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armin

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    Alaskan hut ski trip with drugs at the end

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Hi all, I am trying to find a trip report that was talked about here a while back. A bunch of guys stayed at a remote hut in Alaska for a week or two, and when their trip was about to end without an incident, they decided to try all the drugs they brought on themselves. I seem to remember that the TR was posted in several batches and possibly not on this site. Could you please help me find it? Thanks!

    Tatoosh advice please

    in Mount Rainier NP

    Posted

    We were up there last Saturday. Park at Narada Falls lot and take the summer trail that starts right after the loo (branches of to the left). The trail should still have a bunch of ski tracks up to the road. Once on the road, follow it to Reflection lake and branch off the the right (into the woods). Again, tracks should be visible. You are right under the Pinnacle and the Castle now. We took part of the summer trail and traversed east a bit to get to the col east of the Castle. The skiing was good, I don't know about the climbing though.

     

    a

    Crazy Permit Fines

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    ...

     

    But since you're venting, here's a story someone shared with me:

     

    I was going to bed the other night when my wife told me that I had left the light on in the shed. She could see from the bedroom window. As I looked for myself, I saw that there were people in the shed taking things.

     

    I phoned the police, and they told me that no one was in the area to help at this time, but they would send someone over as soon as they were available.

     

    I said "OK," hung up, and waited one minute, then phoned the police back. "Hello. I just called you a minute ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now 'cause I've shot them." Within five minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, an Armed Response unit, the works. Of course, they caught the burglars red-handed. One of the officers said: "I thought you said that you shot them!" I replied, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

     

    Now this made me laugh. Well done.

    [TR] Early Morning Spire - Southwest Face 8/31/200

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    Trip: Early Morning Spire - Southwest Face

     

    Date: 8/31/2007

     

    Trip Report:

    Claire and I climbed the Southwest face of Early Morning Spire on Friday, August 31st.

     

    We hiked in on Thursday in beautiful weather via the Eldorado/Rush creek approach. Glacier travel is still easy, although crevasses are opening up quickly. It took us around 6 hours with a leisurely walking pace to reach the col between the McAllister Glacier and Marble Cirque. There are two notches to pass into Marble Cirque. The one to climber's left is better and brings you to the only campsite there is (up to the right a bit). We even found running water on a rock below a snowpatch. Friday morning found us dropping down the glacial remnant of Marble cirque and after skirting around the rock buttress we arrived at the snow-patch leading up the Early Morning Spire. 2.5 hours after we started from camp we arrived at the start of the route and after a bit of discussing the weather, we started climbing at around 10.30am. We took are more direct start than the original route since the moat made it difficult to get to the first pitch of the original route. The climbing itself is very good and pretty straightforward. On the last pitch before the 4th class ledge I wandered off the the left a bit and and we had to down-climb a little in order to get into position for the last two pitches on the face proper. Meanwhile, clouds came up from the valley and we had to stop at times to see were the route was. Two short pitches brought us up to the south ridge and two simulclimb leads later we were on the summit, 5.5 hours after we started climbing. Contrary to what was stated in a previous trip report, we found the blocky climbing up the ridge very enjoyable and not loose at all. About halfway up the ridge the sometimes heavy wind we had enjoyed while climbing the southwest face was joined by rain and soon it was getting quite chilly. The ensuing urgency and the whiteout conditions on the summit might have contributed to the fact that we down-climbed the wrong side, dropping down east instead of north. We got into steeper and steeper terrain on the east side of the mountain and when we found nowhere else to down-climb and a rappel sling, we knew we were in trouble. At that point we were soaking wet and getting really cold. We eventually chose to rappel a gully rather than climbing up the wet ledges again and luckily, after three, at parts overhanging single rope rappels we hit the moat from which we could get on the glacial remnant and walk down to where we left our poles. With no visibility it took a bit of trial and error to find the right path up to camp, which we reached just as it got dark. We were happy to have a warm meal plus tea and quickly went to bed. The next morning, when Claire received a text message from her sister in Berlin, saying that she had just gotten up and was heading out for breakfast, we wondered whether we should have chosen a more sedetary lifestyle. But the fog from last night surrounding our tent was gone and we were greeted by clear skies. With our boots frozen solid, we abandoned our plan for Saturday to climb Dorado Needle and hiked in polypro underpants across two glaciers to reach the rocks below Eldorado's East ridge, where we dried our belongings and chilled in the sun for two hours. The views were fantastic and we had the whole area for ourselves, until two big groups came by, planning to do the "ice route" on Eldorado. At 11am we decided it was time to head down and our uneventful descent was only interrupted by a marmot and a nice chat with Michelle and Joe, who were on their way to climb Eldorado's West Arête the next day.

     

    Altogether it was a great experience with good climbing, although a bit more adventurous than we wanted it too be.

     

    Lessons learned:

     

    1. If you think the weather is going to be bad, don't let your girlfriend convince you otherwise.

    2. Compasses can always come in handy.

    3. You can receive text messages on the col between McAllister Glacier and Marble Cirque.

     

    Inspiration glacier

    ems_1.jpg

     

    Eldorado Northeast face

    ems_2.jpg

     

    Torment-Forbidden with Sahale in the background

    ems_3.jpg

     

    Dorado Needle

    ems_4.jpg

     

    Evening

    ems_5.jpg

     

    On the approach to EMS

    ems_6.jpg

     

    The climb

    ems_7.jpg

     

    First pitch

    ems_8.jpg

     

    Another pitch

    ems_9.jpg

     

    After the roof

    ems_10.jpg

     

    Before the traverse pitch. Clouds coming in.

    ems_11.jpg

     

    Claire close to summit. Follow the rope.

    ems_12.jpg

     

    Back down and happy.

    ems_13.jpg

     

    Next morning

    ems_14.jpg

     

    ems_15.jpg

     

    ems_17.jpg

     

    Glacier peak

    ems_16.jpg

     

    Drying up

    ems_18.jpg

     

    Eldorado glacier

    ems_19.jpg

     

    Green

    ems_20.jpg

     

    Gear Notes:

    Ice ax, crampons and medium rack to 3 inches.

     

    Approach Notes:

    Eldorado/Rush creek approach, then over Inspiration and McAllister glacier to the col between the McAllister Glacier and Marble Cirque. Bivi sites and one campsite are found in the left notch of the col.

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