chris

FW- Murkwood is the local name for "Glacier Viewpoint". I actually think that Anonymous Coward should call up the Mountaineers and inform them of his discovery - I think they'd appreciate the heads up a lot more from a phone call than from cc.com. Why? I think most of us would pick it up and pack it out, but if we ever caught up with the people who left it behind, we'd call them on it. Or do you expect him to "STFU" because he admits to being an "environmentalist", which in your mind equals socialist-democratic-left-leaning-communist-pinko-red?

I've certifying and re-certifying with WMI now for almost 10 years, principally because they have teh greatest variety of locations. I've recertified in Lander, Piktin, SLC, Oakhurst, and most recently at the NOLS station in Conway. You could always tie it into a ski or climbing vacation and blow your whole two weeks a year at once!

Now, I only saw the top half of it, but the U Notch LOOKED SWEET!!! Almost complete ice, except for neve for the last 30 meters and the far left side. I couldn't see the bergschrund, but the right side is usually passable and even if it isn't there is a rock pitch that bypasses the 'schrund difficulties. Please, someone climb this and tell us about it - I don't think I'm going to get to head up there this year...

Rumr, right back at ya'...

I hear a lot of complaints down here in California about the ratings, especially the 3rd versus 4th versus 5th. As I understand it, back in the day of the Rock Climbing Section of the Sierra Club, classification was based on the protection used and not the technical difficulty. 4th class implied the use of a rope, and 5th class implied the use of protection to back up the climber. The running joke was: 2nd class - we didn't bring a rope 3rd class - we brought a rope but it never left our pack 4th class - we broke out the rope but left the pitons in the pack 5th class - we desperately dug the pitons and hammer out of the pack while the leader shook in his boots In fact, old reports of the RCS referred to solo climbing as "third class-ing". For example, "Jules Eichorn third classed a new route on Cathedral Peak during this trip." The consensus based model of grading a route by its technical difficulties appears to be a new concept that came about with the YDS.

If your transfer is greater than 12 hours, they will refuse to check your bags all the way through to Kathmandu. My experience was with a 16-hour layover (twice), and I was required to go through retrieve my bags, go through customs, and then check in again 4 hours before my flight (they wouldn't let me check in sooner). Both trips were on Royal Thai. My experience is nothing fresh or unpreserved is generally allowed through customs. This is to ensure that bugs and diseases aren't accidentally transfered. This includes dried foods - home made beef jerky, for example, won't be allowed in if they catch it. Good luck

Imagine back when all the climbing gear was handmade, in Y.C.'s warehouse in Ventura. This conversation would not be happening. All of you with expectations that "textbook" placements will hold 100% of the time are blowing sunshine up your skirts. Except the risk that the cable might break, the cam might walk, or the rock may fail. My only complaint with Aliens is that they are still made by hand (I've heard), and the owner refuses to upgrade to a fully automated manufacturing line, which could minimize and better identify manufacturing flaws. Rumr, quite being a dickhead.

Climb: Palisades-Polemonium/N. Palisade/Starlight, V 5.4 Date of Climb: 8/21/2006 Trip Report: I had a particularly challenging week with a client/partner, Pen. Pen was hankering to climb Starlight, North Palisade, and Polemonium. Pen had attempted these peaks, individually or together, multiple times, and had been thwarted by weather and fitness limits. So what was going to happen this time? Pen chose to access the Palisades from the west side, where the easiest routes are found, but the approach is certainly more strenuous than the hike up from Glacier Lodge. We took the approach easy, spending a night at the South Bishop Pass Lake (my name), and taking a full second day to traverse the final 2.5 miles across Dusy Basin, over Thunderbolt Col, and to our camp. Pen is particularly troubled by talus, so instead of dropping down to Thunderbolt Tarn, we camped at the very top of the rib of rock that runs east/west, immediately south of the tarn, from the Barret Lakes to 12,400’ in the talus field underneath the Palisades. This meant we had to bring in extra fuel to melt snow, but I thought the weight was worth the time saved in this case. Now we were all set for our first objective, Starlight Peak, via the Northwest Chutes (III, 4th class, with a 5.4 summit block). That morning Pen begged off, saying that her knees were just hurting too much and she needed a rest day. So I took an easy hike in afternoon, traversing the ridge from Thunderbolt Col to a point overlooking the Palisade Basin, and trying to solve a puzzling question. How was I going to help Pen accomplish three peaks in only two days? The only solution I could think of was to not come down. I told Pen of my idea and conditions for its success, she agreed and we left a little before 7am on the fourth day. We traversed the talus field south and started up the Southwest Chute of Polemonium, which tops out at the U-Notch. I use a different route than that described by Steve Porcella and Cameron Burns in their Climbing California’s Fourteeners, staying right up the gullies instead of left, but the end result is the same. We gained the U-Notch at 12:00am, and after a short break charged up Polemonium. The second rap anchor was two horns slung individually, but someone had backed up one of the slings with a nut without any adjustments, creating an “American Death Triangle”! So I nicked the nut, equalized the slings, and called it good. Back at the notch at 3:30pm, we used a Jetboil stove to refill our hydration bags, fill up a 3-Liter Dromedary bag, cook dinner and a round of hot drinks. And then it was time to pack up and head for North Palisade. I prefer to climb the upper traverse, called the Moore Variation in Secor’s book. Even though its 3rd/4th class, it’s still faster, easier to protect, and can be broken into smaller pitches to keep in view. I also prefer to descend the original traverse because you can quickly rappel the 30m, 4th class pitch, and a short 3rd class traverse is flatter and easier to descend. Climbing the traverse with a pack really woke Pen up to the challenges we were facing. Three more steps up and around chock stones gained the southwest bowl beneath the summit. A short hike and scramble gained a bivy ledge immediately below the catwalk at 7:30pm. We put aside enough water to have coffee and oatmeal in the morning, and drank the rest of the dromedary bag, still thirsty despite drinking our fill at the notch. On the fifth day, the wind from the east kept us huddled in our sleeping bags, handing mugs and bowls back and forth as I boiled water. We finally left our tiny bivy ledge at 9:00am, and we were on the summit only an hour and a half later. This was our Point of No Return – if we continued on our plan we were committing to another 12-hour day at least. Pen was still willing to go on, so we left the summit quickly. The first rappel is immediately north of the summit register, easy to spot, and 30m long. The primary anchor is two faded slings, backed up poorly by someone’s 8mm cord, so I built a new anchor with a bit of 8.6mm rope that had been retired and brought specifically for this contingency. Because of the wind I lowered Pen down on one strand, and then counter-balanced a rappel on the other strand. This brought us to a small ledge, and required a short down climb to gain the traverse pitch – I protected Pen by slinging a horn high with cord and a quick link, which she left behind for some other lucky soul. I broke the traverse into a longer pitch across the slabs to a corner, then a quick 3rd class down climb around a corner to the Clyde Couloir notch. A short 10m lower/counter balance rappel leads to a full 30m rappel down the west side and to the top of the Clyde Couloir ice. A 30m 4th class traverse and down-climb protected by that Polemonium nut and 30m 3rd class climb lead to the Starlight notch at 2pm. Three short pitches led to the summit block. The climbing was given as 4th class, but Pen called it “5-fun”. Looking at the time and checking her internal gauges, Pen opted not to climb the 5.4 “Milk Bottle” summit block. Instead she signed the register and we took off for the rappel anchors. Again we did lowers and counter balanced rappels, and left the notch shortly after 4:00pm for the Northwest Chute, with the time pressing onto our shoulders. One full 30m rappel leads to endless 3rd class down-scrambling. When I read the route descriptions, the section covering the upper part of the route, the upper Starlight Chute, sounds very short. In pictures it appears to be only 1/3 of the route. In fact it’s much longer, easily 2/3 of the route. And the traverse that everyone talks about? You’d need to be hit between the eyes with a 2x4 to miss it. It appears immediately before the Starlight Chute narrows into scariness and you spot it immediately before the second 30m rappel, leading directly to the start of the traverse. If your ascending the route, just keep right and the notch will quickly come into view. To make better time I opted to lower Pen a full 50m+ down slabs from the notch, and quickly down-climbed to join her. We gained the top of the final 4th class section just as it was getting dark, and put on headlamps for the final two rappels to the talus field below. We dead-reckoned down the talus to within 10m of camp, quickly found, and walked in at 10:00pm. A pasta dinner was eaten, hot drinks and shots of whisky to celebrate were quickly drunk and then our beds were sought. When I finally turned off my headlamp to fall asleep it was midnight. On the final sixth day I let Pen sleep in, hoping the extra rest would help her recovery and make our hike out easier. We finally left camp at 11:00am, moving a little faster than on the hike in, and made it to the trail head at 7:30pm. Conclusion This traverse is officially my favorite way to gain these summits. Strong climbers should have no problem climbing North Palisade/Starlight in a day, and could even link up Polemonium if you’re willing to start and finish close to dark. I last climbed this traverse in 2004, and this year I found most of the rappel anchors changed or missing, and required modification or backing up to give me peace. Extra rappel material is strongly recommended. The Original Chimney (2 pitches, 5.4), and the Clyde Variation (4th class) are great alternatives to the Moore Variation of the LeConte Route. Gear Notes: Strictly for the climb sleeping bags pads Jetboil stove with one canister hydration bags MSR 3-Liter Dromedary bag snacks for two days, dinner, breakfast, and hot drinks 60m, 9.2mm rope 3 cams, #1, 2, and 3 one set of stoppers four slings with carabiners 6 locking carabiners and belay devices extra rope for rappel anchors I wish I had More quick links to speed up rappels Approach Notes: 6 miles of trail to Bishop Pass, 2 miles of moderate cross country with routefinding to Thunderbolt Col, >0.5 mile to camp at Thundrebolt Tarn. Feel free to PM me if you want detailed directions to Palisade Basin or my alternative route up Polemonium's Southwest Chute.

I've noticed more bicyclists even here in small-town Bishop, where "car-pooling" means each person drives their car to the agreed upon destination caravan-style. There's even a cop here who rides to work, in full uniform of the day. People seem to be holding back and combining out-of-town chores into one big trip at a time...

Yeah, that's what I suspect too. And my boots and climbing shoes don't allow a lot of wiggle room - in fact I'm going to take my boots into a shop next week to get them stretched a little. I'm trying to keep surgery an ultimate last resort. Can anyone recommend a podiatrist in the Seattle area that is familar with runner/climbing problems? Does anyone have experience with acupuncture?

This month has been absolutely amazing. At the end of July, we still had significant snow from 10500' and higher. On an approach to the west side of the Palisades over Bishop Pass, I experienced constant snow from 11000' and snow in every southwest gully route on the west Palisades. Then during the first week of August the Eastern Sierra experienced a significant thunderstorm and rain cycle, doubled with high temps. I was lucky to have missed it by visiting my girlfriend in Seattle. I just finished another five day trip into the west side of the Palisades, and the conditions have completely changed. There is almost no snow in Dusy or Palisade Basin. None of the Palisade southwest chutes have significant snow. The conditions have quickly changed from the best to the hardest, as the melted snow now uncovered miles of talus and scree to negotiate instead. When I looked down at the Palisade Glacier from the summits of Thunderbolt and North Palisade, V-Notch has a huge, overhanging bergschrund. It may be possible to traverse aproximately 300' climbers' left, crossing a bridge there, and then traversing back across a snowfield and exposed rock patch to re-enter the couloir. I imagine a similar problem may exist on the U-Notch Couloir. The temps were consistently below freezing this week. I expect the North Couloirs on Gilbert, Thompson, and North Peak to be in good shape. Early starts are a must - its hot outside at mid-day.

Mozzy is short for mosquito - but I'm sure you've met them by now...how was Firebird Ridge? A friend and I have been talking about climbing it lately.

So, I've developed a stabbing, sharp pain in the front of my foot, focused at the second toe, that grows in intensity as I walk. Constant terrain, especially smooth, seems to encourage it to occur. Uneven terrain, like rocky trails and talus, seems to discourage it. On even terrain, the first half hour seems to be fine. I start to notice the pain in the second half hour. If I haven't stopped for a break then the third half hour is painful, only one grade below debilitating. Taking breaks and elevating my feet seems to help, but once its started, it remains until I'm done hiking. At its worst, it feels like something the width of a pencil is pinched between my first (big) and second toe, and every time I set my foot down, kick a rock, or have side-ways pressure on my foot it feels like that inflamed pencil is pinched, rolled, and pained. Any ideas what this may be? And what my treatment options may be? Does anyone recommend someone I can see to have this evaluated?

Climb: Mixup Peak-East Face Date of Climb: 8/3/2006 Trip Report: The Story Inspired by Tom and Alex's trip a few weeks ago, M and I decided to check it out last Thursday. We went for a sport-climbers alpine start, leaving the car at 10:00am... The approach is incredibly straight forward - and this is after I've spent a summer in the Sierras. The trail kicked in by the Ptarmigan Traverse looks almost as if it was built by a trail crew. The bugs that Tom wrote about were no where to be seen. Gunsight Notch is actually two notches, a "U" and "V" seperated by a tower. We ascended to the U notch, and found that a car-sized block of the snow-lip had collapsed and created a bridge across the moat, making our access much easier than what Tom and Alex reported. We traversed around the south side of the Tower to gain the V-notch, and the start of the route. Two obvious starts are visable when traversing by the slings marking the first pitch - the left-hand start (probably the Beckey recommendation), is marked with one old, faded grey sling. The more often used right-hand start to a nest of red slings is recommended - it allows the belayer to sit off to the right in the notch, protected from rock fall. We roped up for this entrance pitch, but then soloed. If you were to pitch it out (recommended with beginners or the hesitant), then head up and right for pitch two, keeping the dropoff close to your right side. The second anchor station is located at the top of a knife edge. The 3rd pitch follows this knife edge up to a tree (slings are hidden underneath the branches). These anchors are ideally placed so that climber-inspired rockfall descends away from the belay stations. A short bit of 1st class soloing leads to the east face. The Beckey description recommends traversing across the amphitheater to the rib that makes up the right side. We went directly up the bowl, wandering around looking at the gendarme protecting the south-east ridge (there are slings on top!) and finding a loan protection bolt, an old 1/4", half out and bent, with an aluminum hanger. Looking at the options for the final pitch, we chose the obvious corner that access the lowest point on the summit ridge. That works, but in the future I'll probably use the crack/corner system next to the left, since it leads directly to the summit blocks and bypasses a tricky-to-protect ridge traverse. A slung anchor/rap station clearly marks a great place to pitch it out to the summit. To descend, we rappelled from a rap station on the north end of the summit blocks, immediately before the ridge knife edges. A 30 meter rappel reaches the anchor/rap station I mentioned above. A second rappel puts you firmly in the 3rd class of the East Face. A hard search failed to find the third rap station that Tom mentions in his trip report. Downclimbing leads to the top of the 3 pitches to the notch. The rappels are 30m, 25m, and 15m. We cleaned the useless slings from the 2nd pitch (they were getting in the way of the rappel rings). All told, we roped up for the first 15 meters and the last 10 meters, soloing the terrain in between. Remaining roped up for the first three pitches, and the last two pitches, would probably add an hour to the ascent of the technical route. Times Car - Cascade Pass: 1:30 Cascade Pass - Cache Glacier: 1:00 Cache Glacier - Gunsight Notch: 0:30 Gunsight Notch - Summit: 2:00 Breaks (20, 10, 20, 10 minutes): 1:00 Summit - Gunsight Notch: 1:00 Gunsight Notch - Cascade Pass: 0:45 Cascade Pass - Car: 1:15 Totals Ascent - 6:00 hours with breaks and summit Descent - 3:00 hours, no breaks Car-to-Car - 9 hours Mountain Notes Tom mentioned the North Ridge, a class 4 route, in his trip report. During our approach, we worked hard to identify this route as well and believe we did so. It is not the rib defining the right side of the East Face amphitheater, as Tom suspected. The North or North-East Face of Mixup is divided from the East Face by the Mixup Arm, a buttress that sweeps from the summit to the NE - and is crossed down low to gain the Cache Glacier. Rather, the North Ridge is visible from the Trailhead as the sweeping arm framing the north side of Cascade Pass. Once on the Ptarmigan Traverse trail, the N Ridge Route is gained by climbing the first gully/snow field (glacier remnant?) to a visible ramp on the gully's right side, and gains a ridge line. The route looks pretty straight forward from below - I'd like to try it sometime. Conclusion This route - and this mountain - is perfect for a fun endurance day trip. Possible bivy sights on the Cache Glacier make it a great day and a half trip too. The rock is not as bad as some spoiled climbers would imply - you simply need to knock on a few holds at the beginning and end, and mind some obviously detached blocks. I hope to head back and check out the North Ridge sometime as well... Gear Notes: 50meter rope - which required us to down-climb between rappels. A 60 meter rope would be perfect, though you can keep 30m coiled in the pack until the descent. Rack: A set of nuts, cams from 0.75-3, five shoulder slings. We used the 1, 2, and 3 cam on the route, each once. I'd bring the same rack in the future. Crampons and ice axe. Made for a quick traverse of the Cache Glacier. Aluminum crampons would be perfect for this route. Approach Notes: As mentioned above, the trail to Cascade Pass is built by trail crew, so be prepared for 4 miles of 2% grade and numerous switchbacks. The Ptarmigan Traverse looks like it could have been built by trail crew (though they ignored that 2% rule in some places).

UW- That first photo is a money shot - excellent photo!

Would it be possible to avoid the fearsome moat at Gunsight Notch by climbing through Cache Col, and then doubling back? Or is the backside to crazy?

Congrats Luke!!

I've purchased two camera's recently. One was to run on AA batteries, so that it could be taken to Asia and South America, and on multi-day trips here in North America and batteries are much easier to find than to carry around cords and plugs and adapters and whatnot. The second camera was to be as small as possible for day trips. I wanted both to be at least 5mpeg. That's it. Both models ended up being Sony's, which is nice cause it means I can exchange the memory card (which you have to purchase seperately).

We have an insane amount of mozzy's right now, and there is still a lot of snow above 10000 feet.

This #7 is almost in mint condition. It was given to me on a rack of anchor material to be used for a rappel route here in the Sierra's, and I couldn't bare to use it.

The only time I've ever needed the Petzl Arctic was when I wintered over at McMurdo Station back in 1998. Otherwise, its extreme overkill. I used a Petzl Zoom on Rainier until the Gemini came out. Now I just use the Gemini when I need to do routefinding in the dark, and if I don't I use a Tikka.

I just really like having one belay/rappel tool that does it all, and I'm willing to put up with a little rougher handling to have it.

So I have a #7, straight-sided, with shrink wrap and "tested" like you described. Is it correct to believe it was produced in 1980?

So is the new guidebook going to follow the Indian Creek example of grading the climbs solely on the width of the crack?

Well, I've been here for three weeks, climbing from Tioga Pass to Whitney, and here is my conditions report for the Eastern and High Sierra as of today. The snow is melting incredibly fast, though the snowpack is still above average. From the Palisades to the north significant snow can be found from 10,000 feet and higher. As of June 1, the snowpack was still equal to the April 1 annual average snowpack, but incredible heat for the last week of June and first week of July melted things FAST. Although the Whitney region received above average snowfall this past winter, it still had a lower snowpack than farther north, and the snow line is respectively higher. The monsoon season is upon us and thunderstorms can be expected in the afternoon whenever a humid weather front comes in from the Pacific. The mozzies, sand-flys, and other insects that bite are vicious but unpredictable. Last week in the Whitney Portal you could be bled to death. This week I was bit once in eight hours. Better to bring the bug-dope then risk your sanity. In the Whitney region, the trail is almost snow-free all the way to Iceberg lake. The deep snowpack that had filled the mountaineers route is now ice in the upper 1000' of the lower and upper gullies. Climbers ascending Day, Keeler, or the East face/buttress routes of Whitney are recommended to cary crampons and/or ice axes for the descent down the Mountaineers route. Further north, the low elevation snowpack makes for excellent approaches to the alpine rock routes. Bring light crampons and ski poles to reach Middle Pal, Temple Crag, anything in Palisade Basin, or similar elevations and basin in the High Sierra. Conness has snow as low as Saddlebag Lakes, making for a wet, sloppy descent after climbing. U-Notch, V-Notch, and North Couloir on North Peak are still primarily neve, but should be melting down to ice fast - I'm expecting these to be in condition within a week to 10 days from now. If anyone has any specific questions about conditions in the area, feel free to send me a PM.