Juan
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Posts posted by Juan
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Hey:
I soloed Wy'East yesterday, and must have been above you on the ridge above the cliff. There was a pair that had skied up from Meadows, I believe, but they stopped on the ridge at about 10,700, I think, before descending.
I left Bellevue at 3:00, and started slogging up the ski slope at 8:15. I topped out at 2:30 and visited with a nice guy named Glenn Kessler. On the descent, I noticed a bunch of stuff falling on the ice cliff but didn't see anyone. Was that you?
The Wy'East was fun, and if you stay to the left for the final section, you can get into some WI2 for maybe 100 ft. before going into the 50 degree snow gully. I'd never done the route and really enjoyed it. I was glad to have two tools and steel crampons for that final bit. Otherwise it was mostly ski poles and one tool.
Glad you are O.K., and still have all your teeth! What a great day to play hookie.
Cheers,
John Sharp
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Hey Michael:
Thanks for the update. We were thinking of something on Dragontail, in which case we might go part of the way up Aasgard, and likely down it.
The ankle trap thing is a concern for sure. It just sucks to have a big pack and not be certain of your footing in the bouylders. Unfortunately, the forecast is not great for the west side of the range, which is making us think of something on the east side.
We'll see what the weather brings.
Cheers,
John Sharp
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Hey Colin:
Thanks for the update. It's too bad the gully isn't just on big nice firm snow ramp right now.
Thanks for the report!
John
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Hmmm. Hey Michael -- have you been up there in the last two weeks? Is it a major pain to get to the lake, then up Aasgard? It was a big drag in late Nov.
Thanks much,
John
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Still plowed to that point?
Thanks,
John
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Has anyone been up to the Cascade Pass parking lot in the last month and looked at the CJ Couloir. By any chance has this piece of shit gully filled in after last summer's huge melt?
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated,
John Sharp
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Hey Gator:
Would your observations apply to the Nisqually Icefall as well? I'm guessing they would. Two friends and I have been looking at it for this weekend, weather permitting.
Thanks very much,
John Sharp
Bellevue
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Any updates since 1/25. High pressure is coming.
Sharp
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I'll bet your nose is as good as any on here. I think I found the base in the fog 11 years ago in May. We didn't climb anything, but I do recall thinking we were right there.
Give us a TR.
Sharp
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This king seems to have studied the wicked ways of George Steinbrenner.
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Hey Goddess:
Do you work for Jeff Minzel? Just curious.
John Sharp
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That climb is so on my list.
Nice to meet up with you guys on the way down -- and thanks again for jumping my car battery.
Sharp
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Hey Kurt:
Good job. Julian Simon and I climbed the route on Thurs. 12/23. We left Seattle at 4:30 a.m., left the parking lot at 9:00, and topped out at 3:00. Back to the car at 5:00, and back in Seattle at 11:00 p.m. after eating at the Lodge.
The route was in great shape as you say, but our late departure from the parking lot meant that we got absolutely bombed with snow and ice balls from the second we dropped down onto the Reid. The Hourglass was great moderate climbing but also ridiculous in that we had to keep our heads down almost the entire time and just climb blindly upward. It was scary to lift your head to look where to go because you knew you'd get hit in the face. The spindrift and junk just bounced off our helmets and shoulders and hands and legs the whole way. I've never experienced anything like it in 20 years of climbing. Obviously, the sun was warming the ridges above us, and the high winds were blowing all that stuff around and down. Gravity did the rest.
It was an exhilerating day for a couple old house husbands despite bonking, cramping, and getting bruised and a little bloodied.
We wore our harnesses but never used the rope or any pro. Just two ice axes and crampons seemed fine. My 60 cm Air Tech Race and the 43 cm Grivel Third Tool were fine. Julian had better tools.
We all may have gotten the best of this route for a while if it snows now for real.
Cheers,
John Sharp
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Dude:
We were guessing you would be at the car at 10:00 p.m. at the latest. We turned around on the dog route after I added up the time it would take to get to the top and then back down, realizing that the hike out would be in the dark, and knowing that everything from the moraine on down to the car was slippery and crusty and really not very fun walking. Matt, who had never been to the Colchuck Lake area, was in agreement, but certainly wants to go back. Our objective was the same as yours -- it would have been my fifth time up the NBC I think. We sized it up as not being very fast yesterday.
Good job and I'm glad you made it out safely.
Cheers,
John
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Here's the skinny on Colchuck: The trail is covered in ice for much of the way, making it a more challenging walk than normal. When you hit the lake, and get to the far end, you get into snow that is maybe 18" at the deepest but is covered in breakable crust in many places. Getting up to the moraine on snow covered rocks, with the ever-present danger of punching through, was much more time consuming than normal and really no fun at all.
The NBC was climbed yesterday I believe, though the party of three was less than half way up the gully at 12:30, so who knows how this outing went for them. Anyone know? I wouldn't have wanted to climb it yesterday given the relative lack, and unconsolidated nature, of the snow, but perhaps they found better conditions than we believed they would.
The area needs a whole lot of snow this year and beyond for the glacier to come back to its size even ten years ago.
Cheers,
John Sharp
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I'm thinking of the same thing this weekend. Forecast looks better on the east side. Have you received any responses? I'll bet the gully totally melted out, or nearly so, this summer. Would love to know if it has filled in yet.
Thanks,
John Sharp
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There is a chance I can go out on Sunday. Not 100% because of work issues, but spousal approval has been given. Anyone want to go try the route that Dan Smith and partner did on Mix Up or something else like it? I'd down climb it, which Dan recommends, instead of using their descent. Not sure how much snow is falling or how these high winds will play out as far as avalanche danger, but the sun should be shining. I could leave Sat. night after dinner and don't need to be home early Sunday.
Anyone out there? E-mail me at jsharp@windermere.com please, if interested.
John Sharp
Bellevue
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Michael and Theron:
Nice TRs, nice stills, and nice film! I wish we had a movie camera on our trip up in 1999, if for no other reason than to record the sound and sight of the helicopter that came to look for us, and found us in the parking lot after our long descent down the CJ Couloir. Shots of Jim chucking empty cans of grape pop over his shoulder high on the route would have made good cinema as well.
So would you do the route again?
Sharp
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Hey Colorado guy: I'm not sure how my opinion is myopic. Is it better to say that the wrong enemy is actually the right enemy, as we saw W do -- over and over -- in the debate tonight? And Cracked: I don't think we've met. Why so hostile big guy?
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And, of course, vote the right (actually left) way on Nov. 2. For the sake of our environment, our country, our relationships with other countries, our children, and generations to come, we cannot afford another four years under the worst president this country has had in well over 100 years. Kerry isn't perfect, but he's the better choice by far.
Now if that doesn't start a fight, I don't know what will.
Sharp
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W. McMillan was a great two-day trip in every regard. Thanks for the fun DPS, Fleblebleb, and Wazzu Mountaineer. Fun to see Tom and Sergio up there too. The trail may be steep, but at least there's now a trail, unlike in 1987 (when Wazzu was, ahem, five years old).
The old knees are sore but the grin is still big.
Sharp
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I never met Pete, but obviously his exploits are the stuff of legend. I attended Lakeside with his son Eric and daughter Lisa. They couldn't be nicer people. I would expect to see a nice piece in the local paper soon.
John Sharp
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Hey:
At what elevation did you encounter the fresh snow?
John Sharp
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Buckaroo:
So well said. I wish I had your base of scientific knowledge.
Sharp
[TR] Hood- Steel Cliffs 2/17/2005
in Oregon Cascades
Posted
I was solo up and down, and left the top promptly at 3:00. A couple left the top about 3:30 and moved very slowly down the mountain. Glenn skied the Old Chute and passed me. I got to the car at 4:45.
The WI2 requires that you stay left on that last section, and stay left longer than you need to. I was kind of having fun with it, and got higher than I should have been. I had to downclimb and traverse some of it to get to the big gully, and in so doing had one of those realizations that maybe I should have just taken the easier way.
It was a fun route to solo -- and I was pooped last night.
John