OlegV

Great job, Mike and Eric! Awesome pics Sick, too. Glad, you guys pulled it off! Hey Eric, what’s next on your list of escalating near death experiences?

Morning commute from home to work...

Hey Clint, read my PM and don't get youself killed on the PR.

http://chris.pirillo.com/images/MountRainier.wmv

Hmm,that sucks!

I mean, people outside of Canadian Rockies know about Robson, Temple, Andromeda or Alberta but not about Bryce. I figured Bryce doesn't have trully difficult routes and didn't attract big alpinists like Lowe and Blanchard.

Anyone climbed the NF or NE Ridge of Mt.Bryce in Canadian Rockies? I am surprised this beautiful mountain receives so little attention.

Not sure if I ever want to do Buckner again- incredibly long slog for very little of climbing. Great views though!

Thanks! Jim Nelson doesn't discuss the return route in his book - maybe because it is so long and sloggy. I wonder why we didn't see any trail across Horseshoe - nobody comes here.

When was it shot?

We did use ice screws when crossing ice bands. Rock pro wasn't really needed - except the attempt to get on snow ramp from the left. Sahale Arm doesn't require any pro - just careful balanced movement. I hope this helps! Oleg

Post deleted by mattp

Climb: Mt. Buckner-North Face Date of Climb: 7/23/2005 Trip Report: Jim Nelson describes the North Face of Buckner as one of the most aesthetic climbs in the North Cascades. Yet, one shouldn't be fooled by the shortness of the climb - its remote location, proximity to the largest in the North Cascades Boston Glacier and rather questionable return route makes it an attractive objective for extreme adventure seekers. To make the matter worse, one can climb this peak in late July, when it's hot and the whole mountain is out of shape. Three of us, JustinRR, Greg and I left civilization Friday night arriving at the trailhead at foggy midnight. Next morning, awaken by the magnificent, almost gravitational view of Johannesburg slowly drifting out of the clouds, we crawled out of our cocoons, ate quick breakfast and by 9 am hit the trail. Jim Nelson promised an interesting carry-over adventure, so we carried a small rack of rock and ice gear. At the Sahale Glacier, we've met huge crowds of hikers and climbers. We scrambled over the top of Sahale Peak maneuvering between people and dodging falling rocks. Yikes! - In our view, the Sahale Arm and Boston Peak - just another piles of loose unattractive rock and scree. And as Jim Nelson describes it, the traverse around Boston Peak seems very improbable to us. The book also says - don't be cowards - just do it; so we go ahead and scramble up the small tower just below Boston Peak. From the top of it, we can see the broken terrains of Boston Glacier and the Buckner's North Face. We stay on the ridge for a while, enjoying the exposure of unprotected climbing, and avoiding glacier travel. In midst of late afternoon sun, we finally drop on the snow, rope up and quietly continue down the squashy slopes of Boston Glacier. Surprised by the scale of open crevasses – not much smaller than ones on Rainier, ready to swallow a large airplane, we gradually learn that traveling in the straight line is impossible. The crevasse field looked more like sand dunes with steep near vertical walls. At late afternoon, we arrive at the base of the North Face, and chop a platform for our bivy bags in the middle of the flat snowfield. We sleep until 2 am under clear starry sky, and are ready to climb by 3am. From the base of the climb, the North Face looks pretty broken-down and out of shape. Although we can't see the North Face couloir, we think this line of ascent is more feasible. The only visible obstacle is the huge bergschrund at the base of the climb. We might be able to gain its steep snow ramp via the 50 feet of apparently easy rock left of the bergschrund. Getting to the base of bergschrund was interesting and entertaining. We run belays through the jumble of bulges and irregular snow bridges, cross some water-filled crevasses and finally arrive at the base of the bergschrund. The rock doesn't look easy anymore. Greg takes the lead climbing in crampons with very little protection. Finally, he faces vertical smooth rock. Continuing is out of questions. Somewhat disappointed, we decide to abandon this route and try the North Face. Fortunately, we already gained some altitude and can simply traverse right onto the snow ramp of North Face. The trick is to bypass the badly crevassed lower section of the face, which we do by soloing around and over the small snowfield to the left of the main climb. We experience some easy mixed climbing. Few hundred feet into the climb, as we traversed right and met the North face, the slope angle increases and we begin running belays. The snow conditions are good - mainly hard snow and water ice, some covered with volcanic sand. Most of the climb required fairly shallow frontpointing. The climb isn't very long and technically not difficult, and we do it at the enjoyable pace. We arrive at the summit in 3 hours being greeted by fierce winds and whiteout. Through the drifting clouds, we can barely see the sketchy perspective of the South Face, our descent route. The South Face composed of the hard snow makes our ankles scream. Eventually, we arrive to the base of the snow and step on the scree field, which seemed to continue for miles. This agonizing cross-country run through the Horseshoe desert eventually led to the narrow steep couloir composes mainly of loose rock and dirt, and as we hope is out last obstacle on the way to Sahale arm. Scrambling up this narrow gully wasn't fun and, in my own perspective, felt deadly. At the top of the couloir, we realize that the fight is not over yet. Intuitively, we follow the faint "trail" up the cliff to the right of the couloir and eventually begin climbing. We pushed our way through the shaky class 4 rock arriving at the summit of something. From there, it is only a short steep walk to the base of Sahale glacier. We happily realize that we have only 6 downhill miles to go and our blistered feet and sprained ankles aren't real troubles after all. After 16 hours of nonstop ass kicking we arrive at the parking lot feeling lucky. It seems, flies feel the same way, discovering three ready-to-eat human sandwiches. Aftermath. The backcountry traveling part of the trip was serious, but as all three of us agreed, Buckner is un-proportionally less serious alpine objective. We are happy that we pulled it out though. Gear Notes: 60 m rope 4 ice screws 3 pickets extra-slings cord small rock-climbing rack 2 pitons 2 ice tools Approach Notes: Sahale Sahale Arm Boston Peak Boston Glacier Buckner NF Buckner SF Horseshoe Basin Death Col Class 4 hiking trail Shale Glacier

I know, I am an old man Anybody knows how to deal with the upper body strength plato? Start eating protein shakes, cut cardio , double your time in gym?

I climbed HB last July. It was all ice. Substantial rockfall. Make sure you do an early start!

technically, you are right!!!

Just a thought. Emmons is a huge glacier. Why do all these people climb in a single file, anyway? There are 20,000 potential ascent lines on the glacier. I think people there simply like to hang on to each other for safety. Ant effect!

Glad you made it alive, Eric! People's saying, the North Western climbers are made of steal is true. Congratulations!!!

Good spirit, Sweatinoutliquor! From the look on people's faces, we all looked pretty trashy the last few miles. I tried to make a conversation with a group of hot chicks taking a sunbath just at the mile 39 or so, but my throat was so dry and the English-speaking half of my glucose-deficient brain was so shadowed, I produced some sort of high pitch whispers. I sure couldn’t impress them as an ultra-running Rambo.

Hey fellas, need your advice. Want to try something a bit longer than around Hood. Not quite ready for one push Wonderland run. About a year ago, I was on the around Adams trail. VolcanoRunning describes this trail as difficult and dangerous. Do you agree and why?

6 hours is 9-10 min pace! Sounds like the elite ultrarunner pace. 20 miles of uphill running... The speed record for the Western State 100 race is something like 19 hrs - it is 11 min per mile. To pull it out, one needs aid stations every 5 miles or so and no weight on your shoulders.

1) Selected Alpine Climbs in Canadian Rockies BY Sean Dougherty 2) www.summitpost.com

Talk to JustinRR - I recall he did something like this.