curtveld

Haven't been there myself, but local weather data suggest things are white (7") at the Pass - probably deeper as you get up toward the spires. Snow level was down around 4,000' a good part of last week. Hope your plans involve more snow-shoeing than climbing

Still looking Also, forecast is now looking good for Sunday, which is also an option. C'mon folks, freshly washed holds and no ticks....

Looking to do a get of bit of cragging out of the upcoming sunny break. Happy in the 5.8 to 5.10 range. Can carpool from the Ham or meet you there. Shoot me an email: curt veld at com cast dot net (no spaces)

One more bump...

Perfect name - wet rock, flying handholds - sounds alot like the Oregon Cascades! And similar to my visit to the NE Ridge of Bonanza. A great adventure though, with that epic approach to a big chunk of unclimbed rock. Well done

If you plan on hitting one of these meetings (and you should!), be aware that space is limited. You can RSVP in advance here.

Chad, I understand that this was a breakthrough climb for you and you are sharing your experience with only good intentions. That being said, I have heartburn with your decision to rally others to go rope-less: The problem is, you don't have much control over who you will inspire. Most of the climbers that are up to soloing it already have this route on their list, if they haven't done it already. It's the less experienced climbers that may rely more on your advice. Yes it's up to them to make wise decisions, but '...gee, we should have no problem climbing 4th class, right?' FWIW - My partner and I climbed the route rope-free for 90+%,but were happily 'on belay' for the few tougher spots. I was a 5.9-10 climber and still kid-less at the time.

This news came as a real punch to the gut - this was not at all how I expected Chris' story to end. Twenty-some years ago I was inspired by one of his masterworks - the Dreamer. Such a clean and bold line, and not in the Sierra but out there through the mossy Cascade rainforest. Might have to pick up some yellow sweat pants and pay it another visit...

Matt and I revisited the Comb and it's still a gem. The trail...er, route up...starts about a hundred yards after the turn-around spot a bit beyond the 3OC trailhead. Find a bunch of logs laid across the ditch and head up into the second-growth, follow a thread of orange flags through the huge cedars and up to the crag. It basically zig-zags straight up the hill and is fairly brush free. Over the Rainbow is as classic as ever. That knobby face is nice and clean despite minimal traffic and the hardware (early 2000's vintage) is in fine shape. A great place to check out as the fall colors kick in.

Plan made.

Interested in heading out for some multi-pitch fun (5.9/10-ish). Could be talked into Erie or WA Pass. Reply via email: curtveld at comcast dot net.

Sent you a PM, Curt

Fun route for sure, with lightning providing a bit of drama! We started out on the same 'ramp' (too nice to be called a 'gully') access from the west, and found it to be a great choice. Will just get cleaner with use.

Good one Pete . A bit more scenery: Wiseman Lake The smaller lake where we camped. East buttress on left skyline Peter's nice telephoto of Baker Crazy sunset with contrail Da crew: Peter, Keith, Curt

Your observations about rock quality and aspect fit what we encountered - the nice rock tilts right (northward). The structure might result from differences in the rates of cooling, as leads to exfoliation patterns in granodiorites?

I think so, especially for an experienced climber that's ticked the classics. The size, great position and mostly fun climbing in such a unique area is a good package. It's just not up to that 'classic' tag which leads to unrealistic expectations The loose rock is an occasional irritation, but not that bad for veteran choss-dogs. My partners, who do more 3rd class travel than me, were pretty unphased. The route I kept comparing it to--the East Ridge of Ingalls -- is much cleaner but also shorter and less remote. Would be curious to get Darin's take, with his deep experience in the Sisters Range.

Beautiful! Appreciate the map and photo overlays. Nice exit strategy to avoid a shuttle, as well

Thoughts: Loops are cool, but so is a base camp, so you can explore light for a day or two. At the areas you mention, you can get to an excellent base camp in a day or less. +1 on the Triad High Route Kurt mentions. The 4th class part is short, and is often done unroped. Finally, I was a little underwhelmed with Silent Lakes, particularly after the loose gravelly gully you climb to get there. Fisher Basin is gorgeous and worth it on it's own. That area will have much less traffic than anything around Cascade Pass.

Trip: Cinderella Peak (Twin Sisters Range) - East Buttrress Date: 8/23/2013 Trip Report: The Twin Sister Range has two kinds of climbs: The ones that everyone does, namely the West Ridges of the Twins and more recently, the Mythical Wall. And the rest, which to most technical climbers, are appealing but largely unknown. Among the latter is the East Buttress of Cinderella, notable because of Beckey’s glowing description, pronouncing it an “area classic”. It’s been the subject of two threads on this site, both wondering if anyone knew anything about it. For a classic, it is an obscure one. The time had come to see if Cinderella lives up to the hype. East Buttress of Cinderella from camp. Most of the technical climbing is on the lower part, a bit right of the skyline. Along were two veteran explorers of the Sisters Range, Peter and Keith. Keith had climbed the East Buttress years ago, on an early repeat with route pioneer Ken Wilcox. He had few particular impressions of the climbing, aside from it taking a very long day. This wasn’t too discouraging because Keith’s a guy that finds many aspects of the Cascade experience – vegetation, wildlife, history and particularly geology -- more captivating than the climbing aesthetics that many of us ‘younger’ climbers focus on. After fording the churning gray Middle Fork Nooksack, the approach was typical North Cascades fare – three miles of trail, a sizable up-hill grunt through the woods, followed by several more miles traversing meadows, krumholz, talus and occasional huckleberry stops. We stopped at Wiseman Lake for a quick dip then continued to our camp at the smaller tarn to the west. With the Sisters crest in front of us and Kulshan looming behind, it was hard to believe we were only 20 (yes 20!) miles from I-5. Approaching the East Buttress the next morning, several goats trotted across the lower buttress. Not surprisingly, we easily accessed the lower buttress via a third-class ramp. From there, the route upward was reasonably obvious and matched the key highlights in the Beckey guide. Overall, most of the climbing was fourth-class with intermittent bits up to mid-fifth. We simuled most of the route, aside from a few steep walls that required a solid belay. As Jason noted in his recent TR nearby, simul-climbing in the Sisters Range is difficult because of the blocky climbing and rope drag over the super-grippy dunite rock. The upper ridge has a chunk of non-exposed scrambling before the final steeper 400 feet (awesome!) of the summit tower. Descent was a bit of down-climbing to lots of easy snow along the right flank of the Green Creek Glacier. Approaching the toe. We scrambled from near the snow patch up and left to the skyline at the vegetated ramp. Nice steep climbing on the second wall mentioned in the CAG Crossing a clean slab near the middle of the buttress Better than average class-4 simul-climbing Heading left around the yellow tower, with the upper buttress in the background. You get a hint of the variable rock quality from shifts in color and surface texture. So how was the climbing? Frankly it was a mixed bag in terms of quality, and often well below the standard that qualifies as “classic”. The steep parts generally had solid and clean rock, and there were some nice slab and tower sections mid-way. Unfortunately, there were also numerous passages through loose blocks and pockets of shattered rock that seriously detracted from the overall experience. Much of the worst rock is left of the crest but is hard to avoid altogether. Still the buttress is a large (~1200’) and compelling feature that offers a big step up technically from the West Ridge routes. Despite its shortcomings, many adventurous climbers would enjoy the route and the local goats already do. Unfortunately there is too much loose rock to recommend it to intermediate climbers searching for a long 5.6 alpine rock outing. Although the 5.6 technical rating is about right, the route felt more like grade III, rather than the II in the CAG. So basically it’s a five-star back-country trip to a three-star route. And one more hidden classic brought back to reality via the internet. Gear Notes: Medium rack with extra small cams. Rock shoes not critical but nice. Approach Notes: FS #38 road, cross river to Elbow Lake Trail, turn right off trail (uphill) at Elbow Lake, follow the ridge west past Wiseman Lake. There is a decent foot log about 300 yards upstream of the missing bridge.

WOW, that is quite a sandwich! And a nice place to eat it. Great photos Steve. One day to the bivy at the ridge?

I'm with bearbreeder, sounds like these will not be your go-to shoes much longer, so patch em and save your money for your next pair. On the other hand, if you have continuing use for comfy backup shoes, might be worth it. Keep in mind, you will need to spring for rand repair in addition to new soles. Look closely at the leather and stitching for worn spots to judge what's left in them.

Outstanding! Mind-boggling to contemplate all that technical climbing with sketchy pro and packs of that size...

Was pretty easy to haul with the lead rope (Hint: the pitches are only 60')

Felt more like 9+ to me. The short-hauling thing was simple (both pitches short and straight up) and made the seconding more enjoyable. You don't really have to do any OW jamming - more like a move of layback/gastoning. If it's not going well, the fixed piece is perfect for an A0 move

Actually I can't think of any bolts I wouldn't miss - it's a little on the sporty side. Nice TR Off