iceslut

mission falls itself doesn't form up...or at least not enough for me to climb...some minor drips on the southwest rock next to one of the larger falls does (there are other areas that form up too, but i have not climbed them). you actually have to cross the falls at one point on a snow/ice bridge. it's great climbing in a beautiful wild setting. i'm missing it this year. i spent most of my life in missoula and up on the rez. my parents live just outside of polson on the lake.

i just posted some photos of mission falls (1997) in the ice climbing gallery. actually was headed that way this evening (from pdx), however my partner in montucky reported that what was fat is now slush. holdin' off until later in february and hopin' fer arctic cold.

sorry to hear it...unfortunately, the butte always seems to have more "objective" danger than other crags. i wish you luck with some closure.

Climb: Strobach-Sad Ce'bu / Sudden Change of Plan Date of Climb: 2/16/2004 Trip Report: whoops...accidentally posted TR in the oregon cascades...

Climb: Strobach Mt-Sad Ce' Bu & Sudden Change of Plan Date of Climb: 2/14/2004 Trip Report: Sastrugi, myself and two seattleites Robert and Greg met at the tieton river rd/hwy 12 junction at about 10 pm on friday. we got to the snow park and crawled into bivy sacks right away. an hour later two campers filled with snowmobilers arrived and made a huge racket making the 4:20 am alarm more difficult than necessary. since 2 weeks ago sastrugi and i slogged around gettin' some beta, the approach was quite straightforward on skis. we essentially used the p/n approach with the variation involving FR 611. along the way we picked up another portland fellow named peter who planned to solo toprope some routes. even with the approach dialed, the trip from car to climbs took about 4 hours. not a bad bushwack, but definitely an agressive workout! sudden change of plan and sad ce'bu were both in, although i suspect they have seen better years. me and sastrugi decided to lead sad ce'bu while peter offered to lead sudden change if robert would follow. (hopefully robert will post the relevant climb info for sudden change.) the first short section of sad ce'bu was fairly easy, though i ran out of ice near the top and was forced to utilize the available foliage to reach the ledge. since the climbing had just begun, i thought i would try to reach the cave described in the WA ice guide and belay from there. i started up the steep section and found it pumpy, but solid. after about 30 ft, i realized that i was left with one screw and the cave was clearly out of reach. i tried in vain to find some sort of gear combo that i could utilize for a solid belay anchor, but nothing seemed bomber enough. at one point, i found myself sitting in a little hole in the center of the flow with my legs dangling below me. i knew that if sastrugi fell for any reason, i would be yanked right out. after some f@*!ery, i finally had sastrugi lower me down on my last screw to the ledge. he grabbed some more screws and climbed to me and then continued up to the cave. as belays go, this one rates high up there. the rest of the route looked good, but we didn't know what was happening with the remainder of our crew and decided we should rappel down. we wanted to be at the road by dark, and our turnaround time was very near. as we were setting a rappel anchor of screw and big icicle, we heard our friends above yelling that they were goin' to rappel. i got off using our anchor, then the three of them used a fixed 100-m line that peter left for the next day. we left peter to set up his camp and headed back on our route. even with skiis, the route to the road wasn't much better than the trip in and we were very tired. we reached the parking lot at about 7 pm the drive back to portland went well. (apparently the drive to seattle was more challenging...details?) i have to give a big cheers to greg....he busted his arse all the way and because of time limitations, did not get to climb. we owe him big.

nice attempt, yo!

sastrugi and i made a late saturday decision to try for Sad Ce'bu (we had never been). with my vehicle strewn with gear we headed out of pdx a mere 2 hrs late. after some very slow driving due to dense fog and snowpacked roads, we reached tieton river road and a dumping snowstorm. we slept next to the rig off of the road and awoke the next day a mere 1 hr late. we chose the preston/nevers approach on alex's suggestion above. it wasn't a bad ski on the road at all once the sleds' smoke subsided. but when we reached the "light bushwack", i decided to make it more challenging with a couple of poor orienteering decisions. as mentioned in the ice guide, subsequent trips WILL BE more straightforward. to make a long story short, we decided to abandon the approach when realized we would not have time to climb and make it out by our deadline. it was a sunny day, and the snow was melting fast. looking at the snowpack on the slopes above the cliffs, and not knowing the location of the climb, we were also little concerned with avy danger. once back to the rig, a snowmobiler we had spoken with in the morning mentioned that he would have given us a ride if'n we had asked. doh! at any rate, there is a lot of snow that will feed the melt/freeze cycle should the temps stay low at night.

i can't believe it! i've been waiting for conditions like these in the gorge since i moved here from montana. so where am i when it happens, the f#@*in' caribbean on my honeymoon...i know i shouldn't complain, but crap. cheers to ya'll who got some!

sastrugi and i bombed up to wenatchee on friday night from portland with the new WA state ice guide glued to the dashboard. we joined some seattle folk at an old "apple cottage" for a bachelor party. right away things started goin' south when the groom-to-be arrived and crashed immediately into bed with the flu. we didn't let that get us down too much and made good with the fireplace, booze, and a blow-up lamb at our disposal. at 6 bells the next mornin' robert (our bachelor) was rumored to have said that he had never been sicker. clearly he was not climbing. greg the neurologist borrowed robert's tools and we headed to icicle creek. it was apparent right away that the beautiful ice formations seen in the guide were not to be, however we were determined to at least swing a tool. so, we parked at the snow creek trailhead and broke crunchy trail up towards the millenium walls. there really wasn't any ice up there either, however one 50-ft flow had formed enough to pretend that it was a climb. sastrugi and i tried valiantly to reach the top to set up a toprope, however our poor route of choice (there were certainly easier ways) lead us into some sketchy moves on steep, snow-covered rock. we decided to abandon the silly task, as the sun was melting what little ice there was. returning to the "flow," we were able to tool around and get a bit pumped 10-15 ft off the ground. all in all, as disappointing as it was, it was still a great day to haul a bunch of gear into the alpine lakes wilderness....

thanks fer the advice y'all....cheers

hmm...thought i posted this earlier, but i see nothin....lookin' for ice just north of portland since the gorge will never freeze in my lifetime. just got the WA ice guide (btw ) and am wondering what the roads around strobach and the ice conditions might be like this time of year? felt like montana here in portland for several days and i got an itch....thanks for any credible beta.

These boots have been around for at least 5 years and have been worn only twice. Grey suede with a full shank for crampon compatibility. Very similar, if not the same, to scarpa eigers - which i wear and love. These boots will hold up to the elements if you take care of them! Light for fancy alpine rock and ice climbing. pm me with your email address and i'll send you some digital photos....cheers

i thought these could be of some use to someone. ~7 yrs old and in good shape. no offer too low! pm.

several of us went to lamberson in late summer and had a great time over 2 days. much loose rock however - we watched a group near us let loose a monster slab which could have easily killed someone. they tried to justify it, but i felt it was irresponsible regardless. we saw so many possibilities and planned definitely to return. Quite a hump for a day trip however.

gracias, i did not expect to use it in a pinch, more for bomber anchor fodder. although, weaponry did not immediately come to mind, removing the stop screw could allow it to be used as a nice projectile launcher....

so, i finally broke through the forcefield that was keeping me from purchasing a bigbro after years of wishing i could try one in an alpine setting. now i have one and i'm wonderin' if anyone has any practical experience. i'm lookin' for some objective dos and don'ts based upon experience. cheers.

the climbing changes from season to season unfortunately, since it is formed largely from thaw-freeze cycles. you can usually find moderate to spectacular ice in blodgett canyon near hamilton though. if you go deep into some of the canyons between missoula and darby you will probably find good ice each year, but i have to say i honestly never did anything in the bitterroots requiring an overnight stay.

thanks all! what i'm feelin' is that currently, there is no WI super near pdx! where is the super arctic cold snap when you need it! cheers.

finally found a crew in pdx to climb ice with and now i am wondering where the closest positive waterfall ice is. moved here from missoula, montucky where i climbed in the mission and bitterroot mountain ranges. i will browse some books i have borrowed, but any local opinions would be most appreciated....some tr would be good, 'cause a few of the folks i will be climbing with are newbies...