spionin

yeah... i know. i wasn't been able to get out there this weekend. i'm sort of vacillating - it's not a long ski in, but there's that funnel to get to the col that would be a great terrain trap, and with high avy conditions i'm just not sure it's worth it. my hope is that my super-dry dragonfly ropes aren't affected too much by the snowcover. at least there isn't going to be much temp variation.

wow - glad to hear your rig didn't fly all the way off road! sounds like an amazing trip! ...and that cornice pic is really impressive.

thanks for the kind words, guys! thanks to sepultura for early beta, to wayne for the previous report, and again - jody, for risking getting out with someone he hasn't climbed with before. you probably took some photos of your own, but i snapped a few extra in case people were interested:

Trip: table mountain - death picnic Date: 1/13/2012 Trip Report: on friday we caught the last of the high pressure and climbed death picnic (2p, wi5) on the north end of table mountain. my partner, jody, had spent the past few years living and climbing in jasper before recently relocating to squamish. he turned out to be a totally chill, nice dude, and a super solid climber. the weather was very nice, snow was rather powdery and light (it had been consistently cold and clear). shuksan: at the saddle: death banquet (left) and death picnic (right): jody approaches through steep snow: the start of the route was very blobby. these are probably the size of my head, and it felt like i was trying to clear ice roofs. i took a breather, almost gave up on the lead, but jody convinced me to look around and see whether i could find an alternative way up. i moved right to a thinner, but blob-less ice, and passed the section. thanks for the encouragement, man! the route felt pretty strenuous and consistently steep. a lot of the ice was chandeliered or thin. but overall, was mostly protectable and fun! jody follows p1: leads p2: p2 was relentlessly steep, but the ice was more consistent, and even offered some hooks. it finished with some loose, overhanging snow. we established an anchor at small trees on the summit, and were able to get down with a single rap using two 70m ropes (had about 1/2 m to spare!). unfortunately, the ropes got badly stuck, and no amount of jumping, flicking, and changing directions helped pull them. it got pitch black, the weather started to worsen, and we had to abandon the ropes. so... i'm now looking to get back up there in the next few days to try to retrieve them. this will either entail climbing the route again, or trying to get them by descending toward the trees from the summit plateau. please let me know if you are interested in braving the weather and want to carpool. Gear Notes: 70m ropes good for raps (if they don't get stuck). Approach Notes: the approach to the route is straight-forward: start from the heather meadows parking lot and follow the valley (and the well-beaten snowshoe and ski track) toward table's north end. as the valley tapers, go up the herman saddle and turn table's northern point toward the west face. the approach took us a leisurely 90 minutes car to base of route.

wow, rolf, look at all them words! what's next? pictures?? sounds like a great climb!

great video! you can just see the guy probably going "damn you, stupid arm!" around 1:55, trying to get a placement

to heather meadows/baker in the next few days?

here's a picture of the route on route

climbed death picnic today (friday). the route is in excellent shape, and we had an awesome day. we rappelled the route in a single 70 m stretch (with about 1/2 m to spare), but the ropes got badly stuck. after trying to free them for a very long time, after it got pitch black and in worsening weather we had to leave the ropes. [yes, i've already made mental jokes about russians having a knack for leaving "fixed ropes" on routes, thanks.] this sucks, and i need to get the ropes down. i hate to ask anyone to carry my shit, but if you are planning to climb the route please let me know if you'd be willing to take down the ropes. feel free to use them for descent, provided you can figure out how to free them. there's a piece of webbing around a tree, through which the ropes are threaded. while two people rapped off the tree, i wouldn't necessarily suggest jumaring up with the tree as the only anchor. i'd love to get them back, and i'll do my best to pay you back. or if anyone is going to heather meadows area in the next few days, please let me know if i can carpool with you/ski out with you (avy potential is supposed to increase, i believe). thanks! sorry about the ropes, i'll get them down in the next few days. -veronika

climbed death picnic today (friday). the route is in excellent shape, and we had an awesome day. we rappelled the route in a single 70 m stretch (with about 1/2 m to spare), but the ropes got badly stuck. after trying to free them for a very long time, after it got pitch black and in worsening weather we had to leave the ropes. [yes, i've already made mental jokes about russians having a knack for leaving "fixed ropes" on routes, thanks.] this sucks, and i need to get the ropes down. i hate to ask anyone to carry my shit, but if you are planning to climb the route please let me know if you'd be willing to take down the ropes. feel free to use them for descent, provided you can figure out how to free them. there's a piece of webbing around a tree, through which the ropes are threaded. while two people rapped off the tree, i wouldn't necessarily suggest jumaring up with the tree as the only anchor. i'd love to get them back, and i'll do my best to pay you back. or if anyone is going to heather meadows area in the next few days, please let me know if i can carpool with you/ski out with you (avy potential is supposed to increase, i believe). thanks! sorry about the ropes, i'll get them down in the next few days. -veronika

tough sends, swimming, and glorious weather... looks amazing!

would anyone like to give it a try tomorrow (wednesday) or maybe friday (less likely, but i can try to make it work)? thanks. -veronika

it looked alive and well last sunday and monday. there were parties top-roping it both days.

sorry, i didn't mean to put you on a spot! was just confused about the missing post.

... why was that last post about conditions deleted? is it in/not in?

for non-cragging ice (or when i have to carry the rope for more than 20 minutes) i use my petzl dragonfly ropes (8.2mm) as singles. works great.

banks is looking lean. champagne h2o2 and the cable devil's punchbowl and revenge peewee's leavenworth: drury, sunbathing rainbow right the carenos

it's a peak just east of Lane peak (in the Tatoosh range).

pac man - my partner made a solid screw anchor right above the exit from the 2nd pitch. directly above that was a narrow snow chute. i chose to go climber's left and up a thin, but solid ice curtain (looking toward rainier). i found good placements for 2 screws, but the vertical steps were short and it felt good (at least until the very top, when it got exciting for a minute). the top of p3 again goes into a narrow snow gully towards to summit - looked very straight-forward. i left a black sling around a tree just to the left as you exit p3. from there, a single 70m rap took us to the start of p2.

Trip: denman - north face lines Date: 12/10/2011 Trip Report: snapped some pics of denman on 12/03 en route to climbing lane, and decided to come back the following weekend: this saturday, Friedrich and i did the 3p "middle" line, and attempted the mixed first step on the "right". the gate was open by 8 am, the total approach took about 90 min. we had very firm snow for most of the hike, but saw some really impressive hoar frost in the open areas (thanks, clear, cold nights!) p1 was about 40m, sticky, with better ice on the left and a thin, powdery topout. p2: 35 m with dinnerplating, bulletproof ice on the left side. felt sustained probably b/c the ice was so hard. very nice! F put up a fast, solid lead. p3 was another ~30m starting with a short curtain and going up a few blue ice steps. finished with some delaminating ice and moss sticking to an exit gully. looking down p3: we did two quick raps to get down and F treated us to raspberry snow cones! awesome! super fun climb that we both loved we wanted to scout the start to line on the right, and i attempted the mixed bottom pitch from the right side of the rock buttress. while it looks mellow, unfortunately the snow was quite loose, the ice was thin and delaminating, and there were actually some pools of water. too exciting for me at the moment, and i downclimbed to my last solid piece of pro to lower. if it firms up and thickens, i think it would be a great first pitch to get to the nice, steep ice line! wet verglas if anyone gets on this, i'd love to get my #3 KB back Gear Notes: screws, a few pins Approach Notes: narada falls parking lot, drop down into the basin and head toward lane peak. denman is just east.

rock'n! way to go!

great trip report and outstanding photos! way to grab the great weather, too!

wow. what an amazing trip and enduro-fest. you guys rock.

La Sportiva Trango Extreme Evo Light GTX Boot (what a mouthful). not the cheapest, but works extremely well: hikes and even leads ice for you. for steeper stuff i use the trick with making an extra wrap with the crampon strap around the ankle to stiffen the cuff. i'm not sure how cold is too cold for this boot, but it's generally done extremely well being submerged in snow for long periods of time. rainier.... very cold canmore...

wow - so beautiful! what were the temps like? the tent city is cool and seems fully justified, too.