glm

Trip: Guye Peak - Improbable Traverse, another FFA (fez-free ascent) Date: 7/2/2007 Trip Report: Well, Ian_Wolfe and I decided on Guye Peak - it was on his to-do list and I've driven by this face since the 60's and have wondered what it would be like to be on the face looking down at the freeway (Yes, it's much better than being on the interstate looking up at the face). We got a much more leisurely start than the FFA/FKA guys, hey, we were still buying breakfast when they hit the traverse. Anyway, we were fully awake to take in the pleasures of the scree field, which accounts for about 40% of the total vertical gain of the climb - this part is so overlooked! We roped up and headed up. Minor route-finding difficulties followed, which we solved by a mix of random dumb luck and actually reading the route description while on the route. We managed to miss the lunch ledge by a few feet, skipping some 5.7 lateral moves by doing a 5.8 or so lieback crack/flake thing. Oh, well, the berries aren't in season yet anyway. After spying the two knifeblade pitons protecting the traverse, we figured we were on route, but just a bit ahead of ourselves. As was stated recently on this forum, the improbable traverse does look improbable - it just sort of wanders off into nothing around the corner. It is balency, but not actually that hard, except that it is a LONG WAY UP and a bit slopey. This same section as a route in a climbing gym, 18" above the floor, would be trivial, but it's a bit more than 18" up. The first few moves onto the traverse do give one pause, but, once you get into it, it's a really cool pitch and the best part of the route. The end of the traverse is the bottom of the class 4 exit ramp. You may as well stay roped, it's a good bit down and pretty loose. The view at the top of the ramp is great! Then the fun begins. There doesn't seem to be a clear way to the summit. We went up left, then right, then left, as we thought the guidebook suggests. A bunch of unroped class 4/low 5th later, we got to the top then wandered towards Mt. Snoqualmie looking for the climber's trail down, which we eventually found and cruised down to the car, and, shortly, to Baskin & Robbins for some much needed ice cream. This route has 4 distinct parts, each very different from each other: 1. the scree approach. 2. a bunch of blocky face climbing on rock of questionable quality. 3. pseudo-random wandering around the top looking for the summit and climber's trail down. 4. a cool, airy traverse on very high quality rock with great exposure, balancy moves and that sense of anticipation of having no idea what comes next, because you can't see there from here. The great thing about following a traverse lead is that you are just as unprotected as the leader each time you clean a piece of pro so you get some of that leading fun, just sort of in reverse. Ian, have you anything to add (great lead on the traverse!)? A fine day out, to be sure. Gear Notes: basic rack, lunch (unless you get on the face really early, in which case, breakfast). Fezzes are not required if it's a perfect July day! Wish list: 1. SUNSCREEN if you're going to be on the face after 11:00am or so. I wish I'd brought some! 2. A camera is a good idea (also forgot this, sorry, no pictures). Finally, I wish I had printed out the photo from the previous report on this route because it would have confirmed we were in the right place to start the traverse (Thanks, guys.). Approach Notes: Approach: I-90, Alpental Road, Ober Strasse, Scree.

Fermented Mare's Milk - I knew I forgot something! By the way, I must disagree - the scree cannot be fully appreciated when half asleep.

I'm impressed! I did a bunch of trail running over the weekend and that's a good bit of elevation gain/loss, given that you had to take at around 20 minutes for the climb and probably 15 minutes for the raps back, or did you downclimb it to avoid the weight of a rope? I don't think I'd like to downclimb the catwalk unroped, but I'm not as good at this as many.... Anyway, car to base of tooth to car in, let's say, 1:25:00 is pretty snappy. I'm sure the snow hurts on the way up but may help on the way back down.

I have to give credit to the first ascensionist for taking the trouble to solicit opinions before taking any action. That's way beyond what many would do, especially in an active and passionate forum such as this one. A thick hide is oftentimes more essential here than on runout slab.

Not a bad list, as long as you add "in no particular order". I've seen a good number of these guys and the order is way off. So, where's Steve Vai? Frank Zappa said he gave Vai all the stuff that was too hard for him to play and Zappa was no slouch! Also, we seem to be limited to one idiom - where's Django Reinhardt, Chet Atkins, or, for that matter, Segovia? They all played guitar, as I recall, and fairly well, probably better than, say, Johnny Ramone... Oh and, yes, BB King should be on this list. He's a bit slower and more laid back now, and he IS in his 80s, but listen to his older stuff.

Ok, I just have to weigh in on this one - as a lifelong Bellevue resident, I've seen a lot of changes and, yes, Bellevue does suck in a great many ways. The traffic, the malls, the traffic, the megahomes gobbling up what was woods a few years back. Did I mention traffic? Getting back to the original question of this - my worst Bellevue experience? That would have to be any day driving through any part of town and realizing how much worse it is than it was 10, 20, 30, ... years ago. Nothing nostalgic here, the changes are pretty sweeping and definitely not for the better. However, as has been pointed out, this is hardly limited to Bellevue. The things that make Bellevue suck are all over the place. Unfortunately, if you get out of town and go look for a better place, you're just starting the same process all over again, somewhere else. It all comes down to too many people breeding too much and consuming too much. I know I have way more stuff than I need, more house, more money than time, and so on, but it is hard to break the habit. Pretty cool that Feck went to Sammammish - hey when did you graduate?

I'm with Bill_Simpkins!

When is it good for?

Sending PM on the headlamps.

PM sent.

I second that you should give it a try later in the season. The chimneys themselves would be interesting in snow, from what I remember. The valley to Lake Anne is pretty, but that last mile back up to the lot can be a long one after an impromptu bivy on rock the night before with the rain just starting (but that's another Shuksan story...). It's a great route, lots of variety, beautiful views. Just watching the Curtis Glacier calve ice blocks down the cliff is worth the trip.

I think the road closure was 1.5-2 miles before the Schreiber Meadows parking lot. It was about an hour, maybe a few minutes more, from the TH back to the car as I recall. We made good time mostly but stopped to gingerly walk with over a couple short gravel patches (so as not to damage our skis or have to take them off). It always seems longer on the way back. Maybe, if we had forgotten sunblock, nature would have played the cruel joke of baking us with sun... I'd post photos but I didn't bother taking any.

PM sent.

Great job, and GREAT pictures! The one with the front points sticking out conveys the angle really well - it's often really hard go show in a picture how steep a slope is. Makes me want to be there, burning calves and all.

I know it's rediculously late for this, but is anyone interested in getting out tomorrow, Tieton, Frenchman's Coulee, or Leavenworth, or even exit 38, if the weather turns out better than expected? Glen

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Great pics. I am also curious as to where this is, or are you keeping it to yourself? Looks like it all came together, the weather, the snow, ...

Glad to hear the route is still good and that there is still snow for the approach. I was there in January, great weather, but we dramatically overslept so we didn't have time to summit, but had a fun day out. Looks like I'll get another chance this season before the "bushwhack from hell" sets in.

PM sent.

Do you still have the skins? I'm interested?

Straight or curved handles?

There is no off season at Vantage. Just remember the down belay jacket and the shake up hand warmers for the chalk bag and you're good to go. If you find my gloves from last year around this time, PM me. If it's dry anywhere in WA, it will be at Vantage. If it's raining, hit the lee side of Sunshine and the rock will be dry and you'll be almost kind of dry.

I was up skiing with a bus load of middle/high school kids and we were forced to get in 4 extra hours of skiing in the best conditions I've seen at the pass this year. I'm glad nobody was killed to get us the extra time on the slopes. Our drive up and back were both on basically bare, wet pavement, but it was snowing fairly hard off and on all Wednesday afternoon and in the mid 20's so I'm sure the bridge did ice up about the time the accident occurred. Still, I heard from pass personnel (who know the DOT people there pretty well) that it was basically user error, as usual, that caused the accident. As you would expect. With as many snow days as we've had around here, you would think people would start to get it by the end of February!

Hey, I saw Spinal Tap and they were for real, played their own instruments and all. Seriously, I think it should be possible to regrade a climb, but it should probably also be very rare and usually done because the route has actually changed - erosion, vandalism, or the like. It preserves the history of the sport to have "old school" rated routes mixed with more newly created routes and makes people think about what climbing was like 30+ years ago.

Hadn't thought about it for a while, but there do seem to be less mogul runs. I can't say that I miss them, though. When I started skiing in the 70s, bumps were THE thing to do and I never liked them then and I don't miss them now. It is cool to watch a really good bump skier rip down a face, though - you can actually watch their knees wear out second by second.