mountainsloth

Yay for rambles up obscure peaks, especially when they give you excellent views of my favorite "crag" 😎

Nice one. I miss the olympics. Time to go back.

Trip: Squire Creek, Illusion Wall - New Route: Epic Tail of Sir Norbert Date: 10/31/2015 Trip Report: I have been meaning to post up here for a while, as this route has been done for 1.5 years now. This here is a "new-ish" route on the Illusion Wall. It shares existing pitches from a route put up by Crazedmaniac and friends in the 70's. This route starts 30 feet to the right of "Schizophrenic" Lined in purple on this photo. This route was a great adventure for us over the past 3-4 years. It covers old and new ground and offers a surprising amount of crack climbing combined with some nob and short friction sections. All pitches have bolted rap anchors except for the start of pitch 9. Here is a link to the mountainproject write up for more of the story, topo, and pitch-by-pitch. I will let the photos and my friends mountain project post to tell you the rest. Mountain Project Matt following pitch one. Two bolts have replaced those terrifying pitons. Pitch two Pitch 2 chimney finish! Lower pitch 3 Upper pitch 4 Lower Pitch 5 Cruxy and amazing pitch 6! Upper Pitch 7 FIRE!!!! Pitch 8 Ken Strong bolt? Lower pitch 10. Anyone see what is scary in this photo? On our first complete ascent of the route we climbed a very nice hand crack on the right-hand side of this detached flake. Upon approaching the Illusion Wall the following Spring we noticed some of the trees at the base of the wall had been beheaded! There is now a large white scar the size of a medium sized car where the flake used to be. I am so happy it is gone! FYI the upper pitches are still a bit dirty with some small loose rock potential especially pitch 8. We plan on making another trip up there to clean and replace a few old bolts that need replacing this Summer. Enjoy! Gear Notes: Double rack .3-3, single 4 and optional 5 for the short chimney. (This does not seem like a standard Darrington rack! Approach Notes: See the mountain project page

Hanna, happy healing. Ben, I too ran into the downed trees on exfo rd. Only adds an extra 1/2 mile. You could get the majority clear with a hand saw.

Thanks Hanna! How does the illusion wall look? Ready to approach and climb?

Nice writing. Sounds like a route that mortals could actually tackle! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for reminding me that it's still winter out there.

Cool! I've looked at this cliff now for ten years and wondered. Guess I should have gone for a closer look! Nice one Rad!

Ha! I did this route as a party of 3 in two days. Crawled into our sleeping bags with lightning on the horizon. 10 mins later it began to rain. We prayed to the mtn gods and it stopped 30 mins later. The thought of retreat seemed terrifying. Glad we didn't have to. We brought 5 liters on route and every pitch felt like work.

Same thing nearly happened to me on Godzilla. My buddy realized our errors with a foot of rope to spare. Since, I have made the habit of always closing the system before my partner or myself start leading anything. Even if I know it is a 40' climb. If I die climbing I want it to be a freahk act of nature, not my own stupidity.

I have been dreaming of this route for 8 years now and every summer my trip gets foiled. Thanks for giving me a glimpse of my just-out-of-reach dreams. It truly seems like a classic cascad ian adventure. ...

With the above average snowfall, cool and somewhat wet conditions the pnw is experiencing I bet the pocket will be there for most of the summer.

"I dig your style dude."

Guys, I think he was looking for a goodbye back. Goodbye Glassgow! Hope your life stays gun-free.

Just when I start to think I have learned about all of the world's greatest climbing destinations.... Stunning, truly stunning. Many thanks for sharing

The belay loop is meant to be able to rotate completely. If you tie into it, it can no longer do so. This is also why you girth hitch into leg loops and waist loops too.

Mark, I am happy to help out in the road work. Let me know when you plan on going out there again. Big love to those two valleys. Gotta take care of the access to my Mecca.

Nice climb. Too bad bout the goat, but let's face it, there are WAY too many goats out there. And with the number of humans regularly in the enchantments, their natural predator, the cougar are practically non-existent. Something has to weed out the population.

Cool! I have spent a lot of time in that area and always admired that line! Nice work Rad and Darin!

Hey Mark, sorry to have missed the work party. How did it go? Is the road repaired? Keep me in the loop the next time something like this goes down.

On the north side of Jumbo mountain across the valley from squire creek. Ranger station knows about it and is regularly monitoring it. When I hiked out on Tuesday a ranger had put up a sign that mentioned they might close the trail for safety. Lets hope this upcoming rainy week puts it out. It would be a shame to loose the great old growth that still grows high in that valley.

I am beginning to believe that BC truly has it all. Nice find!

Nice list Matt! I would also add "Dirt Circus" - 2 pitch 5.9 magic bus - 2 pitch 5.8+ They have recently been rebolted and have fun and safe climbing. You can find them climbers left of the arch area.

: ... Been dreaming of that area for a long time.

FYI the south route is in total shit shape for skiing. Giant sun cups and foot deep sastrugi up above pikers. SW chutes looked ok though but prob only 3-4k before dirt.