JoshK

Trip: Gold Creek Valley - The Conquering Floormat Date: 2/8/2009 Trip Report: On February 8, David Kratsch and I climbed a nice water ice line in Gold Creek Valley, just east of Snoqualmie Pass. The climb itself is in a Northwest facing cleft on the Western slopes of Rampart Ridge. I have noticed the line several times in the past, but never in a condition that seemed appealing to climb. When David mentioned he had seen a rather fat looking line in that area, I figured it must have been the same one I had seen before. After packing up gear and heading to the pass to climb the NE Slab route on Das Tooth, we decided five minutes before the exit that we should go satisfy our curiosity and inspect the mystery line up close. It turned out to be a good decision. We began our approach at the Gold Creek Sno-Park. The climb can be seen on the Eastern (looker's right) side of the valley at the top of a steep avalanche slope. The lower section begins as a fairly wide curtain which eventually narrows at the top and enters trees on the left side. We split this in to two pitches (roughly ~50m each), belaying off trees on the left side of the climb. Using the trees for belays does require deviating a bit left of the most ideal line, and screw belays could avoid this. A few hundred feet of steep snow or snow covered low angle ice leads to the bottom of the second tier. The upper tier widens again in to a curtain before narrowing in to trees on the left again. The first upper pitch ascends moderate but very fun ice up to a small lower angle ledge midway up. We belayed off ice screws here. The second upper pitch featured the steepest ice on the climb and some slightly unnerving manky ice which was seperated from the rock. On both of these upper pitches you have some latitude on the difficulty of the line you want to take. Overall the ice quality was decent but featured some pockets of sketchy rotten-ness right where you don't want them. The descent wasn't particuarly fun. We only had one rope so we made a series of 30m rappels, one of which was off a pretty thin pine. We both rapped gingerly to avoid giving the young tree any extra incentive to rip out of the hillside. On all but the last rappel the rope came just a few meters shy of the next tree, requiring a few moves of exposed downclimbing. All and all, I'd rate this as an excellent moderate ice climb for Washington standards. We were shocked to find such a fun multi-pitch ice climb only 2 miles from I-90. It has been a great year for ice in the Northwest, so perhaps it is rare this line forms so well. After some comparing of pictures, Tvash and I established that he and his partner climbed the lower pitches last year. Other than that, i cannot find any previous mention of this line anywhere. I'm leery to label anything this close to a major freeway a first ascent, but at the very least, this climb is a lot of fun and certainly worthy of a name. I bet 2 or 3 weeks ago this thing would have been in perfect condition. Hopefully it'll stick around a bit longer. "The Conquering Floormat", II, WI3+, 200m Gear Notes: Ice Screws - We used stubbies up to 17cm. The ice in most spots would have taken full length screws. Approach Notes: Park at Gold Creek sno-park and ascend north through Gold Creek Valley by any number of roads, trails or XC routes. The falls are the obvious and largest line on the right side a few miles up the valley.

You park at the Gold Creek sno-park and head up the gold creek valley for, hmm, a mile or so, then start ascending to the east side of the valley through slide paths and up steep snow. the climb itself starts maybe 500 feet above the valley floor, bordered on either side by steep forest and cliffs. There is a somewhat distinct "orange" wall on the left side of where the climb tops out.

A friend of mine and I scouted out a multi pitch waterfall on the back (northwest) side of rampart ridge, in the gold creek valley. After a lot of research I have not been able to find a single mention of this climb. Anybody have any more information on this? I'd be greatful for any info, thanks! -josh

Great climb and great TR, as usual, Ade. The legwarmers are also damn hot...Debbie Gibson would be proud.

I'd also say the chance that my out of date 3rd (or 4th, or 5th...) hand information is incorrect is just as high. :-) In any event, it does look like there are several other distinct lines of varying lengths that one could have some fun on.

As opposed to the lowest cost bidder? I agree with the assertion that you'd rather not have dumbasses building your bridge (neither would I), but there is certainly nothing to guarantee that ConstructCoInc, or whoever gets the contract, is going to do any better of a job. Remember when our floating bridge sank? -j

Very cool report, thank you for sharing! I have eyed those lines a few times, but only in the spring, at which point they were likely past their prime. When I inquired with somebody (totally forget who now) several years back, they were under the impression that this line and the flow to the right had been climbed. I never really believed this, but are there other lines (other than Watusi and yours) that have been climbed on the face which I may be getting confused? As you noted, it must have been interesting seeing multiple parties in that basin during the winter. -josh

Just make sure to bring your water skis for those steep lines down the running waterfalls.

This is indeed very sad news and while I didn't know the climbers, it always hits close to home. My condolences to all involved. -josh

Cool!!! From the crux pitch of my armchair (I, class 1, 2', bring doritos) I would think it would have been sloppy warm up there. Are things still freezing well overnight? Good job guys! -josh

The fact that the little Hamas "manifesto" you posted is full of quotes from the Koran and, in particular, what they profess, is scary enough. There is no doubt in my mind, or (in my opinion) any reasonable mind, that Hamas is a terrorist organization and is not fit, in ANY way, to govern any nation or future state. I do not believe, however, that any % of a vote they were elected with truly reflects the views of that % of palestinians as a whole. These are a people that are frustrated and brought to anger about living in a scary shithole with nothing and under fear of constantly being bombarded. Now as I explained in the other post, this is not an excuse to get the Palestinians out of the fact that they did, one way or another, put these assholes in power. More accurately, I think it is a sad example of not only what they have been manipulated in to thinking but also the hellish conditions that would encourage them to support an organization of such obvious evil. I would imagine in many of their minds, they see it as the *only* way to escape the situation they find themselves in. Now, on the other side of the fence, comparing Israel to the Nazis and claiming they are out to extinguish the Palestinian people is an uninformed position. The situations are not even remotely similar. We are comparing a massive, organized, killing machine put together by an extremely powerful recognized state that also sought war with its neighbors. On the other hand, since it again seems to be escaping people: the Jews have been on the receiving end of genocidal threats far more than any other party in this situation historically. It happened in an organized manner in WWII, and it exists today in being surrounded by people who, flat out, are stating they hold religious beliefs that call for the destruction of the Jews as a people and Israel as a nation. I do believe Israel is eventually going to have to move back to its original borders to find any sort of lasting peace. On the other hand, the Palestinians are going to have to moderate, pull in their own extremists, fix their own government and realize that supporting an all out war on Israel is completely condradictory to their own goal of a self governed state and their own sense of security. People need to stop looking at this conflict as a war inherently existing between two nations of people as a whole. It cannot be seen as Jews vs. Muslims or Israel vs. the Palestinians. Instead the conflict has to be boilded down to hard core conservative and uncompromising policies within Israel's power structure and the terrorist government that controls Palestinian affairs. The real question is who takes the first step and how do this? The first small steps began during the Clinton years, but unfortunately Arafat threw his entire people under the bus and wouldn't work with Israel. It's possible things would be a lot different had they been represented by a leader interested in the future of his people rather than his own desire for power and idealogical beliefs. In summary, let's stop with the concrete blaming of one side or another. The Palestinians are not a nation entirely of terrorists, nor is Israel a murderous state of Muslim haters. Instead, they are two peoples who have been on the receiving end of shit for a long, long time. Add to the equation the power imbalance (the fact that Israel is a modern, powerful state and the Palestinians are not), and Western interference and you have the current situation. -josh

Huh? Why, so you can either a.) insult my musical taste (I don't care...) or b.) equate my age to me being stupid due to being too old or too young? I turned 30 yesterday actually. :-) So, now that you have that totally unrelated question answer, please continue and give me whatever your insulting reply was going to be... And to be clear, this post or the point of the verses I included is nothing new to me or anybody else with their eyes open. I was simply sharing the lyrics of a song and my brief comment on them for anybody interested in reading.

Those of you who listen to Bloc Party will recognize these lyrics. The song initially caught my ear for its musical qualities, but after taking in the lyrics, I find them a poignent analysis of the attitude the Bush administration and their right wing neo-con proxies have sewn. It's a sick manipulation of a scared populous for their own selfish goals. Thankfully we have moved beyond burnings at the stake, but these low-lifes have spent the last 8 years committing the moral equivilant of those atrocious acts. "Hunting For Witches" - Bloc Party, 2007 I was sitting, on the roof of my house With a shotgun And a six pack of beers,six pack of beers,six pack of beers. The newscaster says, "The enemy is among us" As bombs explode on the 30 bus, Kill your middle class indecision, Now is not the time for liberal thought, So I go hunting for witches I go hunting for witches Heads are going to roll I go hunting for.. 90's,Optimistic as a teen. Now its terror airplanes crash into towers, into towers, into towers. The Daily Mail says the enemies among us, Taking our women and taking our jobs, All reasonable thought is being drowned out by the non-stop baying, baying, baying for blood So I go hunting for witches I go hunting for witches Heads are going to roll.. I was an ordinary man with ordinary desires I watched TV, it informed me I was an ordinary man with ordinary desires There must be accountability Disparate and misinformed Fear will keep us all in place So I go hunting for witches I go hunting for witches Heads are going to roll I was an ordinary man with ordinary desires I watched TV, it informed me I was an ordinary man with ordinary desires There must be accountability Disparate and misinformed Fear will keep us all in place

I agree, this was a sickening and anti-semetic thing to name a thread. Do you realize the nazis spoke of the "the final solution to the jewish problem", the solution, of course, being the holocaust?? I managed to remain civil in my previous post, but to the creator of this thread: go to hell you bigot.

Blood is on the hands of body sides in this conflict. First of all, everybody seems to have missed a very key concept, and that is Jew does not equal Israeli. Just because I am Jewish does not mean I agree with the approach the Israeli government is currently taking. For the few that have suggested "the jews" somehow invaded this area and imprisoned the people that were there, you have no clue what you are talking about. Let us remember that Israel was founded out of an International (UN) consensus that a Jewish homeland was a necessity. This was immediately following the single largest genocidal event in human history; one directly and clearly aimed at eliminating the Jewish people in their entirety. Over the next several decades, Israel was the subject of several attempts at invasion by its Arab neighbors, all intended to eliminate Israel as a state. Does it surprise you that they take defense seriously considering their enemies are not opposed to just their actions but to their very existance? The fanatics in this situation exist on both sides. Yes, they voted Hamas in to power, and that is clearly their own faults. To some extent their population as a whole needs to take ownership of the problems a minority of their people are causing. If they truly want a shot at a future where they can entirely self-govern and build a thriving society and economy, their moderate populations need to step up and eliminate the terrorists amongst them themselves. Until then, what can you expect innocent Israeli citizens who are the victims of random rocket attacks to think of them? On the other hand, Israel's reactions are often overagressive. The amount of collateral damage and loss of innocent life they are willing to accept in order to retaliate is sad. What can you expect innocent Palestinians to think of Israel if their innocent child is just as likely to be killed in retaliation against terrorists as the terrorists themselves? It's time for the moderate populations on both sides to step up and say there needs to be a reasonable solution to this question, and soon. Both sides need to realize they are going to have to compriomise if they want to be able to live without constant fear of being killed by rockets or bombs. This may not be ideal in the minds of either side, but it is simple reality that neither side will get everything they want. Those of you that side strongly with either faction and blame the other are confused and don't understand the issue, plain and simple. I'm glad, however, to see that fairweather is as ridiculous as ever, even when I likely agree with him on this more than not. Are you still keeping a list of the "cc.com nazis", buddy?

In my experience most routes through that valley, cattrack included, are either exposed to runouts or travel through terrain where you could trigger a slide. With all the recent slide activity, things are definitely unstable, so be safe and cautious! -josh

Does anybody have pictures showing what this big nasty badass peak looks like in winter? -j

Sweet! Looks like you had a great climb on a great mountain. I can imagine that big face can feel lonely in winter when you're all alone.

Fine work gents! I've looked up at that face and thought "i wonder how that is to climb...?" several times. It looks very impressive! -j

Just from my rough memory, I seem to recall the Roman Wall being a perfect angle to slide and make life miserable. When I skied it, it was a very nice skiing angle, which generally means good slide angle too.

I am selling a pair of Atomic R:EX skis in 168cm. They have Naxo bindings mounted, which easily accept touring boots or alpine skiing boots. They are quite adjustable. Both skis and bindings are in good condition, I just end up skiing on my other skis much more often, and need money for new skins and whippets. They were tuned and waxed last Spring and haven't been used since so they are good to go. I'm asklng $300 OBO and live in the Seattle area.

What better place to Epic? I figure if shit goes downhill and I kick the bucket, the Muir Snowfield is the best place to be for optimal postmortem shit-talking material about me on cc. ;-) Actually, it's about the only place I could think of that is easily accessible and able to provide easy terrain for a first time skinner. Ilook, thanks for the info, hopefully tonight and tomorrow the weather can help me out a bit.

Has anybody been up to Rainer recently? Is there any snow to speak of at Paradise? If not, how high must one go to encounter any sort of snow? I'm itching to take a friend out for an intro to some ski touring. Any other ideas for locations are welcome; I noticed during the storms the past two days WA pass seemed to stay mostly snow, according to the WSDOT. thanks! -josh

Another great issue of the NWMJ. Thanks again Lowell and crew.