Lisa_D

ok, ok, if you're really technical about it... "almost-winter" climb.

Trip: Ingalls Peak - South Ridge Date: 12/5/2008 Trip Report: As we all know, snow is still sparse, and I haven't filled the scrapes in my skis from my most recent quest for turns (all 12 of them). But the weather looked perfect for Friday. So Jon and I decided on a winter ascent of North Ingalls Peak via the classic South Ridge. In the summer, this is a mellow grade II 5.4 outing, known to be crowded with large parties of climbers. This was a much more fun way to climb this route - beat the crowds, do our first alpine climb together, and get my first winter summit! It had been one of those marathon end-of-the-quarter weeks. So I welcomed the chance to throw everything in the car and head East to the mountains on I-90. The Teanaway River Road was open and completely clear to the Esmerelda Basin trail head. We began hiking at 7 AM on a frozen but snow-free trail. Thankfully, the day turned out to be pretty mellow, with mostly calm air and beautiful winter skies. Making quick time to Ingalls Pass, we hit snow and kicked steps to the base of the route. We didn’t bring snowshoes, which resulted in a few post-holing moments. The final slog up to the route dragged on and on. At that point I was feeling pretty dehydrated and drained, but after resting for half an hour and eating a sandwich I was ready to go! Beautiful light on the snow: We made quick work of the route, and had a lot of fun climbing together! At 11:45 we were sorting gear. By 12 Jon was leading the first pitch, which was a mix of steep snow and slippery serpentinite rock. Pitch 2 was the fun crack climb, made more enjoyable by wearing boots and gloves. Climbing in gloves and freezing temperatures was not as hard as I expected. Actually, it was really fun! The final pitch was a short crack and corner climb. The upper part of the route had only a little snow. By 12:50 we were on the windy summit, taking pictures and enjoying panoramic winter views. Summit shot: Then, we made 3 raps and scrambled back to the base by 1:45. The quick hike out was accompanied by a beautiful sunset and a sky full of lenticular clouds. Maybe those winter storms will begin and next time we can bring skis. At 5:45 we were driving down the road blasting music and hungry for delicious pizza in Cle Elum. I climb a ton in the summer months, but had never tried it in wintery conditions. This was a perfect introduction. I look forward to trying some ice and mixed routes in the future. Great climb with a great guy!

Nice, Blake!

East Face of Lexington.

looks fabulous. This climb is on my list!

beautiful rock.

nice work !

So classic!! My dad DEFINITELY still wears that plaid jacket and uses that old blue ice axe.

good climb! That is a pretty long approach. When Steph and I did it we took 3 days and it was nice. Putting pics into your trip report is easy if you follow the directions given in the FAQ section.

love it...especially the one of you with the Matterhorn!! have any Ptarmigan Traverse pics?

wow. that snaffle had no shame.

This Saturday, I definitely got turned around at the trailhead because of the fire closure. They could have posted the sign at the beginning of the Teanaway river road!!

Way to go!! Great photography. Someday I want to climb that route.

I love cramponing on slab and scree. Perhaps she hasn't yet discovered that joy? I'll be sure to ask her!!

yep, the same Molly.

I heard you had called during that bivy and we all wondered when you'd get down. Congrats, Steph, on finally getting this traverse!

glad you found us. Those were good times.

Trip: Mt. Stuart - Complete North Ridge w/ Gendarme Date: 8/16/2008 Trip Report: Yet another Stuart TR... it was such a great climb that I had to do a write-up! Summer was ending and I wanted to climb something big. The Complete North Ridge of Stuart sounded like it would fit the bill. Thursday night, we rolled into the Esmerelda Basin trailhead and sorted gear. Two guys came down after a 1-day ascent of the North Ridge and reported mosquitoes and no water on the route. We wondered how we’d feel by the time we returned to the parking lot. The CNR was a big undertaking for us. We all knew we could do it, but weren’t sure how long it would take or what would happen! Friday morning, 4 AM: we departed. Hiking in the dark was good, and kept us in the shade for almost the entire day. I hate to think how we might have felt if we’d done the approach in the heat. A nice breeze kept mosquitoes at bay. At beautiful Ingalls Lake, we got our first view of Stuart. Molly and Brian brought a water filter, which was very helpful throughout the trip, although it burned some time. We went over Ingalls Pass, Stuart Pass, and Goat pass. We didn’t bring ice axes or crampons, and had no trouble skirting beneath the glacier. Plentiful running water was available. Then, we were at the toe of the North Ridge. The first part of the NR was as long as any multi-pitch rock route we’d ever done. After chugging a liter of water (again) and filling up Nalgenes and Camelbaks (again), up we went. At 11:15 AM, Chris and I went first, climbing on a 60 meter 8mm rope folded in half - definitely the rope of choice for this climb. All the technical pitches were short enough, and the simulclimbing was much easier with a half rope. Thanks, Blake, for loaning it to us! Pitch 1 had an unpleasant squeeze chimneyish/slot thing. More than a few grunts and curses were heard! I led the second pitch with fun 5.8 face and crack climbing. I ended at a tiny ledge right below pitch 3. I built a good anchor and brought Chris up. Almost every piece I placed on this trip was quick and decisive. Good progress for me. Pitch 3: Blake told me it was 5.9+, and he is not one to exaggerate. This was one of the hardest (and best) on the route, made more challenging by our packs. A corner with strenuous stems and liebacks led to a crux where the hand holds thinned out. Chris did a great lead, with some daring and burly liebacking. I found ways to stem and got several much needed no-hands rests. Waving cheerfully to our friends below, Chris and I continued on. We were a group of 6 (though not a Mountaineers party!), and knew that it would be silly to clump together. There was only one other party on the route and we let them pass. We spaced out on the ridge, and it ended up that we were only together on the approach and descent. None of us would have ever planned a group of 6 for a climb like this, but it turned out well. As a bonus, we were able to get cool pictures of each other en route. After about 6 pitches of swinging leads, Chris and I began simulclimbing. We paused at the "notch" where the upper ridge portion begins, feeling pretty drained. There were some tempting five-star bivy sites, but with 20 some pitches between us and the summit and a few hours of daylight left, we decided to press onward. Thankfully, we were able to blast through pitch after pitch of beautiful low 5th class simulclimbing. Smoke from a forest fire made for a beautiful pastel view of Glacier Peak. The Great Gendarme came into sight. We made a 15 meter rappel and built a small bivy on a sandy ledge. There are bivy sites everywhere on this mountain, and we were always within an hour or two of a possible bivy site. Sunset colors were made more spectacular by the haze of smoke, and the full moon came up over Sherpa Peak. I had a sleeping bag plus my pack and coat for padding, which proved to be very comfortable. We shared dinner and enjoyed views of the surreal, wild surroundings before falling into deep, restful sleep. Sunrise awoke us at at 5:30 and we enjoyed a relaxed morning. Then the real fun began: the heart of the climb is the exposed upper ridge and Gendarme. Beautiful, knife-edged, solid granite. Towers to go up and over, abundant variations, and pro everywhere. We stuck to the crest and simulclimbed, fixing a belay here and there to prevent rope drag or protect the follower on more difficult sections. When I was following, I encountered some traverses and down-climbs that were more scary for the follower than for the leader. The knife-edge hand traverse was everything I’d imagined. “We’re in the best place on earth!” I remember exclaiming. Molly on the hand traverse: Me, loving life: We scampered up the slab to the Great Gendarme, which Chris was looking forward to leading. Hauling packs was more than worth it. The first pitch on the Gendarme had strenuous liebacking up a detached pillar with good rests and a mantle exit onto the ledge. Then came the infamous offwidth pitch. After clipping a fixed piton and making a balancey traverse, Chris contemplated the short offwidth crack. Below him was a spectacular 1000’ drop to a wild, crevassed glacier. There is a fixed #4 Camalot in the upper part of the crack, so we only brought one bigger piece (a 3.5 Wild Country cam). Chris had to walk the 3.5 a few times, and it must have been a wild feeling. An amazing lead. (Did I mention that Chris has only been climbing for a year, and he's already leading this stuff? He’s a brave, optimistic, and smart climber and it was great to be his partner for this trip!) I scarfed an Almond Joy and then muscled up the off-width, climbing it cleanly and enjoying balanced fist jams, foot jams, and the occasional face feature. The third pitch on the Gendarme was a little unclear, but we figured that we’d just follow clean rock upward. (This logic worked for the entire climb and the topo usually stayed in our pockets.) It seemed as if the summit would never arrive. Thirst and mental exhaustion were catching up. We did more simulclimbing, a sketchy off-route traverse, and a few fixed belays. Just as I was starting to feel tired and frustrated by even easy terrain, I pulled through a short chimney and realized that the summit was 50 feet away! We did it! At 5:30 PM we scrawled our names in the register, shot some photos, and exchanged high fives with Molly & Brian and Morgan & Joey, who had bypassed the Gendarme and summited the same time as us. At 6:00 it was time to go down. We were eager to reach the snow patch above the Cascadian Couloir. At last, running water, after 31 hours of dry ridge! I drank 5 liters of water and Gatorade on the rock climb, which sounds like a lot to carry, but kept me feeling great for the entire trip. We easily found the Cascadian Couloir, whose entrance is to the right of the green shrubs: We scampered down the Cascadian, racing the oncoming dark. For all that I've heard about this gully, it wasn't as bad as they say. It went quickly and was so nice not to have to rappel off a climb this big. Before the bottom of the couloir, we cut right and found a great trail through the brushy valley, avoiding the class 3 bit at the bottom of the couloir, and putting us right on track for the trail to Long's Pass. No bushwhacking for us this time - although Joey and Morgan claimed to be a bit disappointed, since in their pursuit of remote peaks they have developed a masochistic taste for beating down slide alder. Those two have some hilarious “choss and moss” and ’schwacking stories - like the time they both climbed a flexible tree and used it to catapult themselves over a wall of blackberry bushes! Needless to say, they kept us entertained throughout the trip. The sun set and the full moon rose. A raging wildfire lit up a hillside across the valley. Reaching the steep, snaking trail to Long’s Pass, I paused to look back at what we’d just done: Mt. Stuart, the largest piece of exposed granite in the United States. 42 hours car to car, 30 of which were hiking and climbing. We set no speed records, but everything went smoothly. Cheers to those crazy people who pull this off in one day! Exhilarated from the climb, I charged up to Long’s Pass and ran down the 3 miles of trail in the moonlight. As we opened beer at the car and soaked our feet in the creek, it was hard to believe we’d been on the summit only 4 hours before. I'm sad the climb is over - not that I'd have wanted to take any longer on it, but you know what I mean. Now I understand why people climb Mt. Stuart more than once. Gear Notes: 8 mm half rope, small set of nuts, 10 slings, 10 cams (including a 3.5), filter, water. Approach Notes: Long but straightforward. We were glad to approach from the south and not have to hike around the mountain after climbing. Highly recommended for late season when the Sherpa Glacier is out.

and yeah that fire was intense. It was cool to look at from Long's pass in the dark.

Hey that day we were also on Stuart (via the CNR)! We summited a bit before you, and when I was on Long's Pass I saw some headlamps going down the Cascadian. Must have been you. Congrats. What a great mountain.

nice.

We descended the couloir with a single, combining down climbing and rappelling, but doubles would probably be much nicer. I'm not sure how it would go to rap it when the snow bridge is gone. The alternative descent gully to climber's left of the couloir has a reputation for snagging ropes (although I've never descended it, we saw a cut rope hanging there) Next time I climb Forbidden I'm going to descend the East Ledges.

Dinner - Cous cous. just add hot water.. and you can buy bulk dried vegetables or herbs to add (which weigh nothing and are compact). Those fancy mashed potatoes are good, especially with something like cheese to add. Dried soups can be good for getting salt. I found a great energy bar that seems almost magic - Pemmican bars. They are pretty dense and not too sweet, and have complete protein in them. Something about it just works. Quick energy: have you tried crystallized ginger? It's full of sugar and also calms your stomach. I also enjoy fruit snacks... recently I had My Little Pony fruit snacks, which was kind of cute. OK maybe that's silly. But they taste great and are nearly as effective as those expensive Shot Blocks.

now I want to do that one... apparently the roof is kind of drippy sometimes. was it dry when you did it?

YES! That's me. PM sent. I have other shoes, but none are quite so comfortable as the Evolvs. I had just gotten it resoled too!