spacecadet

Rosco - right you are, I found the old pic of when we first climbed it (4/20/08 not 2009). Next time we gotta get on the right side. It formed pretty similar both times, but we had much better snow for skiing out in '08... btw... Just got back yesterday from Peru! MachuPicchu was awesome!

Trip: Chili Dog Wall (Twin Sisters Area) - 5 Day Old Fish Date: 3/26/2011 Trip Report: This is a little hidden gem we discovered back in '09 the first time climbed this we did the two routes on the right in the pic. I don't believe this has ever been climbed before (not easy to get to), but let me know if I'm wrong. Matt and I set out Sat morning 5am and thought the logging road would be mostly snow...unfortunately for my sled, we ran about 3 miles of dry logging road before we finally hit snow and then only got a couple of miles of snow before the bush-wacking started. An arduous 4-1/2hr approach and we're at the base of probably the largest volume of ice I've ever seen in one small area. 2 years ago we did the two lines from right to left naming them Chili Dog and J.C.T.F. This time we worked the left side of the pillars. Amazing ice pillars all the way up, named this line 5 Day Old Fish (good stories behind the names...) There are many, many lines to be had here and this place deserves an overnight so we can stay and climb more, someday... Got warm, slushy snow on the bush-wack back, but we made it out before dark, no injuries, no broken equipment, and had a beer at Blue Mountain Grill by 8pm. A great day! Gear Notes: 60m twin ropes (full 60m to tree), 10 ice screws, anchor at small tree or v-thread top of pillar.

We were one of the ski groups. Here's a few pics. We left the car at 2am on Sun the 25th and back a 7pm (17hrs). Unfortunately most of our group left the ice tools and just had single mountain axes and there were a couple of hard ice sections that I would have been more comfortable with tools. Overall conditions were cold and great, the ski down Winnie's Slide and the upper White Salmon were fantastic.

Sorry, this is the one called Cruel Pools. I was a bit thin in places, but good ice could be found.

Trip: Hope - Cool Pools Date: 12/20/2008 Trip Report: Sorry, 'nother late report... Morgan, Randy, and I went out last Sat 20th with intent to climb Mousetrap. Arrived around 7am and had a great breakfast at the cafe just across the street from the start of the route, which allowed 3 teams to get on before us. So, with full belly's we moved on to Cool Pools. We scrambled and solo'd the first 2 small waterfalls and started up this ackward pitch. Lots of flowing water underneath, thin in some places, but no one got wet. (my camera fogged) Great climb, mostly WI2+, some 3, but lots of variations that could make this really exciting. Gear Notes: 8 screws (at least 2 stubbies), webbing to leave for rap down, a couple of knifeblades helpful for belay anchor at top of 2nd pitch. Approach Notes: up road from Mousetrap, right on Skagit River Rd, 2 km to pullout.

Trip: Bellingham - Pineapple Express Date: 12/20/2008 Trip Report: This TR is a bit late, but the ice is still there... A few weeks ago a few of us were lamenting about the warm weather and lack of ice or snow and so we decided to make use of an 80 or so ft "stump" for some alternative ice-climbing. Used some ancient tree-climbing gear, which was far more scary than crampons and ice-tools. This is Joe smokin' up the wood with crampons and tools. They go in solid, just a bit difficult to pull out. Then this fantastic cold stap hits and Joe has this great idea of running a hose up the rope...a few days later we've got 30ft or so of great pillar ice. Which can be climbed at night with porch lights, beers, and a bonfire! Faceshots of ice! Just like the "real" stuff. (Think this particular route is a FA...) Gear Notes: Couple of lag bolts, drill-bits, harness, ice-tools, and at least 6 beers. Approach Notes: I-5 to Bellingham, E. on Lakeway Dr, S. on Austin, knock on Joe's door for permission to climb his pillar.