kurthicks

What is the beta on Baker? approach time, distance, etc? feasible for a day trip?

yea, I saw ice up at Colchuck last weekend. at least 3" thick, would have been climbable too if it wasn't in the boulderfield.

From Gravsports.com ----- September 30th, General, Will Gadd I drove up to Jasper a few days ago, there is a LOT of ice forming already. Somebody has probably already been out and climbed something up high. Anyhow, Riptide is forming nicely for a change, Slipstream is very nearly totally formed (just missing the bottom bit), there's ice allover the Trophy Wall. It's been a wet (OK, miserable in general) fall for rock climbing, there is more ground water around than I've ever seen. It's never totally sure, but I think this is going to be an epic fall season! My bet is that we'll be climbing on the Trophy Wall by the end of October... Get yer binoculars out, dust off the tools, game on! http://gravsports.com/Ice%20Pages%20Folder/05_06_Ice/05_06_Ice.htm

Nope, that's not the face. It is a secretive area, that's for sure. very adventurous.

It's like 1-2 moves of 5.7 IIRC. you can bail off it and head up the gulley whenever you want basically.

Spontaneity Arete http://ncmountainguides.com/pdf/Spontaneity.pdf

what do you know about this one? Steve didn't think it'd been done.

Saturday was almost entirely snow free on DT except for some in shaded patches on the NF. Getting cold though, the creek coming from the Colchuck glacier moraine was frozen with 3" of WI in spots. check my tr in alpine lakes for pics. edit: colchuck from the base of the fin on Saturday gallery photo

yep. Link cams are fun. I placed them both (1 & 2) on every pitch of Backbone last weekend. sweet gear. gotta get some of my own...

but the other thread doesn't mention the petition. to sign the petition, click on the grey box that says "sign this petition" just above the list of names.

your smiley face reminds me of this... edit: as for avoiding the loose rock up high-- just don't go down into the Third Couloir, stay high on the right side on obvious ledges until you hit the notch that has sand/dirt leading up to it.

you mean rock like this? somewhere in the Wallowas... and unclimbed AFAIK PM Terminal Gravity, he's the one to ask. Hit up his brewery in Enterprise while you're there.

Thanks Alasdair. I also removed a bunch of crap from up there on July 4 this summer, including cleaning off the Metolius station.

or even Peshastin.

We did 2 raps off the summit plateau (fixed stations), then descended an easy ledge system to the left that deposited us on the slabs. We stayed generally left, finally walking down flat-ish permanent snow towards the little lake near the pass. Very safe IMO. Did you guys take any pics?

Climb: Dragontail-Backbone Date of Climb: 9/24/2005 Trip Report: After much debate, Matt (NYC007) and I decided to do Backbone in a day last Saturday. Most of the day consisted of us calling each other "Sally's" and commenting about how we would rather be spooning in the back of my Subaru instead of climbing. Da Route (click for overlay) Matt following the offwidth. This pitch was much easier than expected. We both somewhat enjoyed climbing it! We hauled the packs on this pitch with our 60m rope (recommended). Above the OW, we stayed just left of the crest, eventually coming to this roof. Matt lead up and right into the OW, which took us up to the "down and right 5.8 crack" that Nelson describes. Easier climbing took us to the Fin. Fear the Fin Then climb the Fin. Getting onto the Fin required some trundling onto Matt before we reached the end of the lower ledge--as marked with a fixed forged friend. We climbed the right hand line that Nelson describes. Our belay was located directly above my head in the notch. At the notch, we climbed left of the crest, starting on upright flakes (2-4' tall, very obvious) and continuing on ledges and blocks to the second notch in the ridge. Very little loose rock was encountered. Here we crossed through and out onto a catwalk that took us up easy 5th to the summit scramble. We hit the summit plateau about 30 minutes before dark. A long ways to go. Just above the glacier at dark. We finally got back to the car at 12:50am, completing a 19:40 hour day. Full size pics in my gallery Gear Notes: the new C4 camalot #5 is NOT large enough to protect the offwidth to the top. a #2 big bro makes it a little less runout. Bring ice tools to climb the WI that is forming from the glacier runoff. Approach Notes: twice in a week The snow on the approach & descent is easily bypassed. No 'pons necessary.

I've been able to file about an inch off my Grivel picks with no ill effects on waterice. I did have to file off the first tooth and shape (thin) the second tooth because it kept catching when cleaning the placement. Of course, I did it because I couldn't afford new picks at the time. They are still my DT picks though.

Go get sum for free this saturday. http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2005/releases/09/public-lands-day.shtml

Chris give me a call, you can stay at the new casa in Redmond if you want.

Soak in a large bucket (5 gallons or larger) with a weak solution of Muriatic acid. Spray them off with a hose.

Sat- Went up to Dragontail to do Backbone. Started raining right when we hit the lake. ended up climbing Midway before calling it a day. Sun- cragging at Post Falls, ID. Beautiful weather.

snow at ~8000' on Dragontail and Colchuck. No snow at the lakes. (Backbone and Serpentine were snowy and rainy on Saturday). edit: Colchuck NE Buttress and Stuart NR still looked snowfree.

Here is comes... http://www2.standard.net/standard/news/61559/ European-style climbing course making 'iron way' to Ogden Thursday, September 8, 2005 By John Wright Standard-Examiner staff OGDEN -- A rock-climbing attraction under construction in Waterfall Canyon would be one of the first of its kind in the U.S., according to a local climbing expert. The via ferrata, or "iron way," consists of metal rungs and cables attached to rock faces. Wearing harnesses that are attached to the cables, people will be able to climb the rock faces using the rungs. The courses are popular in the Alps, but there are only a handful in the U.S., according to climbing expert and Ogden native Jeff Lowe, who is helpingconstruct the via ferrata. Via ferrata courses were first used in the 1920s or 1930s as a way for people to access remote huts in the Alps, Lowe said. They later were used by troops in World War II to traverse high mountain terrain. "Then they started to just do this for fun, to establish trails in some pretty exciting places," Lowe said. "It's kind of like the most basic, easy form of mountaineering, the safest form of mountaineering and climbing. ... It's like a ladder." Lowe said he is helping build the via ferrata for landowner Chris Peterson. Peterson could not be reached for comment Wednesday. He said one 450-foot-long via ferrata course, which gains 350 feet in elevation, is complete near the waterfall in the canyon, but it will not be open to the public until more testing is done. Two more courses are planned for construction this fall. In his many years of rock climbing and ice climbing around the world, Lowe said, via ferrata courses had never interested him. But then he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. "It's really restricted my mobility, so it's a little bit more meaningful to me," he said. "I start to see the benefit to people who are not hard-core climbers, who are somehow limited in what they can do." Lowe said the goal is for people to be able to use the via ferrata at no charge. However, they will have to pay for an instructor to show them how to use it their first time. The via ferrata will be part of a climbing park that already includes traditional rock climbing and may eventually include ice climbing, Lowe said. The plan is to divert some water from Malan's Basin over north-facing rock to the west of Malan's Falls. "The park, when it's done, should have climbing of all sorts available," Lowe said. He said he may manage the park under his nonprofit group, Ogden's Hollowgraphic Ice Tower. He created the group when he brought an ice tower he designed for the X-Games to Ogden earlier this year. Lowe tentatively plans to erect the tower in Big Dee Sports Park. ---

September 4, 2005.

So is Backbone 'harder' than Stuart NR w/gendarme? or just more sustained?