ahparker

SethKL, thanks for the conditions update. I do remember looking at that pin and not being super psyched on the condition and definitely opted to back it up as you noted. The nut placement there I remember being absolutely bomber and by that point the climbing has eased significantly. But as a whole it's a great reminder about being cautious with old fixed gear like that!

mtep, Thanks for the info, always interesting how gear lore evolves. Sounds like it might just be the same placement, although the one we used was like 2 feet above the beak, it was out right, above the good right hand to start the roof sequence. Interestingly, the placement was in a crack, not really a pin scar, a few, maybe 6 inches long. I think I even used the same crack as a finger lock/layback above the cam. Anyway, minutia at this point! Mikey, thanks! Bummer we missed you, we tried all August to get up there buy schedules never aligned. We were pretty blown away how continuously good and varied the route is, gotta check out some of your other creations up there now I guess. Linking 2&3 seems very reasonable actually, will definitely do that next time. Curious, how is that very last move to the jug on P5 for someone under 5'9? Seems like it'd be so hard! Good2Go, awesome pic, one of the few I feel I've seen where you can see the entire route. Unfortunately I don't think that us, different clothes. We were up there labor day weekend, my post was like a week and a half late.

Winter, that's interesting. Was it in the shallow little pin scar right above the pecker? We thought it might be that but it was too flared and narrow to fit the red C3, about the right size but too narrow. Other than that it seemed so devoid of placements around it, even hanging out on the pecker to see where it might go. I do know aiding can breed some pretty good creativity though so nicely done!

Trip: Washington Pass, Liberty Bell - Thin Red Line Trip Date: 09/01/2018 Trip Report: My buddy Andy Traylor and I had set this as a goal route to free for the summer season. Neither of us had really approached a bigger route like this with a redpoint mentality before and weren't sure exactly how to do it. With many different ways to consider an ascent "free," we settled on what we believe is a pretty commonly followed set of rules. We wanted to swing leads, and either redpoint or follow cleanly on every pitch, lowering back to the belay if necessary. Our plan was to spend one day and check out the first six pitches to get a feel for the moves and the gear then try and send the next day. On day 1 we took our time climbing the first six pitches, with no real pressure or time crunch. We TR'd the cruxes a couple times and feeling pretty good about going for it the next day, rapped off and headed down for a big dinner. The next day we set out a little nervous, but also feeling good about our chances. Once we were on the route we were moving and climbing well. Thoughts on the pitches for anyone that cares (some gear beta here so purists need not read on): P1. Straightforward crimping and edging straight up to the anchor. I actually headed right after the last bolt, going more directly to the anchor on day 2 and thought that was slightly better. Andy getting all artsy with the iPhone on P1 P2. Short pitch. Boulder problem over the bulge through the mini changing corners. Good pro and the pin at the end of the crux seemed in good shape, not tested. Belay on gear. P3. Awesome and memorable pitch I thought, shorter than it looks in photos. Super thin edging and stemming in the dihedral leading to a roof with wet holds that allow you to exit the corner and gain a stance. I basically punched myself in the face popping out of the wet locks first go round. Pin in the corner seemed good, I tested it and it held. Mostly finger sized cams. Belay at full on hanger. Andy in the corner/roof that ends the crux on P3 P4. Fixed gear in the roof seemed only ok, hard to tell with the tat and I didn’t spend much time examining it, but you probably won’t come off under the roof anyway, clip and go. Andy exiting the roof on P4 The last bit traversing back toward the anchor we both found a little awkward and harder than it seemed it should be. On the traverse back to the belay on P4 P5. Business #1. Super fun 5.10 traversing and edging to the corner. Corner gets progressively harder with the real business starting at the bolts. I will say on my initial go I was not super happy to have left basically all the rack at the belay, expecting only a few pieces then bolts. I'd take mostly finger sizes, but I was happy to have a black Metolius and a #2 C4 (certainly not necessary but provided me with some mental fortitude to try hard). Bring lots of slings, I think I had like 14 and ran out somehow, placed too much gear I guess. The crux moves are technical, a little powerful, desperate and amazing. The last move, while not the hardest, has the potential to be a heart breaker and I can only imagine being very desperate if you’re under, say, 5’9. Belay on medium sized gear above the bolts, significantly better stance. Andy sticking the last move, he never fell once climbing this pitch over the 2 days. P6. Business #2. No picture. First roof is super casual. Leading up to the second roof the climbing gets less secure but good small finger gear is there between pins. The boulder problem is powerful, but pretty straightforward cranking (V4ish?) on pretty good holds. We were a little confused by all the talk about a necessary and specific red C3 placement. We couldn’t find anywhere by the beak, or below the roof for that matter, where this would go. Any clues? However that piece or a blue Metolius or equivalent went in bomber just above the lip. If that’s the placement everyone is talking about, then there is no need to scavenge around for a red C3 if you don’t have one. We left it out in favor of a blue Metolius on round 2. Climb past the bolts (if not rapping from here) and belay on the better sloping ledge with hand sized pieces. P7. Only dog pitch on the route. Thought the rock was poor quality, basically a connector pitch. Ends on the scary looking “how is it still hanging there” block creating the ledge. P8. Another techy and pretty thin 11+ pitch. Really really good. Looks super thin but there is gear to be had and both the head and pin are in good shape, Andy tested both and approved. Some small hand sized gear higher. P9. Excellent and fun 10+ climbing again builds as you get higher. Looks like the seam dies out at the top, but keep going up instead of traversing left. That’s probably super obvious but I was getting tired and moving more timidly by this point. P10-12. Progressively easier climbing. Nice to have Scott's topo for P10 to know where to get started. The last belay sits basically on the arête between the east and north face, we came back into the sun here. There are brand spanking new bolts here instead of the pin/fixed wire combo some guide mentions. Maybe it’s obvious, but the climbing heads left up the lighter colored dihedral. This looked too steep to us to be the 5.7 climbing, so Andy headed out right on the lower angle terrain and we had a bit of an epic on the easiest and last pitch of the route. The rock quality deteriorated into kitty litter, so Andy tried to sling a chockstone to lower back to me, only to get the rope got stuck forcing even more shenanigans (face palm). All in all we wasted some hours and all hopes of pizza. Once corrected we soloed to the top without further incident. Don't go this way. Why is this photo so big? All in all, neither of us fell following any of the pitches. On lead, some of the pitches took a try or two, but in the end we pulled it out and nabbed a free ascent. We learned a lot about climbing in this style and really enjoyed the process. Thanks to Mikey Schaefer for figuring this out, it provided one of my all time favorite experiences in the mountains so far. Psyched for the next one! Gear Notes: Doubles from purple Metolius to .75 BD, singles to #3 BD. Our second set of cams were Metolius offsets. They worked amazing (as always for granite) and I always carry them as doubles, but far from necessary. Nuts. Placed 1 RP but probably not necessary. Lots of slings, like ~16. We used a 40M tag line and hauled the bag on most pitches. Approach Notes: Most casual "alpine" approach ever. Like 25min from the car.

Trip: Enchantments Link-up Light - Acid Baby and Solid Gold Thru-Hike Trip Date: 06/23/2018 Trip Report: My last time up in the Enchantments I remember hiking out past Snow Creek Wall, feeling totally destroyed after climbing Der Sportsman car to car, and thinking how cool it was that the hard climbing locals can crank out big linkups in this alpine playground in a day. Inspired, my buddy Tim and I settled on a goal of getting as far as we could on a linkup we’d seen done by Jenny Abegg and Whitney Clark where they climbed Acid Baby, Solid Gold, and Iconoclast in a day. While we’re nowhere near the caliber of climbers they are, the linkup is so logical and laid out so cleanly along the thu-hike we just had to see how far we could get. The quick and dirty blow by blow: -Leave Portland after work and hit the trailhead by 11:30, alarms at 1:30 for a 2:00 start time. -Tim wakes to some unfortunate lower GI issues, no TP in the toilet, great start. -My first time on the approach from this side and in a hurry, we blast pass the turn for Colchuck Lake by almost a mile, adding nearly 2 miles to the day right off the bat. Awesome! -Arrive at the base of Acid Baby, stuff one pack into the other for the carry-over, rack up and get climbing by 5:30. - Climb Acid Baby. Great route, that’s highlighted by the spectacular and exposed position on the “summit” knife edge ridge traverse. Photos: The route, tiny me can be seen belaying P4 Dork starting Pitch 3 Tim following P3 P4 Long shot of P4. Thanks Adam for the photos! Knife edge traverse, Dragontail in the background Hero Shot -Finish around 10:30, not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but not super slow considering we were onsighting and not exactly sure what to expect. We’ll take it. -Hike up to the plateau in the Core Zone. Not sure where to go here, fearing getting cliffed out if we stay high and needing water, descend into the lake zone and what we hope is a straightforward way to Prusik Peak. It wasn’t. -Wander around the Core Zone as inefficiently as possible, down climbing slabby rock, hopping across waterfalls, and eventually hiking on snowy slopes around Perfection Lake, slogging our way up to Prusik Pass. In total this took about an hour and a half longer than what we were hoping for. (Anyone know the best way to do this!? Do we stay high? Just move better?) -Tim’s gut bug is catching up with him. He is less than psyched but marches on. -Start Solid Gold around 1:15, feels great to be climbing again! Solid Gold really is amazingly good climbing. We hit the West Ridge in 3 pitches and simul to our way to the summit by 4:00. Solid Gold P1. Linked this to just past the little boulder problem around the roof on P2 to make linking 2-3 easier. Top of Prusik, look how psyched! -Tim’s psyche returns, amazing what a little rock climbing can do, we may just be able to pull this off! We rap and rally for the long 8 mile haul to Snow Creek wall. -Fast forward 8 miles, we are hurting. I’m totally worked and Tim is stumbling and hallucinating by the time we hit Snow Creek Wall. Side note, if there is ever a true champion it’s Tim Bemrich, he pushed through some serious pain and discomfort to get us to this point and didn’t complain once. -Decide it would not be reasonably safe to try and descend off SCW in that state, so we make the prudent decision and bail on the last route. We had done what we came to do, get as far as we could. All in all a great and tiring learning experience with a great friend. We’re already excited to give something like this a go again! Thanks for reading! Gear Notes: Nuts, double rack tips to 3. Brought a 4 for P1 on Acid Baby but didn't place it all day, booo. Lots of slings. Approach Notes: Colchuck Lake

True, have to consult with the team on that ha! ktarry, totally! We found it very approachable with about 3 pitches of sustained ice, hard to beat for Mt. Hood in my experience.

Haven't sold on here before so please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong. I'm trying to slim down the collection. The prices listed are all including shipping and OBO, feel free to make offers. PayPal payment preferred and willing to split fees if going that route. Will add pics later or upon request, whichever comer first. Happy to answer any questions. Thanks for looking! Rab Infinity Jacket, Red Large $200 850 Fill down, Pertex Quantum shell. Excellent conditions minus one little patched hole on the inside, patched with tenacious tape. Rab Polartec Powershield Softshell Jacket, Red Large $100 Very little use, basically sat in my closet the last few years. Rab Windshell, Red Large $60 Cool shell, Pertex Equilibrium fabric Rab Paradox, Green Large $40 Well used, tear in the body, but still an excellent breathable layer with Polartec Alpha insulation Arc'teryx Rico Jacket, Brown Large $100 New without tags, worn literally once Patagonia R1 Pullover, Medium $35 SOLD Had for a while, not worn too much Black Diamond Cyborg Pro Crampons $100 Great condition, one of the straps has a crampon hole in it, but they haven't been trimmed yet at all and shouldn't interfere once trimmed for any boot Osprey Variant 37 Alpine Pack, $75 Well used but still in good condition. No holes in the body or frays in the straps or anything like that. Black Diamond Verdict Skis, 180cm $200 Bindings coming off, skis on their first mount, good condition with tons of life left Black Diamond Quickdraws x5 $45 Biners are basically new, dogbones seen a little bit more use. Have more I'd probably be willing to sell in similar condition if interested in more.

Thanks everyone! This route really is excellent and totally worth the long day it takes to get there IMO. Somebody get on it! Gabe, we were up there on Saturday. Perfect temps to be on the north side. Warm enough to be comfortable but enough cloud cover to keep ice fall to a minimum.

Trip: Mt. Hood - "The Pencil" FA Date: 1/30/2017 Trip Report: We've always heard "The Pencil" come up as an obvious unclimbed line on the north side of Hood. Let me start by saying it's totally possible that some hardmen/women knocked it off back in the 80's or something but, as there was no record or beta that we could find, we're thinking it's a new route. Community, please let us know if this is not the case, certainly don't want to be making false claims! Our buddy Mike had really been eyeing it for a while and made an attempt recently but got turned back about 1/3 of the way up. When we saw the weekend weather forecast we moved it to the top of the list and Mike, Jacob, Tim and myself were all psyched to go for it. The line The prime weather and conditions brought Mt. Hood climbers out in full force, us among them. Originally we had planned to climb in 2 teams of 2 as it's always super fun to be in the mountains with your friends, but unfortunately Mike put a nail through his hand in a carpenters accident a day before and had to opt out. Major bummer as he was the driving force behind the objective. He was still psyched for us to give it a go and provided us with what beta he had from his previous attempt and a showed us a few old photos of the potential exits onto the north face. So Tim, Jacob and myself followed through and were in the lot by 2:00 and skinning shortly after. We approached via the standard slog up the south side and were the first to hit the hogs back at about 4:45 where we ditched the skis, ate some food, and tried hard to convince ourselves to take off the belay jackets. To start the day off we wallowed over to the Devil's Kitchen Headwall and group soloed the route by headlamp, putting us on the top in perfect time to see the sunrise from the top of Oregon, a first for me. Sunrise Descending the Sunshine After a few photos, some water and food we descended the Sunshine Route to Snow Dome. From there we roped up and made a beeline for the bottom of the route. Pretty uneventful minus a little harmless fall in the bergschrund by Jacob. We crossed it once more and I started up the thin alpine ice. We were happy to find solid sticks and moderate climbing up to an obvious slung horn. Pretty sure this tat was from Mike's last attempt on the line. I brought up Jacob and Tim and launched off onto the next pitch which turned out to be the crux. The climbing was mostly thin-ish ice of varying quality. Anywhere from hero and plastic to aerated and garbage, but for the most part sticky and secure, with the odd front point on rock placement. I followed the line of least resistance that took us through a few steep vertical sections and was about a full 60 meters of WI 3/3+. I placed a small but decent looking nut (always hard to tell the rock quality but it looked pretty good actually) and 2 screws on the pitch, prioritizing finding a proper anchor with the gear I had left. Thankfully the climbing was secure and I found a bomber ice and rock anchor in a perfect location right below the final ramp. Starting the crux pitch Tim in the crux Belay The next pitch was a very quick section of secure WI3- right off the anchor that gradually mellowed into a snowfield with easy neve. This took us to the top of the pencil proper in a 60M+ rope stretcher. Tim and Jacob actually had to start simul-climbing so I could reach good ice to build a belay, so to future parties, a 70 would have been perfect if using the same belays. We were atop the pencil, but above us was another short 30 foot section of WI3 that would take us up and onto Cathedral Spire. Thanks to Mike's beta and a photo he shared with us, we suspected that the top of the spire would connect down to the north face via a small snow patch. The section looked to good to pass up so we decided to try and finish the route in a direct line and headed up. Jacob dispatched the lead in style and brought us up. We simuled the rest of the snowfield to the top of Cathedral Spire. The beta paid off and we had a short downclimb in loose, unconsolidated snow to the notch above The Ravine and joined the north face. 3rd pitch start 3rd Pitch Jacob starting up Cathedral Spire From there we followed the finish of the North Face Right Gully to the top, where we popped over the summit and into the sun. For the second time that day we stood on top somewhere around 2:30 in the afternoon. We celebrated a great day, reorganized, and descended back to our skis. Great skiing conditions capped off a perfect day of Oregon alpine climbing. Huge shout out to Mike for all the help with this one and letting us use his beta, knowledge and gear as well! Thanks for reading! Gear Notes: -4 screws, 1 stubby and 3 13's (could have used more although ice quality varied) -minor rock pro (.5-2 camalots could be useful as well as some nuts) -mini kb's (found a home for them, maybe not necessary) -2 pickets (solid in spots, but not on the route proper) -2 60M twins Approach Notes: Southside slog, up Devil's Kithchen Headwall, down Sunshine to Snow Dome, traverse diagonally in a straight shot to the pencil.

Thanks for the info Wayne! Totally see why you've been so into that wall for so long. Totally different beast than the rest of Hood, felt like we were in another range entirely!

Thanks all! Wayne, sounds like we got super lucky with conditions then! Any idea if it's been climbed before? Based on what we saw it was the obvious line of weakness and can't imagine it hasn't been done before at some point.

Trip: Mt. Hood - Arachnophobia (Variation?) Black Spider Headwall Date: 1/6/2017 Trip Report: First trip report on here, please be kind. After looking at and talking for a long time about the Black Spider, my friend Tim and I took the cold and dry weather forecast and decided it seemed like a good conditions recipe to head up and check out in person. I picked Tim up about 1:15am and we were suited up and skinning by about 3:15am. The approach started fine, we decided to take the low way around the White River. Once we reached the Silcox hut we veered off. Neither of us having done this before we weren't exactly sure where we were going. Before we even reached the canyon, we had to ditch the skis and transition to crampons due to icy conditions, they were shouldered the rest of the day until the descent unfortunately. We got fairly confused and made for a long trip crossing the White River. Despite the slow going approach we found ourselves at the base of the snowfield below the Black Spider when the alpenglow hit. While harnessing up Tim realized his Platypus water bottle had popped and his harness and other gear was frozen solid, good start. After this was a mix of breakable crust, unconsolidated snow, and some decent neve. Getting up to the base of the wall added about 1.5-2 hours of wallowing to our approach we figured. Originally we planned on climbing the Center Drip, but from our approach angle it was hard to tell if it looked in or not, so we decided to go for Arachnophobia. The approach having taken longer than anticipated, we found ourselves on the headwall with direct sun and no wind, so we wanted to climb as fast as possible. Our plan was basically to simulclimb the route on our 40m skinny line. Despite warm temps on the wall, we experienced much less ice and rockfall than we planned for (though still some), comparable to mild days on the Reid. Now the good stuff. Tim led up the initial climbing and we simulclimbed until we reached the top of the 1st snowfield. Hero sticks the whole way with a tad bit of mixed in there made for very enjoyable and fun climbing, ear to ear smiles. From here we took what we believe to be a variation from the line in the Mt Hood book. Instead of heading right as it looks in the book, we moved straight up and climbed a thin ice line at the top left of the snowfield, essentially straightening up the line. This went somewhere around WI3 or 3+. I pounded in a small kb then a little heady but moderate mixed climbing that followed took us to the 2nd snowfield. Anyone know what this variation is called? Here again we varied from the line in the book, we both remembered that there was a right hand exit that took us to the summit snowfield, but we opted to follow the snowfield up and climbed alpine ice through what we believe to be the finish to the Elder/Russel route. From here we were pretty gassed and slowly climbed the final snowfield to the summit. We were worked and fully psyched to finally climb the Black Spider after a longer, more involved, and tiring day than we had planned. For gear, the route took solid screws the whole way and we pounded a few small kb's in some of the mixed climbing areas. Unfortunately Tim had some issue with his ice clipper and dropped 2 of our 6 screws making for some runout climbing, they should be at the base of the Black Spider if anyone feels ambitious. I can't figure out how to orient the pictures correctly, my apologies and I'll try to correct, if someone knows how, please let me know! Gear Notes: 6 screws, 5x13s and 1x10, dropped 2 (took great screws the whole way) Baby angle and kb's (used 2 kbs) Few cams and nuts (never used) Approach Notes: Low way around the White River, icy/wind blown conditions. Breakable crust, unconsolidated snow, and some decent neve to the base. Long and wallowing.

Hey Ian. Sorry, haven't been checking CC that often. But I'm up for getting out whenever. I'm usually free Fri-Sun, but changes sometimes with work. I've really only skied the Newton and the South Side so far but I'm up for exploring. Hit me up whenever. 5038036726

Haven't had a ton of luck finding BC skiing partners since moving out to Portland. Plenty of climbers, but not so many skiers. Looking to get some good skiing in, but also always up for climbing as well. Avy level 1 cert and about 5 seasons bc skiing, climbing about 8 years. Just looking to get out and have some fun. Hit me up if interested.

Thanks for the link, guess it's more confirmation of what I was leaning toward.

Wondering what people's thoughts are for Hood toward the end of May early June given the mild winter this year. It's my first year in Portland, I went up a couple times this winter but not sure how conditions will be this Summer. Trying to advise family whether or not it's worth flying out for around that time frame. Thanks in advance for any and all input.

Haven't been up Luetholds, but we went up the Reid last Wed, so 1/21. We ran into some unconsolidated snow getting up to the 'shrund making for fairly slow going and an interesting crossing. Above the 'shrund the conditions improved. We had everything from styrofoam snow to alpine ice. For a sunny day it wasn't spitting too much off from the upper sections either.

New to the region and curious if anyone has any hunches whether this little cold snap might bring some ice into the gorge for Wed or Thurs? Was looking at the Crown Jewel or Bridal Veil areas, or if there's any other areas more prone I'm all ears. Cheers and thanks!