kevino

So that rappel route actually goes with a single 60m, eh? So much for the guide book beta.

Very fond memories of this route! Looks like you two did it in fine style, nice work.

Trip: Spring Ski Mountaineering in Glacier National Park - Many Date: 5/26/2015 Trip Report: You don't appreciate what you have till its gone...or something like that. 2015 started out awesome with some of the deepest powder skiing I've ever had, followed by high pressure, which allowed for some for rare(er) winter summits in Glacier. But unfortunately, I had a nagging back injury subsequently followed by a knee issue, that required some significant down time. Eight weeks after my knee started hurting me, I finally got the green light from my physical therapist to get after and test me knee. No need to tell me twice! First up, I lined up a day with my co-workers in the Two Medicine area: We found some old pow off the summit of Apistoki Toured into the nearby cirque for some hot laps Before finally soaking up some corn turns back to the car The next day I was solo and found my way up to Many Glacier at a ripe early start of 1100. Walked up the trail and skied some awfully smooth corn off of Henkel A few days later I met up with some of my usual crew to go tick off a line visible from town: "Like scrapping crumbs off of burnt toast" Then my good buddy Mike rolled into town, and as he pointed out in his TR, I battled a head cold while we enjoyed some fantastic skiing. After getting some bonus vert as pictured here, we walked over and skied the obvious couloir Third (or fourth) run of the day: We rolled into Many Glacier the next day...I felt even more sick and I had used up too many good days in a row, so GNP handed our asses to us. But Mike also really likes to come to Glacier to cross creeks with skis on his bag (second year in a row this has happened) Nevertheless, we found some skiing. A little while later, I met up with my friend Rob and his friends Mark and Janelle to have a go at this bad boy: Which of course entailed the ever popular bike to ski: Followed by the boot to ski: Then my partners turned around mid face and I skied it, thus the lack of pictures. But it was super good Fast forward a week or two later. Heard through the rumor mill that the West Face Couloir of Siyeah was in. This is my picture from the previous fall, but its the central depression of the sunlight face: Yep, it goes: Then in order to make skiing hard to access, I picked a mountain 14 miles away from where you park. It started with a canoe: And then some skinning: And thankfully, some glorious corn as well:

Quick thoughts: 1. Turn around times in winter can be a bitch when you don't get the objective, but helpful in avoiding man bivy. 2. Weight on your back. Looks like the NBC is a bit lean, but 10 cams and 3 pickets for a snow climb is...extra weight. 3. Fitness/nutrition. Speed is safety for sure. I think you guys did well, but with room for improvement. No shame in posting this TR in that is had lead to a thoughtful, and fairly civil (rare for cc.com), discussion. One question, you guys drank 3L by the time you got to the base of the couloir? Or are you saying you left camp with 2L and brewed up another liter or two at the base? Either way, that seems like a lot of hydration for like 500 vf.

Trip: Cody, WY - Various Classics Date: 3/1/2015 Trip Report: Ah, the South Fork of Shoshone. Nothing quite like it. David and I first climbed with John, way back in the fall of 2009. He played tour guide on our first trip to Cody: Early Season Carter Mountain Ice That trip yielded a lot of driving and some ice. Fast forward 4.5 years later: I'm out of school and working full time. David is currently slaving away on night shift. John is traveling the world. Somehow we were able to line up 4 days and rendezvoused at the Double Diamond Ranch and climb some great routes. Day 1: Pillars of the Community, WI4+ John has been talking about this route for as long as I've known him - and for good reason. Imagine our surprise when we got out of the car and saw it in. All smiles. On the left. Yep, still looks steep. We soloed the lower step, so we could fire the upper ice in one pitch. This one was all John. Did I mention it was his first day of ice this season? Send time! Evening light on the hike out. Day 2: The Moratorium, WI 4+ Cold, windy, snowy. Not sure it ever got above 5 degrees that day, and the wind chill was definitely <0. Thankfully John was in AK training mode. My turn to lead...A little more ice than seen in your guidebook! John and David warming their hands back up. It was a belay jacket kind of day. Boom. When horizontal meets vertical. Cruising up the last bit to the top. Don't Stress the Sheep. Day 3: Mean Green Hoping to get some more vert today, we headed to Mean Green. We found it to be lean and brown. The second pitch pillar looked unappealing in it's current shape so we just TR'd the first pitch. The wind was still blowing, causing some enjoyable spindrift for David. David getting back into the rhythm after a year break of ice climbing. John getting a taste of the Shoshone. Day 4: Sendero Illuminoso, WI 4 John had to leave to return to parental responsibilities. I've always wanted to climb Sendero so it was an easy choice. So asthetic. It climbed as good as it looks. Scenic hike out. Double Diamond Ranch We stayed here throughout our trip. This is their second season in operation with Matt, the owner and his wife running the place. Good rates, clean facilities, great food and lively saloon. If you guys are heading to Cody, we recommend them. Plus, you can't beat a 5 minute drive from your cabin to the ice climb. Double Diamond Ranch Morning view from the bunkhouse. Night life.

I don't know the answers to your question, but I've been doing most of climbing and running around the core area, and they are always there. Per their website: "We offer one hour tours and half hour tours. The one hour tour encompasses the entire Park. The tour begins by taking you up the east side of the Continental Divide to the Canadian border to Waterton Park, then down the west side of the Continental Divide back to West Glacier. The half hour tour gives you a very good cross section of Glacier Park enabling you to view the Parks major glaciers and lakes. " At least the winter time is nice and quiet!

Isn't there already something like this in place on national parks?

The Park is great. Very excited to be living here permanently. The helicopters though...I'd prefer they were for rescue only, not tourists buzzing the mountains all the time.

Trip: Selkirks, Glacier - Life after School Date: 9/18/2014 Trip Report: David was on vacation and I just graduated from PA school and took my boards; perfect timing for our fifth annual September climbing trip. Similar to previous trips, this trip wouldn't be the same as the last. I was still in Spokane, suffering from the the mental fog that is post national certifying exam, when David arrived. Thankfully we were minutes away from the "Leavenworth of Spokane" also known as Tum Tum. Granite domes, questionable bolting and no guidebooks. David got on the sharp end and realized he wasn't driving I-90 anymore. The next morning we got our first "alpine start" of the trip and drove into North Idaho, seeking the fabled alpine granite that no one climbs. It was one of those days were everything took longer than it should have. Nonetheless, David got the money pitch, and climbed it in style. [img:left]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nF3UublibtU/VBufCQWfAxI/AAAAAAAAMyI/QxvAmXhN-58/s800/P1070222.JPG[/img] We eventually made our way to Montana, my new place of residence. A recent winter storm had deposited enough snow to shut down the Going to Sun road. Rumors circulated, but no one could really say what conditions were like up high. No problem though. We'll find out for ourselves. We found a little of everything. Bare ground. Two foot snow drifts. Ice. Slush. David was able to experience the high quality of rock in Glacier National Park as well. Hard to beat this, regardless of rock quality or snow conditions. We continued on to the eastside of the park to find a drier experience. Makes for scenic breaks. David took a rest day and attended to real life responsibilities. I answered to the sirens of the Park and ventured out for another day. Fall days in the Park are spectacular. Especially when the rock is solid. Whether its school, rock climbing, or mountaineering, the challenges along the way makes the accomplishment that much more special.

Any Spokane or N Idaho people want to do some rock climbing either saturday or sunday (9/6 or 9/7)? I will be coming out of nine mile falls. So something like Tum Tum or up in the selkirks would be preferable.

In order of your questions: No gear. We climbed the south rib with a variation on guye. Climbing up that cliff would be hard...its steep and tall. We found a break in the cliff several hundred vertical feet below the ridge line that allowed us to down climb it and traverse back up to the kendall catwalk. We gained Kendall's ridge as soon as we could. We were only on the PCT for a short bit.

We did the commonwealth traverse last week. Guye to snoqualmie to lundin to red to kendall. the downclimbing from red straightforward but involved. there is a big cliff at the saddle between kendall and red, which invovles some route finding.

I'll be driving from Whitefish to North Spokane on monday, 8/18. Was thinking about stopping off in the N Idaho Selkirks to do some climbing. Maybe Harrison? Anyone interested? Open to other ideas for half day type of stuff. -kevin

People have a hard time differentiating chest beating and sharing times as a way to inspire each other. Depends a lot on what you want to get out of your sport. The Commonwealth traverse is always one I wanted to do. When you plan out an (un)official race with wine and the party afterwards I'm in!

After all the pre-trip beta you got from this website it still took you two days to do the ridge? Geez.