lunger

there are still plums to be picked, but they are relatively high-hanging. as alluded to by others, training time is limited and therefore the ability to pursue the ideal of putting up hard alpine routes is governed by a trade-off. if you get tech-honed by spending available training time cragging, you'll not likely have the fitness and mental fortitude for required approaches and loose-rock/munge perseverance, respectively. and vice-versa, if you are out most weekends trying to pick so-called Cascade plums (aka "taking your gear for a walk" much the time), your technical rock-climbing standards will suffer. only the pros have time for both.

yeah, what's up with the ski-hate? these pikers must understand it's THE way to get around in the winter...much more fun than trudging

great report. makes me want to climb it again. perhaps tack on some the neighboring routes...such an incredible chunk of alpine rock.

posted a TR on our climb yesterday. very cool route fellas! jpark42, please PM me to retrieve your gear.

Trip: Exfoliation Dome - Snake Charmer Date: 9/23/2012 Trip Report: The rat and I had a great time on this route yesterday--the middle pitches were particularly fun climbing, and cleaner than the lowest and highest bits. The route is thoughtfully bolted (for travelling up and down) and yet preserves the difficulty and adventure we all seek. With more traffic this will be a fantastic climb. Rolf encountered and trundled some big unstable blocks on the first pitch (fun to watch from a safe perch); minimal loose rock remains. With a first mellower pitch, peaking difficulties in the middle, and the bubbly face-climbing finish, this 6-pitch route is reminiscent of a more stout and adventurous version of the popular Davis-Holland/Lovin’ Arms linkup at Index. We approached in cold and misty conditions but the rock was dry. This guide (posted in developers’ original TR) is a great reference for the approach and the route. rat on pitch 1: And following pitch 2, about to pull the undercling to squeeze/lieback crux: Pitch 3, again about to pull the crux: rat finishing up on the steep and bubbly rock of pitch 6, looking down from the top: A few more pics here (even caught a rat-smile in one). Thanks again Dave and crew!

west ridge Stuart, provided you can boogie west ridge Forbidden, same as above west ridge Thomson at Snoq Pass (reportedly 5.7, seemd easier) none require ropes for descent provided you can downclimb low 5th on forbidden--however snow might complicate matters on that one already?

with that kind of powder, why not ski lib ridge?

yeah dudes, nice line! thx for all the documentation (hope it drives traffic!) and the addition to my to-do list.

Thanks fellas. Mike, some story...pics? Didn't see any TR's here for the NW face, so will be glad if the little beta tidbits help.

Trip: NEWS + SEWS - west face + northwest face (Boving route) Date: 9/7/2012 Trip Report: Casey and I linked these two last Friday, resulting in a whole lotta quality pitches. We'd intended to climb the harder (Boving) route first, but it was damn cold in the morning, so we opted to begin with NEWS to avoid numb fingers on more difficult pitches. The WF of NEWS is well-covered here, but i note fewer reports on the NW face of SEWS. Below is a bit more info. on the climb. Thankfully Casey was a keen-crusher and led the nominally hardest (.11a) pitches on both climbs. A couple pics from WF of SEWS: Here's Casey on pitches 2 (short corner) and 4 (crux thin crack). I drew the superfine 5th pitch (w/ a 70m rope went to the top) that starts w/ a 5.10 move from the small tree and then steadily relents, from fingers to hands. Casey’s photo: Chilled on the summit, then rapped and rolled over to the... NW Face of SEWS: One observation: the new Supertopo online hints correctly "Some people think the first 5.10c/d pitch is more difficult than the second 5.11 pitch." To me, the first pitch does seem a bit tricky and insecure, definitely more heady than any other pitch we climbed that day. It’s also sustained with several cruxes. Completely do-able, but bring your game face. (CAsey also thought the 1st pitch was harder than the 2nd.) A piece of general route-finding beta: after the .11a bit (v. high quality--if a little flaring--crack in a bright white right-facing corner) of p.2,, we climbed up a cave/chimney then stayed right-ish up somewhat vegetated corners/arêtes to a big bench under the Boving roofs. I believe there are some appealing looking systems off to the left that could lead a person astray. As i recall, the topos are somewhat sketchy re: details, but follow your nose to the roofs and you'll be set. We didn't get a whole lot of good pics, but here's a couple. I'm starting pitch 1 here (Casey's photo) Me following pitch 2; crux section is near the top, physical! And on the Boving roofs (Casey photo): Super fun day at WApass, thanks bud. a few more pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/ewehrly/2012_09_07WFNEWSAndNWFSEWS?authuser=0&feat=directlink

what a great chunk of stone. i need to get up there and check out some of these new routes! thanks for the exploration, documentation, and stewardship.

nice tour! both great routes. apparently the "take two they're small" trend is in full force. on Friday, Casey and I did a parallel trip on those spires. we also started with NEWS, then jumped on SEWS. also would've liked to do the opposite order, but the rock was cold and we decided to start with the more moderate pitches on NEWS. hope to post a few pics later.

hadn't really thought hard re: the grade, but III or III+ is fine by me. suppose threw up the IV 'cause have climbed grade IV's (and even a grade V) quicker. as you say probably depends on whether you solo the whole thing or pitch out some...

no wayne: laconic. we actually invoked your name, thinking it was your kinda thing--you should repeat it but proper-like by hitting all the high points. to other interested parties: there appear to be steeper approach options coming straight up from (appropriately sheltered places) below the seracs; would add quite a few pitches of challenging climbing. to add to the enticement, there are really cool bivy sites at various places along the ridge. haha tanstaafl! routefinding difficulties were the theme of the day, but none so tough as navigating Ballard.

Trip: Black Peak's West Peak - NW ridge (and N Buttress) IV 5.7ish - FLA Date: 7/21/2012 Trip Report: Rolf Larson and I climbed this route on Saturday. We are not aware of previous ascents—and speculate this could be a first and last ascent, aka FLA. This 3,000' ridge/buttress climb impressed me when Dan Helmstadter and I were en route to a ski of Black Peak's (East and main summit) NW Face. Pic from my May ski trip with Dan: Pic from a climb/ski of Arriva a week before, early May. W Peak is on right, and the long buttress/ridge extending toward the viewer is what we climbed: It looked so classic, the long ridge with steep walls falling off to a glacier, ending in a high and scenic N Cascades summit. And it was. Classic. Uber-mega-meta-classic. Much better than any Internet meme. Sorta like the N. Ridge of Stuart (only longer) combined with the Torment-Forbidden Traverse (only steeper), and a High-Priest-like blockheaded finish. Purity of line, quality of rock, a graceful climbing partner: these are things devoutly to be wished. The pictures don’t do it justice, one must experience the climb for one’s self; a tonic for the soul, as Rolf might say. But probably not. Looking at the limited pics, we thought there could be some steep, more-difficult climbing. We were loaded for bear and a bivy—rope, a medium rack, light bivy gear, a stove, climbing shoes, and too much food. All but the rope ended up training weight—we made 2 raps, but otherwise the stuff stayed in the packs while we rambled up the scenic ridge, with lots of 3rd and 4th class scrambling, and difficulties up to 5.7 or so. As is often the case, the most difficult climbing usually occurred on the best rock. The approach was made over the northern col between Black and its 8395’ point to the north. Spicy downclimbing ensued to snow, then finally to the base c. 5800’ after running under looming seracs. The pics tell the rest of the story; this thing was long. Our first look during the approach, from the col: Near the start (from these humble beginnings), poor pic: Looking down initial stretch; photo doesn’t show considerable exposure here: Still much to do: We passed this gendarme on its right, but in retrospect would’ve enjoyed going over it On the torment-forbidden-esqe section (Rolf’s photo): Still more to go: Gramps hikes up his britches Rappin’ The rock quality suffers no comparison. And gets even better: final summit block Hard to believe this was a ski slope a couple months ago Some more scenics and action shots are here. We enjoyed this route, but as subtly hinted, were hoping for more difficult lines along the way. Still, motoring up a long climb is always a splendid way to spend a day.

yeah dan!

are you certain this doesn't belong in the freshiez forum? i'm not certain whether to be envious or laudatory. but certainly a good story, including the pre-prosecco prep.

you've prob figured this out by now, but i believe that's the NE couloir on D-tail. looks almost skiable... V-ful, thanks for the pics on NBC, looks fat with snow. is there continuous snow on the NW face (the stretch above NBC) too?

thanks Off, true, re-read the thread and decided i was overly sensitive...just a sensitive type i guess :[] you guys pretty much cited the seminal influences for the recent Cascade ski-mtnrng renaissance: from the Skoogs to Scurlock to Sky and the Hummels--all helped publicize what can be done 'round these parts and/or likely places to get after it. The info. not only inspires but definitely reduces the cost for folks seeking adventure, makes for fewer false starts to be sure. Yeah Pete, maybe there will come a day that this face will become like our beloved Slot couloir.

... When Gary and I climbed the face, we were climber's left of the central rib. Our route had a step that I don't think would be skiable. I'm guessing that you guys were skier's left of the rib. Correct? ... Hey Lowell, correct, we were skier's left of the central rib down low; we basically followed the zone of greatest snow in my picture over on Sky's site. I believe skier's right would require a chute, a wing, or some crazy free-ride skills. Tabke? We did some quick research when planning this, which (aside from a rumored attempt) yielded only this: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/322546/ Thanks for providing a little data! One last thing to add: we obviously had a rope and gear, but the snow conditions made their use impractical, and also allowed for safe--if tediously methodical--travel, with deep plunges of the axes or good sticks. I felt a whole lot better once I finally stood on 180cm of steel-edged planks to navigate downward. All to say, the (subtle?) subtext I'm picking up in some posts (that we were crazy or reckless) doesn't foot with my experience of the climb/ski. It certainly didn't feel casual, but not out of control either. Thanks all for the kind comments on Dan's excellent TR.

i'm sure they didn't want any cinematic evidence as the animal rights folks would frown on their methods. nice work gents. sounds like sustained fun.

right on Dan, good to hear tales from you. glad it all worked out.

Nice. That summit affords some pretty sweet views of the surrounding Wild Sky peaks.... "The real fun started on the summit traverse from the notch. Steep (60+ degree) snow wallowing with little pro with some big exposure down the north face!" In the summer it's a relatively chill exposed ledge--can imagine it feels pretty wild in teh winter!

Rodent of unusual verbosity! Spionin, here are a few pictures. (The key to avoiding the ratfinger is shoot first, don't ask questions later.) The beginning chimney of p.1: Looking down the finishing steep corner of p.1: Rolf about to move left to the crux crack/squeeze of p. 3: Looking down after pulling the crux of p. 3 (yes, newbie wears ski boots): Summit: Incredibly fun intro to steep mixed--thanks hardcore. There are more pictures and many, many words over here.

dibs on a few things. please check your pm's.