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kukuzka1

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Posts posted by kukuzka1

    thoughts on multi-pitch first ascent styles

    in Rock Climbing Forum

    Posted

     

     

    If we’re being honest, ground-up first ascensionists value their own experience more highly than that of climbers who may follow them. Occasionally, ground-up routes become classics, but that’s very unusual. Many are rarely climbed and others are unrepeated.

     

     

    yes all those classic ground up beckey routes are never done

    [TR] Mile High Club - new route near Vesper

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    I don't want to arm chair quarterback here, but I see in the pictures that there seems to be plenty of spots for gear next to some of your bolt placements. Perhaps a mixed line on such a route might have discouraged eager folks with less experience from perhaps getting in over their heads up there. Pretty committing location for alpine sport climbing, in my humble, unsolicited opinion
    :tup:

    [TR] Mount Index- Index Traverse 7/23/2005

    in Alpine Lakes

    Posted

    Good job on that Chuck.

    Although the index traverse looks cool and is a grade 5, I

    would never really recommend it.We climbed it in the mid

    1980's on the hottest day of the summer in the end of June.

    We started up the north face and found it to be nothing but

    a brush pull nearly all the way to the summit.To our surprise there was another party on the north peak summit.

    They had huge packs,bright colored helmets,and shorts over

    long johns.Holly shit mountaineers.Two intermediate mountaineer instructors as it turns out.Having never climbed Mt.index before,I asked them if they knew the way

    down to the middle-north peak notch.They replied by saying they are experts and knew the way from prior ascents while looking at our small packs,shabby clothing,and lack of

    helmets suspiciously.So I tell them to lead on and we'll

    follow after we wait and let them get ahead.We end up lounging on the summit for nearly an hour while smoking

    a huge reefer.We finally decide they are well in front and

    decend to the north-middle peak notch.After we do a short

    rap and 5 minutes of down climbing,we catch them and have

    to wait another half hour for them move across the last few feet to the notch.Keep in mind the notch is a rather

    remote and exposed place.Unwilling to let us pass,the first

    mountaineer starts to lead the crux 5.6 pitch out of the

    notch to the middle summit.After 25' or so he takes a wipper and backs down to the belay.So his buddy decides to

    take over and after a long while climbs past his partners

    high point and out of sight.After a few minutes of no movement,all hell breaks loose with scraping,screaming,and

    yelling,and rock fall echoing down the gully to lake Serene.Finally silence,except for the moaning of the

    mountaineer instructor above.It turned out,he took a huge

    wipper and hurt himself.Not wanting to wait behind these clowns any longer,we decide to take the 5.7 variant to the

    right out of the notch.My partner leads this pitch by doing

    a tension traverse to the right and up sparsely protected

    climbing,one of his better leads.We are out of water and need to get to the middle summit snow patch soon.We get back on route where the injured mountaineer is bringing up

    his partner.As I pass him on my way to the middle summit for snow melt,he informs me that he has re-injured his ribs

    and will be needing a rescue.He apparently broke his ribs

    while descending from the Mt.Idex traverse last year and he

    and his partner were back on the mountain for re-demption.

    He wants us to stay with him and his partner on his cramped

    belay for the night saying it was impossible to go any further with night approaching.I ony shake my head in amazement and continue to the middle summitt which we reach

    after only 15 minutes for much needed snow melt..

    The following day we climb the main summit and do one of the more miserable descents I have done in the Cascades.The

    descent getting back to the lake is a major jungle,often

    we would hand over hand down tree vines to descend short cliffs.By the time I reached the car my white tee shirt was completely green.It was a stressfull weekend.

    Meanwhile,my partner calls the sheriff for a rescue of

    the two mountaineer instructors stranded on the middle

    summit.The next day a navy helicopter pulls the two

    mountaineers off the mountain and takes them to a hospital

    in Everett where they are released and walk away with minor

    injuries.The most amazing thing is the injured climber wrote up his accident in the North American Accident journal the following year.Its in the 1987 one I believe.

    Check it out for the real facts.

    this is funny but sounds about right :lmao:

    New routes on Rainier?

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    I think if one wants to make their mark on Rainier, the place to start would be a second ascent of the West ridge of Little Tahoma. Trying too hard to create a new route just creates a contrived variation.

     

    I agree that there are several potential unskied lines. I wish I wasn't so damn old...and drunk.

    agree or a FWA on some of the western routes, there pretty isolated

    New routes on Rainier?

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    I don't think your gonna find any new routes up rainier. Unless you do something very dangerous...

     

    its all been climbed, except directly under big ice cliffs, sure that would be a new route but a stupid route. Those things break off and would smash you to oblivion.

     

    kinda like the kautz route :shock:
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