BirdDog

Very entertaining TR; awesome 1st photo.

It didn't look any of the routes except OS had had much recent traffic up them. EoS looked dirty.

No appology needed Dane. Passed an old pin at the finger traverse and though that would been tough driving that baby home while hanging on with one finger. 40 years ago 5.9 was heady stuff.

Don't know if they were glue ins, but the cold shuts were pretty shiny. Tom S. belayed from that anchor (3rd pic in my OP), so maybe he could provide better info.

Thanks for taking photos - now I can experience the descent vicariously; 'cause I'll never have the balls to ski that thing.

The bolted station at the left side of LL looks pretty recent, as did the first few bolts going up and left. Maybe someone's has replaced a few. Anyone have Viktor's new guide to see if he has any info on it?

..bump...make an offer

Your boots looked pretty hammered, but send them Dave Page; he let you know whether they can be saved without spending a fortune. http://www.davepagecobbler.com/

...yea, and they snore like a heard of mad hogs!

Looked as if there was some, but it was kinda dark and hard to tell.

Prolly won't be busted, but not much point in camping out below SCW; we did the approach in under an hour.

You're probably right. Outer Space steps out right from Library Ledge, Edge moves left, and looks wicked.

I don't know anything about pumpline. Iconoclast goes to the left of Outer Space from Library Ledge, where there is a fairly new bomber bolted anchor. Inconoclast route looked like it hadn't seen much traffic lately and definitely had some lichen on it, upping the .10+ rating. Couldn't see hyperspace from our route. The entire wall is dry though, except for one small slimy water streak just below the summit on our route.

Danes advise is really good - dress as light as you possibly can. Keep two base layers with you, wear one while your moving, and then change when you stop. You can dry the wet one out in your bag, or just stick it back on knowing you have a dry one if you get cold. Also, make sure your outer wear has a good DWR finish on it. Renew it when the water does not bead up. Keeping the DWR finish is top condition allows the outer wear to breath much more than if it's soaked.

Trip: Alpine Lakes - Outer Space Date: 4/25/2010 Trip Report: So, the forecast for Vantage was 60 and mostly sunny for this weekend. I spent Thurs. and Friday trying to recruit someone, but no luck. Then I ran into Tom S. on Friday night and said "Hey Tom, what are doing this weekend." "Going to L-worth" "Oh yea, who are you going with?" "You" "OK, cool." Tom swung by my place at 6 with Shawn and Jack; and after a quick visit to Starbucks we heading over Stevens in light snow. This should have been our first clue. Pulled up icicle and stopped at 8-mile to do a first ascent of Classic; someone already on it. Oh well, I guess they get the FA. So, back down Icicle, tom says "Hey let's do Outer Space." So the group dynamic thing takes over, and next thing we're hiking up the creek. Boulder hopped Snow Creek, and trudged up through Tick Ville to the base. Tom does a nice lead up the bottom of the 3rd pitch, and across the "finger tip traverse", which is not only missing places for finger, but deosn't have much for feet either. It is now snowing lightly, and I'm picking ticks off every three seconds and shivering as I belay Jack up the crux. I have long pants in my pack, but it's still sunny and I like to climb in shorts. So here we at the Pedestal belay and Tom says, "you lead this one OK" and proceeds to load me up with cams. So, off I go. Get up to Library Ledge and bring up Jack. We spent the next while shivering are asses off waiting for Tom and Shawn to climb and re-supply us with cams. The very buccolic scene of Lower Icicle and L-worth were bathed in soft late afternoon light. The moon rose over the ridge opposite the wall. The cabins of the valley below were glowing with light reminding that some more sane souls were enjoying a nice glass of Cabernet by the fire. Jack I begin calisthenics to warm up. I start up the 6th pitch, my hands numb with cold; scrathing for for chicken heads. Running out of both chicken heads and cams, I had to resort to proper crack climbing techniques, which I have always found rather painful on the toes. Not this time, my feet were numb, so I styled up the crack, placing a my meager supply of correct sized cams, running it out to a dead tree thirty feet from the summit. Topped out as the clouds were turning pink. Since I was done climbing, I put on my long pants. Instead of taking the normal descent route we opted for a shortcut. Yea, drop off the backside to Pearly Gates, and down the trail. After a dark stumble fuck tripping over, crawling under, and smacking into numerous deadfall, we found the rap anchors at the top of Pearly Gates, in the exact spot Tom said they would be. So, it's got to be somewhere close to 10:30 and we're setting up a rap while contending with a pair of goats. The rope toss goes well, and so does the ATC toss; Munter hitch rapel! As the last one down I'm standing in the moon light trying to discern the "off rapel" call; only hearing the clop of goat hooves. I creep close to the edge to test for slack lines, and the goat is right on my ass. I back off, back onto the ledge; remembering the cardinal rules of goat management- never turn your back to a goat. While I wasn't really planning on a moonlight rapel, it was certainly preferable to getting butted off the Pearly Gates. After kicking some small rocks towards the goat I bought enough time to grab the chains and get my rap set up. See you old goat - and off into the darkness. The window glass was still intact in Tom's rig, but Gustav's was closed. Jack's summer sausage was savagely devoured as we headed back over Stevens in snow. Fun times, except for midnight bush wack. Gear Notes: Lot's of 2" cams. Approach Notes: Trail snow free to base.

For Sale: Marmot fleece bibs. Full side zips, crotch zip, front zip. Mens medium. Great for Denali or similar. $60 Scarpa "Veloce" rock shoes. Size 44. Only worn in gym 10 -12 times. Nice shoe, but stretched out way too much in the toe for my skinny feet. Excellent condition, no smell. I'm at VW Seattle 2-3 times a week if you want try 'em out. $70 http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorgear/Scarpa-Veloce-Climbing-Shoe/SCR0146M.html

wow. and peeps were skiing on that crap. cool link.

Found in camp area. PM and describe.

+1 what Bigtree said. From my personal obs; snowpack below 4500 is low, about normal above. Spring weather, ie:warm or cold, will have more to do with route conditions than depth of snowpack.

Thanks for all the updates!

Nice work, sorry I couldn't join you on that one. Great pics. You've been killing stuff this year!

For Sale: Outdoor Reseach Foray Shell Jacket. Really nice light shell made with Gore-Tex PacLite. Weighs 14 1/2 oz. Men medium in blue. I have only worn this jacket about 3 times, absolutely like new condition. Full length pit zips, helmet compatable hood that stows on collar. I just won a OR Pro shell jacket, so selling this. http://www.outdoorresearch.com/site/m_s_foray_jacket.html http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorgear/Outdoor-Research-Foray-Jacket-Mens/ODR0539M.html At backcountry.com for $198; your for $125. Scarpa "Veloce" rock shoes. Size 44. Only worn in gym 10 -12 times. Nice shoe, but stretched out way too much in the toe for my skinny feet. Excellent condition. I'm at VW Seattle 2-3 times a week if you want try 'em out. $70 http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorgear/Scarpa-Veloce-Climbing-Shoe/SCR0146M.html PM if interested.

Lunges - foward lunge and static lunge. +1 on the above advise - esp. rest. Really taper off your training two weeks prior to the climb, keep to an easy maintenance sch. with 2 - 3 rest days.

Oh holy fuck, here we go again!

Awesome to see FA's still being knocked off. NICE! Really great photos. Congrats guys!