mvs

I echo the sentiments of Whiplash. Three of us climbed the NR today, from a trailhead bivy. It was the first summit of Baker for us, and what a spectacular route! The night was very warm, and we had some worries about what the snow/ice would be like up high. The conditions were perfect though. We took the direct approach to the ice cliff, making use of the same good boot path (thanks whoever!). The ice pitches were great. We took an "enticing" traverse under a serac, and ended up in dripping, rotting serac hell for two pitches after the initial very fine ice pitch. It added to the challenge and excitement, especially when a cool traverse of a serac wall led back to the crest of the ridge. Advice - stay on the crest during that steep section. The descent was lame. We were tired and hated the postholing down the Roman Wall. It was like the sun was on 10x power down to 6000 feet, where we could really glissade. Shade in the forest felt great. Oh, I did glissade right over a crevasse and got a new gray hair, so that was ill-advised. We started at 1 am, reached the summit at 12 noon, and reached the car at 4 pm. Thanks to friends, previous step-kickers, etc!

Not really related, but not worth a whole new topic - I met two guys spending Saturday night on Saber Ledge. They had jumars, bivy sacks, even coffee for the morning. That was pretty cool...

Awesome pages, chucK!

Hi Szyjakowski, Where did I say that Satelitte was near White Slabs? <puzzled>

Actually we enjoyed White Slabs. (re: the trip report on mountainwerks). We rapped the route because we couldn't find the continuation via Umbrella Tree. The dirty route mentioned in that TR was Satelitte, and that probably because we got off route to the left.

Thanks for the TR. I went in yesterday and enjoyed the scramble on the summit ridge. I also liked the little orienteering course getting from Lake Caroline to the basin below Windy Pass (since previous tracks had melted away). It's also neat how far away the mountain looks from Lake Caroline. It looks like a 3/4 scale replica of Stuart seen from Longs Pass at that vantage. The snow hadn't frozen overnight, so I experienced a few trapdoors. I have destroyed the few sections of snow on the ridge climb by trying to walk on them. I met some Cc'ers heading in for a climb Sunday.

Oh yeah I remember the conversation with Stefan about his ankles and you were wishing him well. It sounds like a complicated injury to fully heal from. Keep climbing!

Why do climbing slippers destroy your feet? Just curioso...

thanks! Have a , listen to some , and enjoy a strange dancer:

Princely was 5.8 until a huge flake came off in 1991 or so. I've seen it regraded at 5.9, 5.9+ and 5.10a. I'd go with 5.9+.

Our camp at the Colchuck-Argonaut Col: The high point for us: Rappelling: Getting back up to the col: same:

haha, you'll find one nut, 2 slings and a carabiner spread around like Christmas morning.

Trip Report: Argonaut, NW Buttress attempt <Hi to Doug and his friend to California, we met them after they climbed the NBC. Hi to Jayjay who was going to climb TripleC on Monday. I should have some pictures to post tomorrow> Theron and I hiked to the Argonaut-Colchuck col via the Colchuck Glacier on Saturday to climb the NW Buttress of Argonaut. This climb should be about 500 feet of 4th and 5th class climbing to 5.6. We set up camp in light snow flurries. We had rock pro, a picket, mountaineering axes and crampons. We slept well in my brand new Betamid, but really had to work to stake it down (I had no snow stakes). Such a cool tent! The next morning, snow was plastered on near-vertical rock. I was really keen to try the route anyway, harboring a strange desire to climb snowed-up rock. We descended a steep ridge and a very icy couloir for 800 feet to get to Argonaut's north bowl, then climbed 1000 feet up the "snow finger" described in guidebooks. We started on the rock around 9:30 am in good visibility. Right off the bat there was tough climbing with a 30 foot wall on the right of the ridge with good blocky handholds. A common problem became topping out on a steep section, because thin rotten snow made it hard to find something to grab. I was able to get my axe behind a chockstone and aid up. I was shocked to see Theron arrive at my belay with blood streaming down his face. He was tugging on a hex and it ended violently. Only 40 meters up and we were sobered by these conditions. Now it started to snow again. But I really wanted to climb the route, and it looked like after a pitch of snowy ramps, we'd be able to climb rock and take off the crampons. Ignoring the new snow, I started up and ran into a rock "step" that would be a 30 second operation if dry. I was camming my axe into cracks, scrabbling for holds under the snow, sweating hard, and finally got up. I belayed at a scrub bush. Theron came up, blinked at the belay, and I took off again to climb a snowy ramp on the crest to slabs. The next 15 feet looked like the crux of the route. I looked for a way around the slab, but it was the only possible route given a serious lack of friction. Finally I was able to place a nut, attach a sling and stand up in it. With my other foot, crampon points were cammed into a flaring crack. I left the security of the sling with my bare hands on crimper holds excavated from the snow. Tottering somewhat, I worked for an axe placement at the top of the slab for the next minute, heart in my throat. Finally I passed the slab, the casual one-handed summertime slab, and reached a stance to place some gear. The exposure was intense. I got some good gear and continued up into a chimney, life somewhat complicated by a time-bomb block shifting under the snow. I had hoped to set a belay in here below a big wedged block that looked climbable (although overhanging ). Now, scrunched beneath the block, with only one decent nut placement and a scary loose boulder below, I was mentally ready to call it quits. The climbing had been so hard it was unjustifiable for the time we had. I rappelled from the nut and we made three more rappels to the base. Once I saw how low we still were on the route, I abandoned any second guessing about our (good) decision to leave. We climbed down into the bowl as the snow increased. On the climb back up to the col, we revelled in the scenic beauty of the area. Sun, clouds and peaks put on an amazing, ever-changing show, with blasts of wind and spindrift coming down the north face of Argonaut. We could see the North Ridge of Stuart disappearing into a black summit cloud. Colchuck from this side has a complex maze of gullies and cliffs. Later, we were able to glissade all the way from the Colchuck-Dragontail Col all the way down to the lake! Bring back some pictures if you go to finish the route for us! :-) I think the climb was much harder in snowed-up conditions, modulo my moderate experience level. Thanks to Theron for following me into the void, and knowing when we need to turn around too. --mvs

nice pic Alex!

I just bought two of those Mammut slings from Marmot. I'll try them out this weekend. I fully expect that they'll be less durable, I'll need to retire them more often. But small and light is great!

The bridge was nice, thx!

Vantage is shy porno inside...

Thanks! Just now, The Koziarz came through...gonna miss him when he moves down under. --Michael

Does anybody want to go cragging at Vantage Saturday (tomorrow)? I haven't got a car for the occasion, but will pay for gas. Dawn til dark is fine with me. I'll check for PMs or posts in this folder at 11 pm, 12 midnight, and 1 am. I'll check again in the morning at 6 am. --Michael

I really like it. You can always leave the pole at home if you are confident about good weather. But if it might rain, the pole is necessary to be able to sleep (for me anyway).

I used to think that was the right thing to do. I used to carry a 10.5 mm 60 m rope for glacier travel. Any laughing I do is at my own expense too. But I do laff. And laff, and laff long.

Awesome!

More pictures, Forrest! Man, that was amazing to read. So many great trips are being made! Why I had to go and get jaw surgery 2 weeks ago I've forgotten.

that was awesome. Nice use of conditions! This little guy performed a celebratory dance, which I captured on video:

Matt's comments have made me think beyond my typical response to news of snowmobiliers, their smog, and their noise. I'm an urban dweller who sees the wilderness as a kind of church that should remain unspoiled. That makes it easy for me to demonize the motorized user groups. Thinking about what we have in common is more productive, especially with fee proliferation thundering across the land, as seen here: "two! minutes! to fee proliferation!!!"