RJRiha

Oh my gosh....Kevin Rose got hurt? That's a terrible thing to hear. I met him once at Elwha Wall, and he seemed like one of the nicest folks I had ever met. He helped us find reasonable lines there. I've never been spanked so hard as on that wall and Kevin seemed to climb with a strength that I've never seen since. I hope he recovers quickly. I bet he will be climbing again quickly. Do you know what happened? Funny Kevin story. He asked us if we had ever been to Index. I replied that the grades at Elwha seemed stiff even compared to Index standards, and he replied, "heh, yeah, well Index is the shiznit". We didn't quite expect an old guy with a grizzly beard to say "shiznit".... Wish a speedy recovery to Kevin!!!

Hmmmm....probably severe avalanche danger on the approach and mountain. Probably wading through waist deep (or deeper) powder. I would say that skis would be pretty much a requirement. Does anyone know if it has ever been completed? I know it has been attempted many times, but many parties don't even reach Glacier Meadows. If you pull it off, DEFINITELY post the TR. The Hoh might not even be the best route in during the winter. There is at least one part I can think of that could be quite sketchy with snow.

Save the Brothers for spring/early summer. Right now it's just a massive choss pile. Go get it if you like endless scree/talus. In the early summer, the easy route goes up a 1000+ ft snow filled couloir that is just a joy to climb.

Budgie.....nuff said.

Ah, passing our "wealth" to future generations! Yeah, vote for Obama - so he can spend even MORE of our kids' money, while f-ing up the rest of the country. I hope Obama gets elected as well as many more democratic congressman and senators. The republican party is no longer the party of small government as the 6 years of government rule proved. They had the opportunity to drastically reduce the size of the government, but instead presided over the largest growth of government since LBJ. If we keep electing these big government, borrow-and-spend republicans, there WILL BE NO major party to support small government, fiscal responsibility, low taxes, etc. And when it comes to taxes, the republicans have shown themselves to be devils in disguise. When we spend more than we take in, we have two options to pay for it: pass it on to a future administration to collect at higher cost (due to interest), or inflate the money supply. GWB and his "conservative" congress have primarily chosen option 2....take a look at a graph of dollar vs. gold, or dollar vs. euro, or dollar vs. canadian dollar to see this. This is taxation at its worst, and that's exactly what it is...a TAX on the entire existing money supply. Probably the largest tax increase in American history. So throw the bums out and maybe....just MAYBE, in 2012, the conservative outrage to Obama's policies will breed a new set of true conservatives who believe in small government, low SPENDING, fiscal responsibility (only spend what you bring in), and FINALLY stopping the growth of and starting to pay off this out of control national debt (which is $4 trillion higher under GWB).

Historical revisionism is pretty common. It was pretty successful here in the good ol' USA with regards to the civil war. Pretty much every school text lists slavery as the reason Abraham Lincoln went to war, whereas reality was a little different. The real reason was to "preserve the union", which brings up a less morally sound debate. This is not to bring up the debate on whether that particular war was just or not, but to the prevalence of historical revisionism.

That's a ridiculous notion to say that we would probably be speaking German. 1940s military technology would not have been sufficient for Germany to successfully defeat the US on home territory. In fact, it would have been insane for Germany to attack us on home ground with the intent on conquest. The only way we would have been speaking German would have been if the constitutional convention would have declared German the official language. That was historically possible as English only won out by one vote.

Exactly. Big Government meddling has screwed us and gotten us where we are today. So the solution is... more Big Government meddling? And have democrats not considered what will happen if they get their national healthcare system, then the Repubs get back in office? Another big government program to use to funnel money into special interest groups (big pharma), the same way that has been done with farm subsidies to big ag, military spending to defense contractors, etc, etc, etc....

Remember that healthcare was affordable before the HMO act of the 70s..... Or before the drug companies became embedded in Washington. Or before the huge string of laws considering what health insurance must cover. Or before excessive litigation caused doctor's malpractice insurance to go through the roof. In the 1960s, there was such a thing as a charity hospital where doctors would work one day a week alternating to provide care to the less fortunate. That ended when they started getting sued and required to follow all the administratium from Washington. Remember, over half of your healthcare cost is covering things caused by Washington. So we expect the same people who are causing our healthcare costs to skyrocket to fix the problem by adding in more intervention?

Was that tattered, purple sling still up there on the summit block?

Do you like lots of talus and scree? If so, give it a go. The Olympic Mountain guidebook has adequate information to get you up the mountain. Remember to go to the right before you hit the hourglass (cliffs make it obvious where it is), then up and left around the cliffs. When you enter the upper South Couloir, the route should be easy to find, just take the line of least resistance.

FA potential is present on quite a few spires on the Tran side of Jefferson peak. There is even a big wall (using that term based on Olympic standards) out near Tran. You can see it from Hamma Hamma River Road after you pass Lower Lena trailhead. It looks tough, but there are plenty of big cracks and a big overhang. You could be the first to do a multipitch aid route in the Olys (I think...). By the way, has anyone climbed Cruiser recently? Ive heard that there are new bolts up there. Is this true? If so, how many are there?

I haven't done a ton of the rock routes in the olympics, but I have experienced everything from choss to surprisingly solid rock. So, from my experience, along with recommendations from others, here goes: West Arete Constance: 5.4 - Classic Route 3 Mt. Washington: 5.7 - Another Classic Warrior Peak - One barely class 5 short pitch (supposedly unprotectable) Mt. Cruiser Route 1: 5.0 - Super classic Alphabet ridge: Many options Sawtooths: many routes to choose from (classic) Needles: many routes to choose from (classic) Tran Spire: See my TR, guidebook says 5.3, I'd say 5.6, pretty chossy, be comfortable with little protection. If you want it, go get the 5th recorded ascent. You said you didn't want glacier slogging, but Olympus has a beautiful pitch of extremely solid rock on the north side of the West summit (1-2 cams in the BD range of 1-2 and 2 of the largest Hexes you have). Do you have the newest version of the Olympic Mountains guidebook? It has a list of alpine rock routes in the back. If you haven't climbed much in the Olys, take the ratings with a grain of salt. Some listed 4th class climbs may have never truly been climbed. 5th class rock routes quite often feel severely sandbagged due to the loose rock, poor pro, and old hard-man ratings. If you choose a route that isn't listed in the back under the alpine rock routes, bring a good selection of pitons because that might be your only truly good protection. My recommendation: Get the book and pick a route with little information. It probably hasn't been climbed in decades, then you can tell us all about it! Be prepared though....Olympic rock feels much more serious than the ratings imply.

See my reply in the Climbers Board.

I did DC this weekend. The bottom portion of the cleaver is almost completely melted, with the upper left portion still covered in snow. At about 13000 feet (give or take a few hundred feet) there is a metal ladder with two wooden boards to cross a crevasse. It can supposedly also be skirted on the left side (the foot path was visible but not flagged). We took the ladder, which was sketchy, but saw 2 solo climbers cross it on all fours (I wouldn't want to do it standing up without another climber to protect it). All in all the route was in good shape. I used La Sportiva Trango EVO GTX boots. They were a little cold for this route, but worked. Others in my group used plastics and they were warm. I think leather boots would be just fine.

Those were the pictures that I rescued off of my camera. I hope Terry posts his up here too, because I think he has some good ones. That sunset was pretty amazing over the sawtooths. Good call John on the recommendation for pitons. I think the addition of a lost arrow and a knifeblade MIGHT have made the upper portion protectable. After that climb, I'm inclined to add the largest size Big Bro to my rack.

This picture is a good representation of the strange conglomerate nature of the rock down low:

Pictures as promised: After contemplating the pictures, I'm almost sure that this is Tran from the road. It is the double summit on the left side of the huge rock outcropping. Here is a picture of the climbing route: A nice view of the sawtooths on the way out:

I broke my camera on the descent, but if I can find someone with a card reader, I should be able to retrieve the photos. I have a couple good closeups of the lower half of the route. Terry took a bunch of pictures that he should be posting. He also got a few good pics of the many interesting spires on Jefferson Ridge (still unclimbed?). I didn't take any pictures of the summit register. The pages were hard enough to decipher in person because the paper was sopping wet and desintegrating. From our research prior to the climb, we were quite shocked that it had been climbed after the FA in 1958. In reading the summit register, it sounds like a story between parties. The second(?) ascent in '77 appeared to be in dedication to one of the members of the first ascent party (mentions of him being on the highest mountain "up there"). The third(?) ascent in 1983 mentions climbing the peak to see a message left by the '77 team ("it took me this long to finally see the message you left me"). One of the parties (can't remember which) mentions that after all this time and finally making it up the peak, they would never be coming up again (as if that's a good advertisement for this climb).

Trip: Tran Spire 50 years after the first ascent - 5.3 Route Date: 7/18/2008 Trip Report: Terry and I went today to go climb Tran Spire. This is a seldom climbed route just north of Jefferson Peak. Our research only came up with 1 other party (first ascent party) doing this climb in 1958, so we had the 50th anniversary climb of this obscure peak. We forded the Hamma Hamma River just across from Black Wall. I took an unexpected dip in the river as the river current was strong. This climb smelled of epic from the beginning. We took the left side drainage up towards Jefferson Peak, which is not listed anywhere in the guidebook as an approach route. We have no clue if anyone has ever approached from this direction, nor whether it would "go" or not. The bushwacking was minimal from the standards of the area (some healthy devils club/slide alder/etc), with the real 'schwacking starting out at around 3000 feet. Many green belays were necessary along with kicking steps in the thick moss and pine needle carpet to skirt the cliffs. There were spots that were quite hairy, but better than the alternative route (Pershing route 5). We reached the base of Tran Spire at about 7-8 hours after leaving the car. We quickly learned that this peak is QUITE chossy, with most of the rock being a strange conglomerate that resembled rocks and pebbles cemented together with dense sand. The first lead took us up about 60 feet, through generally crappy rock and trees. The second lead was about 150 feet, with more choss and some class 5 moves on grass and moss. We topped out and found a summit register and a toy towtruck. This peak was climbed in 1958, 1977, and 1983 according to the register. Unfortunately, we couldn't add our names as the paper was soaking wet. Two rappels brought us back to the base. Every hold on this climb should be considered suspect. While belaying, no matter where I stood, I was dodging nasty rockfall the whole time, with one rock barely whizzing by my face. All protection should also be considered suspect, with our only truly bomber placements being a piton and one large hex. The second pitch was basically unprotectable after 50 feet. Not a big deal for a 5.3 climb right? Well, we both agreed that it was much closer to 5.6-5.7 than 5.3.....definitely hardman rated. We decided to take the normal route down which in hindsight was a terrible idea. I have never seen so much devils club in one place, with some of it growing up to 9 feet tall. The entire descent was tarzan style using 'green rope'. The last 3 hours were full-on bushwacking by headlamp. I'm currently covered in small cuts from the devils club and blackberry bushes as well as plenty of bug bites. I think I swallowed/inhaled at least a couple dozen mosquitoes. A broken camera, a half broken body, and 16 hours later, we were back at the car. I'll try to retrieve my pictures....maybe Terry can post his soon. Gear Notes: We brought a full rock rack (including pitons) and 2 twin ropes. We ended up placing a couple of good hexes, 3 cams (BD C4 camalot #1 and 2 were the best sizes), and made 2 good piton placements. The Rappel from the tree at top requires a two rope rappel. There is no easy way to rappel without 2 ropes. Heavy leather gloves should be considered MANDATORY for the devils club descent. Approach Notes: We forded the Hamma Hamma River right across from black wall and went up the gulley directly in front of us. This is NOT listed in the guidebook as an approach route. We descended the typical guidebook route which was MUCH worse bushwacking through the worst devils club I have ever seen.

Trip: Pershing - 7 Date: 6/22/2008 Trip Report: It looked like a good day to go after Mt. Pershing, one I have wanted to climb for a long time. RD 2401 is in bad shape, with 3 spots where the road is almost blown out, 2 culverts plugged (with water quickly eroding the road), and another spot with a deep rut. The forest service could easily repair this road right now before it becomes impassible. Hopefully they do it soon, because it will be MUCH harder to repair if it gets much worse. Unfortunately, their budget probably won't allow it . Anyways, we got a late start of 10AM after searching for the trail (heard there was obvious flagging marking the spot, but should have trusted our instincts to begin with). We found the flagging, but it is quickly becoming overgrown. We lost even more time by following the flagging through slide alder into a large basin (it appears we were following flagging to route 2...has anyone done route 2? It looks VERY difficult). Once we realized our mistake, we backtracked and followed the open forest to an open basin at 4300 feet. We climbed through 'a series of vegetated slabs' per the guidebook into an upper slope that went into the clouds. By now it was 4PM and we had to turn around (about 1000 ft shy of the summit). Now that I know the route, I will try again and should be able to get to the upper slopes in well under 3 hours. Question to anyone familiar with the route. Are these the right 'vegetated slabs' described in the guidebook? This looked like it would be fine climbing.....a view of the North Face of Mt. Washington. I'd love to go after the 'Great Groove' route. Anyone done this one? That flagging on the 'trail' is horrendous. It's all over the place and should not be trusted. I'm tempted to go and pull all of it. Or at least all of the red and pink flagging, leaving the orange stuff which seems to be on route. Helmets should be considered mandatory after the 4300 foot basin. I almost got taken out by a big boulder that came crashing down the hill.

That's why we did our own evaluation and didn't follow the crowds that were descending. On our way down, just about every group we ran into said "so, you didn't summit huh?"....there was alot of chatter about the avalanche danger being high in the old chute, but nobody actually evaluating it. It must have been you that we saw skiing down when we were putting gear away in the car. Nice work!

What did you think of the condition of the old chute on Sunday? All those people were turning around due to avalanche hazard based on a pit dug on the hogsback. We dug a few quick pits on the old chute and found it slabby, but fairly cohesive to the hard layer underneath. We decided it wasn't too risky, and continued on to the summit, taking a detour through a 40-50 degree ice chute. That was at about 6AM on Sunday. I wouldn't have wanted to be on it when the sun hit the slope and provided lubrication for the slab to go.

If some punk kid with a drill is going to go bolting, wouldn't it be better if they had the RIGHT information? Yeah, I know it sucks when someone goes out and bolts a crappy line, but wouldn't it be worse if someone got seriously injured or died from a bolt blowing out?

So that was you that we saw skiing down. We hit the summit at 6:45. There was a guided group telling people not to go up because avalanche danger was too high....that's why the summit was empty.