Jacob Smith

Looking for a partner for index town walls, currently leading low 10s and can follow higher. Also open to other ideas, alpine, cragging, whatever. smithj18@seattleu.edu

WTF!?! I thought since i hadn't heard anything they weren't going to do that this year. the Friends of Trout Creek Facebook page has nothing and google doesn't bring up anything either, are you sure?

i was hoping to head down there friday afternoon and stay until monday, but i might be carpooling with a couple guys who can't leave until saturday morning, thats still up in the air but i'll know by tomorrow evening.

i'm in the same boat. i was hoping to do some trad too though, maybe one day at Trout Creek and some time at the lower gorge, i lead up to about mid 5.10 trad or sport, let me know if that sounds good. smithj18@seattleu.edu

God people can be rude on the internet… What you are basically offering is to be somebody's belay slave, which is a great, and much safer than purely from a book, way to learn. Those people who go out as teenagers with a copy of Freedom of the Hills and a rack from craigslist do provide some memorable quotes though... most of the time i prefer to climb with someone i can trade leads with, but i know people who feel differently. The main limiting factor for me, and i think for most people, is your following ability. It's frustrating as hell to lead a pitch in 20 minutes and then spent an hour belaying while your partner falls their way up it. The ideal situation, i think, is to find someone who leads about one number grade harder than you do, so that anything they can send on lead you can send on TR. Thats the situation I used to have until the guy who taught me to trad climb started pushing into 5.11 while i was still working on 5.9, and now cragging together is pretty difficult. My best advice would be to train hard, hangboard if there's not a climbing gym close by, and get strong so that when you do find someone to take you out you pick it up fast. Anyways, I wish you luck.

Ok, we'll see if it works out. let me know if you want to climb on thursday.

starting next week i am looking for a regular gym partner to meet at seattle vertical world. late afternoon tuesdays and thursdays are the times i have available, and i am hoping to get there twice a week starting next thursday. not that it matters all that much in the gym, but when i stopped going in late spring i was leading 10s and top-roping 11s, although i am sure i have regressed somewhat.

I am looking for a partner for Index this tuesday and thursday, I get off of work at 2:30 and can be up there by 3:30 or so to climb into the evening. I lead up to around 5.9, some lows 10s, and can follow into the upper 10s. I don't have access to the internet while i'm at work so if hoping for tomorrow probably best to text: 425-232-9241

Looking for partners for Index and/or Leavenworth (and/or Darrington for that matter, anything really but alpine chossfests) for any time in the next week or so. had a Selkirks/Bugaboos trip that went to hell due to multiple injuries and i am just trying to salvage something of the time off. I typically lead around 5.9 and can follow 5.10 without too much hassle. reply here or email argontechnolide@hotmail.com i imagine i'll be continuing to look for partners after i leave the city in the next day or so (i'd love to be in index tomorrow but that seems unlikely, might just go backpacking), at that point i'll probably post a phone number.

Looking for a climbing partner for Vantage, or Leavenworth depending on weather forecasts. I have a rope, a car, a small rack, and generally lead trad in the 5.8-9 range and follow up to 10+ or so.

Yeah, carrying the pack allows me to tell myself that i would have sent without it - a foolish delusion.

Trip: Mount Kinesava - Cowboy Ridge Date: 4/1/2013 Trip Report: After spending four days cragging around Zion, Matt Lemke and myself climbed Cowboy Ridge on Mount Kinesava. As was reported, it involved about 2000 ft of class 3-4 scrambling on loose, scary, navajo sandstone and a single 5.7 hand crack pitch. Access to the ridge itself is unproblematic and the scrambling is fairly simple until the prominent notch. Some scouting is necessary to find the best way through, as the route often cuts to one side of the ridge or the other. The chimney up from the notch ends with a couple low-5th moves that are difficult with a backpack. From there the terrain eased back to scrambling grade and we headed up to the base of the technical portion, which, due to a crack misidentification, we did in three pitches instead of one. The first went up to the sloping ramp to the first tree with a rappel anchor, the second followed the crack directly up and to the right, and then around a series of ledges to a tree on the exact opposite side of the first pitch, but directly below the third. Once there I realized that we could have easily bypassed that area through a notch above the first belay tree. The pitch itself was very mellow – a hand crack with plenty of features and rest stances. I would not argue the 5.7 rating, but compared with other Zion 5.7s (Cave Crack, Just Another Jamb), it was more like a 5.5. The first crack I led was more of a typical Zion 5.7. Above the 5.7 pitch is an extended section of 4/low5th frictiony scrambling that we soloed through still wearing our rock shoes, and then a short hike to the summit of the ridge. The scramble up to the true summit of Kinesava was simple enough, and mostly class 2. We were worried about the east face descent but found it to be well marked by cairns. There were a couple sections of class 4 down-climbing but they were not too bad and we did not have to rappel. [img:center]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cEor8rRXiTw/UVnQZcIUCtI/AAAAAAAABh0/YJa-vre0iM8/s1600/Cowboy+Ridge.jpg[/img] more photos can be found here Gear Notes: We read contradictory reports. I would say nuts, single cams .5-3, double 1s. I think I placed 5 pieces and had a bit of a runout because we brought doubles of 2 instead of 1. Three quarts of water was enough, but more would not have hurt. We wore hiking boots and brought rock shoes, the pitch would have been very doable in approach shoes. Approach Notes: The new approach is fairly direct, you follow the Chinle trail as long as you see fit and then cut across the desert to the ridge that breaks through the cliff band. If you want to avoid the barbed wire fence that marks the park boundary you can either follow the trail to a gate or aim for the main wash, where there is another break.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation, just looking to be able to train more regularly (gyms are boring by yourself). How do mornings look for you?

I think pound for pound we ate more granola than salami, but both now sound a little gross. remember when my card didn't work? my account balance was $45. I have your glasses by the way.

That rime was really something else. Not that they really add anything, but i have posted some of the photos i took before the camera died http://ifiwereacrow.blogspot.com/2012/12/practice-application-and-more-practice.html

Does anyone know about routes on the south peak of Baring Mountain? By this I mean what is actually the middle peak that you see from the west. I have found sporadic assertions that there is a scramble route from the gap between the south and main peaks, but I can't find anyone claiming to have actually done this.

We heard quite a bit of icefall from the headwalls on either side of the ice chute, but the route itself is fairly safe. climbable is a relative term.

The ladders and fixed lines were removed earlier that day by an IMG group, which we did not find out until we checked the mount rainier climbing blog when we got home.

There was a band of scree between the Wilson and the Turtle, and then pretty much just rock until the Kautz.

Trip: Mount Rainier - Kautz Date: 9/30/2012 Trip Report: On the afternoon of the 28th of September myself and Ryan Hoover drove down to Paradise to jump-start our Kautz attempt. Leaving the visitor's center around 4:30 we made it to the Wilson glacier by sundown. the Nisqually was not too difficult to maneuver through but the chute up to the Wilson was an unpleasant mix of scree and dirty ice. [img:center]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YecIhdf2dAc/UG0eua4k62I/AAAAAAAABDk/fp3feZ9p4uE/s320/Kautz_15.JPG[/img] Saturday morning we climbed up to a campsite about 200 ft below Camp Hazard, stopping midday for a couple hours of ice climbing practice in a crevasse. When we left to stash some gear at the rappel point our tent was blown nearly off a cliff by the wind and partially torn. [img:center]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yal3FiDNFD8/UG0e9vdgHKI/AAAAAAAABEc/fdVPOyG_TO4/s320/Kautz_46.JPG[/img] On Sunday we started our summit attempt at 1:30 and made the top of the ice chute by first light. The lower section we simul-climbed, although it included some challenging ice steps, while the chute itself we did in four pitches. The middle two of which were quite pumpy and difficult to find belay stances on. Much of the ice was of quite poor quality and secure pick placements were sporadic, but the slope was moderate enough that the climbing was not technically challenging - just hard on the calves. [img:center]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uK119Lim7mk/UG0gJG1LQ9I/AAAAAAAABFk/WZQ8Y_2hwvM/s320/P1210698.JPG[/img] Above the chute sun cups and many open crevasses made progress slow and we summited at 11:45 after traversing up and around until we hit the last 100 feet of the DC route. [img:center]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pPqlU1aLv8E/UG0gNUnSJmI/AAAAAAAABF0/2ITklf0Pl94/s320/P1210716.JPG[/img] The descent proved simple at first, but then the trail seemed to disappear in a smooth icy section of what was probably by then the Emmons Glacier. After searching for a way over to the top of the Disappointment Cleaver, which was above us by this point, we gave up and re-ascended about 1500 ft before finding a side-trail that led to an earlier variation on the route, one that involved down climbing a nearly vertical slope on sun cup steps to finally reach the DC itself. From there the route was simple enough and we reached Camp Muir just as it got dark and hiked out to Paradise by head-lamp, arriving at the parking lot a little after 10 pm. Additional photos can be found here Gear Notes: We brought two tools each, 9 ice screws, two pickets, and a light-weight single wall tent. The pickets we used only for the ice-climbing practice on the Wilson. We probably could have gotten away with less ice-screws, but we would have had to spend more time making v-thread anchors. Approach Notes: There are some reports of a better way to get to the Wilson, a gully somewhere left of the waterfall, we saw no indication of this but would not repeat our route, as it forms a funnel for much of the debris coming off the upper Nisqually.

We left the trailhead at 7:30 or so and summited at 11:30, from there we really took our time and were back at the trailhead sometime around 4. I wish I had taken more note of the exact times like I usually do, but I think those are approximately correct.

Trip: Gunn Peak - Standard Route Date: 9/18/2012 Trip Report: On September 18th, Adam, Brian, Ryan and I climbed Gunn Peak. We parked in a small turn-off just past the 4.2 mile mark and then hiked down the side-road, taking a right at the campfire pit; on the way out we followed the trail to the stream and found a simple crossing that put us at the end of the dirt road, avoiding the detour to the logjam completely. The trail itself was overgrown and very steep but not too difficult to follow. From the saddle between Tailgunner and Point 5760 we headed around Point 5760+ to the east, descending maybe 200 ft before climbing back up through a scree field to the hidden gully, which, although not visible until at its base, was a simple class 4 scramble. [img:center]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u4JZf6vm2BY/UFotw5uPyOI/AAAAAAAAA-g/97zTMSCxCKQ/s320/GunnPeak_10.JPG[/img] After traversing across the upper scree shelf we climbed through the notch, across the narrow ledge on the north face and scrambled up the summit itself (class 3). On our way out we climbed Tailgunner, which was a walk-up, and Point 5760+, which was more tricky. [img:center]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z_4DFs4343A/UFouFSQQD6I/AAAAAAAAA_0/9IeokGGbZE8/s320/GunnPeak_51.JPG[/img] Additional photos can be found here Gear Notes: Any snow on route on the upper portion of the mountain would have necessitated ice axe and crampons, although we, luckily, encountered none. Helmets optional, as rockfall seemed very minimal.

I've heard it will be open next year. on the way back we passed a road grader clearing brush and there were four or five forest service vehicles parked near the Downey Creek bridge.

Trip: Dome Peak and Spire Point - Standard and South Face Date: 9/3/2012 Trip Report: On August 31st Adam Walker, Ryan Hoover, Josh Lewis, Matt Lemke and myself set off to climb Dome Peak, with Sinister and Spire Point as possible add-ons. After biking up to the Downey Creek campground Friday evening, we hiked to a bivy spot at about 6400 ft on Itwoot ridge on Saturday and climbed Dome Peak on Sunday. We had intended to traverse the Chickamin glacier and climb the east ridge of Sinister but large bergschrunds on the Chickamin-Dome col made this infeasible for a single day. [img:center]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q_QVhgUFxZQ/UEbq8rvC6xI/AAAAAAAAAzw/hDBUE72w_Mw/s320/Dome-Spire_165.JPG[/img] On Monday four of us attempted Spire Point, Matt and Josh by the standard route and myself and Ryan by the south face. We found the route to be much as Beckey describes it, five pitches of excellent rock, two of which were quite short and little more than class 4. Some of the 5.6 moves were interesting with mountaineering boots. [img:center]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AVSyM_aWUx8/UEbrr0xdiqI/AAAAAAAAA1s/pWbrRB3pJVk/s320/Dome-Spire_244.JPG[/img] [img:center]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QGVGsezf39E/UEbsQ91zPZI/AAAAAAAAA3A/ojeBbxToQu0/s320/Dome-Spire_289.JPG[/img] More photos can be found here

Trip: American Border Peak - southeast face Date: 8/25/2012 Trip Report: The Approach On the twenty-fifth of August, Adam (gimpilator of summitpost), Robbin, Ryan and myself left Anacortes at three in the morning to climb American Border Peak. After arriving at the Winchester Mountain trailhead at six we promptly set off in the wrong direction - down the road past the second lake. Fortunately we soon realized our mistake and bushwhacked back to the High Pass trail, which we reached just as it starts to descend. We covered the ground to Low Pass, up the ridge to High Pass, and then down the Gargett Mine fairly quickly and were soon side-hilling through wildflower covered talus. Just short of the shoulder we hit a particularly steep portion of the slope that would take us the better part of an hour to navigate. Klenke’s route page says to stay low and some in our party were advocating for descending a couple hundred feet to where the angle of the slope was more shallow but we found that if you ascend to just below the cliff band, as in - within twenty feet of the cliff band, it was not too unreasonable. The first thirty feet were probably the hardest but after that there was enough brush to form natural steps. Although not quite the crux of the climb (as I naively thought it might be), it was probably the trickiest section below the saddle. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/AmericanBorder_68.JPG[/img] Once over the wooded shoulder we traversed easily across heather slopes to the scree field that led to the notch. This section was frustrating, as the entire slope seems ready to slide at the slightest suggestion, but not all that difficult. In retrospect it may have been easier to stay to the sides and avoid the looser middle section entirely but I am not sure. On the opposite side of the notch we found slopes depressingly similar to what we had just ascended, but as if to make up for it we got our first view of the summit, as well as some rather unlikely-looking rock spires on the ridge to the south. As we started to descend Ryan realized that his gallon jug of water was leaking and we stashed it on a rock for our return. We were afraid that the gullies we had to cross to reach the saddle would be a repeat of the slope before the wooded shelter but were relieved when they turned out to be much easier and consisted mostly of a series of light grey steps that seemed much more solid than the usual reddish rock. The Climb Around noon we reached the saddle and got our first good look at what the route would entail. At that point Robbin turned around Adam would do the same shortly thereafter. From the saddle the route follows the crest for a few hundred feet before traversing across some “shelves” (loose, down-sloping rock) and ascending a gully to near the first notch. From Klenke’s the route description we were unsure which notch, we saw three, was the correct one but after checking out the middle one we determined that the route must follow the farthest north, snow-filled gully. It looked like it might be possible to climb through the moat to the left of the snow finger with minimal exposure but there was one rock step that didn’t look feasible, we therefore roped up, protected ourselves with an ice axe belay, and climbed about fifteen feet on the snow finger before returning to the moat. This section made us very glad we had hauled ice axes and crampons all that way. The ledges across to the chimney were nerve-rackingly narrow but not really problematic The chimney itself was a bit of a surprise. Instead of a 5.4 rock climb what we found was a very difficult to protect 5.8. Or rather, four 5.8 crux section, where one climbs around the various chockstones, connected by stretched of easy class three. These were more awkward than difficult, but I was glad none-the-less to have a top rope (Ryan led both pitches). They keyhole was unique and fun in a way, although I felt a little like I was crawling out of the underworld like the first men of Pueblo legend. At the belay point above the chimney we stashed the rope (a mistake we would regret) and scrambled up the the summit ridge, which, being loose, exposed class 4, was likely the most dangerous section of the climb. From there the climb was basically over, just fifteen minutes of class 2-3 over to the summit block where we found a register that had not been signed since 2009. I would be very surprised if other parties have not made the summit in those three years, but perhaps they did it earlier when it was snow-covered. As we had summited almost exactly at our turn-around time (we had been oscillating between 3:00 and 3:30 and summited at 3:15) we stayed for only a few minutes and then began the descent. [img:center]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TDNZCFGfq3w/UDqGwGNgZ4I/AAAAAAAAArA/80SwcbzndA8/s1600/AmericanBorder_144.JPG[/img] The Descent From the summit back to the saddle took us about three hours, almost as long as the ascent, which was not terribly surprising as route finding became rather difficult past the snow finger. We rappelled down both the chimney (over the highest chockstone) and the gully, both of which were a little dicey due to rock-fall, questionable anchors, and the rope being about five meters shorter than it needed to be, and we wished we had been able to rappel the class four above the chimney as well. Through the section between the snow finger and the ledges we were regularly sending down rockfall that reached the glacier a thousand feet below. Once at the saddle we descended quickly and reached our water stash in 45 minutes, the shoulder in another 45 minutes (we initially hit too high and had to descend to where we crossed on the approach), and then the trail below High Pass just as it was getting dark. This put us at the trailhead around 9:30, 15.5 hours after we had left that morning. Evaluation Me and Ryan were basically in agreement, we are glad we did the peak, but we never want to come back again. What would otherwise be fun class three rock scrambling was some of the most dangerous climbing either of us have done, and the arduous approach made it all the more difficult. more photos can be found here