robertm

Reminds me of a foray up the East face of Gunsight years ago. The route just wasn't there and nothing lined up in terms of the topo. Death blocks and sharp granite shards everywhere with intermittent rockfall. Glad you made it up and out!

I agree that Rebel Yell, P to B and Clean Break are really good. I have done all of those. WA pass area is interesting in that pitch to pitch you can get varying quality of rock -- from Sierra like to terrifying kitty litter. I haven't done the complete traverse in a day as I have run out of motivation each time I have attempted it. Maybe I need to give that another go via the quickest routes up each formation. For the traverse what do you guys suggest -- North to South or South to North?

I have climbed that one a few times. good times. I think clean break was very good. Chianti rebel yell was good except for the chicken wing squeeze first pitch...

those are great! it has been a long time since I did the DEB of SES. Might need to give it another go. I agree that the Paisano to Burgundy link up is really good. Any thoughts on Minute Man east face or Lexington?

If you could only do three routes in WA Pass 5.10+ or under -- what would they be?

Great trip! The Pickett's are almost always a humbling experience even if you are successful.

nice work, that traverse around Sherpa is a PITA. I also underestimated how long that would take.

Rad, awesome write up and pictures! Thanks for bringing me along on your journey. Goode is still on my list so it is great to read this TR.

That Rap looks sketch! I remember bounce testing a similar looking one on J-berg and it snapped. Eye opening.

Yes, I did climb with MVS. I know we ran into each other a couple of times. VW in Redmond and maybe the Bugs...

Dan, I live in Bozeman (lived in Seattle for 20+ years). I agree with what others have said here... I haven't spent much time in Driggs/Victor except on my way to/from the Tetons. I would say that Victor/Driggs area is really up and coming. They (Driggs) just got a new climbing gym that looks nice. You are close to skiing at JH and GT & Tetons!. Close to Yellowstone and the weather is probably a lot more mild down there then up here in Bozeman. With BZN being a college town there is always a lot going on here - both good and bad. Lots of climbing -- ice & rock minutes from town. Skiing is great -- in general you need to like winter to live here. They are long! We get our first below zero cold snap and snow in October and snow sticks around from October usually through April. Bozeman (or BozAngeles as locals are calling it now) is getting very pricey -- even the restaurants are charging Seattle prices. not sure what is driving our popularity -- but usually a couple of winters here creates some turnover. Happy to talk specifics if you shoot me a DM.

That descent from Sherpa to Argonaut col cost me an unplanned night out too. Very long descent with lots and lots of rock ribs that you go up, over and down. I think the best bet in hindsight is to descent down the 3rd class gully directly from the summit to the west towards Ingalls creek. Descend this until you are below the major rock ribs -- probably 1500 feet. Aim is to be about 200-500 feet BELOW the col (targeting around 7000 feet to contour). This looked like it was the best path after experiencing the alternative. I think Peter Croft stayed close to the crest from what he recollects but he did say that that traverse was one of the slowest that he encountered.

sweet. I need to get mine done... I heard Black Diamond will just resling and not clean / lubricate

Nice! Bear is a lot of work... I can only imagine how much worse the "trail" is from when we did it back 10+ years ago!

Amazing photos! Thanks for the inspiration.