coldiron

I would like to get in a few routes. 5.9 to 5.11 would be great. Just did Colchuck Balanced Rock West Face and Stuart's Gorrillas in the Mist and would love to do more along those lines (though both pushed me to my limit). Call or PM me. I'm in Spokane and would consider anything within about 7 hrs of driving. -Scott (509) 847-8404

Call me if you lost some shoes at Vantage in the last couple days. I'll ship them to you. Scott (509) 847-8404

I'm in Leavenworth solo this weekend. I'd be happy to climb sport or trad- 5.10 or .11 would be nice, but I'm open to whatever. I've got a full rack, ropes, etc... Call me at (509) 847-8404. -Scott

Sent you a PM

I'm free Fri. and Sat. I sent you a PM

Climbed Hubba Hubba on Mon. and it was still good, although hollow or mushy in spots for screws. We climbed the left facing mixed corner on the right side of the main flow in two long pitches. Takes great gear... used KB's, lost arrow, cams, tricam, nuts, screws, even a Spectre. Easy climbing, but fun! Conditions should be better through the week, as temps are supposed to be dropping. Snow was stable for us but heavier snow over rain crust could be a problem later. Drury Falls looks really fat from the road. Drove by Banks, so checked on The Cable and H2O2 Mon. Morning, and they were there, but too rotten to climb. Colder weather this week could have them back in shape.

Heading up to Snoq. Pass tomorrow to climb The Tooth (NE Slab), and make a few powder turns. If anybody is up there today, can you tell me if the new snowfall is settling out a bit? Also, does that route slough snow pretty quickly? If that's not a good route to hit right after a big snow, suggestions for something better? Thanks, Scott

I'm looking for new partners as well. I'm in Spokane, but can get the time off to travel with a little notice. I climb at Snoqualmie Pass and Leavenworth quite a bit, would also like to fit in a couple BC trips. Sent you a PM as well.

My schedule is pretty flexible, with 5 days notice I can get most any day off. Just climbed New York Gully and conditions are fat, so time to get some more stuff done. I'm interested in any moderate to hard mixed routes in the Cascades. - PM me

Nice work! What is the direct start? Easy to find?

Trip: Snoqualmie - New York Gully Date: 2/13/2012 Trip Report: I've seen it noted a couple times on here recently, but it bears repeating: conditions on New York Gully are super fat right now. Go get some! Personally, one of the best mixed climbs I've been on. We climbed it in 3 simul pitches to the shoulder, then stayed roped for the short traverse to the ridge crest. Gear: single 70m rope 6 cams (2 large link cams, 1 small link cam. 2 yellow and 1 blue TCU) 4 KB pins, 1 fat lost arrow, I baby angle. 2 stubby ice screws + 1 13 cm 5 offset nuts 1 spectre We used just about everything except the Spectre and angle. Could have used 13cm screws even more (3 screw placements ) but didn't need to because of good rock pro. A number 3 camalot wouldn't hurt for the crux, but we got along okay without. The crux step was harder than I thought it would be, although my partner handled it nicely on lead. I ended up bare-handed jambing the crack and gladly hung on the fixed tat at the top while switching back to tools to pull the lip. 3 pitches with a bit of simuling on each worked out pretty well with a 70 m. Lots of fun was had, accompanied by a spot of flailing about by me (leading w/skis on pack + chimney = cuss/grunt/thrash). A little less than 7 hrs on route, 12 1/2 hrs C2C. We had a mishap on the ski out. Be extra careful skiing down as there are lots of icy steps above and to the side of the Phantom Slide cliffs, and ski conditions were about as bad as the climbing was good.

I'll be at Snoqualmie Pass today after 11 am, thru Monday afternoon. I've got all my ski gear, ice and rock gear, etc. I'd be down for any of the ice or mixed lines, the tooth, Chair Pk, New York Gully, or whatever. (509) 847-8404. Scott

Hi, I'll be at Snoqualmie Pass today after 11 am, thru Monday afternoon. I've got all my ski gear, ice and rock gear, etc. I'd be down for any of the ice lines, the tooth, Chair Pk, New York Gully, or whatever. Call me if you still need a partner (509) 847-8404. Scott

Sent you a pm.

Hi, I'll be at Snoqualmie Pass today after 11 am, thru Monday afternoon. I've got all my ski gear, ice and rock gear, etc. I'd be down for any of the ice lines, the tooth, Chair Pk, New York Gully, or whatever. Call me if you still need a partner (509) 847-8404. Scott

My buddy Jonah and I attempted New York Gully on Snoqualmie Pk. yesterday (12/31/11). We made a bad route-finding decision and wasted hours on the approach, Then started the climb off-route and had to bail after our ramp petered out and it became certain that we would have to finish in the dark if we pushed through. I think we were above the proper ramp system. The one we chose was pretty sketchy in spots, and very hard to protect. I thought it would be obvious which was the proper starting point but it was not. Avalanche conditions were overall very stable with the exception of localized wind slab, which we found in a couple spots. We found a 14" slab just below the notch dropping into Thunder Creek Basin. On lower elevation, open slopes north of Phantom slide path, we also found a weak layer 9" down. We did ski both of the spots that showed instability (after careful analysis and with judicious route selection). Everything felt really solid, no fracturing settling etc... The skiing was awesome. Avie conditions were expected to stabilize further today. The current NWAC avie forecast was quite accurate when compared with our observations, so reading it should give you a good idea of conditions. There is quite a bit of ice forming up on Snoqualmie Peak. Just a bit more and the routes should get really good!

James and I skied in to Snow Lake on 12/22. We were looking for some ice that had been reported here, but didn't see anything that looked great, so we skied almost to the end of the lake. These routes are in the last big gully that comes down to the lake on the South side. Looking up to climbers right you can see three good lines. we climbed a mixed line about 300-400 ft. vertically up the gully. We had to bail before reaching the top due to darkness. The line might be longer than 2 pitches. It's at least two rope-stretchers, though. We climbed the line on the right of the pic. The line higher up is probably harder than it looks in the pic. both are 2 pitches. The other line is at the base of the rock, climbers right of the gully At the bottom Top of the first pitch.

I'm planning on climbing there on the 30th and 31st, although I might spend one day on Snoqualmie Pass routes. If you need a partner for either of those days, send me a msg.

Need a partner this Mon.-Thurs. for climbing and/or skiing just about anything that's in. Dragontail NEC or Triple Couloirs, Colchuck NBC/NEC, Stuart NW Face Couloir (any chance that one's in?), Snoq. New York Gully, maybe something from your tick list? I'm coming from Spokane, and anything in a 6 hr. radius I'd consider Scott C. (509) 847-8404

Need a partner this Mon.-Thurs. for climbing and/or skiing just about anything that's in. Dragontail NEC or Triple Couloirs, Colchuck NBC/NEC, Stuart NW Face Couloir (any chance that one's in?), Snoq. New York Gully, maybe something from your tick list? I'm coming from Spokane, and anything in a 6 hr. radius I'd consider Scott C. (509) 847-8404

My first choice is the Bugaboos, but anything in the North Cascades would be good too. I'd like to climb in the 5.9-5.11 range. call 509-475-4056. best to send a text if I don't pick up. -Scott

I'm in Spokane and like to travel quite a bit. Looking for partners for everything from cragging to big alpine routes; also looking for ski mountaineering partners. I climb the Cascades a lot and like to head up to Canada too. Looking for fit, motivated partners. I have ropes and rack for rock and ice. I'll lead up to: Trad-10d , ice-WI4+, mixed-M6, sport-11d. I'll follow a bit harder. I also like to do easy and moderate routes fast and light. I have lots of weekdays off, and can get weekends occasionally(for a good route). -Scott Coldiron (509)475-4056 coldiron12@yahoo.com

I would be into climbing any of the routes you listed. I'm a firefighter in Spokane, and have a really flexible schedule. I can get a week off easily if I have a couple weeks to plan. I'd particularly like to do Triple Couloirs and a couple other routes nearby. I'm pretty familiar with the area. My email is coldiron12@yahoo.com or you can call me at 509-475-4056 Scott

Of course my comment about it not being M5 for me says nothing of the conditions others found on the NEC. I should also mention that when commenting that none of the moves are harder than 5.7, I was using the Eldo classic Rewritten as the standard. Rewritten is definitely old school Eldo grade, and would not be a climb for a lot of 5.7 leaders, much less in gloves, crampons, heavy pack, etc... I don't want to be a part of grade creep on an old route. I guess if I had to nail down a grade that I think I encountered, it would probably be AI2+, M3. I think the ice was much better the day I hit it than when Dane was on it. The pitch in the couloir was more like 50-55, as Ross called it (with some lower angle on the bottom half of the route). The last rock pitches were pretty steep, had little ice, and definitely felt commiting. I just don't think the climbing was any harder than Eldo 5.7.

Panos- I don't think it is any harder than 5.7. Of course it is winter, so some of the moves may have felt more strenuous. I saw in the other NE Couloir TR, somebody had said it was M5, but I found it to be easier than that. Of course, they had different conditions than when I climbed it.