Phillip Failor-Rich

gnarly

amazing pictures!

Does anyone have any info on accents of Bedal peak? Only info I could find was the non technical NW route. Wondering if anyones checked it out?

Thanks! I am just using my iPhone. It seems to do pretty well unless it gets cold.

Yes all I needed was a Jpeg converter!

Trip: Mt baker - North Ridge Trip Date: 08/01/2022 Trip Report: This adventure started in the most likely place, Instagram. A guy named Remy, who had worked at the same climbing gym I currently work for sent me a message. My boss had heard from Remy that he was looking for partners that wanted to do a lot of climbing; My boss also knows that I am in the same boat. After some messaging back and forth we decided we would give the north ridge of baker a try! Most would say attempting a long and committing route with a new climbing partner would not be the best idea. Most of the time I would agree. The only reason I am able to make this exception was because of our mutual friend/boss. He has known both of us for a long time, with a good understanding of our experience and comfort level in the mountains. Remy and I planned for a full casual day of hiking up the road, up the trail, and to camp. Then a full alpine start climbing day. Then a full day to sleep and walk out. If the weather and company are equally as good this is my favorite way to approach bigger climbs like this. Making the large approach and distances more manageable physically and mentally. I find this is also how I rap my head around larger technical obstacles; Breaking them down into small chunks that I can easily understand and take one at a time. The small chunk mindset works super well until you need to have any amount of forethought about your objectives but for the purpose of giving me confidence that I have the ability to do larger and harder routes, this mindset helps a lot. Remy and I started out our approach day a little bit late putting the pressure on us to get to camp and get to sleep. Making it worse was the fact that I had forgotten my bike back home in a rush to get ready and out the door early. We put our minds together and decided that strapping the packs to the bike like a mule and both pushing that one bike would be faster than swapping out riding the single bike. This feat of engineering let us push up the hill to the trailhead in less than 2 hours. Putting us right back on schedule. We hoisted our packs and walked up the heliotrope ridge trail with excitement for our next day. After arriving at camp and getting our tent set up, I cooked my usual top ramen with a side of tuna (I am still getting better at backcountry cooking). We talked over at time plan and decided on a midnight start. Our alarms rang and it was time to boogie. I threw my boots on and racked up for the big day to come. We did some traversing to get up out onto the helio trope ridge and then out onto the Coleman glacier. The glacier was surprisingly simple and fast travel. Most of the cracks were completely exposed making them obvious and easy to avoid. Until higher on the mountain we did not find any unstable bridges. We hiked in a timely manner up to the toe of the north ridge. The beta that we had gotten from a month before was that gaining the toe of the ridge was out and traversing to lookers left around the ridge was needed. That turned out to be completely false for the conditions we found but existing in our own little headlamp bubble it was hard to tell that at the time. Moving around the toe of the ridge and accending found us just next to looker's left of the ridge for about a thousand feet. Looking up at the ice step and the steeper snow seemingly right above us we pulled out the rope length and prepared to siml. This was not the case. A little after the above picture was taken I arrived at a nearly 50ft wide crack that the GPS track we had, seemingly cruised right over. With the north ridge not gainable to us to the right and icefall to the left we decided to descend slightly and explore our options to the left. Past some broken blocks the glacier seemed to mellow out and provide access around the crack back to the north ridge. The above photo was taken after traversing around the large crack. beautifully broken glacier. Tomfoolery moving through the north face icefall This portion of the climb is something I am debating still in my head. We had no beta on the icefall we were making our way through. The bridges we were crossing were super solid but would they have been later in the day if we needed to descend? what would the icefall hazard be like after the sun heated everything up? Was I in over my head? I believe that the decisions we made were safe enough for the route and situation we were committed to. Remy and I on the way out discussed every decision we made in detail and the reasons behind them. This type of do-it-as-you-go climbing was new to both me and Remy and it was really fucking awesome. You can see in our GPS track we were finding the best crossings were farthest lookers left but we constantly were moving lookers right to see if there was a route back onto the ridge. Finally, after lots of large crack crossings and zig-zagging, we found an entrance to the north ridge around 600 ft below the ice step. A look at the upper north face icefall from below the ice step. Back on route finally. As we looked down the ridge in the light a clear bootpack and a RMI team moving up it made all the hard work we just put in seem meaningless. But was it? I feel like I had to engage more active decision-making, risk management, and route-finding skills much much more than I normally would have on a well-tracked route like the north ridge. I feel I grew as a climber as well as my personal ethic in the mountains. It was a freeing experience to decide to tread my own route and make it work. The ice step was in super good shape. A short section of pretty high-quality vertical ice then followed by another pitch of low-angle ice. This led to a knife edge ridge to the summit bergy which was a simple crossing with some steep snow to the top. The descent was very simple, just a trot down the Coleman Demming which was in very good shape. Back to camp at 2pm made it a 15-hour day including all the icefall buffoonery. Overall a super fun climb with a super cool person. I hope you enjoyed reading about an adventure and thanks for sticking around! Gear Notes: 6 Screws, 3 pickets (wish we had a few more screws) Approach Notes: Heliotrope (bring two bikes)

Trip: Prusik - West ridge Trip Date: 07/27/2022 Trip Report: This started out as a pretty rough night of sleep at the Stuart lake trailhead. I woke up sweating and a bit unhappy; even considering not getting out of the car to go on this adventure I had planned for myself. I have this experience a lot; I get excited and drive long distances or hike in large approaches just for my mind to try and convince me that I don't want to be there or that it doesn't sound fun. I find that 100% of the time if I fight those feelings and push through I have the time of my life. This was very true for today. I got my shit together and left the trailhead. Made it up to Colchuck and over Asgard in what felt like no time. I hear a lot of people complain about the hike up to Colchuck lake. Yes, it's busy but isn't everywhere else we go in most of our daily lives? At least most of these people that we encounter on the way up are happy, movin, and enjoying what we all come out to enjoy. Anyways... Making up and over Asgard before the day got too hot was the way to do it! down at the icicle, it was going to be 100 something and I didn't want any of that on the way in. IMG_1349.HEIC Dragontail looked extra special that day. The usual interactions with the furry locals up on the plateau ensued (cautions walking around trying not to get headbutted). It was getting hot at this point. The heat was not the biggest issue I found. That would be the mosquitos. They kept you moving!!! If you stop at all a million would swarm and start chewing. I definitely moved faster than I was in shape to do only because I had no other choice. The plan for today was to romp up the west ridge of Prusik. The pictures I had seen of prusik were mesmerizing, to say the least. The biggest thing I noticed was how different this mountain looks from every angle. From the first sight of it after Asgard, it looks like a tiny point along a much larger ridge. Every time you get a bit closer it seems to grow up out of the ridge it's a part of. IMG_1384.HEIC Up close and personal with the south face. after making some questionable route-finding decisions I made it to the base of the west ridge; Just below the obvious heavily cleaned crack above the notch. Rock shoes and the fanny pack went on and up I went. This route is something else. You find yourself wandering up some low filth CLEAN rock with some intermixed interesting moves until you pop up to a flatter section of the ridge. This was one of the highlights for me. A combination of butt scooting and finger rail scootching with the exposure of the south face below you is something else. Enjoy the exposure, pull a slab move, climb some crack, squeeze a chimney, then enjoy the views. IMG_1370.HEIC IMG_1376.HEIC IMG_1379.HEIC The raps were straightforward, I believe with a bit of down climbing I did four rappels. After a little bit of walking back to the notch, I was able to collect my stuff and get eaten a bit more by the buzzers. The rest of the trip was very uneventful. A quick dip in a few of the lakes on the way down kept the temps down and kept me happy. I can't recommend this route more to anyone. It has clean rock, great views, and interesting movement. Maybe just wait until it isn't 1000 degrees. Gear Notes: Good attitude Approach Notes: Walkin

Sweet thanks for the pic I'll keep yall posted on how it goes!

A couple of buddies an I are planning to ski the east ridge of eldorado pretty soon. Thinking of making a pit stop at the eggplant. I've been up there once before in a semi-whiteout (not much view of the rock). The eggplant seemed intriguing. Does anyone have any info on rock quality, routes, beta, or anything else? Thanks!

Trip: Mt Shasta - Casaval Ridge Trip Date: 05/04/2022 Trip Report: Seeing a break in the weather around the Mt Shasta area I decided I would make a move on Casaval Ridge. This route has been on my list for a while and now seemed like a great time for it. I left Bunny Flat trailhead around noon Tuesday. I could see high winds and spindrift off the top (very cool) High winds made for slow going. I had seen most parties who do this route bivy around 10,500 but I had more time before I wanted to sleep and I saw a higher notch that looked more protected. The temps were going to be higher than wanted both days so I did not want any overhead hazards while sleeping in the heat of the day. I found a notch in the ridge just above 11,000ft. Beautiful evening and views on the ridge. Seeing some wind textured snow higher on the route and a few inches of wind loading near ridgeline lower on the route I was sure I didn't want to be anywhere near those when the sun heated them up. Moving by 2 am I found a faint boot pack that lead me through the lower gap and to the base of the catwalk. The catwalk was in great shape, I found some bare ice higher on route that made for super fun climbing. topped out Casaval Ridge around 5 am right as the sun came up. Misery hill made less miserable by a great sunrise! Made it up Misery Hill and across the plateau to the summit pinnacle making it on top around 6:30. Couldn't really ask for better conditions and had such a fun time!! The ski down avy gulch was icy and slow but I'm sure when it gets sun it's a classic haha. Back to the trailhead by 9 am and back home to Washington before dinner. Thanks for reading!! a great start to spring and hopefully more to come! Gear Notes: Nothin special, skis to make the decent a little more interesting Approach Notes: followed the first chute to the west of the ridge

So impressive!!! nice work guys!

Thanks! It’s a super fun little range and people have figured that out. I think any good weather day you are sure to run into a good amount of people.

Trip: North Twin Sister - West ridge Trip Date: 02/25/2022 Trip Report: Hey everybody! A week and a bit ago I noticed questionable avy conditons but decent weather. Without a partner to go out with I was looking for something not to gnar. I had heard the west ridge of the north twin was a decent winter objective. In my mind with questionable conditions the worst case is a good workout! I drove up thursday evening and slept at the trailhead for a little bit more sleep. Up by 4 moving by 5. following the road up a few switch backs then getting ontop of the west ridge almost directly after the road ends to aviod as much avy terrian as possible. Leaving my skis and ski boots behind once skining became less favorable I head up the ridge by 8 am. I carried but didn't end up using crampons rope and rock pro. The ridge itself was slow going due to about 6"-1' of snow covering most of the rock on the ridge. Not having much beta on the ridge itself I found a line that stayed mostly in 4th - low 5th class terrian and the best climbing was found mostly on the ridge propper. Staying on the ridge proper meant lots of up and downs making movement even slower. IMG_7044 (2).MOV After a few false summits I popped up onto the real top at around 1pm! On top I met two guys who had just come up the north face. They offered to let me rap off the picket they were placing and I accepted happily not wanting to rap and downclimb the more complicated west ridge decent. So much for staying out of avy terrain haha. After a short run down the north face and a traverse over to the base of the ridge I was reunited with my skis. Right down the ridge from where I left my skis I found someone had left a treat directally on the route. A little bit of etticite please don't poop directally on a popular route on an even more popular mountain. Btw I dropped one of my ice tools directally below the notch on the false summit in the second picture. It was on my harness with a wiregate and somehow it unclipped. I'm sure this summer it will be found, lunch is on me for whoever returns it! After skiing down the road I met up with my new friends from the summit and they offered me a ride out to where I left my car. Apparently they have the gate key and permits to drive up there! Who knew! Didnt get many pictures but it was a fun solo mission! Gear Notes: Rock pro I probably should have used but I didnt find anything to challenging Approach Notes: Even if the gate is open don't drive past the bridge over the nooksack apparently the gate gets closed and people get there cars stuck!

If weather works out I am looking to do the gibralter ledges route sometime this winter. Ill be in touch!

Super cool trip! I am looking to ski this later this winter.