adrianburke

We are taking Don Serl's advice on excellent routes in BC and are going to tackle the West Ridge of the South Peak of Old Settler this Friday, July 16. The Alpine Select guide mentions that there is a gate shortly after the 2wd parking lot that is "occasionally locked". We could cut off 5km of walking if we take the 4wd past this gate. Does anyone know if this gate is closed currently/recently? Is the road above Bear Creek Logging Camp an active logging road? I also looked in the guide to find the appropriate number to call for the key, but could not find it -- anyone have any beta on that? Adrian

Finally got the pics up... http://casbc.bivouac.com/26jan04photos.htm Adrian

Yeah.... I went to put up the pics, but the site my climbing partner put them up on was down. I have to go pillage them tonight and put them up. Adrian

Hi All... just posted a new ice report on http://casbc.bivouac.com/ice0304.htm Lee, Ura and I climber Nite N' Gale on Saturday. It was a lot of hiking, but a lot of great ice. Only problem was we lost a stuff sack with a small down coat in it. If you are up there in the next week or two and find it, please notify leepurvis@shaw.ca or call Lee at 604-308-4993. Nite N' Gale: Top pitches are in and fat. Can climb it as anything from 3+/4 to 4+/5 - choose your line. Great climbing day. Log and boulder river crossing possible towards the dam from the parking area. For the approach, cross the river, then walk away from the dam. Look for a very large boulder and a side pool. Thrash up into the bush at that point and reach the talus/debris field after 10 or 15 minutes. From there, go straight up the debris to the approach pitches (1500 feet?). Approach pitches are running a bit, but fine. Lots of webbing, Abalakovs, etc. if you wish to rap the route to descend. Thanks!!! Adrian

Send me a report (via the site) if you get out on any ice! Haven't heard much from anyone in a week or so. I'll be going up myself next Saturday. http://casbc.bivouac.com/ice0304.htm Adrian

Posted a Nov. 11 report: http://casbc.bivouac.com/ice0304.htm#CURRENT Adrian

Hey All... I received two ice reports last week, so I started up the BC Ice Report for 03/04. Send me reports via the CASBC website if you are up ice climbing in BC. I'll be up in Pemberton and Lillooet areas late in the weekend myself and will post when I return. http://casbc.bivouac.com/ice0304.htm Adrian

In the end, there was not a trace of snow on the climb, other than a patch or two on the Northside descent ledges. We climbed it car-to-car last Saturday. Drove in Friday night from Vancouver (BC), got up at 4AM in the parking lot, hiking by 4:45. The hike up past Boston Basin and up the East side of the glacier to the base of the gendarme took us until 10:30 or so. There were two parties on the route ahead of us (Hi Capt. Caveman!) but everyone moved along relatively smoothly. On the summit by 2:30, then down and across the north face and back to the car by 9PM. Drove home to Vancouver and finally got to sleep at 2AM. LONG DAY! The climbing was very fun, easy climbing on exposed knife-edged ridge, with lots of blocks and gendarmes to climb up, over and around. You could really go many different ways. Spectacular views all the way South past Glacier Peak to Rainier. The hike in was a bit much - it would have been less of a grunt to hike up and sleep in the basin - but then you take more gear, so it's hard to say which is worth doing more. Want to go back and do the Torment-Forbidden traverse next. That looks fun (though it would be a lot more fun when the glaciers are less shattered and crevassed!). Adrian

I'm thinking of going up the East ridge and down the West ridge of Forbidden next weekend. Anyone know if there is fresh snow on the route or if it is clear? Any other route conditions beta? Adrian

1) Doing the extended version of Dream of Wild Turkeys in Red Rocks (11p, 10a) - April 03 - (being first in line on Crimson Chrysalis ahead of many slower parties was fun too!) 2) West Ridge of Conness and North Arete of Bear Creek Spire over three days in the High Sierra. 3) Liberty Crack in a day - last Sunday! (7th 50 most crowded so far) Last summer, topping out on Kilimanjaro (Machame Barafu route) with my wife on our honeymoon would have been one - especially since she is not really a climber and has never been anywhere even close to 19.5K.

I guess posting to this board can work... I drove down Sat night to meet a guy named Bryce who emailed me in response to my post. We got up at 5AM Sunday, started climbing at 7AM and climbed bottom to top in 7.5 hours (thanks for short fixing the aid pitches). We had intermittent misty rain, but decided to comtinue anyway. Wasn't the fastest we could have done it, but no problem doing it in one day. Thanks Bryce! Great climb! Adrian

Sounds good. I will leave the hammer at home! Congrats on 6 hours. That's blazing fast.

Looking for a partner to do Liberty Crack in a day during the weekend of Sept. 13/14. I have been to the top of the three aid pitches, but got rained off. Want to start early hiking from the car, start in the dark and move fast (dawn is 6:30). Need someone who is competent and fast. See topo at http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/wa/libcrack.gif Will bring the hammer in case the copperheads have been yanked, but would prefer to clean aid. Anyone interested?

With the flat ice expanse between the peaks, I would bet more on Vinson Massif or something else in Antarctica.

Yeah.... just shows how desperate I am to climb! I was in Red Rocks in April, the Sierras in July, did Widowmaker and Life on Earth at the end of July. Then haven't climbed anything at all in August! Not climbing in August in BC is a sin - and bloody frustrating. That was pretty absent minded of me...

D'oh! You'd think doing the http://casbc.bivouac.com site I would have realized it meant the local mountains too. Well hopefully it'll rain soon and the ban will end. Adrian

I'm looking for a partner to climb Harvey's Pup in Vancouver, BC next weekend (Sep. 7?). Could possibly do it the following weekend, but prefer next weekend. Harvey's Pup is a 2 hour hike in from Lion's Bay, with 10-12 pitches up to 10a. See the Alpine Select from Elaho Publishing for details. Looking for someone fast and competent on gear. I can lead every pitch if necessary, but would rather swing leads. PM me if you're interested. Adrian

Has anyone been up Liberty Crack in the last week or two? What are the conditions like on the approach (snow?) and on the climb? Will it go in a day with the snow? Adrian