off_the_hook

anyone?? baker? shuksan? pantilat@rice.edu

Anyone interested in climbing something in the north cascades like baker or shuksan or a multi-day trip like pickets or ptarmigan??? I have a car and gear and can leave as early as tomorrow. I am flexible with days thru next week. Leor pantilat@rice.edu

Here are some photos taken with my non-digital, point and shoot Pentax... Evening light on the Pickets Post-sunset glow over the Pickets Baker and Shuksan at sunrise. Early morning shot of Pickets from south cirque of Redoubt. Late morning sun.

yeah... i don't know if i took pictures of those peaks far off in the distance to the northwest, we'll see. I guess you'd know more about what you can see from peaks around there, but the visibility was excellent to the north. We saw your name in the summit registry. Nice climb!

Climb: Mount Redoubt-Redoubt Glacier, South Route Date of Climb: 7/5/2004 Trip Report: A long story without pictures because I don't have a digital camera, but I will try to scan some photos and post them in a few days. Seven of us packed into two vehicles left the Seattle area around 6 am. We drove up the Depot Creek as far as we could (about 1 mile). It turns out the crux of the road was just above where we parked. Had we continued, the road improved for over a mile before a major washout that is impassable. Fortunately, the weather here was dry and we knew the forecast was calling for an improving trend through Monday. We saddled our packs and hiked up the road for a mile and a half and then the abandoned logging road for another two miles to the border. After the border, the climbers path runs along Depot Creek meandering up and down in old growth forest for about 3 miles. Three miles in from the border, the way begins to ascend to the base of the falls. The “unforgettable” falls with the 8 foot rock step at the base is definitely something I will remember. The wet, slippery rock and mist shooting off the falls definitely makes the move interesting. At the top of the headwall, in which 1,000 feet is gained in a very short distance, the way becomes flat and we see our first view of Redoubt. After walking through the meadows we ascended the final 1,000 vertical through talus to Ouzel Lake. We camped out at Ouzel Lake the first night. The sky cleared just after sunset, but we found ourselves socked in the following morning. Dampened a bit by the weather, we slept in till 10 am at which point the clouds began to break up. Three members of the group decided to go for Spickard and the rest, including me, went for Redoubt. Ascending the rock ledges to the foot of the Redoubt Glacier was fun and the right side of the glacier was benign making for a quick trip to the 7,800 foot col just under Redoubt’s massive flying buttress which is almost vertical and even overhanging in some parts. The glacial plateau of the Redoubt Glacier is an amazing setting with Twin peaks, Redoubt, and Spickard across the valley. By this point, the weather had cleared to where we could see the Pickets and other points south. At the col, we decided to wait to climb Redoubt via the south route till Monday morning because we knew the weather was improving and made camp in a small snow bowl sheltered by the rocks. The north face of Bear was especially cool to look at. Just after the sun set, the clouds lowered into the valleys providing us with excellent views. The night was clear and cold with nearly a full moon providing ample light. The sunrise in the morning was unforgettalbe as all the clouds had disappeared except for a little low valley fog. We began the ascent up the south cirque of Redoubt soon after sunrise stopping to take pictures of the Pickets in the soft morning light. The route up to the summit was fairly straight forward. The gully system was slightly chossy and the final rock section involved some fourth class moves. We made the summit at 9am and chilled until about 10 am reveling at the panorama from the Pickets to Slesse to garibaldi and other points in the BC coast range. After rapping off the summit and down climbing the gully, we found that the snow in the cirque had softened making for great plunge stepping and glissading all the way back to camp. We made it back to camp at about 12:30 and packed it up. We cruised down the glacier and took the shortcut down to Depot Creek. The crossing of Depot Creek gave me a rush, especially because I had no poles to give me balance. By the time we made it down to the base of the unforgettable falls, we were all tired. The final 6.5 miles out were definitely forgettable, but renewed energy after the border crossing allowed us to finish the hike out quickly arriving at the car exhausted at 9:15 pm. Pizza in Chilliwack at midnight and back home at 3 am. The Redoubt/Spickard area is an amazing, wild place. The morning view of the Pickets is the best I have seen in the cascades. All of our cameras got a good workout on this trip! The company on the trip was fun. Thanks for the good times! I will definitely return to the Redoubt/Spickard area in the future and I look forward to getting a close-up view of the Pickets soon. Gear Notes: standard glacier equipment each of us had a picket but never used it Approach Notes: Trail overgrown in sections, a few major blowdowns to traverse, road is rough but passable for high clearance vehicles until washout about .5 mile before junction. Not too much snow left at Ouzel Lake, the lake is almost melted out. Redoubt Glacier still largely crevasse free and most of the south route up Redoubt is still snow covered making for easy travel.

Anyone interested in climbing alpine in the north cascades sat, sun, mon or a combination of those days (3,4,5 of July)? I am open to route/mountain suggestions. Have gear, car, experience. Shoot me an email at pantilat@rice.edu or pm if interested.

Anybody want to get out to the north cascades tomorrow, climb fast early weds morning and be back at a reasonable time in the afternoon/evening? I want to get up high quickly, see the views early in the morning, and be down before the afternoon slush. I am open to ideas, but am thinking CD, Easton, or Sulphide. If interested in a quick trip, let me know at pantilat@rice.edu or reply here.

Climb: Mount Rainier -Emmons Glacier Date of Climb: 6/17/2004 Trip Report: Went out to Camp Sherman Wednesday. Woke up just after midnight under clear skies to begin the ascent. Snow conditions at night and early morning are good for cramponing. Ascent is fairly straightforward up the corridor and zig zags abit to the Winthrop to avoid crevasses on the Emmons. No trench like the DC, but a noticeable tread through the snow developing. At the upper bergshrund, you can still basically head straight up. The traverse out to the saddle between Liberty cap and the summit crater to avoid the bergshrund is not necessary yet. The upper 1500 feet of the mountain was icy in sections, but nothing out of the ordinary. Summited at 6:30 and chilled out near the summit for an hour and a half. Winds all the way up were relatively light. We did the aforementioned traverse on the way down and it was more time consuming, but the glissade down the entire corridor, about 2,000 feet, made up for lost time! I wanted to continue the glissade down the inter glacier, but by noon it had become a slush pile so I was forced to post-hole my way most of the way down, arriving happily at the car at 2:30. Overall, a pretty standard Emmons Glacier ascent in spectacular weather. We heard helicopters flying around all morning and met several backcountry rangers searching for a long overdue Liberty Ridge party. My prayers go out to these climbers and I hope they will be found soon. Gear Notes: standard glacier equipment Approach Notes: glacier basin trail snow-free for almost 2.5 miles and melting fast afterwards. Inter Glacier slushy in the afternoon with postholing, definitely not consolidated yet.

Weather finally looks good next week. Looking to do a two or three day climb between Tuesday and Thursday of next week (June 15-17). I am interested in a two day ascent of the volcanoes (Emmons glacier on Rainier, baker, glacier peak) or something in north cascades np. I have climbed Rainier and a number of mountains in the North Cascades. I am open to ideas and am also free June 22-23. Shoot me a pm or email at pantilat@rice.edu

Went up to Muir with the multitudes of people on Tuesday the 19th and summited at sunrise on Wednesday the 20th. Not a cloud in the sky, light winds, and relatively warm temperatures for the summit. The route is good shape with the boot track well in place. The guides put up a fixed line in a couple sketchy spots. One party was departing the summit at sunrise which seemed odd. We stayed for an hour after sunrise enjoying the views. 6 hrs to the Columbia Crest summit from Muir and 3 hrs down. Everybody who made the summit, which was less than half of those at the camp, came from the DC route. It looks like the other options on the mountain are narrowing! An enjoyable trip up an awesome mountain.

I think that bridge is fixed now. We did Logan from Colonial Creek Campground trailhead with no problems last weekend. From the summit ridge, the Douglas Glacier did look pretty broken at lower elevations so I would consider bringing the aforementioned gear. Otherwise, it seemed like there was no other snow to be seen on the route.

Anybody up for a 1-2 day volcano climb (Rainier, Baker, Glacier) next week starting Sunday? I am basically looking at doing the standard route up these mountains and would therefore like to complete the climb in a day. E-mail me at pantilat@msn.com or shoot me a PM if interested.

Once you leave Thunder Basin, I see no reason not to rush! The view from Logan is one of the best I have seen. While we saw all the peaks, I would like to be there during a cloudless sunrise. Next year I will access Logan from Lake Chelan making it a three day trip.

Looking to camp at Silent Lakes and climb Mt. Arriva south route and Fisher Peak. Both appear to be scrambles. Does anybody have any beta/conditions for this area? Thanks.

Yesterday, July 29, there was hardly any snow left in the lower drainage. Seems more like a scree and slide now if you go around the toe of the ridge, but still doable. Going up the snow finger would definitely save time and energy. The moat on the right side of the finger allowed us to gain the ridge quickly.

This climb seems like it is very popular this year! A beautiful route as advertised and everything is still in good shape. The Z-man and I bivied up at the Sahale Moraine and enjoyed a nice evening and night under the stars. Woke up with the light to start the climbing. The Sahale/Boston traverse was awesome in the early morning light. It appears that the Boston Glacier has opened up more over the past couple weeks or even days, but nothing that is not easily navigable. We dropped down a little lower to avoid some crevasses. The bergshrund about a 1/3 up the north face is still navigable as well. The part right above the shrund seemed the most intense to me. The final part to the summit, while possibly a couple degrees steeper, was in the open so it didn't seem as bad. The snow was soft and crampons worked well on the slope. We didn't place any protection, but there were a couple spots where a picket or two might have been a good idea. The summit affords one of the best views I have ever seen with the sprawling Boston Glacier my favorite part. The traverse around Horseshoe basin was straightforward. We took the moat up the snow finger (snow in finger was very hard for some reason) and the beta from previous climbers was great putting us on the trail up the ridge to Sahale moraine. We reluctantly packed up and hiked down to the car exhausted. An awesome couple days in the North Cascades with a great partner!

Yeah I took the route you describe. I think the high amount of snowmelt on that hot day caused parts of the lower route to be slick. The upper part was easy with the broad snow slopes. A safe route either way, just seems more precarious going down.

Did Kyes Peak in Monte Cristo area on Tuesday. Another hot one, too hot for me! Anyways, went up through the Columbia Glacier and down the South Ridge route. Started at 8 am, arrived at Blanca at 9:30, summited at 12:30, chilled out for awhile, and then descended arriving at the car at 5 pm exhausted (9 hour total trip). After doing both, I can say that going down to the Columbia from the summit in the "break in the cliffs" seems kinda sketchy, especially if you didn't ascend that way (looks like it cliffs out from above). The gravel is very loose and there is some wet rock, ok for the ascent. The south ridge seemed straight forward. There is a climbers path that can be picked up through most of the ridge. Point 5845 can be avoided by traversing on the west side to avoid needless elevation gain. The final rock scramble to the 7227 ft summit seemed more intense than imagined, but that's the way a lota stuff goes. Filthy Virgin lake was acutally a pleasant site to see on the way down!

Anybody up for some North Cascades action next week. Buckner, Challenger, Logan, Baker, etc. I am open to suggestions and have Tues thru Thurs off work and Monday if needed. PM me or write me an e-mail to pantilat@msn.com if interested.

My best friend and I did the standard route up Eldorado on Tuesday. We were originally planning on heading east, but the weather was so beautiful we stayed by the crest. We began at 9:30 am and thought we would be pressed for time, but we summited at 2:45 and completed the trip in no rush at just before 7 pm. Eldorado Glacier is lightly crevassed and thereafter, there are no real crevasses to negotiate. The snow conditions were soft so crampons were not needed. The summit ridge was exposed as expected, but we did not use our pickets. Conditions were warm other than the summit crest where winds made it feel chilly. My favorite part of the view was to Forbidden Glacier. I definitely agree with the other posts that advise to do Eldorado in a day. The approach goes pretty fast with a daypack and the elevation gain, while massive, seems realistic in a day (10 to 12 hours) after completing the climb. However, camping on Inspiration Glacier would be a nice experience for sunset/sunrise purposes. Next time I am going to bring a frisbee for the flats on the Inspiration Glacier!

Last chance climbers! My partner and I are still up for the Ptarmigan if anybody wants to join us. The weather forecast looks really good right now for next week. National Weather Service forecast: "TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY DAYS AND MOSTLY CLEAR NIGHTS FREEZING LEVEL 12500 FEET." Lets make this happen. Drop me a PM or give me a ring at 425-392-2403 if you want to go. Leor

Yeah, I agree. We basically want a third partner for company sake. We are doing Three Fingers Monday or Tuesday of next week so write me a PM or contact me asap. We are still on for July 14-18 weather providing. Should be off the hook! Thanks.

You can also send an e-mail to pantilat@rice.edu or pantilat@msn.com

My partner and I are going to do the Ptarmigan Traverse the third week of July (two weeks from now) in five days. We would like to have a third person on the rope team (or two people for two rope teams). If interested, drop me a PM. We will need to do some sort of climb beforehand to get aquainted.

Come climb with me on a sunny Wednesday on some mountain in the North Cascades! Write me a PM if interested.