wbk

Does anyone know anyway to get info on the snowpack in the Waddington range? I've talked to Mike King at White Saddle Heli and his quick observations are of an average snowpack this season but does anyone know of other ways to possibly check this? Thanks

nice work boys! you have no idea how tempted i was when i was driving back from fairy meadows/golden bc and read your email via Tim Hortons wifi in kamloops to just bag going home and find y'all! nice work and great shots!

SOLD

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/spo/3760296387.html Brand new, never used Edelrid Creed harness. Bought online and can't return - too big for me. Need a size small. A lightweight alpine harness with adjustable leg loops and laminated construction. Laminated construction ensures perfect load and pressure distribution with a minimal pack size Easy Glider buckle at the waist for a secure and comfortable fit User-friendly E-Turn System for safety and comfort Abrasion protector at tie-in point for prolonged durability Adjustable leg loops with elastic mesh inserts for optimal fit and flexibility 4 asymmetric fixed gear loops for perfect organisation and 2 attachment options for ice screws clips 380 g - this harness is light! http://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/products/harnesses/creed.html

SOLD

Orange and just never used it. $35 Will ship if you're not in Seattle.

Just did this route in August and was impressed at how sustained it is! Nice work you two. That crux pitch is something else! The chimney on the summit ridge is not to missed... it's a horizontal chimney for 80 feet? which then takes a 90 degree turn and bombeys up. Simply awesome and not a gimme! Adds more to the climb for sure! Where are you off to next Mark? I'm in Boulder right now (benkunz here).

I heart mountainmatt! Thanks for the TR!!

Trip: La Esfinge and Artesonraju - Date: 7/16/2012 Trip Report: My wife and I spent a bunch of time teaching, living and climbing in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Here's a link to our last blog entry from our time there. I'd encourage anyone interested in more than just the climbing down there to read the entire entry – others interested in just our climbs on La Esfinge and Artesonraju, scroll down the bottom of the blog. http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/benandlindsey/2/1342626587/tpod.html Some teaser photos... La Esfinge La Esfinge Artesonraju Beautiful Artesonraju

Trip: Liberty Bell - Liberty Crack Date: 7/28/2012 Trip Report: Finally got around to getting on Liberty Crack. What a great route and with a great partner! I met Evan at Outward Bound in Mazama and since then we've been on trips together for work but never actually been out to climb together at WA pass (besides a little cragging at Fun Rock). Evan has some aid experience but was really keen to lead two main aid pitches... and what a great job he did. The rest of the route went smoothly and we made pretty good time overall - about 10 hours on route which we were pretty happy with. Note that one of the bashies on p3 will go pretty soon though. I think high stepping really high or a cam hook would get you passed this bit but perhaps worth knowing. I really have to say that I was really impressed with this route. It had more thoughtful climbing than I frankly expected and I was delighted that it keeps up more or less to the end! If you're thinking about doing this route, I highly recommend it. Sure is beautiful up there. Evan styling it p3 for all of y'all that know me out there thanks for a great day out evan! Gear Notes: Plenty of info and opinions on mtn project. In terms of offset nuts, one set was plenty for us but the smaller offset nuts came in useful for sure. Approach Notes: Snow is hard at the bottom in the morning. No axe, one set of aluminum crampons for the leader who can then fix the rope for the second to just pull up to the rock worked really well for us. Climbing with one pair of aluminum crampons is almost as light as an axe and certainly less akward.

Jimmy Page does have a house there! Didn´t find it or him though but the locs certainly mentioned it often!

Trip: Serra do Cipo – Brazil’s premier sport climbing - Date: 4/24/2012 Trip Report: After Chapada Diamantina, we headed to Serra where we made friends, got stronger and sent and failed on plenty of sweet climbs! Sierra do Cipo blog entry Tasters:

Trip: Chapada Diamantina, Brazil - Date: 4/15/2012 Trip Report: This is well overdue but here is a link to our blog on climbing in Chapada Diamantina, the diamond plateau, in central Bahia, Brasil. Chapada Diamantina Travelpod A few teaser shots:

My wife and I are working near Huaraz until late July and with a flexible schedule are getting out in the mtns. We are living above Huaraz and getting out often for hikes when time doesn't permit otherwise so we're pretty acclimatized. Looking for partners for both of us: - partners for me to climb more technical objectives - partners for my wife to do less technical objectives - partners to join both us for bigger but not so technical objectives where groups of 3-4 are much safer on heavily crevassed terrain (eg. Huascaran Sur, Copi, Copa, Chinchey!, etc.) Stoked for anybody coming down to get in touch, even if we don't end up climbing together - I've got great beta on food and beers in Huaraz!

PM sent

I met David in 2005. We were both taking the Advanced Mountaineering course in the Tantalus Range - just three of us and the instructor, Dave. He and I were partnered up for our ascent of Tantalus. David already had great skills on the rock and he took the technical rock pitch which I found particularly challenging in my plastics! David and I were in touch and met up all over the globe, most of the time by accident, other times on purpose. David's skill on the rock was insane and he was a rock climbing role model for me! But the more I got to know Dave, the more his personality shined. Almost everywhere I travelled, I got beta from David. I'd stay where he suggested; I'd meet the people he knew and had met; I'd climb the climbs he suggested (if I could climb the grade!). The shining, positive affect he left on these folks and places was prodigious; he and Obi were quite the pair! In Peru now, I expected to meet up with David this round of travel and it pains me to think otherwise. You are missed my friend. Ben Kunz

@ kurt- i have the couloir harness from bd and it was doubled back... just looks like it isn't. as a matter of fact it was hard to undo the double back later when i took it off. @ dan - definitely different conditions. it's funny that i've only climbing baring, gunn and merchant in winter and i would only consider any of these peaks when the avi conditions are super low, but these past two winters have brought some long periods without new snow and cold temps...

Left car at 8, saddle at 12:30 I think, notch at gun at 1:30-1:45, summit 2:35, car at 5:30. The descent was such a whirlwind of face in down racing that my calves hurt for awhile after that!

Great stuff Jason et al! Friggin love the Bow Valley, Canmore and all that stuff. Can't wait to get up there!

Trip: Gunn Peak Winter Ascent - South Gulleys to North ledges traverse Date: 1/12/2012 Trip Report: David and I hit up the end of this last stable snow period with a go at Gunn Peak in the Wild Sky Wilderness. This is one of the peaks in the coveted Jeff Smooth guidebook-Washington’s elite climbing guidebook. Looking up to peak 58xx Dave putting on crampons River crossing was pretty easy with the mandatory au cheval to avoid slipping on icy logs but water was low so it was easy. Steep hike through forest was straight forward and views of other peaks were great, particularly north face of Baring! Index! We stayed tight in the gully to point 58xx next to its big steep/overhanging East Wall and had some fun up the mixed ledges. That fun excursion left us cliffed out above the gulley proper we needed to be in so a quick rap fixed that situation. The big east wall! Would be cool is this rock actually sported some cracks!! Mixed ledges At the top of the aforementioned gully. Cool little rock feature More slogging got us up to the saddle between peaks 58xx and 57xx which finally gave us our view of Gunn summit feature. At the saddle Looking up at the impressive Gunn South Face – pretty sure this is one of the features you can see way up valley when you’re cragging at Index? We found the 3rd class gulley used for the summer route which we roped up for though without ice screws meant no pro anyway, but at least the second got a belay. Looking down the quick lead. Had to put on the snowshoes to get up the notch due to some deep snow. The real fun started on the summit traverse from the notch. Steep (60+ degree) snow wallowing with little pro with some big exposure down the north face! Dave got the traverse out to a tree. We set up a fixed line and then I led up on second 30m half rope to the summit ridge proper on this unconsolidated, unprotectable mess was a bit hair-raising but the fun of dumping continuous streams of snow and ice onto Dave at the tree belay pretty much made it worthwhile! He’s a good sport though, and tough at that! Heading up to the notch in the summit ridge Looking down towards the traverse which is frankly pretty hard to see in this photo. The fixed line is down there. Mid winter summit stoke A little sunset action on the way down

Great TR Jason! Great day out and stellar photos as per usual. Missed Richard up there for sure!

Looking to trade movies as I've seen mine too many times: - King Lines - First Ascent series (three dvds) - Pilgrimage

Awesome! Looks like a stellar outing!

Trip: Dolomites - Various Date: 9/10/2011 Trip Report: My wife and I spent our 3 week honeymoon in NE Italy – most of it focused on exploring and climbing in the Dolomites. We rented a small car and climbed during the good weather spells in the mountains and when the weather deteriorated, we hung out and cragged in and around Arco – the Italian town made famous by the Rockmasters Climbing Comp held there every summer. Our mighty 1.2L mountain ride There’s no choss in the Dolomites Apparently September holds the most stable mountain weather conditions and this Sept was spectacular. Besides two short storms, we could have climbed in the mountains every day if we didn’t take rest days and go to Venice! West face (Dulfer) route of Cime Grande di Lavaredo (UIAA V+, one of the Dolomites most iconic peaks) We arrived in a whirlwind set of flights with a short but deteriorating weather window. We starved ourselves on sleep and hitched up to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo area where we climbed the West Face (Dulfer) route on Cime Grande (UIAA grade V+). The steepness of the routes and somewhat looseness of the rock took a little getting used to, but we could tell that we were going to like climbing in the Dolomites. The route tops out on a choss band some 100 meters shy of the summit. We dropped back and gear and solo’d to the summit to save time before clouds totally engulfed the peak. Our fatigue kicked in on the complex descent; we made several routefinding errors due to lack of concentration on the descent which cost us 2-3 hours we figure. Summit of Cime Grande di Lavaredo Huts such as this one (Auronzo hut near the Tre Cime di Lavaredo) make approaches easy and comfortable! Almost too comfortable if you’re used to the Cascades and other ranges in BC! The weather turned and we headed to Arco where we ate, drank and got schooled on our first introduction to Arco’s polished, steep and sometimes sandbagged routes! I wore my tightest swim trunks at the crags but was still put to shame by the locals touting pink spandex and excessive tattoos! We spent a solid 4 days in the Brenta, based out the Rifigio Agostini! This place rocked and the rock quality of the nearby peaks surpassed all the other climbs in the Dolomites we did. Also the massive face of Cime d’Ambiez (1000+ meter wall), a mere 20 mins (albeit steep) from the rifigio makes for quite the backdrop! We did our first via ferrata which was an absolute blast. You can move so fast on technical terrain cause you don’t have to carry a rope or any gear besides a harness! Awesome! (The only time I’ve moved faster on equally technical terrain is downclimbing the upper Kane Route on Bugaboo Spire. Gotta race all those parties to beat them to the rap stations!!) We took one of the most accessible routes up Cime d’Ambiez – the 10b? Fox/Stenico route. Hell of a route is all I can say! We met Al and Sarah? in rifugio Agostini; Al Burgess is a famous Himalayan mountaineer whom many of you will know of. He and his twin Adrian are a classic climbing duo who are known as much for their crazy antics as feats at high elevation. We took some time for a romantic visit to Venice. Though Venice is beautiful, the food is good and it’s rich in history, it pales in comparison to the Dolomites (IMHO ). We were more than ready to get out of there after two days and return to the spender of the Dolomites! We head from Venice straight to Sella Pass where we linked the three Sella Towers and climbed one of the easier but steep lines on Piz Ciavazes. Summit of first Sella tower The huge wall of Piz Ciavazes A view over from Sellajoch to (L->R) Grohmannspitze, Fünffingerspitze, and the massive Langkofel Then we got hit with a huge storm and some low freezing levels (it snowed as low as 2500ft) The Sellajoch now covered in snow! Classic Dolomites town – Vigo di Fassa We finished off with some shorter but super fun routes in the Cinque Torri area The proud Tofana di Rozes across from Cinque Torri Lindsey stemming up the Miriam route on Cinque Torre Grande A view from the top of Langzuoi

I just searched for this at SPL - no luck. turns out that King County Library has it though so hopefully I can get an account there and grab it!