JasonG

Hi all- The memorial service for Dallas will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, October 16th - Anacortes High School. All are welcome.

Thanks for the in depth report on the incident. http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/665615/vesper-peak-accident-rescue.html Bummer. Stay safe out there folks.

At the request of a few folks, I'm going to post up a bunch more photos of Dallas, not all by me. Dallas, Brooks, and myself went up Sauk Mountain this past winter: Gotta love the woolen knickers! Scott, Dallas and myself did the Kangaroo Temple, Half Moon,and Wallaby link-up last fall: Dallas climbed Boston Peak this summer with Jill (like J'Berg, he probably had climbed it 7 times or some crazy number), she passed along a few photos: Some photos from Scott: Dallas was THE MAN!

Although I usually take media coverage of climbing accidents with a grain of salt, this article actually has the details correct: http://www.kirotv.com/news/25172987/detail.html

A little extra background on the accident so those in the party don't have to retell the ordeal: Dallas was part of a five person party on a day trip to the Pleiades on Saturday, September 25th. While scrambling loose 3rd/4th class terrain approximately 10 vertical feet from the summit (~1:30pm), Dallas dislodged a large coffee table sized block. It knocked him off the route, and he fell ~300 down a gully before the rest of the party lost sight of him. The portion of the fall that was witnessed was thought to be fatal. One member of the party down climbed several hundred feet of sketchy terrain and found a couple articles of clothing, but no Dallas. He estimated that Dallas had fallen considerably farther, and that survival was not possible. The party could not get cell reception on the peak, and had to get partway to hwy 542 before they could contact the Sheriff/SAR. The mission to recover Dallas is ongoing . . . To close, here are some photos taken within the last year- as you can see he was still active in all seasons and always fired up about climbing. Although I only began to climb with Dallas in the last couple of years, I really admired him as someone who has been in the sport for a long time- someone who balanced family, work, and climbing. I will really miss him. -Jason Griffith

Thanks for the info John!! So, did you notice if that slide path was there when you guys flew in in August? I took a look back at the full resolution photo, and for sure a pretty big slide did happen this year, perhaps within a few days of when I took the picture (9/3/10) judging by how fresh the debris looks. But, you might have a better idea of when it came down . . .

Thanks for the info, I hadn't heard about that slide from 2006. In the full res. image you can see fresh tracks in the snow, so I think some amount of material came down recently. But, given the volume that was released in 2006, some of the dirt visible in the photo is probably left over from that. Regardless, the fresh debris looks to still have descended several thousand feet down approximately the same slide path as 2006. Objective hazard indeed . . ..

I was up at Anderson Butte on a family hike last week and took a few photos of the southeast side of Baker. Did anyone see/hear this slide when it came down? The path looks pretty impressive- it appears to have descended at least a few thousand feet. Since it looked to have originated in/near the crater, perhaps some minor volcanic activity is to blame?

OK . . .back on topic. Interesting tidbit from the NOAA site today: .CLIMATOLOGY... SEATTLE WAS ON A STREAK OF 5 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES /THROUGH AUGUST/. JULY AND AUGUST ENDED UP PRETTY CLOSE TO NORMAL...JUST A HALF A DEGREE BELOW NORMAL FOR THE TWO MONTH PERIOD. THE HOT SPELLS OVER THE SUMMER HAVE MASKED JUST HOW COOL IT HAS BEEN FOR SEATTLE. TAKING A LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HIGHS 70 DEGREES PLUS SO FAR THIS YEAR THE NUMBER IS ONLY 54. THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HIGHS 70 OR ABOVE DURING THE YEAR FOR SEATTLE IS 84. ON AVERAGE...SEATTLE WILL GET ANOTHER 11 DAYS BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR WITH HIGHS 70 PLUS. THE RECORD FOR THE LEAST NUMBER OF DAYS 70 PLUS IN SEATTLE AT SEA-TAC IS 46 DAYS IN 1955. THE TOP 5 IS ROUNDED OUT BY 53 DAYS IN 1954...65 DAYS IN 1980 AND 1964 AND 66 DAYS IN 1956. 1954...1955...1956 AND 1964 WERE ALL LA NINA YEARS. IT IS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE THAT THIS YEAR WILL END UP IN THE TOP 5 FOR THE LEAST NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HIGHS 70 PLUS. FELTON Although I hate to admit it, the whiners may have a point....

Any update? Hoping for the best . . .

Awesome as usual! Great work surviving the choss, certainly looked exciting on Hungabee. I think I might be able to swing the annual Canadian adventure next summer. ROBSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha! One of the great reasons to tune in to as the cc.com turns . . .never a dull moment.

Check out Colin's Blog . . .Outstanding effort!! http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/

Man, that looks like some sweet, relatively moderate climbing. Who knew? Maybe I'll have to put it on the list . . .someday. Nice work!

Nice work! I'm still in car camp mode with a 3month and 2 year old . .. Shi Shi and Hobuck were our adventures for the summer. Baby steps I guess.

Mr Brayshaw said it well almost a year ago (http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=32743): "Capricorn is nasty because the glacier tongue up there is right at the volcanic/granite contact and there are piles of steep unconsolidated glacial sediment as well as massive bedrock instability. The average return period for surprisingly large debris flows is one to two events per decade. Devastator Creek might be more well-known but even Capricorn has the possibility to block Meager and send a floodwave down the Lillooet when the dam breaks... When I was working up there we would gun it to the fastest possible speed when driving across the Capricorn fan, even on rainless days." Hey Drew, do you have a lottery number for me to play?

One 60m skinny should be fine, that is what we used a couple years ago . .. I am pretty sure. Trent could verify, as I am sleep deprived these days.

Impressive effort to get in there! I thought retirement was supposed to slow you down . .. .

We did a couple years ago. Steep and fun- Highly recommended.

Hey Mods- Please move the armchair quarterbacking to a separate thread. C'mon people!

Nice work! The 1951 route sounds like it may be a bit (on J'berg, everything is relative) better than the 1957 line that most (myself included) do. I'm sure my partner would've agreed as he launched out of the chimney clutching a TV sized block en route to a 40' leader fall (as a piece pulled). An old pin arrested his fall but not before he broke three ribs. He was a tough SOB though, and made it out under his own power (although we didn't get out till the middle of the night, the next day), whereupon we drove him straight to the hospital. Oh, and that was the weekend that Giardia hit me full force for the first time. Good times! Quite the bivy, eh??

Juan- Ha!!! The approach was also hot, but at least I was out of shape. Trickery is important, but not nearly as much as having a VERY understanding wife. Tom- considering your climbs as of late, this would be pretty darn mellow. I think you'd enjoy it.

Sweet deal on the Stubai's: http://store.everestgear.com/421100.html?productid=421100&channelid=FROOG

Trip: Chimney Rock - East Face Direct Date: 7/17/2010 Trip Report: I'm getting soft, no two ways about it. Armed with Klenke's excellent annotated photos and description (search TRs), Chris and I marched in there this past weekend and were humbled a bit. 4th and low to mid-5th? Psssssht, no problem. While it isn't very difficult, I found the dirty, compact rock less than enjoyable at times, with some fairly long run-outs on 5th class terrain. It didn't help that the moat and snow patches gave us trouble with wetness and access issues. Did I mention that I'm soft? The last 300-400 hundred feet of the face is pretty fun, and has better pro. Bring a fair bit of webbing as this doesn't get climbed much and the stations need some maintenance. We beefed up some, but ran out of webbing (used 30')- I think we did 8-10 raps with a 60m rope and scrambled a bit between. I've wondered for years how Mr. Potterfield ran into trouble on this face, now I understand. It's "easy", but it could also easily ruin your day. OK, enough whining, here are some photos- it is a beautiful, off-the-beaten track type of climb. The massive avalanche swath you go up to the right of to access the peak. The North peak is seriously impressive. Has this face been repeated? Looks full value. The East Face of Chimney Rock Steep snow on the 3rd class ledge. Dirty, compact goodness. Somewhere in this photo are Steph, Jason and Steve. Hi! A picturesque rap. North peak of Chimney Rock in the background Fun moat action. WhoHoo, crossed that off the list. Chilling at Pete Lake with Lemah in the background. Gear Notes: 60m half rope, small gear, webbing. "Bring some thin pins and don't expect to be back for tea". Just kidding, but they may be useful. Approach Notes: We did a 2.5 day trip which allowed plenty of time for whining. Follow Klenke.

Ah yes, brings back memories! Good idea camping in the basin rather than at the col, wish we'd have done that. I'm sure after the Index Traverse, you were more than prepared. Such a comfortable summit, and such a nice view, almost makes you want to go back again . . .almost. Thanks for the report!