bonathanjarrett

Yeah, I know. I sent him a message about replacing it or shooting him some cash to compensate him.

Trip: Liberty Bell - Liberty Crack Date: 7/9/2011 Trip Report: (Pictures to come, when I figure out how to upload them as I keep getting error messages) If you want a Liberty Crack trip report, look elsewhere. There is plenty already written about the route, the fixed gear, and on and on. Instead this is a story about how I came to have a climbing shoe wrapped in an old hat while descending off of Liberty Bell. It is a story about failure. This story begins in 1999, when –having moved from the East Coast—I first learned of Liberty Crack. At twenty, I was strong and still fairly stupid. Sitting in my dorm room in March, my roommate and I decided that we would climb this line. Not having any sense for what that meant while it was still technically winter, we packed a huge duffle bag which we planned to use as a haul bag and drove north from Portland to meet what would have most likely been our deaths if it hadn’t been for the blessed hand of the Washington Department of Transportation. We discovered that those jerks had gated the road at Diablo (What? They close this road in the winter time?), and we turned around befuddled and aggravated. At this point in time, my buddy hit a patch of black ice while driving a bit too fast—perhaps motivated by the plaintive sounds of the Allman Brothers “Sweet Melissa” on the radio, which I still remember—and we were literally launched into the snow bank and came to rest several feet above the roadway. Right side up but a bit banged up, my Subie was more than high centered. Climbing out through the windows as the doors were pinned shut, we quickly realized we were in quite a problematic situation. By the grace of the big G-O-D, a Seattle City Light truck passed by and yanked the car down from the perch it was on, and we limped the six hours home with the car shuddering and vibrating eerily the whole time, all the while wondering how we were going to explain this outcome to our friends. Three years later, I returned in September with another friend (having learned my lessons about climate in the Northwest) to finally climb this plum. The plan was to fix the first three pitches, rap, and then send the route the next day. Again I got schooled by what I didn’t know. Aiding the first two pitches took nearly forever, and I found that we had run out of daylight by the time we had reached the base of the third pitch. We rapped, retreated to the truck, and slept uneasily thinking about the next day. The following morning the skies had darkened considerably, and we found ourselves watching the clouds moving in as we jugged the lines (using tiblocs to save weight—oy!). Looking up at the fixed heads on pitch three caused a sphincter or two to clench. I was secretly relieved when it started to spit on us, and we bailed having been saved the experience of aiding those tiny, mashed bits of alloy. Back at the truck, the skies over Washington Pass ripped apart, and it was immediately clear that we had made the right choice. Once again the outcome was failure. This is all by way of prefacing “the choice” that was made this past weekend. I returned again to make good on climbing this line, a journey begun over a decade ago. With more experience and skill, we quickly dispatched the first four pitches. At this point in time, the two fine gentlemen, Zach(?) and Dave, had caught up to us having started two hours after us. At the top of pitch five, after some friendly conversation, one pointed out to me that I had only one boot clipped to the back of my harness. At some point during the previous pitch, the left one have popped off the ‘biner and bounced off the wall and down to the snowfield below. Not sure what to do, my buddy and I continued to the top of the sixth pitch knowing we could still rap the route easily from there. We were just delaying “the choice”: rap to try and find the boot and failing again to climb the route or continuing to the top and facing a descent down the snow fields with one boot and one rock shoe. From the top of the rotten block, Dave encouragingly suggested that the walk off would not be too bad in rock shoes and even offered to loan a crampon if that would help. After spending the better part of ten years chasing this climb and being foiled by both circumstance and stupidity, we decided to go for it. What is a miserable hobble back to the car compared to having to come back AGAIN to climb the route? Although Zach and Dave topped out and rapped back to the notch far more quickly than us, we eventually caught up to them. Confirming that I was comfortable with descending the softened snow in my mismatched footwear, they left us there to down climb at our own pace (Did I mention that these guys were exceptionally nice and supportive of our rather pathetic situation?). This brings us to the hat. I apologize if the owner of this hat is reading this report and recognizes it, but circumstances required that it be commandeered. Some poor soul must have lost their hat climbing the Beckey Route because I found it sitting at the notch, apparently discarded as unknowingly as my boot then lying at the base of the Liberty Crack. With a careful fold and several wraps of tape, it was transformed into a sort of ankle high mukluk. Having properly insulated my left foot against the snow, we descended back to the highway uneventfully and then hobbled back to the car nearly a mile further on from where we jumped the guardrail. At this point, my good friend then hiked back up to base to retrieve the boot which he found lying dejectedly in the snowfield. The only casualty of the entire endeavor was the poor hat which by the end of the march back to the car had a series of large holes worn through the knit. Gear Notes: One found hat, crucial in the descent.

I found your hat... but sadly it is not in the kind of condition that you would want it back in. You can read my "TR" on climbing Liberty Crack for the in depth story of how your hat saved my butt (seriously). The long short of it is that I lost a boot half way up Liberty Crack, had to hike out from the rap in one boot and one rock shoe, found your hat at the base (seemingly abandoned), and commandeered it to keep my unshod foot warm on the hike back to the car. I apologize for not being able to return it to you in suitable condition as I wore a hole through the top--although it did keep my foot warm as I hiked out in the snow. I will replace it or mail you a check if you want. Sorry. Jonathan

PM sent Jonathan

Come on folks. Surely not all you are working stiffs/have kids/have to mow the lawn/are getting your hair done/have a job interview/starting class/etc...! I got the rope, rack, a car, and a desire to climb. Don't make me beg Jonathan

I have a *hall pass* for the weekend plus monday and tuesday. Currently my sat-sun partner needs to go home sunday. I am looking for someone who wants to do something alpine-ish those two extra days. I will be in the Washington Pass area, so something in that general vicinity would be preferable. Thanks, Jonathan

I sent you a pm. Jonathan

I have these dates open and would like to climb something alpine (rock, ice, snice, snow, etc). Looking for a competent partner. I am willing to take suggestions on objectives. Jonathan

I am trying to arrange childcare to free up time this summer. If you are interested in a regular partner, I could try to arrange for monday/tuesday so that there could be some consistency. Jonathan

What about "educational" films that deal in history, avalanche preparedness, technique, etc? As well, these movies are for the general population, so anything that the non-climber should see to get a good sense of what climbing is about (aka not a skewed perspectives that come from Hollywood films)?

My wife works for a public library and has the (excellent) job of maintaining the section that includes climbing. She needs to buy about a dozen climbing movies to round out the collection. She asked me so I am asking you all: What is your top ten list? This can include instructional films, biography, fictional accounts, climbing p0rn, etc.

I find it frustrating when people choose to use non-standard knots to tie in with. It makes it much more difficult for me, as the partner, to determine whether that person is tied in correctly or at all. As a result the tie-er is making the system less safe and removing me from the safety check. They have one less stop gap against failure. And no... I do not believe that it is my responsibility to know and be able to quickly identify every possible iteration of tie-in-knot.

PM sent

PM sent to Peakpimp

You need to seek the advice of a specialist, not someone on this forum. Without knowing the specifics of your case, it is foolish for anyone to give you advice regarding this matter. I have had two surgeries for a repeatedly dislocating shoulder. The first surgery failed in large part due to the fact that I was given "generic" rehab advice, because there was not attention paid to the details of my particular case and physiology. As much as I would like to offer you advice regarding the rehab that I went through, the exercises that I was given, and the timeline that my recovery was based on, it is irrelevent to what you need. Don't screw this up, because shoulder instability in the long run can be at least a pain in the butt the local crag or even fatal in the mountains. Seek a professional who can give you advice specific to your case.

Thanks a bunch. If we get up on it, I will be sure to post about conditions.

Hey folks, Does anybody know what conditions are like right now for TC? Would I be so lucky as to even get a photo from last weekend when someone was up at Colchuck Lake? I am planning on driving up from PDX, and so if things are most certainly, definitely not in, I will know to make other plans. Thanks.

The Route Not Taken Two routes diverged on an alpine peak And sorry I could not climb the pair And be one climber; by the creek, I looked up at the ridgeline bleak To where it scraped the frozen air; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was virgin and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same. Both that morning did equally shine In ice no boot had trodden down. Oh, I kept the first for the next day fine! Yet knowing how line leads on to line I doubted I should come back around. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two routes diverged on a peak, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Enough snow to make it worth an attempt.

Trip: Lane Peak - The Zipper Date: 12/27/2009 Trip Report: Taking advantage of the low avy conditions this weekend, my climbing partner and I climbed The Zipper on Lane Peak. We found nearly perfect conditions on the route, with firm snow for cramponing and bluebird skies. We also had the route and seemingly the entire Tatoosh Range to ourselves. Relatively low snow in the gulley meant that there was a short fun alpine ice step midway up the route. About 20 meters below the col, there is a gulley that leaves the main route and heads right. We didn't go that way, but it looked tempting with short sections of alpine ice before (presumably) heading out onto the north face. Anyone had experience with this variation? We took the "direct" route up from the col, heading straight up steep slopes. At the top, we were able to place relatively good rock gear and climb a short rock band to get onto the knife ridge. This was the best part of the climb by far with great exposure on either side and fantastic position. As one might expect, the summit views were sublime. We descended down around the backside, occasionally postholing on the south side. Dropping down between Lane and Denman required one bushy rappel that might have been avoidable with more snow. However, there were several rap slings on the way down, so perhaps it is normal to rap the couple of steep steps. Dunno. On the way out we pondered the route potential on the north facing buttress of Denman. Has anyone done this? It looked doable right now with some thin parts up high. I suspect it be about WI 3+ and be a couple/three pitches depending how you pitch it out. Gear Notes: Several short screws (unnecessary on the route) Small rock rack (useful if climbing the "direct" line mentioned above) Picket (placed only to warrant carrying it) Approach Notes: Slowshoes currently unnecessary.

Our route line is the left start. The S-shaped couloir is the right start which I believe is the "standard" start.

Down low, left side start is probably 60 degrees. Maybe a touch more. You can't fall off it if you can keep you feet under you which is why it was the first climb since rehabing the shoulder. The tools are really just for balance. WI 2ish. unklehuck is probably right in that the right side start protects better. I was able to clip a fixed pin, place a #1 camalot, and two more screws to protect the first pitch. I found that I could scamper up the ramp to the rib and have a look at the quality of the ice and be able to back off very easily before scooting across the rib and onto the face.

Trip: Chair Peak - NE Buttress Date: 12/13/2009 Trip Report: Myself and two others climbed the NE Buttress of Chair today. This was my first climb in a year and half after recovering from shoulder surgery. We found conditions to be good with ice up to the first belay and firm snow above to the second overlap. Screws over 13cm were useless though, except in the waterfall section at the top of snowfield. We climbed the route in four pitches with significant amounts of simul-climbing during pitch two and four. Our route is marked in red below. The first pitch S-couloir as described in Washington Ice is not in (at least in my judgement). Exiting it would require significant dry-tooling. The rap stations are all in good condition. Although it is worth noting that pulling the ropes for the first rap is a pain in the butt, and there is ALOT of friction across the buttress. I had to climb back up the couloir to pull them from a better angle. Gear Notes: Used: 4-5 screws 10cm,13cm, and 16cm, small rock rack including nuts, and selection of cams. Brought but didn't need: one picket Approach Notes: The boot track is well trodden, and flotation was unnecessary.

Trip: MT Rainier NP - Tatoosh Traverse Date: 8/22/2009 Trip Report: Initially the plan was to do all the peaks between Unicorn and Eagle. We cut things short after Denman though due to my feet getting pretty beat up. Leaving the trailhead at about 6:30am, it was not clear which weather forecaster was going to be right. Some said full sun. Some said a marine layer sitting at about 5-6000'. We ascended up past Snow Lake towards the clouds that shrouded Unicorn and by 7:30 things already were starting to break up. Then in one magnificent reveal the clouds rolled away leaving Rainier dominating the skyline. We ascending the horribly shitty scree gully to the col SW of Unicorn, skirting the remains of the snowfield that was bullet hard; scrambling up loose ledges put us on the heather slopes and the trail to the summit. We picked our way back down, and across to the ridge leading up to Foss Peak passing some amazing wildflowers and surrounded by fantastic views. Then it was on to tag the summit of Castle which was an easy low fifth, make it harder if you want on reasonable rock, climb. The descent slings are in good shape with a pair of rap rings. Again, stellar views abounded. It is a bit tricky to find the route over the ridge between the Castle and Pinnacle. It is not necessarily intuitive, but there are a series of cairns that lead to an improbable descent down loose ledges and on to the slopes on the south flank of Pinnacle. We were on the summit of Pinnacle by 11am once again enjoying the views of Rainier and the route to come. We descended down to the pass and tagged the easy summit of Plummer before returning to the small pond on its north slope. It was noon at this point and the wear and tear on my feet was getting worse. Having done essentially no climbing in the past year due to recovering from shoulder surgery didn't leave my toes well prepared to take the bashing of cross country travel in boots. So we tagged Denman and returned to the pool and lounged for about an hour watching the hordes of people ascend the trail to the base of Pinnacle. Around 1PM we gave up on finishing the traverse in favor of saving the extra wear and tear on my toes; the trip back down to road was uneventful except the steady stream of people we passed. Except the section around Pinnacle, we were essentially alone the whole time and the trip had a nice "wilderness" feel. That is if you look south. It's bizarre how the sound of Harleys really carries up the valley. That and the Paradise parking lot. So okay, if you close your eyes, and plug your ears, it feels like a wilderness experience. Great route,though. I highly recommend it and can't wait to do the western half. Gear Notes: 30m Rope Small selection of nuts, #1-#2 Link Cams Approach Notes: Cruiser in and out.

Sorry, but this rediculous and baseless bad mouthing of mountaineering groups is just plain stupid. Not a single Mazama group was on the South Side. All one has to do is check their online climb schedule to know that. Look here.