matt_warfield

For the squeeze, just hang your pack from your harness with a tether. But as has been suggested, take an axe for the approach but don't take it on the climb. Go light and scramble/carry around at the base to your left gear. If you don't like chimneys, do the Beckey S. Face route instead as profiled in Kearney's guide. Either wasy, it's a great face that wants you to climb it.

Normally, you don't descend the W. Ridge but rappel the N. side of Prusik in 4-5 single rope rappels. There will be some snow around the Enchantment basin but I doubt if crampons would be necessary. You may get a response from somebody who has been in there recently and can report on the snow pack. Have fun- it's a great peak!

You may want to select your destination on the basis of weather conditions rather than other factors as J. Tree will likely be warmer than Tahquitz/Suicide. Either way, have fun and expect old school ratings.

If you decide on a full service American company, check out Colorado Mountain School: www.cmschool.com They are a premium service with very experienced and accredited guides and offer a full complement of S. American expeditions in addition to alpine and rock climbing in Colorado and beyond. Have fun planning the trip!

Cruel Shoes to Split Pillar Apron Strings to Split Pillar Rock On to Squamish Buttress Angel's Crest Centerfold Upgrade to 11a and do Apron Strings to Grand Wall. It's worth getting better for!

Permits are required for overnight beginning 6/15 so you are just under the wire. After 6/15 all you need for a day trip is a permit at the trailhead. And as most alpine climbers know, the definition of a "day" gives some latitude in this regard! Some recent threads have discussed trail conditions. I'll bet it is pretty snow free to the lake and then you'll have some snow. Have fun.

It is a classic weekend to avoid unsettled weather west of the crest and go east of the mountains to drier climes and warm rock climbing: Leavenworth, Smith Rock, etc.

And if you're driving north from Jackson, WY through Yellowstone Park instead of through Idaho, you hook in to I-90 just east of Bozeman so either way there is a nice outdoorsy destination to pause at in Montana and do some climbing.

Red Lodge, Bozeman, Missoula, and Butte areas (among others) have cragging and some sport climbing and all should have good conditions in September. I am most familiar with the Bozeman area: Bozeman Pass, Gallatin Canyon, and Hyalite Canyon will more than fill a couple of days and there are good shops in town for info.

Don't know specifically about either area, but I do know it was a low snow year in SW Montana. There will still be snow at elevation as of now, but it will melt off sooner than usual.

Onsight: No falls ascent on first try with no prior knowledge of route. Flash: No fall ascent on first try but with knowledge of route (e.g. watch someone or get tips from someone). Redpoint: No fall ascent (could be many tries and extensive knowledge) Try 'em all!

Also Taylor Roy, who set routes a couple back at Redmond VW, did 3rd ascent of You Must Be High, 5.13c R in Eldorado Canyon, Boulder. One of those spicy headpoint thingies they're doing now in Eldo.

Ah such symmetry: examining "inner space" while climbing "outer space". Better tighten up that anchor or you'll end up in "Orbit".

Thanks, I didn't read the first part carefully. I'm glad the AF is involved as they have a lot of experience in these matters. Whatever happens to Infinite Bliss, "alpine sport routes" are not unique to Mt. Garfield and are being developed (Alberta, Leavenworth, Mazama, etc.) and the relevant issues need to be addressed as they often become quite popular despite some climbers objections.

It's sort of ironic that the FA team, in an attempt to minimize the impact of access through trail construction, has perhaps compromised access through attracting the ire of a group whose primary concern is the trail and not the route. Is The Access Fund involved in this or will they be?

I would recommend retiring it when you start to worry about it.......which would appear to be now. In the meantime keep using each side the way you do now. BTW, you are "braking"- climbers don't like to asssociate the word break with their belay device.

Yawn..... Check out this guy's day at JTree! http://www.climbing.com/news/reardon280/

Check out Chek. Cheakamus Canyon that is- sport climbing across multiple sites between Squamish and Whistler.

If you do these and also are adept at moving fast in the mountains on less difficult terrain you should be good to go. Don't get too wound up about the OW as has been mentioned it is barely OW on 2nd pitch of Gendarme and much or all can be done with fist jams, layback, and face.

The Gendarme has layback, fist/offwidth, and jamming at the 5.9 level in an isolated and exposed alpine setting. It also has some routefinding adventures above the Gendarme. Get solid on all of these aspects and then have fun on one of the best alpine routes around.

Well, he is very unassuming. Now I wish I had queried him more about the traverse rather than just ask about the brush with the "law" (re: my earlier post).

I know he did the upper North Ridge, including the 5.9 Gendarme direct finish, and would be surprised if he didn't also do the lower North Ridge. And there is a lot of ridge traversing in between, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't do the S. Face of Prusik instead of the W. Ridge as a finale. Anybody have a reference with details?

Well, I have no references in front of me, but I'll take a shot: the trail alone from Stuart TH to Snow Lake TH is about 19 miles. Considering the spur to Stuart and all the zigzaggin' and shite, it's gotta be 25+ miles. The elevation gain from Icicle Creek to Stuart summit is more than 7,000' so including Colchuck, Dragontail, and Prusik's ups 'n' downs has to add up to at least 12,000' of gain. A worthy effort considering a bunch of it is off trail and, well, climbing. And by the time you pull the great granite on the N. Ridge of Stuart (Peter raved about the quality of that route) and end up on Prusik, well you're going to feel like Outer Space just gets a on the way to a

Yes C45, but what distinguishes the Enchantments traverse, the Evolution traverse, and others of the ilk is not the difficulty of the climbing, which is quite moderate for Croft, but the sheer mileage and vertical, much in technical terrain. At some point, despite moderate climbing, everybody runs out of juice or light or both. Except for Dan - maybe.

Yes, there is some more interesting trivia on this mammoth day, which involved a free solo of N. Ridge of Stuart, including the Gendarme finish, and other peaks on the traverse over to Prusik, which he also climbed. There were rumors that Peter had an encounter with the law due to his midnight start and a spate of vehicle breakins at trailheads. I was in Bishop CA climbing at Owen's Gorge in March and ran into Peter, out guiding that day. I asked him about that big day. His client asked what we were referring to and Peter humbly mentioned a little hiking and climbing trip in Washington! Anyway, he didn't have a ride to the trailhead that "day" (sometime around midnight) and so was starting the trip by hiking up the road from camp at Icicle Creek to the trailhead, which adds several miles and more than 1,000' of elevation. So here he is hoofing it up the road in the middle of the night and along comes a Larry the Tool rentacop who was patrolling parking areas and who thought Peter was a nefarious character out to vandalize vehicles in the middle of the night. He pulled a gun on Peter, who needed 10-15 minutes of fast talking to extract himself from what proved to be probably his closest brush with injury or death of the day so he could get to the trailhead and move ahead on a colossal day of solo alpine climbing. He is also very friendly and engaging, a pleasure to watch climb, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the routes at Owen's which he freely shared. Another high point: watching Peter toprope a 5.7 sport climb, complete with quickdraws, after his client led it. Glad I got that gem on film! Anyways, here's to a legendary and inspirational climber: