sparverius

My buddy and I were on the North Side thursday and friday, attempting to climb the N. Face. We skinned in from TJ snow park and stayed at the stone shelter T-giving night. Conditions were variable on the Elliot, ranging from knee deep powder to weak crust to wind slab, and made for slow progress. We were behind schedule as we approached the gullies and decided to make a short-cut to the left gully as described by Chad a few years ago. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Once on the steeper slopes we encountered a foot of unconsolidated powder overlaying weak crust. This, along with recent slide activity coming off of the spur onto the elliot convinced us to end the climb. avy cone on the elliot. Was deep enough to bury a tall lad. Sorry no close-ups of the entrance gullies. We never got close enough, but were able to see ice in both from the shelter on the spur. The coconuts looked enticing though.

thanks for the update. Call me soft, but I think we'll save that climb for spring, when we can ski over the brush.

How were the conditions on Baker? Decent enough for skiing above tree-line?

Does anyone know the recent conditions on the north face of shuksan and on the approach via white salmon creek? I'm guessing that there isn't enough snow to cover the brush.

I'm interested and sent you a pm.

I'm not really sure. We're novices with the ice. The first step was about 10 feet of vertical followed by mellower climbing (~70 deg.) We chose it because it seemed like the easiest of the gullies.

Here is a shot of the gullies leading up to the spur from Saturday: The furthest gully on climbers left:

Scotty, I lived up near McKenzie Bridge for four years and never spotted any ice near the reservoir. There was a Merle Haggard look-alike that guarded the dam in his el camino and probably would pick any one off that tries to climb it. Your best bet would be on the east side.

We tried to rappel off of dragontail back in early July, after climbing serpentine arete, and we ran into some problems mid-rappel. We had to leave a few nuts. After the 2nd rappel we encountered a loose block anchoring the next rappel station so we traversed on ledges towards Aasgard and found another station. We used it and were soon stranded on a face with no option but to build an anchor in the crack while I straddled my climbing partner. Not ideal, but it worked. Maybe we passed by the rap station Ivan spoke of? I'll think twice about rappeling off of that mountain again.

nice work Jeff. Let's get on some adventure once you're back in PDX.

Thanks for the TR and great trip Nate. It was my favorite climb of my enchantment experiences. And the pitches on the fin were some of the most enjoyable climbing I've ever done.

you are relentless Nick. You need to come back through the NW for a while this summer.

thanks for the report. We're headed that way tomorrow, and hoping that snowshoes won't be necessary. The uphill bike seems like a hard way to start off the climb. Nice effort.

that photo brings back some good memories of climbing in the clouds and nearly getting benighted in the manzanitas.

nice job Pochi. Did you guys use any ice screws on the headwall?

Trip: Castle Crags - Cosmic Wall Date: 3/11/2007 Trip Report: Anna and I decided to take advantage of the warm weather this past weekend and headed down to Castle Crags. Despite the beautufil weather, we only encountered two hiking parties on the trail into the wilderness. The only snow on the approach was on the ridge leading up to Mt. Hubris. Postholing through the rotten snow into tangles of manzanita slowed our progress. Once on the route, the climbing was nearly snow free. There was a snow drift at one of the belay ledges and small streams of meltwater ran down some of the cracks. These didn't detract from the climb, as we had the crags to ourselves and great views of Shasta and surrounding crags. The rappel into the gulley presented more lingering snowdrifts and a frustrating descent to the trail. But the thrashing and postholing didn't last long. We were rewarded by the setting sun, which lit up the granite and pines and turned Mt. Shasta pink. Approaching Mt. Hubris and Cosmic Wall Castle Dome the fun descent Gear Notes: 60m rope is useful to reduce the number of pitches and rappels Approach Notes: trail is snowfree. Ridge leading up to base of Cosmic wall has patches of deep snow. Descent Gulley also has deep snow.

well, I thought those east-side routes in the sisters might be accessible, but it seems like winter has returned to the northwest. We may have to wait till spring.

Has anyone been on the FS road leading to Pole Creek trailhead lately? With all of this sunny weather, I'm curious to know how much of it has melted out.

Nice work. The photo of the mountain silouhette at sunrise is especially sweet.

Sweet TR and photos. Did you have to do any shwacking on the approach or was it all snow covered? I'd like to get to that side of the mountain while the approach is still skiable. I had a miserable time in that jungle two years ago and would imagine that an adequate base would make for an easier ski approach.

By southerly do you mean Shasta and the sierras? You are welcome any time.

Trip: Mt. Hood - Sandy Glacier Headwall Date: 1/28/2007 Trip Report: Matt, Jeff, and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather this past weekend and climb the Sandy Glacier Headwall. We skinned up from T-line Saturday afternoon in outrageous winds. Apparently, there were gusts of 60 mph at the top of Palmer lift that evening. Skinning on the ice was arduous, but I stubbornly left the skis on until I was halfway across the traverse to Illumination saddle. We reached the saddle with enough twilight to scout out our crossing for Yocum Ridge. We opted for the lower crossing, since we couldn't see a feasible upper route in the fading daylight and none of us had crossed the ridge before. Sweatinoutliquor and his girlfriend joined us at the saddle as we were crawling into our bivy sacks. The climb was his idea, but he had to bow out due to relationship obligations. So he and his lady friend dozed in their bomb shelter while the three of us roped up and started the descent to the Reid Glacier in the early morning moonlight. We had to deal with some steeper slopes getting up, and then down from Yocum Ridge, but we were soon on the Sandy Glacier. The straightforward traverse put us at the base of the headwall by 5:30, and I thought that we would be on the summit by sunrise. It was a gross under-estimation. The lower half of the headwall was a mix of windslab and firm snow, and quickly brought us to the crux of the climb, a short (10 ft), steep (70 degrees) ice chimney that was a mix of ice, rime, and rock. Jeff, a native New-Englander, had no problem leading the pitch, and made Matt and my cursing and grunting seem silly. The remainder of the headwall was consistent ice, a combination of old alpine ice and some refreeze. There were rare pockets of windslab, and we soon viewed these as oasises. Equipped with one ice-screw, we had no choice but to solo this section. The going was slow and nerve-wracking for Matt and I, who have limited experience on ice. After what seemed like an eternity of front-pointing we topped out on Cathedral Ridge at 11, with amazing views of the Washington volcanoes and Yocum Ridge. We were thoroughly thrashed from the ice and slowy made our way up to the summit ridge and were on the summit by noon. The winds had subsided, and we lounged on the summit. We descended the south side in balmy condtions taking advantage of the stairs on West Crater rim and quickly plunge-stepped to skiers right of castle rock back to the saddle. The icy ski traverse to the top of Palmer from the saddle was terrifying, but the turns down the groomers were sweet and well-earned. Over-all the climb went well, although taking much longer than expected. It was nice to finally visit that side of mountain. Camp at the saddle Descending onto the Sandy Glacier from Yocum Ridge Enjoyable climbing on the headwall The exciting ice-chimney Matt traversing the last of the ice. Yocum Ridge in background. Cathedral Ridge and Mount Adams Jeff exiting the headwall Summit Ridge Gear Notes: 5 pickets (one or two too many), one ice-screw (would have liked a handful for the upper headwall), two-tools, pop-tarts Approach Notes: skin up the cat track alongside the groomers then traverse over to Illumination Saddle

I forgot to add the the most important photos. Mike decided to make an FA of the yurtopia crapper on our last night. He had some help in the beginning and we didn't think he'd make it. But he perservered and slid off into a pile of fluff from the top.

the yurts were $115 american for three nights and sno-cat ride was around $40. Our fearless leader Mike tracked down the outfit, Wildhorse Skiing/Ymir Yurts, and put the trip together.

Trip: Nelson Range, British Columbia - Ymir Yurts Date: 1/4/2007 Trip Report: Eight of us, mostly from Corvallis, ventured up to the Kootenays for four days of backcountry skiing. We stayed in Yurts between the towns of Nelson and Ymir, situated several drainages south of Whitewater Resort. The skiing was great and the setting spectacular. A sno-cat took us in 25k, which left us with a 5k skin up to the yurts. The snowpack was close to 10 feet in the area that we skiied. We recieved an additonal 2-3 feet of fresh snow over the course of the trip. Given the considerable avy danger and large group, we skied south facing slopes above the yurts and didn't venture far on our tours. The weather broke briefly on the second day, but for most of our trip we were socked in. Breaking trail on the way out was arduous, and we were several hours late for the sno-cat pickup. Several of us went up to Whitewater the next day for some laid back lift-skiing. The place is amazing. It's like a mini-Alta. Overall, it was a great trip. I would prefer to travel in smaller groups for future trips though. The U.S border patrol harrassed us on the way back in and made us wait while the drug dog ransacked our car and belongings. I guess the anti-goverment stickers and dirt-bag aura gave them no choice. Maybe they were bored. Gear Notes: monarch 151