kurthicks

The schrund on the Taboo glacier approach is most likely unpassable by now. we crossed the last sketchy snowbridge about 10 days ago, and the schrund went all the way across the glacier. it may be passable on rock to climber's left or I bet you could go in via the Torment Glacier though... No word on the traverse though, we got rained off from the East Col/first glacier on Torment.

amen! Thanks Chris for the week and TR. you summed up the trip pretty well.

People can/do rap into the gulley, but the snow was discontinuous and I had lost my ice tool and only had aluminum crampons. The chimney pitch was pretty solid, leading me to believe it wasn't the "5.3" chimney anyways. Full TR should be done tomorrow.

I found some keys at the parking lot for Spontaneity Arete (MP 165 on Hwy 20) on 7/27/05. They are now at the Mazama Country Store.

Not to mention that you have to climb 50 degree snow with a caveman-esque rock for an axe!

I consider it a lost cause. But, I'm just thinking that if someone else happens to climb that route...perhaps they would look for it for me.

I lost a carbon fiber Black Prophet near the NE Buttress 1951 snow patch on Johannesberg. The most likely location is marked in the photo. We had to haul my pack on a pitch and it disappeared somewhere in that gulley, just below the first step in the gulley. I know it's a long shot... Kurt

this would happen if it were an "official" trail, but it's just a climber's path. Same thing with the parking area. Cascade Pass, on the other hand, is an offical NPS trail and, as such, recieves funding for maintenance.

Climb: Johannesberg-NE Buttress (1951/1957) Date of Climb: 7/24/2005 Trip Report: The mere mention of Johannesberg is an interesting thing. Some shudder at the thought of interminable vertical bushwhacking, while others see only the glorious snow arête leading to the summit ridge. My friend Chris has had Johannesberg on his tick list for a long time. I, on the other hand, had never seen the mountain… Our Route As we drove up the road, I had a hard time comprehending the size of the massive northern flank of Johannesberg. The hanging glaciers, gullies, and the prominent NE Buttress just scream to be climbed…but how? Perhaps the more important question is “why?” We parked the car at the last switchback, took some photos with the “insta-beta machine”, and headed off into what would prove to be an incredible adventure. Soon we were at the snowfinger, roping up and ready to go up. I might as well get excited to climb since, after all, there is no easy way off Johannesberg after this point…short of a helicopter. Undoubtedly it was one of the more committing moments I have encountered in the mountains. The next few hours are somewhat of a blur. Mostly, it consisted of devils club, wet gulley systems, the odd 5.8 slab, and endless bushwhacking. Occasionally we consulted the “insta-beta” to confirm that we were on our proposed route and continued to trash our way upwards. After a couple hours, we reached the 1951 snowpatch/gulley system and took a needed rest. Steep 'schwacking We could see that we had to climb up and right a few hundred vertical feet to the ridge crest. It sounded easy enough. As I lead off up the gulley system, things were looking pretty feasible. Soon we climbed under a snow remnant in the gulley (way cool) and up to a steep step in the gulley. Chris belayed as I tried the direct route (a hard offwidth), but I soon resorted to climbing the left wall, a short overhang into an obvious gulley system (5.8R, loose). We hauled my pack on this pitch and somehow ripped my ice tool off the outside. If someone finds it, I would really like it back. Above this, I lead another rock pitch (5.6ish, runout) to get onto steep heather slopes and more bushwhacking. We did about two more pitches until we found a suitable bivy ledge at ~5200’. By “suitable bivy ledge,” I really mean that it was small and uncomfortable. We tied in for the night. Chris ran out of water. I realized that my ice tool was gone. We were definitely having the adventure that we expected. The next day, we began climbing just as the alpenglow faded into the morning light. "Jungle's-berg" kept feeding us pitch after pitch of heather and bushwhacking, some simuling, some belayed, took us to the crest of the NE Buttress. Bushes slowly gave way to steep heather, 4th class rock, and magnificent views of the hanging glacier off to our right. We passed two appealing bivy locations along the way. 4th Class rock above the heather Chris nearing the pin rap station Soon we reached the titanium pin rappel station. Between the snow gulley being discontinuous and me without an axe, our only choice was the infamous “5.3” loose chimney. We climbed the obvious right-hand chimney, which seems like the wrong chimney since it was more like 5.8 on solid rock (the 5.3 chimney is 50’ further left, I think). The "5.3" Chimney A very loose low 5th gulley brought us, finally, to the base of the snow arête (awesome bivy location). We brewed up water and I found a caveman “ice rock” to compliment my nut tool for the glacier crossing. It was 3PM. Snow Arete The snow arête climb to the steep snow headwall was simply fantastic. The bushwhacking, runouts, and uncomfortably bivy faded into memory as we sped towards the summit ridge. Chris climbed into and out of a crevasse, then hauled me up the other side since my aluminum ‘pons and ice rock/nut tool combo weren’t getting the job done. We reached the summit ridge and descended about 75’ to a ledge, dropped our packs, and scrambled to the summit. It was 5:15PM, time to get as far down as we could before dark. About an hour some of the most exposed and loose traversing/downclimbing I’ve done lead to a rap station well above CJ Col. Along the way, I built a few cairns. A series of 7 raps and more loose downclimbing took us to the col and a fantastic bivy site. Much happiness ensued, food was eaten, and we didn’t have to worry about falling off anything for the first time in two days. Alpenglow on Formidable As we watched the evening alpenglow on Formidable, Spider, and Boston Basin, we debated when the NPS would come searching for us. We were supposed to be out today, after all. I recalled John Sharp & Jim Nelson’s story, hoping that we wouldn’t be “rescued” in the parking lot the next day. The descent down Doug’s Direct was straightforward. A bit of forewarning, it gains nearly 1500’ from the base of the Triplets buttress to the notch on Mixup. As we descended towards the Cache Glacier, we saw a solo climber heading towards Gunsight notch. It turns out that it was a ranger sent to look for us... Cascade Pass was a zoo of overweight “hikers” and the trail to the parking lot was endless. Doug's Direct route The NE Buttress of Johannesberg was an incredible adventure that I’m glad I did. After looking at Beckey’s photos, it appears that we connected the 1951 and 1957 routes via the gulley/heather/bivy system around 5200’. All told, it took us 51 hours car-to-car, with 25 hours of climbing from car to C-J Col. We belayed a lot of stuff that wasn't necessary, but we didn't want to get hurt up there either. Thanks to Kelly Bush for not calling out a helicopter out when we were overdue, to Juan for the descent beta, and to Chris for convincing me to tackle my first grade V route. I’d probably do it again too, now that I’ve finally stopped bleeding from all the scratches… Full Size pics are in my gallery . Gear Notes: 60m half rope alpine rack to 1" ice tool or axe lots of slings pins Approach Notes: Cascade Pass Doug's Direct

I think that most of the snow would be avoidable for most of the route at this point. It's a pretty unappealing scree slog from what I remember.

BUMP. anyone been up to Buckner in the last couple weeks? Looking for reports about the 'schrund crossing onto the NF or NF Couloir? Kurt

that's what I have. perfect. pricey though.

Got it. Thanks.

Anyone have Juan Sharp's phone #? I need to get a hold of him today. PM me. Or, Juan please give me a call if you see this. Kurt

Mt. Hood's Eliot Glacier is a good spot for crevasse rescue and ice climbing. there are usually some steeper snow slopes up towards Cooper Spur that are good for self arrest practice. Then drive to the southside and do that route (or head up the Sunshine route).

I feel the difference on my back. The difference is about 6grams/meter. that works out to 360 grams (for a 60m rope) which is ~.80lbs. A smaller diameter single is plenty good for alpine, but will have a short life if you plan to use it on rock too. There are a number of tradeoffs. I would go with the Beal Joker 9.1x60m (I like Beals for their low impact force ) or similar.

spectra/tech cord (in cordelette form) can and should be tied with a triple fisherman's knot.

Water: I don't remember a lot of options (other than the first creek crossing about 1 mile in) until you finish the steep climb up to the heather benches. plenty of creeks up there though. Approach: The trail is pretty good, brushy for the first 5 miles though then STEEP. Look for flagging at the first creek crossing since the trail got destroyed in the 2003 floods. Read Nelson's description. Once up high (over 5000', i think) on the heather slopes, follow the climber's path to a creek. Do NOT cross the creek directly, rather scramble upstream (follow a cairn or 3) about 100', the climber's trail goes off left here. Follow it until it dies, trending toward the obvious col filled with talus. descend to awesome campsites and a creek (watch for loose rock). camp: tents would be fine. There were no bugs there when i went, but that was in September. Check your PMs. Kurt

This one got me too. I was thinking that they were doing a spider rappel, to help the injured down. But, usually, that would only put 2 people on rappel at the same time. With 4 people at the rap station, 2 spider raps could have gotten all 4 down to the next station. Again, my condolences to friends and family.

When we did the route we took 30m glacier ropes, didn't need them since there was 1 crevasse on route. it was ~8 feet deep. The route itself does not need a rope and I found the rock to be somewhat loose. approach/route/crevasse visible in this photo .

at 4lbs, 4oz (mens 9)...they look more like a Scarpa Freney than a Trango S. It does look like it would hike/climb well though.

same for the East Ridge approach gulley.

There are pics of the serac fall/slide path in the Adams Glacier 7/3/05 TR. We saw it too. it fell almost 3000' in 45 seconds. Fox, was your group camped by lake 7505'? we ran into a lot of people camped up there.

The Buttermilks/Peabodys are pretty cool to check out. Sharp crystals there from what I remember. It'll be pretty hot though, go early or late in the day!

That's a lot more than simple anchor failure. "The first [rock] struck and injured an experienced climber. The second, refrigerator-sized rock to which four of the climbers were anchored came loose" "The trio was rigging its ropes for its decent when the second rock, about 10 feet across, let loose. The climbers' rope was secured to the large rock. As it went, so did the rope." My condolences.