Rad

Yes, it was my first time to the Pickets. Truly Inspirational. We went super light...maybe too light as you'll see in one photo. There was really no possible retreat down the Terror glacier, which made it rather committing, especially as the weather took a turn for the worse. But we made it. Will give you beta on Barrier access and bushwhacking at the slideshow. Meanwhile, I've figured out how to upload a few photos of our trip... Spaceman Rad Near E summit of Inspiration A few more photos of our trip Hopefully those links will work. Spaceman Rad

Mark, Wish I'd seen your topo a few weeks ago, though your beta was helpful. I went and repeated a small part of your Inspiring traverse with my fellow masochist Ed, managing to avoid the worst of the Terror Glacier. We went from trailhead to West McMillan/E Towers col on the first afternoon/evening, including Terror glacier ascent by headlamp. Bivy in the notch. Then across the 5 towers and up Inspiration in mist/drizzle the next day. Partner had trouble freeing the 5.8 layback and then just jugged the 5.9 crux on the E ridge of Inspiration (what an amazing pitch!). We reached the E summit of Inspiration just as the clouds cleared for sunset and we decided to bivy there. Brrr. In the am we crossed the summit ridge to the W summit of Inspiration and then rapped/scrambled down the W ridge. We were hoping to link the Pyramid and Degenhart that day but bailed for various reasons (were out of water and hadn't encountered any snow to melt - short on sleep because we were a bit light on warm gear - and of course the fog/drizzle set in again, oh well). Instead we contoured to the Barrier/Degenhart shoulder, melted snow to rehydrate and napped. We then crossed over to the Barrier in the evening to a bivy on the ridge near the Chopping Block. Climbed the Chopping Block that day and then thrashed down the barrier to the trail junction and back to the car that night. The bushwhack down the bottom of the barrier ridge was interesting. Thankfully some climbing fool left a 12-pack of Rainier Ale for us to tap into near the end of the logging road . It provided some last juice for the hike out in the dark. Twas a wonderful adventure in pristine wilderness. Anyway, I expect to see you at the slideshow in a few days. Look forward to swapping some tales and seeing your photos then, cheers, Rad

Wayne, Thanks for the beta. Weather permitting, we'll have a go at the mini-traverse you mention. Can you comment on the difficulties of continuing past Inspiration up Pyramid and Degenhart in hopes of descending down the Barrier ridge? That would add a lot of spectacular climbing and avoid the Terror glacier entirely. Feasible for 5.9 mortals? Decent bivy sites on route (I see you didn't bivy in that section)? Drinking water access? Thanks much. Definitely planning to attend the slideshow.

Congratulations on a fantastic climb. Achieving a long-standing objective in good style while making a major first ascent is grounds for celebration - in whatever fashion you damn well please. I am not aspiring to the second ascent just yet, but really want to climb the E ridge of Inspiration later in August with a buddy and from what I've heard it would be best to avoid tramping up and down the Terror glacier. I was wondering if you could comment on the difficulty/route to get from McMillan over to the E ridge of Inspiration. Difficulty? Rock quality? Other major obstacles? Once over Inspiration what would be the best route down off the Mtn back to flatland? We'd plan to go super light (right!) and carry over. Any comments would be appreciated. What we're looking for is a tremendously exposed ridge that's not harder than 5.9 or so and doesn't require extensive crevasse hopscotch. If there's another ridge in your enchainment that is as good or better than Inspiration and meets these criteria I'd love to hear about it. ........ Finally, will you be giving any more slideshows? I bet you could get people to pay to see it down here in Seattle... just a thought.

Fellow fools, I'm planning a little adventure and am considering the E Ridge of Inspiration. I think we're up to it but I'd like some beta on condns, descent etc. FYI, we did the E ridge of Forbidden and are looking for an alpine rock route of similar or better caliber...and we're actually looking forward to thrashing in to the Terror basin. A few questions: 1 - I'd like to take just 1 rope (60m). Is that good enough for the descent of the W ridge or down the S face variation? Are there any landmarks for where you started that S face raps? Maybe we can utilize the gear you left behind... 2 - What can you say about the upper Terror glacier. My glacier experience (3 years and a dozen routes or so) is lower than my rock experience (13 yrs of trad rock all over). Obviously we'll bring ax/crampons/rope. Any special considerations or comments on difficulties, moat, bergschrunds? It will be late August when we're there. 3 - What rock gear is needed? Standard rack? Large gear? I'm confortable running it out on terrain up to 5.7 or 5.8 but probably want to have the right gear for the 5.9 crux. 4 - Where is the best place to camp? 5 - Estimated time for RT from high camp? (on E ridge of Forbidden we took 21 hrs from a camo low in the Boston Basin back to same - w/a nap on the slabs under the light of the full moon - and we had to wait for 90 minutes before we could pass a slower party at the start of the route). FYI, we're giving ourselves 4 days car to car - 1 day in, 1 day to climb, 1 day for weather contingencies, dashing up MacMillan, or just absorbing the wilderness ambience while dreaming of pizza, and 1 day out. Thanks.