telemarker

You better savor that one, eh?

FWIW this deep into the weekend, Leavenworth air was crystal clear today. I imagine it will be just as good tomorrow!

It's gotten bad again. Wenatchee is back to Hazardous (my eyes and throat are burning), and Leavenworth is Unhealthy. Click on the link I provided in the previous post for updated AQ reports.

I was out yesterday after work and it was fine. Of course, I was breathing Hazardous air for two straight weeks, so my baseline may be lower than yours. But the air has cleared considerably in Leavenworth. I think the web cams are a bit deceiving. It's better than it looks.

Thank God! Leavenworth is looking much better: Air Report Health Dist.

I've started putting smiley chalk faces on all the rock that's safe to pull on.

What's with this trend of marking loose rocks with a big chalked up "X" caked on it? C'mon, cut that crap out. Especially at the crag. I'd rather look at Geoff's cigarette butts at the base of the climbs than that stupid-ass graffiti telling me that a pebble might come loose!!! If you want to feel heroic, buy yourself a year's supply of chalk, go to Sunshine Wall and knock yourself out. Leave Leavenworth out of this stupid practice. okee doke!

Climbers are generally very fit individuals. Climbing in a little smoke won't kill you. I've been climbing this week and feel fine, other than the random bloody nose and pounding headache I got today. You'll be fine...

Oh yeah! Tom was grumbling loudly as he tip toed through that section. And on the last couple placements to M &M ledge he swore off aid climbing altogether.

Well, it's been a process, but... Starting out in 2005, I've been trying to finish this stupid route. This weekend it finally happened. For a small wall, Thin Red Line sure feels bigger. It is distinctly different than Liberty Crack. I'll leave it at that. My friend Tom Michael and I climed it over two days 9/16 to 9/17. We fixed up to pitch 5 on the first day, then sent the rest on Tuesday. I had the privilege of meeting badass Darin Berdinka on the wall as well. Thin Red is quite the route up to M & M ledge. So, basically, 8 pitches of aid, french free, and free. We used both the new Supertopo guide (Tom bought the E-Version) and the Mike Schaefer Version . Personally, I preferred the simplified, easy-to-read Schaefer topo, as it proved to be more accurate in terms of fixed pro, route finding and grading of each pitch. My other musings are: **From the anchors at the top of pitch 4 (arching corner pitch), two 70m ropes will get one back to the ground, tied together and tieing in to the anchors on the way down; **pitches 7 & 8 can be combined with a 70m to M &M ledge, preferable to avoid another hanging belay; **M & M Ledge would make a miserable place to bivi, and dangerous to those below; **The sustained steepness of the route is 2nd to none! **There is fixed pro, but not a lot of it. But, the heads are in a helluva lot better shape than its neighbor LC; **There is a lot of climbing left once you reach M & M ledge. If you're hauling big wall style, then the last 500' will be pure hell and hauling will be next to impossible. Tom and I climbed both classics on NEWS on Sunday (W. Face and NW Corner). With a 70m rope, we were able to climb the W. Face in 3 pitches and the NW Corner in 2. Tom warming his hands on the big ledge: Me higher on the thin crack of the W. Face: Tom starting out on the Freedom or Death first pitch on Monday. Fun climbing on bolts, 5.10: Me higher on the pitch: Me on the 2nd pitch, which a lot goes free and french free: Tom cleaning the classic pitch 3 corner on TRL: Tom turning the roof on pitch 4: Tom cleaning the pitch 5 funky arching corner: Tom getting ready to commit to the 5.9 big wall mantel at the start of pitch 5, start of our 2nd day: Me cleaning the double roof pitch 5: Tom traversing to the nice but small ledge at the top of pitch 6: After a ton of mid-5th climbing after M & M ledge, we reach the top: Completing this route was very satisfying, remaining unfinished business since 2005. It was bittersweet as my long-time climbing partner Kyle Flick, who failed with me each time on this route, was not able to join me. But damn, it sure feels good to check this one off!

The smoke is terrible, the particulate count hazardous. I'd recommend you wait until next July to climb in Leavenworth again. If you are in the Seattle area, please tell all your climbing friends the bad news as well. Haha I should have known this is the response I would get. I understand us city slickers are not welcome No, don't get me wrong. Seattle climbers are great! I'm just trying to save you a wasted trip over here, considering the high cost gas these days.

The smoke is terrible, the particulate count hazardous. I'd recommend you wait until next July to climb in Leavenworth again. If you are in the Seattle area, please tell all your climbing friends the bad news as well.

This was a film produced by Steve Marts, of Jim Wickwire, Dusan Jagersky and Al Givler. Givler and Jagersky fell and died on the descent. Steve's sister in Wenatchee has a copy of the film, on VHS, as well as a lot of Steve's produced works. I remember that as a pretty somber film.

How'd you arrive at 6 pitches? Like the idea though! Both routes can be done in three, rope stretching pitches with a 60m, with a wee bit of simul climbing on the first pitch up to the large alcove. When we going to climb something?!

Sol, it's a classic if you link it up with the West Face route a well. Do the W. Face first, and if you rappel and scramble fast enough back to the NW Corner, it can feel like a continuous, 6 pitch route.

Admit it Chris. You've started chain smoking in your rig! The crappy part of the other breakin that Chris mentions is that it was a beater Toyota with obviously little to nothing of value amongst other vehicles with potentially more to steal.

I was on Backbone last Saturday. You will want crampons for the short hard snow traverse from the moraine to the rock. A fall there would ruin your day. The backside is straightforward heel plunging, as the snow was still soft. As an alternative for descent, I've gone around the backside of witche's tit and down blocky rock back to Asgaard, which is not that much of a deviation. Plus, it lets you avoid the hard snow/ice on the backside of D-tail.

Ballsy Dan, venture solo out on new-ish terrain! Coincidentally, I was right across the way from you taking a solo lap on Backbone to a deserted Dragontail summit. The days are just about perfect now, eh?

This happened at Hobo Gulch. I think around the climber's right side of the crag.

Wow, that 3rd photo sunrise shot deserves to be viewed super sized: Sunrise Photo

Thanks Scott. Rumor has it that you're projecting some of those hard cracks on Heather Ridge...Top secret? Like that unknown north facing couloir no one knows about?

A north side approach to access the half ridge gully entrance is most likely easier if approached by hiking all the way around stuart lake then up to the glacier. But if I were only climbing the half ridge, I would probably use the Ingalls approach.

Kyle and I went back to Stuart this past weekend, climbing the CNR and Sherpa with a bivi. Here's our conclusions on approaching Mt. Stuart from the north (stuart lake TH): **the Mountaineers creek trail is in great shape, with windfall affecting only a small portion of it; **the north side approach to the base of the north ridge was an hour faster for us than the Ingalls approach, with much less elevation gain/loss; **we climbed Sherpa's W. Ridge, then stayed pretty much on the ridge crest all the way to Sherpa/Argonaut Col. There was one section on the ridge east of Sherpa where we climbed around on the north side briefly, but it was pretty obvious where to go; **the most we dropped south of the crest was 200' or so, near the very end close to S/A col. **the former faint trail at the bottom of Sherpa/Argonaut col is obliterated with downfall. We found it was best to stay skier's left of the creek and slide alder. But still rough going with all the downfall. **The Mtnrs creek trail is very easy to find once you reach the junction of the two creeks. Reverse your approach from here back to the main trail. The trail is well cairned the close you get to the Stuart Lake super hiway. Is the north side approach better than the Ingalls? That's up for debate. If the deproach weren't so involved, it definitely would be (assuming late season and the sherpa glacier is out). If you want to include a summit of Sherpa and tons of 4th and mid 5th climbing along a scenic but dry ridge crest, then it beats the Crapcadian hands down. Unless your last name is Hirst or Martin plan on a bivi somewhere along the crest. There are some fine spots!

Thanks. We came upon that crevasse one at a time and had the same reaction: "Wow. That's kinda deep for the east side." I'm not entirely sure what the story is with those crampons. Ryan, I haven't known you to be grumpy and stubborn, so right there that disqualifies you from "old guy" status.

Trip: Mt. Stuart - Girth Pillar via the Lower N. Ridge Date: 7/29/2012 Trip Report: All too often I find myself appraising the worthiness of a climb based on its individual pitches. The headwall crack on Outer space, the off width crack on Backbone, the amazing granite top-out splitter on the Burgner/Stanley Route on Prusik, to name just a select few. I get so focused on the specific details of climbs, the approach and descent go by without my even noticing sometimes. Every now and then, a climb comes along and shakes me out of that inertia. Such was the Girth Pillar route on Stuart. From the approach to the descent, it demands every bit of your attention. Sure, you look at the guidebook and see "best route in the Cascades" status due to the fine rock and cracks of the pillar itself. But those jewels have a significant price for admission, one that you keep paying long after you've made the final jam on that amazing pillar. Kyle Flick, Chris Martin and I decided to launch an old guy assault on the Girth Sunday. Kyle headed up early on Saturday, while Chris and I took a few laps on Castle Rock with my friend Tom. The approach was characterized by unusually clear blue skies with no signs of thunderstorms. Here's my favorite view. You know the one, not too far after the junction, that puts a smile on your face. Chris and I connected with Kyle at Mountaineers Basin, and prepared to do battle with the mosquitos, I mean, the Girth. For this assault, we decided to use the less suicidal approach by taking the 3rd class ramp Kevin Newell and Eric Wehrly used in 2007 to access the upper Ice Cliff Glacier, located about 6 pitches up the lower north ridge. I had a really good idea of where that ramp was, and my suspicion proved to be correct. No pesky downclimbing, and the terminus of the ramp allows you to merely step on the snow with no moat hopping trickery. Chris led the way up the glacier. Kyle headed out with the approach ramp behind him. I had never been on the Ice Cliff other than winter, and was more than a little surprised at the depth of some of the crevasses. In addition to the pillar being guarded by a constant calving icefall, but too it is surrounded by a mountain of loose blocks. Climbing up to the start is slow and careful for us, until voila! you find yourself below the first pitch. Again, we're surprised at just how vertical and sustained the climbing is. This stuff is hard on old people. Chris leading out on the fun but tricky first pitch, made harder by seepage in crucial spots. With brute force he gets to the tiny ledge. I'm relieved to be able to climb pitch one on top rope. And in case you're wondering, yes, the crampons are still hanging there. I draw the second pitch, supposedly the crux. Maybe it was partially due to the involved approach and mentally taxing loose blocks, but all three pitches felt cruxy to us. More than once I find myself looking wistfully over to the upper North Ridge, bathed in sunshine, wishing I was over there climbing easily towards the top. The finger crux is thankfully short, allowing me to ungracefully french free a couple moves. The rest is fun but sustained finger locks and hand jams. Kyle finishing the last few locks. I get voted to lead the third pitch. This one is THE pitch to draw, though you can't go wrong with all three! This is steep hands forever. Perfect hands. Outer Space on steroids. I had two #2 camalots, but wished I had four of them. The top-out on this pitch is terrifying, but I'll let you find out why when you climb it. We top out the pillar with edgy relief, knowing that we're way behind schedule, with an indeterminate amount of mid-5th class climbing to do to get off this north side. And oh yeah, there's that minor detail of descending the Sherpa Glacier, most likely in the dark since it's already 7pm. The stress and shell-shock was written on our faces. We finally breach the ridge to the south side and get that expansive view we've been deprived of all day. The light and surroundings lets us relax, but only for a little bit. Mt. Stuart's shadow pointing the way back home to Cashmere. And the final shot before we descend to our descent path down Sherpa. Checkout the billy goat snowpatch. We can't shake these things, even up on Stuart! Downclimbing in aluminum crampons and guide tennies is not something I would recommend as a killer fun outing. Even less so over a gaping crevasse at the bottom should you make a simple mistake, like slip or something. We're able to finagle a way across the schrund around the extreme climber's right side, using a double rope rappel. I'm sure that will get complicated real soon once the collapsed debris falls in completely. Chris forges the way through this, and the rest of the descent is a snow slog with the occasional scree plunge back down to the bivi boulders. It's 12:30am by the time we reach camp, brew up dinner, and collapse in the sacks. Would I do this climb again? Absolutely! If it were right off the side of the road. But then, it wouldn't be even remotely similar, and realistically, we did not climb it in the style of the original party. Our take-away, however is that Girth Pillar is THE total alpine package that taxed our resolve, and has been sweetly savored in retrospect.