manninjo

If the Pub Club is in Skagit or Bellingham, I'd definitely be there.

@bedellympian awesome, have any photos of the zone?

Put in a snowshoe track to access this buttress at the head of seymour creek under north face of north twin sister, this zone is pretty legit. Ice was better than average for washington. Approach took longer than expected and we only did a couple lines on the lower tier at wi3 and wi4. Whole thing probably goes at wi4, maybe 70m tall? Somebody should get out there while they don't have to break fresh trail! 2.5-3 hrs with a trail in place from the gate closure. 4-5 hrs if breaking trail. Looked like decent snow camping next to the creek under the crag.

Bad cell phone picture from far away, haven't heard of these flows on the n aspect of north twin sister, up the seymour creek drainage. Looks like a bushwhack or tricky descending detour from the standard n face ski route.

Looks excellent, thanks for sharing! How's the lake fishing out there?

Looks like a fun way to the top, thanks for putting this out there!

Very cool!

Right on, looks like a worthwhile objective! How was the cross-country travel from the Methow up to the base of the face?

Killer season in the Pickets, 3 new routes and a 2nd ascent to boot? This line looked a little improbable, way to piece it together!

Awesome line, congrats!

Few more photos: On Phantom arm, under west ridge (route looks very good), looking over to Haunted Wall; lower part of Spectre's south ridge partially visible above Pickell pass. Approaching the ridge Sam leading delicate 5.9 PG-13/R up bulging flakes on pitch 3 Spot the climber Summit!

Awesome climbing again with you Sam after so many years, this climb went about as smoothly as I could have hoped! Great trip report on your blog, I recommend giving it a read. A few thoughts about the climb: Pleasant (and warm) temps made for light bivy gear and few layers needed Snow travel conditions and coverage were outstanding, mostly boot-sole to shoelace deep made for easy kicksteps and cramponing pretty much the whole time, never too firm or post-holely, with rubble, heather, and crevasses well covered We brought food for only 4 days/4 nights, and with meltwater never really carried more than ½ a liter of water at any given time (except on route) Certain sections of choss on the ridge required delicate climbing, alternating with heavy-handedness; we trundled a ton of stone, especially on the ridge crest Sam is an exceptionally strong and efficient partner who set much of the boot pack, led most of the pitches, and graciously humored me with belaying the Impasse both ways. We packed a lot into 4 days, with back-to-back 15-16 hour days including the full day climb and descent, followed by a marathon exit hike the final day all the way from the 7k ft moraine bivy south of Challenger to the car, leaving a little before 10am and making the trailhead around 2am. It was so hot the afternoon of our hike out, despite drinking 7-8+ liters of water and eating lots of salty snacks, by 10pm, what little urine I could pee was the color of motor oil. It was a little unsettling, to say the least. Fortunately, a couple days later and I’m no worse for the wear Here is a John Scurlock photo (used with permission) of the line, dotted sections were below the crest on the east. We did two rappels on route to get off or around gendarmes.

Awesome, way to stick with!

Awesome trip, thanks for posting. Dig the quality photos. Sounds like a full value traverse!

Strobach is coming in / was kinda in this past weekend. Ice was kinda chossy / friable on the lower tier "approach" pitches. Temps looked like they'd be keeping things that way this coming weekend. We went only to the Motherlode zone, it took 3.5 - 4 hours breaking trail to get in with snowshoes (recommended over skis). 2 hours to hike out with the trail in place.