Pilchuck71

Yep! That's what I am talking about.

Best is in the eye of the beholder. I think in winter climbing best means not getting thwacked by an avi...losing digits.....not leaving a bunch of trash....but mostly making it up, down and able to tell the tale. If someone wants to do things in a different way or "better style" go for it, and good on them. It ain't like your going up the snow making a Harding style bolt ladder. Come Spring no ones gonna know/remember/give a shit that you were there. Bottom line to me ...... did you have fun? Yes = success.

I thought this thread was what do you want to see climbed this winter not how do you want to see it climbed.

If you can narrow down the dates or date which you saw the work it would probably help. You may also consider figuring that out and then just emailing the Colophon directly.

All right GB. I talked to about four people over at the Colophon and the consensus was that it could have been someone by the name of Buff Black? (that is what they wrote down). I googled the crap out of it and was not able to find anything or anyone local using that name. anyway, sorry I could not give you the definitive answer, but hey, I tried.

Seriously though I will check it out today and let you know who it is for sure this evening. Cheers - Tyson

If you are willing to buy me beer I will drive over there at lunch.

That is so cool! I look forward to one day having the pleasure of taking my son or daughter to the mountains and sharing with them the places that have brought me such great pleasure in life. Thank you for the awesome trip report and sharing such a great experience. Cheers! Tyson

The funny part is that they actually did (Ed Visteurs was one of them). I recall reading some article where one of the actors said, "shouldn't you be able to see our breath if we are trapped in a crevasse at 8000 meters?", to which the director responded, good question, lets ask the consultants. The consultants responded that yes you would see your breath, additionally, you would be coughing, having a hard time speaking, etc. The director responded that it didn't look good in the film so they wouldn't be doing any of that. Now if you want to see a film that is worse that Vertical Limit, watch "Take it to the Limit" Another faux classic and locally relevant with disturbingly bad acting -High Ice! I love the exploding helicopter falling down the face and the firing of rockets to clear unstable snow masses. Freaking awesome!

I think Catbird is right. I was introduced to Darrington by people who had been out and at it for a while. Three o'clock is fun and I climb there at least a few times a season but IMHO Green Giant, Exfoliation Dome and SQW are really what Darrington is all about.

You are right about those rocks being there. When we exited the BGoD Smed belayed from the lowest of those rocks and we actually climbed right out onto the fresh stack in your photo.

I'll send her back as soon as I am done!

I see it now. Thanks.

Yep - That pretty much looks like it blocked/obliterated the line we took out of the gully!

Where was this shot taken Rad?

Smedley and I have been eyeballing a creek drainage that could possibly get one to the very bottom of the slabs that are the terminus of CS gully. It would add a significant amount of climbing.

I wish I knew more about the history of the feature names.

Word Bug! I showed my girl a video of just a simple scramble and she was like "I do NOT need to know that stuff let alone see it" Ignorance is bliss?

Very, very true Shapp! Unless one is into that sort of thing the Gully is best avoided. My buddy Ken Strong was actually able to climb up and out of the gully through (as in through-read:speelunking style)a remarkable pile of stacked rocks that were at the same time scary and fascinating. This area of the wall is certainly one I would not recommend. Thanks Shapp.

I thought I would add a photo generally showing our line of ascent.

Nice shot D.

Ya know..I am not sure. It takes me a full day to get to the top of Dick Ridge, so in that light it is a commiting route. The climbing difficulty varies but the Chickenshit Gully is probably only 4th to low 5th, although there are plenty of variations possible. Dick Ridge is where things get a little harder. If one follows the crest it is probably in the 5.4 to 5.6 range but if one was to trend to the climbers left things can get more difficult maybe in the 5.8 to 5.9+ range. The problem with giving grades on this is that it is a huge piece of rock and I doubt any two parties take the exact same line of ascent.

Thanks gents for the advice. I was able to get it figured out today and posted the SQW trip report. I used Rads method and the only thing I thought was a pain was making sure the layout was correct and not causing a super wide TR. I appreciate the advice and am glad to now be able to share some photos with y'all. Cheers, Tyson

"We don't need another hero"......... Shit man it ain't nothing. I am always willing to share what I know. Thanks for the compliments they are appreciated.

Trip: Squire Creek Wall - Dick Ridge via Chickenshit Gully Date: 8/22/2009 Trip Report: Smedley and I decided it was high time to return to our camp at the top of Dick Ridge and check on our gear stash. We left the car Saturday morning under cloudy skies, optimistic that the weather would be kind to us. We did our due diligince in getting the road work out of the way and then proceeded to work our way up the old trail to Big Tree and the approach slabs. We scrambled the slabs to Bathtub Ledge and then on up to Hooter Cave. We traversed Strawberry Ledge to the corner of the Illusion Wall and took two rappells to reach the ground and work our way into the Black Gully of Death. We worked our way up the gully to a dead end and Smedley led a nice short pitch out and around to reach the traverse to Chickenshit Gully. We climbed the route using a running belay for all but two short pitches. On the descent we downclimbed again using a running belay. We continued downclimbing until the bottom of Chickenshit Gully where we took four rappells to reach the ground and the traverse back under the Illusion Wall. Enjoy some photos! SQW overview The Woods Wall The approach slabs above Big Tree Looking up from Strawberry Ledge Getting ready to exit The Black Gully of Death Ascending Chickenshit Gully Olympus Ledge Dick Ridge Three Fingers from Camp Downclimbing Dick Ridge from the Buttrest SQW Stitch Gear Notes: Full set of cams, Full set of Nuts, Mountain Runners and 2 100' 8.6 mil ropes. Approach Notes: Easy Squeezy Lemon Cheesy