nkane

Glad to see that total badasses such as yourselves also found the East Ridge of Terror to be, so to speak, terrifying. Climbing and rapping that choss-hole may have been one of the scariest adventures of my climbing career.

So my long-planned trip to Squamish is supposed to take place the first week of August, and looking at the forecast for the last few weeks, I'm starting to get a little worried. What's going on up there? Isn't it supposed to be nice in the summer? Any locals want to give me some words of encouragement?

Good choice - what a rad climb (though Pink Laurel is too). My partner managed to take repeated whips at the first pitch crux and weld one of my nuts there last year. I wonder if it's still there.

Arrow and Pink Laurel, right?

I was there in March and it was fine with an economy car. Go a little slow. Watch out for burros.

I vote for this one: how many other TRs have triggered such a mad scramble for the FFA? http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/904438/1

Awesome! The scenery up there looks like New Hampshire, but bigger.

I don't want to say that this is the only climbing in the Caribbean, but the Baths on Virgin Gorda are almost certainly the best. Beachside bouldering on giant granite formations. Hard to beat.

To be fair, CCK isn't a 5.6 - it's the hardest 5.7+ at the Gunks.

Stone Gardens and VW are always super busy on weekend nights, so I think that it's possible the market is not yet saturated. I hope there's room for all the new arrivals.

I'd like to point out that huts and marked trails are not a uniquely foreign institution - look at New Hampshire. In the White Mountains, there is a network of huts connected by an excellently-maintained trail network, all run by the AMC (and to a certain extent, the RMC and the Dartmouth Outing Club). The Whites are an area with a lot of challenging, remote, terrain, but they're close to a lot of big population centers and get absolutely slammed with traffic at all times of year. The AMC has done a great job building trails, educational exhibits, and infrastructure that focus the impact and keep people from trampling and ruining the very limited and fragile alpine environment up there. There's only a few square miles of alpine terrain in New England, and it's in pretty good shape considering the pressure on it (compare to the trashed and eroded summit of, say, Saddle Mountain in the Oregon Coast Range). Now I'm not suggesting that the Mountaineers should do everything that the AMC has done, and obviously the environment and challenges of the Northwest are very different, but it's something to think about. When I first moved to the Northwest, I thought it was weird that the government does almost all the trailbuilding and maintenance in the Cascades. In NH, where I started climbing and backpacking, much of the education and infrastructure was done by dedicated volunteers. Edit: obviously the WTA does a lot of good work too.

No way - it's gotta be "repel" instead of rappel. Also, "beaner" for biner really annoys me.

I don't know what nursing school is like, but I've climbed a shitload in law school. So have hope!

Walmart on Charleston. Depending on the night, the security guard who patrols the Borders parking lot is either a friendly dude who didn't mind us cooking some food there, or a gruff Irishman who kicked us out. Costco could also be an option.

I like it: I stuff it into its pocket and clip it to my harness for belaying on cool, windy days. Combined with a wool hat that I put in a pocket, it provides enough warmth to stave off hypothermia when it's chilly out. Since it packs down and has a clipping point, it reduces my need to bring a pack on long routes - I take the nano puff, a hat, clip a water bottle to a gear loop, and put a few bars in my pocket and I'm good for many hours. I also use it as a layer in the winter. cons: too slippery and fragile to give much confidence when climbing chimneys.

Nice, Tyler!

I would recommend it as a way to climb Terror - it's surprisingly short, so if you manage to stay on route, it will go quickly. And like I said, the climbing is really good where it's good, and the exposure is really nice. But there's so much loose rock on the raps that I think it probably makes more sense to descend the West Ridge. We were lucky not to pull anything big down onto ourselves. Going up and over the top adds some length to the day, and you'll have to carry your boots, but it's probably safer and more fun, especially before the snow in the west gully melts out. That said, I haven't done that route, so I can't vouch for it, but it seems like it should be a better way way to descend.

Trip: Five Days in the Southern Pickets, 8/21/10-8/26/10 - Chopping Block, NE Ridge; Terror, E Ridge Date: 8/27/2010 Trip Report: When my friend Sandy told me he was interested in coming west for a climbing trip, I asked him one question: "how do you feel about suffering?" When he told me he felt pretty badass, I decided it was time to check out the Picket Range. This would be my first trip in the North Cascades National Park, and Sandy's first alpine trip of any significance ever. We ended up having a stellar trip, with no small amount of suffering, but counterbalanced by equal parts alpine ecstasy. We got two summits by cool routes and had a blast. Loads of pictures are here: Pictures Day 1 We left town late in the day, allowing for our hangovers to recede, and headed to the ranger's office for our permits. After a ginormous burger at Good Food (where we were assaulted by ravenous cats), we headed into the woods at the Upper Goodell Creek Campsite, parking at the turnout that Beckey advises. We shouldered our packs (stuffed with what turned out to be WAAAYYY too much food) and hiked 4 miles in and made camp at the obvious cairn/arrow that marks the start of the Terror creek approach. Day 2 When a Beckey guide describes an approach as a "long physical day," take him at his word. Such is the approach to the Barrier. We actually briefly took the wrong trail, heading to Terror Basin, and had to schwack over to the trail leading to the Terror Creek crossing. There is a good trail leading to a log at 2050ft. Can you spot the bushwacker? Log shimmying: Around this time it started to really rain. We slogged up the scrambly trail to the ridge crest at 3600 feet, and got thoroughly soaked. The next 1600ish feet go up the crest of the ridge that becomes the Barrier, and the trail becomes increasingly hard to follow. Blueberries abounded, though. We finally broke out above treeline at about 730 pm and threw the tent up in the first decent spot near running water that we could find. It was a cold shivery night in soaked sleeping bags in a soaked tent. Day 3 But then, the mountains rewarded us for our suffering: Sprinklings of snow on McMillan Spire: We decided to take a rest day and dry everything out. We moved camp through Stump Hollow and up to a sweet site on the ridge below the Chopping block. Prophet (I think), Baker, Shuksan: Day 4: We climbed the Chopping Block by its Northeast Ridge. This is a fun little route with good rock that gets better as you climb higher. The bottom is kind of 3rd class moss. We rapped it with a 70m using existing stations - there was a little bit of downclimbing but it was pretty mellow. Should have worn my red jacket to climb in; I blend in too much. Day 5: We got up early and did the East Ridge of Mount Terror. This is a decently long day from Chopping Block Camp, and the route is quite a bit more serious. We found a good deal of loose rock (more than Beckey's "minimal looseness") and had a bit of routefinding trouble. We rapped the route with a 70m, which involved downclimbing some loose, exposed 3rd class terrain; there were a few existing stations, which we beefed up, and we added a few more. The volume of loose rock made this rap not a very fun experience - descending the west ridge might be a better option. Still, this is a good route with stellar exposure, if you don't mind pulling off a fair number of holds. Slabs leading up to the ridge: First pitch - pretty punchy for 5.6, but some of the best rock and moves on the route: Traversing over 4th class rubble. Ignore the horizon tilt. I decided this was not the right way: So we did this 5.6 roof with loose holds instead: Summit porn: The McMillan Glacier was bombarding the valley with car-sized seracs all day, which really added to the ambiance. Day 6: We woke to rapidly descending clouds and skedaddled down the Barrier to the car. We left camp at 8, and it was raining by 10. Back at the car at 3:20, soaked again. We finished up an awesome trip with Annie's Pizza in Concrete. Gear Notes: Rope: 70m 9.4mm Rack: some nuts and tricams, single rack camalots .4-3, plus a few wild country zeroes and a yellow link cam. slings and cord for bailing. Food: way too much We left two awesome walking sticks at the trailhead. go get them. Approach Notes: Schwacktacular. A bramble scramble in the Picket thicket. Vertical jungle swimming.

I found it slightly small, and narrow in the forefoot and the heel.

Bump!

I got these boots online and they just don't fit me. They'd be a great summer mountaineering boot for someone they're right for. They look like this. I live in Queen Anne, Seattle. Pick up in person highly preferred.

Wow! I can't believe I started such a beauty of a thread. Donations would be of course be appreciated, though hardly necessary, given that losing my cam was probably my own damn fault. Better to put that money towards better use, like the Index fund, or beer.

Not terribly funny. If anyone picked it up, I'd love to get it back though.

Ugh. My (awesome) first trip to Index was tainted when I got home and realized my #4 was missing. The most probable place for it would be the base of Japanese Gardens. Please PM me or call Nine seven eight 505 0090 if you picked it up. Thanks!

I'm also looking for a partner for Monday and/or Tuesday. Just moved to town and I want to get out before my job starts up. See my recent TR here. Basically I'm leading low-11 sport and 5.9 trad. I have a rope and rack but no car. I'm also extremely fun to climb with.