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sparverius

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Everything posted by sparverius

  1. I am inspired by Joe's photography, guidebooks, and accomplishments in the hills and had the pleasure of meeting him up at camp Muir this summer. My condolences to his family and Dave Gottlieb, his partner on this climb and many others.
  2. count me in. I'll bring the bacon grease and we can pan-sear some pigeon on the top.
  3. Damn dude. I would. But it's like a 4 hour drive from seattle to beacon. Is there anything decent halfway?
  4. Anyone? I'm up for longer or shorter climbs.
  5. Nice work Ryan. Way to move fast and light the second time around. Now you can guide me on this next summer.
  6. I'm looking to climb at Darrington on Saturday. Something in the ballpark of Dreamer, Safe Sex, Silent Running, etc.
  7. Are you still looking for a partner? I'm interested in going to Darrington on Saturday since the weather on Sunday doesn't look so good for the alpine. Jason
  8. Steph, the pickets will still be there when your foot heals. Now is the time to crank out some statistics! I wish you a speedy recovery.
  9. I'm really sorry to hear this. I talked to Dallas last week at the Index party and he was charging hard at 70. His love for the mountains was contagious. My thoughts and condolences go to his family and friends, including those who were on that climb with him.
  10. donuts, chocolate milk, ramen, and red vines? No wonder you felt bad on the trip. Way to persevere though. Nice TR and photos.
  11. Great news!!! Let the party begin
  12. 80 liters seems excessive for week-long climbing trips. If you fill that pack up it is going to hurt! I carry a 55 liter pack on longer trips, as do most of my climbing partners. And I think our packs are a bit on the heavy side.
  13. Is the Russian mafia selling bogus enchantment permits? Nothing is sacred.
  14. Jason, I think the N. Cascades have prepared you well for some of the stuff you'd encounter down there. Let me know when you want to head down there.
  15. Trip: Argentine Patagonia, Frey and El Chalten - Various Date: 2/15/2010 Trip Report: This TR has been long overdue. Having just finished my master’s degree and a long-term relationship, I figured it was a perfect time to head to Patagonia this past winter. I couldn’t find anyone willing to make the trip with me, so I was hopeful that I could find partners on the fly once in Argentina. My first stop was Bariloche and the Refugio Frey. I hadn’t climbed much all winter and needed some low-commitment, but challenging climbs to get my head back into the game. The climbs are clustered around Laguna Toncek and Refugio Frey, which are about a three hour hike from Cerro Catedral Ski Resort. Granite spires abound here and dot the ridgelines above the lake. There were many climbers and finding partners was not a problem. I hooked up with a group of three Americans fresh off of an adventure race in Tierra del Fuego as well as Ryan from Yosemite and Sophie from Belgium. With them I was able to climb some of spires around Frey. My favorite was Objectivo Luna, an eight-pitch masterpiece on the El Cohete Lunar tower. It has a combination of splitter cracks and face climbing on solid granite. Torre Principal I was out of food after a week of great climbing and perfect weather and headed back to Bariloche to catch a flight to El Chalten. I met a bitter American climber at the hostel in Bariloche who had spent much of February in Chalten and didn’t climb a thing. He told me not to waste my time there. I continued south with guarded optimism. We had rare views of the Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy groups as the bus approached El Chalten. The area was at the tail end of a two week good weather window. Many climbers who had suffered through bad weather earlier in the winter were able to climb their objectives recently. The prime weather held, but I struggled to find partners. Hanging around the Chocalateria one windy afternoon I spotted a note from someone looking for a climbing partner. I tracked down Victor from Brazil at his hostel and we were soon planning a climb over beers. We opted for the Founrouge Commezana route on the west side of Aguja Guillamet. We started up the route on a windy but clear morning. Eight marvelous pitches later, we topped out on the summit ridge as a storm was blowing in. We decided to descend, but would have to endure gale winds and a classic Patagonian ass-kicking during our rappels. What had taken 4 or 5 hours to climb took us twice as long to rappel. After enduring a mix of stuck ropes, verglas, and a near disastrous rappel error, we stumbled to our tent in the early morning hours under calm and starry skies. Victor hitches a ride back to town Bad weather and a minor injury forced us to hang around town for a week. We found great distractions in the rodeo, whiskey, and sport climbing. Victor’s friend arrived from Brazil, having postponed his trip to see Guns n Roses in Sao Paulo. After a few days of sport climbing in strong winds, we departed for Aguja De La S, the smallest of the Fitz Roy group. It snowed on us as we approached the legendary Rio Blanco shack, but soon the clouds revealed an ice free De La S. We pushed on to a cave situated above the lake and below the glacier. The weather improved as we settled into the cave, listening to the rumblings of the Rio Blanco glacier calving off into Laguna Sucia. We climbed up scree and polished slabs early the next morning and were traversing the Rio Blanco Glacier as the first rays of sun lit Poincenot. A steep (50 degree) 500 foot snow pitch leads up to the start of the rock climbing on the Austrian route on De La S. My Brazilian friends were not accustomed to snow and took their time up the unnerving slope. We climbed 3 pitches up a crack and gully system to the true north ridge. None of them were harder than 5.9, but Victor masterfully led an awkward and blank traverse. Once the gully was cleared, the climbing improved, as did the views of the Torres. The last four pitches to the summit were fine golden granite at about 5.8 to 5.9. The stuff of alpine dreams. I was anxious the entire climb, always looking to the west and waiting for the shit to hit the fan. It never did. We did 10 double rope raps without incident back to the glacier. We traced our steps back across the glacier and down to the cave in the fading light. I was disappointed that team brazil had brought a box of oreos for breakfast the next morning, but we lounged in the cave drinking coffee, grateful for the perfect weather and incredible climb of the previous day. Oreos, coffee, and the jackson 5 Laguna Sucia and the mighty Fitz Lenga Forest Team Brazil Back in town we had a farewell dinner of steaks at El Muro and enjoyed the Chalten night life. I wanted to climb more with Victor and Tacio, but was homesick for the northwest and longed for good beer, fresh produce and friends.
  16. Very nice guys. Thanks for sharing. How did you like the barrier crossing? Seems like it's always the most nerve-wracking part of any pickets trip. Unless you found a hidden passage that is quick and easy.
  17. I love the cameraman shaking with laughter everytime the stuck climber gags.
  18. LePiston, I am now able to upload pictures again after much frustration. I wish I could tell you what to do, but I didn't do anything differently. It just started working again. I hope your problem can be resolved soon.
  19. I'm curious how you cleared your queue? Maybe that is my problem?
  20. I'm having trouble uploading photos. I've tried unsuccessfully to upload them in my member gallery as well as in a trip report. While trying to upload them into my member gallery, it says that the upload was successful, however I can't find those photos in my gallery afterwards. And my picture count seems to be stuck at '149' even though I've successfully uploaded 5 new photos multiple times. Could it be that my tubes are clogged? Anyone been through this before?
  21. Nice TR and photos Donn. Congratulations on another successful trip into the pickets and on presumably ticking off another "alpine upper decker" at Luna Lake.
  22. Hey Chris, good to have met you up at Schurman. I'm glad that you had enough energy for the rescue and the climb. Nice work. Jason
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