John_Scurlock

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/sports/othersports/16beckey.html?_r=1

outstanding - you understate an true epic. homage paid to dberdinka & JR who sent me over there way back when, as well as to the other well-known badasses who have sieged that face. I know JR is fond of that N ridge but the face to me is the real deal on that mt. I have looked very closely at that top part, your blue/green, & wondered about the difficulties there, since that seems to be the most indistinct part of your line. definitely, above your blue, I wondered what the hell would happen next.

Not the NCs, but here's a good example of what you speak of: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/106185823 - from Sept 28, on a (possibly) unnamed ridge N of the Lyell/Alexandra region in the CDN rockies...

Agree, I have never seen an avalanche on Roman Wall, winter or summer. But since I got those pics from Austin, the thought crosses my mind from time to time, especially on those spring/summer days when I have been around there early and seen a line of folks headed up that route. Ya do kinda wonder what was going on weather-wise just prior to the '39 accident. Also, yes, I'd be surprised to see anything big above that line on Park. Even in the thick of winter, you can usually see some of the ice there, indicating the low accumulation/retention at that steep angle. Bear in mind I'm no avy expert, just an interested observer. But I've been lucky to see a lot of them, believe me.

On July 22, 1939, six WWU students were killed in a large avalanche on the Roman Wall. Here is a gallery of images from that event, that I have had up on my website for some time. It has been hidden from the public, I've changed that this afternoon so it is now visible: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/bkr1939avy - click on the individual thumbnails to see the full images. 'Original' will show the largest uploaded size. These photographs were given to me by Austin Post. He is not sure who the photographer is on the historical shots; I gave the images over to Lowell, and he put them into the Mountaineer's archives, where they now reside. There is one image of mine which shows the approximate slide path. There are also several images of the memorial cairn on the campus of WWU, just to the north of Old Main. It is a very interesting spot, and I recommend visiting it if you are in the area. Regarding the Park Headwall, I would think it is among the most dangerous slopes on Baker, based on what I have seen there: http://www.pbase.com/image/42292868 and the next image, http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/42292869 - this gigantic fracture line was estimated to be at least a quarter mile in length, and the slide traveled, in my estimate, about a mile downslope. This fracture was visible when I was about seven miles east of Baker, and that is one of the reasons I went over there on that particular day. Clearly, the huge snow accumulations on Baker give potential for rather large depth of fracture. The other rather risky area on Baker, in my opinion, is on the Boulder Glacier below the upper EF of Sherman Peak, where the large (& typically summer) lahar/avalanche/debris flow events occur every five to fifteen years, the frequency being not well known.

I have often reflected on the crossing of literally hundreds of km's of incredible alpine terrain to get to something that actually had a name... & also the realization (going into Bella Coola & looking out to the NW) that there was still another thousand km farther yet...

a nod to Grenville, for much of the same as Silverthrone, tho not volcanic of course.. agree, a seemingly limitless number of possibilities come to mind, particularly when qualified as from a certain position or in a particular setting; Bell, Saugstad, Mist, Queen Bess to name a very few... & most of what has been mentioned covers only the southern CMs & also most of these assume a particularly splendid character when seen in winter..

Wonderful trip report... we are in that never-never land of 'not summer but not winter' weather, where there isn't the huge snow just yet, but the wind doesn't know it... I'm amazed to read the description of the ground conditions, while pondering the very interesting & potentially hyper-exciting flight/turbulence conditions downwind of the mtn...

great tr! dberdinka and/or blake should have some insight on the climbing hx of that face. It is discussed in this thread.

actually he wasn't telling me, I just happened to be nearby and heard him say it...!!

you gents are too kind! let's not forget it is you & others on this board making me look good... looks like I'm doing a slide show at Bham REI on Nov. 12 at 6 pm, just talked to Pat over there about it today. they'll probably make some announcement. Hopefully a bit of a PC will happen afterwards..

ck yer pm's, HS

A perspective view, from the morning of the 16th: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/103532850 none of these photographs come close to capturing the scale of things here. It is a rather remarkable experience to come across the Redoubt/Perry divide & catch the first glimpse of it.

I saw the trickster briefly, about a month ago, at the Twisp River Pub. Doesn't sound like he's been climbing much, for various reasons, building his house one of the main things. If you get to Twisp, be sure to stop in at the TRP & rattle his cage a bit. I did mention to him that he's had a bit of a revival here... & deservedly so it seems.

f'n unbelievable. Wow, what a tr to wake up to this morning! Great work.

wonderful photographs! I really enjoyed browsing them..

yes, I happened to hear it while driving to work. I thought she showed considerable guts to say what she said.

Also from the evening of Aug. 22, shows a snow-free bit below the notch. No views farther L or lower unfortunately: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/102161982

From the evening of Aug. 22: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/102113102

Tragedy reported tonight in the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008085421_climbers01m0.html

FWIW: Vishnu & Byamee, W sides, clouds mucking things up: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/101012046 and the next five On the other hand, on the W side of Colwell Cr, clouds not so much a factor: Astarte, NF - http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/101012044 And then a bit farther west, Zeus: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/101012061 & http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/101012067 I have a ton of stuff from this trip on hand but just haven't had time to get to it.

Scott, I'm at work tonight, won't be able to get to them until tomorrow around noon when I get home. They are nice shots but probably only useful for assessing approaches from the west. On that day clouds over that group were a real problem & I finally gave up & headed back south. (I had flown up in there over the Siva gl. after finishing with everything to the west, but couldn't pull it off.) I'll post a couple of examples tomorrow.

I have a series of shots of the W & N sides of Vishnu & Bayamee from when I was up there in May for Zeus, etc., & some other stuff. Unfortunately, cloud on the summits was a factor. I have never posted anything from that trip, email me if you think it might be useful.

My previous assertion of Isolation as a separate traverse was incorrect. Apologies to Lowell.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but your 'northern extension' describes at least part of the Inspiration Traverse, more or less. That, however, would typically begin either up the Pyramid Lake trail or (masochistically) up Colonial Creek, crossing the Colonial/Pyramid group to Snowfield/Neve Glacier, etc. The link-up has been done in the past, both on foot and ski. Don & Natala Goodman, for example, even threw the Picket Traverse & points farther north in on top of that. Others in this forum with personal experience with the I T will be more specifically helpful than myself.