scott_johnston

Stefan; You asked about good places for newbies to find early season ice inthe Canadian rockies. While I agree with Dru about the Icefields as a good spot to find ice due to the altitude/low avy hazard (this time of year) and many options; I must take exception to Dru wanting to send you on Side Street. I don't know if he has climbed the route before but I have and have had personal converstaions with 3 other parties who have done the route in various seasons. All of us found the route in similar conditions despite the seasonal variations and it is not a route for a beginner ice climber or alpinist. The first crux pitches goes at M7/8 or very awkward A2 in an overhanging flairing crack. The second crux (on the last pitch) is old fashioned 5.9 mixed (modern grade M4/5). Sure there is a bunch of moderate terrain to cover but I mean a bunch. Remember too, that the 5.9 A1/2 rating on most older Canadian alpine routes was pretty much the top of the scale that most of the then hard men thought they could climb in the mountains. Notice that Side Street has the same technical rating as the Ramp on the N face of Kitchner. The later IS a Gr V while Side Street is a III which I think is a fair assesment of the commitment factor but they are in the same league technically and I don't think anyone would send a newbie on the Ramp. A very well know alpinist from Canmore with many first ascent scalps in the Rockies hanging from his belt has backed off the first crux of Side Street at least once. My recommendations at the Columbia Icefields this time of year for a newbie would be in this order 1)Silverhorn 2)Skyladder then if you want a bit of an icy mixed challenge 3) N face Athabaska. DO NOT be deceived by the 5.4 rating. We are not talking sport 5.4 here. Good luck and have fun. NOTE: There is a lot of questionable and wrong info in the Dougherty "Selected" book so it is best to try top get personal info to confirm his beta before you rely on those descriptions. Scott (NCMG)

PMS: Thanks, I'm used to the Rawl bolts with expanding sleeves. In this case the Petzl 8mm bolt is loose. Sleeve looks fine. Still spooky to see that hanger wiggle so much.. I'll tighten it next time

Just checking to see if anyone ever tightened the right bolt at the top rap station on Chianti. It was finger tight when I wrote in June. If the sleeve is not properly expanded the bolt is not safe. Take a 13mm wrench up with you. Annie GS is lame. Next time climb the W Butt of Paisano and link with Burgandy for the best long moderate in the area.

Good job boys. Style Matters. Scott

For all of you hard alpinists out there who have just been waiting for your shot at the second (haven't heard of one yet) ascent of Gato Negro (see topo under TR for E face of Chianti from early July) on the W face of Silver Star, here is some advice you may find useful. A strong party, who shall remain nameless, was rebuffed on the infamous fourth pitch today. The leader didn't feel good about walking his #4 up the 40' 5.9+ off width like Larry did on our first ascent. The position is very exposed and steep and you still have to launch out on to some stout climbing above. Hence his admonition to future parties to carry a couple of #4s. I'd like to see others climb this fine route and don't want to hear about bad beta or ???? It's a long way to walk just to back off. We seem to have overlooked this tiny detail when making up the topo. Bobby Peru where are you?

Has anyone been on the pocket glacier used as an approach to the NE Butt. of Mt Slesse this summer? I've used this approach before but want any current or recent route info. Thanks

Sadly this is not an isolated incident. In April, Steve House and I were climbing around the Columbia icefield area and met some US climbers (with Wa plates)when we stopped at Saskatchewan Crossing for gas. These guys had their car badly vandalized while they were ice climbing. All their tires were slashed, and as I recall ,some other damage too. They had to get a tow truck to take it all the way to Canmore (about a 2.5 hour drive one way and several hundred$$$s). The Mounties were super nice and the folks in Canmore were embarassed. The tire guy gave them a big discount and some locals took a up a collection for the poor unfortunates. Steve and I prompty bought a silly Canadian flag sticker for his car and hoped for the best. Another friend (with Wa plates)was ski touring with his 10 year old son from the trailhead north of Sqam near Garibaldi Park. When he came back all the windows were broken out of his car, even the windshield. All the perps took was pair of ratty Bball shoes belonging to his son!! Regardless of your feelings about American foreign policy this is all about the same sort of ignorance and mindless violence that has taken over in Northern Ireland, Palestine, Rwanda, etc, etc.....and has no place in a society where we have had the benefit of a liberal (and I mean this in its classsical/historical sense) education. I guess those same folks who have commited these random acts of violence would have fit right into the white hooded crowd in Selma in 1963. Life is too short to have to deal with this kind of knucklehead.

Ok, I figured out how to attach the the shrunken file so it should post on this board. Here is the topo for Sisyphus. Have fun. 203325-sysiphus topo.pdf

erik; I'm attaching a topo of Sysiphus. It is not a knobfest; more of a smear fest in several areas. So far the concensus seems to be that pitch 3 is the best; steep and very technical. Pitch 6 the hardest and pitch 7 the boldest. See what you think. Have fun. 203214-sysiphus topo.pdf

Hey Kevin; The word on Gato Negro is zip as far as I know. Doubt anyone else has been up there. For what it is worth I can post the first page since it is smaller but I'll need help from Larry to shrink the file of the second page so I can post the topo on CC.com. In the mean time there is copy at the guide shop in Maz. Geoff no doubt destroyed his copy in order to raise the adventure factor when he ever gets around to climbing it. Recall that it went at IV 5.10+, 11 pitches, 4 pitches of 5.10 and a lot of fun 5.7/8 hand cracks. The splitter crack direct finish pitch is still awaiting an ascent as we wimped out to the scary 5.6 finish due to the hour. We left the car at 5am and got back at 10pm. Route lies on west face of Silver Star N ridge right of the wine spires on it's own separate tower we named Whine Spire since our feet were giving us serious fits at the end. Descent is down the big gully seperating the Whine Spire form Silver Star to the S. It appears to still have snow which I would say is necessary for a fast safe descent. Would love to hear from others who go there. I'll work on posting the topo.

I must confess to giving out a wee little yell after leading the 5th pitch.

A new route named Sysiphus (because it took us so long to finish) has been completed on Goat Wall above Mazama. It is fully equipped with bolts for 10 pitches. Also has rap stations conveniently located so it can be climbed with a single 60 m rope. It lies on the buttress right of Burdo's Restless Native and left of his Promised Land. Rated at III 5.11a or 5.10c A0. You should be able to pick up a topo from the the bulletinboard outside the North Cascades Mountain Guides shop next to the Mazama Store. If not, the store has some copies as does Winthrop Mtn Sports. It is pretty well scrubbed but if you find a wire brush hanging from the first bolt please feel free to use it on the climb. The rock is superb and the climbing is of a very technical nature. Sort of like steep Tuolomne slabs. However, since it does cross a couple of the dreaded Goat Wall ledges, with their choss, helmets are advised. While it is bolted it is definitely not a "sport" route. We did place a bolt that you can yard on through the crux if you can't figure it out but you must be comfortable climbing 5.10 well above the bolts. No dangerous runouts but you're not clipping while you have bolt at your waist or even your feet. We will be putting the topo on the guide service web site www.ncmountainguides.com. I'll repost this info when we get it onto the site. Enjoy it.

Climbed E Face of Chianti (Rebel Yell) today (6/29). Would recommend that the next party carry a 13mm wrench to tighten the left rap bolt at the top station just below summit. The Petzl bolt is loose so is not properly expanding the sleeve in the hole. We used the righthand start as per Beckey book which is definitely more straightforward and less devious than that shown in Nelson. A couple of no 3 Camalots would not be too much on the 4" 5.10 section of pitch 5 and a no. 5 Camalot would actually allow you to protect the 5.10 moves on the second pitch. Cheers