Bosterson

Old Chute is a walk up, especially in April/May when it's unlikely to be icy. No need to take a rope, especially if you don't plan to place anchors and belay. Just cross your fingers for good weather and check the NWAC forecast if it's recently stormed. The later you go (May vs April), the earlier you should make your alpine start - both for safety and to avoid the hordes (the Chute seems less crowded at 5-6am...).

From the summit, you make one short rap down to the P2 bolted anchor on the small ledge in the middle of the face. From there down to the big shelf at the top of P1 (second tied off rock anchor), you can make it with a single 70m with just a couple of feet to spare. We watched the party above us do it with a 60 and the guy got stranded in the middle of the face since his rope didn't reach the shelf, but he was able to swing himself skier's left over to the blocky arete, get off rap, and downclimb to the shelf without too much hassle. (He was wearing mountaineering boots, not climbing shoes, if that tells you anything.) So either bring a 70 if you have one, bring 2 shorter ropes (that's a lot of unnecessary extra weight for such a short climb), or else be comfortable rapping partway down P2 and then downclimbing the last 20-30 ft unroped.

Why did that guy keep talking about how he was going to "repel?" Are there a lot of bugs in Hyperbole Canyon?

I would agree that best practices for crags includes not TRing through fixed anchors. Last time I was at City of Rocks, I watched a party of half a dozen set up a TR on a short and easy route running directly through the ends of the rap chains. I had visions of Jete at Smith, where the big rap rings at the ends of the chains have sizable divots (like half of the diameter of the ring!) from people running TR ropes back and forth. (When I brought this up with the folks at City, their response was something like, "Oh we meannnttt to set up an anchor...") I think with steel biners and cold shuts, it's a little different because those are easy to replace, but if you're going to have the whole family hang dog the route, you should build your own anchor to cut down on wear and tear to the fixed stuff. And sending an inexperienced second up to remove the anchor is just poor planning.

My friend went up N Sister on 8/19 and the Terrible Traverse was completely dry.

Trip: Yeon Mountain - Yellowjacket Buttress Date: 6/6/2015 Trip Report: For those who like a bit of landscaping, this is one of the sketchier Yeon/Nesmith routes in Tim Olson's Gorge Classic Climbs. Tim told me he and his partner got above the climbing difficulties back in 2000 but had to bail due to weather. Per the guide, you follow Tumalt Creek until near where it forks, then head west up a side gully to a headwall. Traverse into the thin ridge up the left side of the headwall and climb 400-500 ft through downed trees, steep loose slopes, and rotten rock stacks until the ridge meets the side of the mountain. The rope came out at a short rock step. The likeliest weakness was left of the ridge, above a large tree for a belay. I was able to fit a #13 stopper in a crack, then do a thrashy mantle over some tree branches onto a slope above. Then up to a little corner, and up the spine to the base of a tall headwall of loose, mossy rock. We found Tim Olson's 15 year old rap anchor. Everything was loose and sloped and the moss we were standing on was ripping away from the hillside in the bathmat sized area we were in. I made an anchor off some small, suspect trees and started up the stack - unprotected climbing for about 20 ft until you reach a do-or-go-home mantle on some questionable mossy rock to grab a big, solid tree root - hitch it and continue up to easier ground. We ended up doing a lot of fingertip daggering into the moss. Rope drag was awful on this pitch. After this the ridge flattened and met the hillside. As more standard scrambling through brush was required, we unroped here. Unknown terrain was ahead, and while the going was intially easy, we quickly hit another headwall. No pictures, but trending up and right led to a corner where a dead tree and some mossy rock allowed you to do an exposed mantle at a dropoff corner. I was ready to be done with this and didn't rope up, though it would probably have been prudent. After this, we ascended some nice slopes, hit a second headwall that was easily passed via a dirt ramp up its middle, and then we climbed the last few hundred feet up a steep brushy hillside to the top. We then crossed the Yeon Plateau until we met the Horsetail Creek trail, took it up to Nesmith, and descended the Nesmith trail and walked the frontage road back to the car at the Tumalt pullout. Looking back at the spine of Yellowjacket from up by Nesmith: Not sure anyone here goes for this sort of thing, but Mr. O asked if I was going to post this info for posterity. We tore up the moss pretty badly in some spots, so it probably will need time to recover (say, another 15 years?) before anyone else should go up there. Realistically, Tim and I agree that it's unlikely that anyone else has any interest in doing something like this. Gear Notes: #13 stopper, a dozen slings or lengths of webbing for hitching trees Approach Notes: Tumalt Creek

It was Craggy Peak in the Dark Divide. http://www.columbian.com/news/2015/apr/08/man-dies-after-hiking-near-mount-st-helens/

Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of science?

Do legit climbing bolts (Powers, etc) have some sort of very obvious marking on the bolt head so that a climber could quickly and visually confirm that the bolt is probably a real climbing bolt vs an industrial fastener (which I think is what the the ones pictured are, per the cross post of this thread in the Access forum)? Sort of the way you can see the "Mad Rock 25KN" stamp on the hanger to immediately distinguish it from homemade ones.

As the photo'd "amigo" going for the PG left, we got to right above the shadow line at the base of the slot. Scoping the icy step above from a chest-high impediment, with all the shit periodically falling down the slot (nothing too huge, but glad to be wearing a helmet; a party ahead who turned back said a microwave-sized block had almost nailed them), we decided to retreat. Others went up before us and probably after, but the mountain isn't going anywhere so I was content to play it safe. Downclimb to the top of the Hogsback was annoying, snow was softening up speedily in the sun. Last time I agree to a late start with skiers! Here's Water after he crossed to the right side of the gully, about to head up PG right. Heading up from the Hogsback: Pearly Gates:

Nice to run into you out there yesterday. Any shots of the chimney in the Gates? You mentioned doing some stemming moves, sounds fun. Real question is can you break 2 hrs without skis? Maybe you could try sprinting up there in some Luna Sandals?

Dude, pretty sweet that you got route beta from Doug Robinson. Nice TR, wish that granite weren't so far away!

I heard about that rescue. Was it icy above the Hogsback, or was the snow just really hard?

Further economic analysis: Source In other words, GNI/capita = national average income. Converted to international dollars using PPP, it is a measurement of how much quality of life a national average income can buy in that nation compared to the US. For Nepal, the 2012 national average income is the equivalent of $2,190 per year in the US. (Keep in mind that in 2012, the US poverty line for a single individual was $11,170 per year. If you're married, it goes up to $15,000, and if you also have a couple of kids, it goes up to at least $23,000.) Thus, if Sherpas are being paid 7x the national average for Nepal, they are earning the equivalent of someone in the US who earns $15,330 per year. That person is not necessarily starving, but they're not living very well either....

More context: For 2012: ----- --- 1) Norway ----- .955 --- .894 16) US ----- .937 --- .821 18) France ----- .893 --- .812 19) UK ----- .875 --- .802 109) Nepal ----- .463 --- .304 Source Can we just acknowledge that there are important economic differences besides adjusting for the relative value of different currencies? Sherpas making "7x the national average" are not literally making the "equivalent of $300,000 per year." They are not buying mansions (let alone suburban homes) and sports cars or SUVs. GDP/capita in Nepal is US $1300 vs $57,000 in this country. Their literacy rate is 48% and they have an average lifespan of 66.8 years, vs 78.6 here. And if you think unemployment is high in the US, be thankful we're still in the single digits - it's 46% in Nepal. This is not to knock what Pat wrote, just that people are fixating on the money itself. Can we agree that Nepal is a much poorer country, not just in terms of the value of its money, but in terms of its infrastructure and opportunity for the average person, than countries in the west? Also, to amend what Pat wrote, the Sherpas are making these demands of the Nepalese government, not of the guiding companies. Pat's compensation figure is also too large. As of last year, Sherpa families currently get 1 million Nepalese Rupees from the government if a Sherpa dies on Everest. This = US $10,392, according to Google. The Sherpas are asking that it be raised to 2 million NR. As noted by a Sherpa writer in the Financial Times, the 1M NR amount is barely enough to cover the deceased's funeral. (I also realize Pat's figure is from a blog. I found the $10,000 figure in National Geographic, Wikipedia, and Krakauer's New Yorker article.)

This quote doesn't help your argument that the sherpa are not paid fairly. relatively. I used that quote from the Krakauer article because it's discussing the fact that the Sherpas are not quitting - they're going on strike, forgoing wages for a labor rights issue. That said, all the quote literally implies is that the people who pay to get guided up Everest are waaaay richer than Sherpas, relatively speaking. It's not saying that $5000 for a Sherpa is worth more than $50-90k in a western country, it's saying that rich western clients are more easily able to forego a huge amount of money in a wealthy western country than a Sherpa is able to forego a much smaller amount of money in a poor country. In other words, it's saying that the Sherpas are still barely scraping by, as one season could make or break them. I don't think that guiding companies are trying to "screw over" the Sherpas - quite the reverse, actually, since look how many companies stepped up and cancelled their seasons (which will affect their business, their reputations, and their bottom lines) when the the Sherpas went on strike. That said, this is still an issue of rich people operating in a poor country, and the labor tangle that entails. Don't think that Sherpas are crossing the Khumbu Icefall dozens of times because they "love climbing" and it's a "good job" - they need the money.

Please reread my post. I put in that quote as a reference to the quality of the news coverage. There is a complicated and important discussion to be had regarding the labor issues at stake here. The news, however, has boiled it down to "the Sherpas quit" and have proceeded to quote a bunch of Westerners whining about it, as well as repeatedly noting that they may not get their money back. The question of why the Sherpas were doing more dangerous work for less pay in the first place, and whether that should be perpetuated, is not really being covered now that the Sherpas have walked out. To be fair, that one article was extremely idiotic and I was sounding off. Some of the previous coverage has been better. This is the real crux of the issue: NY Times Also crucial is the issue of how global warming is affecting mountaineering. The Atlantic And the most comprehensive analysis I've seen so far was provided by, natch, Jon Krakauer.

"Maoist??"

Is anyone else extremely mind@#$%ed by the absurd rhetoric being spewed out regarding the Sherpa strike on Everest? It's bad enough that Sherpas are treated like porters, that they don't make purchasing-power-adjusted wages relative to western guides, that they do the vast majority of dangerous work (ferrying loads back and forth through the Khumbu Icefall, fixing all the ropes in advance of climbing season), but now the very legitimate labor issue at the heart of this is being sidelined in the media in favor of the litany of whining from western "climbers" who are disappointed they won't get to be led by the hand up the mountain? NYT article

As of 3/22/14: snow above Palmer is shot through with ice up to below Crater Rock. From there on, snow is a mixture of harder and consolidated (good for daggering) and 4-6 in of dry sugar that wants to slide. Everyone ended up downclimbing about 1/3 of the Old Chute before you could turn around and heel plunge back down to the Hogsback. The sunny weather is releasing some layered slabs around the Old Chute and West Crater Rim area. Super cold before sunrise, in the teens.

Trip: Dog Mountain - Dog Spine Date: 1/18/2014 Trip Report: A little bit of Gorge landscaping, dedicated to my buddy Billy who wished he could come along. Ended up too far east and missed Helser's Direct. Climbed Dog Rock despite freezing wind. Barely a climbing route, with two 1/4" bolts on rusty hangers, walk across a five foot ledge, turn a corner and do a move over your head to the summit. I placed a #9 stopper in a crack to protect the last move. Four faded slings from two solid(er) bolts make an anchor with two rap rings. It's pretty dumb, but so is climbing. After that, fun ridge scrambling. Some misc bolts and fixed pins found on the hillside with rotting orange hardware store "rope" tied through them. Exposed but easy 3rd class - no reason to use any of that pro. Frosty up top, so we bailed off the right towards the end and followed the hill up into the trees. Dumb fun. Gear Notes: Helmet and gaiters. Leave the axe and gear at home. Approach Notes: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1099627

I was hoping to do a 4 day backpacking/scramble trip up in Glacier Peak Wilderness over Labor Day Weekend (see below), but my car was stolen a few weeks ago, so I'm a bit SOL. I'm up for any kind of backpacking, scrambling, or climbing during that period and just want to get outside over the holiday. Located in Portland, have gas money, car was unfortunately found stripped for parts... Original idea if people are interested, otherwise open to invites.

Nice work guys! Yeah, we should have started a little earlier to make up for sluggishness from lack of sleep. The bushwhack up the north fork of Milk Creek also wasted some time with routefinding in the dark. The snow softened really quickly once the sun hit it, so it was good to turn around when we did. A really nice day out there, though.

Dirt scrabbling? (I think GCC calls this "Gorge Adventuring;" you've gotta make your own fun.) I did find a super solid hand jam between two trees though...

Trip: Nesmith area - Patagonian Trade Route Date: 6/7/2013 Trip Report: From Tim Olson's Gorge Classic Climbs: Ben and I have been ticking off various scramble routes in the Yeon area - the NE Buttress, the NW Ridge, Katanai Rock - and wanted to spend a long day getting after one of the harder routes in GCC. PTR is described as "extreme risk," with long creek drainages to climb, bushwhacking, and sketchy 5th class leading. We took a standard 50m rope, slings, biners, and helmets. The route goes up Tumalt Creek from Dodson, right east of the Ainsworth Exit off the frontage road. Eventually it splits, and you jump up onto the small ridge in the middle. We followed the ridge up through some thick brush until it popped out into another drainage. The book says to go up a few hundred feet and then ascend a small, thin ridgelette to climber's right that requires some 4th class roped brush scrambling. We instead kept straight up the gully and skipped the ridgelette. This required a slightly sketchy traverse at the top of the gully to go over to the top of the ridgelette, where the rest of the "hard" climbing begins. There are crazy landslides all over this rugged area. View west towards Yeon Mountain. We geared up. From the flat top of the ridgelette, we ascended some steep, loose ground until we hit a rock headwall. It looked like a good, easy way up, but the rock was atrocious - part dirt, super loose. So, following the route description, we traversed left (east) across a narrow shelf that required one very sketchy downstep with poor moss hands. This was pitch 1, protected at the sketchy step by slinging some brush. At the end of the shelf (70 ft?), I set up a belay on two trees and brought Ben across. View down into the gully, the ridgelette (midground trees), and Tumalt Creek way below. Pitch 2 climbed straight uphill and was fairly straightforward and well protected by hitching slings to trees and some sturdy, buried roots. The crux, as described in GCC, is a stem between a tree and a semi-loose rock wall - transferring your weight out of the stem and onto the so-so rock is balancy. (Ben accomplished it by shoving his hand deep into the dirt and making a fist jam?) Above the stem there's a little shelf with some trees, and since I was running out of slings, I built an anchor and brought Ben up. I sent him onward for P3, which went straight to the rim of the flat Nesmith plateau. It's probably not necessary to rope up, as the climbing from here on is easy and a bit more solid, but a fall would not be good, and there's one exposed rocky corner to turn immediately after the shelf I was belaying on. Looking uphill above that corner, easy, soft ground. Looking to my right. The "summit." From here, we followed the rim uphill to the summit of Nesmith. En route we passed some amazing landslides. Getting close to the edge is a little unnerving, since the edge is basically a moss and tree root cornice... This view shows the approximate upper portion of PTR, from the traverse over to the ridgelette and up to the top. In sum, the route is approximately 3000 ft of approach up a series of drainages, ridges, and gullies to a couple of pitches of slightly sketchy and decently exposed dirt, moss, and tree climbing. Most of it is pretty easy to protect with hitched slings, and it never felt overly dangerous. GCC says the FA was in 1999, and they mention a possible left exit that looks like it may have gotten destroyed by one of the big landslides, so I'm curious if anyone else has done this and how much traffic it sees. Gear Notes: GCC recommends all kinds of pro, but I wouldn't trust any of the rock to hold any kind of gear. Hitch slings to trees and roots - three 24" and five 48", plus some bigger webbing to make anchors around trees. Approach Notes: Tumalt Creek drainage