bbauer

According to the ranger station, they won't be opening the road until permit season begins on May 15th...

I left a Petzl sum-tec axe/tool midway through the traverse (dirt/snow transition on the ridge) on North Saturday (July 19). If anyone went up there yesterday and found it and wants to be awesome, I'll buy you beer in exchange. On a related note, I found an ice axe on the north ridge of Middle, same day. PM me with a description and I'll get it back to you...

Why skip through it? That's my favorite part of the route...

There is a hook move right off the ground to reach the first bolt which I didn't mention. The second is to the left of the mid pitch 3 anchors and the 3rd is a bit higher up. Both could be free climbed instead of using hooks (I just hate free climbing while soloing...see pansy reference above). The 3rd can also be done hookless with a strenuous top step, but I found it more efficient to just throw the hook in real quick and move through it. I've never linked those pitches before. I'm not sure I'd recommend it though. You'd need a shit ton of draws for it...or you'd need back clean a ton and piss your partner off...

Shapp, I've heard the route was slightly more spicy back in the day . Also, I only mention the mantles because I'm kind of a pansy...

Hmmm, I realize this wasn't super in depth, but I thought it might help someone. I'd love to know what the inspiration was behind the one star rating. You can write me direct at brianebauer@gmail.com if you like. Thanks.

I had to get an early start so I could go watch that puppy fall in love with a horse...

Trip: Monkey Face - West Face Date: 2/2/2014 Trip Report: Soloed the West Face on Sunday (2/2/14). Started at 8:30 summited at 1:30. A few notes... The mantles on pitches 1, 3, and 4 are scary while soloing but 1 and 3 can be mostly negated via a small nut on 1 and a #1 Camalot at the top of 3. Off the mid pitch anchors on pitch #3, a hook to a bomber #00 master cam gets you to the first bolt with minimal effort. I also used a hook to reach another bolt on pitch 3. First bolt off the anchors on pitch 4 is flexing... Gear Notes: 1 #1, 1 #.75, doubles to .33 with offsets. HB Brass offsets, 1 talon, 1 cliffhanger. Approach Notes: Misery Ridge sucks worse on the way back

True. I was skiing at Bachelor today and it was HOT (not in the Paris Hilton way)...although it was actually pretty fun. We were fortunate to have very little wind on Saturday once we got to the hogsback which helped greatly.

My brother and I climbed the old chute early Saturday morning. We summited right before sunrise and the climbing was great. Barely any ice coming down. If you're going to climb in these temps, it's best to go early while everything is still frozen. Couldn't believe how many people were just coming up when we got back to Palmer. I think it was 40 degrees by then...