Sidviscous

Thanks for the trip report and photos- you got some good ones of us. We have this one of you and a few more if you're interested.

We climbed this route 6/24/17. Firm snow on the approach ledges make it a little more intense... I'm pretty sure the rope would have caught on a tree on the edge though, right? I really enjoyed this route. It isn't quite as good as Ragged Edge, but the setting is so fantastic. Thanks Darin. BTW, I found the crux to be low on the 5.8 pitch in the finger crack- the step over seemed pretty easy to me.

Trip: Bonanza Peak - Mary Green Glacier Date: 7/9/2017 Trip Report: We climbed Bonanza as a party of four (two rope teams) July 8-10. After a lengthy delay in Holden because the baggage truck broke down, we made quick work of the approach to Holden Lake. Upon arrival, we were anxiously greeted by a sizable and intense mosquito welcoming committee. I'd say close to 10 out of 10 for the Cascades Mosquito Scale. In the morning we were reminded that some marmots have a taste for rubber (jetboil lid chewed up). The trail around the lake was flooded on the far side and we went too high (later discovered it's better to stick low. However, the bush whacking was brief and we soon rejoined the trail up to Holden Pass and traversed to the waterfall slabs. The scramble up was easy on semi-dry slabs. The glacier travel was straight forward by sticking with the advice to ascend on the north side before traversing. The upper bergschrund was actually unneccasary to cross and we stepped off the snow onto a rib of dry rock. It appears to me that the angle of rock is low enough that it will allow uncomplicated transitions fairly late in the season. Transitioning off the snow: The scramble to the summit went quickly but is exposed and loose enough to warrant caution. We crossed one steep but very brief snow patch on the summit ridge. We descended using a combination of rappels (~four 30m rappels) and down climbing, which took considerably longer than ascending. We transitioned back to the snow and followed our tracks back. The wet slabs were a lot wetter than they had been on the way up, so we did one more rappel to a large ledge before traversing back towards the pass. The trip back to camp was uneventful and due to the unappealing thought of spending another evening with the mosquitos, we quickly packed up and descended to the Holden campground where we had previously stashed beer in Railroad Creek. On the way out we saw fresh bear tracks by the lake. Rappel from the buttonhead+pin rap station. One of the steepest and cleanest sections: Crossing below the bergschrund: One further note: After reading trip reports going back over a decade about sketchy rap stations, I brought a small selection of pins. I added a Bugaboo and new sling to an existing single buttonhead rap station (second to the last). The wet slab rap station below the glacier was still mostly buried with snow, but after a couple stiff tugs, the rat's nest of slings came loose from whatever they were slung around. After finding decent placements for an Angle and a Lost Arrow, I relocated the rap station a dozen yards skier's left using the best two slings from the old rap station (we packed out the rest of the rat chewed mess). One 30m rap put's you on a broad ledge and easy terrain. New Wet Slabs Rap Station: Bottom of Wet Slabs rappel: Tick Removal: Gear Notes: 2x 30m ropes ice ax and crampons If a small rack is desired, 5-6 small nuts or cams and a few long slings should suffice.

Excellent work. Loved your quote in the Bonanza register: "Bonanza from Dark Peak... Never again". We got a good laugh out of that one.

Currently the best way to access Franklin Falls is to park at the Snoqualmie Central Ski area. Walk under I90 (toward Alpental) and then look for a large pile of snow and a pull out on the west side of the road. On the other side of the snowbank is the unplowed old Highway that takes you to Franklin Falls. After two consecutive hair pin turns look for a sign on your right that marks the trail to Franklin Falls. If you have skis, it takes about 15 from the car. Even if you don't, the road is typically packed down from lots of foot traffic. We were up there on Saturday and it was a zoo- someone wrote up an article about Franklin Falls and everyone and their cousin was there taking pictures. We heard multiple stories of huge traffic jams at Denny Creek. Multiple top rope anchors have been set up at Franklin Falls for both the left and right sides. For the right side, go back up the trail until it becomes possible to gain the cliffs to the left. The trees are really dense, so it's difficult to see the bottom but make your best guess. Make one rappel from a tree down steep snow and trees to the edge of cliff. There are at least two anchors around sizable trees there. Make a second rappel to the base (~20-25m). For the left side cross the creek (carefully) and skirt around the cliffs to the left to gain the trees above. There should be several anchors along the breadth of the cliff band. If you leave a sling, take an old one.

+1 for McClellan Butte. I have never understood why Mailbox "Peak" is so popular when this is next door. Another good I-90 corridor summit is Snoqualmie Mountain. After you purchase crampons and ice axes, here are some fun, nontechnical (no rope needed) overnighters that will give you some experience with easy scrambling and snow travel and get you on your way toward your Mt. Rainier goal: Colchuck Peak- Colchuck Glacier route. Dragontail Peak- Standard Route Gilbert Peak- Meade Glacier Route (unlike others on this list this one is rarely crowded and has exceptional views of Rainer and beautiful flower filled alpine meadows). Mt. Adams- South Spur For getting experience in technical glacier travel and climbing, look into taking a course with or joining the Mountaineers. More info here: https://www.mountaineers.org/

Found an ice screw descending Aasgard Pass Sunday, 4/17. If it's yours, PM me the brand and color of the tape on the hanger.

The previous responses have described the east ledges pretty well but I'll add a couple of notes: I think we did 6 mostly vertical raps off the summit to the east ledges. A 50m rope might leave you a little short. This TR has a pic of the rappels: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1129228.'>http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1129228. Don't get sucked into ascending too soon while traversing the ledges. A party ahead of us did and had to backtrack. As JasonG said keep a fairly level traverse following the path of least resistance until you reach the gully. Also, my partner was uncomfortable being unroped on the ledges so we simul-climbed. I found plenty of blocks to sling to make it reasonably safe and efficient. These guys did a three day TFT + Sharkfin and Boston a couple years back: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1129228

I did the White Salmon Route last April which joins the Fischer Chimneys route at about 7000'. I've heard the chimneys are mainly 3rd class and I don't think many parties rope up for them but YMMV. Last year we went up the Hourglass instead of Hell's Highway. We placed a screw or two in 50 degree water ice on a brief running belay. If you went Hell's Highway, screws would not be necessary. We soloed the summit gully on snow. If a party wanted the extra security of a running belay for the summit pyramid, you could bring a few pickets and long runners to clip the occasional fixed sling. Another thought is floatation- It can be quite soft up there in April. If you're not planning on brining skis or snowshoes, it might be worth letting things consolidate another month for that route, or get a super alpine start. Otherwise it could turn into quite the slog-fest.

Did someone have an epic on the Tooth? Found and retrieved two stuck ropes, several sewn runners, carabineers, and pro from the upper pitches on 4/2. If it's yours send me a message describing the gear.

So awesome. I was in Morocco earlier this month and I was lamenting how Mali had become so inaccessible to westerners... Apparently not to everyone! Incredible photos, thanks for sharing.

I was out on Kiddie Cliff on Saturday. We climbed Kiddie Cliff central and right. A lot of the ice was pretty styrofoamy but there was a little bit of 'solid' ice to swing at too. It's not great, but it's there and the approach ain't bad.

A 15m rappel (with a 30m rope) was just barely enough to make it past the steeper bit on the west side of the summit block of Olympus so in theory you could also climb it with a doubled 30m rope. The picture labeled "alternate option" on this link Summit Post- Mount Olympus is the extent of the difficulties on the West face. The East face is less steep but longer and it appeared to be more loose. A guy from Portland died when he fell off the East Face a few days before we climbed in 2013. The Ranger said he pulled something loose off.

LOL, I puked in at this exact same spot when I did the Finger last year.

The standard routes on Hood and Adams are straight forward for route finding. Jump in the boot pack and follow the hordes.

Nice. I've been wanting to do this one in similar fashion. How long did it take you car to car?

I also agree. Got stuck in Marblemount for the day becuase we couldn't get a permit for Boston Basin. I had the Ramen bowl at Mondo which was about a quart and delicious. Drunk local lesbians provided loud and colorful entertainment, much to the dismay of the restaurateur. I also ate at the BBQ place and was not impressed. The brisket was so dry it was almost crunchy.

Looks like an awesome trip! I think we saw you descending the east ledges of Forbidden on Saturday. Note: I put a pencil in summit register on Forbidden and wrapped a sandwich bag over the top with a rubber band but it won't last long. If anyone is planning to head up there soon it still needs a 1.5" (I think) non-threaded PVC cap.

Generally I would say the rock quality was best near the ridge crest although it was somewhat sporadic.

Trip: Needles Traverse - Johnson- Deception Date: 7/27/2014 Trip Report: July 26- July 28, 2014 Four of us hiked in to Imperial Tarn July 26th planning on climbing Deception, Johnson, and hopefully some other stuff in the Needles. After some discussion, we decided on attempting a traverse from Johnson to Deception with as many other summits as we could. We were moving by 6:30am on the 27th and had started the scramble at the head of Surprise basin in about an hour. Curiously the scree below Sweat and Gasp contained a couple of relics: A nearly empty iso-butane can and a crushed red Petzl helmet. Same incident? I was just glad not to find a skull still buckled into the helmet. We picked up both items and continued up a couple pitches of low 5th class to the notch between Sweat and Gasp (The Olympic Mountains Climbing Guide mixes up the two in the photo of page 151). . [ A distinctive feature on the ridgeline just south of Johnson Just below the notch I found a fixed #1 rigid stemmed Wild Country Friend. To my surprise when I pulled on it, it came right out. Bonus! At the gap between Sweat and Gasp, we found the bivy site from this TR 4 years ago: (http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/970953/TR_Tyler_to_Walkinshaw_to_Need The West side of Gasp(left) and Sweat Spire(right) Based on the amount of time it would have taken for four people to climb on one rope, we decided to skip Sweat and go for Johnson which was just a short distance away. The chimney to the summit was about 100ft of steep 4th class. This was our only summit where we found a register. There was an inch of water in it and a split pencil. It appears that it gets climbed about once a year or so. There was no rap sling so I slung a horn near the top and we all rapped down. Looking towards Martin, the traverse looked fairly complex and the book did not give a whole lot of info, other than it was 4th class. Looking south towards Martin and Deception from Johnson. A long ways to go yet! We continued on, connecting 3rd and 4th class ledges and gullies sometimes on the east, sometimes on the west but mostly staying on or near the ridge crest. We opted to simul-climb most of this section because of moderate exposure and some short sections of 4th class up-climbing and down-climbing. Plenty of horns and flakes offered easy pro. We by-passed the Incisor at its western base and continued toward Martin by traversing just below the ridge on the west side before crossing to the east just before Martin’s summit block. Then we traversed on snow around Martin’s eastern base to the south shoulder. We arrived on the summit of Martin Peak at about 3pm and attempted to scout the best way to continue the via the “Mt. Deception- Martin Peak traverse” listed in the Olympic Mountain Climbing Guide as a route for Martin. Summit of Martin looking north back towards Johnson (furthest left). Again the book offered little in terms of a description other than the route follows ledges below the ridge crest. We ended up traversing this section on dirty class 2 and 3 scree ledges 100- 200ft below the ridge crest on the east side. This was my least favorite section of the traverse. I kept trying to stay high but it proved less efficient. Near the low point on the ridge between Deception and Martin, we climbed directly up blocks and boulders to the ridge crest and descended scree on the west side to the Deception Glacier. The snow finger to the east of Gilhooley Tower was not continuous so we circled around to the west and summited Deception around 6pm. From the summit of Deception looking north at our route. Ice worms on the Deception Glacier. We descended back to the low point on the Deception- Martin ridge and scouted around for the best way down. The sketch on page 144 of the Olympic Mountain Climbing Guide appeared to show the “class 2” route descending down the south side of the basin back towards Imperial Tarn. The description only mentions talus and easy rock. We searched in vain for an easy way down to a talus ramp we could see sloping to the south above a short cliff band about 100ft below us but we were tired and losing daylight, so we slung a horn and we rapped down. Rapping down towards the talus ramp. Eventually we made it to the dirty snow finger on the left. To make a long story short, what appeared to be a long, easy scree slope below Deception’s North East Face was not. It was steep hard pan with a surface coating of loose rock. We ended up wandering around before finally down climbing a steep (but solid) class 4 chimney in the dark. More scree and finally snow brought us back to camp. In hind sight, I think the sketch in the book was showing the route with continuous snow conditions. If the snow is not continuous, I think the preferred route traverses scree on the north side of the basin, below Martin Peak to the low point in the ridge. All in all it was a really fun traverse. The section from Johnson to Incisor was the most fun and aesthetic. It took us about 4 hours from Imperial Tarn to Johnson, 4 hours from Johnson to Martin, and 3 hours from Martin to Deception. We weren’t really moving very fast. A smaller team more familiar with the route could probably do it in much less time. There was no liquid water on the ridge, but plenty of snow patches. There were also ample bivy sites along the way. A 60m rope got us down from the summit block of Johnson which had a few moves about 50ft up that seemed like they would have been fairly intimidating to down climb. The rock varied greatly in soundness so almost every hold needed testing. The rock is also very abrasive and sharp. My rope got a good deal fuzzier and everyone’s hands took a beating. Gear Notes: -60m 8.9mm -set of nuts -4 cams -sacrificial slings We weren't sure what we were going to do so I went a little heavy on the rack. If doing the traverse as we did, a 60m half or doubled twin, slings, and a light set of nuts would probably more than suffice. Of course, if planning to add Sweat, Incisor, etc, your rack may vary. Bring sacrificial webbing- the snafflehounds seem to have a strong taste for nylon in the Needles. Approach Notes: Royal Basin- Imperial Tarn. Watch out for Poison Oak!

What did you guys climb in? Do you think trail runners would have been fine?

Super helpful, thanks.

Looking for some Beta: How difficult would it be to desend the route in current conditions? Specifically, how wide is the large crevase pictured on the upper Curtis, and how steep are the walls?

By hand. And it's the Original Route, not the "bypass route." Right. I did write "bypass rap" not route. Makes more sense to me then the mess of webbing that was up there before. Thanks.

[/i]Photo by Audrey Sniezek. Gendarme bypass with rockfall hazard. You can't really see them well, but there are people in the center-right of this photo. Is that chain in the lower left? I guessing someone replaced the old 1/4" bolts and tat for the bypass rap?