spotly
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Posts posted by spotly
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Well, we made it up and back. Decided to go in through Longs Pass then up to Stuart Pass, summit, descend the CC and back out Longs Pass. What a fantastic climb. The chutes to Long Johns Tower were great - we picked harder lines to make it fun then easier ones as we noticed the time dwindling. I think we must have gotten off route several times because 3 of the 5 pitches were nowhere near 5.4. The pitch to the tower and the last two pitches to the summit had to go 5.8 for us. If the move by the fixed pin near the top isn't 5.8 then.... A bit unexpected for both of us with our limited trad experience. Still, the rock was excellent. We did have to do an unexpected bivy neat the top of the CC (at least we hoped it was the CC) from 1 am to 5 am (like I said, we squandered too much time enjoying the climbing [read off-route]). A miserable night there under piece-o-crap emergency blankets. Our water iced and we had iced fogged hammering at us the whole time. I'll post a report and some pics in a few days but wanted to say thanks for the beta - came in handy.
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Great stuff. I think we'll be heading over Longs Pass both ways. I appreciate the replies - thanks tons.
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Looks like from Ingalls Lake, there's a trail that crosses the outlet and traverses over to Stuart Pass. From the pass, seems like a straight shot and short descent/traverse over to the base of the 2nd chute. After descending Cascadian Couloir, isn't it just a matter of following the trail along Ingalls Creek back towards Stuart Pass and to Ingalls Lake? I would have thought a camp at Ingalls would make the most sense? The blue route shown is no doubt way off as far as the descent but...is the line back to Ingalls MOL as drawn? Thanks
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Nice! I loved that climb as well. Saw one solo climber when we went and he was wishing he'd brought his crampons as well
The "harmless" glacier does have a few large crevasses though and they were wide open when we went. The bird is a ptarmigan. Good job. -
We're heading up there next week (never been before). I've checked out SP (good stuff). Anyone here got anything they'd like to share that would be useful as far as staying on route? Are the technical sections near the top easy to protect or should we expect some run out stuff? How long would you expect to take RT from Ingalls Lake? Thanks!
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We were up there last Saturday (my first time) and shot straight up in search of funner moves. I think I saw the Cat Walk on the way down and it was surprisingly close to the top of the pitch. What a great little climb!
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I had my first rap accident last week. Nothing serious but it did send a reminder to me how little one has to fall to do some serious damage. I was rapping over a roof and got too far off to one side of center and for some reason my foot slipped. I loosened the brake so I could get below the sharp edge of the roof before impact but wasn't fast enough and slammed the edge with my elbow. It hurt like hell so I zipped down so as to suffer my pain out of view of my partner
He hoolered down to see if I was ok and actually sounded a bit disappointed in not being able to use his rescue skills Never had problems on roofs before - just a chance slip on a vegetable and bam. Anyhoo, much swelling and bruising and bleeding but no real damage. More caution on roofs for me. I just happened to have a backup prissick on and it would have been handy had the collision been much worse. -
Even the crap at the bottom was fun....in retrospect. That snow covered slab on the NE face looks even better though. Yes, that is Brian.
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Climbed Rock Peak's north ridge on Saturday. Descended via the west ridge. Half a dozenish pitches to 5.7 and lots of simulclimbing over 4th and low 5th terrain. The lower ridge was fractured granite that was ready to slide off and we gave some thought to bailing until we spotted good rock a bit higher up. Great views all the way.
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18 feet, five and 3/4 inches. I got charged for 20 though.
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Mine seem to be holding up really well after lots of use. The rubber is good and comfort is great. The amount of stretch for a lined shoe was surprising and my feet do seem to sweat a bit more in them than usual. I'd give my particular pair a B- and will be resoling them rather than chucking em when it comes time.
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My friend, Carl got the second bolt pretty easily but paused going for the 3rd. We decided top play around with it and turned it to 2 pitches with a belay from the shelf halfway up. That section just below the anchors sucked for me. I made the move ok but it felt pretty thin. I'm a wimp!
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The problem with these midsized cameras is that they don't fit into a pocket so are a pain to carry around - always flopping in the way or stored in the pack. Plus, if you just hang it off your pack, it's bound to take a beating from the rocks and the rain. If you insist on going with a "bigger" camera though, check out the Rebel. Fairly light and won't break the bank - too bad.
I use a D20 when size and weight don't matter and a small water resistant Olympus when climbing or hard hiking. The Olympus has a slide away lens protector and takes excellent photos. The zoom is pretty sparse for what you want but I personally have never found a need for a long zoom on my trips because the landscape shots are what I'm taking anyway. Something like the Olympus 810 fits in the pocket, weather proof and takes great photos. Kinda pricey but you get what you pay for - sometimes.
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Did you and Stevey make it up there to do that slab? If you're passing through anyway, worth the stop.
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The Beehive
in Idaho
A couple of us did the scramble route from Harrison Lake over to Beehive Lakes on Saturday (nice!) and I was looking at the Beehive near the Harrison Lake trailhead. Looks like alot of bushwacking to get to the base but some fun slab climbing. Anyone here that's climbed that before? Looks like pretty low angle slab - is it protectable or even need pro? Is there a walk-off or better to rap the whole route? Thanks
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Climbed at Laclede for the first time a few weeks ago. Wandered around - everything was pretty mossy where we looked and most of the cracks were wet at the time. There's a pretty nice 5.7 slab right off the highway that was dry so we did that. Seemed a bit sketchy from the last bolt to the anchor but still a fun route.
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So, we made it up and opted for the easier route to the right. Like you said, mainly a scramble with one or two low 5 moves. Protected it with a #10 hex above the scramble then a small/medium nut at the crux. A very nice climb. The 5.6 routes look like all bomber holds as well. The route is in great condition right now. No scree - all good snow. The moat between the top of the last steep draw and the short cliff leading to the upper ridge is only a few feet from the rock right now and fairly easy to cross. A good climb - thanks for the beta. Though I must confess that I brought WAY too much gear for such an easy climb. It's hard to leave the toys at home
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Hey, that's great! Thanks very much. I guess I'm ready for it. 5.6 is cake so it's all just mental - meticulous and calm. It'll be my first trad out in "the wilds" so there's that whole sense of excitement and aprehension - it's gonna be great! Now if I can get the rack down to a managable size. Something tells me a full set of hexes and cams to #2 with doubles at .75 and 2 might be a bit too much for this short route
Hard to leave the toys at home though Thanks again. -
I remember readying about that blue webbibg on SP now that you mention it. I should have downloaded that route image when they were up and running yesterday - doh. Thanks.
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Does anyone have a topo or image of the routes for Unicorn Peak summit block that they'd be willing to share? I'm particularly interested in the standard 5.6 route that's supposed to be about 10 yards to the right of the chimney route. Also, any recommendations for what pro to drag up there? I know the routes are short and I could just go and do it but I'm new enough to trad that I'd prefer to use whatever handicaps I can get for now. Thanks much.
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I know this is an old post but thought I'd share. We (my wife Teri, and I) hiked out to Golf Course Wall at Banks Lake on Saturday and laid out all the gear to head up that 5.7 arete route. Flaked the rope, sat down to put on shoes, blah, blah, blah. Then we saw the rich green bed of poison ivy we were wollowing in. OMG! Rushed into Grande Coulee and picked up a tube of special soap just for poison ivy for $31 and washed like maniacs - several times. Took all the gear down to Steamboat Rock and rinsed/wiped it off several times. Washed the rope once we got home. So far (48 hours later) no rash. Pray for us! By the way Steve, do you still climb
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Looking for someone to do this with. 10 pitch 5.6ish. I can share the leading for most of it I believe but new to trad so depends on the pitch. I've done some leading this year (Midway, Monkey Face, local crags stuff) but only comfy to 5.6 right now. If you're in Spokane, I'm willing to provide the free transportation and a few brews from the cooler afterwards - not before though
Send me an IM and maybe we can get out to Minne beforehand if you'd like. -
New route folder. Dry road already EDITED{I see - a dry road, not THE dry road
]. New revision of the book. All that in one post! Thanks. -
This is what I like about the people I've met since taking up climbing. We look out for our own.
Stuart West Ridge Beta Request
in Alpine Lakes
Posted
Nice job by the way. Looked like you were having fun experimenting with different lines. I believe we should have taken the same way as you did to the notch at LJT - was it 4th that direction? Here's a few shots of you checking out another route up LJT