YocumRidge

As defined by your prior experience of the route or?

Trip: Mt. Washington (OR) - SouthEast Spur variation Date: 8/8/2009 Trip Report: 08/08/09 Mt. Washington (Oregon Cascades) SouthEast Spur (5.6?) After spending most weekends out of state this summer, I wanted to climb something close by for a change. Myself and Robert York formed the plot to do the SouthEast Spur on Mt. Washington in one day. None of us were on the route before so the route finding was mostly based on maps and a vague description given in “Oregon High”. We started at the Hortens lake TH at 7 a.m. on some sort of a trail Wild Strawberries at the Hortens lake TH: that quickly transformed into the most outstanding bushwhack through the fallen trees once we crossed the creek. Finally we got a glimpse of the mountain: and kept moving along the creek and up to the talus field on the east side of the mountain. A big mistake that cost us some time. We made our way up to the pass (between Mt. Washington and its satellite) to realize that we now need to descend 800 feet to get to the SE snowfields. Rapping down looked dodgy so we settled on some loose rock switch backs instead. Finally we crossed a couple of boulder and snow fields below the SouthEast Buttress (5.8): and began approaching of what was looking like the start of the SouthEast Spur: The start did not however appeal to us since it was buried inside of the 15 ft deep moat and so we gave a try to a south crack variation of the standard SE spur: followed by a sketchy traverse to get back on solid rock. The Oregon High called for 7-8 etc. pitches of “nice alpine rock”. The first 7-8 pitches with a nice knife edge mid section can indeed be defined as such but “ETC” is actually standing for another 8 pitches of loose “X”-rated crap and one unplanned painful night on the mountain. And that was not bivying! Being strapped to a tree on a hanging belay for 7 hours with the temperatures hitting 30s trying to catch some sleep was not fun. Three Fingered Jack off our O/N spot in the morning: We reached the summit around noon the next day: Big Lake from the summit: and rapped down via the North Face direct: and then took the northwest approach down to the Big Lake TH plus another 3 miles on the FS road 512 back to the rig. Summary: 17 miles total approach, 16 pitches, 2 days, food and water for one day, bleeding blisters. Gear Notes: Alpine rack (up to #2), slings and O/N hanging belay. Approach Notes: Do not take the approach to the east side of the mountain to stay away from the pass but continue on the Hortens lake trail for another mile or two after crossing the first creek. Bushwhack westwards from that point towards the SE side.

Thanks for the helpful beta. Will go for the standard east ridge instead.

You guys rock! Congrats on yet another cool ascent!

Have anyone been up the NE face of Eldorado recently? Ice or snow? I was thinking of heading up there next weekend so any beta on the route would be appreciated. Thanks

We saw them descending. Yes, 2 teams of 6 per rope. That's not a big deal since you can walk around rope teams. They are only slowing themselves down. A group of 12 in a bottleneck like the S face gully sucks for other parties. Priceless as ever! I bet they were rigged for the crevasse rescue just as well? I did notice one 3 feet wide crevasse on the Sulphide!

Absolutely stunning pics! One of the best I have seen. I bet many magazines would pay you lots $$$ for the copyright!

And I assume they were all roped up while crossing the Sulphide too?

That would be a pain! We saw that drop.

Trip: Mt. Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys/Southeast rib extravaganza Date: 7/18/2009 Trip Report: I have always been attracted by the rugged beauty of Mt. Shuksan, so a plan of attack was devised between Dinamyte, Robert York and myself to climb Mt. Shuksan via Fisher Chimneys/Southeast rib variation in a day and half. Our drive from PDX to the Austin Pass trailhead took us 6 hours and so we hit the trail at about 1 p.m. on Saturday 07/18/2009. The approach is currently in a good shape with snowfields en route to the lake Ann where we met with another team member - Brian Lavin from CO - who was bivying at the lake for a couple of days. He provided us with beta on the route finding to the base of what is supposed to be Fisher Chimneys but was not very enthusiastic to join us to climb FC with full packs on. And the full packs mean full packs, i.e. stuffed with a rope, pickets, tools, crampons and a rock pro. The three of us did head to and up the Chimneys to realize a little too late that the route is NOT pack/3 feet picket friendly at all and even more so on a way down. Oh well, too late to change our minds. In my humble opinion, the Chimneys stand as a crux of the whole climb! After topping out the Chimneys at 7 p.m., we headed across the snow and the boulder fields to the base of the Winnie’s Slide where we set up the camp. Dinamyte at the camp Dinamyte’s alarm went off at 5 a.m. and at 5.30 a.m. we reunited with Brian Lavin who made his way up the Chimneys in the morning. We all traversed the Winnie’s slide to the steep moat/rock section and crawled across the moat on the Upper Curtis glacier (not the most efficient way). The best way turned out to be to continue scrambling up this rock section until arriving at a cairn that marks the best place to cross the moat onto the Upper Curtis Glacier. Traveling up the Upper Curtis glacier was uneventful except a few end runs of the crevasses before reaching the Hourglass and the Hell’s highway which were both crevassed as well. Ascending the Upper Curtis glacier Hourglass The Hell’s highway crux pitch was sweet, steep and short and did not call for the extra pro we brought. One axe in Piolet ancre and front pointing were all we used on the firm snow of the pitch. Brian topping out the Hell's highway We topped out, and then merged with the masses slogging up the Sulphide glacier. Our plan was to climb the Southeast rib of the Summit Pyramid. By the time we reached its base, we realized too late that all the rock pro for simul climbing ended up in the Brian’s pack whose preference was to take the main gully up to the summit. To make the plan work, Robert York pretty much soloed the route with one or two rock anchors along the way. Myself and Dinamyte followed. About half way up, I traversed eastwards to complete a 5.8 variation (the overhanging roof) which was fun and unexpected for the otherwise low class 5 route. We had the summit to ourselves before starting rapping down the main gully. Dinamyte on the summit Robert York and myself on the summit Summit views Wearing rock shoes and getting entangled in the moats was not fun though. We had another shoes/boots change at the base and headed down the Sulphide glacier. A few minutes later, my crampon hit the strap of the other one causing my face down fall and excruciating pain in my left knee. For the moment I was debating whether I had a torn ligament or just a sprain. After lying in the snow for 30 min, I managed to get up and slowly cross the glacier. Dinamyte and Robert York were very accommodating and trying to cheep me up. The knee was swollen and did not bend much so I had to use my second ice tool for downclimbing the Hell’s Highway pitch. Anyhow, each of us brought the second tool so we might have as well used them. Downclimbing the Hell's Highway Hell's Highway amphitheatre Thanks to my injury, we lost considerable time trying to get back to the camp that we reached at around 8 p.m. It became clear that we had to spend one more night on the mountain before heading back to the car. Heading down the Chimneys the next day (Monday) was extremely slow before we had to negotiate a few dodgy class 4 sections/moats on the approach back and so we were back to the car at around 5 p.m. Dinamyte was a great partner, and very understanding of the situation, who made us laugh all the time and graciously provided us with water every half hour on our way back when I was simply hurting of a thought to refill my camelbak! Jon, go ahead and pitch in with whatever I missed. NB on the approach to the base of the Chimneys: Do not take the trail down to the Lower Curtis glacier but get on the gully that veers up and right off the main trail after crossing the first talus field. The good navigation points are a sketchy 50 degree snowfield to traverse to get to an equally sketchy moat linked to a loose class 4 step up to an awkward rap station off the tree. Then continue to a knoll with 2 superb bivy sites (would have been ideal for us), traverse another talus followed by a snowfield and a moat to get to the base of the so-called “Boulder” (currently wanded). The gully begins to the right off “The Boulder” and one could spot a 20 foot, brown perlon rap sling we set up 80 feet up off the base. Watch out for the loose and airy class 4 sections! Gear Notes: Axes, crampons, rope, webbing, rock pro (not used), pickets (not used), second tools (optional) Approach Notes: Rugged with unwanted surprises

Touray, I thought you are training to become an astronaut?

PM sent.

Does anyone want to climb Olympus (Blue glacier)OR Glacier Peak (via Frostbite Ridge) next weekend 07/18-19? Possibly, 3 days for Olympus; 2 days for Glacier Peak. I have all the glacier and crevasse rescue gear (including 4 season tent) and experience and I expect you to be competent for these routes. No newbies please. If interested please PM or e-mail at mitochondria100@gmail.com

A great job. What a beautiful way to spend the 4th of July!

How about eating human flesh and wood for 3 years in a row when the city was seiged by Germans? I was born and raised in St.-Petersburg (former Leningrad) and my dad has miraculously survived those tortures.

PM sent

Yes, I did notice nice seracs because I had the same thought in mind to practice ice climbing myself and as far as I remember XXX approved of my choice but must have forgotten by now. Here is what I had in mind and it is at about 8000': But do not go in there: Hope it helps.

Dinomyte, Have you been on the same mountain or have you summitted that satellite formation shown in the pic? We did see the trail down from it to the true summit though. I thought this is where people climbing the Boulder route end up and then descend to the true summit.

To OL: I would say the rock was class 3 when covered with those sketchy icicles!

Nothing planned yet so I should be available for both weekends for Shuksan. What is your route preference: Fisher Chimneys or Sulphide?

Still looking.

Trip: Mt. Shasta - Hotlum-Bolam Ridge Date: 6/20/2009 Trip Report: I met with OL and Justing in the parking lot of the Northgate entrance (~6700’) on 06/19/09 (midnight) where we camped O/N before heading for the Hotlum-Bolam ridge next morning. German skiers were as always too loud and did not bless us with too much sleep. Oh well, what else does one expect of spending a night in a parking lot on a weekend? Weather was nice and clear at this point and according to NOAA forecast we certainly were not prepared for what turned out to be a real torture later on. It is not that I mind the occasional tortures like that - I was supposed to get used to them by now. We packed up, left the trailhead at 8 a.m. and quickly reached the Northgate entrance (~8000’) of Shasta. After heading up the glacier right across the Northgate, we progressed to the first high camp area where we replenished our water supply from the still running waterfall. Weather begun to change every five minutes from clear skies to complete whiteouts making us wonder what is going to come next. My attempt to convince OL to continue towards the second high camp – Marine Camp (~10800’) – for our O/N stay -was successful despite the fact that hunting for the nice flat sites in whiteout conditions left much to be desired. I was whining about sticking the tents in the snow rather keep wandering. The guys were more persistent to stay away from the snow. After eventually settling down on the dry moraine, we cooked our Mountain house dinner and dessert and melted enough water for the next day. Temperatures were quickly dropping with wind gusts reaching 60 mph which was gradually turning into a blizzard with ice and snow. My hopes of the summit were diminishing in exponential progression and my efforts to get some sleep were not crowned with much success either while the best part was yet to come. Justing was helplessly snoring and I was trying to be understanding. Condensation inside the tent was turning into ice particles and every time we moved our bodies against the tent, we got hit by an ice fall right down on our faces. All vents were open, so I have no clue how I was supposed to avoid that. Temperatures hit 10F (first day of summer in Cali) and at 2 a.m. I got up in desperation to realize that all water, cookware, food and fuel canisters were frozen. On the positive side, the miracle had happened and all of the sudden, we were greeted with clear skies and subsiding winds. At this point, OL dropped: lets catch the moment and go for the summit and so we did. Melting a new batch of snow took 2 and half hours to make just barely enough water to get us to the summit. OL was not happy about the waste of time but we had no other choice. BTW, OL those hand and feet warmers you graciously offered to me turned to be a real life saver! Finally at 5 a.m. we crossed the moraine, put the crampons on and headed up the glacier. The sunrise was gorgeous and made our lives much easier to negotiate open crevasses and a bergshrund up the glacier. After a few sketchy traverses, we reached “The Step” at 13000’ and noticed the clouds begun gathering again but remained at ~12000’. Oxygen deprivation made its presence noticeable in our needs for more frequent stops which exacerbated en route to the summit ridge. After passing through “The Rabbit Ears” (see pics) we begun the shitty airy traverse across the ice-covered class 3 rock and the Bolam Glacier up the final pitch to the summit ridge on the north face. At this point, excruciating headache and my thoughts of whether to throw up or not became sickening and unbearable but I was trying to stay in one piece. Thanks a bunch for the aspirin to Ian I met at the summit! Unfortunately it did not help much but I did not throw up either. Our descent via the Bolam glacier variation was uneventful. We got back to our tents left at the Marine camp, packed up and headed down to the cars. First day of summer in Cali 2009: Gear Notes: Helmet, 12 point crampons, axe Approach Notes: 12 miles on Military Pass road on the approach to the Northgate trailhead is a nightmare and my car badly needs a wheel alignment

It looks like Shuksan will still be open. When do you want to climb it? I will be off to Sierras to climb at Temple crags 6-10th August.

Craig33: PM sent

Conditions are supposed to be superb this weekend for North Cascades and I do not want to waste another great chance to climb up there just because my climbing partner is bailing again. I know it is kind of a last minute notice but hopefully there is someone out there who is in the same boat and is eager to climb. I climbed extensively in PacNW since 2003, own all glacier and rock gear and am crevasse rescue equipped and trained. PM or email at mitochondria100@gmail.com