bedellympian

15 days house to house… the multiple legs of travel and the constantly fluctuating weather make smash and grab pretty difficult… I wouldn’t budget less time. We spent about $9k for all of us. Having a team of 4 is definitely the most cost efficient way. You could spend less or more, that seemed pretty middle of the road.

That about does it. Hopefully you all enjoy.

Trip: Cirque of the Unclimbables - SE Face of LFT and W Ridge of E Huey among others Trip Date: 07/25/2024 Trip Report: I was fortunate to be invited to join a team to the Cirque of the Unclimbables from 7/20 to 8/4 this summer. We were supported with generous funding from the Bob Wilson Grant through the Mazamas. The team also included my partner Kyle, and the duo Angie and Damon. Our chosen itinerary was to drive to Vancouver BC, fly to Whitehorse, rent a truck and drive 6 hrs (half on gravel) to Finlayson Lake, take a float plane to Glacier Lake, hike up to Fairy Meadows (4 miles, 2.8k', lots of downed trees currently) where you make camp. Almost all the routes are an hour or less walk from camp and involve hiking through meadows and talus, but no glacier travel. We reversed the process on the way out, but added a night at Inconnu Lodge which is included in the airfare if your timing/logistics allow (lodge is owned by the bush plane folks, Kluane Air). This whole process basically makes for 3 days travel on each end of the trip from the lower 48, expect more time if driving to Finlayson Lake from the states. The rental car definitely adds a fair bit to cost but allowed us to spend more time there as we were limited by work vacation, luckily we snagged a good deal on this. Flying Air North into Whitehorse was pretty great, awesome little airline with good service. At Finlayson Lake there is a basic dry cabin to hang out in while you wait for the float plane. We had to wait a day due to wildfire smoke which was causing low visibility in the mountains. Kluane Air, the bush plane company, is awesome but definitely account for weather as the old DeHaviland Beavers they run need visibility to fly in the mountains. These planes can take 4 passengers plus gear pretty comfortably. Once dropped at Glacier Lake there is a pit toilet, bear boxes, and a dry one-room cabin with no furnishings. We arrived in the evening and chose to hike up to camp that night. This hike looked minimal on paper but lots of over-under with downed trees, swarming mosquitoes, and 65lbs packs made this take 3:30... I think you could do it faster but it's not like anyone comes here to set FKTs on the approach and this felt pretty hefty. We left half our food and some extra gear at the cabin and did a resupply run 5 days later. Rental car... brand new F150 booked on sale (Labor Day?) The swimming dock at Finlayson Lake. The pickup compound at Finlayson is shared with a horse-pack supported big game hunting outfit. The Kluane Air cabin at Finlayson Lake. When you hear the plane it's time to go! Flying over the bush. Coming into land at Glacier Lake Smokey but not too bad, looking up at the approach from just after the lake. A bit overgrown. Entering the last uphill section above tree line. Hope it hasn't rained. Amazing fin feature visible from the approach. Final uphill bit to Fairy Meadows. The base camp area features two prime spots on opposite sides of the creek. Both are under massive boulders which shelter you from most weather. Each spot have 2-3 bear bins; military surplus metal boxes. There are also bolts in the rock and old rope/tat for hanging things. There is plentiful clear water, a pit toilet that is (barely) maintained by the park service, and quite a few sport, trad and boulder routes on the massive boulders. Bear bin at Fairy Meadows... some idiot left a bunch of open food and a book in this thing through the winter. Everything was moldy and slimy. We cleaned this out and packed out the trash. It still smelled so bad after being aired out for days that we didn't want to use it. Our camp under this massive 30ft boulder which reflected the sound of the creek. Note the items hanging from bolts. The not-very-well-maintained pit toilet that the National Park installed... looks like a marmot or three tried to live there through the winter. Beautiful creek in Fairy Meadows. After we arrived at Fairy Meadows, setup camp and had dinner it was quite late (near midnight?) but Damon and Angie decided they were going to try Lotus the next day anyway. They got up at 3am and went right to it. Kyle meanwhile started feeling sick (we sat next to an elderly lady who coughed a lot on the plane) and so we rested the next day and watched them through binoculars. Based on their progress we assumed they would rap off from the bivy ledge, where the rap route diverges from the climbing about half way up. However, after dinner we wandered up the meadow looking for them and spotted them on the headwall pitches 3/4 of the way up. The desire to not have to redo the lower pitches a second time had spurred them on. Given the latitude it's also only dark from midnight to 4am at that time of year. In the end they rapped through the night and were back in camp at 6am the next day. An impressive effort, but oof! Scoping Lotus while Damon and Angie send. Critical supplies courtesy of the Sav-on-foods in Whitehorse which has a bomb bulk section. UK Smarties in the bag. After another day of rest Kyle and I decided to go for Lotus ourselves. He still wasn't feeling 100% but we knew good weather wouldn't last forever here. We hoped to be a little faster than our teammates and woke at 4am. We were joined by Michael and Patrick, two of the four guys from a Montana team who were the only other party for most of our time. They graciously let us start first. We had heard the lower pitches were very wet but they had dried a bit and minimal french free got us into the chimneys. We had hoped to simul the chimneys which go at 5.7 but it was fairly steep and sustained enough to make us simply pitch out rope stretchers. Michael and Patrick did simul and passed us here but seemed pretty tired doing so and we all ended up about the same speed on the headwall. Start of the route. Wet and scary detached flakes to start. Kyle getting it done in the chimneys. We made good time to the bivy ledge and started on the headwall. The sun was strong and I was sweating in just a sun hoody. We had climbed to the bivy with two packs and now left some gear stashed here in one pack and continued up using fix and follow and hauling the other pack. The nubbin pitches were surprising spicy. Never dangerous but mandatory climbing above small nuts and cams on small face holds. The first roof is very easy on the L side and the second (crux) roof is a hand crack on the R side. This assumes you read the nubbin climbing correctly and can get yourself in line for each of these. The pitch above the crux roof is an amazing double crack, unfortunately our feet hurt too much to really enjoy it. Kyle on the Headwall Michael on the crux roof. Kyle on the amazing pitch above the roof, trying not to foot jam. It should be noted on this route that grades indicate sustained old school Yosemite style climbing with almost every pitch being 50m. It definitely feels more like a Yosemite route than an alpine route and took longer than we anticipated. Kyle and I topped out as thunder began to rumble from dark clouds to the E. We started to rappel immediately and were one rappel from the bivy ledge when it started to pour. Luckily it slacked off soon and we reached the ground after midnight, making it back to camp around 2am. After a rest day we used the last good weather day to do a resupply. Glacier Lake from the summit of Lotus as storm clouds approach. Proboscis and other cool mountains from the summit. Rappeling Lotus The rain is upon us. Setting up the bug net we got on the resupply. This was a game changer as mosquitoes were quite bad in the meadow. Scoping options with Kyle on a mediocre weather day. Scenic shots from Fairy Meadows waiting for more weather windows. After that we got one more full good weather day. Angie and Damon did Brent's Hammer (6 pitch 5.11+ steep cracks) on Terrace. Damon managed to onsight and declared it 11- (though he also said the style suited him). Kyle and I decided to do the W Ridge of E Huey (1200' gain, 5.9, much moss and lichen covered slab), which was fun in a way that an obscure route in the Pickets might be fun, but which I would not recommend to those looking for a quality rock climb. Kyle heading up one of the first "real" pitches on Huey at the top of a long gully system. Great views near the top of the gully on Huey. The best pitch on W Ridge of Huey? But only low 5th. Kyle on 5.6 moss slab... the real crux of the route. View of Lotus and Parrot Beak from Huey. Terrace in the foreground where DnA are climbing, with Proboscis in the back. Typical rap anchor on Huey. We also slung some blocks in the gully to avoid water polished slab down climbing. We also had some partial days playing on the crags around basecamp. We all tried the Toilet Crack (11+ hand crack roof), D+A also tried the first few pitches of Riders on the Storm (just above camp, only 10+ to P3) and the Penguin (12- bolted boulder problem). After checking the weather we decided that hanging out for 3 days of rain made no sense and flew out early. The experience flying with Sean and Warren at Kluane Air was great and the hospitality shown at their lodge was amazing. We got back to Whitehorse a couple days early, changed our flights and climbed in Squamish for a day before driving home. Nice views with the changing weather from camp. A quick paddle with the stashed canoes at the cabin while waiting for Warren to fly through the storm clouds to get us. Scenic views from the flight out. Open bivy outside Whitehorse before a 5am flight... this was a bad decision because mosquitoes. Duh. Devils Thumb massif from the flight to Vancouver? Lots of gear still. Damon with some of the bags. Kyle cranking out Angels Crest on practically no sleep after the mosquitoe bivy to 5am flight to bag shuffle and straight to Squallywood. Double Rainbow... Trout Creek somewhere just over the horizon... almost home. Gear Notes: Standard rack listed elsewhere. We used a single and a tag and liked it. A bug net to hang from the boulder at camp was clutch. Rain jacket, personal bug net, good food and entertainment. Approach Notes: Car, plane, car, plane, hike... expect 2.5 days if everything goes perfectly, count on 3+.

Hey Noah, I don't live in B'ham anymore but if you make it down to Smith in the fall let me know and I'll take you guys up a multipitch and show you some things.

I did it since they finally made me. I had to put in my email and make up a password. Then I saved the new login to my computer and nothing else has changed, same MP as it has been. I haven't gotten anymore spam email than I usually do the last few days either, so they haven't sold my email yet, though I'm not holding my breath.

Trip: Mt. Washington - West Ridge Trip Date: 06/29/2024 Trip Report: Climbed this June 30th. Approach through the NW Bowl was actually great with snow cover and crampons, but this is changing quickly. Only a little scree the last 100 ft to the start. Climb went in 5 pitches: 60m linking N side of notch to corner pitch to start of dinner plates, simul pitch to base of headwall, 60m linking to top of headwall, 60m to just before summit, some simul scrambling to summit. Rappels have nice fresh tat on them... seriously the most pristine rap slings I've ever seen. Scrambling over to the approach trail was the most time consuming and nasty, but it's not too bad if you keep looking around for easy terrain. Overall the two crux bits (corner and headwall) are surprisingly good for volcano choss. Dinner plates are pretty bad but it's easy terrain so didn't feel awful. Approaching in the NW Bowl Top of our P1 Part way up the Headwall Looking S Coming up Headwall Views to N E Side view Gear Notes: single rack, long slings Approach Notes: nw bowl with snow

Trip: CBR - West Face Trip Date: 06/22/2024 Trip Report: Climbed this June 22nd. Route was dry except a couple jams on the corner, but friends did it the 29th and said the roof was pretty wet. Anyway, it could be dry enough to climb depending on the weather and the current snow makes for an easy descent. Enjoy! CBR: Corner pitch: Sandbagged OW pitch Views: Gear Notes: standard rack, 1x4, 3x .75 Approach Notes: Does anyone still go around to Asgard Pass? Why?

Looking at climbing the W Face of CBR next weekend. After this latest storm cycle I'm wondering if anyone familiar can comment on the approach and how wet the corner pitch etc might be? Thanks!

If you haven't yet, I would post it to this Women's forum on Mountain Project... https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/103989406/womens-forum

Hey Bill, I think we met on Illumination saddle... you were camped up there going over to do Cathedral Ridge, this was years ago. I have two Black Spider Hoodies, they are my favorite mid layer for alpine/winter climbing. I also have the old softshell jacket and pants which I won at the Craggin' Classic at Smith... in maybe 2013?! They are still going strong, especially the jacket which I love. Glad to see NWA continuing to do it the right way!

I don't know of any ascents but looks like it would be a straightforward ice route up those gullies in the right conditions. The face is only 800 ft. of gain. Western Montana Climbers Coalition would be a place to ask. They have a newsletter that sometimes publishes TRs and the members would know.

I tried to cross the barrier in August 2015, but not by the way you describe. I did not see any obvious snow gully and my guess is that snow/glacier recession has left it nonviable... but I could be wrong.

Someone just asked about this earlier this year. Sounds like lots of folks in Seattle area have one. Give more info about your location and goals and people will definitely help you out. Worst-case scenario: try Inter-Library-Loan at your local library, guaranteed there is a copy you can get your hands on.

Yeah, REI is just another corporate behemoth, coop or not. I've been disappointed for years in how and what they have to offer. In Central Oregon we have Mountain Supply near down town Bend which is awesome. Also, near Smith there is Redpoint, though that is more rock oriented. Also near down town Bend is Gear Fix which does resole/repair, consigned used gear, and some new options. If anyone is down this way they are great options. I've also had good luck ordering from quality establishments like Climb On in Squamish (Canadian guidebooks, G7 gear, etc), Fixe in Bishop (not just bolts), and Mtn Tools in Carmel (aid/big wall stuff). Finally, ordering direct from quality companies like Beartooth Alpine in Bozeman, G7 in Squamish, Edelrid NA in Redmond is great. You can usually call them up with questions or stop in if you're in the area and want to try some stuff out.

Reddside and Muffin Top at Trout are obvious candidates for the rainy months. Most of the other basalt cracks (Vantage and Lower Gorge) have too many features to resemble true Utah splitters. Boogie till you Poop in Squamish if you're headed north.

Your questions are flawed... need to be able to check multiple boxes. It's not always a one-or-the-other thing.

I've climbed Gerber-Sink end of March before in good conditions. I've also bailed off of a few things in there during that same time window. (End of March is my spring break, work in education.) I think the most important thing is to be flexible, as mentioned. You can get out in pretty marginal weather if avy hazard is low and you are prepared. Some other spots that should be on your list to check depending on budget/travel time available... Rogers Pass, Canadian Rockies, Glacier NP, Bitteroots, South-central Idaho Ranges, Tetons, Rocky Mtn NP, Oregon Cascades, Elkhorns, Sierra, Wasatch, Great Basin NP. I've had great luck in the Canadian Rockies that time of year. Ice is fat and sticky, huge variety of routes, alpine is just coming into condition depending on the year, cheap hostels and lots of partners to be had if you're solo or your buddy needs an extra rest day. One year I climbed 4 days of ice including routes up to 1,000 ft of climbing, then did an 800 ft limestone sport climb on a south aspect, then did a solo ski tour to scope an alpine face which wasn't in, so went mixed cragging the last day... pretty fun. Also, very different from the Cascades in-terms of rock, avy/snow, types of routes. A great contrast to what we get here.

My wife is due with our second in March and with the new Oregon law I have paid paternity leave for three months... ideally I'll get a little rock climbing in between changing diapers and taking care of the family before late July when I'm going to the Cirque of the Unclimbables for 2 weeks (my wife is so kind to put up with me, and my mother-in-law will come help out). After that I have no idea... maybe I'll get back into bouldering in the fall. There is plenty of easy access boulders near my house and it's easy with kids.

Trip: Columbia River Gorge - Various Ice Routes Trip Date: 01/19/2024 Trip Report: Snuck in some final pitches on Friday 1/19 and Saturday 1/20 with Damon and Angie before the rain came. See pics below... Starvation Creek area Archer Mountain area Ainsworth area? Rapping off trees to avoid tedious down climbing on hard rain ice. Climb near Archer Driving home was super fun... NOT! Gear Notes: screws... stubbies not needed! Approach Notes: AWD w/ chains

If it's plain water then it's probably fine. If there is a chance anything is mixed in... oil, cleaners, battery acid then I would retire it. Maybe call the company who made it just to double check. Wait for it to dry completely before you use it. If you're still worried have a friend's rope setup to catch you if it fails and take a lead whip on it.

What does that actually mean? Is there going to be a climbing ranger at 9500' teaching people in the line how to self arrest? I have no problem paying for a permit, but I think really the Federal Govt should pay the FS for the work they have to do so they don't have to try run things like a theme park business and can actually enforce rules... like the dingbats who leave their hard iced tea cans all over the lower mountain... why aren't we ticketing those people? Instead it's, "let's make the respectful rule followers pay so we can keep scraping by."

Trip: Mt Hood - Elliot HW Trip Date: 11/25/2023 Trip Report: Climbed Elliot R-hand w/ Collin on Saturday 11/26. Conditions are good but pro is limited. Hero sticks the whole way and mostly AI2 with a couple short bits of AI3. Bottomed out most 13cm screws I tried to place... only placed 2-3 screws per 60m pitch due to limited options. Early season conditions add some distance... we climbed the face in 4x 60+m pitches (some simuling). We approached from the S side. Pearly gates are currently a more serious ice route than DKH1 usually is. I stepped on my phone with a crampon so no pictures. Guess you'll have to take my word for it. Have fun! Gear Notes: Some stubby screws. Approach Notes: Over S side and down to Queens Chair. Traverse in to the upper glacier.

Had an encounter on Mt Hood this weekend that made me think of this thread. Feeling frustrated and curious what others think or would do. I was heading down the S side route just below the Hogsback and I heard a drone. I saw a person standing still below me. He suddenly sprinted up hill and raised an ice axe in the air. At first I thought he was trying to wave the drone off but it became obvious he was posing for the drone. He then went back down to where he had been standing and picked up the controller and started making the drone swoop back and forth. I noticed he did not have a helmet or a few other things that would be standard fare for going higher on the mountain, he was also not Caucasian so I consciously tried to give this person the benefit of the doubt (thinking about how people of color have often stated they feel unwelcome in outdoor spaces in the US), maybe he just didn't know better. As I got closer to him on my descent I asked how he was doing. He responded with an accent but in a way that suggested he was a fluent English speaker. I said, "hey, just to let you know, the upper mountain is a wilderness area and flying drones is illegal in wilderness areas." He responded that he had not seen a sign that prohibited drone use. I said that it was a nation-wide law for all wilderness areas. He shrugged and continued flying the drone. I then mentioned that there was an injured person near the hogsback and SAR teams were heading up the mountain, which could include law enforcement and that I wouldn't want him to get a ticket. He said, "thanks for letting me know." At this point I continued down the mountain and he continued flying the drone for as long as I was in earshot. I feel really frustrated with this encounter. Part of me wanted to yell at the guy to land his toy and put it away. Part of me wanted to ask him to explain himself. I doubt either of those things would be productive, but wish there was something else I could do. Didn't help that on the way down I passed through the usual tourist horde at Timberline and picked up multiple empty alcohol containers that had been left since the start of the day in snow where people where posing and sledding. It's tough to have a special experience on a mountain that you have returned to many times and finish the outing watching others do things that are not just illegal but also infringe on the ideals of protected natural space that brought me there in first place.

Trip: Illumination Rock - Skylight (though now it's skylight-less) Trip Date: 11/20/2023 Trip Report: Artem and I took advantage of some high pressure to climb Skylight on the N face of I-rock Monday 11/20. We found the route to be longer than anticipated (perhaps due to glacial recession or lower snow pack in November?) and climbed to the ridge in 4 pitches. The first pitch was lower angle but involved thin verglass at the start and facet snow with a thin rime crust perched on the rock slabs above, the unstable snow layer on any low angle rock continued for the rest of the route (50m M3). Second pitch was fun and had a fair bit of rock exposed as the angle increased (50m M4). Third pitch climbed lower angle terrain to a physical corner and finished with insecure snow on rock meandering to below the final crux where I stopped as I was already low on gear (30-40m M5, doubles from .5-3 would be nice here). The fourth pitch was a short but strenuous up a corner and then stemming through steep stacked blocks to the top (10m M5). We declined the traverse to the summit as it was south facing sun baked rime mushrooms on slab that were collapsing. We rappelled from a horn on the ridge that had a lot of tat. One double rope rappel and a little down climbing got us off via the South Chamber. Overall, this is a fun route that I would recommend, a little shorter than NY Gully but higher quality and more sustained climbing. Also of note... the rock arch that formed the "skylight" that is the routes namesake is gone, the East Skylight which has a slightly harder route to it is still there. Based on observations we think this fell down in the past year. Here are some pictures... Nice shots of the S face from the approach: Reid Glacier: The route from the start of the roped climbing: Perspective from the first two belays: Looking up at our P3: View of Castle Crags and Reid HW: Reid Glacier / Yocum Ridge / St. Helens / Adams: Belay below the last bit of climbing: Artem approaching the penultimate belay: Summit of I-rock on the right and Reid HW behind: Artem on the final moves: Rap horn on the ridge: Pulling ropes in the South Chamber (luckily the rime was slush at this point and we weren't too worried): Walking away, one last view of the S side of I-rock: Gear Notes: Double from fingers to fists (hexes could be nice for the second set in the often Scottish conditions), lots of nuts, slings and a few pins. Approach Notes: Hike to the saddle and drop down to the North. Look for the obvious weakness in the face.

Done Peregrine Traverse and thought it was very chill, Where Eagles Dare would be a possibility, though its pretty chill too. Can you tell me more about the SW Butt on Spire Rock? A couple other possibilities I found that are in the Oregon Cascades... https://www.mountainproject.com/route/117564379/limpy-express-line https://www.mountainproject.com/route/111746750/the-prize