Blake

???

Lamplighter at Index

we found a SUPER old rusty pin opn pitch2.. no sides of route cleaning or trundling. Maybe it is the secret Mazama route, but I doubt it.

Rockin' pictures Gary! Nice job guys.

The last pitch begins with more of a chimney than an offwidth. I actually took my helmet off, but got through it and enjoyed it, and I am a terrible offwidth climber! It's possible to traverse down to the far right edge of the wall from this belay (before the final pitch) and finish up the final pitch of 'The Perfect Crime' which is the best pitch on the route and has splitter cracks to the top. How did the ratings feel... accurate or a tad soft?

Thanks all, my ankles are finally healing up after I stupidly wore high-top boots and low-top socks on the climb. Someone ought to put a new summit register up there, and get after Tim's treasure trove of beers while they are at it!

Trip: Mt. Goode - Megalodon Ridge ( IV+ 5.10- ) Date: 9/6/2007 Trip Report: Last Wednesday, my friend Sol Wertkin and I headed out to the North Cascades National Park on an attempt to stretch a little more summer into what was rapidly becoming fall. The intended destination was a climb of the complete East Ridge of Mt. Goode. After seeing photos and encountering the ridge last month, I knew it would be a "big fish to fry" hence Sol coined it the " Megalodon Ridge" in honor of the biggest and scariest fish to ever swim the seas. The ridge runs from L->R across the skyline. On the first day we approached the base of the technical climbing and had a perfect bivy on the ridgeline before it steepened up. A few drops of rain fell on us, but by morning it looked as though things might clear up. After crossing some icy snow in the morning, we started up the ridge, with the summit often lurking in distant clouds. Dan Hilden and I had climbed this first part on a traverse a few weeks ago, but bailed off due to 40lb packs, and very little climbing gear. We made one 50m rappel and began swapping leads along the crest. The position was amazing, with alpine lakes below us, and the sun coming out just when we needed it. The rock wass often pretty good along the crest, with memorable highlights including a 5.8 finger crack and another overhang corner of the same grade. Soon the steep wall of the SE peak began to loom closer ahead of us. Sol fired off the first headwall pitch, which ended up being a splitter 5.10- hand crack to a nice belay ledge. I got the next pitch which started up a perfect corner before stepping left and doing some delicate stemming to the top. A bit of scrambling brought us to the last pitch on the SE peak, which Sol lead through with scanty protection. "No life Guard on Duty" here... From the SE Peak we skirted the steep glacial ice by climbing through the moat. Ross and Sky skied from near here ~5,000' down to Bridge Creek a couple years ago, that just blows me away. Some steep solid rock and an au-cheval crest led us up to the final pinnacle before Black Tooth Notch. We had joked around for much of the climb about all the potential shark-themed names, which was fitting as our crux involved this pitch climbing down into Black-Tooth Notch. I belayed Sol down and across the wall to the notch, with several thousand feet of exposure to bridge creek below his feet. He protected this lead perfectly and memorized nearly every move so as to feed me beta as I seconded the traversy downclimb. It ended up being overhanging 5.10 climbing, but it brought us back "on the map" and past all major obstacles. From there we did one long running belay to the summit. It was late and we were tired, so we did some quick construction and settled in for a night on the highest point in the National Park. An amazing sunset and meteor shower had us in awe all night. The next morning's chilly sunrise was a nice sight as well... As Sol says "Livin' the dream, life is Good(e)" Yesterday we made the 5,000' descent down the south side of the mountain to Park Creek and were thankful for the cool fall breeze on our 19-mile hike back to the car. There was also a forest fire that provided some temporary entertainment. This was a really fun trip with a great partner. The summit bivy spot is (obviously) highly recomended by us both. The register which was there last summer is gone now though... Gear Notes: Standard climbing rack. Should have included goldfish crackers to complete the fish theme. Approach Notes: Up N.Fork of bridge creek for 2 miles, turn left and cross the creek through open clearings when the ridge is obvious.

Cool, thanks. I'm not interested in the NEB though, I want something that covers the whole peak and East Ridge.

Anyone have a good shot of Mt. Goode from the North that shows the whole E. Ridge (left hadn side of the peak?) Thanks!

Call it "Cutthroat Quagmire" for all I care Ross, I just started calling it the Cutthroat wall because it was a wall of rock above the Cutthroat Trailhead. All I know is that it has really nice granite, it's close to the car, and with more traffic it will get cleaned up and even better.

The bus runs in the winter sometimes, andsome times its the sno cat, but they do have regularly scheduled pickups all through the winter, sodon't think that if you went up on a weekend in the winter, that you'd be the only one on the bus. The Lake Chelan Boat company (with winter schedule) would be a good place to start.

Trip: Cutthroat Wall - Easy Getaway (F.A. III 5.10-) Date: 8/29/2007 Trip Report: This TR is going to read like the boring blow-by-blow climb description that it is, but that's in hopes of providing adequate info for folks to go get on it and have some fun. Upon climbing one route on the Cutthroat Wall, I was eager to go back and investigate the clean looking roofs and corners to the left of what we'd done in early August. Last weekend, Dan Hilden and I headed up to check it out. Bryan Burdo was a late scratch on the roster for this climb as well, after he dropped his tennis shoes off a new route on SEWS and was left with just rock shoes and sandals. His Methow valley cragging guide should be out within a month, and his North Cascades Rock (WA Pass Area) guide by next spring... Anyhow, we braved the 45 minute approach from the car and began the climb ~40' to the left of The Perfect Crime on a perfectly flat granite patio. From the base, one can locate a series of clean L-Facing corners which serve as good landmarks for the route. A vertically striped dihedral (the Zebra corner) is especially obvious. The climb went very well, with fun moves, some nice challenges, and a few spots where the cliff seemed made for climbing. Pitch 1 (5.10-) Up left on a slab to a clean crack and obvious overlap/roof. This roof move can be protected from above with a blue alien. From here, climb up and left (easy slab), past another steepface, to beneath a large roof. Pitch 2 (5.9) Start up the R-Facing Corner with stemming and finger cracks. Past tree, move left (delicate undercling) into the clean orange corner. Move right out of the corner and belay. Pitch 3 (5.9) Face climb up and right, then follow clean cracks (layback, mantle) back up and left to a short splitter finger crack, ledge, and belay below short overhung RFC. pitch 4 (5.9) This pitch leads to the base of the striped corner visible from below. Power up the short overhung corner and face climb up and left into a crack. (Don't get tempted rightward into the blank corner) Follow this crack up to a tree at the base of the corner Pitch 5 (5.9) Again begin by fun moves up another overhung corner, then follow the beautiful/clean Zebra Corner crack upward. The top of the corner was seeping from the prior day's rain, so we "walked the plank" rightward across a solid/safe block and along the ledge to the right. If dry, consider following the corner to the top and doing an undercling out right for the directissima. Pitch 6 (5.10-) This pitch looks imporbable but works out great. Face climb up to the base of a L-facing corner below roofs. Jam the corner, climb left through the roofs, and continue jamming and laybacking up into the granite chimney. Follow the chimney to a large pine at the base of an obvious long corner. Pitch 7 (5.10-) Jam or layback the perfect hand crack up past a tree to some roofs. Undercling/jam through the roofs to the very top of the corner, step right, belay. (From here, one can downclimb rightward ~30 to get to the belay ledge before the last pitch of The Perfect Crime, whish is a *** pitch featuring splitter cracks on the far right edge of the buttress.) Pitch 8 (5.9) Head up the obvious chimney straight above. Good pro can be placed deep inside, and one can then move to the outside edge to climb though. I found this great fun. Dan, with a pack on, had a differing opinion. Follow the lower-angle stemming slot to a 5.5 hand crack on a slab, and belay above. From here, unrope or belay one more pitch (low 5th) to the flat summit. The rock quality on this climb is as good as Rebel Yell and better than anything else I have climbed on in the Washington Pass area, but the climb is only an hour from your car. All the cruxy bits are well protected and could be A0ed. I think it'd take a strange climber to not enjoy this route quite a bit. The only drawback is the pine needeles on ledges, but maybe with some traffic this would change. We also found an OLD rusty, and completely unmarked bent piton on p2, so maybe someone did the whole route back in the 60s and didn't tell anyone... who knows. I'd enjoy re-climbing it and leading the pitches Dan took as well, so if you are looking for a partner, send me and email. From the top, you can scramble up to the ridge and look down on the Hwy 20 hairpin, and of course see much of the North Cascades as well. Descent: walk across the flat summit terrace (cairn) to where the crest narrows before you'd need to scramble up again. Look for a pine tree on the right with a yellow runner. Make one 20m rappel down to the right, then contour at that elevation, skier's left around the head of a gulley and walk down/left on timbered rib to the base of the wall. Mini Topo - Big Version Linked Below http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/503/Complete_topo.JPG Green Writing goes with Green Topo, pitch-by-pitch Gear Notes: One set of nuts Cams from finger tips to #4 camalot (only needed if you avoid the chimney and do the last pitch of The Perfect Crime) Doubles in finger-hand sizes Approach Notes: From the Cutthroat Lake TH, walk up the old road bed for ~5 minutes, then head left up the hill into the brush. The brush is moderate at first, then the forest is pretty open and easy until moderate brush for the last couple hundred feet. The route begins at the far right (west) side of the wall. From the base of this route, the toe of the "Snout" is a ~10 minute level traverse across open ground, so one could combine a climb of those routes as well.

Sorry for going in there then! At what point exactly is a climber in danger or interfering with construction? The trail and the base of the crag both seem well above any construction. I suppose if there was blasting, and debris flew several hundred feet upward through the forest, then someone could get hit, but that kind of thing is not going to happen during the day along a busy highway. As long as it's officially closed I wont go back there, but why is it closed at all>?

that's a definite affirmative Off_White http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/719764/Main/53976/#Post719764

Trip: Cutthroat Wall - The Perfect Crime (F.A. 5.9 III) Date: 8/10/2007 Trip Report: A few weeks ago, Max Hasson and I did a new route on what I'm calling "the Cutthroat Wall", near Washington Pass. The top of the wall (and top of the climb) can be seen from the Cutthroat Lake Trailhead, but most of the wall cannot. The climb was done in 5 pitches (most were 60m) and featured very good rock and some fun moves. It was all pretty neat to be anble to walk up to a wall like that, one hour from the car, and climb a new free route of good quality, hence naming it "The Perfect Crime." Dan and I repeated it the other day, and he liked it as well. Here's a small topo, the larger version is linked below. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/503/Cutthroat_wall_Topo.JPG Climbing begins at the right toe of the buttress, above a small cairn, and just left of ~6 dead silver snags in a group. The first two pitches begin with a steep bouldery step, before angling on nice cracks, slabs, and a couple short/steep corners. Generally begin going up/left and follow the cleanest line of least resistance. The 3rd pitch has you undercling and layback rightward along a nice crack, before overcoming a roof. This roof is smaller and further rightward than the other prominent roofs. another view... You'll know you are on route if you climb to the left of, then above a spiral-trunked "barber poll" tree. The 4th pitch goes up a steep crack from the belay ledge, traverses right across bulletproof orange rock, then follows a hand/fist crack up to a nice patio belay spot. The 5th pitch begins with a face climb traverse right, then beautiful splitter cracks (4" then 1") for most of 60m, to where the angle eases off and the flat summit can be reached. and From the top, you can scramble up to the ridge and look down on the Hwy20 hairpin. For descent, walk across the flat summit (cairn) to where the crest narrows before you'd need to climb up again. Look for a pine tree on the right with a yellow runner. Make one 20m rappel down to the right, then contour at that elevation, skier's left around the head of a gulley and walk down/left on timbered rib to the base of the wall. The rock is overall very good, well protected, and with nice views. Every belay is on a comfy ledge, but with a 50m rope you'd need to do it in more pitches. Every pitch is rated 5.9 except the first pitch (5.7) and cruxes are short. At only 45mins-1hour from the car, this might make a good alternative to other routes in the area, especially if traffic gets more of the pine needles off the cracks. Feel free to email me if you want more detailed info about anything. A written topo is attached. Gear Notes: One set of nuts Cams from finger tips to #4 camalot (needed for last pitch) Doubles in finger-hand sizes Approach Notes: From the Cutthroat Lake TH, walk up the old road bed for ~5 minutes, then head left up the hill into the brush. The brush is moderate at first, then the forest is pretty open and easy until moderate brush for the last couple hundred feet. The route begins at the far right (west) side of the wall. From the base of this route, the toe of the "Snout" is a ~10 minute level traverse across open ground, so one could combine a climb of those routes as well. Climb Location 3785-PerfectCrimeDescription.doc

I climbed there yesteday. the Sign on the base says the closure was through July, so I assumed it was opened. Two highway workers didn't tell me it was closed when I asked. Park at the Klahanie Campground lot, across the street from the Shannon Falls turn-in. Walk through the intersection, and turn right next to the sign saying "attention climbers, Papoose closed on Blast days" Have fun, the 2nd pitch of Centerfold is rad!

Nope.... Right general area though. I think this one would stump everyone.

Here's one to stump the North Cascades experts.... all from the same Route: and

Trip: Hinkhouse Peak - North Ridge III 5.7 Date: 8/26/2007 Trip Report: A few days ago, Dan Hilden, Gordy Skoog, and I climbed the North ridge of Hinkhouse Peak. Hinkhouse used to be called "State Peak" but was renamed for a climber who died on Denali in '95. Gordy thought this route had not been climbed before, but an entry in the summit register proved that we had been scooped by a Mazama local who did the ridge a few summers ago. From the Cutthroat lake trailhead, you can see the entire climb. This photo makes the whole thing look flatter than it really is, but routefinding is obvious from the get-go. The approach is 20 minutes (mostly along an old road bed) from the car park. There is a lot of very solid slab and 4th class climbing along the start of the route. Things eventually steepen and we climbed up 3 towers to the summit. The steeper climbing seldom lasted long, and its mostly a fun alpine ramble. One Rappel was made into this pitcturesque notch. Gordy got to take the last couple of fun pitches to the summit. I cannot confirm or deny the possibility that he betrayed his old-school credentials and placed one of those new-fangled 'friends.' From the top, you can scramble down to the WA Pass overlook, or make a rappel-free descent back down into the Cutthroat drainage. Gear Notes: Light alpine rack Approach Notes: Walk west for 20 minutes from the car to granite slabs at the toe of the ridge

Here's a shot of Jason and Eric from across the valley. The obvious crack above them is quite conservatively graded at 5.9 The finger crack (p1) can also be reached by climbing in from the left on an arching undercling. A great route guys! This wont take anyone all day, but there are some other good climbs nearby to do before or after.

A guy from Alpinist contacted me, and after it ran on their web newswire, I contacted Climbing Mag. Dan and I made $50 off the photo, which was $25 less than the NPS ticket we recieved on our failed traverse attempt...

Thanks guys... I'm sure there'd be many more similar big climbs completed if the weather had been decent. In my humble and unbiased opinion, Gunrunner is a REALLY fun climb, and worth doing if you are on the Ptarmigan Traverse or in the area. I attached a written topo for the route. I'd be curious if it gets climbed again, to see what someone else thought of the pitches, and if they went a different way at any point. 3784-Gunrunnertopo.doc

SW summit of bonanza would be quite impressive c-2-c in 24hrs.

A couple DH-LA questions... I did it with Avitripp and got to lead the first 4 pitches which were a blast, but he took the last two and I want to go back again soon and lead it all. Is the ".11b" free move to avoid the A0 some total sandbag, or a trick we did not see? How does one do the .10c option above that? (pro in there?) On the last pitch, after the bolt, should you go left or right? Avi went up right and basically ran it out to the top after the bolt. I don't remember hearing anything about the climbing being run-out, so I'm guessing there's a different option.

Spider seems doable from the Cascade Pass TRailhead. Sinister would be very difficult, and even going in from Stehekin, any of the Gunsights might be impossible.