Steph_Abegg

Thanks, I corrected the photo overlay! Is there still an upper offwidth on the ridge finish?

Does 5.9 bushwhacking count? Back in the days of stiff mountaineering boots and and hexes, I'd bet the grade of the route had a much bigger significance than the approach. Rubber climbing shoes and cams are making us soft....

Trip: Burgundy Spire - North Face/Ridge (5.8) - Date: 9/27/2009 Trip Report: To cap off a great summer of climbing, David and I headed up to climb Burgundy Spire, which is one of the Wine Spires that can be seen just east of Highway 20 near the Liberty Bell group. Beckey calls Burgundy Spire the hardest principal summit in the Cascades to be reached via any route. Of course he means from a technical aspect rather than overall grade (now in the days of rubber climbing shoes and cams - coupled with road closures, oreos, and video games - it's often the approach rather than the climbing that is the route crux!). But it is an interesting bit of trivia. I always relish the opportunity to spend a night in the mountains doing some night photography, so David and I hiked up to Burgundy col the day before, slogging up 6L of water each (that's 26.4 lb of water!) due to the late season dryness. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, moonrise, moonset, Big Dipper, and sunrise before setting off on the climb up the North Face of Burgundy Spire. As usual, I've posted a full trip report on my website: http://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/tripreports/washington/northcascades/burgundy Photo overlay of North Face/Ridge route on Burgundy Spire: David leading up some fun 5.8 climbing.... Labelled panorama of North Cascades view from the summit: (Click here for link to larger image.) They look even cooler with a 2x vertical stretch... (Click here for link to larger image.) Cars on Highway 20 at night (13 minute exposure): Again, the link to the full trip report on my website: http://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/tripreports/washington/northcascades/burgundy

Great photos David. I especially like the Pika photo! More pikas there than in the Cascades?

There was a short ~20ft section of really weathered "wonder-if-this-handhold-will-crumble-off" kind of climbing right before the lower half of the chimney. But it looked to me you would have to climb this section whether or not you chose the crack bypass or the chimney. Tbe chimney itself was good climbing. Other than that 20ft section, the route was great.

An older version that includes Rainier and Olympics for comparison. Sorry, you really have to zoom in to read the text! Link to larger version.

Unfortunately, yes. So, all the glaciers are smaller than listed, it would be VERY interesting to know how much smaller. The 1971 study is the most recent I know of for glaciers in the Cascades.

I can't find a complete list of Rainier glaciers by size (anyone know of one?) but the Emmons is the largest at 11.1 sq. km. So, larger than any of these....

According to this study, the Blue Glacier is 4.3km^2, so that fits in as one of the larger glaciers, like the Deming Glacier on Baker or Chickamin Glacier. Perhaps I should add the glaciers on Olympus to the map!

In 1971, Austin Post et al published a USGS paper "Inventory of Glaciers in the North Cascades", listing the largest glaciers that were at the time 1 sq. km. or larger. I had some fun putting together a map of these glaciers, posted below. I'd sure be interesting if someone did a new inventory to see how much these glaciers have shrunk in the last 38 yrs. Link to larger version -Steph

My favorite route in the Valhallas thus far is the S Ridge of Gimli. But the S Face of Asgard is a close second. It's stellar ridge vs steep face climbing, so difficult to compare.... Lots of great rock up there to be climbed! Lack of beta adds to the adventure.

Thanks for the clarification. It will forever be "Little" Gladsheim for me, but I added the correction to my TR! The SW Face of Trireme Wall looks like it has some potential too....

Trip: Valhalla Range, British Columbia - Gimli, Niselheim, Asgard, Gladsheim Date: 8/31/2009 Trip Report: In early August, I climbed the classic South Ridge of Gimli in the little-known Valhalla Range of British Columbia (click link for my trip report). This was a great route and I was impressed with the quality of the rock and the striking formations in the range. Thundershowers prevented any more climbing on this first trip, but less than a month later, I came back to explore deeper into the range. David Kiehl, another student living in Seattle, was a great partner for this trip. We spent 3 full days in the Valhallas, climbing 4 fun routes and enjoying the beauty of the area. We climbed: NE Buttress of Gimli E Ridge of Niselheim S Face of Asgard W Ridge of "Little" Gladsheim As usual, I've posted a full TR with lots of photos (too many probably) on my website: http://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/tripreports/britishcolumbia/valhallas2 Here are a few photos: The peaks of the Valhalla Range: NE Buttress of Gimli E Ridge of Niselheim S Face of Asgard W Ridge of "Little" Gladsheim Sunset from camp Star trails over camp (Exposure: 80min, f 4.5, ISO 400) Again, the link to the full TR with lots of photos (too many probably) on my website: http://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/tripreports/britishcolumbia/valhallas2

There are some appropriate road signs along HWY 20...also this one ...

Trip: Minuteman - East Face (5.9 or 5.10) Date: 8/28/2009 Trip Report: On the 10-hr drive back from the Valhallas in BC (my second time there this year), my partner David and I were getting tired of sitting in the car, so we decided to stop to climb at Washington Pass off HWY 20. The East Face of Minuteman Tower was a great way to break up the drive! As usual, I've posted a full TR and photos on my website: http://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/tripreports/washington/northcascades/minuteman Photo overlay of East Face route on Minuteman Tower: The stellar 5.8 handcrack on the upper shield. Just this pitch is worth climbing the route! Again, the link to a full TR and photos on my website: http://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/tripreports/washington/northcascades/minuteman

Thanks for being a great partner on this trip, Jason! I share the same highlights - no better place to have a morning cup of coffee than high on a ridge in the North Cascades, and seeing that golden eagle fly by was not the first time I have wished I added my 400mm telephoto lens to the trip's camera "rack"....

Just over the last few years, I've noticed that routes in the North Cascades need to be done earlier and earlier to avoid glacier/moat/shrund/couloir problems. Comparing my photos to my parents', the June conditions now are like the July conditions 30 years ago. What is somewhat problematic (especially to those who do not realize the changing conditions or to those new at mountaineering) is that most of the route descriptions were written when there was much more snow in the North Cascades. The Torment-Forbidden Traverse is only one example of a "moderate alpine" route that now in later season involves quite tricky routefinding and awareness of hazards associated with open glaciers. Some routes are becoming so different as conditions change and detours develop, that new route descriptions are definetely in order. The next edition of the CAG might (should?) have several route revisions! -Steph

Trip: - Torment-Forbidden Traverse Date: 8/18-19/2009 Trip Report: Jason Schilling and I spent 2 days on the Torment-Forbidden Traverse earlier this week. The conditions were rather spicy with the warm-summer-mid-August moats and shrunds, but that just added to the appeal for us. The recent tragedy of Craig Luebben's fatality on the route added a bit more caution to every move we made. The steep ice section on the north side was pretty melted out, so we opted to do a bypass via the rock, and to ledges on the south side. We also enjoyed a spectacular bivy mid ridge. As usual, I posted a full trip report and lots of photos on my website: http://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/tripreports/washington/northcascades/tormentforbiddentraverse Here are a few photos: The traverse stretches about a mile on the ridge between Torment (on the left) to Forbidden (on the right). The changing conditions of the north side steep ice/snow traverse: Negotiating some bergshruds and moats along the traverse: Night photography from our mid-ridge bivy (exposure: 18 minutes, f/4.5, ISO 400): Again, I have posted several more photos on my TR on my website: http://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/tripreports/washington/northcascades/tormentforbiddentraverse

Perhaps the author of the guide book wanted to prevent lineups at the base....(watching people curse their way up the first pitch, where it helps to be 10a climber anyway).... The dog pile gets bigger, =).

Personally, I give it a 5.8+, but the recent West Kootnays guidebook bumps it from 5.7 (original rating) to 5.10a (one move wonder...).

Fern - it was fun to share the belays with 2 friendly climbers, too! Hope you managed to find good weather in the Bugs, or wherever you headed after the Valhallas... -Steph

I felt the first pitch is 5.8+, but sustained at this grade so it is a challenging start to the route for sure. The move around the roof higher up felt like 5.10a, but its just one move, so overall my personal rating for the route is 5.8+....

Here's a photo of the bolts near the top of the 2nd aid pitch of Liberty Crack. You'll be glad to have them at the time!

Here's a photo from the base of the route, showing the low 5th section you could scramble. The 5.11 starts about 3/4 of the way up the photo, at the base of the right-facing shadowy section. When we fixed the first 3 pitches with 2 60m ropes, we had a bit of a tail on the ground (can't remember exactly how much). I think the 4th pitch is a bit longer than the initial scramble, but there is a good chance you would just reach the top of the low 5th if you fixed from the top of the 4th pitch (can anyone confirm this?). Certainly with 2 70m ropes....

For an area with such good climbing, it's too bad there is not a more complete guide for the area. A new guidebook published in June 2009 (West Kootenay Rock Guide, by Aaron Kristiansen, Vince Hempsall) contains a 15-page section on the Valhallas, but only lists routes on Gimli and Nisleheim I believe. If I didn't have grad school.... I'm sure lots of the routes I listed on my website are great routes, and there is also a lot of potential for new routes up there. Here are the ones that seem to be the most popular long moderates: • Gimli - Southeast Ridge 5.9+ **, 8p, aka South Ridge • Gimli - NW Buttress Right Edge 5.8, III, aka Beckey Route • Gimli - Lusting After Women 5.10c, 8p • Gladsheim - Southwest Face 5.8, III, aka West Face, 8p • Asgard - South Face Center 5.8 *, IV, 7p I'd love to go back and climb any or all of these, this season perhaps. Anyone interested....?