John Frieh

Nice work youth! Good to see your partner didn't forget his helmet for mean green this time Hope to see you in Hyalite this month!

That sounds really smart. You guys must have been literaly flying to cover all that ground in sub-24. Nice piece of work. Nice work guys... cooking with gas! Because I have given up leashes period what I do (at least in the alpine) is in addition to putting a loop at the bottom of each tool to connect the spring things for ice leads I put 1 loop through the preexisting hole in the upper shaft of the adze tool only. On lower angle terrain I just clip the higher piece of webbing with my spring thing and can use the tool like an ice ax. Works great for me I can post pics if this doesn't make sense.

Trip: Three Fingers - Northeast Face (FA); FWA North Peak Date: 2/3/2007 Summary: First Ascent of the Northeast Face Three Fingers WI4+, M3 Grade IV. Feb 3rd 2007 Dave Burdick and John Frieh We believe this was the FWA of the North Peak of Three Fingers by any route. Also... we both wanted to make sure and tag the high point which prior to today we both thought was the south summit. By the time we reached the top of the ice the weather was already crapping out so we hit the North peak instead (which I think most would agree is the more aesthetic finish to the route). Dave checked today and according to Beckey's book the North peak has been the true summit since 1931 as in 31 they blasted 15 feet off the south peak, thus making it lower so we did the highest summit by accident I guess!?!? Hopefully someone can provide some further insight on either one of these... Northeast Face of Three Fingers courtesy of the great John Scurlock: topo (dots mark approximate belays): Conditions the week prior (taken jan 28th): Quick note for the newbs: Comparing John Scurlock's photo (top pic) with the conditions last week photo is a great illustration of how foreshortening works. blah blah blah: Ummm... where to start? Dave, Micah and Keith attempted this line some time last year (2006) but a combination of factors (deep snow, later start, etc) resulted in them coming up short... Jump forward a year. Dave, Pax, Keith and myself hiked in last Sat Jan 27th. With a little work we managed to get to the trailhead. WA state representatives: We hiked in and camped in the valley below the face at the last available running water. Dave and myself headed up the following morning... we had just gained the glacier when a healthy avy came down near the entrance to the couloir... we took a vote and bailed. On the hike down Dave and I joked about the bad luck the two of us have had with avyies (we've bagged a few attempts in the years due to avy) and this came out of it (Alpinedave's excellent artwork): Stay tuned for Volume 2! Never the less as bad as it sucks to get skunked we agreed we needed to come back before this weather window expired (which according to NOAA was roughly noon on Saturday) as the route looked to be in great shape. So Saturday it was! We left the car at 2 on Saturday and made good time to the face thanks in part to the boot pack we had installed the weekend prior and a full moon to light our way: We managed to find the access couloir that gains the glacier with relative ease and traversed over to the start of the route. We started the NE face couloir about first light. Dave fired through the initial step (a wee bit of 3/3+) and when the rope ran we began simuling. We covered approximately 1000' of mostly neve mixed with patches of ice and snow before arriving at the ice step. Dave on the initial step that starts the couloir: Lower couloir: So the ice... 600' of fat ice as blue as your balls are going to be after you look at the pics Pitch 1: Pitch 2: Looking down from the top of 2: Pitch 3: Pitch 1 was solid 4+... I could see it easily being a 5 in thinner conditions. Pitch 2 was 3+ and Pitch 3 was a 4. All 3 pitches were 60 m in length minimum (we climbed on a 70 m). From the top of the ice step we simul slogged for the north summit. To The Top! We encountered a short mixed step followed by a ramp that put us on top The mixed step: The ramp: Dave on top So we had topped the ice around noon and it started lightly snowing at 12:05 (why is it that NOAA is always right when ever you hope they are wrong ). We summited the north peak at 1:30 and by this time it was a healthy snowfall... we took a quick snack break and headed for home. Marco Polo on the descent: We wasted some time finding the access couloir that connects the glacier to the valley floor but we managed to find it before dark and followed our boot pack out and headed to Darrington for burritos at the Shell Station Gear Notes: 11 screws 1 picket (used a few times) Rock gear we brought: 4 cams to #2 camalot 7 nuts Rock gear we used: .75 and #1 camalot few nuts (larger size) Dave would likely recommend 1 set of ear plugs for this route or for that matter any route you climb with me ... 2 sets if I have dehydrated food for dinner Approach Notes: Darrington Music Notes Pete Murray, Bloc Party

Hey Heather You should seriously consider looking into devoting a small portion of the gym floor space for crossfit equipment (which doesn't take up that much space anyways)... currently a number of climbers in town have a membership at one of the other local gyms as well as a membership at one of the crossfit gyms in town. If you included a the option to do crossfit (no instructor needed just a few pieces of equipment) as apart of a gym membership or flash pass I bet you'd see a lot more traffic and a lot of climbers switching to your gym! Just a thought... I bet if you asked Marcus Donaldson about this he'd tell what a great idea this is.

sarkens or sabertooths? Your choice! I think Bill has some foot fangs he might give you a good price on!

I suck? Come on man... I'll make it up to you and bring lots of music

bump SausageFest Slideshow 07???

He'd say it's for sickie baa 8D

don't climb anything sky and ross could potentially ski or if you have to at minimum solo it to save some dignity

like you need leashes bryan get some new crampons will ya!?! you're making all the kids around here looks like wankers when they can't climb wi4 in new fancy pons but you send 5s in switchblades

You'll just have to wait and read about it my upcoming book eric! All preorders include an autographed neutrino Act now supplies are limited! As you can see AlpineDave did the cover art! h0t h0t h0t! baa sickie skull Tried for an FA on Sat but missed getting the chop by a 1/2 hour (avy). Should have took my own advice and stuck to alpine rock Good on everyone who got out... summit or no summit. Gotta reset for this weekend.

fangs/strikes and plunging don't matter... if the snow is so firm that you can't plunge the tool w/ a fang on it then it is firm enough to place your tool in high dagger position but yes removable though the proto I saw didn't have a strike on it and before anyone can make the joke yes there is a new neutrino and it weighs 32 ounces

left to right: new cobra, new viper, old fusion, old reactor. not pictured: new fusion Tentative Fall '07

did you clear this with your wife yet?

Best gym in town! Awesome route setters and Gent is a super nice guy Don't forget about the flash pass auction coming up... great way to get a flash pass CHEAP! http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/637772/page/1#Post637772

Hey youth! STRONG WORK! What type of crampons were you wearing?

Ghost dog is M11 though it took Will Gadd longer to redpoint it then it took him to redpoint Musashi which checks in at M12. Grades: Mixed climbing is a rather new grading system used to define the difficulty of climbing rock, and possibly some ice, using ice tools and crampons. Though not yet set in stone, M grades ("M" given to define a mixed route) are often compared or defined by the difficulty of a similar rock route using the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS). M ratings were created to correspond with the Yosemite Decimal System. But remember that an M5 grading, for instance, is NOT a 5.9 rock climb but FEELS as difficult as a 5.9 rock climb regarding necessary strength, ability and experience. Climbing in winter is more difficult due to the required clothing, tools and all the extra weight of winter gear, and these issues are part of the equation Typical comparison of M grades vs. YDS... M1 - Feels like 5.5 climbing OR an occasional drytool move M2 - Feels like 5.6 climbing OR a couple drytool moves M3 - Feels like 5.7 climbing OR several body lengths of easy drytooling M4 - Feels like 5.8 climbing OR some technical drytooling M5 - Feels like 5.9 climbing OR drytool moves that require effort M6 - Feels like 5.10 climbing OR 8 to 10 meters of technical drytooling that requires effort M7 - Feels like 5.11 climbing OR 10 to 15 meters of technical drytooling M8 - Feels like 5.12 climbing OR 8 to 10 meters of slightly overhanging and technical drytooling M9 - Feels like 5.12+ climbing OR 10 to 15 meters of slightly overhanging and technical drytooling M10 - Feels like 5.13 climbing OR overhanging, technical, and strenuous drytooling M11 - Feels like 5.13+ climbing OR overhanging, technical, and powerful drytooling M12 - Feels like 5.14 climbing OR continuous overhang and powerful drytooling M13 - Feels like 5.14 climbing OR continuous overhang with technical and powerful drytooling M14 - not yet defined Source: http://www.alaskaiceclimbing.com/ratings.htm

trying to build teh stoke 'eh commander? don't you ski kids prespray about forecasts of freshiez and then talk about how good it was after it happened?

The real deal would be to do LC and TRL in under 24 hours... no fixing or anything. Easy cheesy for the yosemite kids but it would be cool to see 2 local kids do it first.

Hey Ericb! You almost sound like you are from colorado or something Hey Jens! In what month did Colin and Mark do the complete N Ridge of Stuart? Since when did freeze/thaw cycles have anything to do with climbing rock in winter? What is the avy for this weekend suppose to be? The forecast sure sounds like it has been freeze/thaw all week... wouldn't you agree? It almost sounds like you guys are trying to keep people from going climbing... then again I could be wrong See you in the hills you little bitches! Hey... has the east face of lexington seen a winter ascent yet?

Alpine rock you little bitches! Which of the wine spires hasn't seen a winter ascent yet...? hmmm...

winter alpine stoke bump! Hey! Has backbone been done in winter yet?

winter alpine stoke bump! Hey Dan! Did she ever call you?

winter alpine stoke bump! Has razorback ridge been done in winter yet?

Roll call shit talkers. Weather is here... time to use that kitchen pass and send... or descend for you skiers! Climb safe and have fun! See you in the hills