lunger

Casey had other obligations, unfortunately, & had to bail. haha. Posted over there to hopefully get some news re: whether this had been climbed or skied before. Also the east face is a fun and accessible climb w/ or w/o skis. Seems the North Face gets all the attention, but with this so close to the road, who knows...

Trip: Greybeard Peak - East Face Date: 5/16/2009 Trip Report: Dan Helmstadter and I climbed and skied the East Face of Greybeard (on maps appears as eastern terminus of Ragged ridge just E of Easy Pass, elevation 7965’) on Saturday. I haven't seen any record of this being climbed or skied; would be curious to hear if any of you have heard tales. The climb alone as a moderate alpine objective is worthy and recommended; its proximity to the road makes it that much more appealing. A few weeks ago, somebody had posted a shot of this face, unnamed, on a report from Cutthroat (I think)—looked intriguingly possible. Then last week a couple buddies and I were on Mt Hardy and noticed the east face looking pretty fat—perhaps probable. Greybeard East and North Faces: The obligatory Scurlock photo: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/53643445 On Friday evening I drove up towards Swamp Creek and saw that the face had melted out some from a week ago, but still appeared relatively do-able. What the heck, give it a try and if it’s not good, bail or descend some other aspect (the southwest is more mellow)… evening east face We started climbing from 6100’ at around 3:30am after a solid freeze, and availed ourselves of a NE-facing couloir to gain a rib and ultimately the east face proper. Runnels in the couloir initially made for ready sticks with axes and crampons, but abruptly morphed into chunder-wonder variability. The climbing on the ribs and faces above was often steep and entertaining; I recall at one point left hand to rock hold, right hand to axe in snice, left foot post-holed, and right foot kicked into ice—what was next was a guess. Route-finding slowed us down a bit, as did two crampon failures for Dan, which he handily repaired. Luckily, clouds kept the sun at bay, urging us upward. above the couloir difficulties on the face last stretch to summit The views from the summit didn’t disappoint. Goode et al Dan and Black Peak sunlit Mt Logan, Arriva foreground Jack Mtn S Face w/ lenticular and Crater Peak The skiing was classic “spring variable”. We had gained the summit at a bit before 8, and as it had been cloudy all morning, waited for the sun to come out and work some magic on the icy patina found on most of the snow we had climbed. When the sun finally came out full-force at 11 a.m., it was forceful, and our worry turned from too crusty to too soft. For the most part we enjoyed soft-snow turns on the face. up at summit turns We had to down-climb a couple sections due to either grave avy conditions or too-rocky chocolate-chip sections. We finally jumped a little step to finish the c. 1700'face, and skied a ridge feature to my bivy site at 6100’, making for a c. 1900’ run. link1 link2 Perhaps this face will come into better shape (i.e., ski-able in full) in future years after a more robust snowfall for this area. Taken later that afternoon with Rainier in hand: route up in red, down in green edit: guess I used the wrong "shortcut" for showing images. will try to fix later...if any of you mods have helpful suggestions...

DB, here's some beta. Bring lots of small gear. Might want pins too. The climbing is on really good, somewhat compact granite (as you can gather). The first pitch (or somewhere down low) has the psych crux, you climb above your last little piece enough to warrant concern, as you must traverse left (not too high like Gratz) around a bulge/arete, making use of secure-to-some knobs. but usually the .10 cruxes are short, with lots of .9 climbing. this from my creaky memory, so caveat emptor--and you paid nothing. 5 pitches of awesome followed by rambly shite, I imagine like the upper reaches of serpentine (have not climbed), no fin finisher like backbone. still, a fun outing. get on the wall early (of course)--we heard some little bullets whizzing by as the temps rose, but the big overhang above seems to spit them well clear of you. have fun, and report back! by the way hello Ivan, that was a hell of party--didn't know you got sick later.

Nice work! I remember finishing up that thing after the Grand years ago, and thinking 'twas kinda spicy for a bolt-clipping finish--thanks for removing some of the abundant loose rock. Particularly memorable was during that harder stretch of relatively steep face climbing well above a bolt on p. 2, happened upon 2 falcons perched, just blinking at me. (There were no falcons expected at the time, no closure, etc.) The only way to go was between them, but they peeled off when i drew within 5 feet of 'em. Pretty cool but a bit concerning--if they had wanted to mess with me, would've been a long ride...

Nice pics! yesterday morning Casey and I skied the Slot and then the Phantom, and it was ALL GOOD. the Slot had the deepest and lightest pow i've ever seen in it. and the Phantom, as you depict above, was also deeee-luxe. pretty sure it was your tracks we saw. back to work by 11a; damn i love Seattle.

holy crap the cheese crowd is slacking "the one having the most fun" sunk to the lowest low, pls put me outta my misery

ripper report, well written--captured the essence of alpine elation.

right on dan, nice report and looks like some fun skiing.

right on Dan, nice report. looks spicy. way to keep stacking up adventures.

go tell somebody who cares, rat "firs", "alpine chicken syndrome", ha! congrats, looks kick-ass

In deed.

holy shite G after more info...

more like 10a doofus would also like to hear the name from the source. definitely more difficult than sloe children. if S.C. is 10d, then 11- seems reasonable.

HANSEL - so hot right now great times, thanks to all that provided entertainment, visual and gustatory. great beer and stories too--the old video was cool, funny how some things have changed and some have stayed the same...

i will be there and drink for 3. will bring 1, possibly more. Enchants through hike/run def. appeals if weather marginal. extra purty up there this time of year. porter, if there's time i might put in a few pics...

also agree. for those that complain re: ease/speed of placement: consider them a lightweight alternative to cams to use at belay anchors. and of course, there's the occasional pocket or irregular/flared crack that ONLY a tri-cam can secure. $.02. also curious to hear about these smaller ones. likely nuts fit the bill in those sizes...

super cool--great report. sounds and looks like stellar climbing. Prusik granite, daaaaamnnnn!

humorous report with good shots of the Snoqualmie Pickets. proud puppy--i laughed at the triple rations title...my dog echoes that sentiment.

yep those pics are of the same rock, slightly different angles. Regarding JR's post above: "Don’t want to dis/tract from the classic Ross Lake/LB/Perry Creek approach-fun, but I bet future explorers might find the trail up Depot Creek over the pass between Spickard and Solitude 8405’ down into Perry Creek a more efficient way to get to the base and climb of any one of several frightening undone routes on that incredible east face of Lemolo Mox." An interesting--and relevant--read re: Perry Cr at the bottom of NWMJ page here: http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/08/081_Bates.html If the Devil's Club and After Hours are a good party, then the ap/deproach is the sine qua non hangover--what proper celebration (bishes) is complete without the next day's bittersweet pain? We had actually thought about the Depot approach, it just looks like a helluva long way (+driving, border crossing), and Perry Cr is, as stated, plain classic.

cool! nice find on your route. also looks like some worthy variations 'round there, thanks for the pics.

happy b-day ken! sorry missed you your last appearance here. next time.

Thanks for the comments y'all. Rolf or I will put a line on John's picture; we do recommend the route, tons of good climbing on well-featured rock with the requisite dollop of alpine choss. 4 or 5 stars in our books. I got a couple reactions to the TR that prompt me to clarify: the bit I wrote about mutual disrespect, etc. is a (perhaps poor) satirical treatment of the caricature of Rolf by me and some of his friends. It's for my own entertainment--if you know him, you know he's a good dude, much like most folks around here, except perhaps with higher standards... and the ability to send the sickness when I pulled up lame. The abusive talk is in jest and adds levity when commiserating through a shiver-bivy or other setback. Enough of that. Lots of people getting cool stuff done in the Cascades this year--I'm stoked that we added a morsel to a productive season in the home range. Also happy to share any info. with future interested parties.

very cool trip. i second Buckaroo's comment re: the pics. looks like some pretty sweet and clean (alpine) rock!

ivan is smack talking at me--smart ass.

Trip: Lemolo Peak (erstwhile Hardest Mox) - NE Buttress ("After Hours") V 5.10- R Date: 9/12/2008 Trip Report: Summary: On 9/12 and 9/13/2008, Rolf Larson and Eric Wehrly climbed the NE Buttress of the 8501' summit to the E of SE Mox Peak. The NE buttress on right division of dark and light, John Scurlock photo: A shot from the other side on our descent: From what we can tell, our route shares several pitches with Layton and Wolfe's E Face line "The Devil's Club", somewhere in the middle third of the ascent. "After Hours" (appropriate for several reasons) takes a direct start on the NE Buttress toe, and ends at the summit of what some have referred to as "Hardest Mox", the apparently heretofore unclimbed peak to the E of SE Mox. We continued to SE Mox Peak from there, adding a bit more engaging climbing. I believe that we are the first ascentionists of this peak, and hence can derive a little fun naming it. If this is the case, in keeping with the naming convention of Mox ("twin") Peaks, we propose Lemolo Peak; "Lemolo" is Chinook jargon for wild, or untamed. Klone (Chinook for "three") Peak would also be appropriate, but is already taken in Washington. If this summit is not worthy of a separate name, then no sweat--I already had my fun. I think that Rolf (aka the Bard of Leavenworth) is crafting a TR in iambic pentameter; until then, the following must do... Overview: Day 1, approach from Little Beaver to c. 5000' bivy in Perry Creek basin; 9 hours. Day 2, finish approach to 6000' rock start, and climb to 8200' bivy; 13.5 hours. Day 3, proceed to 8501' summit, then ridge traverse to SE Mox 8504', and descend to camp via gullies and unnamed glacier SE of Mox; 9 hours (ish?). Day 4, thrash homeward; 7 hours even, every minute fun. More detailed notes and pictures (I took all pictures; when the Bard isn't writing, his other job is male supermodel): On morning approach day 1, Jack Mtn and Nohokomeen Gl: Early part of roped climbing on day 2, somewhere around 7000': I was pretty worked from the day 1 approach, and started to get some hand cramps about 1000' into the climb; so Rolf took up the yoke and led the majority of the steep headwall in the middle third of the climb. He drew the crux pitch, which among its cruxes, included pulling a roof over suspect gear. Rolf reached into his puny reservoir of Solid and cruised the pitch—-one of the most impressive leads I'll witness. It was here that I believe he threw an alpine berserker gang-sign. No time for pics, but after following the pitch, I took a shot back at its traverse element: You might be able to make out some tat from MnE's rap 3 years ago. Additionally, looking at this pic from Mike's report, I surmise that while those guys went up and left from that point, we went up and right, cutting back left eventually. Here's Rolf making his way through more roofs: Some exposure from this belay, looking down at the buttress: At about 7500', I led what we jokingly referred to as a "comeback pitch" left and then up one of the few clean splitters we encountered, very exposed, then Rolf zagged back right across the buttress crest: The climbing was exposed and a lot of fun; I like the Bard's term for it, "cerebral", ha. Another shot a bit higher, ~8000': We had enough daylight to search around for bivy sites between 8000 and 8300, and settled on a then-windless site at 8200'. Temps were dropping a bit more steeply than we expected; we'd left our sleeping bags in favor of a lighter jacket-and-backpack bivy, and paid for our insouciance. We were so giddy about our situation, that we giggled convulsively through the night. Here's the alpine rat burrowing in for Led Zeppelin's "you shook me" all night long: Took some solace from the views; underexposed Picket Range: After the sun came up and I drank from my partially frozen water, we scrambled up and roped up for teetering stacked blocks to the summit (Mt. Spickard background): Last pitch to the yet-unclimbed 8501' summit: Shot of Pickets from tippy-top: Now we have to go over there--SE Mox: The traverse involved a 60m rap, a scoot around a gendarme, then a few more pitches of climbing on a ridge--actually very cool climbing. Even more pics, first is looking back at Rolf and the gendarme, I think: Then Rolf leading toward SE Mox, Mt Redoubt background and NW Mox foreground: Finally, views of 1) Lemolo from the summit SE Mox; 2) Challenger et al; 3) Bear's NF etc.: Then the ultra-brutal chossy galore descent of several gullies to the glacier: This tried our dessicated patience. Staggered into a deserved camp celebration of the finest 2-course meal (I guess everything does taste better with tuna), brews, bourbon, chocolate. Last day parting shot: And then beers and plunges at Ross Lake while waiting for our boat; deeeeluxe. I can now fully appreciate and salute Mike and Erik's journey into the unknown 3 years ago. Pretty certain I'd not take 4 days off to go after this big endeavor without their information posted here--thanks fellas. I remember reading about the brotherhood you guys shared, and held hope for similar with Rolf--nope. Our partnership is built on mutual disrespect and loathing; we share a vile and putrid love, and feed most from each other's misery. I'm not happy until you're not happy. Nevertheless, the Bard is a solid partner and I look forward to future adventures--this was an exceptionally stellar one. Gear Notes: -medium rack, with pins that did not get used. tri-cams employed often. -while no metal used, much extracted; our route intersected rap stations enough such that we bootied bountifully. -no plants were harmed in the development of our product. Approach Notes: Jungle fever Nihilism (or Zen Buddhism, according to one’s preference)