KaskadskyjKozak

I've been meaning to get to the Olympics more - love the area for sure. There are a few great scrambles on my radar screen (Constance, Clark, Anderson...) But it's extra special to tick off a rock climb like this.

Trip: Sherpa Peak - West Ridge Trip Date: 06/24/2018 Trip Report: Almost nine years ago I climbed this route. However I found it unsatisfying for a few reasons: we struggled with routefinding, I did not actually stand on the summit, forgoing the latter half of the final exposed scramble to the summit, and we got back to the car at midnight despite starting early in the morning. I had unfinished business here, and it's finally been attended. Moreover, two of three of my previous experience's downsides were remedied this time around. We started up the trail at 9 am on Saturday. There were no real difficulties in the approach, and we took 7 hours to get to the camp at 7400'. I was quite pleased with this time which was faster than before, and considering my advanced years and being at death's door. Here we ran into a party of two that I actually knew and we coordinated our start times. Later we observed a party of three coming down from the top of the Sherpa Glacier. One member of that party was clearly fatigued and not doing well on descent. They approached our camp near 8 pm and bivied close by. We chatted with them: they also planned to summit the W ridge of Sherpa. We told them our plans to head up around 4 am. I heard them leaving the next day at 3:15 am - and we never really overlapped or had trouble. Thanks to whomever that party was! We got up at 4 am and headed up. We managed to stay on route the whole way up and everything went smoothly. The coordination with the other party made us effectively 3 teams of 2, and we shared a fixed line on the top and rappels all the way down to camp. All in all it was an 11 hour day camp to summit to camp. Unfortunately one party member struggled on the offtrail parts of the descent and it took us 7 more hours to hike out, and we arrived at the cars (and beer) and midnight. Well 2/3 ain't bad, and I'm calling this MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. It is worth noting that while rappeling (around 2:30 pm or so in the afternoon) we noted a helicopter circling the false summit of Mount Stuart. Apparently there was a fatal accident there. That was a bit of a downer. Other than that the trip was quite enjoyable. Now, pics. Mount Stuart money shot from Longs Pass: Climber's trail turnoff at Beverly junction: Water break on the traverse into the lower basin at 5800': Sherpa from the lower basin: The prominent waterfall below the upper basin: Perspective on the sweat equity we built on this approach: Cozy campsite on the flat rock: Full front views of the false summit of Stuart were in our face all day: Sherpa's impressive SW face: Old Geezer on the summit: Gear Notes: Small alpine rack, ice axe, crampons Approach Notes: Standard Cascades Approach

Yeah, the summit pitch is definitely high-pucker factor. Such a fun climb!

Trip: Cruiser - S Corner Trip Date: 06/16/2018 Trip Report: Nearly nine years ago, in early August, I attempted this route and turned around on the summit of Beta. I've been overdue for a rematch. Just to make things interesting (well, I needed to be in town for Father's Day), I decided to do the climb C2C. We car camped near some side trailhead a mile or two shy of Staircase, and headed up at 5 am on Saturday. 20 hours later we were back at the car, happy, successful, and rehydrating with the beverage that proves God exists and loves us. Now for some pics to fill in details. See attachments. Continuous, firm snow from near Gladys Pass to Needle Pass View up from Needle Pass. The lower parts are unsavory, loose, exposed class 3. It gets better higher up. Better scrambling. This is more fun! Looking down the gully from the summit of Beta: Cruiser! Some minor shenanigans negotiating the moat. We solo'd the gully up to just below the chockstone, stashed our packs and did a short (silly) lead through the cannonhole. Ledge above the chockstone Summit block (taken on descent). There is one shiny bolt and an anchor with two more. I placed a few cams and a nut. Exposure on the summit is non-trivial: Summit P0rn: Gear Notes: Ice axe, crampons, helmet, small alpine rack Approach Notes: no snow until ha lfway from Flapjack lakes to Gladys Pass, then mostly snow until Needle Pass. From there, a moat or two to contend with but otherwise dry

I got a magazine today too!

Minx is back. Be afraid, very afraid sorry to hear about the injuries... if you ever are in the area, hit me up. I have a new puppy - she can't do mailbox for quite some time but i'll be getting her on easier stuff

Meshuggah are playing at the Showbox on 1/24. See you all there?

no chestbeating. I'm a humble wanna-be climber, weekend warrior. I do enjoy writing narratives for trips and am proud of a few. i'm confident you guys will improve/restore a lot of the indexing and search capabilities. The new site really is a beauty to behold

somehow death eludes you

I did meet Ivan. that was cool. the fucker was drinking vodka out of a flask at the top of the Palmer. true to form

Please find my W ridge of STuart TR. Maybe not the best of anything, but I'd like a link to it to share with folks....

No. I never met Minx and she's gone. Bummer I met Bug and Archenemy. Cool peeps.

That Mongo ridge climb by wayne. Yo. fucking sick! Oh and i recall one on Colonial in winter that was badass too

word to the motherfucker

Guys: This is truly awesome! I love the new look! Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and work over the years! You've put up with a lot of BS and stayed the course, for the love of our sport(s) and community. Fuck yeah!

MANY MANY MANY THANKS FOR THE DETA1LED MATERIAL FOR GLACIER PEAK IT IS BETTER THAN WHAT I HAVE. CAN YOU THINK IOF ANY OTHER SIGNIFICANT ROAD, TRAIL, SCRAMBLE ETC CHANGES FOR VOL 2 (SKYKOMISH TO SKAGIT R IVERS) / ? perhaps will try phoning you SHOULD I CONTACT BR___ C_____ FOR WME QUESTIONS ? BEST FRED BECKEY

This could not have been said any better. RIP, Mr. Beckey

Avenge suicide? Your empathy muscle has atrophied. That's the quote Ivan always posts when someone dies. But yeah, not very a propos this time around

nothing to do with "comfort" I was just a poor planner and did not reserve a spot in Whitney Portal. My bad!

speaking of Jason G... he left an interesting playing card in the summit register... choss dawgs FTW!

JasonG will pass us both soon enough on the TR count There were showers forecast on Sat and SAt night and they seemed to have done wonders clearing the smoke. I was pleasantly surprised by the clear skies too

Denny's is gross and bad for you. Choss piles are gross but oddly appealing, and as long as you don't die from rock fall, the exercise is good for you