Sabertooth

Hmmm. I guess this would work as a last resort. Too bad I don't know anyone at the University.

I have been trying to get ahold of this book for about a year now. It is out of print and difficult to find. I am willing to pay $50 plus shipping for it. I have tryed buying it used through Amazon and Ebay, but with no luck. If you are willing to depart with your copy, I would greatly appreciate it.

Those are sweet shots man. What are you a professional photographer or something? Oh yeah, that's right.

Tying in with the rope means that much less rope to work with to get to that good stance or ledge. It is also a pain if you're bailing and need to set up a rappel. A daisy weighs almost nothing.

That's not Yocum Ridge. It's the couloir on the side of the ridge. It would nice to see a more detailed description about the ridgecrest climb itself including the three gendarmes and the upper buttress. One obvious error is Devils Punch Bowl is listed as grade III. A 1 pitch WI2+ with a 5 minute appraoch is Grade I. Another thing that I'd like to see corrected is grade inflation. Locally accepted grades like a 5.7+ for Givlers Crack and a 5.8 for Orbit should be used, not different ones. Just my 2 cents.

Ruth Gorge?

Bolivia or Peru?

The North Face of Lexington has a 5.7 mantle on it, the rest of the "Battle" should be 5.6. That does sound like fun. Hmmm...

We are thinking of doing a daytrip up to Gibralter from Spokane either Saturday or Sunday. Since it was in the fifties at Banks yesterday, I doubt there is any good ice left there.

I believe that's called the Mithral Dihedral. Looks awesome!

Where are the two Gendarme pitches on Stuart listed as 5.8? Everything I've read says they are 5.9.

Sorry it took so long. Here is a shot of Pewee Falls from above the limestone cliffs, where some of the other ice is. When we were down there, the line looked to be on the far right edge. The center had some huge icicles that would require some very interesting overhanging moves to get above.

Cool. What routes did you do besides Exasperator?

I believe that photo is of the backside (eastside) of the first gendarme from on the ridgeline just past it. The hidden side is the steep part, about 75 degrees from a trip report I read on rec.climbing.

[drool] [/drool]

That first photo is really nice. Thanks.

I don't see what the big deal about having a really large expansion range is. Might be good for beginners who have a hard time looking at the crack in front of them and grabbing the right size cam.

Awesome. Any pics? What pro did you place with the rotten ice?

Nice picture Cluck. That pillar looks insane. I wonder how it rates. 5+ or more due to the fact if it collapses you could easily die.

Looks pretty unconsolidated still. Maybe I'll give it a try on the 24th. Could someone go up there and test it this weekend. Pretty please.

Do I detect sarcasm? :-) I can only promise it will be an adventure. Hopefully alpine ice or really firm snow. If not, take an easier line up either side. Abercrombie is an easy walk over the ridgeline from Hooknose.

Ha ha. The snow was awful, that would have sucked! So when are we going to do the first winter ascent on the North Face of Hooknose, near Mount Abercrombie? The upper portion of the face is about 70 to 75 degrees. You haven't bagged that one yet, have you? Here's a crapy photo of the face. http://www.mnphotography.com/hknose01.html It's a catch 22. If it is cold enough for long enough for the falls to be climbable, the lake is probably too frozen to use a boat or dingy. :-)

Went up to Metaline Falls yesterday to scout for some ice. Our main objective was Pewee Falls, a 250 foot high waterfall where Pewee Creek empies into Lake Pend Oreille, near Boundary Dam. Here is the Topozone link... http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=48.97083&lon=-117.35389 Pewee's north side was formed nicely with a lot of water still coming down the south side. The first pitch is about 150 feet of dead vertical WI5 ice, and looked super burly, too difficult for either of us to lead. Pewee empties directly into Lake Pend Oreille, so the lake needs to be pretty frozen to lead this climb. The base had enough ice there to safely get to the start. The second pitch backs off into some easier 3+ to 4 ice. We played around on toprope on the second pitch. It would be fun to follow a ropegun up the whole climb. We also scouted the unnamed ice fed by seeps from the limestone cliffs nearby. My partner had climbed several of them before, back in the late seventies, and found 4 to 5 routes of 1 pitch length between WI2 to WI5. The WI2 was burried in snow. The other ones were to dangerous to get to from the top with the soft unconsolidated snow. The WI5 way way to thin to climb, but the 3 looked climbable, though the ice was kinda brown. The 4 looked doable. The best way to get to them is probably to rap Pewee Falls then traverse the lake edge over. The snow conditions were horrendous to get to the falls. I had 30" powder snowshoes on and still sunk in up to my knees and hips at times. In good snow, the approach would be 10 to 15 minutes of easy hiking. We were also going to scout some other climbs in the area, but ran out of time, and we got tired of the soft snow. I've heard through the gravevine of a bunch of ice fed by similar limestone seeps around the lake and Metaline Falls. Some other day... In better snow conditions, this could be a worthwhile climbing area. You definately don't have to worry about crowds. I have a couple of photos I'll try to post tomorrow.

Let's go to Mars. All we need is one of these and a setup like this...