Dan_Miller

The latest on the "Spire Point Pair" Last updated August 29, 2008 10:01 a.m. PT Rescuers reach stranded hikers in N. Cascades THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONCRETE, Wash. -- Rescuers have reached two climbers stranded since Wednesday at the 8,000-foot level of Spire Point, near Darrington, in the North Cascades. The Skagit County sheriff's office says rescuers found them about 8:20 a.m. cold and wet but otherwise OK. The rescuers are warming them up to determine if they can walk. If they can descend about 2,000 feet they could drop below the cloud cover where they could be picked up by a helicopter from the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. The 33-year-old Matt Edwards and his 27-year-old girlfriend Robin Gibson are from Massachusetts, but the sheriff's office did not know their hometowns. They had been trapped on an 18-inch ledge but were able to move Thursday to nearby Dana Glacier.

Given the events of the last few days it appears the NWS has produced this report/statement just for us! SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 820 AM PDT FRI AUG 29 2008 WAZ513-518-519-300330- OLYMPICS-WEST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES AND PASSES- WEST SLOPES CENTRAL CASCADES AND PASSES- 820 AM PDT FRI AUG 29 2008 ...UNSEASONABLY COOL IN THE MOUNTAINS THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND.. A HEADS UP FOR HIKERS...CLIMBERS AND OTHERS HEADED INTO THE OLYMPICS AND WASHINGTON CASCADES THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND. UNSEASONABLY COOL WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AND IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO BE IN THE MOUNTAINS...BE PREPARED FOR COOL CONDITIONS. A PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH WESTERN WASHINGTON AND THE MOUNTAINS LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH MORE RAIN. LOWER PRESSURE ALOFT IS THEN ANTICIPATED TO FOLLOW SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...BRINGING AN UNSEASONABLY COOL AIR MASS INTO THE REGION. ONLY SPOTTY LIGHT SHOWERS ARE ANTICIPATED SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. BUT TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOL FOR LATE AUGUST. SNOW LEVELS IN THE OLYMPICS AND CASCADES ARE ANTICIPATED TO DROP CLOSE TO 4000 OR 5000 FEET. NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES IN THE MOUNTAINS NEAR THE 3000 TO 5000 FOOT LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO DROP INTO THE 30S TO LOWER 40S SUNDAY MORNING WHILE DAYTIME TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WILL WARM ONLY INTO THE 50S. SO AGAIN...FOR HIKERS...CLIMBERS AND OTHERS PLANNING TO BE IN THE OLYMPICS AND WASHINGTON CASCADES THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR UNSEASONABLY COOL WEATHER CONDITIONS WITH A THREAT OF LIGHT SHOWERS. MONITOR CURRENT AND FORECAST CONDITIONS VIA YOUR LOCAL NOAA WEATHER RADIO STATION OR ON THE INTERNET AT WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE BUEHNER

FYI, Alaska Mountain Guides operate out of Haines, AK and I would certainly guess they'd be a decent source of climbing info; particularily with respect to that which is 'local' to them, so to speak. Check out their Web site possibly.

Here's a "little more" knowledgeable media report regarding the still ongoing 'Spire Point Situation' than that earlier released. From: KING 5's Web Site, 2 hikers stranded on mountain ledge 04:07 PM PDT on Thursday, August 28, 2008 By KING Staff MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — A man and woman remain stranded on a narrow ledge in the North Cascades. Sheriff's Search and Rescue spokesman Joel Pratt said the hikers, 33-year-old Matthew Edwards and 27-year-old Robin Gibson, both from Wisconsin, called Wednesday night to say they were stuck at about 6,000 feet in the area of Spire Point, east of Darrington. Pratt said Edwards and Gibson set out on the trail on Sunday and were descending when they lost much of their gear down the side of the mountain. What!! (emphasis mine) A Navy helicopter tried to reach them Wednesday night but deteriorating weather conditions forced the crew to return to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. A specialized team from Pierce County was headed up to search for the hikers and helicopters from NAS Whidbey and from Fairchild Air Force base in Spokane are assisting. Search and rescue staff are worried about hypothermia. "The clothes that they had for dry clothes were in their packs. They're currently just wearing what they were wearing on their day hike, and they've been through several rain storms by now and one full evening," said Deputy Brad Holmes. The Skagit County Sheriff's Office says if the weather has not cleared enough to allow for an air rescue the tentative plan is to have mountain rescue personnel stay overnight with the stranded hikers.

Re the aircraft debris: Back in the early to mid 1980's a small plane crashed in the area you found it. It crashed on Thanksgiving day on a flight from a departure in Eastern Washington, if I recall correctly. I was asked by the Chief Backcountry/Wilderness Ranger the late Bill Lester to be on the lookout for it in my travels into that part of the Park. It was last shown on radar as disappearing 7 (if again I recall correctly) miles NW of Eldorado Peak. During my travels into that area I never saw any trace. The wreckage was in fact discovered (with the bodies) sometime in the later or possibly mid 1990's by two climbers on your Traverse or some variant of same.

Got to love your dedication to your objective. Keep at it!

When I first read this, and made the post I thought it might get people responding! It's a difficult and often dangerous peak; upon which, many very skilled and 'ballsy' climbers have in the past (and no doubt in the future as well) perished. There is a certain sense that it may be not much more complicated than that.

Paul, You, if anyone should know that Martin Peak, (adjacent to Bonanza peak) is an "official" Top 100. Many years ago I didn't find it to be too chossy, and certainly quite straightforward from Holden Pass. My congrats on your recent completion of said 100, etc.

From this morning's Seattle Times and the AP: K2 survivor faults gear, porter in deaths An Italian who survived an avalanche that killed fellow climbers on the world's second-highest peak said Wednesday that poor equipment and... By MUNIR AHMAD The Associated Press Marco Confortola of Italy was rescued Wednesday. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An Italian who survived an avalanche that killed fellow climbers on the world's second-highest peak said Wednesday that poor equipment and a mistake by a porter contributed to the tragedy. Marco Confortola was among 30 mountaineers who began their ascent of K2 on Friday. He was stranded after an ice fall swept some climbers away and left others stranded in frigid conditions just below the 28,250-foot summit. In all, 11 people died. Confortola said poor equipment — including ropes and spikes that broke — as well as sloppiness and inexperience were partly to blame for the disaster. A Dutch survivor, Wilco Van Rooijen, has said advance climbers laid ropes in wrong places, including in a treacherous gully known as "The Bottleneck," about 1,150 feet below the summit, where the avalanche later occurred. Confortola was rescued from K2 Wednesday and taken to a hospital with severe frostbite on his toes. "What happened on K2 was the result of many things, one of which was bad luck," he told Italian news agency ANSA. "There has been also some sloppiness. A 200-meter (656-feet) rope, very light but resistant ... has not been brought by a bit of a sloppy porter and we started to get trouble." K2 expeditions hire Pakistani tour operators who support them with porter services to carry gear to base camps and supply the camps. Confortola blamed the first death, of a Serbian climber, on the equipment, ANSA said. The dead included three South Koreans, two Nepalis, two Pakistanis and mountaineers from France, Ireland, and Norway as well. Van Rooijen, who was rescued Monday, also blamed mistakes in preparation — not just the avalanche — for the loss of life. He said the advance climbers who laid ropes caused hours of delays, so some climbers reached the summit just before nightfall, while others turned back. Ice overhanging the route fell as the fastest mountaineers were descending some of the iciest and most difficult sections just below the summit. Confortola said the expedition spent about an hour and a half under a huge block of ice overhanging the route, "and it's something you should not do at 8,400 meters (27,000 feet)." Fatal accidents are common on the treacherous peaks that attract top mountaineers to Pakistan each summer, but this is the deadliest incident in memory, surpassing the seven climbers killed on K2 during a fierce storm in 1995. K2, which straddles Pakistan and China, is regarded by mountaineers as far more challenging than Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. The mesmerizing giant pyramid of K2's knife-edged ridges and icy slopes are steeper and prone to both avalanches and sudden and severe storms. About 280 people have reached K2's summit since 1954, when it was first achieved by Italians Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli. Dozens of deaths have been recorded since 1939. Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

From this morning's Seattle Times. Not really a TR until this gentleman is 'debriefed.' GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. — Crews rescued a disoriented man from Mount Hood. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said 55-year-old Jeffrey Stanberry was carried off the mountain Wednesday afternoon and taken to a Gresham Hospital. Detective Jim Strovink said Stanberry told rescuers he rode a bus from Portland to Mount Hood with the intention of climbing to Illumination Rock. Stanberry wore light clothing and walking shoes. He had no food or water — only spiritual books in a backpack — when he was found at an elevation of 7,200 feet. Stanberry, who lists a Salvation Army address, couldn't say how long he was on the mountain, but Strovink said he might have been there for two days or more.

You know, if you keep posting these 'Repulsive' TR's these peaks will lose their 'repulsivity' character. Just a word to the wise.

Check this TR by Larry Goldie, IFMGA out: http://www.ncmountainguides.com/trips/challenger.html

Dan, My experience with it about four summers ago (lateish August, minimal if any snow; could hopefully be a little different this season) was that dropping off the ridge from E of White Pass down into the large basin above the headwaters of the Whitechuck River was mixed dirt/rock and somewhat loose and unpleasant for the first 100 or 200 vertical feet, than fairly easy typical alpine travel essentially North towards Glacier peak. There is a fairly distinct 'way trail' leading you in the direction you want to go from White Pass,(ie,. below White Mtn.) which just abruptly ends after approximately 1/2 to 2/3 of a mile. At that point just ascend to the ridge crest, where you will then have to discern the best spot to drop down off the ridge crest. Nothing you can't do though. Go get 'em.

FWIW from this morning's NPS Daily Ranger Report: North Cascades National Park (WA) Climber Rescued From Eldorado Glacier On July 18th, four climbers were ascending the lower slopes of the Eldorado Glacier when one member of the group had an unwitnessed fall down snow and a short rock cliff. His companions found him unconscious at the base of a rock-snow moat. One climber made a three-hour-long hike out to make a 911 call, while the remaining two climbers, one of them an ER physician, cared for their partner. Rangers arrived to the scene via the park’s on-call contract helicopter. After brief EMT care and packaging, the patient was short-hauled to a site lower on the mountain, where an Airlift NW medical helicopter could safely land. He was then flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he remains in the neurological ICU with a critical head injury and bilateral arm fractures. [submitted by Kinsey Shilling, Chief Ranger]

Closed, only refers to automobile traffic. People have been regularily walking it this season with no ill effects.

In a nutshell: 1. Up the North Fork Sauk River Trail to White Pass. 2. Then, to Red Pass on the Crest Trail. 3. Down the Crest Trail to the White Chuck Meadows at roughly 5000ft., then East up onto the greatly receeded White Chuck Glacier. 4. Then as terrain allows head North to Glacier Peak. Yes, it certainly is a considerable distance. Check Beckey's CAG Vol. II, I believe it is chronicled there.

Harts Pass 5400 Open to Harts Pass. Snow blocks road 1/2 mile above Harts Pass, blocking access to Slate Peak and trailheads to the north. Snow blocks road beyond Meadows Campground to trailhead to PCT and to Grasshopper Pass. Snow blocks 700 Road toward Chancellor. 07/03/2008

Here's the latest (07/03/08) from the NOCA NPS website: Cascade River Road is closed at mile 20 (the Eldorado parking area). Closed at mile 12.75 on Wednesday July 9 and Thursday July 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for bridge repair. Check the park conditions page for more details, including all road conditions. Expected to open to Cascade Pass trailhead on July 12.

Check this out Pete: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7967899 It will likely answer most of your questions.

High marks for this one Tvash!. Thanks for sharing.

My guess is that the road to the viewpoint at Artist Point will be passable in early August possibly.

This post from NWHikers.net, may assist in determining the relative accessibility of the Teanaway and its upper branches: Wed May 28, 2008 9:41 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two more bits of possibly useful info, plus a reminiscence: 1) By this coming weekend, I bet the hike:ski ratio will be a tad high for my tastes in Bean Creek Basin. I suspect there would still be skiable areas on the north-facing slopes. 2) The Teanaway road past Beverly Creek was blocked by a significant pile of snow sormewhere before we reached the Iron trailhead. We investigated tihs on the theory that if this road went past Iron, we'd rather ski up toward Ingalls Peak. If that road opens up over the course of this week, then the time would be about perfect for hitting Ingalls, which can have a high slog factor if you hit it just a little early or a little late. And the reminiscence: in our first 3-4 trips skiing in Bean area, we found that when the road was clear to the trailhead, we picked up skiable snow at about the creek crossing. Once we even managed to ski over the creek on deep snow, had to take skis off for a brief bit of the Bean trail near the junction with the Beverly trail, and then were able to put skis back on for a glide nearly to the car parked at the trailhead! In the last several years, we seem to find that as soon as the road is open to or even just near to the trailhead, we have to hike to well above the creek crossing. There's something different about the deposition and/or meltout pattern in more recent years, and I don't like it!!

Take a look at the Montrail CTC Mid's. Enough ankle protection and I've used my Stubai aluminum's successfully on them a few times.

Here's the NPS's latest on the Cascade River Road as of 05/22/08: Cascade River Road (off State Route 20 at mile 106) Partial Elevation at road's end: 3,600'. Closed at mile 12.7 due to bridge damage caused by avalanche. Temporary repairs (one-lane bridge) expected by June. Additional road repairs at mile 20 and beyond still will need to be fixed. Road currently passable to mile 12.7, small turn-around, no trailers. Leave room for repair crew rigs to pass by. For skiers or bikers, road has patchy snow from mile 14 to ~ mile 20, then solid snow. Lots of downed trees and some avy chutes to cross.

Here's a little more on the Upper Icicle Road Washouts: News Release Flooding and debris flow impact Icicle Valley access USDA Forest Service Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests Contact: Wenatchee River Ranger District office at 509-548-6977 May 21, 2008 A drastic change in weather patterns created rapid snow melt, triggering a snow and debris slide that closed roads and campgrounds in the Icicle Valley this past weekend. The large debris slide carried trees, mud and huge boulders into Icicle Creek, effectively pushing the already flood swollen waters over the main Icicle Road ( FS Road #7600), approximately 15 miles southwest of Leavenworth, WA. Several campers were temporarily stranded because of the blocked road, but no injuries were reported. The mud and debris flow roared down Doctor Creek, a steep creek drainage located near Victoria and Ruth Lakes, and tore out portions of FS Road #7605. Roads and campground closures will remain until flood waters recede, damage can be assessed, and repairs made. It is apparent after initial aerial surveys that this is going to be a long-term closure due to extensive damage to the main Icicle Road. Closed indefinitely are: FS Road #7605, at the bridge where it crosses Doctor Creek. Icicle Road #7600, at Ida Creek. Chatter Creek, Rock Island and Blackpine campgrounds. Trailhead access to upper portions of the Icicle Valley may be impacted. Access via Eightmile Road into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness is not affected.