jefetronic

Thanks, Marlin! Go get it!

Trip: North Early Winters Spire - Early Winter Couloir Date: 4/5/2015 Trip Report: We left the car at the hairpin just after 9am (long story on the reasons for such a late start) and made quick work of the approach, arriving at the base of the route in under an hour. While the approach was baking in the morning sun, the ambient temperature was still below freezing and most of the couloir was already in the shade—we weren't too worried about conditions inside. Goran took the first chockstone pitch in the brilliant sunshine on secure neve and ran us a full rope length to a rock anchor. From there, it was most of a rope length again to get just below the crux chockstone where I got two good pins on the side of the couloir for the belay. The snow alternated between firm neve and deeper, unconsolidated fluff. The crux chockstone involved a mantle and stem in a corner where a #3 fit perfectly. It then took another couple of moves with bad feet to reach above the chockstone and get a good swing into neve. The spindrift shower right then was quite invigorating. After that, it was a short ways over a mostly buried third chockstone to a cave below the cornice. Options up there were daunting—right of the cornice was steep, slabby granite that looked very insecure and tough to protect, the cornice itself was quite large (we could easily stand in the cave below it and it continued another 15-20 feet or so above our heads) and we were worried that tunneling through it would cause it to collapse, and just left of the cornice was about two feet of sugary snow plastered on vertical granite. I decided to do some excavating to see if there were cracks behind all that snow on the left and to see if any of the snow would hold body weight. I eventually found a crack, but also found that the snow fell off the face with very little downward force, so I started the painstaking process of aiding. It was about 30 feet to the top of the cornice and it took a good while, with feet in slings, tools hooking granite and ripping through the unconsolidated snow of the cornice. I slowly made my way up the face and eventually got a foot in the cornice that didn't punch through. With that, a hooked tool, and a back-step on the face, I was able to do a not-so-graceful beached-whale move onto the top of the cornice. I was elated. I built a good rock anchor and fixed the rope for Goran to ascend. From the grunting, I could tell it wasn't easy to make his way up the rope and clean the gear, but he eventually made it and we celebrated with high fives and snacks. The summit was tantalizingly close at that point and Goran offered to head up and give the final mixed pitch a try. It was exactly one 70m rope length up to the belay and Goran nailed it. After some snow, neve, and hooking, most of the pitch followed a steep gully that wasn't visible from the belay, on the left of a big corner system below a roof. Most of the climbing was with crampons and bare hands and probably went at 5.6 in the summer, but felt pretty tricky as it was in these conditions. Thankfully, the rock gear was good and we pulled up onto the summit plateau of North Early Winters Spire just shy of 3:45pm. The views were stellar and we couldn't have been happier to have pulled the whole route off. The raps were much easier to find than on Cutthroat the day before and we quickly descended the gully, headed back up to the pass above South Early Winters Spire, descended with ample glissading, and were back at the car by 5pm. A truly awesome route, requiring the full back of tricks (I'd call it AI3 M4+/5.6 A1+), and an awesome cap to a perfect early-season weekend at Washington Pass! A bit more of the story and more photos here. The route from the hairpin Goran on the entry pitch before we hit the shade Looking down to the second chockstone exit Aiding around the cornice—lots of snow to excavate to find these cracks Goran jugging Looking up the final pitch (the upper section is in a steep corner out of view on the left) Summit! Descending to the car Gear Notes: 7 pins (used 5), set of nuts, cams .3-3" (#3 is essential), 6 screws (used none) Approach Notes: Fast booting conditions—under an hour to the route from the car

Trip: Cutthroat Peak - Cauthorn-Wilson Date: 4/4/2015 Trip Report: At about 11:45pm on Friday night, I picked Goran up at Seatac and we headed for the pass. We made it to the pullout for Cutthroat Peak at about 3am after a stop in Seattle and took a quick nap in the car, with alarms set for 4am. As we packed up our gear, we watched a beautiful lunar eclipse that took the valley, which had been bathed in bright moonlight, into darkness. We left the car at about 4:45am and the conditions were ideal for booting—the snow was firm, but secure enough to not need crampons for most of the way. We made it to the base of the couloir at about 6:15am, where we geared up as the sun rose. There was plenty of snow in the couloir, but the ice was a bit thin, aerated, and brittle. Nevertheless, it was climbable. I led a short, steep pitch on this combination of neve and ice up to a fixed anchor below the crux corner pitch and brought Goran up on that anchor, backed up with a good screw. From there, it was party time. The crux pitch was really fun. In many places, the ice wasn't thick enough to fully swing into and required delicate tapping and hooking. I was able to get 2 decent screws in and then found rock protection higher up. While it seemed like using a chimney technique was possible, I was having too much fun climbing the ice and neve, so I stuck to the face. Once the angle eased off, it was just a little further to get to steep snow and I was able to run up the snow couloir all the way to the cave below the next step with our 70m rope. Inside the cave, I found a perfectly clear, thick ice flow which took two screws for an anchor perfectly. What a cool belay! Goran led the next pitch, starting at about 9:15am, which ended up being a simul-climb to just below the summit. It was what I'd call sub-optimal, with sugar snow on rock and lots of post-holing in very steep snow. Goran found a few pieces of gear here and there and then brought me up just below the summit on a good anchor. I then headed past him on steep snow to the proper summit. It was about 11am at that point and completely gorgeous up there, with a commanding 360-degree view. We knew that finding the descent route might be tricky. And it was. We searched for the first set of chains for over an hour in vain. They must have been buried under snow somewhere we didn't quite look. We found an old anchor which had been destroyed, but never found the true anchor, so we built an anchor off a horn with a pin backing it up and did a double-rope rap (we brought a tagline) off that and quickly found the next anchor. Hopefully someone will clean it up soon. Just as we were setting up our rap, our friend Will was finishing the route solo—impressive! He joined us on our series of slow raps down the face and we all hiked out together and enjoyed some awesome glissading. This was an awesome climb in a beautiful setting with an unbeatable approach:climb ratio for this style. Now that I've summited, if I were to do it again, I'd rap after climbing the crux pitch—the rest of the route wasn't nearly as fun and was much harder to protect. Plus the West Ridge descent route is quite slow by comparison. Approaching the couloir Dawn on our way to the first pitch in deep snow Looking down the first pitch Looking down from the cave belay Goran starting the last simul-block next to the cave Goran on the summit Gear Notes: 5 pins (used 3), set of nuts, 7 screws (used 3; 2x10cm, 1x13cm), cams .3-2" (used a few) Approach Notes: Fast conditions for booting—1.5 hours for the approach

Trip: Mount Baker - Coleman Headwall Date: 3/7/2015 Trip Report: After a great day on Colfax the weekend before, I knew access to Baker was outstanding and that snow conditions were nice and firm. While I'd planned to do the Coleman Headwall later in the year to get more technical conditions, it seemed like a worthy car-to-car objective for this strange spring and with only one weekend day free. Dan and I left Seattle on Friday evening and made it to the trailhead at 11pm. We slept until 3:45am or so and were moving by 4:30am. It was right about an hour to gain Heliotrope Ridge in approach shoes and then, after switching to boots, another hour to the lower flat camping area on the way towards the Roman Nose at about 6,500 feet. We took a pretty direct line towards our route, weaving around a handful of crevasses and crossing a few snow bridges, and were at the base by about 8:30am. The upper two thirds of the route looked pretty straightforward, albeit steep. The bottom third was a choose-your-own-adventure array of steep snow on the right and various ice lines on the left. We wove around the first couple crevasses and then headed for the ice, knowing that the rest of the route would be mostly steep snow and that we wanted to swing the tools a bit. Dan pointed out a weakness in the center of the ice fall and it looked fun to me, so I headed for it, set a belay at the base, and brought him up. It was a narrow ice couloir of sorts, with a bit of AI2 and then a short vertical step before easing back off to AI2 and alternating between ice and neve. It was chock full of one-hit wonders and I'm sure I had a huge shit-eating grin on my face the whole time. I ran us to the end of our partially-coiled 70m rope and had 2 screws of our 6-screw rack left. Even though the terrain eased up there, it was still AI2 or so and I decided not to have Dan simul-climb the vertical step, so I brought him up on a 2-screw anchor. He then finished the couloir, I headed past, and we began a very long simul-climbing block that would get us almost to the top before re-racking once above the bergschrund off a somewhat tenuous stubby plus t-slotted ice axe belay. While reports and route descriptions mentioned that things eased off after the first third, we found steep terrain again up high. The middle third was certainly less steep, but the last third, including some bergschrund shenanigans, was pretty steep and relatively difficult to protect. I banged in a token picket every once in a while (we brought 3 of them), but the snow conditions weren't great for it. Thankfully our steps were pretty secure and our tools had some purchase in the icy crust. It's always hard in conditions like those to decide whether to remain roped or to put the rope away and ensure that a fall would only impact one person. In this case, for better or worse, we remained roped. Once the headwall eased up (around 1pm at this point), it was an easy walk across the plateau to the summit where we were alone with a stunning view of the North Cascades and out to sea. The winds were up a bit, so it wasn't terribly comfortable and we headed down shortly thereafter. The descent went smoothly and we were back at the car right around dark, about 14 hours after we'd started—no speed records needed. I thought this route was quite similar in nature to the Adams Glacier on Mount Adams. It's consistently much steeper than the North Ridge on Baker and, depending on the line taken, seems that it can have just as much ice. The headwall and our line The approach Entering the ice couloir before the vertical step Dan finishing the couloir on perfect neve Dan near the top of the headwall Summit Gear Notes: 6 screws, 3 pickets Approach Notes: Pretty direct line toward the Roman Nose was possible; no floatation needed

Trip: Colfax Peak - Cosley-Houston Date: 3/1/2015 Trip Report: At 3:30am, Kelsey and I left the car at the trailhead to try out a car-to-car ascent of the Cosley-Houston. Hiking the trail all the way to the clearing near the ridge in approach shoes on March 1st felt both wrong and glorious. The rest of the approach in boots without crampons went quickly and we arrived at the base of the route at about 8am where a friend and her partner had spent the night after climbing the Cosley-Houston the day before. We roped up to cross the bergschrund and then pitched out the rambling first bit. Low-angle ice is quite the calf-burning experience and this pitch was no exception. Nevertheless, it was one-hit wonders the whole way and went quite quickly. I headed up to a belay just below and left of the crux pillar and brought Kelsey up on a pair of good screws. It was pretty cold that day, with a forecasted high of 20 degrees, so the belay parka came in quite handy. The crux pillar was stellar, though pretty short. About 30 feet of WI4, with a few slightly overhanging moves, led to easier climbing and a snow ramp where I dug out a spot to bang in a picket and placed two pins for the belay, one of which made perfect rising-pitch pin noises and made me feel quite secure despite the kitty-litter rock. From there, I headed up and reached the second ice step, which was only about 20 feet tall and right around vertical. I belayed Kelsey up to a platform right at the base of the ice to protect the belay from falling snow and ice. The second pitch ice was fun enough that I let out a few whoops and ran it up to the rock buttress above where I got two good screws and brought her up. The final pitch went smoothly, hugging the rock buttress on my left and getting good screws in the steep upper gully before topping out on the summit where I belayed Kelsey off a picket just before 1pm. The clouds were a bit ominous and the winds had picked up a bit, but it was still a nice place to be, with views out to Puget Sound and all around the Cascades. We followed boots down toward the secondary summit and eventually realized that the descent route followed around the South side of the secondary summit before heading down to the Colfax-Baker saddle. From there, it was a long walk out, but uneventful and we were down well before dark. As Colin Haley mentioned in a recent post after climbing the Polish Route, Colfax affords some of the best alpine ice climbing around with easy access and a great ambiance. Go get it! Colfax Kelsey on her way up the first pitch At the base of the second ice step Leading the second ice step Traversing to the exit ramp Kelsey arriving at the summit Descending from the summit Gear Notes: 3 pins (used 2), 10 screws (used ~8), 3 pickets (used 1), 4 cams (used 0), small rack of nuts (used none) Approach Notes: Trail free enough of snow to make it to the clearing in approach shoes

Trip: Mount Triumph - NE Ridge Date: 9/28/2014 Trip Report: With my thumb still recovering from UCL surgery in late July and Kelsey's finger tendon on the mend as well, we searched around for fun, easy alpine trad routes for what promised to be a great fall weekend. Mount Triumph's NE Ridge quickly jumped to the lead and we set up the plan to drive up Saturday morning, approach, bivy, and then climb/descend on Sunday. The approach Upper Thornton Lake primed and ready for a swim We started hiking at noon on Saturday and made good time, so we stopped at upper Thornton Lake for a brisk dip and some sunbathing on flat rocks before finishing the approach. It was a perfect, warm fall day for it. We made it to the col by 4:15pm or so and dropped down to the rocky ridge below the col where we experienced one of the better bivy sites I've ever encountered. We were cozy and falling asleep in the open air (we didn't bring a tent) by sunset, just shy of 7pm, with a great view of The Pickets. First full view of the route Pretty excited about our bivy spot Knowing that we'd be hiking out Sunday evening and having read widely varying trip report times on the ridge, we got started early, waking at 4:30am and moving by 5am. It was a pretty easy 1.5 hours to the notch at the start of the climb despite the darkness and a little wandering high and low to stay on the snow. Approach shoes with lightweight crampons and a stubby axe were more than sufficient for the glacier travel. The timing was perfect—we reached the small bivy spot a couple of pitches up right as The Pickets were starting to pink up with the sunrise, but didn't need headlamps for the climbing. Sunrise over the pickets We simul-climbed the whole ridge with a single 70m rope doubled in half and a single rack to 3", which was overkill but helped with lengthening the simul- blocks. Memorable spots were the knife-edge ridge (reminiscent of the North Ridge on Stuart) and the steeper section around the crux. We didn't experience much loose rock and it felt like Type I fun the whole way—a bit of a rarity for me after doing lots of colder, snowier, icier climbs this year. Apparently I haven't been rock climbing enough recently! The knife-edge section Amazing summit views We topped out at 9:30am, so about 3 hours up, with an amazingly clear view South to Rainier, West to Baker and Shuksan, North to the Pickets and East to Eldorado and Forbidden. It was truly breathtaking. After leaving the summit at 10am, we spent the next 3 hours getting down to the notch, which really wasn't bad with a single 70m rope. Don't bring doubles. Only a couple of places required taking some unprotected steps after rapping off the ends of the rope on easy terrain. Simul-climbing back across the knife edge was pretty quick. We ran across another party on their way up just below the crux. I hope they had an awesome day as well—we were worried to see them left of the crux OW as we continued down... From the notch, it was another 1.5 hours back to the col, so about 9 hours camp to camp and 2pm at that point, so we decided to have a leisurely hike out with another swim in the upper lake to break it up. What an awesome weekend in a beautiful area with an exceptionally high Type I : Type II fun ratio. I highly recommend it. Gear Notes: Single 70m rope, approach shoes (much more comfortable and better for this climb than rock shoes), single rack to 3", ultralight crampons and ice axe. Approach Notes: About 4 hours to the col. Good trail to the outlet of the lake, then rough climber's trails with bushwhacking to the upper lake. Still some snow from the col to the climb, but it can be easily traversed with light crampons.

Trip: Mount Rainier - Kautz Glacier Date: 9/1/2014 Trip Report: My first climb on Rainier was via the Kautz Glacier in late July of 2012. At that time of year, the approach was all of 5 hours to high camp, the ice was fun, but short-lived, and the slog to the summit wasn't too tricky. I was glad to have ascents of Liberty and Ptarmigan Ridges under my belt before trying the Kautz on September 1st. Our team of 5 slept in the parking lot on Saturday night in light rain and low visibility. That night, I comically learned the hard way that piling 3 dudes into a pickup camper is a bad idea. By the time we'd eaten breakfast at Paradise and checked in for the climb on Sunday morning, the clouds and fog had lifted a little bit, but it was very much socked in on the moraine. Route-finding in very low visibility across the Nisqually and Wilson Glaciers in late season was interesting to say the least. We crossed the Nisqually toward the waterfall at about 6,300 feet, weaving our way around some large crevasses, turned North and roped up at the edge of the Wilson (given that the normal fan approach was a death trap at this time of year). Low visibility on the Nisqually A rare view up the Wilson The route up the Wilson looked improbable and we could only see it every so often through the clouds. I snapped a photo during one of those breaks to reference later, if necessary. While it seemed improbable, it ended up not being all that challenging. Some of the crevasse crossings were a bit spicy, but things were open enough that we could see what to trust and what not to. We traversed over toward the rock and stayed pretty close to it on the left edge, continuing past it to the NW. Once we rounded the corner around 7,400 feet, it was smooth sailing over toward the normal exit from the fan and some faint boot prints were visible. On my earlier ascent of the Kautz, we stayed on snow almost the entire way to camp. This time, we were on and off it, spending much of the time from 8,400 feet to The Turtle at 9,800 or so on rock. The Turtle was heavily sun-cupped and offered an easier way up than the ridge. We found a good site at 10,800 feet with running water just to the East and turned in around 9pm. What had taken 5 hours in late July had taken 8+ this time. Adams and Hood during sunset from camp At the top of P1 where it eased up quite a bit We decided to get started early, expecting more ice and route-finding challenges, so we awoke at 3am and were moving by 4am, fueled by Sin Dawg and coffee. It only took 45 minutes to ascend to the rap, drop down, cross the icefall, and hit the base of the route. The first pitch was pretty straightforward, but much longer, more sustained, and with steeper sections than when I'd done it before. There were few sun cups for rests. Some of it was blue ice, but much of it had a snowy crust that produced great sticks. We simul-climbed much of it and I put in an intermediate anchor to re-rack about 60m up before climbing another 30m+ of lower-angle ice. From there, the snow between pitches was short and still icy. I ran us up to the base of the upper pitch and set up a belay off a screw off to the right side. The upper pitch The upper pitch was great. The lower snow level had revealed much more ice than usual and, when the steeper part (which was about 40m on its own) eased up, it was still icy for another 60m or more. I led and spaced the combined team's screws (about 12 total) and we simul-climbed this whole section up to an area where the angle eased and we could rest on sun cups. The amount of ice on the route was close to on par with my experience on Liberty Ridge and I was really glad that we all brought two tools and a pole as opposed to one tool and an axe. All of that ice took some serious time despite the simul-climbing and it was about 11am by the time we were out of the upper Kautz at about 13,000 feet on the rock rib. We melted some snow there and then set off around a large ice fall on the upper Nisqually. We had to navigate around a bunch of big crevasses up there, including a huge one that pushed us most of the way back across the saddle to Point Success before we were able to swing back East and hit the summit crater. At the summit crater with the large crevasse we ran around behind us It was about 2pm at this point and the wind was howling out of the NW. Given the time of day and conditions, we made the right call to consider this point at little over 14,200 feet our summit. The 50 mph winds pushed us down the DC, which was uneventful, albeit long. The sunset from Camp Muir, with Adams poking above a bed of clouds was pretty memorable. Coming down from Muir Gear Notes: Used 5-6 screws per team. Brought 3 pickets for the 5 of us and used none. Everyone had 2 tools and a pole. Approach Notes: Tricky glacier crossings on the Wilson and Nisqually. Lots of exposed rock on the ridge.

Trip: Mount Buckner - North Face Date: 7/5/2014 Trip Report: During a climb of the Torment-Forbidden Traverse last summer, I remember looking down onto the Boston Glacier and over to Mount Buckner, thinking how expansive and remote the area looked. Buckner's North Face seemed like a good objective for the July timeframe, so Kelsey and I geared up once again. We left late from Seattle on the 4th, departing the car from the Boston Basin lot at about 1:45pm. Our plan was to camp on the Boston Glacier, partly just for the experience of being back there for a night, knowing that it would mean a carry over. It took just over an hour to get to the snow line at the edge of Boston Basin. We headed up the Quien Sabe route in our shorts and t-shirts, enjoying the beautiful day. We decided to forego the loose scramble around Boston in favor of a (hopefully) easier drop from Sharkfin Col or the nearby ridge. To keep things light, we'd only brought a 30m glacier line and it sounded like the Sharkfin drop would require a longer rap, so we traversed past it to the ridge just to the east. The down climb on the far side looked steep but possible, so we headed down there. The first half wasn't too bad—just steep, but secure snow. Then it got a little spicy, with a little low-grade, mixed down climbing in a no-fall zone on crumbly rock. It took a while to pull this off, since neither one of us wanted to end up with a broken leg on the North side of the divide. After the spicy down climb, the weather started rolling in and began lightly raining on us as we traversed near large crevasses to a flat point on the glacier about three quarters of a mile from where we'd dropped in. The approach to Buckner was obvious from here and we were starting to get a bit wet, so we pitched camp and dove into the tent for some fuel and sleep, which were both made better by the highly American P-51 Imperial Porter we'd carried in to celebrate the 4th. Our back of the napkin math suggested that we could be back at the car in about 10 hours, so we set an alarm for 4:30am. The sunrise was quite Mordor-esque and, after enjoying it and some coffee, we were moving by 5:45am. It only took an hour to reach the route, traversing high above most of the crevasses and finding a boot pack up there. I'd been hoping for something a little technical on the route, be it ice or rock, but the route was in fine early-season shape, with an existing boot pack that was somewhere between faint and well-formed throughout. We went from our traverse point at 7,800 feet to the summit at 9,114 feet in 1 hour, stepping over the final ridge into the sun at about 7:45am. The most difficult part had been steep snow just right of a rock outcrop about halfway up. We didn't feel the need for (and didn't place any) protection on the climb. The reality hit us at this point that we'd already done what we'd gone there for and that the rest of our day would be a bit tedious, albeit pretty. Thankfully, the descent to Horseshoe Basin was fast. In a little over 2 hours, we were down to 6,500 feet and almost to the snow finger leading to the ramp up to the Sahale Arm. Another 3 hours later (including some naps in the sun on opportune rocks), we were on the summit of Sahale, enjoying the view and the rest of our lunch before descending the Quien Sabe, which was thankfully possible as a straight shot to the Boston Basin camp, rather than arcing around to the North. We were back to the car at about 4pm and, more importantly, at the BBQ caboose in Marblemount shortly thereafter. I'd call it more of an alpine tour than a climb. Don't get me wrong—it was gorgeous, but the climb itself didn't quite satisfy the technical appetite. Our down climb from near Sharkfin was the spiciest part of the weekend. Perhaps a bit later in the season would be more challenging. It sure was nice to do most of our descent on snow, though! Boston Basin approach in shorts on the 4th Loose, steep down climbing Kelsey and our objective while on the way to camp Sunrise and Buckner from camp Traversing rock on the route Pretty nice ambiance for a climb The steepest part Summit Descent through Horseshoe Basin with awesome clouds Nearing the top of Sahale Key parts of our route Gear Notes: Used: 1 nut and 1 cam on our down climb to the Boston Glacier, 30m glacier line Didn't Use: 2 screws, 2 pickets, 4 nuts, 1 cam Approach Notes: Snow-line is right at the point where you exit trees into Boston Basin. Looked like the traverse around Boston would be pretty short right now, given how high the snow is on the North side.

Thanks for posting the alternate driving route. The Nelson/Potterfield book suggests 23 to 2329 from Randle. Neither of us expected to see much snow on the road at this time of year, so we didn't even think to check the road conditions. Lesson learned!

Glad to hear you guys successfully finished the route and made it down the South side with those heavy, carry-over packs! It did seem that the road would be passable within the next week, so that should help any others headed for the North side routes. Yup, our ascent of the Ice Cliff Glacier on Stuart was pretty straightforward, though we both plunged in a bit at the berg, so I'm not surprised the bridge was gone for you. The cornice was a blast! See you out there, - Jeff

Trip: Mount Adams - Adams Glacier Date: 6/30/2014 Trip Report: Yvon Chouinard once said “it’s not an adventure until something goes wrong.” I found myself repeating this quote to Kelsey when we found ourselves on Forest Road 2329, about 2-3 miles or more from the Killen Creek trailhead, looking at an impassable section due to snow that had just high-centered a jeep in front of us. That theme repeated itself throughout the weekend and an adventure we certainly had. Armed with a GPS, we walked down the road a mile or so before turning into the woods and "making like a bear" through the forest. A little over a mile of bushwhacking brought us to the actual trail. While we'd cut off two big legs of a triangle and likely saved ourselves about 3 miles, we were completely soaked from tramping through the wet woods. The rest of the approach went without issue, save for the wind and rain which stirred up as we got above 6,000 feet. Another team of 3 was setting up camp at 6,500 feet, saying that the additional 400 feet to high camp wasn't worth it in the rain and close to zero visibility at times. We were soaked already, so we decided to brave it. It wasn't any worse up at the high camp, so we set up our tent quickly, melted some water, and dove into the tent in a wet heap. Morale was low and pretty much everything was damp to soaking wet, but we warmed up with a hot dinner and quickly settled in to try and get some sleep. It was about 7pm and we had alarms set for 3:30am. It rained that night. It rained a lot. I woke up a few times and cursed my decision to bring the Firstlight instead of the Eldorado. At 4am (I must have hit snooze in my sleep), we awoke and Kelsey took a look out of the tent. We were completely socked in. In the minutes that followed, we almost bailed, but then I took a look outside and saw things clearing up, and then the party of 3 walked by. We had to give it a shot. We packed quickly and were on the move at around 4:45am. It took about an hour to cross the moraines and reach a flat area at about 8,000 feet. Things were clearing up at this point, with the clouds pinking up nicely, and we started putting our gear on when I let out an "oh, shit." My new aluminum crampons came in a nice little black bag, which I'd left at the tent in the dark of the morning. We briefly debated what to do. I couldn't bear the thought of bailing with the weather clearing and being so close after our crappy night. I decided to jog back and retrieve them. 1,100 feet and 1.4 miles down and back up and we were back in business in an hour, but Kelsey's wet feet had gotten pretty cold while waiting, despite bundling up in both of our parkas and walking around to keep warm. The route itself turned out to still be pretty filled in with snow, which had been rained on overnight and re-frozen, so it mostly involved side stepping and front pointing with little penetration. It was secure enough that we didn't place any protection and moved quickly, only stopping every so often to chop out steps to rest our burning calves. We never stopped for long, though, since our feet were still soaked and would get quite cold when standing still. There were a few sporty crevasse crossings, including one I crawled across for fear of breaking through a thin snow bridge. Beyond that, it was smooth sailing and we quickly reached the upper slopes at about 10:30am. The North Ridge descent was not bad at first, but quickly turned to verglas-on-rock treachery. As soon as we spotted an exit gully to the North, we pulled a mixed move or two, down-climbed steep snow, and then romped down the snowfield, likely saving ourselves hours of painstaking descent on the ridge. The rest of the descent was without incident and we were back at the car by 4:30pm, feeling somewhat dumbfounded that we'd successfully done the climb despite all of the issues we'd encountered. In retrospect, I think this route would be more fun later in the season. I was hoping for some real alpine ice on the way up and think the ridge descent would have been better with less rime and verglas. The route and the party of three above us Steep snow in the middle of the route Checking out a large crevasse with a thin bridge On the upper slopes with Rainier above the clouds Getting off the ridge Our route Gear Notes: Brought 4 screws and 2 pickets. Used no protection. Approach Notes: Coming from Forest Road 23 to 2329, the road was impassable about 3 miles from the TH. A little more rain or warm weather should fix that.

It wasn't quite that steep for 30m, but it did stay decently steep. Here's a better shot:

Trip: Mount Rainier - Ptarmigan Ridge Date: 6/1/2014 Trip Report: Dale and I had been discussing an early June attempt on Ptarmigan Ridge since our trip to Patagonia together in January. With a stellar forecast and a great spring of climbing under our belts, we set up our strategy. We didn’t have an extra car for a shuttle and we only had the weekend since Dale was flying in from CA, so we decided to start and finish at the White River Campground and pack the approach from there to high camp in one day. We left the car at about 6am on Saturday morning with a pretty light setup (light tent, 30-degree down bags, 3 screws, 3 pickets, 4 pins, a few nuts, and 3 cams; no skis or snowshoes), and quickly booted to St. Elmo Pass in a little over 2 hours. From there, we crossed the Winthrop on a relatively firm boot pack without roping up, and continued traversing to the camp on Curtis Ridge in about 4 hours from the car. There was a ton of helicopter activity around Liberty Ridge at this point and we hoped it was a training exercise. It wasn’t until Sunday evening when we learned what had transpired. Terrible, sobering news. As we roped up and dropped onto the Carbon Glacier, the temperature had risen and the sun was exceptionally strong. We aimed for a weakness WSW of where we got onto the glacier and gained the upper shelf after wading through knee-deep snow and crossing a number of crevasses. From there, we went through a large bowl and turned NW to get around the rock band. This was where the snow conditions were the worst. We took turns post holing to our thighs at times. Thankfully, some old avalanche debris was more solid and the rest of the way around the rock band was easier. On the NW-facing slopes, the snow became “hot pow” as Dale jokingly described it, which was much better for booting. We quickly ascended the rest of the way to camp below Ptarmigan Ridge at 10,300 feet by 3pm. The rest of the afternoon and evening were perfect. We ate a geriatric dinner at 4pm, took a nap until 8pm, had a second dinner at sunset, and fell asleep again with alarms set for 1am. In the morning, after drinking coffee and packing up, we were moving by 2am and could see a few different sets of headlamps on Liberty Ridge across the way. The snow was a perfect consistency for fast climbing—firm, but secure for steps. We traversed down to ~9,800 feet, crossed the bergschrund, and began ascending the ~45-degree slopes. From the photos we’d taken, it was clear that we should hug the cliffs on our right all the way to the hourglass, so route-finding was pretty easy. The hourglass was steep, but secure and we made it to the cliff band above at about 4am, right as the alpenglow was starting. We had remained roped together to this point, but hadn’t needed to place any protection. At the cliff band, we chatted out whether to go left or right. From our beta searching, the cliff band on the right looked short-lived, so we decided to make it more interesting by going left to the ice cliff. We pitched out an easy ice and steep snow pitch to a rock outcrop on the right, then headed up to the ice and traversed right toward a good-looking ice chute. From there, with a great picket belay, Dale led the ~AI3 crux of about 30m with the three screws we’d brought. It was super fun and gorgeous with sunrise lighting up the ice cliff. From the top of the ice cliff it was a long slog to Liberty Cap. We stayed roped for a while and then put the rope away as we continued up the lower-angle slopes with a rime crust, reaching the summit by 10:30am. We met a couple who were just finishing Liberty Ridge and chatted them up a little while melting snow at the summit before beginning the descent. The descent to Camp Schurman was long and a bit painful, given the soft snow, but was otherwise uneventful. We post holed to our thighs on our way to the Interglacier, glissaded down as much of the steep slopes as we could, and then trudged out the rest of the way to the car. While the route was fun and absolutely gorgeous, the climbing itself was surprisingly easy and felt short-lived for how much ground we covered to do the route. Perhaps I was spoiled by a very icy Liberty Ridge last spring and we should have shortened things by approaching from Spray Park. Regardless, this was a great adventure. Approaching via the Carbon Glacier under Liberty Ridge Finishing the approach to high camp Psyched after our first dinner Sunset after our second dinner Skirting the rock band to the left before dawn Sunrise on the ice cliff The crux ice pitch Gear Notes: Used: 3 pickets, 3 screws, 2 tools each Didn't Use: 4 pins, light set of nuts, 3 cams Approach Notes: 9 hours from White River Campground to high camp below Ptarmigan Ridge, via Curtis Ridge

Trip: Mount Baker - North Ridge Date: 5/16/2014 Trip Report: The gorgeous weather this past week tantalized me enough that a marginal weather report for the weekend all but forced me to take Friday off to get out there. We knew things had been warm and that recent avalanche activity in the area was not to be taken lightly. Thankfully, the forecast called for cooler temperatures as well as some cloud cover for Friday. We drove up from Seattle after work and arrived about a mile from the trailhead at an impassible, snowy bridge around 11:00pm. After getting our packs ready for a fast departure, we fell asleep in the car at about 11:30pm. After a quick coffee and muffin, we were moving up the road at 1:30am. The road was patchy and clear for a ways, went under a fallen tree, and then got onto snow about a half mile before the TH. There wasn't enough snow in the trees off to the sides to give us confidence that we could skin yet, so we continued hiking in trail runners all the way to tree line. At about 3am, before reaching tree line, a pair of climbers were coming down the trail. They spoke of 20mph winds, avalanche debris, lightning to the North, and slushy snow. Yikes. It was early enough that we decided to keep going, knowing that we could descend quickly on skis if we had to. Things were much more mellow than we expected them to be and the skin to and up the glacier went smoothly. We stayed low, rather than going up Heliotrope Ridge, and did a gently rising traverse to eventually gain the bowl below seracs on the Coleman-Deming route. All the while, the clouds to the West looked menacing and we could see lightning flashes way off in the distance, but things were stable and seemed to be getting better. There was enough snow on the glacier to enable a direct skin up to the North Ridge, so I picked my way around crevasses and we quickly made it to the base of the right entrance to the ridge around 7am. We switched to boots and crampons here and followed a boot pack that looked to be no more than a week old. A huge thank you to whomever put that beast in. We post-holed through many of the steps, so we could imagine how loose it must have been for them. Once on the ridge, we were surprised by how long it felt to get to the ice, but we were rewarded the whole way with a clear view to the North. The menacing clouds had disappeared and it was a beautiful, sunny day. We made it to the ice at about 10am, where I racked up quickly and headed up on our single 60m 8mm line. I decided to have a bit of fun on the steep, West-facing side before jumping over the crest and running up the ramp to the steeper finish. Our 60m rope was plenty long to go from the belay on snow up to a belay above the lip on two screws. Kate seconded without an issue and we quickly switched the belay for me to lead up what looked to be steep snow back to the true ridge. There were no difficulties, so I banged in a picket before she pulled the belay and then we simul-climbed the rest of the route, following the boot pack as it traversed underneath the seracs and toward the summit. It was slow going up top, with lots of post-holing and air that felt thinner than it should have for 10,000 feet. Nevertheless, we ditched packs just below the summit and hit the top at about 2:15pm, just shy of 13 hours after our start at the car. Clouds had rolled in and only the bigger peaks stuck out. Shuksan, in particular, looked awesome. The ski down was without incident, which was exactly our goal. Snow had softened nicely on the Roman Wall and it was pretty wet down low, but not complete concrete, so turns weren't impossible. We each had a few comical crashes, but that was it. After skiing down a gully for a while which paralleled the trail, we transitioned to shoes and hiked down to the car before 6:30pm for around a 17-hour round trip. Skinning on the glacier Alpenglow on the ridge Hiking up to the ice The ice! Kate, half-way through the ice pitch Kate, finishing the ice pitch Summit View of Shuksan Heading into the clouds, near the bottom of the Roman Wall Gear Notes: 8 ice screws, 2 pickets (used 1), 60m 8mm rope Approach Notes: Road impassable about a mile from the TH (melting fast). Patchy and slushy to tree line. Skinned from tree line.

Thanks for the weather link! I must admit that I knew things would be warm, but I couldn't resist the temptation to give it a try as soon as the highway opened. I did TC in pretty thin conditions earlier this spring, but the ice was solid despite being thin and the rock pro was pretty good. This was so baked and aerated that a hooked tool would likely have pulled right through. Next time.

Trip: Cutthroat Peak - Cauthorn-Wilson Attempt Date: 5/10/2014 Trip Report: I've wanted to try this route for over a year now and was hopeful that a smash and grab attempt right after the highway opened on Thursday would see good conditions. Kelsey and I made the drive from Seattle, starting at 5am on Saturday and started the approach around 9am. It was overcast and relatively warm, but not so warm that I was concerned about the route melting, especially given the lack of direct sun and cloud encapsulating Cutthroat. The snow was very firm near the car, so we decided to leave the skis and boot our way in. It was easy going up to tree line, but at that elevation, the crust was gone and we began post holing. At times it was knee-to-hip deep and we traded off turns in the front until reaching the couloir. Despite the slow conditions, we arrived at the base of the couloir in about 2 hours from the car, which felt strange since the book suggested a 2.5-4 hour approach. Our first look up the couloir was a bit baffling. Two deep runnels were gouged into the snow. It looked like water had rushed down the couloir, eroding the snow and creating bobsled runs 4-5 feet deep. Guessing that this might have washed out much of the ice, but not knowing for sure, we scampered up to have a look. The first 2-3 pitches of the route were all steep snow which became more consolidated as we got higher. At the short step below the real pitch of climbing, we stopped to assess. The ice in front of me was completely sun-baked and aerated. I couldn't find a place where an ice screw wouldn't just push straight in without needing to turn. Bummer. The ice pitch itself also looked anemic. I compared my picture later to the one in the guidebook and reaffirmed that these conditions just weren't going to go without serious, unnecessary risk. So we bailed. And drowned our sorrows in Winthrop with a nap by the river, burgers, and beers. Not so bad. My Sunday plan of the Early Winters Couloir was also dashed by exceptionally warm temperatures, so we lapped the Southwest Couloir on South Early Winters Spire a few times early in the morning, skinned up to the Birthday Tour col, and had some great turns back to the car by noon or so. These classics will have to wait until next spring, I guess. Cauthorn-Wilson Approach Cauthorn-Wilson From Below - Bobsled Runs Apparent A Thin, Aerated Cauthorn-Wilson Crux Kelsey Preparing to Bail Southwest Couloir on South Early Winters Spire

We went all the way from the gate to the edge of the lake, right below Triple Couloirs in trail runners. You definitely don't need skis or snowshoes at this point and, when you get here, might be able to drive the road as well. The trail is still a bit snowy, but is patchy in places and no longer worth skinning. Same goes for Stuart Glacier Couloir—we did trail runners all the way to the moraine below the Sherpa Glacier. If it snows a bunch between now and then, snowshoes might help, but I don't think they're worth the weight right now. Hope you guys have great weather and crush it.

Thanks, JP! It's been an awesome run which will unfortunately come to an end with Goran's move, but I'm sure I'll be able to convince him to come back for the right objective. I'm hoping the Cauthorn Wilson or Ptarmigan Ridge fit the bill. Best, - Jeff

Trip: Dragontail Peak - Triple Couloirs Date: 4/26/2014 Trip Report: With a solid spring of classic Cascade alpine climbs under our belts and an impending move by Goran to San Francisco, we wanted to cap things off right. Our attempt on Triple Couloirs in late May of last year was thwarted by new snow, warm temperatures, and avalanche concerns. This time was different. We drove out to Leavenworth after work on Friday and arrived at the gated road at about 9:30pm. We packed quickly, deciding to bring 6 pins, 5 screws, 2 pickets, a small set of nuts, and 4 cams, and were hiking up the road in our trail runners with boots on our packs at about 10:15pm. The hike was quick and without incident, save an unfortunate miss of the Colchuck Lake trail turn-off as we conversed with a couple near the trail junction. Despite close to 30 minutes of errant motion, we made it to our campsite at the edge of the lake below Dragontail in about 3 hours and 45 minutes from the gate. It was about 2am at this point, so we quickly set up camp and conked out with alarms set for just shy of 6am. We'd walked past another party camping on the lake who said they would start the route at 5am, so we figured we'd be behind them. A quick 6am coffee got us going on our clear, chilly Saturday morning and we rapidly ascended the snowy moraine to the base of the first couloir. The other party was just getting to the edge of the lake at this point, so we were in for a pristine route (a.k.a. setting the boot pack). We soloed the snice entrance and first couloir to the base of the runnels. Goran took the first pitch of steep snice with really good sticks and brought us to a belay at a rocky step about 40 feet below a larger, overhanging rock outcrop. From there, I did a delicate step left, plugged a cam, and gingerly climbed up thin ice and rock for a series of moves before plugging another cam and moving up and right on slightly more secure climbing to the overhanging roof where I set a belay on awesome cams. Goran quickly came up to me and then cast off to the left around the rock outcrop, then up the remainder of the runnels where he banged in a few pins in the steeper section that was mostly mixed climbing with a handful of sticks in snice. I climbed up to him at the belay and went straight by him, leading out and then simul-climbing the second couloir, placing a cam and a pin on the side in case the ample snow decided to rip. The steps alternated between secure and hip-deep wallowing all the way up the couloir. We continued simul-climbing as I hit the rock section between the second and third couloirs. I remembered Goran saying a recent TR had people climbing too high on the left, so I stuck right up against the right wall, which was mixed climbing with a touch of sugary snow on mostly slabby rock. After banging in 3 pins along the way and getting low on gear with nasty rope drag, I set up a belay and brought Goran up just shy of 1pm. There were no great options from the belay and the next 50 feet of climbing took a surprising amount of time. Straight up against the wall was M6 or so, slightly overhanging chimney climbing. Up and left was M4/5 with questionable feet on sugar snow. Hard left wasn't much easier. Goran decided, after trying straight up, to cut up and left, which was spicy for a move, then easier for 20 feet before getting tough again on slabby rock with marginal protection. Thankfully, he finished it up without incident, hit the third couloir, and set up a belay. I'd taken the opportunity to have a snack while belaying and, by the time the rope came tight, was feeling great. I climbed through the mixed section and went past him again, taking on knee-deep snow in the third couloir from the belay to the finish. I had untied at the belay before the couloir since the remaining climbing was very secure and unprotected snow. The technique which served the best was to turn the tools sideways and punch my hands into the snow to take the weight off my feet, then kick into the depressions from my hands as I climbed up. Otherwise, I would slip through each foot placement to hip-deep snow. It was sunny, calm, and beautiful at the finishing notch when we arrived there at about 4pm, so we decided to eat lunch and take a quick rest in the sun before finishing the climb. It wasn't far to the top and we dropped packs before the last 100 feet since we'd be back down the same place. With some obligatory summit shots and high fives complete, we began the descent, following footprints from two parties who had done the standard route earlier in the day. The descent was super fast and involved some fun glissading down Asgard Pass almost straight to our tent. We drank hot chocolate and ate our dinners from the tent with a view of the sunset on Dragontail. I think the day had doubled the number of pins I'd placed in my life. We didn't use a single ice screw. What a phenomenal climb! A bit more info and some more photos are up here: http://www.jeffreyjhebert.com/adventures/triple-couloirs-on-dragontail-peak A view back at the route on our hike out Sunday morning Entering Hidden Couloir Goran on the first pitch in the runnels Goran coming up the delicate middle section of the runnels Goran pulling a pin out in the mixed section below the third couloir High in the third couloir Obligatory summit shot with our friend Stuart Gear Notes: 6 pins (used all), small set of nuts, 4 cams, 2 pickets, 5 screws (used none), 70m rope

Trip: Mount Hood - North Face, Right Gully Date: 4/20/2014 Trip Report: Kelsey, Goran, and I left Seattle on Saturday morning to pick up Jess at the airport and head down to Mount Hood for the Right Gully on the North Face. We considered a car-to-car mission, but decided that a head-start and better view into the weather would be wise, so we loaded up with overnight gear and made the approach in trail runners with boots in our packs. At the Tilly Jane A-Frame, multiple folks mentioned howling winds at tree line. The forecast had clearly called for wind and precipitation on Saturday, followed by partly sunny and more mellow winds on Sunday, so we were cautiously optimistic until reaching Cloud Cap and experiencing the weather first hand. We guessed that winds were gusting over 60mph and couldn't see very far with the light snow that was falling and blowing horizontally across the landscape. We set up our tents in the lee of Cloud Cap on the East side and tied them down. During Jess' explorations around our campsite, she discovered that members of the Snowshoe Club were staying in their cabin not 100 feet from our tents. They invited us in out of the wind and proceeded to offer up other-worldly hospitality. We sat by their fire, were offered beers and leftover pasta, and traded stories of ice climbs as well as a few jokes. What a great group of guys. After a restless night with howling winds and shaking tents, we awoke at 3am to an uncanny silence. The winds had completely stopped. I was giddy with excitement to open the tent and see what Mother Nature had in store for us. We were in and out of the clouds as we hiked up the moraine, but broke out of them shortly before the large cairn and saw Hood for the first time on the trip at about 4am. The excitement was palpable. Having 4 of us worked well for the Eliot Glacier approach because the new snow was boot+ deep in many places and took some effort to get through as the alpenglow formed and slowly turned into a beautiful sunrise with views of Adams and Saint Helens. We traded pulls and were getting close to the gully entrance when Kelsey decided that her nausea was bad enough to keep her from eating, so we consolidated gear and she hiked back to Cloud Cap to recover. We switched our approach from 2 teams of 2 to a single team of 3 on a 60m rope and tied in at that point as we began to cross crevasses. Reaching the bergschrund involved a bunch of steep, deep snow, which was pretty exhausting. Crossing the berg itself involved punching through and landing on the bottom side twice before successfully beached-whaling myself onto the upper side. We finally arrived at the base of the first step at 7:15am and sent Goran up to hit the ice. At this point, a solo climber who had followed our boot track caught us and, after a quick chat, headed past us on the ice step. We didn't complain since he would be putting in the boot pack for us for the next 2,000 feet! Thanks, Leon! The ice went without a hitch despite a massive amount of spindrift which rained down on us as we climbed the pitch. After the technical bit, we quickly transitioned to relatively secure, unprotected simul-climbing up the steep snow to the next step. As last week's trip report suggested, it was too dry to climb directly, so I loaded up with our minimal rock gear and headed up the bypass to the left. I was able to find some more manageable snow than the soloist's line and ended up going through a small constriction about 50' left of the normal step before traversing back under a large rock formation and back onto the route. A few pieces of marginal pro were enough to add enough security to the relatively easy climbing. From there, it was a bunch more steep snow to a saddle, then up across a bunch of short rock ribs until the final bit of snow and tiny cornice at the top. Our top-out put us directly on the summit with nobody else around at 10:45am. It was freezing and the winds picked up. Being Easter, Jess produced a chocolate bunny from her pack, which was crazy-delicious. We didn't wait long and quickly headed for Cooper Spur where we waded our way through knee- to hip-deep snow and finally arrived at tie-in rock at about 12:15pm. The rest of the descent was without incident. Given Saturday's storm, I was surprised to have successfully climbed the route. Snow conditions had given us some pause at the entrance to the couloir and on Cooper Spur, but otherwise, the climbing was secure and relatively easy for how intense the route looked from the North. I'll definitely be back to Hood for some more of the goods and will have to bring Kelsey for another shot. A little more detail is on my website here: http://www.jeffreyjhebert.com/adventures/the-north-face-on-mount-hood Heading up the Eliot Glacier Sunrise Goran headed up to the first step Looking down after the first ice step Above the second step Crossing rock ribs near the summit Our descent track and the route Gear Notes: 3 pickets, ~4 screws (used 3), 5 cams .4"-3" (used 3 or 4), light set of nuts (used none), 3 pins (used none)

Trip: Mount Stuart - Ice Cliff Glacier Date: 3/23/2014 Trip Report: See my full TR and photos here: http://www.jeffreyjhebert.com/adventures/ice-cliff-glacier-on-mount-stuart After much discussion and research on Friday evening with Goran after work, we decided to change our focus from Mount Hood's North Face to Mount Stuart in hopes of reducing the avalanche danger as well as guaranteeing the conditions to climb some ice. Despite spending a bunch of time up around Colchuck Lake, I'd never had to skin the road and I'd also never approached Stuart from the North before, so the whole adventure was pretty novel. We left Seattle around 8am, made some necessary stops for caffeine and fat-laden salami, and hit the trailhead around 11am to start the skin. It was about an hour and a quarter up the road and the sun was beating down on us, so we sweated our way up with pant legs unzipped and rolled up. The trail was a welcome relief as we continued at a fast pace through the shady woods, eventually breaking off from the main trail and heading for Stuart Lake. Not long after that point, we'd successfully gained most of our elevation and continued skinning across some meadows and low-angle forest toward and past Mountaineers Ridge. Another pair had set a skin track for us, so we followed their path as it meandered circuitously across streams and over downed trees. We eventually cut across the final steep section to gain a wide-open area where we set up camp while staring up at the impressive North Ridge and our objective: The Ice Cliff Glacier. After a chicken-supplemented, freeze-dried meal, we conked out with an alarm for 3:45am. The beginning of the climb was a rude awakening when we started moving before 5am under a starry sky. New snow had fallen over the night and we were climbing in our AT boots, which really don't do well on terrain that isn't very steep. We gained the moraine and rode it up to the base of the North Ridge where we cut hard left and traversed under the ice cliff. From there, we roped up and skirted the left side on steep snow until hitting the cliff itself. The ice was steep, but short lived—probably something around AI 3 for 30 feet or so, before traversing right on steep snow and over the lip of the cliff. Once we were over the lip, we could see that there was still quite a bit of climbing to be done. We traversed to the right side of the gully and began the wallowing. To this point, the snow had been reasonably firm and relatively easy to boot up, but it was here where the snow changed to unconsolidated and knee to hip deep. We took turns cursing and throwing ourselves at the slope until across a number of crevasses and the bergschrund, at which point things moved to only knee deep and we started moving much more quickly, hugging the left side of the gully until a fork, taking the right fork, and cruising up to the cornice. As Goran said later when reflecting on the route, the cornice was the steepest snow he'd ever climbed before. It was a bit loose and pretty tricky, involving some serious ice tool maneuvering and beached-whale moves. Great success! We pulled over the lip into a different world, with the spring sun washing over us and a beautiful view towards Rainier and Adams. Fortunately, we found the boot pack from the descent of a pair we'd met the day before who had climbed the Stuart Glacier Couloir. Unfortunately, their steps didn't help our post holing much and we struggled our way up to the false summit, feeling pretty beat and with cramping legs. The false summit was plastered in rime ice reminiscent of Patagonia and we followed the boot track as it wove past rime-covered spires to the summit ridge. We finally gained the summit at about 12:30am. Knowing the magnitude of the descent, we quickly snapped some pictures, rested up, and then began the descent, which wove back around the false summit, past our exit point, and down to the Sherpa Glacier. The Sherpa was a super fast descent despite more deep snow and we were down to camp from the summit in no time. With aching legs, we broke camp and donned our packs, ready to slide out as quickly and safely as we could. The ski was as challenging as I expected and involved a good amount of profanity as my tired body tried to pizza wedge down steep, tight sections of the trail, but we were successful in the end. With feet feeling like hamburger and every major muscle group aching, we easily made the decision to eat brats and drink some celebratory beers in Leavenworth. It was an awesome way to start up the new season with an awesome partner. Skinning into camp Climbing the ice step Finishing the ice step Higher in the couloir Heading for the cornice Coming around the false summit Heading for the summit

Trip: Mount Stuart - Stuart Glacier Couloir Date: 4/12/2014 Trip Report: See my full TR and photos here: http://www.jeffreyjhebert.com/adventures/stuart-glacier-couloir-on-mount-stuart A few weeks ago, Goran and I climbed the Ice Cliff Glacier on Mount Stuart. Upon arriving at camp on the night before our climb, we ran into two climbers coming down to their tent after successfully climbing the Stuart Glacier Couloir. They spoke of rime, pin-banging, steep snow, and an epic adventure. At that point, it was clear to me that I'd climb SGC sometime soon. With a solid forecast and low avalanche danger, Goran and I formulated a plan. We knew the road would still be closed, but that at least half of it would be melted out by this point, so we were prepared with trail runners and micro spikes. We went in light and fast, bringing only 4 cams, 6 nuts, 6 pins, 2 ice screws, 2 pickets, and a 30 meter rope for the climb. We brought one sleeping bag and one pad for the two of us in addition to a stove and a shovel. Beyond that, we only brought some warm clothes, a bunch of food, and water. The result was a speedy approach and fresh legs for the climb. We slept in the car for a few hours on Friday night, woke at 1am, and made it from the gate on the road to the flat area below the North Ridge in about 4.5 hours. The sun rose as we removed our trail runners and put on our boots. We left our shoes and back-up dinners there and headed up the glacier, taking about 2 hours to get to the base of the couloir. We quickly encountered the constriction, which was a mix of verglas, solid ice, and dense snow. We simul-climbed through it and I placed one screw in each step. Above the constriction, the couloir stayed steep and was pretty exhausting, due to the snow being a bit softer. We took short pulls on the front until reaching the West Ridge notch just shy of 9:30am. We took the opportunity to rest a bit, sitting on the ridge rest I'd brought and huddling under Goran's sleeping bag. It was magical. The first pitch or two of the West Ridge was pretty easy and straightforward traversing and down-climbing on rime-covered ledges. From there, we headed up to the left of a large block onto the North Face and then back to a small notch on the ridge. Our 30m rope was a little short for the first bit, so we simul-climbed the finish, but the rest of the pitches worked out pretty well with that rope length. From there, we went up a steeper crack system at M4/5, did another pitch of M4/5, and gained the ridge crest again. We gingerly down-climbed with a rappel back-up on the nut left by our friends a few weeks earlier, traversed a bit, and climbed two more short pitches of M4/5 and bare rock to gain the summit just shy of 3pm. It was perfectly calm and sunny at the top and we'd been on the move for about 14.5 hours, so it was nap time. We laid out the ridge rest, melted some water, had a nap, and made ourselves a little coffee. So good. Just as we were finishing the nap, a few skiers came up and explained their plan to ski Ullrich's Couloir. It looked steeper than I'd ski! The descent was without incident, but was exceptionally long. We punctuated it with rests, but there was enough post-holing and slipping around that things were pretty painful. The last miles out on the road were especially bad. My knees were smoked and my feet were hurting pretty badly, but we finished up after a total of 21.5 hours to a very comfortable-looking Honda Fit with cookies in it. Booyah! Climbing some ice in the couloir constriction: Easier mixed climbing on the North Face: M4/5 on the West Ridge: Easier rock near the summit: