AlpineMonkey

There is water up high, directly east of Orange Tower. Below is a not so good topo of the routes we put up. I just made it quickly and will later reassess the grades, adding plus or minuses, maybe letters after I confirm with my partner. You should go give that yellow and red route a try, very nice 4 stars in my opinion. The wall is about 450 feet tall.

Go give Toppling Tower a shot. Do the 5.5 route in the Beckey, it looks pretty nice. (We rapped down it)

Just got back from a 4 day trip, nice stuff up there.

Some pictures, my camera can't handel the bright light. The route, blue approach, red ascent: Travis low on the face: Snow slab on mid face traverse: A nice dihedral pitch. Upper snow slabs:

Anyone know if that upper part was anything new? Never saw a single sign of anyone being anywhere on the face. I can't tell if thats the Beckey NE of False or what. I assume he was more to the left on the face, we sort of worked up dihedrals along the edge of the snow. Anyways, it was a good interesting climb for us.

Climb: Mount Stuart-NE Face Date of Climb: 8/6/2006 Trip Report: Travis Hammond and I worked a line up the rarely climbed NE Face of Mount Stuart. This being my third attempt, once last winter and then again two weeks ago when my partner forgot to bring pants. Mosquitoes were mildly bad, weather was perfect. Saw lots of climbers on the N. Ridge and took some pretty rad pictures of N. Ridge climbers. If that was you up there, drop me a message and I’ll get you some pics. The climbing was mostly moderate with some tough pitches. A few baseball size rocks came ripping by very fast and close on several occasions, falling from high on the face. Large snow patches are still present higher up, but we were able to avoid them. Other then a few route finding f-ups on my part, all went well. Our route was possibly a new upper variation to the face, right of the Beckey NE Face of False Summit route. 11 hours from camp to summit, estimated Grade IV, 5.10. I had lots of fun. Gear Notes: Crampons and tool for glacier Approach Notes: Ingalls Lake - fast and easy

Easy but steep! Brushy down low, but not bad.

Those are the Nightmare Needles, there even further over then them Oly.

Climb: Knitting Needles-Tour Date of Climb: 7/30/2006 Trip Report: I can’t remember when I last went on a solo adventure, but as the sun sunk a special feeling set over me. It’s these trips where I always seem to appreciate the beauty of living. DAY 1 Being alone, I didn’t have to worry about someone riding my tail and pushing me along, nor did I have to worry about being slowed down. There were no decisions to be discussed and no compromises to be made. I could do anything and everything I wanted and it was this freedom that jumpstarted my good day. I started hiking up the Ingalls Creek trail at noon and blasted the first 6 miles in 1 hour and 25 minutes (Its flat and real easy goin'). From here I begin a steep (3,800 feet over one mile) and slow ascent of McClellan ridge, where 1000 more feet led to the summit of McClellan Peak. From the summit I snapped a goofy self portrait and admired the surrounding views. Familiar summits such as Little Annapurna and Prusik Peak were viewable. Soon the light began to fade and a light breeze blow. My tired legs yearned for rest. I chose the nicest, most beautiful bivy one could want near the 8,364 foot summit of McClellan Peak. In hopes of a spectacular sunset to photograph, I choose a spot with an almost 360 degree view, but was disappointed in myself when my tired body woke to stars. DAY 2 The following day I took my time weaving through gully after gully in the Knitting Needles taking nearly 50 photographs of rock towers, getting a feel of the area. In two weeks I plan to return for a 5 day trip with a role model friend. I hope to climb many of the “needles” I photographed. Though all the rock is supper solid, I can't immagine this area ever being popular due to the approach. However, it deserves attention. Much potential exists for quality routes.

Astronomy lesson: Both names come from constellations that resemble bears. Ursa Major - "The greater Bear" Ursa Minor - "The lessor Bear"

Climb: Bear Mountain-Ursa Major (attempt, dotted red) Date of Climb: 7/15/2006 Trip Report: (photo by John Scurlock) Last September John Frieh and I climbed the Direct North Buttress (yellow) up Bear Mountain. Having not climbed previously in the North Cascades, it was this trip that showed me what the range had to offer. (Indeed there are other mountains to climb then in the Enchantments.) From our campsite, large peaks surrounded us in every direction, all bearing massive walls. It was quite inspiring. I became fascinated with Bear and the challenges it has to offer. After arriving at Chilliwack Lake at 3:00 am and sleeping for two hours, John and I began the gruesome hike into Bear Mountain. Almost immediately we lost the old overgrown abandoned trail and found ourselves in a knee deep swamp. More then once we sunk up to our wastes. About 45 minutes after loosing the trail, fighting brush, and wadding through the bog John busted into an old growth forest and let out a “whoo-hooo” as he stumbled upon the trail. But it didn’t take long for me, however, to start recognizing distinct features. Somehow, and I still cannot comprehend how, John and I got turned around in the bog and walked backwards, the way we had previously come. We estimated this mistake cost us an hour or more on the approach. The excitement of finding the trail was short lived as almost immediately it went bad again. It was here that we crawled (not walked) on all fours across the US – Canadian boarder through the thickest god awful brush I have ever encountered. Occasionally we were able to use our two feet. After nearly nine hours of hell, we finally broke into the high alpine environment and found a nice campsite on the W. Ridge of Bear. As always, the views of surrounding valleys and peaks were spectacular. I ate a hefty meal and we both settled in for the night at 2:00 in the afternoon. DAY 2: We began our brief approach to the far leftword buttress early morning. It was then that we began to make out our intended route. (dotted red line shows our route and high point) We started climbing at the lowest toe of the buttress, always staying to the right of the crest. A route had been done twenty years prior, but that party stayed to the left of the crest. We encountered, as did the 1986 party easy to medium hard climbing on poor rock. Due to the nature of the loose climbing, we did not move fast but slowly worked our way upward. On pitch one I think I came the closest I have ever come to dying when 40 meters runnout my handhold broke and my body flew backwards. Just by a miracle did my right hand lunge forward and barely catch myself. (Good thing I have long gangly arms!). On another pitch high on the buttress I was forced to climb up vertical big loose blocks. As John was following this pitch a rock the size of his upper body ripped out on him and they both went flying through the air. Luckily when John stopped the rock kept on going, rather then squishing his head or something else. The higher we climbed the more “bs” climbing we encountered. We then that we hit a headwall. We tried to work left of it, right up the middle of it, and lastly to the right, but nothing would go. I dreaded a descent of what we had come up. There were no cracks and the wall was overhanging and loose. It was then that we came to the realization that we would have to retreat. After many raps off of single pins and scary nuts we safely reached the ground below. By far the biggest retreat I have ever had to make. DAY 3 It felt good to be done. But as John and I sat around our cozy fire for the last night out and discussed the day’s events, I said “You know, I’m pissed that we didn’t make it up this thing, it means we have to come back and try it again.” The adventure was awesome. Gear Notes: Double rack of cams, nuts, pins, no crampons, ice axe, 70m rope If you go now to do the DNB (route in Nelson Book) you wont need crampons!!! Approach Notes: Brushy hell

Climb: Mount Stuart-Razorback Ridge, NW Face Direct Date of Climb: 7/8/2006 Trip Report: DAY ONE: As we traversed the upper flanks of the Stuart Glacier, my heart pounded. I felt vulnerable having so much rock and ice above me, and the tennis shoes I was wearing on the steep snow didn’t increase my comfort level. The air was warm and the setting silent as we made our way to the rocky rib, known as Razorback Ridge, a rarely attempted route, one which we intended to climb. In the distance I could see what looked like a large bergschrund that we would have to negotiate to gain the rock, one more element that kept me uneasy in our situation. As we drew nearer, the ice began to moan, each time making my heart skip a beat (or two). Once below the ridge, I could clearly see that the crux of this climb would be getting on the rock. A jumbled mess of standing and fallen seracs separated us from our route. We carefully picked our way through the mess. Once on the rock, the climbing was consistently enjoyable. The route was steep with awesome exposure, though the climbing was never extremely difficult. And the rock was solid, but often covered in lichen. At one point high on the ridge crest there is a perfect knife edged ridge that must be traversed, the namesake of the route. We finished the route in good time and then descended the West Ridge with a series of rappels and lots of down climbing, back to camp before dark. Satisfied with the days climb, I ate a huge dinner of beef and gravy and settled in for the night. I would highly recommend this climb to others. It should be a “Classic” written in a guide. DAY TWO: I awoke to the buzzing of my alarm clock at 3:30 in the morning and soon thereafter found myself once again slipping and sliding in my tennis shoes, traversing the Stuart Glacier. The distant sunrise was beautiful and for a short moment, the entire mountain lit up in red. Today we were attempting the long and difficult Northwest Face route as described in Alan Kearney’s guide, “Classic Climbs of the Northwest.” And though I knew gaining the rock would again be challenging, it would definitely not be the crux of the day, considering the 5.10 rock climbing the route had to offer. I felt even more vulnerable as we approached the base of the climb then I did the previous day, with car sized ice chunks perched overhead. Again the mountain was silent. Right off the ground, this face begins with a 5.10+ finger crack pitch. And with at least 4 more pitches rated 5.10 higher up, this climb was consistently difficult. But, yet again the rock was always solid, the climbing super fun and very memorable. The higher we climbed, the more difficult the route became. Fatigue and dehydration played a role on our abilities on this strenuous climb, as well as climbing with bulky backpacks. After many hours and lots of pitches we found ourselves on top, about 50 feet from the true summit. Having both been to the summit many times before, we didn’t bother to walk over, but instead descended the Cascadian Couloir. It was then that we began the tiresome trudge back to Goat Pass, where we had bivied the previous night and stashed all our gear. We reached camp just before dark and again ate huge dinners and settled in for the night. We had planned on climbing a third route the following day. DAY THREE: Upon waking up the next morning, Mount Stuart was socked in and there was a strong, mildly cold wind. Both being tired from the previous two days and not wanting to suffer in the conditions (though another route would have certainly gone) decided to pack up and head home. We took our time on the hike out, which was quite enjoyable. Both being satisfied with the previous days work, two big routes (big for us) in one weekend. Gear Notes: Double set of cams, ice axe, no need for crampons yet Approach Notes: Ingalls Lake, easy goin'