Sabertooth

From speedclimb.com: Three climbing rangers, Craig Van Hoy, John Smolich, and Jason Edwards, have apparently established a number of records: Success Cleaver: 13 hrs Sunset Ridge: 14 hrs Nisqually Icefall 16 hrs Central Mowich Face: 19 hrs Liberty Ridge 21 hrs Ptarmigan Ridge 22 hrs all times car-to-car

They just changed the forecast for Vantage. It's suppose to be partly cloudy the end of Saturday and partly cloudy Sunday, not rain all weekend.

Interesting article. I'm staying away from any of that crap. It might help you with bouldering or single pitch rock routes by pumping you up, but I fail to see the benefit for alpine. An accelerated heartrate on ie. Mount Rainier would seem to limit your speed, not help it. The risk of heart attack seems pretty high as well. Creatine is probably a lot safer, but I think it's benefit would be limited to training IMHO. I would never take it on a big mountain. Why would you subject yourself to water retention and dehydration to get a little pumped?

It seems that Next Proteins has discontinuing Ultimate Orange. Since it was one of their best selling products, there has to be a good reason behind it. Lawsuits perhaps?

Thanks for the response. I had no idea there was ice in the couloir in the fall. Hmmm... Is it mostly rock or mostly ice with some rock? No crevasses right?

Has anyone here climbed Stormy Monday? I've seen some posts about a ski descent, but no climbing info. I assume that the season is early like the Adams Glacier (from when the road to Killen Creek is plowed until July 1st). How bad is the rockfall if it's a warm day? I have the Beckey Guide. Looking for some additional info. Thanks.

It is the south side. Photo taken from that ridgeline over to the Wy'East route.

Anyone tried one of these 2 variations?

That looks like fun Alex. What is the max grade on that? I also saw a line that meandered it's way up the south face of the Steel Cliff. It would have to be very cold for that one, due to icefall off the cliff.

That is right after the wet season. There will be a ton of snow, especially in the Cordillera Blanco. Be wary of avalanche danger. Have fun and good luck.

Atleast Pakistan protects the climbers attempting the peaks along the silk road (like Muztagh Ata), and the peaks in the Concordia area. I wouldn't get too far off the beaten path over there, or try to organize an expedition of my own. Atleast there are quite a few companies that provide services only to base camp, like Jasmine Tours. It's a good way to bag a 7,000 meter peak for less than 3 grand if you get a good airfare deal. I wouldn't even think about climbing in the disputed area of Kashmir.

Thanks for the beta Alex. Sunshine looks like a good route to fall back on if the 2 North Face Cols and the Coe Glacier Headwall are not firm enough or are prone to a slide. I wonder if there is still some nice vertical stuff to play around with on Sunshine. Hopefully, it's not just a big snow ramp now.

The collapse in the Castle area and the resulting slide down the Klickitat as shown in the USGS photo was over 5 years ago. According to reports, there has been no more rockslides in that area since. Sure there is a slight risk with the glacier crossing, but a rockslide could happen anywhere on a mountain made of choss. Nice photos, thanks for posting.

Has anyone here been up the Sunshine, North Face, or Elliot routes in February through April? Are they doable this time of year, if they've had a week or more to consolidate after new snow? Any info would be appreciated.

The route in the attachment is what I was thinking. Sounds like fun. I'll keep in touch. Victory Ridge is out of my league since I've never aid climbed. The Beckey Guide said the ridge is completely shattered. I'm more into alpine ice. I just wanted to share some info on it.

I did some more research on Victory Ridge. Apparently it has never been climbed!!! The Beckey Guide describes the first ascent and shows the route. They didn't even step on the ridge, they climbed the couloir just north of the ridge, then cut up through the notch in the Roosevelt Cliff (I had the wrong name in my first post). Beckey says Victory Ridge was unclimbable back then due to extreme rock climbing difficulty. When I viewed the ridge, I saw what he meant. I bet it could be Aid Climbed with modern techniques and gear. So who wants to make the first ascent???

Hey Craig. I didn't know about that June 30th limitation. What a bummer. I was hoping to do it early season when the rockfall danger would be lower. Nice pic. The Beckey guide describes a collapse in the castle area in 1997, but the area has been stable since. Did this guy mention anything about the maximum rock climbing difficulty on Battlement Ridge? The books aren't very specific about this. I wonder what the enforecement level of the Indian reservation is? Maybe special permission can be obtained??? I think the best route to obtain Battlement Ridge is to climb up the South Spur to about 9,600 feet, drop down unto the Mazama, then cross the Klickitat at the relativaly flat spot just above 9,000 feet. From there, it looks like there are several good spots to obtain the ridge by climbing directly up the slope due north. I'll do some more research and let you know.

Thanks for the info. I've never read their journal. Is it worth the $35? Anyone else following the Everestnews dispatches from the Polish K2 North Pillar winter ascent? 30 below at base camp! Yes Coca tea. Ever had any?

Their tea is nothing special. I much prefer the Peruvian Cocoa tee they give you at the hotels in Cuzco and Huaraz. Helps with acclimitization / altitude sickness and makes you feel GOOD!

I was in Concordia last year and didn't hear about the G1 and Spantik ascents. What is your source? The weather was shite pretty much the whole time. I saw the International Peace Climb heading over to Broad Peak and they did not look optimistic. Shadid, the $6,000 rescue bond fee and those pesky Liason Officer requirements are killing you. How's the permitting process going so far this year. More applicants than last year?

One of the reasons that they have brought in a third of the revenue is that they reduced the climbing fees by 50% for 2002. Another reason would be the horrid weather during the climbing season over there the last few years. Last year there were no successful accents of K2, any of the 7 Gasherbrums, Broad Beak, Chogolisa, Muztagh Tower, etc. I'm sure the fact that they are harboring known terrorists hurts there revenue too!

"One hardcore MOFO lived at like 21,000' for 180 days, aparantly some kind of summitpost.com record." Since people over there have summited Everest, and Ivano has made a countless number of new routes on the North Face of the Eiger, and 8,000 meter peaks in Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet, what exactly do you meen Bronco? What have you done? I thought so. I don't go over there any more, but atleast try for a decent slam. I think that is the most pathetic attempt I've ever heard.

Did you climb Victory Ridge? I saw it from a distance and it looked totally wicked. Got to be class 5. The Russel Cliffs above the ridge are 70 to 80 degree overhanging glaciers. Looked like they were just waiting to squash a climber. Battlement Ridge goes through the Castle. It is a class 3 route on the southeast side. I've scouted it out and it looked like a great climb. I'll be there in June.

"C) A slow moving train" Start at 3:30 AM, call for help from summit at 8:30 PM. I thought 17 hours for an ascent was a good time. You must be Speedy Gonzolas.

I talked to them as they departed the path up to Crater Rock for Leutholds at about 5:30AM. They seemed to be making good time on the ski slope. We summited well before 10:00, so they were going very slow. The snow conditions yesterday (crusted snow and ice) probably made Leutholds much more difficult.