Layback

Cool - thanks. Kind of what I figured but I was shocked by the serious lack of TRs of descents w/ skis for such a popular mountain.

This seems to be the only TR I've come across where the party skied. Is there a reason why more parties don't ski The Brothers? Even TAY lacks Brothers TRs. This year seems like it would be a good one for this route. Any beta on a ski descent would be appreciated. Thanks.

PM me if interested. Raichle Plastic Mountaineering Boots. Size 42 (EU) USM 9 USW 10 $45

All are now sold.

I have 50 of these for sale (except mine are NOT cosmetic seconds). I've recently changed my biners over to Mammut Moses carabiners, which are lighter. These are a great price for someone just starting their rack. I am selling them for $3/biner. On my scale they each weigh 45 grams or 1.5 oz. ETA: In order to make it reasonable for me to meet up with you to sell these (time and gas) the minimum I am willing to sell per person is 10 (unless you are willing to come to Monroe). PM me if interested. I will post pictures later when I have time.

Thanks guys. Timeframe is Easter weekend. Hoping for nicer weather... Probably wise of me to leave the aiders behind for this pitch and wear rock shoes and then tag the aiders up if I need them later, no? In the below photo, is the climber even with the jugs (big ledge on right) or are they above him/her (top of outside wall of chimney)? Searching for the Tums...

I'm new to aid and I'm planning a 1-day of Town Crier with a much more experienced partner. I'm a 5.8 leader so 5.9 is going to be stepping outside of my comfort zone and I'm a little anxious about it. I'll be leading the chimney pitch and the triple roofs, (which I won't attempt to free like Mikey S). I'm told that most of the chimney pitch goes at 5.7 and it's just the last 8-10 feet that are 5.9. Is that accurate? How's the pro? Any recommendations or beta would be really appreciated. I can't seem to find much and pics of the chimney make me wet my pants. Thanks.

Sweet!! Thanks for sharing. It looks like a totally different mountain in winter! Added to the list...

I have 2 60 meter 8.5 mm Sterling twin ropes (about 50 grams/meter) with dry treatment that I am retiring from lead climbing that will make excellent glacier ropes. I have a relatively new 30 meter 8.5 mm rope that I use for glacier so I don't need to hang on to these. The ropes have never seen a fall (though they've certainly had their share of hang-dogging ). The sheath has some visible signs of wear in some areas (which is why I am retiring them). However I have the following lengths available in sustained damage-free sections: - 1x 33.5 meter ($33) SOLD - 2x 29 meters ($29) SOLD - 1x 25.3 meters ($25) SOLD Please PM me if you are interested and we can talk about what length you need. eBay Feedback

Thanks guys. It's possible that I had as much fun writing that as I did climbing it. Gene - At the time I had a HP PhotoSmart P&S digital camera that my parents had given me for Christmas that year (that probably shot images at around 1,000 mpx). It went through rechargeable lithium ion batteries so darned quick that it seemed silly to me. I honestly never thought they'd catch on. It's been fun scanning some of those old photos as I'm sure you know.

That is the funniest shit I've read in a long time.

Better late than never, right? Pete - Got any pics? That sounds rad. I've always wanted to get in there in winter.

was bitchslapped in an April Fools joke.

Damn. Amazing job.

Trip: Forbidden Peak - East Ridge Direct Date: 9/7/2008 Trip Report: After a day filled with chores and domestic responsibilities (shopping for baby furniture) I met Jim at the Smokey Point Starbucks. We grabbed a cup of coffee, moved his car to a Park & Ride and headed east on Highway 20. As always is the case on trips into the Cascades, conversation flowed easily. Before long we were on our way down the Cascade River Road eager to find a place to camp. We pulled into a campsite at about 9:00 p.m. and sorted gear. One 30m rope, a set of Aliens, a set of nuts, a large hex, and a Metolius cam rounded out our gear. As I crawled into my sleeping bag in the back of my car, Jim settled down on the ground for a good night’s sleep. Five minutes later there was a tap, tap, tap on my car. The Snaffle Hounds were running rampant. Jim crawled into the car with me and we talked a bit before dozing off to sleep. At around 2:00 a.m. I felt something run across my feet. Listening carefully I could hear the sounds of tiny feet making their way around my car. One of the little mother-f’ers had gotten in. Jim woke up to the sound of slamming car doors and shaking seats. He soon joined in to what would soon become a senseless fight. As the little critter had it’s way with my car, I tried to calm my mind and drift off to sleep again. At 3:50 a.m. the alarm went off. It was time to get up and go. We got up and organized ourselves. As I moved around I could see a tiny little mouse glaring at me. It seemed as though he was saying, “why did you wake me up?” An empty McDonald’s bag played the part of the lure and soon the rodent was on its way. After taking care of some business we pulled up to the Boston Basin trailhead at 4:30 a.m. There we met another team that would be attempting the East Ridge Direct of Forbidden Peak in a day also. We said some quick hellos, and wished each other luck as we set off behind them on the trail. As the sun came up Jim and I looked towards Johannesberg Mountain, where Tom Sjolseth was attempting the CJ Couloir. We yelled across the valley to Tom and wondered if he could hear us. Soon after the sun came up we crested the tree line and got our first looks at Boston Basin and Forbidden Peak. Still a fair distance away, the route was calling to us. I knew this was going to be a good one. As we walked along the moraine we were blasted by convection winds. My watch read 55 degrees Fahrenheit but the wind made it feel like a crisp fall day. We ducked behind a boulder at the high camp for a quick bite before continuing. A Snickers bar, some M&Ms and a PowerGel provided me with some quick sustenance as my body began to cool. Before long the cold began to set it so we headed off for the couloir that would take us to the ridge and the start of the climb. After ascending some icy snow slopes we reached the lone gendarme at 11:00 a.m. we loaded up my pack with the things we’d both want for the climb and we threw what we wouldn’t need into Jim’s pack to be picked up upon our return. At 11:15 we set off behind the party in front of us. I led for 2-3 pitches as we simul-climbed the ridge. Exposure was everywhere as I climbed, straddled, and sometimes crawled along the East Ridge. Jim took the lead as we simul-clmbed the next few pitches and eventually ascended an airy and exposed arete that felt about 5.6. Because of a logjam on the 5.7 gendarme, we decided to bypass that section via a short 5.6 traverse ledge. As the party before us rappelled the backside of the 5.7, Jim arrived at the belay ledge for the crux pitch and brought me in. The crux pitch (5.8) starts off at the base of a dihedral that leads to the final ridge to the summit (5.3). The remainder of the East Ridge Direct route in between 5.3 and 5.5 with a few 5.6 moves thrown in for fun. As Jim paid out the rope, I began my ascent. After a few moves, I reached a fixed pink tricam and added a yellow Alien to protect myself through the crux. I moved my left had up, then my feet, balanced and reached for the bucket hold a few feet higher. Before I knew it I was through the crux and Jim and I were letting out our “Yahoos!” I plugged in a few cams and brought him up. We high-fived each other and set off for the last 200 meters to the summit. We reached the summit at around 2:30 p.m. At the top we were joined by the party of two that had been in front of us the whole day as well as another party of two that had ascended the West Ridge. We looked around for the summit register but there wasn’t one to be found. Soon discussion came up around the best way for all six of us to get down. We had originally planned on simul-climbing down the North Ridge to a point where one can descend a gully that brings one to the East Ridge Descent Route. But since we had six people, three 60m ropes, and one 30m rope we decided that we’d all just go down the series of 5 rappels to the East Ridge Descent Route. After about 30 minutes of rappelling we found ourselves on the ledges that would bring us back to the lone gendarme. With some careful simul-climbing and routefinding Jim led the way as we made our way back to the lone gendarme and our packs. As we stepped on to the south side of the ridge at 4:00 p.m. I think we both commented how great it was to be back in the sun! By 6:00 p.m. we reached the base of the couloir and made our way through Boston Basin. We covered most of the trail in daylight and finished with headlamps at 8:45 pm.

Trip: Matier - NW Face Date: 8/10/2007 Trip Report: Friday morning I left sleepy Snohomish at 6:00 am to rendezvous with Matt in Vancouver. Eric and John were going to meet us in Squamish at 11:00. As luck would have it, Matt and I ended up right behind John and Eric in traffic on the Sea-to-Sky Highway just outside of Squamish. After stopping briefly in Pemberton for Pizza and burgers, we headed up to the Joffre area and parked at the Cerise Creek Winter Trail TH. We used the winter trail as the summer trail is accessed by a poorly maintained road overgrown with Alder, which in retrospect we could have driven a car up but chose not to because of reports that it was undrivable. The winter trail, which is free of Slide Alder and Devil's Club, gets it's name not from being a brush bash (quite untrue), but rather because the summer trail is inaccessible in winter because the road required to access it (poorly maintained year-round) does not get plowed in winter. If you park at the winter trail be sure to stow away any valuables, as it is the site of many break-ins. We hit the trail (elevation 3,800') at around 3:00 and reached our destination at Keith's Hut (elevation 5,250) roughly a couple of hours later. Keith's Hut, named after a climber killed on an attempt of Canada's Mount Logan, is a climber's/backcountry skier's paradise. From it's deck one can take in the sights of Joffre, Matier and countless others that I can neither name nor pronounce. On Saturday we awoke at 4:00 am and were trail-bound by 4:45. As we hiked the ridge we watched the sun come up. We stopped at a snowfield on to go over some things and were roped up and on the glacier by 8:00. After taking in the most amazing views from the Matier/Joffre Col, we reach that start of our climb around 11:00 am. Ten – twelve pitches of 45 degree snow and ice climbing (with multiple end-arounds bergshrunds) and we reached the top of the NW Face by 5:30. With daylight fading, we reached the summit at 6:00 pm. We descended via a series of 4th class downclimbing and some exposed snow-slopes and were back on the glacier by 7:30. After reaching the terminus of the glacier at 8:30 pm, we unroped and headed towards the ridge. With daylight fading were uncertain about which scree slope was the proper one to bring us back to the ridge and down to Keith’s Hut. After much debate (and trial error) we reached the top of the proper scree slope in blowing sleet at 10:00 pm. We then descended the trail back to Keith’s Hut under headlamp (and guidance from a tiny candle at the hut, which was graciously lit for us as a guiding light by others). Within minutes of crawling into my sleeping bag it began to rain bullets on the tin roof of the luxurious hut. I was glad to be back and in my cozy bag. Sunday we descended to the cars under light drizel and celebrated in Whistler.

I just posted a TR from 2001. It's more of an account about how I felt than the technical difficulty. I remember the bergschrund being ginormous and I know it can stop a lot of people if it's not passable. We had outstanding conditions in early July of a low snow year.

Trip: Mt. Adams - Adams Glacier Date: 7/10/2001 Trip Report: In the winter of 2000/2001 I took up ice climbing on the east coast. I had spent a lot of weekends with Alec climbing in New Hampshire at Frankenstein Cliffs and in Vermont at Woodbury Cliff. Weeknight sessions were spent at an iced-up road-cut in CT. There's something ironically cool about top-roping ice under the light on a cold winter night. This was all good fun, but we wanted something more. Alec and I were both longing for an alpine ascent in a great range. As an east coast kid, who had never climbed anything outside of the northeast, I wanted something "big and noteworthy". A few years earlier Alec had taken a course with Alpine Ascents in Washington State. He had gotten up some classics like the Colemen/Demming on Baker, the Beckey route on Liberty Bell, and a few others. A trip to the Cascades just made sense. Together, Alec and I planned a 3-week trip to Seattle. The trip covered most of July, from 7/3/2001 – 7/25/2001. Mt. Rainier, via the Fuhrer Finger, was the route that we planned to build the trip around. The goal was to work our way up to that route. The first peak we climbed upon arrival was Mt. Daniel, via the Daniel Glacier. We experienced great weather and had a wonderful time. After that, we both felt like we wanted something more technical and a little higher to acclimatize ourselves for the trip up Rainier. A copy of Rock & Ice had nice things to say about the Adams Glacier and Cascade Classics Volume I seemed to agree. As we drove down I-5 Alec went over the finer points of crevasse rescue and I perused some drawings in a book. It seemed easy enough. That night we car camped somewhere near the Killen Creek Trailhead. After we both packed, Alec went to bed and I pulled off the most intense cramming session of my adult life. I read “Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue” published by the Mountaineers. In the morning, with a “proper and thorough” appreciation of crevasse rescue under my belt, Alec and I set off for what would be among my favorite climbs I have ever done. The approach on Killen Creek trail proved to be a gentle, sandy trail covered in pumice from a former eruption. We travelled through open meadows filled with lush flowers and beautiful views of our route. Along the way, I learned a great lesson: moraines are not a shortcut. They are miserable and best avoided, especially in the heat of the day. We pulled into camp at the edge of the Adams Glacier sometime in the late afternoon. After probing for crevasses, we set up camp and had a late lunch. With full bellies, we roped up and found a crevasse where Alec was able to help bring to life the lessons I had learned via the previous night’s cram session. This was a whole new world for me and it was very cool. After a few tries, I had 2-man crevasse rescue dialed in. We went back to camp, had a nice dinner, watched the sun set against the backdrop of Rainier, and went to bed. At 4:00 a.m. our alarms went off, but we promptly reset them and went back to sleep. So much for an alpine start... We finally pulled ourselves out of bed sometime around 6:00 a.m. and marched off towards the base of the climb. The first 800’ of the climb was relatively mild. Except for the fact that is was covered with snow, that section of the Adams Glacier reminded me of a Class II Water Ice Climb in New Hampshire, called Willey’s Slide. Simulclimbing, Alec and I made good time. Soon the climb steepened and it began feeling more intense. In the lead, I set up a belay station and brought Alec in. He offered to lead the first pitch. More than a little nervous I was happy to hand over the reigns. Alec led a few pitches stepping over crevasses and placing screws in seracs, as we worked our way up the glacier. Soon I got up the nerve to lead a few pitches. In a few hours time we came to what remains to this day the biggest bergschrud I have ever laid eyes on. As we passed the ‘scrund on the right, I looked to my left and peered into a hole the size of a football field, capable of eating houses. It’s entirely possible that time has intensified this memory, but what remains is vivid and impressive. With the domicile-eating-bergschrund behind us, we climbed up a few hundred more yards where the slope angle began to relent. Alec brought me in, and for the first time in a few hours we both relaxed. At 12,000’ we had passed all of the major difficulties of the route. We took off our helmets, put away our second tools, and had lunch. From there, it was a victory march 500’ vertical feet to the summit. After some photos at the summit, we descended the North Ridge, which is a notoriously chossy route. A party we had run into the day before had plans to climb it. If ascending the route is anything like the decent, I can’t imagine that a climb via that route is any fun. Out of water and with the afternoon heat beating down upon us, Alec and I slipped and slided our way down 3rd and 4th class terrain, building blisters on my shins as we went. When I finally stepped off the ridge fully dehydrated, I watched as the first mountain goats I ever laid eyes one, made their way down the ridge at a pace that I could have only dreamed of matching. It was poetry in motion for an east cost kid like me. Back in camp in the afternoon sun I put on my big down parka, and tried to get warm. I had burned a lot of calories throughout the day, but had insufficient caloric intake and water consumption, and now I was paying for it. I ate an entire dehydrated meal, rammen noodles, beef jerky, and some candy but I didn’t entirely warm up until the next morning. It was on this trip that I learned the value of proper nutrition en route. The next day, Alec and I made our way back to the car in a trance. Limping, with now fully developed blisters on my shins, I was so happy to see our big white midsized rental car waiting for us. We climbed into the car and set off with Moby’s “Play” album blaring. After about 30 minutes of tunes cranking on the radio as we descended logging roads I finally broke my trance and said to Alec, “That was awesome”. In a trance also, he just nodded. It took two weeks for my blisters to fully heal. Alec and I never did make it up the Fuhrer Finger but we went back to CT with quite the prize. Though not difficult by any means, it remains for me one of the hardest things I've ever done relative to my skill level at the time. The feeling I got from it was both amazing and hard for me to repeat to this day. He and I would come back to the Cascades two more times for a total of 4 more weeks over the next 12 months. We never did climb Rainier on any of those trips but we both fell in love with the area. Alec eventually graduated medical school and became a resident at an ER in Oregon. Susie and I would meet and move to WA State a few years later.

Thanks Matt. Do you think first weekend of July/last weekend of June is still too late? I've been up there in August and realize just how heinous it can be. Kiddo #2 is due in mid/late-August and my season will pretty much go down the crapper after the last weekend of July.

Nice. I'm hoping to hook up with a couple people on this route in July. You're description is really helpful.

Awesome. A fun route on a great day with good people. I like it.

Well done Mikey. Awesome pics. It was really great to meet you at Index last weekend too btw!

No beverages sadly. I guess in my semi-coherent rambling I failed to make the point I really wanted to... My point is this: Both the people who left the club (or encountered the club in a bad way) and complained about it on the internet and the people who stayed and changed things acted as change agents in different ways. Without the people outside the club complaining you don't have validation internally for what people are trying to change. The knuckleheads would just carry on as they were as if in a vacuum unaware of the incredibly uncool things they are doing to others in the climbing community. Maybe we've reached a critical point where anyone who would like to be a part of something cool, could do as Wayne just did. That would be rad.

Here's my theory on the club and why things are the way they are why change is happening now if anyone cares. For decades people in the club did dumb shit and pissed other people off. Instead of fixing the situation you had a bunch of dumb, arrogant pricks on a power trip running the club. These clowns told these people to just go screw themselves (some of you unfortunately) and these people couldn't really do anything about it except end up hating them. Then this thing called the internet comes along and all of a sudden a bunch of pissed off people have the opportunity to tell everyone how messed up the club is. New people join the club and realize that the club is messed up too. Some quit because there's just too much bullshit to overcome and they join in on the bashing (rightfully so). Some get pissed off enough to do something about it and chip away at the nonsense. More new blood joins the club and they fall into one of the two categories and the ones who decide do something about it chip away at more nonsense still. And on and on we go... Things take time. The club was incredibly messed up. The club is much, much better and most people are pretty cool. I find myself quite happy with things right now - but I still see some of room for improvement. I don't blame anyone who hates on the club. I hated them too. But I'm glad that I stuck around. I've met some really great people and have learned some really great things along the way.

So if I read these two posts right, you are saying Wayne was granted full equivalency because you support him, not because of his skill? I'm not sure that's the message I would want to hear if I wanted to join the Mounties and was a skilled but unknown climber. I was once a skilled and unknown climber and had to endure a shit storm of classes just to be able to do something I was already capable of so I understand what someone like that might have to go through. I am clearly not at Wayne's level but I can assure you that the intermediate class, which I had to take because I didn't know anyone, was a complete waste of my time. I was granted basic equivalency after some second year intermediate noob got to push me around at a FT in the pouring rain for 8 hours talking about "The Mountaineers Way". When my climb leader application went through a ridiculous amount of nonsense three years ago because of my outspokenness in the club I vowed to change equivalency and provide an easier path for others. I rewrote the equivalency program, began offering it 6 times a year instead of 2, and have gotten more people through equivalency in the past 3 years than in the previous 10 years combined. And for the record, since we're questioning my integrity and willingness to help anyone, I'm the one that just changed the ridiculous shoe policy. And I've just started. More people in the fight with outside blood to change club culture would be much appreciated. Like I said, just send me a PM.