TrogdortheBurninator

robot

I am sure there is a ton of ice around right now, but a lot of it is either probably somewhat inaccessible or young. There hasnt been much talk lately of the typical areas. I'd imagine this weekend your best bet is just to start driving (LW, Banks, Mazama, etc) and hop you find something. I would think that next weekend would be a little better if you want a sure thing.

Yeah, we rapped too far out of convenience, and paid the price having to climb back up again to free the ropes. We rapped from the trees that Gary describes.

P.W.N.: Playful Wonderful Nonconformist P.W.N.: Princess Winning Necking thread mate

Awesome work!!! Way to keep after it.

The route on the far right has been around for a little while at least. It is only so-so in my opinion (maybe because it felt harder than I wanted it to). Although you cant see the actual lines in the pictures, I think Jens and I are talking about the 10C and 11C just left of that.

Didn't BachelorTrav spend some time in Boulder between his stints in Fort Collins and Tennesse?

I have one of those things Dave is talking about. Mine is made by ACE and holds 12 screws + it has a small pocket for other stuff. Way more convenient than keeping track of plastic covers IMO.

so thats how its done

There are some fun lines over there. I climbed the left trending ramp thing down hill of the slab last summer right after it got bolted. Fun stuff and pretty unique for the area. The direct steep line above it looked good too, but all the bolts werent in yet at the time. Plus, it looked pretty hard while lowering off the other route.

If anybody has gone leashless with their quarks and wants to sell one of their leashes, I'll buy it ASAP if the price is right.

Climb: Chair Peak-North Face Date of Climb: 2/11/2006 Trip Report: Since no one else has posted a Chair NF report yet from this past weekend, I figured I would. Plus, maybe someone will see this who didn't see my thread about the lost leash in lost and found. The forecast for the weekend looked great and I had been wanting to climb Chair for a long time. Hoping to get some sleep and maybe beat the crowds, KJ and I slept in my van in the Ski Acres parking lot. We left the trailhead around 5:15, with six or so cars already in place. Aside from a few minor navigation errors, we reached source lake without much difficulty. The sun came up partway up the slope to to chair. We passed one party on the way in, and felt OK. Then we saw another party of four working there way up to the final ridge. We also saw 2 person tent pitched below the peak. I mentally prepared to settle for a back up plan, but hoped for a short que on the NF. We dumped our snowshoes below the ridge, then hiked up. The wind was blowing super hard on the ridge (maybe 50 MPH+), but we decided to check things out on the face. Luckily the aspect of the face provided some protection from the wind. The team of four was directly ahead of us and were beginning to rack up for the climb. After some discussion, the team of four offered to let us climb ahead of them. We racked up and set off. KJ led the first pitch over the berschrund and traversing to the start of the climb's crux. Pro placed - 1 picket Anchor - 1 picket I started up the crux pitch on a combination of shitty ice and powder snow. I looked anxiously for pro, but the face offered very few options. I picked my way carefully up the pitch, stopping once to try and unsuccessfully place an ice screw. Eventually the angle eased off and I began looking for an anchor. I placed a marginal picket with a screamer, but saw no ideal belay opportunities, so I continued climbing expecting KJ to simul when the rope came taught. A small rock outcropping with a fixed pin finally calmed my nerves. I backed this up with a nut, and set my sights on a clump of trees 100 ft up which would provide a more comforting belay. The trees provided the relief I needed so I tied off and packed out a seat. I started bringing KJ up, and everything was good until the wind started blowing hard again. It was a litle unnerving to watch my anchor bend to the wind, but the tree was bomber and KJ soon joined me at the belay. Pro placed - 1 picket, 1 nut/pin Anchor - Tree Looking down from the 2nd belay: KJ setting off on our third pitch KJ dispatched the third pitch quickly and found a nice belay at a stout tree below a mixed traverse and an ice bulge. pro placed - none Anchor - Tree The traverse on the 4th pitch was pretty airy, with powdery footing and some rock moves for the hands. The traverse stopped at an ice bulge where I gladly placed a screw. The first screw hit air, so I tried again and luckliy found solid ice. The bulge wasnt too hard and provided some comforting swings with the tools. Above I slung a tree and continued up easier snow to the ridge just below the summit. I made an anchor from two nuts and a picket and brought KJ up. Pro placed - 2 screws(1 bad), 1 tree Anchor - 2 nuts, 1 picket KJ finishing the last pitch of the face proper: KJ set off for the summit and brought me up where we enjoyed the sunshine and had a bite to eat. We rapped from some trees on the climbers left side of the descent gully. We probably should have just downclimbed on the climbers right, but figured what the heck and we rapped from a nice tree. Somehow, while prepping the ropes I think, I dropped a leash (see lost and found). When pulling ropes, the angle of the rap to the surrounding rockwalls caused the rope to get stuck (like I said, we should have downclimbed). The 2nd rap went smoothly and we were soon on our way glissading back to our snowshoes. There looked to be some cool ice in the surrounding hills. Overall, a super fun day climb with a great partner and awesome views afforded by the amazing weather. I thought the route might be a gimmee given the fact the face had been recently climbed. This was not the case as the wind destroyed much of the evidence of prior parties. Conditions were challenging enough to make the climb very satisfying for me. Gear Notes: Recommend 1-2 screws 2-3 pickets 3-4 medium nuts 1-2 pins just incase Brought 2 pickets 4 screws BD Nuts 4-10 6 pins Approach Notes: Trail to source lake is cake, even if you get a little off track. From there just take the most solid snowshoe track up to the bowl below chair.

I lost one of my clipper leashes on Chair Peak saturday. I think I lost it at the summit or the first rap. If anyone finds it, I'd love to get it back.

What about those fancy new anti-crossload DMM biners?

Not sure how close is close, but the new Tieton guide lists a couple bouldering areas near Yakima.

Andrew, here is a pic from today. The main pillar is really fun, with a couple fairly distinct/interesting lines. To the left is a bunch of lower angle snice that may be fun, but we didnt try it. The ice is pretty aerated on the low angle stuff, but the steep stuff is good.

I would leave later too (night climbing?), but no earlier.

Anybody with a season pass or a hankering to buy a lift ticket want to head up to Alpental tomorrow afternoon to climb stellar falls and maybe doing some skiing/snowboarding? I can leave seattle around 12:30 and have a car.

I only met Nici a handful of times, but she struck as a very nice and sincere person. My wife knew her well, although they had seen less of each other in the past few years. The fact that their friendship was a closed loop has made this very difficult for my wife since they had no real mutual friends and Nici was the only friend my wife was still in contact with from AT&T. Her disappearance came as quite a shock, but we all hoped for the best. When we heard the news report Monday night that a body of a 30 year old woman had been found near Burien, my wife feared the worse, but I tried to calm her concerns. Unfortunately her fears were correct as the news confirmed yesterday. Watching the news and TV your whole life, you never expect to see someone that you know in such a horrible situation. It is frustrating that the news has been so slow throughout the process. We anxiously checked the news report all day yesterday waiting for an announcement. You dont realize how slow half a day is until you are waiting for news like this. Hopefully the investigation can provide some answers to her untimely death.

From Seattle

FYI alaskaair.com webspecials has tickets to calgary this weekend for $179 round trip after all taxes etc. I'm sure everybody is stoked for the weather here this weekend, but this is a pretty good price.

She is a friend and former coworker of my wife. We are all hoping that she is safe. Please keep your eyes out for her car.

My point exactly josh. That is why I asked Gene Juarez if he even read the thread. I'm sure it is hard and fun, but the contests are lame as hell.