[Atacama 2010: Licancabur & Socaire]

Awesome report, thanks Kam. Sounds like a stressful adventure.

[Need a new camera]

Another recommendation for the RX100. I just got the Mark 6 and it is a sweet camera. In terms of photo quality it doesn't seem worse than my Canon T3i which is awesome considering that it fits in a pocket and doesn't require carrying multiple lenses. The viewfinder is awesome for shooting on snow.

[[TR] Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys 09/21/2019]

4 hours ago, genepires said:

that winnie slide photo is a shock.  I have been up that route a handful of times, the latest part of the season was mid august and it was bare ice top to bottom.  I never saw any exposed rock like in your photo.  I guess 12 years of climate change.......   

Wow, that is a shock if those rocks weren't exposed 12 years ago. This is the highest point of the White Salmon so if it's shrinking that quickly then the White Salmon has almost no accumulation zone. 

[[TR] Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys 09/21/2019]

Trip: Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys

Trip Date: 09/21/2019

Trip Report:

 

Missed this mountain over the summer. Fortunately the snow has returned and it will be time to ski soon. I had never been on Shuksan in the summer before and it was pretty wild to see these glaciers without a thick coat of snow.

 

Winnie's Slide was melted down to ice and two tools were nice. Upper Curtis was broken up but still easily navigable. Substantial fresh snow above 7.5k. S gully of the summit pyramid had an inconvenient amount of snow so we decided to try a circumnavigation of the summit instead. Couldn't find a reasonable way onto the Crystal Glacier so we made a short loose scramble up Point 8165 and called it good.  Got back to the car right at dark for a 14 hour day.

 

Photos:

1. Winnie's Slide

 

2. Hell's Highway

3. Spooky S Face of Nooksack Tower

4. Jagged Ridge and Seahpo Peak with the Pickets behind

5. Sulphide

6. Pika

 

All photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mETUJJNBMGku3Tdr7

 

Gear Notes:
2 tools, a few cams, ice screws, 60m rope

Approach Notes:
Lake Ann to Fisher Chimneys

[[TR] Snoqualmie Pass - Commonwealth Ultimate Ridge Linkup (CURL) 07/28/2019]

Thanks for the inspiration. I did a lite version of this yesterday with the standard route on Guye, only E summit of Snoqualmie, and no Kendall. Great way to climb some peaks which I have tried (and failed) while skiing in the area. Felt pretty maxed out in my trail runners and wished that I had brought approach shoes.

[[TR] Goode and Storm King - NE Buttress 09/02/2018]

Trip: Goode and Storm King - NE Buttress

Trip Date: 09/02/2018

Trip Report:

Nate and I climbed the NE Buttress of Goode and Storm King then took a scenic exit via Park Creek Pass and Easy Pass. We started from the Bridge Creek TH at 11pm on Thursday 8/30 and exited at the Easy Pass TH a couple hours before sunset on Sunday 9/2. Getting onto the Goode Glacier was difficult, and the bridge across the moat on the left side of the NE Buttress won't be around for much longer. I wouldn't recommend the route at this point in the season.

I wrote up a full TR on my site here: https://www.laneaasen.com/2018/09/goode-ne-buttress-storm-king.html

Gear Notes:
Approach shoes, crampons, ice axes 8 small nuts and 5 slings for NEB 60m half rope, doubled for simuling

Approach Notes:
Approached from Bridge Creek TH, exited via Park Creek Pass and Easy Pass

[[TR] Mount Challenger and Whatcom Peak - Challenger Glacier 08/19/2018]

18 hours ago, seano- said:

That's some grim smoke -- way to persevere despite the long-term health consequences!  Thanks for sharing the old photos.  FWIW, here's a photo of Challenger from Whatcom on a clear day in 2014:

Thanks for posting that photo! It matches perfectly with the one I have from the first ascent. I made a couple comparison photos. Yours was taken much earlier in the season, but the recession at the lower reaches of the glacier is still clear.

 

[Goode Glacier Conditions?]

2 hours ago, kuhar said:

So if you don't go you won't know, right? We ultimately took our climbing gear for a long, but pretty, walk. We didn't have the chance to even evaluate the moat because getting onto the glacier to begin with looked impossible with our gear (boots, single ice axes, crampons, 1 picket, light climbing rig) with serious-looking crevasse hazard following. To be clear, about 10-15ft of 80 degree glacier snow/ice (see second photo). We followed the approach descriptions from available Beckey, Kearney, and Abegg and even found cairns marking the way. If anyone else has some suggestions or, yes, even thoughtful criticism then I'm all ears. However, this route seems out (at least for our comfort level) for the remainder for the season. We were up there with one other group who had heard in advance that two other parties in the week prior had also been turned around. She's a beaut though :-)

Photo 1 looking at presumed glacier access point (line of intent marked in red):

Photo 2 taken from toe of glacier at end of previous red line (we did not stay here long b/c safety):

We climbed the line in your photos. I led the step using my axe and my partner's then passed them back down to him. We didn't have any pickets or ice screws so he followed without a belay. We found a fairly easy line through the glacier from the top of the step.

From above it looked like it might be possible to jump the crevasse on the right side of your second photo and wrap around to the top of the step, although there might be an impassable crevasse that I didn't see!

I wouldn't recommend the route at this point in the season. This hot and dry summer has not been kind to the Goode Glacier. Even if you can get onto the glacier, the bridge over the moat will be gone any day now. 

[Goode Glacier Conditions?]

Climbed the NE Buttress on Friday 8/31. We took a fairly direct line up the Goode Glacier that involved a short steep step and some cowboy ridge-riding, but it looks like there are easier options to the east. We were able to gain the NE Buttress on the east side via a precarious snow bridge that isn't long for this world. Crossing the moat looks like it will be quite involved once the bridge goes.

[[TR] Mount Challenger and Whatcom Peak - Challenger Glacier 08/19/2018]

I don't think any trip to the Pickets is chill, and this one was no exception! Especially the North Ridge of Whatcom. I don't really want to go down that again.

I used trail runners for the first 10 miles to the Chilliwack crossing, then approach shoes (La Sportiva Boulder X) for everything else. They work pretty well with the strap-on Irvis Hybrids for glacier travel.

[[TR] Mount Challenger and Whatcom Peak - Challenger Glacier 08/19/2018]

Trip: Mount Challenger and Whatcom Peak - Challenger Glacier

Trip Date: 08/19/2018

Trip Report:

Nate Redon and I climbed Challenger and Whatcom last weekend. We started late Friday night from the Hannegan Pass TH and hiked to the Chilliwack crossing before making camp. The next day we hiked up Easy Ridge and summited Challenger, finding the bergschrund to be in good condition. We slept at Perfect Pass then climbed Whatcom, descended the North Ridge to Whatcom Pass, and made it back to the car at dusk.

I wrote a full trip on my site here: https://www.laneaasen.com/2018/08/a-weekend-in-pickets-challenger-and.html

I thought some of you here might have known my great-grandfather Phil Dickert, who made the first ascent of Challenger along with George MacGowan and Jack Hossack in 1936. I used some of his photos in the trip report since the smoke was too thick to get overview photos of my own.

Gear Notes:
30m rope, two slings, ice axe, crampons

Approach Notes:
Hannegan Pass to Easy Ridge