wbk

could you post a larger version of that photo on this thread?

i'm also heading down that week and heading out to vine del mar and concon. anyone know if there is a good climbing or bouldering spot around there? thanks!

I'm heading to the North Country for a guided week long ski trip (Feb 11th through Feb 17th) with Wells Gray Wilderness Adventures. Supposedly, the powder in the interior of BC is unparalleled and the terrain is huge. My backcountry experience is mostly limited to day outings in the Snoqualmie Pass area during the winter and then on very stable corn conditions in the spring through the Cascades when avi risk is low to none. So, I’ve joined this trip to get some more experience with a solid guide and get in some sweet turns in a cool area. Looking for another who might be interested in joining me for this trip and to share the drive up to Clearwater, BC. Here are the details: http://www.skihike.com/WINTER.html#THE_WELLS_GRAY_SKI_TRAVERSE (Note, it’s 6% for the GST now, not 7%) Some TRs on the trip: http://classic.mountainzone.com/ski/99/freeride/trophies/ http://telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=22396&highlight=wells+gray+grey+park PM me if you are interested. Thanks, Ben

Got a second copy of the smith rock book. been used, but very lightly. $15 Got a brand new copy of Jeff Smoot's Rock Climbing Washington (Falcon Guide). $15 PM me if you are interested.

I recently spent several weeks in the Cordillera Blanca. It was my first trip to the area and I've been reading and enthusied to go to this range for the last two years. I wasn't disappointed to say the least. I acclimatized for a week, got sick for a little while and then went back out to climb some more peaks. I have two Flickr shows on my acclimatization climb (Pisco Oeste, PD+, 5752m) and then two other easy/moderate climbs (Yanapaccha, PD+/AD-, 5460m and Urus Este, PD, 5420m): http://www.flickr.com/photos/74208816@N00/sets/72157594186341505/show/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/74208816@N00/sets/72157594193446176/show/ Scott McKenzie (UK) then joined me after my Urus climb to attempt Tocllaraju West Face Direct. We took a day rest in the Ishinca base camp and then headed out the next evening. Inshica base camp - some Basque dudes I was hanging out with We wanted to do an alpine style ascent and skip the high camp at 5100 meters and do the climb in one push from base camp. Tocllarju's West Face from Urus Este Another shot of the West Face Shot of the route line We left base campp at 6pm some day in mid July (I lost track of the days) and we moved quickly up the moraine and onto the glacier. At about 5050m ,we boiled up water, which took a hell of long time in the cold and at altitude, and ate like fiends. We took off from this stop at 10:30pm and made our way to the bergschrund which guards the face. We arrived at the face at 1am. It was about 5 days after the full moon, so we were hoping that the moon would be out by the time we got the schrund, but it hadn't. The ramp to the schrund was about 45 degrees and it took us about 45 mins to finally find a way across the schrund and onto the face. No pics for the face due to lack of light... even when the moon came out We simulclimbed the entire 500-600m face which starts at 55 degrees of the schrunds and steepens for the last 150m up to 70-75 degrees! The ice and snow were in great shape and we placed plenty of screws and the odd picket for protection up the face. I can't really begin to describe the feelings and experience I had while climbing that face, but I'll try! I had the first 'lead' after crossing the schrund. At first, climbing the face seemed really steep and focus was everything. It took a little time for Scott and me to get a rhythm going, but when we did, we moved well. This thought kept going through my mind: "This is it! This is the climb I've been waiting for and testing myself for. And here I am, leading up the first bit of the face. And this ice is friggin sweet. Turn and look at the views Ben (you could make out Ranrapalca in the distance, etc.). Shit... focus man. Put in a screw..." I was really stoked. It seems like my senses were super acute as well. I kept listening to my tools... "Oh, there's a good placement... squeek, squeek of the axe. and focusing on my crampons... "You don't have the best crampons in the world for this Ben, so focus." As we started to make good progress on the face, significant comfort set in and we moved quietly and silently for a few hundred feet. The moon appeared above us and the ice runnels were highlighted and outlined in the eerie light. The terrain felt not so steep anymore. Then the temperature dropped significantly. (It was around 2:30am I think this happened.) Scott checked his altimeter, which was strapped to his bag to get an accurate temperature reading. I believe it was -17C or some shit! Even if that was off, it was friggin cold!! Fatigue started to get at us and movement started to slow down. Altimeter readings were telling us we were at 5350 meters (almost 700 meters left). I was sure the readings were off, but it didn't help the morale either way! Maybe we weren't moving that fast, but we weren't moving that slow! My mind wandered for awhile and time past. I was back on 'lead' for awhile and was sharply alerted to the fact that it started to feel steep again. I looked down and then up and then to my right and sure enough we were past the rock band we'd studied on the face the day previous. The angle steepened significantly above that rock band. More self talk... "Sweet... we're getting high on this face now!" "Man, this is steep. I don't know if I want to climb up this!! We climbed this 70-75 degree section for awhile and finally the ambient light came. We could see the sun on the mountains around us. (We were on the West Face so no direct sun for us... both good and bad.) It started to slowly, very slowly I might add, to get warmer. And then all of sudden, we reached the ridge... Scott stoked! We collapsed... and ate. We had about 300 millimeters of water left, and it had frozen. We ate some more. It was just before 7am. The beautiful ridge. Ranrapalca The next lead was up the left side of the ridge on shitty, sugary, Cordillera Blanca snow. It wasn't too steep - 40-45 degrees, but it was right above the face. I slowly made my way up this section and after awhile cut a Tslot. Like a 10 foot T slot. I just dropped the picket in, clipped the rope and moved on. We finally made it up to some bizarre seracs that sat right on the ridge, with a crevasse between them, running parallel to the ridge. Bizarre. We looked for a way under the seracs... on either side. Nothing but super exposure and deadends. We determined that we had to climb into the crevasse and climb up the inside of the left serac! Here goes... it was vertical, but Scott clearly wasn't The ice/snow mix was shitty to say the least. It was sort of like vertical wallowing! It was an amazing place to be though. Clouds were moving in and sweeping the summit ridge with amazing speed. Climbing up towards those clouds up the serac felt like I was about to climb into the sky. On top of this, we finally spotted the summit some 50-60 meters up mellow, but wallowy terrain. This last easy section took us almost one hour to finally get to the 6032 meter summit. Scott with a classic summit shot No standing for me... too friggin tired Notes - - Normal route goes up the Northwest Ridge - West Face route is rated D+ - We took 5 pickets (left one for a rap on the way down), 10 screws, climbed on one 8.5mm 60m rope, two tools (including my classic Camp Hummingbird!), some food and water and wore every piece of clothing we had - 1632 meter total gain from base camp - Best climb of my life so far - Deproach wasn't epic, but very, very long (included a 15 km hike from base camp out to the road which we did that day) [/i]

i am between trips to south america for this week and i have the days free. anyone interested in daytime (early morning to escape the heat!) cragging, toss me a pm. i've got gear and rope, etc.

Thanks for the post Andrew. You going back to Alaska again next Spring? Good to meet you in Talkeetna!

Gene - Ben here. i was above you on Roger's corner when it happened. i grabbed the sling and biners from the station. got em and will get em back to you. glad you were ok. i had my partner lower me to the edge to check everything out, but there were plenty of folks already there. get well soon and pm me for the goods. best, ben

does anyone have clues on mountain weather websites that track weather conditions for the cordillera blanca (peru)? thanks

I'm looking for practical info. on climbing in El Chorro, Spain. I've read a bunch on the net, but if anyone has been there, please PM me! Many thanks

Anyone been climbing either rock or ice out of Vantage in the last few days? This Saturday is supposed to be clear enough that if the ice isn’t in shape anymore, I should be able to jump on the rock anyway. Thoughts out there on the current conditions? Anyone been on the rock out there if not on the ice?

red rocks man... you should look up john campbell... ben here just busting yo ass.

Please PM. Thanks...

I'm looking to get a 3/4 length ultralight, so I'm interested in a trade for 3/4+cash or I'll sell this one for $40. Mine is used but in excellent condition. Please pm me if you are interested.

UBB30-ML-478297-ML-

On 7/7, I was leading the bushwack down from Luna on the East side of Access creek and I came saw and retrieved one Stubai crampon. If anyone lost a Stubai crampon (sorry can't remember if it's a right or left right this second), please PM me to retrieve this. I was wet from a trip that started 7 days previous at Hannegan, so I think hauling this crampon out the remaining ~15-20 miles to Hwy 20 deserves some (quality) beer!

anybody been up more recently?

Does anyone have an update on the current status on Forest Road 1540 to the Hidden Lake trailhead? Curious if it can be reached with a normal car? If not, how far of a hike is it to the trailhead? All i can find out from the Forest Road conditions website is: Open - Partial - Rough sections. Slumping on road - use caution. Thanks

Hidden Lake Peak - questions/thoughts- Idea is to hike/climb Hidden Lake peak this weekend (maybe staying in the cabin over night). Anybody have any idea if anyone’s been up there recently and what the conditions might be link? The avi report seems like this would be pretty safe (moderate above 6000-7000 feet, low below) but the conditions have been perfect for good snow consolidation. I’m no expert so I’d like to hear others’ advice/thoughts. Thanks!

Anybody been up this Forest Road in the last few days? I'm curious after the snow that is supposed to come through on Wed/Thursday will mean skinning up the entire road or only parts of it? Thanks