their own time and money. I'm just not sure it was necessary to forge a line up in that exact spot. Lord knows I've spent a lot of time at Castle, and to me this route just seems sandwiched and out of place. Just my stupid opinion.
  7. I love discussions like this. Maybe I'm missing it but It seems that everyone is assuming death as a result of high risk acceptance. Of course that isn't always the case, and in fact in the majority of accidents, injury due to high risk is the more likely result. The more important question is whether you can live with the results of your decisions if you don't die but instead have lifelong debilitating injury? Quinn Brett I don't know Quinn, but she seems like an amazing athlete and even more amazing person. But she took big risks and it went wrong. In my own personal risk assessment when climbing and skiing I worry more about not dieing than dieing.
  8. "Agreed that climbing is far from the most important thing in the world....." really?! I didn't get that memo.
  9. The DNR land near Klamath Falls is great for a Midway bivi. But that's assuming you go down Hiway 97, which I like so much more than I-5. That's good info about Shasta.
  10. I was up there last week and it was bad. Parties were using wands for the approach to the Beckey route. Bring a PLB and an O2 canister. You may be able to get by with an N95 facemask.
  11. Ivan nailed it. I do this approach about once a year, and each year the trail gets easier and easier to follow. This year I found it as easy as ever to follow. More Cairns are popping up, and the trail is more trodden. My rule is if at any point you lose the trail, head towards the creek.
  12. It's interesting how some of the routes on upper Castle get upgraded bolts and others don't. Like P2 of Canary, or the bolt on Old Grey Mare, or the bolt just over the roof on Satanic Verses. But on the south face of jello tower still has an ancient bolt. I'm also curious about the two different bolts on the start of Rainbow Connection. The right one is only about 3 years old. The right bolt start is fun climbing if somewhat easier than the left start.
  13. The new route is verye reminiscent of the lower castle mixed gear/bolted routes like PG Advised and Smut. In fact, it's about as hard as Smut and about the same length.
  14. I wrote this on the Sherpa thread: friend and I climbed Full N. Ridge yesterday approaching from the North and descending the Sherpa. The glacier is in excellent condition still. A super easy end run around the bergschrund-skier's right- is still possible. No rappel shenanigans needed! Gorgeous day in perfect weather with no one around! Also, almost all the snow on the ridge is melted, though there are patches lingering g that can be easily avoided. The same patches are very convenient for refilling your water, however. There was one patch on the upper ridge just past the notch that you have to post hole through, but it's minimal and should be gone in a couple days.
  15. A friend and I climbed Full N. Ridge yesterday approaching from the North and descending the Sherpa. The glacier is in excellent condition still. A super easy end run around the bergschrund-skier's right- is still possible. No rappel shenanigans needed! Gorgeous day in perfect weather with no one around!
  16. Absolutely. If you consider ratings are based on an onsight lead, then almost all the routes at Castle are sandbagged big time. Launch into an onsight lead of Rainbow Connection and see if it feels 5.11a. I think that what the book rates it. Or Hangdog. Brass Balls. As for SCW, Mary Jane dihedral's 5.9 rating does not feel soft at all. And Orbit also feels pretty true to grade. The flake that broke off on OS is at the end of the traverse, where you have to start to make the face moves above the traversing crack.
  17. Here are a few photos from the NW Hikers site, from 6/4, so I bet it's even more melted out. My guess is that's it's in great shape to climb. http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8024338
  18. Ah! Thanks for the info. I'll have to take a lap on it.
  19. A new bolted route has gone up between Midway pitch one chimney and Winter Solstice pitch one. I'm not being judgmental here, as I have not climbed it yet. It may be a fantastic pitch of climbing. I don't know. But it does seem to be in an odd location, so close to Winter Solstice, you can use the first few bolts of this new route if you climb WS. I'm just a little ambivalent about this new addition, and it does look out of place with the rest of the upper Castle routes. I'm curious who did this one.
  20. I'll see it tomorrow. That's why I am urging all other climbers to steer clear of the route. I'm taking one for the team. I'll report back.
  21. I heard it's now a 5.11+ deadpoint to a sloping hold that you have to lock off on. To all those thinking of climbing outer space this weekend take note!
  22. From two weekends ago. Emerald Falls, Banks Lake. Photo by Bill Wicheta.
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