jordansahls

It seems very likely that this route is just a repeat of an obscure Brian Burdo route. It is still being looked into, but if this is the case, I apologize for jumping the FA gun. I thought I had done my research. apparently, I was wrong. Trip: Whitehorse Rock (Wa Pass) - Flint Lock, 6p 5.8 (FA) Date: 9/12/2009 Trip Report: While scouting for beta on climbing the Paisano Pinnacle/ Burgundy link up, I saw a few pictures showing this beautiful looking piece of granite right on the backside of La Petit Cheval. I did what all climbers from the NW do, and opened up my Beckey book to see what I could see. It seems that the rock I had in question was given the name of Whitehorse rock, but other than that, there was nothing as far as routes or prospective climbs. Photo courtesy of Alpinfox, taken from the trail leading up to Burgundy/Pasisano (guess what rock I'm thinking about). So, we did Burgundy and took some bigger picture of the rock on the approach, it looked good. It was decided that an attempt would be made before the end of the season. Here is a poor topo map of the area, Whitehorse rock is circled (If not obvious already), the other arrow is pointing towards Silver Star for reference. Here is a picture of the route we took with a description by Brian (BCross). ******************************************************** Start by scrambling up the talus to the route. Begin Scramble in the right gully. Ascend Gully about 100 ft then climb out onto a ledge on the face for the first belay. Pitch 1 begins on a low angle crack 5.6ish working your way left toward the e/ne face and finishes with a chunky 5.7 dihedral. Pitch 2 began with another crack. The pitch was slow, as pine needles needed to be cleaned in order to place adequate protection. This crack was a soft 5.7. After the crack continue trending leftward to a belay on the e/ne face with a little exposure. Pitch 3 climb up to a step, crux1 of the climb, an awkward but soft 5.8 move. From here we went directly upward and had to descend as it became unclimbable. So pitch 3 became very short as a consequence. (Dead end of pitch 3) Pitch 4 we worked our way to the ridge proper and for the remainder of the climb remained directly on the ridge never trending toward one face or the other. Pitch four began with some scrambly rock then a walk to crux 2 of the climb. (Stanislav following the crux) A slightly over hanging move on a crack system. It feels intimidating, but there are plenty of very bomber holds making the move suprisingly easy (5.8). For pitch 5 continue upward climbing some low class 5 cracks before hitting another fun step, with 1 or 2 solid 5.7 moves. (Brian working pitch 5) After the step there is a nice little tree to set up a belay. Pitch 6 was all low class 5 climbing turning into class 3 and on to the deluxe, and flat summit. We descended down the gully on the east/north east side of the route without any rappels and made it back to camp within an hour. There are probably a few alternative ways to climb this arrete, and some probably easier/harder than we chose, but we tried to find the nice rock to make it fun. Beer at camp, Necessary? I think so (Brian with a Bodds) The route quality is ok. There is not too much loose crap, but you do have to contend with lichen and pine needles. The route can be done easily in 1 day. *************************************************************** Brian's words sum it up nicely, it was a fun climb, but nothing extreme. It reminded me a lot of a slightly more difficult/dirtier version of Spontaneity arete. Also, there are definitely harder variations that can be done. I backed down from what looked like a 5.10+ roof with a crack running through it (its near the top, you can see it in the route photo). I'm almost positive that people with stronger climbing skills can find what they're looking for on this wall. Also, we thought that Flintlock would be a good name to keep with the Colonial theme. Approach Notes: Approach, begin your approach at the turnoff about 1/4 mile before the wine spires trailhead when heading east on hwy 20. Head directly into the valley and aim for the creek bed coming out of the valley. Get on the left side of the creek, as the terrain is much easier to navigate. Stay close to the creek, but not so close that you are traversing the steep slopes and fighting thicker brush. My rule of thumb was, if I can't hear the creek then I am too far left, otherwise find the path of least resistence. At about 5200 ft, it is easy to cross the creek, and on the opposite side of the creek there is an obvious talus field leading directly to the route. We camped on the flat at the base of the talus field right next to the creek. Gear Notes 1 set BD stoppers set of cams, doubles in the 1.5-3 inch range pink Tricam Beer

I have a friend who tried to climb that beast a few times this last winter. All times they were turned around at the base by avalanches and falling debris. Definitely taking your like into your own hands on that climb.

No, I don't think you need it for this route. I think it would have mostly served as psychological pro. I never found myself in a situation like the guys are describing on the NW corner of NEWS. Yeah, there are a few places were you could use the #4, but its never your only line of defense against taking a heinous whipper.

Thanks for the input and helping to clear that up. This was by far one of the better routes I have been on this year. Tons of fun, I'm looking forward to heading back next year to get some more action from the liberty group.

Here is a picture, the route in red is the route I took, and I assume that it is 5.9, the route in blue must be the 5.10b corner, huh? I will say, that I have done a lot of 5.8 trad climbing this year, and this crack felt a hell of a lot harder than 5.8. I can see it being 5.9, but 5.8 it ain't, otherwise the 5.8 second pitch cant be harder than 5.5.

See, I originally thought that we took the 5.9 variation, but I looked at a few other TR's and they seem to verify that the crack I was on was the 5.10 crack. Perhaps someone could verify which crack is which?

Trip: SEWS - SW Buttress Date: 9/20/2009 Trip Report: I really really wanted to get one more climb in before the alpine high season comes to a close this year. With thoughts of clean granite swirling through my mind, I drove up to Washington pass with my friend Stanislav. We weren't sure what route we were going to climb, all we knew was that it had to be good. After digging through the Beckey book, we thought about climbing the NW corner of NEWS, however, we didn't have enough big pieces of gear. eventually, we settled on climbing the SW buttress/rib of SEWS with the 5.9 variation. All in all an awesome climb! The 5.8 crack was a lot of fun, but the variation was definitely the money pitch. What ho! Doest thou see'est something fair moses? Cold rock + cold gear = cold hands, Stani on the 1st pitch obligatory ass shot crankin' the crux while humming Russian rap tunes Stanislav rockin' the rock hamster style Down and out Well, that looks like it. Now I get to attend school all week, and work on the weekends for the next month and a half. Gear Notes: set of BD stoppers, doubles into the 3" range. Standard rack for the most part. Could have used a few pieces in the 4" range. Approach Notes: Went direct to the saddle from the hairpin turn. There was snow at the top from a light dusting. Descended the trail to the parking lot and hitched a ride with Mal back to our car, who was very kind to supply me (I say me, instead of us, because Stanislav wouldn't touch the mystery food) with peanut butter cookies and other assorted "munchies to mow on the way back".

Just drive 2 miles east, and camp at the Cutthroat lake site. There is running water and a toilet, its very comfortable. I tried camping at the Blue Lake parking lot, but the bugs were so bad that we bailed and ended up finding the other spot. Sure, you have to get up a little earlier and drive a few miles, but you will seriously thank yourself for doing it.

I don't think this is all that recent, but I just finished Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, which was amazing.

+1

Damn, you just don't quit! I'm curious, how are you training for these runs? Do you just put on a lot of miles during the week, or what? Great pics by the way.

Yeah, with the exception of maybe one area, the rock is generally very good.

I would say it goes around 5.9. It seemed like the pro was there when it was really needed, which was nice.

It was a great climb. How was the start of the Beckey? The Kearny start was a lot of fun, very clean, and after hearing all of the rockfall on the Beckey side, we were glad to have chosen it.

Trip: Colchuck - NE Buttress (Kearny) Date: 7/26/2009 Trip Report: The weather looked to be on the fence again this last weekend, it seems that my good luck streak is still rolling, as we had no problems excepts a few menacing looking clouds that decided to blow out as soon as they came in. my friend, Brian, and I decided to drive up and sleep at the Stuart Lake trail head Saturday night. We rolled in around 11 and set up the tent. We talked about what time to get up. I thought, that with the possibility of afternoon thunderstorms, that we should get up around 3, that way we would be on the route no later than 6. We both groaned at the thought of getting up that early, and eventually decided to say "to hell with the weather forecast", and I set the alarm for 4:30am. Everything looked nice early Sunday morning, we packed up and started moving. We reached the lake around 7, and were at the base of the route at 8ish. We decided to bring our ice axes, but leave our crampons and boots at home. One looking up at the col made me start to regret that decision. It looked like it had an ice sheet crossing the whole width of the couloir. "what do you think" I asked Brian, "Looks shitty" was his response. Oh well, we both agreed that there was bound to be some spot to pass, so we put it from out minds at that time. Anyway, we had heard that getting on to the Kearny variation can be a pain at certain times of the year due to a large moat. lucky us, We had a nice little snow bridge that gave us safe passage. Instead of writing about the climb, I think I will let the pictures do the talking. Lets just say that with the exception of maybe 1 loose pitch, the climb is solid, beautiful, and lots of fun. Icy col the NEB Up up and away! Kerchow! Brian on pitch 2 exiting onto the class 4 ledges (this is were the Kearny route and the Beckey route meet up) pitch 5ish, I stopped counting at this point. the slabs, very few holds, and even less pro. exiting onto the ridge proper. running belay to the top. Less than flattering rock star summit pose attempt (fail). Heading down was a little interesting, but we found that we could follow the moat that hugged the Colchuck side of the col which eventually lead us to a rap anchor that got us around the icy section. It took us 10 hrs from the lake to the top, which is a little slow (if you haven't guessed that already). We ended up slowing ourselves down a bit with a few route finding errors, and some poor gear placements that caused serious rope drag, which resulted in shorter pitches. A smart party should have no problem doing this route in 7 to 8 hrs. All in all, it was tons of fun. The route boasts lots of clean granite, engaging route finding (at least for us), and a whole variety of rock, everything from splitter hand cracks, to friction slabs. Go out and get it done! Gear Notes: Medium rack with doubles in the 1-2.5" range, a few bigger pieces helped out a lot (we brought a Metolius medium super cam, 2 would have been nice). Approach Notes: Follow the trail.

Yep, I was up there on Sunday the 26th. My friend and I did the Kearny variation, rather than the Beckey route. We did manage to dodge a few zingers from up top, but we were mostly out of the firing zone. We could hear large rockfall coming from the Beckey route, was that you? Good route, I will put up a TR here soon.

As for you choosing not to teach me to climb, that is understandable... I guess that means I'll have to get even more inventive. For the love of Buddah, don't.

Thanks, their route seems like a mix of the Beckey and the Kearny route. I think the Kearny route starts at the lowest point on the Buttress, and meets up with their route around the 6th pitch mark.

Is there any way that I can get hold of a topo for the Kearny variation on the NEB of Colchuck? Or do I have to spend the 20$ on the book.

I'm normal functioning non-autistic and I find this thread weird.

Thanks for the correction, it is actually the NW Rib, my bad. I changed what I could in the body of the TR, but it seems that the title under the TR forum will stay as the NE rib, oops.

I think that the results of many "stupid" rescues are punishment enough, especially when someone dies. There are always 'special' cases, but I find it strange that the government always seems to feel that it has to spank the child for playing with fire, after he has already been burned.

Yeah, there is a little bit of snow in the Chimneys, but nothing that gets in the way. The packs weren't a big problem, annoying, but very manageable. The route is very interesting, but by no means is it a classic. I will say that the views and the vantage point are very distinct from most any other route I have climbed on Shuksan. If you have climbed most all of the other classics, this one is a good one to go do.

All of this spray spray is making my head hurt.

All of this spray spray is making my head hurt.