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that after-work stuff is top notch!

J., nice job on the Finger Of Fate! Looking forward to trying it.

Climb: Inspiration Peak-East Ridge Date of Climb: 7/2/2006 Trip Report: My wife and I climbed Inspiration Peak via E. Ridge over the 4th Weekend. This was our 2nd alpine outing since last year and so we were suffering on the approach. Started the hike in on Saturday following a rich breakfast in Marblemount. The initial ~4 miles that shadow Goodell Cr. make for a pleasant warm-up - nice trail and nice grade. After that, the business started. No water available bet. last stream crossing on the Godell Tr. and the ~5000' bench (big waterfall there – my elevations might be off). We were both suffering. Chatting with two other guys from Seattle who were headed up for W. McMillan made for a nice diversion. By the time we reached the Nelson and Potterfield endorsed camp area, it was close to 8pm. We were slow. As we were racking up for the next day, 4 guys passed by and we bs-ed a bit. They were headed for the W. Ridge of Inspiration. Woke up at 5am on Sunday and were hiking & losing elevation by 5:30am. Not exactly an alpine start but we figured we’ll catch up once on the ridge (not quite). We were about 15 minutes behind the 4 guys headed for W. Ridge. Down and then back up we went. Glacier crossing was fairly trivial – nicely covered up and no huge moat near the start of East Ridge. We started up the rock at (probably) about 10 am. 3 or 4 pitches to reach the notch (bet. Inspiration and the closest tower) is probably right on. We simuled the first 400 feet or so and then pitched out for the next two rope lengths. Probably was off-route (though I saw a fixed nut – only piece of fixed gear on the route) on this final pitch as the terrain got kinda hard (5.8+ ?) and really loose. At one point I nearly pitched off as I grabbed a hold and a 2X3 foot block came out of the rock face. Gently set it in a crack away from the rope. Once on the ridge, the nature of the rock changed: abundant cracks and mostly solid stuff. 5.8 lieback was next which was harder than I thought it should be – I’m blaming it on my pack. Our choice of backpacks was one stupid mistake (of many) we did on this climb. Planning on a 4-day itinerary, we both brought pretty large packs with large internal frames. In short, with helmets on we really could not turn our heads to look up. Stupid. The 5.8 pitch brought us to the base of the STELLAR looking hand crack - #2 to #3 Camalots mostly (some thinner stuff higher). I led off but once near the top could not decide where to go – left or right? Ended up tension traversing (weak and tired) to the right crack and up to the notch. Couple short and easy pitches brought us to the west side of the false summit. Next came the best part of the day: the low 5th traverse from false to true summit which itself is an incredible sight with its overhanging south face. About 8 to 10 pitches in all if you don’t do any simulclimbing. It was about 4 pm when we started down the west ridge – yeah, slow. The initial 3 or 4 raps went smoothly. Nice established rap stations. At this point, a snow gully appeared on the north side of the west ridge. The fixed anchors seem to run out (people drop down the south face at this point?). We wasted time scrambling around looking for the best way down. Finally spotted an old nest of slings. Two more raps and I could see that the next rap (plentiful slings visible from above) would bring us to the glacier. Happily rapped to it (~58 meters) only to find that the slings were total shit – I tore two of them with my hands. The downside of the situation was that the slings were slung around a 15-foot block. Out went the final cordallette but the set up looked flimsy and after searching around for alternatives, I made an expensive choice to back up the final rap station (merry Xmas to the next party through there). We switched to boots and crampons and rapped 60 meters onto a snow tongue protruding out of Terror Glacier into a gully. I found a decent landing zone on a tiny rock stance inside the moat. My wife came down and ducked as much as possible inside the moat. The ropes dropped smoothly until one end caught some blocks dislodging them. The last thing I saw was a 2X2 chunk of rock flying towards me 20 feet above as I was trying to squeeze deeper into the moat. The block bounced off the rock face above my head and harmlessly hit the snow. It was 7pm when we started down the glacier. Some route finding issues low on the snowfield were finally resolved and we made it back to camp in darkness (11pm??). Hiked out the next morning. Three days of perfect weather and probably the most memorable climb to date. Gear Notes: Crux crack takes #2 and #3 Camalots - doubles in these are nice. Standard rack otherwise. May need to build/supplement rap anchors.

The earliest I've been up there was 4th of July in 04 (Mounties Route). Might want to give Finger Of Fate a shot (need high clearance to get in or you'll need to do some painful additional 5mile approaching) - at most you'll waste a day and you'll have a good feel for conditions in the range. If you go to www.idahosummits.com, the guy has links to various webcams in ID including one in Stanley pointed at the SAwtooths. John's posted a ton of topos for SAwtooths here and there's more beta on summitpost: http://www.summitpost.org/area/range/171128/sawtooth-range.html Not sure about Big Sandy TH. IF you get in, E. Ridge of Wolfshead really is a classic climb. Much of it is 4th class but still memorable. NE Face of Pingora felt kinda overhyped in my opinion but worth doing once you get in there. The guidebook topo was a bit off (shoot me pm if interested, I'll give you more details). NE Face of Warbonnet (5.7, though it looks good from below) was a chossy adventure climb. Feather Traverse (5.10) looks better though. DT will be scorching hot but probably OK if you stick to the shade. Some classic lines (incl. El Matador) are closed I think till July??

Wind Rivers, WY. Cirque of Towers is one popular destination (high concentration of good lines incl. two [easy] North American Classic lines). Devils Tower, WY. So much of it & so close together. Sawtooths, ID. Elephants Perch formation has many good lines and is easy to access. Much backcountry rock too.

I think Lopez book mentions that one of the Rakers (north? south??) requires aid to top out but (of course) no addnl. info. is given.

This one? http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/153359/harrison-peak.html SW Ridge looks like 5.0

John, you probably saw this before but this page's got some good shots of opening crux (sorry - I have no first hand beta): http://www.mountainproject.com/v/idaho/city_of_rocks/morning_glory_spire/105741584

Also, having a lameass job like mine don't hurt either.

Surf climbing websites for inspiration.

Got some long range photos of your party if you want them.

Personal Websites: http://www.gdargaud.net/ http://www.piquaclimber.com/ http://www.wwwright.com/climbing/ http://www.ericandlucie.com/

All the routes mentioned above are great. Also, take a look at these Red Wall Stuff: Peking (1st pitch splitter, 5.8), Super Slab (5.6), Moscow (5.7). Main Area Stuff: New Testament (5.10a crack), Toys in the Attic (5.9 - I think it's a FUN route). Monkey - do the Pioneer Route (best via West Face Variation - nice multipitch). Mesa Verde (west side - coooooold): Trezlar (10a; do Cosmos for P1).

Koala Rock --> Thin Air but you can replace the first trad (5.8) pitch with a bolted 5.9 to the right (Suck My Kiss??). Upper 2 pitches are all well bolted. Red book says 10a but they felt easier.

Not sure how much free time you'll actually have, but if you got a full day Moab is only 4 hrs away. Better chance of dry weather and a lot warmer than SLC. Might find a partner at www.climbingmoab.com on short notice.

Great area with great climbing. Some misc. websites with bits and pieces on the Stronghold climbing: http://homepage.mac.com/forest/PhotoAlbum75.html http://www.eskimo.com/~marklan/stories/Cochise.html http://www.summsoft.com/people/jim/Thumbs%20Area%20-%20Dragoon%20Mountains.htm http://www.tucsonclimbers.org/ http://www.summitpost.org/show/mountain_link.pl/mountain_id/4153 Guidebook: Backcountry Rockclimbing in Southern Arizona by Bob Kerry I might be wrong, but I think some crags might be seasonally closed for nesting (Jan-spring)????

Glanced thru. Vol 1 & 3 last night at rei. Books look awsome! Will send you a pm when I mail out the check Jim. Thanks!

Lost Arrow Tip (5.7 C1+ or something like that).

Climb: Smith-Trezlar & Tale of Two Shitties Date of Climb: 9/10/2005 Trip Report: With the crappy weather forecast for the Cascades for last weekend (and Sawtooths and Nor. Cal. and pretty much all directions we could think of), my wife and I headed to Smith for a day cragging. Wanted to try two lines on Mesa Verde Wall: Trezlar (a 4-star dihedral) and Tale Of Two Shitties (a 3-star 3-pitch route just next door). The weather was a bit shakey with drizzle dropping clouds rolling thru. Started off with Trezlar. The original 1st pitch is not great - it's 5.7 but the rock is a little bit chossy (not that bad) and the pro is not inspiring. Cosmos (a 10a sport climb just right of the original start provides a better option IMHO). Pitch 2 however was stellar! 80+ feet of clean and beautiful dihedral climbing! 2/3rds of the way up there is a hollow-sounding block on the right that could make for a very bad day should it ever come loose. Dihedral starts with a great hand crack and when the crack narrows down to fingers, plenty of nubbins appear for the feet (quite reasonable at 10a). We rapped off the bolted anchor on top with two 60 meter ropes (probably a 160+ foot rappel). Decided to try Tale of Two Shitties next door as the sky showed some blue for a moment. The first pitch (5.7) crosses some shakey (nothing bad though) rock just before you reach the base of the dihedral of pitch 2. An uncomfortable gear belay follows. Pitch two is great! It starts with a 5.8-ish dihedral (nice hands) which gets progressively thinner/harder higher up. The crux is a short, right trending crack through a bulge (10a) near top of pitch. Bolt belay on a good ledge follows. The last pitch starts with a balancy .9 face in a small dihedral and climbs past two bolts. There's some terrain above the 2nd bolt but the going gets progressively easier. Bolt bleay atop a huge ledge follows. As my wife was topping out on the pitch, full-on rain started. One single rope (back to top of P2) and one double rope raps brought us down. On Sunday, we wanted to squeeze in one more route before heading home. Wanted to try Paper Tiger (10a) on the Red Wall. Got kind of spooked when I pulled off a chunk of rock low on pitch one and backed off. In retrospect, the rock thru. the difficult sections looks OK from below. Will try it again next time. Gear Notes: Cams up to #3 Camalot (optional #3.5 for a pocket on pitch 1) + nuts (small to med.) for Trezlar. More of the same for Tale. Approach Notes:

Jim, we did not get hit with anything directly but systems were moving thru. the area few miles away all afternoon/evening.

thanks. corrected it.

Climb: Pingora-Northeast Face (IV 5.8) Date of Climb: 9/7/2005 Trip Report: With the PNW weather looking iffy for Labor Day weekend, my wife and I decided to make a drive out to the Wind Rivers. Spend 4 days there last summer but did not get a chance to do this NA classic route then (did E. Ridge on Wolfs Head and NE Face on Warbonnet). Got out of Portland 4pm Friday after work. Got to trailhead Saturday at noon. Got to Cirque of Towers at 4pm. Got up at 8am Sunday and climbed NE Face on Pingora. Got up 7am Monday. Got to trailhead at noon. Got to Portland 13 hrs later ~2am. Got to work 9am Tuesday. Nice climb. Busy (2 other parties). E. Ridge on Wolfs Head (other NA classic in the Cirque) was easier but more fun IMHO. Someone posted a very good topo on summitpost (what we used); Kelsey's topo (Wind Rivers guidebook) is off as it'll send you on a rightward off route traverse midway up the face. Couple of shots: Gear Notes: Set of nuts. Double set cams from green Alien to #2 Camalot. Single #3 and #3.5 Camalot. Optional one larger cam (#4 C4 or #5 Friend). Be ready for pm thunderstorms. Approach Notes: Approach is from Big Sandy TH (closest town is Pinedale, WY about 45 minutes of bone rattling driving away). It's about 8 miles each way into the Cirque and takes 4 hours at decent (but not terribly fast) pace. First 6 miles are flat (and boring).

Migth try posting this on summitpost's CA board. Probably heavier Cali traffic there?

retired - I'm sorry to hear that you lost your camera. Unfortunately we did not see it. Hopefully you did not lose ALL the good climbing shots?

Thanks Ireneo. It's a beautiful area - hard to take a bad shot out there retired - we were sorry that we did not get a chance to talk to you directly (it would've been a priviledge for us!). We got a chance to chat with the guys that were with you. Helluva nice crowd!! Greatly appreciate the Astro beta they gave us (hoping to work up the nerve for it by next summer). mvs, yahoo puts it a 15 min shy of 10 hrs. I90 to I82 to I84 to ID 21 just east of Boise. The town you're aiming for is Stanley, ID. The time it quotes from PDX is pretty accurate.