mvs

I saw those bolts yesterday and ignored them, going left for the great finish. I really like that climb, I don't think it's easy 5.8 though, for me it feels a bit harder than George and Martha actually. Pull the bolts!

He would also alter topography somewhat to make everything interesting face the camera. If you look closely, the southern picket range should be facing so due east as it appears in the panorama. But by doing that, you get to see the visual splendor much better. That rules! Just don't try to navigate by it!

It shows the NCNP from end to end in one compact picture: On the web site there is also an article about the artist Berann who made it. It is a pretty interesting read.

Yeah, things kind of fell apart. It was like "Apocalypse Now" in there...

Wayne were you there? Dan it was great to see ya! It was a great time, thanks to the great audience. You know, there was a fella there who bashed out from the headwaters of Goodell Creek 20 years ago. It was two days of solid effort, I'm surprised it wasn't more!

Hi everybean, Theron, Aidan and I are giving a slideshow at the Redmond REI Wednesday night (the 23rd) at 7 pm. We took a fun trip to the range last August from Big Beaver out to Goodell Creek. Come on down! More info here.

haha! Vote for Pedro...awesome.

nice climb!

I use Adobe Premiere on Windows XP, and a program that came with the computer called "DVDit! LE" to make the DVD. A really important component is a good zoom/pan of a bitmap. Premiere doesn't do this very well, so I purchased Imaginate for $99.00, and it's a big part of my movies. Lately Theron Welch has made a lot of good climbing films - his are at www.theronwelch.com. I like the Dragontail movie with the "guest star" random 4 year old we ran into at Colchuck Lake.

We were on that Lipella route in June and it was closed for snow. We bought short ice axes at the Cortina co-op (great store) and did it anyway, it just made it more varied. David is right, very friendly people. I found a book called Klettersteigatlas Alpen, which has the entire set of via ferratas in the alps. It is only available in German and Italian so far as I could tell. Amazon in Germany has it: http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3765439312/302-9043760-7433655.

I did move here from Portland for just that reason, and feel that it allowed me to climb a lot more alpine routes in the north cascades than I would down there. Even for weekend trips, because when you reach the trailhead at 10 pm Sunday, there is a big difference between arriving home at midnight or at 4 am.

Oh yeah, we rented a car too, it worked out really well, and as David said, the driving is fun. David, the via ferrata with the tunnels, was that on Tofana des Rozes? I think it is Lipella, that was really cool. When we did it it was "closed" due to snow, but we got through all the same.

cool, hey I will use that snausage picture, thanks! Rudy, the twins are doing great, right now it is wierd, their eyes are open but when I look at them they close their eyes and pretend to be asleep. Kids are strange...

I created a page to express some appreciation to the friends I've made mountaineering. Thanks to them all for seeing me safely there and back so many times... http://www.mountainwerks.org/cma/friends.htm

I've been to the area twice, even had dinner with czycat over there one time! For the first trip we stayed in Cortina and I also think the Cinque Torrei is a great place to start. You can knock off 3-4 towers in a day, up to 6 pitches each, from 5.3 to 5.8 or so. Outside of that area we climbed: Torre Piccola Di Falzarego, 7 pitches, 5.5, nice and exposed. Monte Averau, SW Face, 7 pitches, 5.6 - some loose sections, but a spectacular traverse and escape from a cave. Torre Wundt, South Face, 7 pitches, 5.5 - combine with a stay at Rifugio Fonda Savio, very beautiful. Two fun via ferratas I did in that area are Col Rosa (Ettore Bovero route), and Tofana di Rozes (Giovanni Lipella route). On another trip we stayed in Selva Gardena, a great base. A really enjoyable climb was: Sassolungo, North Ridge, "27 pitches", 5.6 - lots of simulclimbing required, some fun pitches, an amazing looking mountain from a distance, and a challenging descent. We did several via ferratas, all really fun: Piz Boe, Cesare Piazzetta - some great vertical sections, a suspension bridge, and apple pie at the hut! Pisciadu, Via Ferrata Brigata Tridentina - my wife's favorite, great view, not difficult, again a hut ending! Bec de Mesdi, Via della Trincee - fantastic traverse of several spires. The start is very steep. Awesome view of Marmolata. Via Ferrata Monte Albano - a very "difficult" route, made really fun by rock shoes. It traverse an "Index Town Wall" cliff above the town of Mori. Finally, hut-to-hut hiking is awesome there. We made a three day trip going north on Alta Via One. I would have been really happy to just keep that up for two weeks. Our first trip was in June, with great weather. Our second trip was August/September, with pretty bad weather. Every day it rained, but we still got out and enjoyed it a lot. Have fun, I myself can't wait to go back. --Michael

I love the guidebooks! I mostly get enough adventure just being on the route, and I really appreciate that someone figured out the approach for me. If this makes me somehow a weaker shade of myself, oh well. I can imagine that "stronger me" out there, armed only with a topo map and a sneer - but he's not married with kids!

Jon, I am looking at old trip reports and notice that photos from the gallery are all broken. For example from my mt. constance TR, this picture from the gallery no longer exists: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/14wallguys-med.jpg I do find this one in the gallery: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/14wallguys.jpg I see a bunch of TRs with this problem. Is the solution for TR owners to just go fix their links?

damn. just checking.

I must say, I can't get over the fear of bashing my teeth out or slicing a cheek off with that pulling-up-on-a-nubbin thing. Can somebody say something reassuring?

Holy Christ!

Anybody done that Bertulis route on NF Nooksack Tower? It sounds intriguing. Great lists - I would say the same, but would like to add something really big like NF Robie Reid!

man I liked a lot of these! Princely Ambitions is a classic. NE Ridge of Triumph is amazing - as long as you don't expect anything technical or solid granite. N Ridge Baker isn't really an ice climb, just an incredibly scenic glacier climb. Condorphamine has 2-3 bolts too many but is a great scenic early season afternoon. S Face Cutthroat is awesome on a late October day - laze on the summit for an hour and soak up the mountains. I do have a few disappointments: "Old Friends" at Vantage does suck! Don't expect much climbing at Slippery Slab Tower (nice hike though). NE Buttress Goode is not worth it when beclouded. Getting lost on the road to Rexford. Dynaflow Tower - loose.

If I haaad to limit it to 5, I guess: North Ridge Baker - amazing views, easy & fun North Ridge Forbidden - awesome day trip with thedanielpatricksmith North Buttress Fury - very asthetic! Catapult/Canary/S Face Jello Tower N Ridge Stuart w/Gendarme

'shroom crumble pie every morning with coffee. sailing, biking, pah! It's either climb or domesticity. thanks all, have fun!

I had an amazingly vivid dream a year ago. My wife and I were at a Christmas party in a very nice house perched atop the Dreamer slabs. I was getting increasingly worried about driving home, because it was starting to snow. I figured that if the snow began to stick to the slabs, we wouldn't be able to safely drive down.