mvs

Thanks pope, yes the couloir was just step kicking. A little exciting on rotten ice at the constriction, but otherwise straightforward...really exposed above the constriction though!

Fahrenheit 9/11 rules! <pad pad pad pad...slam!>

Thanks! Well it was cold enough to keep the snow consolidated, and we had no missles in the couloir (this was early May). On the ridge the wind was screaming, it was good to be on the north side for peace and quiet. Sure enough the rock on the south side was basically snowfree. I think you guys or Loren went up a week before and had a totally different story?

Hey man, it's a G rated film! I feel dirty just thinking about those scenes!

DerWanderer and I made this short film a few months ago, I just got around to finishing it up. If you like scenes of snowy couloirs and windy rock climbing it is for you! Please set the amateurishness bit. A tantalizing poster might entice you: Let me know what you think, sorry I don't have an MPG version but the space for these things is killing me already! Hi-res WMV, Low-res WMV. Boring old TR heah.

We used a skinny doubled rope, worked great. I wore light hiking boots for the approach and climb, worked great. We brought an ice screw, used it for a short ice step on the glacier, probably overkill.

That was such a great read!

yes, the full ridge is a must do. I actually want reasons to go back to that climb again, that is a good one! I've done the Mountaineer's Creek approach twice now for routes on the north side, it is a great way to go. Definitely that way for the full ridge. Does anyone know why Kearney recommends hiking to Stuart Lake instead of the usual way? From the ridge it looked like some pretty bad brush awaited you between the lake and the glacier. Puzzling.

We hiked in to a camp at Ingall's Lake Tuesday night, then got up early Wednesday and gained the North Ridge around 8 am. What a great climb, I love the hand traversing flakes business, and the Gendarme was exposed and spectacular! We were on the summit at 3 pm, which we thought was great until dealing with the really tedious Cascadian Couloir, and the "bad news" trip up to Ingall's Lake for our bivy gear! All that put us at the car at midnight. Has anyone had luck with descending the NW buttress, as described by Kearney? We almost went that way, I wish we had, because it is so direct for an Ingall's Lake camp.

great TR - I slung that sketchy chockstone yesterday - I thought it was pretty solid pro! :-) I brought the 3.5, so slept in my cocoon of security till reaching the fixed cam. Which option creates better memories?

Thanks for the new option from Gunsight Notch, John! I will look for that way when I have my JBerg epic later in the summer :-) Such a great love/hate relationship we have with that peak...

Here are a couple of pictograms. Climbing on Paisano Pinnacle The last pitch of Burgundy Spire

I wanted to drop a note that the W Buttress route on Paisano (1971, by Carla Firey and others) provides a good time in the hills. Robertm and I combined this with Burgundy N Face for ~12 pitches of climbing yesterday. We gained the buttress at a notch with scrub trees that required about 30 feet of class 3 scrambling to reach. The lower part of the route has scrub trees that have had branches neatly sawn off by some kind person. We just followed the ridge. There was one obvious 5.9 pitch climbing a vertical small-hand crack about a ledge, then fingerlocks and a chimney to another ledge. A pitch of somewhat loose 5.8 climbing regained the ridge, followed to the summit in 2-3 more pitches. The real adventure was in getting back to the car before dark, pleased with ourselves, then realizing the battery was dead. What with walking along the highway, getting a jump, and other shinanigans, I got home at 6 am. Useful advice: make 2 single rope rappels from the summit of Burgundy instead of a double, because the crack in line with the summit can be troublesome for pulling the rope.

awesome tr!

Great site. Damn sad story on the Rainier trip...

Hey Glacier, shoot me a PM...

Hi, I suddenly have the day free to climb. I'd like to climb E. Wilman's Spire, Garfield Infinite Bliss (choss), or Town Crier. Anybody want to? thx! --Michael (I'll check PMs every hour or so)

Yes, I was totally duped! It's true about those forecasts... Anyway, I was going to the Sawtooth Range east of Lake Chelan, kind of a long drive from Seattle. There was a bad motorcycle accident (at least one fatality) Saturday morning about 10 miles east of Steven's Pass. It brought the highway to a standstill for at least 3 hours. Was anybody else in that?

Thanks guys! Dan, see you fer dinner...

The weather looks bad this weekend, and yet circumstances require me to climb! Anybody else in this boat? Where do you think chances are good? My idea right now is to peak bag in the Pasayten. Krazy?

great TR, thanks! I am inspired to climb this route.

I know but I forgot my rock shoes for that sheer overhanging cliff!

Wow, you turned it into a nice hike. We climbed Serpentine last Saturday and had lots of steep cramponing, then a snowstorm on the middle pitches. We used a rope and took 15 hours car to car which I thought was pretty respectable until reading that!

I climbed Merchant yesterday, thanks to you guys for the beta (I printed this page out in lieu of a topo map ). I left the trailhead at 12:45, and reached the summit at 4:15. My god it was hot in the lower gully, I left a trail of sweat. I was hobbled by clunky snow boots for a reason to stupid to go into now. Suffice to say you don't even need an ice axe for the one snowfield just below the summit. I thought the hardest climbing was scrambling around the 2nd waterfall on the right. The trail beneath the cave was obvious, and everything worked out naturally. This route has a lot of tedious aspects, and next time I go will be when it's snow covered. The good parts for me are 1) scrambling around key corners to keep the route, 2) the upper heather basin is very pretty, 3) the summit ridge scrambling is solid, with unique views. But I suggest an early start - foolishly baking in the hottest part of the day will make you question your motivation a measley 500 feet above the forest floor! I saw lightning over Mt. Daniels, and sheets of rain on the Index Peaks. Thanks again!

tink it should be in N Cascades forum. Great climb!!