telemarker

Thanks.

Trip: Dragontail and Prusik Combo - Serpentine Arete and West Ridge Date: 6/18/2008 Trip Report: Years ago I learned of a local climber who soloed these two routes, and it's been in the back of my mind ever since though as an unattainable goal. With a few more years under my belt and a few trips up both routes, I thought it was high time I give it a shot. Reading the recent thread on solo climbing stoked the fire even more. This is Serpentine Arete: The extent of my soloing prior to this were Givler's Crack, Midway Direct, Prusik W. Ridge and Ingalls S. Face. I was hiking by 7:30am, circled the deserted Colchuck Lake and was at the base of Serpentine by 11am. The only other climbers was a solo dude slogging up NBC, and a couple climbers descending the glacier. I love this view or Rainier: At the crux, I chose the right-most crack. I've never really felt comfortable with the flaring central crack. If you've climbed this route, you know that these next few pitches are the best on the climb. If you look closely, you can see the two climbers glissading down the glacier. It pretty much went great and in three hours I topped out, enjoying the quiet summit. I spent about 20 minutes lounging around, then hiked over to the base of Prusik, getting there an hour and a half later. I briefly contemplated climbing Solid Gold, the only obstacle being that the climb is about 11 letter grades above my ability. I settled on the West Ridge instead. I scrambled up the flawless ridge, and popped up on the summit 30 minutes later. Looking north, I thought it would be nice to descend through Sheild and Mesa lakes, then out via the Toketie drainage to complete the loop had I had a way to get back to my own vehicle. I took in the view of The Flagpole, where Kyle and I were just four days ago. Four raps later I'm back at the pack and slog back across the plateau and down Aasgard. I get a burst of energy thinking of successfully pulling off this link-up on my own with time to spare, and am able to jog down the trail getting to the car right at dark.

Wow, you guys covered a lot of ground up there. Nice meeting you. What happened to Prusik?! No legs left?

Congrats on your climb! I have a lot of fun on that route. Is it snow free?

Hey, nice meeting you guys too. How'd the link-up go for you guys?

Kyle and I finished the Flagpole yesterday in perfect conditions. This additional information will hopefully fill in the gaps about this climb. The approach is very easy on the west side of the W. Buttress of Little Annapurna. Look for easy class 3 ledges leading straight to the Flagpole. This approach makes this climb an easy day trip. Now that the flake has been "cleaned", there is a wide crack that you must use to make a few free moves to the finishing arete. We protected it with a #6 camalot and it worked great. Top anchor is a rusty 1/4 inch bolt, a solid knifeblade and a shiny new bolt. Combine Flagpole with the S. Face of Little Annapurna, which we climbed in two pitches of 5.8 on excellent rock. 16.5 hours car to car.

The climbing is okay leading up to the Flagpole. Nothing remarkable. Mostly broken, a few 5.8 moves at most. As far as bolting Flagpole in, "different spots," I think it would be a shame to turn it into swiss cheese just so it can be free climbed. If anything, if you feel ambitious upgrade the existing bolts and try to free it.

I agree. Crystal Creek basin is indeed gorgeous, but it leaves you a long way from the Flagpole.

Yep, that makes more sense to me. If you were to blow it above that bolt before stuffing a cam into the crack, you'd definitely ground out on the slab below the belay. Your partner must have almost landed on you then!

Ouch! What part of the first pitch did this happen? The slab moves above the bolt on the second pitch of Yard Art get your attentilon! And I would agree, Peek-a-boo tower is a blast, and a great little summit.

Thanks. There are just small patches left around the lake now...Probably be gone in a week.

Trip: The Enchantments - The Flagpole Date: 6/7/2008 Trip Report: Apparently, the Flagpole is visited by more birds than humans. However, with yesterday's gusting cold winds, no bird would be stupid enough to be anywhere near the Flagpole. So many trips have been inspired by thumbing through the Beckey alpine guides. These days, as many trip ideas are sparked by browsing John Scurlock photos. This photo in his archive, I noted an easy looking gulley down the west shoulder of Little Annapurna that led to an easy traverse to the Flagpole. Four years ago, we approached the Flagpole up Ingalls Creek then up Crystal Creek. From there, we ascended the east side of Pennant Peak via a circuitous, non-obvious route. This approach made it impossible to knock off Flagpole in a day. So, with this new look at Flagpole courtesy of Scurlock, Kyle Flick and I knew we could climb the Flagpole in a day. The only unknowns were the bolts being old and the hangers too small to accomodate carabiners, and the top anchor. So, we hoarded our Neutrinos and headed out hoping for the best given the iffy forecast. It was gusty from the get-go, and cold. The forecast was right in predicting the wind, but wrong on the precip. The clouds seemed to dissipate in an apparent line right at Dragontail Peak. We started out from the car around 4.30am hitting this overly familiar trail up to Colchuck Lake. This was Kyle's 4th trip up there this year, and my 3rd. We're creatures of habit. The cold temps made for perfect cramponing. Kyle declared it, "Good neve." At the top of Aasgard the cold wind gusts seemed to be sustained and unrelenting. We were pleased to see that looking east there was sun and broken clouds, so we had hope for the Flagpole. We dropped down an easy snow gulley west of Little Annapurna and descended about 800 feet down around a rock rib. This placed us about 1,000 feet to the base of the climbing. An easy ascent put us at the start of the climbing, which was a pitch and a half to the base of the Flagpole. The second pitch to the notch was eye-opening. I climbed a tricky slab with no pro other than an old funky bolt. After that, it was an easy romp to the belay just below the Flagpole. The biting wind was our constant companion, our only comfort being that the sun was making its way around to us. Still, it was cold. I climbed up to the top of the pedastal just below the first bolt of the bolt ladder. I was balanced on this pedastal trying to extract the useless tat hitched to the hangar, fighting to maintain my balance and fear. Looking down the east side of this pedastal is a loooong drop, the west wind trying to topple me over. It took some time to get rid of the rotten webbing and finally put my own cord in its place. From there it was bolt to bolt aiding, using my cord or a rivet hangar, whichever seemed better at the time. On the fourth bolt which is reached by a tension traverse, there was an old oval jammed into the hangar cemented there. This put a bad outward torque on the old bolt, so I didn't spend too much time on this one. Between the 5th and the 6th bolt I had to top-step to reach it (I'm 6'2", with an ape index of 6'7") right at the end of my reach. I noted there is obviously a bolt missing something to keep in mind if you want to climb this. I reached the 8th and seemingly final bolt of the ladder which was a rusty "Beckey Bolt" but with a hangar that took real carabiners! There is a wide crack that leads to the final arete to the top, and I placed a nut in an adjacent flake to see if I could see if there was anymore pro up higher around the arete. As I weighted the stopper, the flake popped sending me for a ride. I had time to think, "Gee, this will be interesting to see if the bolt(s) hold a fall..." I came to a gentle stop ten feet later. Kyle says he's okay but that the flake (about 2 fweet in diameter and sharp) landed a couple feet from him-the good news-but that it landed squarely on the ropes-bad news. He lowers me and we inspect the double ropes. They both have multiple core shots. We flake both of them carefully and end up cutting the ropes about five times where we see the core. We coil up both ropes and use what we can to rappel, using the extra pieces as rappel cord. In two rappels we're at the base of the climbing and back to our gear. We're a bit shaken up as Kyle states that moments before the fall he was sitting right where it landed. We could only imagine had he been injured what a rescue would have been in cold conditions in such a remote location. It was a vivid reminder of the dangerous game we play sometimes out there. We pack up our stuff relieved but also bummed at not making the summit. We still feel fortnate to be out there. We decide to exit out the gulley that cleaves Little Annapurna. We top out on this easy couloir and run over to the summit of Little Annapurna the wind gusts beating us down the whole time. In fact, there was no respite from the wind the entire day until we got down to Colchuck Lake. The long trudge around the lake and down the trail deposited us at the car at 11.30pm, 19 hours after leaving. A few too many photos of the trip: Hiking towards Little Annapurna, with McClellan Peak in the background Hiking up Little Annapurna Heading down the gulley west of Little Annapurna The Flagpole in the middle of the formation Kyle at the second belay Me contemplating the first bolt. What you don't see is the unrelenting wind The tension traverse the next bolt South of Little Annapurna Looking West towards Stuart Exit gulley Top of Little Annapurna Walking towards Aasgard Backside of Dragontail

I had a long day planned, on a super cool formation in da Alpine. Anyway, long story short, friend contracted MRSA or something, and I gotta have a climbing fix tomorrow. I had a long alpine day planned, rock, and would be fine doing that. Or, I am up for a long, fun day of cragging. Either/or. But would rather get up high somewhere around Leavenworth. So, you can PM me or call: 5096999810. I have a number of idears. Hit me with yours and we can find something fun to do. John

Hey, for those of you who were tromping round up there lately, is Aasgard Pass still a continuous ski down to the lake? Can one skin around the lake for that matter, or is it melted out on the trail? Thanks for any info! John

I think I would beg to differ on this. What better route to bivi on with solid rock, easy fun climbing, straight forward hauling on the Gendarme and perfectly situated bivi sites. I think the route is taylor made for bivi-ing, especially if you're new to long alpine routes. Plus, if you started from the toe of the buttress, I couldn't think of a better way to spend 2 1/2 days or so. Personally, however, the FNR makes for an incredible day climb, something I would have no problem repeating every year!

There's still a bit of ground to cover to the summit at that point, that includes a tricky downclimb to the last short 5.9 pitch, so it makes sense to bivi there, especially if prepared to do so. It's on the W. side of the ridge.

There's a great bivi site convenienty located at the top of the second Gendarme pitch. Plenty of room, and by the looks of it, frequently used.

Let me update this...Raining in Leavenworth...Frenchman's?

Kinda last minute! I have the day off Friday. Anyone got it open? Got a few fun ideas, off the beaten path...Lots of good stuff up high! Give me a ring: 5096999810

We saw this little cutie along the Snow Crik Trail yesterday. In fact my friend almost stepped on it...

Does anyone think the avy danger for Saturday would be equally applicable to Aasgard Pass as it would be towards the crest? Aasgard appears to be a lot more wind scoured all winter long, and I suspect the snow depth much less than on the crest. Since there's no shortage of assholes on this site, I would suspect there would be an equal abundance of opinions on the matter.

BCW! Friends and I have climbed that Pedastal a few times now, via a nice off-width, on the left side. We've approached the pedastal by way of a corner/ramp, dirty and loose, but with some fun moves. We always eye that traverse left off the pedastal. Plus, there's a thin, disappearing crack straight up the headwall that looks like aid, at least to my eyes. I think I might get up there again this spring. A few photos of our forays....

Fun TR and nice photos. Nice shot of the disappearing orchards. The state park ranger is very responsive to climbers, and kept the Pinnacles open at our request for an extra few weeks last fall. Kyle Flick and I went back to Butter Brickle couple weekends ago for a quickie pitch. Kyle feels compelled to lead this, and for good reason. Great exposure, fun jamming, good(ish) pro, and balancy hueco climbing. Though the bolt anchor is 3/8", I was able to move them with my fingers. If you wanted to top rope lap BB, and the adjacent face, there's a crack that takes extra gear to back up the bolts.

Geeze! Mt. Stuart will have moguls soon. Nice trip! Your ascent route looks a little circuitous!

I have the day off if anyone is interested in getting in a full day of Icicle or Tumwater cragging. Castle Rock? Or anywhere up high in the Icicle! I'm open for either. PM me or phone: 5096999810 John