JasonG

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=48.14517,-121.3716&z=15&b=t Consult the Green Cascade Alpine Guide for additional routes.

So stoked!

TR of the year!! Wow. Like Darin, I want to know about the aftermath of the car situation. That is absolutely insane.

I moved this to the international forum @Atour Adventure, hope you don't mind. Thanks for the info!

Maybe in a couple months....Summer is just too fleeting in the high alpine already.

Thanks everyone! I added some captions....they refer to the photo below.

It was certainly exciting @chucK! I went first on that one and I just barely reached a horn with some bleached and shredded tat. I didn't have the tat (D'oh!), so @therunningdog slung it down the rope to me. It didn't touch anything on the way down, perhaps the only benefit of a rap so steep! Oh, I can get you a print to anything you want @Trent! Or anyone else for that matter.... Love the shot of @Steph_Abegg in the Great Gash!

That looks dad friendly!

Trip: Inspiration Peak - South Face Trip Date: 09/02/2018 Trip Report: Before last weekend I hadn't been to Terror Basin in almost 10 years. Back then we had spent a week in the Southern Pickets, only seeing one other party in Terror Basin. How times have changed! This past weekend there were three other parties for a total of a dozen people in Terror Basin. Thankfully all the others were headed for West McMillan Spire so we had the decidedly unpopular South Face of Inspiration all to ourselves. However, like Alan Kearney, I really think it should be more popular. It is quite a route! But it is also not for the faint of heart. Steep, intimidating, with a bit of scruffy rock and so-so pro - it would have been a challenge back when I was in good rock climbing shape. And I am most certainly not in good rock shape these days! Luckily I had @therunningdog to gun my sorry ass up it. And gun he did, leading all the gash pitches. But there was plenty to keep my mind humming below- a chaotic glacier with some delicate bridges, slabby rock right off the glacier (should have put on rock shoes earlier), and an increasingly exposed 4th/low 5th class ramp that terminated in the intimidatingly steep "Great Gash". And thenn once you are on the summit, the involved descent awaits. 4-5 raps down the West Ridge, some ridiculously exposed scrambling, and then more steep rappels down the south face. It was about 12 hours camp to camp. But what a place. Even more beautiful than I remembered, perhaps due to the changing weather and swirling mists? The best pictures are never during the best weather, perhaps the same is true of our memories? I'll be back, but I won't wait another 10 years this time. Looking down into Terror Basin from the "trail" in: Looking out to Triumph, Despair, and the Chopping Block (L-R): Despair and the Chopping Block: Thornton Peak and Triumph at sunrise: The Southern Pickets!! Morning light on the South Face of Inspiration: Ptarmigan and grown chick: I should draw the line on this but basically you climb up the buttress to the left of the face to the prominent ramp that is followed right a long ways to the start of the "Great Gash", which shoots steeply up and left to the upper West Ridge. A pitch on the ridge finishes the climb. The Descent follows the left skyline to the col then down the steep face/buttress to the glacier: The glacier approach proved challenging, but we found a way that will go into the fall this year: No super dad friendly. Scrambling a lot of 4th and low 5th to the belayed pitches up the gash. I should have taken more photos but I was pretty focused on not screwing up! @therunningdog in his element! Did I mention that the South Face of Inspiration is steep? @therunningdog coming up the final bit to the summit: It is an exposed descent as well. Rapping the West ridge: On the first set of raps, before you drop off the South Face: Whew. Down on the ice! Or should I say gneiss? TEEBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE! Despair in the mists: Triumph: Despair: This felt good after the punishing descent: Gear Notes: 60m half rope, medium rack to 2", ice axe, crampons, helmet Approach Notes: Terror Basin trail from Goodell Creek. 6 hours to camp. From camp follow the climber's path toward Inspiration and West Mac, picking the best line up the glacier to the toe of the buttress just west of the South Face. We roped up here for a bit until we gained the prominent ramp where we packed the roped and scrambled. It seemed about 5.6-5.7 for one ptich to gain the ramp, with low fifth below that. The "Great Gash" is about 3, 30m pitches, to ~5.8. I think we did about 12 rappels down the west ridge and west edge of south face right back to our boots. Stations are established for a single 60m rope. Bring tat since the route isn't climbed regularly.

Of the 100-150 alpine climbers I've known personally over the past 20 years, 5 have died in climbing/skiing accidents, and many more have been seriously hurt/maimed or narrowly escaped death (including myself). I think eye damage is about the least of your worries in the long term. But.... I guess it never hurts to take care of the things you can take care of.

And, friendly reminder, if you click on the first photo and scoll through, you'll see higher resolution versions......

Trip: Thornton Peak - SE scramble Trip Date: 08/05/2018 Trip Report: Triumph is a well-known peak, and for good reason. With one of the more classic ridge routes around (the NE), it gets a lot of traffic. But immediately next door lies a fantastic scramble (Cl. 3) to the top of Thornton Peak. Due to a variety of factors, our planned ascent of Triumph morphed into a scramble of Thornton which, it turns out, makes a great destination in its own right. Or, as we saw with another team of ladies we met on the summit, Thornton can serve as great backup to Triumph in case of weather/time constraints. And, since it is so close to Triumph and the Pickets, the views aren't half-bad either. Just make sure you bring a tent with the proper poles and fly if it may rain. @cfire enjoyed a bit of a refreshing evening the night before we scrambled Thornton. Like the tough SOB he is though, it didn't seem to dampen his enthusiasm the next day. Ah......... the yin and yang of the North Cascades! Thornton Lakes on the approach. Thornton peak lies just to the left of Triumph: Chris, working his way around middle Thornton Lake (above). Lower and Middle Thornton Lakes (above). The wedder approaches: Kim and Chris - "Do you think it is going to rain Jason?" Triumph: Ptarmigan: Upper Thornton Lake: Triumph: Me, the Lovely Kim, and Chris on the summit of Thornton: Chris heads for home while Kim and I stay to enjoy another night up high: The Lovely Kim descending back to camp: I'll take it: I had bats flying around me eating moths while I took this shot of Triumph and the Big Dipper about midnight: I want the story of whomever was up at midnight at their camp below the Ottohorn-Himmelhorn col? Smoke, smoke, and more smoke. The story of 2018: Looking from camp across the Skagit trench at the North end of Teebone Ridge: The Lovely Kim surveys the way down to the upper Thornton Lake. She said, "Why can't we take trails like normal people do?" A parting look at Triumph: It's sort of a trail, isn't it? "No". Gear Notes: Footwear of some kind. We were able to stay off snow for the most part and the rock isn't too bad where you feel like you need a helmet. Approach Notes: Use the approach to Triumph col and take a left. Descent camps a bit above the pass without much water late season

Thanks for this @BrandonClimbs, pretty interesting!

That's pretty insane! Do you have a link to a story or photos @glassgowkiss??

Ugh. Thanks for the heads up. It wasn't on my list, but really isn't now!

Ah!! Well, my friend (>200#) uses his exclusively for skiing both in and out of bounds. He skis the most aggressively of anyone I know and I've personally seen him taco the lower sections of his CF poles. They have never broken.

The other thing is to keep snow baskets on them during the summer. I've found them to be less likely to getting buried in talus and broken. And not using the wrist straps....

I know a guy your size who swears by the old version of these: http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/ski-poles/razor-carbon-pro-BD111553_cfg.html#start=7 The lowers on his are solid CF and nearly indestructible. I've seen him crash so hard and bend them crazy angles.

Short of carrying it out, you're right, and I've still heard this from park staff.

Thanks for the reminder! It is still on the list.

The nut tool, c'mon @Bronco. I actually had to do this on Sir Donald last month when I forgot to pack a spoon. Not as bad as you'd think!

This sets the beta level to Abegg. Impressive on many levels! Way to keep it safe while sailing the sea of choss....

I thought we were talking about the photo above? I think if you prevent future parties from stepping in or grabbing your poo, and you've not gone so close to a stream as to sicken someone, you've done a pretty good job. But, then again, I'm no Poop Nazi.

I find this hard to believe in this day and age. But this is just an assumption. I've never come upon someone crapping improperly and asked them their reasons.

Someone needs to have a conversation with the NOCA Poop Nazi. Anybody remember her? The ranger with a thick German accent who worked the desk in Marblemount in the late 90's and was quite fond of the LNT video that they used to show people before issuing a permit.