Rad

So the bolts were removed? That sounds like a good thing. Still raises interesting questions. Bolt to rehearse and then remove bolts to send on gear? Awesome send. I'm sure many of us would love to see pics or video if such is available. Hint hint

Congratulations on a very impressive send. It's great to hear about Washington alpine routes that can stack up to the best Yosemite and Squamish have to offer. You say gear, but wasn't the pitch roof, which takes solid cams all the way, bolted from top to bottom? So maybe you mean quickdraws were placed on bolts on lead (gear was just quickdraws)? When is it ok to bolt cracks that take good pro, particularly on previously established lines? When is it not ok? I suspect this saga has more chapters to come. I look forward to hearing when someone, perhaps a hot local, goes Eric Decaria on it and sends without clipping the bolts. If Didier Berthod were here he'd do it and then chop the bolts and keep them as souvenirs. But I digress. Congrats on an awesome effort and send.

Most of us have had ugly one or no lamp descents. Glad it wasn't worse. Maybe if you'd had a rappel accident on the bolted slab rap in the middle of the Asgard descent...

Shhh! The police dogs are sniffing at your door right now.

Scary that is! Zinc coated or anodized or any other anti-rust coating makes me nervous, and this illustrates why. Basically if the coating fails in any one spot then the interior can rust away but you don't really know it's happening because the non-rusting veneer keeps it hidden. Kind of like an old tree that's rotting on the inside even though it looks solid and healthy from most angles. Stainless is the only way to go IMHO.

In 2008 North Cascades Park rangers responded to 11 serious incidents. Four of the incidents were mountaineering related. This year is already on track for several times that number.

Well, the interweb ate my response. Here's the short version (add IMHO in front of each): - I don't see technical routes as better than non-technical routes. Just different. - I love wild places as much as anyone, but it's hard to find time as a working dad to get out into the mountains for more than a day or two at a time. I look forward to sharing these places with kids when they are older. For now, we'll poke around in creeks and woods closer to home, just like I did as a kid. - There's no such thing as a bad TR, and TR quality has little to do with the difficulty of a route. CC could always use more TRs. Good luck with the varmints!

It's interesting to me to have a list of classic peaks instead of a list of classic routes. Example: classic peak list I don't really understand the peak bagging thing. For me, climbing is more about the process than the endpoint. Case in point: ascend Mt Stuart via Cascadian vs the complete N Ridge. There may be other cases where the easiest route is a/the classic (Forbidden), but many where it is not. Is it about cool locations? Getting off the beaten path? Ego and lists? I know some of you are into this. Anyone care to explain to the ignorant (me?)

Good job getting out into the alpine and getting it done. And thanks for posting a TR. There's no such thing as too many TRs here.

We don't know how hard the bombay is as we didn't do it. It looked crumbly with poor feet and it is short. Climbing the face seemed like a more natural line. It's a bit runout but probably was only one 5.9 move and then easier than that up to the step across, which is protected. Not sure where this wide crack is you mention. The part that was awkward was the wierd ramp with flaring jams and dirt/needles and the sheer drop to the left. One move involved crimping on a small feature, reaching way up to undercling the underside of a chockstone wedged into the dirt, kneeling on sloping pine needles, and then standing up. Actually, it was fine. This just needs some gardening and then it would be as good as the rest of the route.

So how does the Hitchhiker compare in terms of quality? Not just getting out, he's getting it DONE!

Trip: SEWS - Passenger Date: 8/15/2009 Trip Report: Rain thwarted our plans to head for BC alpine rock, so we drove East on Hwy 20 instead. We spent a few hours dodging raindrops and getting spanked on Newhalem climbs on Friday. Here's an 11- on the left end of the wall, one of the easiest lines we found. Clouds gave way to stars overnight, and we psyched up for the Passenger on SEWS. We neglected to print good descriptions from Mr. Tooth and Mr. Sun. Red Fred got us there just fine via the Blue Lake trail instead of from here: This is a truly OUTSTANDING route, with great climbing on every pitch on very solid rock. Lots and lots of sustained 5.10, but the 5.11 sections are short, protected, and could be aided. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Descend from SEWS shoulder and traverse along the E wall until you get to an obvious large gully. Cross it and traverse the black line to the tree at the start of the route. Looking up at the route. P1 is sustained finger crack goodness. p1 roof (not the crux) Hoping and groping on the roof on p2. Wet fingerlocks leading up to a cool slot roof on p3. Fingerlocks from above. p3 roof slot Slabosaurus. Knuckle mantle downclimb jingus Smearing and smiling. P4 past the crux. Cold belays bring out the bad dancers. Traverse entry to the 5.10 ramp - others do the bombay chimney above this, we later learned. The icing on the cake. Awkward, wet, dirty, and very exposed moves on my lead. Still cool though. Make a leftward traverse to a tree and then across to the final section. Pray the stacked blocks don't fall out. The sunshine came out for only a few minutes while we were on route, but we had sunshine in our souls. I'd say this is up there with CBR and the Grand Wall as one of the best routes I've done anywhere. Kudos to Burdo. It's totally doable for an 11- climber, particularly if you have a 20-something ropegun to lead the hard moves. Wish I'd drawn some of those leads, but I still had a blast and now have a reason to go back. Gear Notes: Mostly small gear. Doubles to #2 camalot, with extra finger sized pieces. One #3 camalot is useful for the last moves before the slot roof on p3. No larger gear needed. Approach Notes: Take Blue Lake trail to SEWS shoulder. Stash packs and approach shoes in tree, and take descending traverse along E wall. A large gully appears and then you cross it to get to the start. See pics

IMO, knot in dyneema doesn't sound good. Options include: double it. triple it. set up a sliding x between pieces. if suitable (e.g. multipitch) use clove hitches or figure eight in rope to allow rope to help equalize pieces leading in to a power point. Equalizing is most important for less than perfect placements. Bomber pieces need not always be equalized.

This is what I've read as well, and it makes good sense for reasons too verbose to include here. But how do you put it into practice? How do you get to the upper section of lead-only routes (which is most) without having climbed or french-freed the lower parts? I am a noob in this as well but would like to improve.

Unless you're feeble like me. Negative self talk will hold you back from reaching your full potential. Read Performance Rock Climbing or spend time with John Frieh.

E Ridge direct on Forbidden is great, no ice games. Sahale Arm is fun, easy. Both can be easily done as day trips, or camp in Boston Basin and do both.

There are a lot more variables in play in the mountains than at most rock climbing crags. We each develop our own risk profile. It's probably best to climb with people who have similar risk profiles and to generally refrain from imposing our own ideas about risk on other adults as they should be free to make their own choices. "Fall mountains, just don't fall on me......." "I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die. So let me live my life the way I want to" If 6 Was 9. James Marshall Hendrix.

RAD Did you climb the many routes on the horn of the Unicorn? Not quite sure what you mean. I chose a line climber's left of the rap line because it looked harder and more interesting- and we'd humped rock gear up there so by golly I was going to use it. It was still only a few moves of 5.6 or so protected by a couple of nuts. I'd agree that the rap route is probably low 5th class and could be easily soloed by a competent party, though a fall wouldn't be pretty.

A wonderful birthday indeed. Nice.

Matt's right about sandblasting. It will wear away softer material much, much faster than hard material. Obviously, concrete is WAY softer than those granite chips. More labor, but scrubbing holds by hand with 409 or goof off or something should work and be less obnoxious than large volumes in the sprayer.

Holy Smokes! Amazing story. Thanks for posting. So you took a 100 footer a mile up and were unscathed. Then you took a 200 footer sans cord and sans helmet (lost in first fall) and crawled away with one fib fracture. Then a plane appeared just as your last fuel was running out. Sounds like you still had some luck after all. Bummer about your foot.

Fantabulous!!!

Hopefully I'll get in the alpine without exposing myself or partners to these risks. This is exactly why I prefer rock to ice/glacier and why I refuse to do Slesse until the Pocket Glacier has slid. I'd guess that within a decade the glacier(s) on the S of Forbidden will be much like the Slesse Pocket Glacier, sliding off the slabs entirely by late summer and creating terrible hazards during the June/July transition period.

Sweet! Thanks for the TR.

Nice positive post Dawg. I've taken my kids there twice, and am grateful the Mtneers made this open to the public. It would be easy for lawyers to get in the way of that. The only thing that could be improved is holds. It looks like there are t-nuts all over the main wall but no holds on any of them (last I checked). Are there plans to put holds on them? That would make the 5.4s more friendly for small kids. Don't worry Pete, the UW rock is still there, and it just gets slicker every year. If you're affiliated with the UW you can get in the gym and boulder there too.