Nolan E Arson

Nice—thanks for the comprehensive report, Bob! The gully conditions look fantastic! 10 days ago it was mostly wading and battling the spindrift firehose between steps. Still good fun, but now it looks like it should. How was the bergschrund crossing?

While much of the Wy’East route is essentially just walking up a long snow slope with an axe and crampons, the crux is often very exposed and can involve some actual climbing and committing moves to get around the rocky gendarme—whichever way you go. Bailing from here means either walking all the way back down the way you came, or rapping down the second variation of the Devil’s Kitchen Headwall or down Flying Buttress. (Sometimes both are down-climbable, but there are often undercut rime steps.) One reasonable alternative might be to climb up Flying Buttress, as it can be quite moderate when conditions are right, and a picket or two might offer you a chance to protect or build a belay anchor. Then you would have a familiar descent route ready if you don’t like the gendarme.

Did a quick lap up this week (July 22). The bergshrund is quite open, as one would expect this late in the season, but easy to end run to climber’s right. Both left and right gates are pretty crappy. Expect a steepish mix of hard ice, shitty soft late season snow, and flowing water. Lots of gravel and small rocks litter the surface. You would not want to linger here. I didn’t see the Old Chute or Mazama Chutes up close.

Negative. The list of open state day use park areas is pretty short. “High-density parks on the north coast, the Columbia Gorge, boat accesses to the John Day and Deschutes Rivers, and places like Smith Rock in Central Oregon will likely be among the last to return to limited service, and no dates for state parks in those regions have been announced.” https://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=v.dsp_featureArticle&articleId=279

Mr K has another live youtube show today. Coming up soon. Wasn’t sure if the man himself was going to post it here, but the time is nigh, so... The Denali show last week was great! Lots of laughs, lots of good info.

I had to double take as well! Pretty awesome. Welcome, Andy. Your articles are a great resource, and very entertaining to boot. Your books are invaluable. Can’t wait for Down. I’m also really enjoying your podcast—don’t stop rambling!

Thanks Andy. Looking forward to it.

Congratulations! Just reading this was a fantastic experience. Sincere thanks for sharing—and for all the time and effort you obviously invested in this write-up. Your pictures, and your detailed personal experiences of the climbing really bring the challenges of the route, its history, and the whole of the place itself to life.

Nice! Looks sweet! Great to see something new, something to keep the fires stoked. Although I gotta say, in this weird and claustrophobic time it’s a hell of a goddamn tease. Thanks for pulling one out of the stash.

Fuck yes! Your trips are setting a new standard on Hood. Serious congratulations.

Good job. I’m with you—everything on Hood is approachable from Timberline.

Nice work! Love your descriptive write-up. Extra props for the Nietzsche. Haven’t got Yocum under my belt yet, but I’m intimately acquainted with that feeling that lingers after spending a long time in a sea of no fall terrain, connecting insecure move after insecure move... at some point you start to feel the abyss eyeing you back. Thanks!

Strong work Matt and Noah! A serious accomplishment. Intimidating pictures! Bold and heady climbing, and creative problem solving. Thanks for sharing! A shot of you guys as ants on the first gendarme. Goddamn that’s a lot of complicated terrain!

Wow, fantastic work! Hope you have a speedy and uncomplicated recovery. Thanks for the compelling write-up and thoughtful analysis in your blog post too. There are a few take-away lessons for me, and I appreciate the opportunity to reflect.

Incredible TR. Like settling deep into a freshly arrived Alpinist issue. But better! Thanks for sharing!