tlinn

RocNoggin, there are many excellent routes there besides McTech Arete 5.10 but I would definetely recommend Mctech because I don`t think the climbing can get much better. Paddle Flake Direct 5.10 is also supposed to be excellent as well as Energy Crisis 5.11+. Bring lots of big gear. The rappel route is all bolts and is marked by a small cairn. Some of the stations are a tad difficult to find. You could do it with doubles if you wanted to save time but I would save the weight and just bring a single rope. With regards to buckingham we had our ropes get stuck on the second last rappel. I believe there is another station you could use to break up this rappel into 2 but I would bring some webbing to back up the sketchy old slings.

I think what she meant to say was rapped... At least as far as I know.

Climb: Bugaboos - July Long Weekend-Various Date of Climb: 7/3/2006 Trip Report: I`ve wanted to go into the Bugaboos for several summers now and after being denied by snowstorms two years ago I decided this would be the year. Unfortunately, with my work schedule being what it is I would have to fit it in over the long weekend. One of my friend`s, Krystil, would be going into the Bugs the week before so I would have at least one partner if I wanted to do the drive by myself. This however, would not be a safe or pleasant idea so luckily Adrian and Bram gladly came along to make us a threesome. We left Hope at 5pm. The first part of the drive went fast but after Golden the coffee started to wear off and we were struggling to keep going. All of us were tired, especially Adrian who almost hit a dear between Golden and Brisco. The incident may have helped wake us up but left us a little rattled. After that experience, Adrian decided to have a redbull and kept his eyes peeled to avoid roadkill. Did you know that in Oregon you have to carry out the carcass if you hit an animal on the highway? Well, at least we`re not in Oregon. I was imagining that scene from the John Candy movie where the dear wakes up inside of his car and they both start screaming. By 2:30am we were in our sleeping bags with chickenwire around the car to help keep out the Bugaboo “beasties.” I think we each got about 2hours sleep that night. The sun comes up damn early this time of year and the mosquitos were going crazy by 4am. I ended up wearing my long underwear over my head but it provided little relief. We packed up and headed for the Kain Hut to go find Krystil. By the time we left the parking lot we had decided the Bugaboos were a hostile place. Not only did they have gasket eating porcupines, but they also had bird sized mosquito swarms. At least the approach was easy. In two hours we were at the Kain Hut and we got to surprise Krystil and wake her up. We had some breakfast and socialized with a group of climbers from Utah before heading up to Applebee Dome to pitch the tent. Adrian and Bram were feeling pretty spent from the driving marathon so I decicided to join Krystil to climb Mctech Arete. This climb is amazing. The second and fourth pitches were among the best climbing I`ve ever done and we topped out in the afternoon sunshine. The Northeast Ridge of Bugaboo was stunning and we were impressed by the view of the peaks to the north (the Vowells maybe?). The descent felt a bit weird because all of the rappel anchors are bolted but once you get down on the glacier you`re reminded that you`re still in the alpine. We were back in camp for a tortellini feast and some tea. We were still pretty sleep deprived so we decided tomorrow would be a sleep in day. On day two we did a great job of sleeping and we didn`t leave camp until 11am. Hardly an alpine start but considering our objective was the West Ridge of Pigeon we weren`t too stressed about starting late. Little did we know that we were making a big mistake leaving at such a casual hour. As we started up the West Ridge at 1pm the beautiful blue sky began to fill with big dark clouds and a notorious Bugaboo thunderstorm was upon us. The rock started buzzing and I felt a shock hit the back of my head. It was a truly terrifying experience. We quickly scrambled down the side of the ridge to the lowest point we could find and tried to get rid of as much metal as possible. Bram was kind enough to tell us some stories of climbing in the Dolomites where climbers die not from the lightning strike itself but from the shockwave blowing them off the mountain. Bram chose to build an anchor which he connected himself to with a sling. The rest of us just huddled there and shivered trying to remain calm. I remembered laughing as someone said that they forgot to bring their pampers. I think we were all pretty close to filling our pants. That evening in camp we made plans for the next day. The original plan was to climb the Northeast Ridge of Bugaboo Spire but we decided that it was just too risky. Even if we left at 4am we figured we wouldn`t make the summit until 12pm leaving us very little time to get off the summit before “thunderstorm time.” We figured tomorrow would be a carbon copy of today and if the storm hit at 1pm as it had today we would be in big trouble. We decided that a less risky option would be to climb the Buckingham Route: The Enjoyable Way, a 5.8 romp up Snowpatch Spire. We left at a proper alpine time of 4am and were climbing the route by 6am. It was a little cold considering it was in the shade but we had a great time. The climbing is quite easy. Most of it felt like low fifth class with a few 5.7 pitches to the summit. My 7mm static line worked really well as a rap line. On the sixth rappel Adrian and Bram got their rope stuck. Luckily, Krystil and I were still above them so we were able to free it. We made the same mistake and Krystil led back up to free up our ropes from the rope eating crack. Later that night I went out and soloed the Lion`s Way on the Central Crescent Tower. I was impressed with the quality of the climbing and thought that if it was harder than 5.6 it would deserve three stars instead of two. I was a bit pissed we hadn`t done the Northeast Ridge on Bugaboo as the weather was excellent all day but this route helped make up for it. The route tops out on an excellent summit and the view was amazing. On day four we awoke to rain. To our amazement Applebee Dome was nearly deserted by 8am. The hike down was nearly uneventful except for the startling discovery of a lone hiker with his pants down along the trail. I guess someone had a little too much coffee in the morning and needed to relieve himself (I guess he also forgot his pampers?). Whatever his excuse it was not a pleasant sight to wake up to. By the time we arrived at the cars the clouds had cleared and we were giving each other high fives and we decided the trip was a great success despite the thunderstorm. We made a stop at Taps Pub in Golden and for a quick dip in the pool at Rogers Pass. There were several accidents along the way so I hope everyone made it home safely from their weekend trips. Thanks for the wicked time Bram, Krystil and Adrian Ty Adrian fortifying the beast proof Honda Hound`s Tooth and the Bugaboo Glacier Krystil with Crescent Towers behind Krystil on P.1 of Mctech with the Utah climbers on P.2 me on P.4 Krystil scrambling to the top of Crescent Spire with Bugaboo Spire behind Pigeon Spire and Snowpatch Spire Adrian roping up crossing the Upper Vowell Glacier with Bugaboo Spire behind Scrambling up Pigeon Spire Retreating from Pigeon Spire after the storm Applebee Dome sunrise on Snowpatch Spire Sunrise on Eastpost Spire Krystil and Adrian on Buckingham Route: The Enjoyable Way rapping off Buckingham Route last few pitches of Lion`s Way bouldering in camp Gear Notes: nuts, tcus, cams 1" to 4", extra #2 and #3 camalots for Mctech Arete Approach Notes: Kain Hut Trail

Nice work Dru!

Fucking Fantastic! That is an amazing TR and I am so happy for you guys! Way to go!!!! When will you be in Vancouver to celebrate?

Thanks for the info Don! Considering it`s only 30 minutes from my door I guess I should get out and do it!

Maybe this should go in the pirate`s forum...AAAAARRRRRGH Matey!

Damn...I better trade my rack for a boat.

When does this thing usually get dry? Hypothetically if it was dry all this week might it be climbable by the weekend?

Climb: Nicolum Creek-Dead Soles Date of Climb: 6/6/2006 Trip Report: This climb has been a work in progress for a while and finally the time was right to send it! Drew came out after work and I met him at the parking area at the base. I had come out the night before and placed the last 4 bolts with my dad because Drew`s drill had died when we had first planned on climbing it at the end of last summer. It was nice to send it! Afterwards we scouted out some new areas and saw some promising climbs to compliment the slab and crack climbing that is there already. We also did a few stellar boulder problems! Dead Soles 5.10b, F.A. June 6, 06 Approach Notes: Bud`s Rock Trail

Anyone know what the status is with the proposed new regulations in Huascaran National Park i.e. must climb with a guide on the popular routes?

Thanks for the discussion. Yeah, I think that two ropes are a good idea for ice climbing at least. G-Spotter, didn`t you have a chunk of limestone hit your rope in Marble Canyon one time? I can believe it that some of the old VOC ropes are a little questionable...probably date back to the start of the club. Maybe even before Roland Burton`s time.

I guess I will take a stab at answering your question even though in a way you have kind of answered it for yourself. Basically, IMHO experience is the best way of learning so you need to get out there and do it as much as you can. Read as much as you can and go out with as many experienced people as you can because you will pick up a tonne of stuff. From my experience the good alpine climbers are the ones that have spent so much time in the mountains that they can move quickly and comfortably on moderate terrain. The less experienced people move slower because they feel less comfortable in the same situations. If you want to take a course then go for it! It wouldn`t hurt at least and it might give you a starting point for doing your own adventures. Just get out there and climb as much as possible! It`s my experience that some of the best alpine climbers got out there and just started learning on their own or with friends.

So today I was rapping and jumaring on my "cleaning" rope which is about 5 years old and heavily used. After rapping down the route I went to pull the rope and noticed that I had worn it through to the core! The spot was near the middle of the rope so I cut it in half and fixed the last two pieces of 30 meter cord to get me down in two more raps. So this got me thinking. Short of ropes getting worn over edges through jumaring and doing pendulums, etc. do ropes ever fail through normal free climbing use? I remember reading in the Squamish guidebook that someone had scorched two new ropes and survived but I haven`t heard of that before. Spray on.

Me too...time to take a shower We have so worked the moves out on that climb. I`m feeling so confident I might even do it without the cellphone. Is it still an on-site if you call a friend for beta at the crux?

Yup.

Right on!

Climb: Nicolum Creek - Hope, BC-Kemo Sabe Date of Climb: 5/17/2006 Trip Report: Over the last few summers I have been busy working on a multi-pitch crag near Hope, BC. I have had a lot of time over the past few weeks to head out to the crag and I am close to finishing many projects. I wanted to post something to get people stoked on the climbing and let them know that a topo with route descriptions and approach details will be available for pick-up somewhere in town (either the Blue Moose or tourism infocentre). I will try and get it out by the Canada Day long weekend. I hope people will enjoy the climbing and the area. Altogether there will be about 10 routes varying in length from 1 to 3 pitches with the possibility of connecting several routes. If you have any questions or would like to help in the development please email hopeclimbs@hotmail.com Some photos taken yesterday: drilling the rappel station on Kemo Sabe Adrian B leading on the first ascent of Kemo Sabe a.k.a. Flying Squirrel, 5.10b me seconding Kemo Sabe Adrian on First Blood, 5.6 cleaning! Gear Notes: full rack

Thanks for the pics! I think next time I go to Peru and Bolivia I will focus a lot more on these kind of areas and stay away from the Blanca. Way less people and all the fun! Cheers,

I am a woman trapped in a man's body, what can I say. Or you`re just a man who loves to look at Eva Longoria

How about Lesser Wedgie? But then I guess Wedge would have to be the Greater Wedgie?

Climb: Lesser Wedge-North Face - FA Date of Climb: 4/24/2006 Trip Report: I have a bad habit of being too optimistic about alpine conditions in the spring. No matter how good the ski season has been I always start to crave alpine climbing by mid March. This year has been no different, so after two days of cragging in Squamish with Nick Elson and a large group of VOCers I managed to convince Nick that the North Face of James Turner would be “the thing to do.” After all, the alpine lows were getting below zero around Whistler and the highs were getting into the mid teens so there would be plenty of melt thaw right? With the forecast looking good for the upcoming week and only one more exam left on Nick`s schedule we made tentative plans to climb the North Face of James Turner and leave late on Monday morning. Alpine climbing plans are never set in stone. While Nick was making great use of his “study time” late Sunday night he was busy on bivouac.com where he found a great photo of the North Face of Lesser Wedge contributed by Jordan Peters. This sparked his interest and we hatched a plan to scope out the peak on the way into James Turner. Into the pack went a large rack mainly of rock gear but with several ice screws “just in case.” On Monday morning Nick was back at his Westside home by 11am and we finished packing. We decided to go as light as possible taking only mountaineering boots, skis, avy gear, tools, crampons, the rack, and sleeping bags. We made sure that the mountaineering boots worked with our bindings and after a few adjustments we were ready to roll by 12pm. Not exactly an alpine start but considering that Nick had been writing his last exam just an hour and a half before we felt it was a pretty good effort. We made two more stops along the way, one for groceries at Save-On in Squamish and one at Valhalla to buy a single knifeblade after Nick realized he had forgotten the pins at home. The girl at Valhalla was very friendly. She seemed to be stuck in her decision of whether to make tea or coffee for the afternoon and asked Nick to choose. Nick helped her through this extremely difficult decision by suggesting the Earl Grey. I hope she liked it! Unfortunately there is still quite a bit of snow on the road to the Wedgemount Lake Trail and we were only able to get a few hundred meters up the road before being stopped. We poked around a bit more with our packs and I did a few more tweaks to my bindings to make sure they would work with my Scarpa Alphas. The sun was blazing and Nick decided to go John Clarke style because he had no shorts and only long underwear. Nick reminded me that John`s marks had suffered during his last year at UBC because the weather in the mountains had been so good during the Spring. He also reassured me that he had done well in his film studies exam and that his grades had not been affected by his love of the mountains! Nick going “John Clarke” style over the broken bridge on Wedgemount Creek On the way to the trail a kind fellow in a sturdy 4 wheel drive jeep helped us get almost all the way to the trailhead. Thanks for the lift and I hope you were able to get out OK. After a 3.5 hour slog we were finally at the hut. There had been a lot of postholing but we were able to ski half of the trail in our mountaineering boots which had helped us in our effort to move fast and light. We had planned to continue all the way to the Wedge-Weart col but it was already 7:30pm and the sun was starting to go down so we decided to crash at the hut. After all, the hut was amazingly warm and Nick noticed that it smelt a bit like a sauna with the smell of cedar (?) lingering. It was warm enough for shorts in the hut and we slept well, especially Nick who had been going all day on only 2 hours of sleep. Sunset over the Coast Mountains The next morning dawned cold and clear, just the conditions we were hoping for! The snow was very hard and our edges scraped across the icy snow as we made our way down towards the Wedgemount Glacier at 4:30am. We skied as far along the east side of the glacier as we could just to be extra cautious and avoid crevasses. The conditions were very fast and we arrived at the Wedge-Weart col by 6am. The sun was starting to come up, exposing James Turner and Lesser Wedge in all their glory. The route looked steep and technical, following the central couloir directly to the summit. We hoped to climb the route while the snow stayed hard and the avalanche conditions remained low. James Turner from the Wedge-Weart col Nick and Lesser Wedge from the Weart-Wedge col the line of ascent We skied to within a few hundred vertical feet of the route and we slogged up through powder to the base. As the angle steeped and we entered the couloir proper the snow conditions became much better and we were able to kick steps up the firm snow. We simul soloed what would have been two or three pitches and then built a belay at the start of the first steep runnel. setting up the first belay This was my pitch to lead and I was delighted as the climbing looked fantastic. The climbing was mixed with just enough ice for some delicate pick placements. I worked my way up to a belay at the beginning of the next rock section and took this photo of Nick seconding. Nick seconding the third pitch The 4th pitch started off quite difficult with lots of frozen blocks and tricky pro. Nick did a great job leading it and then went up out of sight. He didn`t move for very long time and judging by the huge amount of spindrift shooting down the gully he had to be doing some significant excavation at the top of the pitch. Turns out Nick had indeed been busy and had to remove the snow mushroom at the top of this pitch to continue climbing through a steep, overhanging chimney. He had also left his pack clipped to a piece of gear to pull the final moves through the chimney with some delicate dry tooling. Seconding the 4th pitch The final pitch to the summit brought me out into the sun and I set up a rock belay on the summit ridge. Nick led the final 20 meters onto the true summit where we sat, took in the views, and enjoyed a nice warm lunch in the sun. Descending proved to be quite pleasant as we belayed the narrow ridge to the west and then dropped down some snow slopes on the Northwest side of the mountain. This section of the ridge kind of reminded me of the North Arete of Wedge except it was much shorter but steeper on both sides. Nick on the summit Skiing down the Wedgemount Glacier was “interesting” in mountaineering boots. It definitely put my skiing abilities to the test and I made more than a few faceplants with my heavy pack. By late-afternoon we were back at the hut brewing tea and making soup for dinner. We also enjoyed some imported coca matae tea I had brought back from Peru and had been saving for a special occasion. At 6pm I went for a “nap” and never woke up. Perhaps I was “coming down” from my matae high but I ended up sleeping for 14 hours! One of the longest sleeps I can ever remember having. Nick apparently crashed out by 7pm so at least he didn`t wait around for me to cook the proper dinner! Wednesday morning was very cloudy and snowy so we were reluctant to leave our warm hut. The visibility was also poor and the snow had turned to concrete without the warm afternoon sun. We skied down the upper trail with much trepidation. The combination of the steep trail, poor skiing conditions, and lack of ski boots made us take off our skis part way down the trail and post-hole down. We were happy to see the car that afternoon and we finally made it to the Brew Pub in Squamish by 3pm. The India Pale Ale tasted delicious and after being disappointed by their burger on the last few occasions I came away feeling satisfied with my meal for a change. Route Summary: 5-6 pitches, 50 degree snow, AI3, M4 Gear Notes: tcus, small nuts, #1 and #2 camalots Approach Notes: Wedgemount Lake Trail then skis to the Wedge-Weart col

I don't remember a wide part up top, but it was the first route of the trip, so if it didn't traumatize me, I wouldn't have remembered. Ooops, I`m thinking of Lightning Crack a.k.a. Hex Marks The Poot in the Wonderland of Rocks. Yeah, White Lightning is great fun! Hemingway seems to be quite sheltered from the wind too which is nice.

Oh...good old Jtree! What did you think of White Lightning? I didnt have any gear to protect the upper off-width crack and ended up running it out onto the 5.9 slab to the left.