JasonG

Thanks Mark! I look forward to your TRs, and esp. the annual J-tree one. The combination of stories and images are always appreciated and do a fantastic job of capturing the essence of the trip each year. I didn't know you painted, those are impressive. Though you climb, photograph, and play music well, I have to admit that this seems (to me) to be the trickiest of your artistic endeavors.

Thanks Gene! I think access in the winter is actually a great deal easier (if you nail the weather), at least it gets more use in late winter and spring than the height of summer. I'd almost forgotten about your trip in there a few years ago! Completely awesome.

Trip: Castle Towers, Mt. Carr, The Sphinx, Deception - Burton Hut Alpine Extravaganza Date: 1/1/2013 Trip Report: Over New Year's I had the good fortune of joining several longtime ski/climbing partners on a trip to the VOC Burton Hut. We were trying to figure out where to go to avoid the crowds and Gord came up with this spectacular destination. Turns out that a stiff 6-7 hour ski weeds out folks (with the exception of Louie and Kirk from B'ham who joined us the last night). Over three days (five day trip total, with an approach day on either end), we managed to climb and ski East Castle Tower, Mt. Carr, The Sphinx, and Mt. Deception. All yielded ~1000m runs down to the hut at 1450m! We were blessed by good snow, fantastic weather, and stable avi conditions- what more could one ask for to start the New Year? I think this may have been the best winter ski trip I have ever been on, due all the factors aligning just so. We live in a remarkable part of the world, and I feel fortunate to have such good friends to share it with. Captions refer to photo above: Skinning across the massive Garibaldi Lake en route to the Burton Hut. Atwell (L) and Garibaldi summit close up. Skinning up Deception with the Sphinx behind. Topping out on one of Deception's summits with Mt. Carr above and to the left. Skiing off Mt. Deception The Sphinx, Garibaldi, and Deception (L-R) Skinning below Phyllis's Engine on the way to Castle Towers This notch accesses easier slopes on the east side of Castle Towers Booting up East Castle Towers Summit of East Castle Tower The true summit of Castle Towers is a bit of a challenge in winter conditions. We were content to stop and take photos from the east peak. Perspective. Skiing down the Sphinx Glacier with the Sphinx above. Skinning up towards Mt. Carr Gord leading the charge up the final steep bit below the summit of Carr. Endless ski terrain awaits on the east side of Mt. Carr if you have the energy to drop off the ridge away from the hut. We didn't, but Kit looks pretty happy regardless. Skiing the west side of Mt. Carr in fun conditions. Lower down on the Sphinx Gl. Spectacular! Looking at Sentinel Bay and the usual exit from the Garibaldi Neve. Some of the hoar crystals were impressively large (>1.5") on the ski out. Gear Notes: Hut booties, Whiskey Approach Notes: Rubble Creek to Garibaldi Lake. Make sure it's frozen.

"Some of the most tragic accidents have come when climbers mismanaged this distinction, becoming blasé on easy terrain. On July 6, 2000, Cameron Tague made the approach to the Diamond Face on Long's Peak. To get to the midway point on the cliff, he decided to traverse in from the side, along a big sloping ledge called Broadway. For a climber as gifted as Tague, it would be an easy traverse, and to save time for the difficult climbing higher on the face, he didn't even bother to rope up. Then somehow, he lost his concentration, pulled on a loose piece of stone, and stumbled backward. Tague tried to recapture his balance, his hands grasping and waving about as he skittered toward the edge of the ledge. He disappeared over the edge of Broadway and fell 800 feet. The probabilities of falling were remote, but the consequences were lethal." From: http://www.fastcompany.com/47527/leadership-lessons-rock-climber Better write up in ANAM 2001, but I don't have that at my fingertips. Very sad.

Great photo Doug! When were you there in 2004? I was in Goyko in November of that year....funny. I thought Goyko and the Cho La were one of the highlights of the trip....good memories

Thanks for the info everyone! The lake was a bit slushy in spots on the 30th (but pretty safe feeling overall), and frozen solid today. South to west slopes have a bit of crust, but north slopes remained fine throughout the week. Such a great amount of ski terrain out of the Sphinx hut! TR to follow in a few days.....

Sphinx Bay in particular.....Thanks for any info!

It is a marked FS trail (at least on the ground, sounds like it might not be on USGS maps), and heads NE from White Pass to a pass that gains access to the south side of Glacier Peak. I imagine that it was originally a herder's trail? Regardless, take the NF Sauk trail to White Pass and you will see the junction for the Foam Creek trail right at the pass. I think it is another couple miles from the pass to the typical high camps for Glacier. The approach is quite nice, although the climb from that side is fairly unpleasant after the snow melts. Mid summer or earlier would be the best. Good luck, and have fun!

And the fact that the summit is guarded by tuantuans in winter. Seriously though, picking a date for a winter summit of Rainier, is akin to picking a winning lottery number. It may happen, but your chances sure improve if you have some date flexibility (over several months). That said, 12/28 is a particularly auspicious day.

Doug- I wouldn't bother with the Annapurna trek. I know we were pretty disappointed with it compared to the Khumbu, and now there is a road most of the way around that really changes the character of it. The Annapurna Sanctuary is quite nice, but still pales in comparison to the Everest region (though the food tends to be better). I'm sure there are other areas of the Himalaya that are amazing though.... The Khumbu is worth a visit for every mountain lover, the Western masses don't matter when you have views like are in the photo above. Stunning!

Look at the size of Everest Basecamp! I heard it has gotten large in recent years, but that is just plain nuts. That's a lot of poop to deal with.

and be sure to post a TR.

Well, there is that.

I read today that ALL were killed by the AR-15, and that he shot his way in with it(CNN). And I also read today that the police haven't been able to make a link that the mom went to the range regularly (also CNN). I know that this is SPRAY and all, but this is one where the information is still evolving....

Since you brought up the subject of society, this graph caught me by surprise: Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics (see post above for link) The murder rate is HALF of what it was when I was a kid, and similar to levels seen in the 1950's, AND heading down? Why doesn't the media focus on these positive trends? I know I sure didn't know the story. There are a bunch of other positive trends in the wealth of data publicly available- child murders by strangers way down from 1980, etc. This doesn't make what happened in Conn. any easier to take, but I think it should inform the debate about gun control, incarceration, etc. By almost all measures we are safer now that we have been in decades. Someone is doing something right. I sure don't know what, but there are some theories out there from folks in this field.

Has "society" improved much from the mid 90's? Americans are certainly killing a lot less people with firearms compared to then.

This horrible tragedy got me delving into the Bureau of Justice homicide statistics . While the mass shootings certainly get the gun control debate flowing, often I find the back and forth relatively free of hard data. I think we can all agree that there are way too many guns deaths in the US each year, but how do we reduce these tragedies? And, I'm talking realistically. There are millions of guns already on the streets so don't think the calls to just take guns away (or go back to muskets) are really going to go very far. On the other hand, arming everyone so that they can take out crazy sociopaths doesn't seem realistic either. I surely don't know the answer, but the data paints an interesting picture, one that can maybe better inform the policy debate. Source: Gallup Poll General Social Survey What I take from this data is that while overall gun homicides are way down from their peak in the 1990's (esp. when expressed as per capita), multiple shootings are up. Since these certainly make a splash in the media, I think most of us are under the impression that guns deaths are significantly on the rise (this was my impression at least). What have we done to reduce handgun homicides by so much? Can similar tactics be applied to the reduction of multiple homicides? I think comparisons to other countries are interesting and all, but for better or worse we have the situation we have today here in the US with easy access to firearms and we have to come up with a realistic way to deal with the consequences.

Agreed. If you are just starting out, there is no need to go cadillac. Durable and cost effective are much better traits in a draw.... go with some high quality nylon ones, like the BD Freewire noted above.

Ummmmmm.....no. There's no de-classified version of the story?

Post a TR!

So tempting Mark!! I hope you are still doing this in a couple years when I can drag my boys down.... Have fun and be sure to do a TR, I really enjoyed your images from last year.

I'm not very experienced in the hard ice arena, but isn't that the definition of calf-killing terrain, no matter what the boot?

Maybe it had something to do with the lack of poles? I like it!

If you go with a guide service ask to finish via the SE ridge of the summit pyramid. Mid-fifth (fine in boots), but very, very esthetic and good climbing. Plus, you can scramble easily down the regular route on the descent. I don't know why the SE ridge isn't talked up more, one of my favorite easy romps in the Cascades.

I agree that a GPS can really improve your navigation ability, esp. while solo (provided you have enough batteries!). I guess I was mainly getting at ak's assertion that all you need is a map and compass to dead reckon in a whiteout, with heavy wind and precip, on a slope, while solo. I think you may be able to more or less get to where you want to, but that often isn't good enough in cliffy, crevassed terrain.