Blake

Trip: Mendenhall Towers - Various Date: 7/28/2009 Trip Report: I recently had a great time in Alaska, climbing in the Mendenhall towers.They are the most distant peaks above my luggage here, photo taken at Juneau Airport. This is a range of granite peaks accessed via Juneau, which has seen very little alpine rock climbing activity. I was with my friend Jason Nelson, and we helicoptered in to the towers on July 9th. We were in there for 8 or 9 days, and it took two days to get back down to civilization on foot. While there, we climbed three new routes and repeated a route as well. All of our routes were grade IV or IV+, but the one rock route on the northern side of the towers is a grade V. The climbing was phenomenal. I drew up some very bad topos while tent-bound, which might or might not help future parties if anyone is interested in heading out there. I've got some more pictures, video, and tons of writing here: BlakeClimbs.Blogspot.com The AAC helped finance part of this trip through the Mountain Fellowship Grant, and I am very thankful for the help.

5.12c

The fixed number 4 has a new sling and everything, its practically part of the mountain. Bring one 3" piece, so a #3 Camalot of a 3.5 DMM/Friend

I am in LEavenowrth and hoping for a ride to Everett or SEattle tomorrow. I can pitch in for gas. (206) 779 7526 Thanks!

I am in LEavenowrth and hoping for a ride to Everett or SEattle tomorrow. I can pitch in for gas. (206) 779 7526 Thanks!

Dan, those pics are amazing man. I still have never seen the northern lights and really want to some day.

Pete H and I took a lap up this one today. Very fun, should see more traffic! Good pro and good rock, no schwacking, and sustained climbing. The first pitch is 60m, and probably up there with pitch 1 of Gorillas in the Mist or P3? on solid gold, as the best enchantment pitches at that grade. P6, the 5.9 fin, is also ubber-classic.

Nice Forest and Kurt! Did you find a hot tub to poach out there?

I guess it's all a matter of silly semantics and setting arbitrary guidelines to distinguish one ascent from the other, but oh well, a lot of life is like that. The climb has not seen a free ascent, if free is defined as climbing all the pitches with no hangs or falls during the course of an ascent. IE climbing from the bottom of the route to the top, with the leader of each pitch onsighting or redpointing. That was my understanding of the term "free ascent" but I could be wrong, or there could be no one true definition. The crux pitch was never been sent belay to belay, though the roof part of the pitch WAS climbed cleanly one time while Tom was working the route. Not sure if he used the new bolt at the lip of the roof, or other pre-placed gear that had been up there. Either way, a pinkpoint or redpoint of that pitch is awesome, way above my level and I wish I could have seen that to cheer him on. He also scrubbed and scraped the entire climb, and said the other pitches are spectacular as well, clocking in at 5.9 through 5.11b or so. Awesome job Tom! On the day of the continuous ascent that Darin mentions, the leader took a legit fall on this pitch so based on my understanding of the terms, a free ascent of the climb still awaits. If Lynn hill had done the changing corners pitch on the nose cleanly one time while working sections of the route, then had fallen and rested on that pitch while trying to free "the nose" from bottom to top, would she have done a free ascent of the route? I thought not, but still a hell of an effort and really inspiring.

Climb the NW face of Forbidden, it's the best route in the area. You can get a pass for whatever XC zone is just north of Boston Basin, then bivy at the West Ridge notch (which is the border of the XC zones) and drop down the next morning to do the climb.

That's a slideshow I know I'd pay money for!

Nice Michael and Wayne! Another modern Classic? I'm Glad you hit up the bakery as well... I used to let PCT hikers have the day-olds when they would help do the dishes! Perhaps our hyping of Gunrunner was misguided, but I know Dan and I both had a blast and found lots of lichen-free white granite, without much looseness at all. We rapped once from the top of the NE peak, then I believe once again from somewhere below the summit of the middle peak, then once finally off the South Peak. It took us all day, but if 6 hours is a more reasonable time, then I guess it definitely deserves the downgrade to a grade III route. However, it sounds like you did your new 15-pitchs in 4.5 hours so you guys must have been crushing out there! We encountered 3 short sections of 5.10. The hand cracks off the glacier (shown in your photo), a steep face climbing pitch on golden rock (about pitch 5) and short thin-hands section leading up to the North peak. As you mentioned, we did a short A1 pendulum when a crack here died (might have been this third 5.10 section) but if we'd just looked ahead a little more and started 15' to the right, it would have been avoided.

Hey Mike, Jens ended our second pitch where your third one ended, at the "1993" stamped bolts and red tat, after a leftward hand traverse. There are bolts in a few places though. From there we went up and left, through a 4" crack to a big slung flake, and the devious "monkey traverse" back right into the major corner system again, which was essentially the key routefinding tid-bit in order to keep going. I'm sure you'd see it if you went back, especially now that it is cleaner. Going straight up from the red tat and bolts that you speak of looked like overhanging mossy nailing. bigger version HERE I've attached a super cheesy and lame topo here, but it should be all that's required to make it go. The first few belays are bolted, and enough horns/trees exist to make rappeling from atop the wall a pretty easy option I'd guess.

Just so potential climbers don't get the wrong impression about the danger or scaryness of this climb... The 5.11 mantle move atop the splitter on pitch 1 has bomber gear at your knees or feet, with a vertical crack and wall below you and no ledges to hit. P3, the Monkey TRaverse, will never be in the same condition for future parties as it was for Jens. He chose to climb a big "backwards #7" shaped pitch, resulting in bad rope drag as he launched out across the dirty hand traverse. HE also trundlded some loose blocks and chunks from the crack. His being runout was a function of rope drag, and dirty/mossy climbing, not the lack of available gear. The traverse is now clean and protectable very frequently. Even if Jens had taken the long whipper (I was belaying and praying that he would not!) The area to the left of the traverse is all overhanging, so we are pretty sure it would just have been a wild and crazy swing out into space. Overall this route is very safe and protectable with amazing rock. I think most of the people commenting on this thread would have fun on it. Everyone walks by this wall but nobody has a photo! If anyone has a picture of this wall from the area, it would be great if they'd post it online or email it or something.

Draws or runners are fine for the bolt ladder. Apart from Cruel Shoes you can do Apron strings to merci me, or you can also do some pitches on the peasant's route or Exasperator if you get creative with pendulums. You might still end up on part of Cruel shoes though. Can't help you on the Roman Chimneys, as those are beyond me, but another nice finish would be the last 4 pitches on Millenium Falcon off Bellygood Ledge.

Nope, beause we never saw the wall except in 100' sections as we climbed up it. We were in a cloud the whole day. If anyone has a photo we can draw the line. Maybe Sol or Jens would be artsy enough to make a topo.

Trip: Mt. Stuart - Gorillas in the Mist - IV 5.11 Date: 7/8/2009 Trip Report: Mt. Stuart is one of the Cascades' most iconic and complex peaks. With such prominence, fame, and extensive development, one might think that all significant new routes have been climbed. However, excellent routes do at least remain unfinished. Inspired by the pictures from an attempt by Mark Allen and Mike Layton, as well as a desire to climb or unearth a new hard route on the Enchantment's premiere peak, Sol Wertkin and I were excited to give the West Stuart Wall a go. Work and anniversary obligations had cut Sol's available climbing time down to one day, so I contacted Jens Holsten to see if he wanted to head up to the peak with me on day one, in order to fix the first few pitches and have Sol meet us on day 2. Jens was stoked to join the team, but insisted we could go alpine style. Of course Jens also insisted it would be 90 degrees on the summit and we didn't need to bring backpacks. Caveat Emptor when getting beta from Mr. Holsten. NOAA was predicting breezy and cool conditions, so we all brought along windshirts. It's summer right? We left the trailhead at 5am and after a few hours ended up at Goat Pass, near the start of the West Ridge. The West Stuart Wall rises up maybe 900' from the snow... but where the hell was it? The face had seen various activity in the past, and we found 2 bolted anchors (stamped '1993') as well as runners low on the route. Perhaps it was a rappel route, perhaps it was someone's unfinished (or aided) project, or perhaps it had already been sent in its entirety. We didn't know and didn't really care. Roping up at the base, we knew we'd have some solid, memorable, and steep climbing. Edited/explained down below - after contact with the 1993 folks, it sounds like this climb was a new route to the top of the wall and the peak Jens led off pitch one, following the OBVIOUS clean hand crack, mantle, and chimney to a belay on the right. This pitch was probably the crux of the route at 5.11- and would see nearly constant traffic if it were located at a crag in the icicle. Steep, with solid rock and great gear, it set the perfect tone for the wall. Top of P1 The next pitch headed up and left across 2 bottomless corners and hanging aretes, 5.9 with positions to keep the adrenaline going. Jens' final lead was the mental crux for us, but shouldn't deter future parties. He headed up and left from the belay, past a 4" crack, and shouted "Watch me" as he launched into the unknown. Sol and I, unable to see the climber, witnessed a large handhold get ripped from the wall, and the simian sounds of grunting and vomiting as Jens styled the 'monkey traverse.' Did you throw up? No way man... just a little dry heaving Jens would go on to finish the pitch in style. The followers both cleaned out the hand traverse crack, and future parties should find no shortage of solid gear all along this pitch. 5.10+ Sol about to 'go ape' Finishing the Monkey Traverse Did you see that big block come flying off? ...uhh yeah, we thought it was you From here Sol took over, finding a yosemite v-slot, and an immaculate finger crack and stem box to another perfectly flat ledge. 5.10- Pitch #5 headed up and right, with a bouldery 5.10 crux move, belaying at the first significant ledge system on the wall. We continued across the 'skywalk traverse' to the right and set off again. I took the lead for a 30m pitch of 5.8 (but mostly easier) on what we thought would lead up to the West Ridge, but we hadn't finished the wall yet. From a belay in the clean V-slot/groove, I followed up a long immaculate right-facing corner, with hand and fist cracks through a small roof, and finger cracks up a slab to the hanging belay, our first belay spot that was not a comfortably flat ledge. This pitch was 55m of sustained 5.8 crack climbing. From the hanging belay, a short hand crack lead straight up to the West Ridge, and I mantled over the top with a 'whoop' and monkey shout. We started up the West Ridge in a fog, with winds steadily increasing. Winding around towers and hidden pinnacles, the rock was more and more covered in ice. Soon our rope and cams were iced up as well. The wandering terrain and numerous gendarmes kept us guessing, and as darkness fell, we knew it was time to quit fighting the conditions. The three of us settled in for a memorable bivy of uncontrolled shivering, made more so by the presence of 0 sleeping bags, no stove, no puffy jackets, and 2 30liter packs in which to stuff our six wet feet. I don't know the temperature, but Jens' water bottle froze. We joked about getting lost on a mountain which we had all climbed before, but kept our spirits high thinking about the quality terrain we'd covered. In the past few years 3 of the Enchantments' 4 biggest peaks had seen new or 're-discovered' hard, excellent rock climbs. Solid Gold and Der Sportsman had been unearthed on Prusik, Dragons of Eden was re-climbed on Dragontail, and The Tempest Wall established on Colchuck Balanced Rock. With a climb of the West Stuart Wall, the 4th peak had fallen into place and Stuart's modern rock climb established. Our platonic spooning subsided at 4AM, and Jens started things off right by breaking out the breakfast of champions, in the form of one "Worthers Original" for each of us. No longer climbing inside a cloud provided a significant morale boost, and Sol thawed out our semi-functional cams with his mouth, once again establishing the value in being full of hot air. After a quick summit stop to revel in the sun, we headed to the Sherpa Glacier where soft snow allowed us to descend a few thousand feet back to the valley bottom in no time. With today being Sol's anniversary, he knew his wife would be especially nervous about our delayed return (and extra jealous of all the spooning enjoyed by Jens and myself). We hustled back to the car and enjoyed our true breakfast, the creek-stashed beers we'd left 30 hours before. EDIT: It turns out that Mark Makela and Geoff Sherer did some climbing on that wall in 1993 and put in the bolts, going up with full-on wall gear, and fixing ropes. They made it up what would be most of the pitches, using a mix of aid and free, but never completed the last few on wall. In any case, it's an amazing climb that should be on the list for future parties. Approach: Just north (around to the left) from the toe of the West Ridge, near Goat Pass. Route starts in the middle of the face, you can't miss that pitch. Gear Notes: Single Blue and Green Alien, 2x Yellow alien to #3 Camalot, single new #4 camalot. Set of nuts. TOPO: HUGE VERSION

Does anyone know if that West Face Wall was ever climbed? Free or with bolts? Contact info for these Cle Elum hardmen of the early 1990s or the fellow who occasionally posts here at MattStan would very appreciated.

Darin estimated there are 25 routes in WA (or maybe in "the northwest" which are 5.9 and harder that see traffic ( a few ascents a summer at least). Maybe: Prusik - Beckey and Stanley CBR - West Face Dragontail - Backbone Stuart - N. Ridge - NW Face - Girth Pillar There's 7 from the enchantments Lib Bell - Lib Crack - NW Face - freedom rider Lexington - East Face NEWS - NW Corner and West face SEWS - DEB - Boving route - passenger? - .10b variation to SW rib? There's ~9 from the lib bell group Burgundy - North Face Chianti - Rebel Yell Juno - Clean Break 3 more N face bear, NE buttress of Slesse That's a total of 21, and sadly involves only 2 routes that aren't at WA pass or the enchantments...

Maybe some of these are unknown if you don;t waste too much time on the interwebs Dragon Scar, Dragons of Eden, or the Boving routes on Dragontail Solid Gold, Der Sportsman or Lady Godiva (see 1975 AAJ) on Prusik Acid Baby on Jabberwocky tower Send the cc.comer "alpinemonkey" a pm about more obscure stuff on lighthouse tower, various needles, or doorish routes. He has written some neat TRs about obscure stuff in the area. Sounds like there the supercrack of the enchantments is on Meteor Tower.

One thing to consider, if you wait until later in the summer when more snow has melted, it's easy to do the whole ridge from the Cle Elum (South) side without crampons or ice axe, then descend the cascadian quickly back to your car. Makes for a very light backpack.

If the Wash Climber Coalition or a similar group were to host an Index fundraising event this summer, during an evening in August, which night of the week do you think you or your climbing friends would be most able/willing to attend? Thanks!

Just the thing...

It got cleaned last year, I think by Chris Henson. Thanks to whomever it was! It is a good route, take lots of finger-sized gear - 5.10b. There are new anchors as well. It requires a 70m to TR though. A friend almost got really injured or worse on this route with a 60m rope. I think you could use the intermediate anchors on TF to get off with a 60m.

MAybe they are getting on the less-traveled (and newly cleaned) routes.