dberdinka

Beautiful route and mountain. How's the rock on Monarch? That north face looks impressive.

I admit to not paying much attention to Pope and R-dawgs posts but this is the first time I've seen either of them clearly articulate their position. Unfortunately I think your position is fundamentally flawed. If you want to argue for "restraint" great no problem. I think you could probably stake out a reasoned position. To argue for restraint and ground-up are contradictory goals particularly in the northwest where the rock is frequently dirty. You are far more likely to get well placed bolts in the right spots using a top-down method. Going ground up you will quickly -- put bolts in the wrong place (hard to clip, not useful etc) -- botch placements (poor holes or spinners) -- put bolts where natural gear exists (hidden behind a lump of moss or in place of a loose flake) -- put in too many bolts (ground up is scary!) Basically if you accept some level of bolting you should probably argue for an ethic that minimizes the ultimate number of holes drilled and bolts placed. Ground up results in botched jobs that will eventually require more drilling. (Why am I trying to reason in this thread?????)

So was this a failure due to being an alien? or a failure due to being a piece of shitty beat on fixed gear?

I'm glad your ok Mark. Processing that event along with consider luck you experienced to (sorta) walk away from it must tie your stomach in knots. I hope you heal fully and quickly and get back to creating quality routes for the rest of us windbags to go play on. Best wishes Darin

I love the new trend of having a dedicated photographer in position (here and on The Scoop). Makes for some sweet TRs though it might make everyone else feel a bit inadequate with their buttshots. The shot of you (Sol) leading through the overhangs is awesome.

A long time ago I remember a friend talking about that cirque and describing it as a mini-Bugaboos or Patagonia. Maybe a bit of hyperbole but beautiful none the less. Congratulations, way to make it happen.

Craig's death really unsettles me. Here's a super competent guy with a daughter similar in age to my own who dies on a route I've also done in the past. If I really believed something like that could happen to me I wouldn't be out there doing it. (Though thinking about what I've climbed in the last couple years maybe I have stopped doing it!) Regardless it's interesting to hear how many apparently close calls there have been at this exact same spot. Personally I've always been terrified by the big hanging masses of snow that can exist in late season pasted to the rock walls above shrunds. Climbing on to that stuff is always going to involve a little bit of sketchiness. When I climbed the Torment-Forbidden traverse we traversed into Torment Basin from Boston Basin then followed a gently glacial remnant up to the base of the south ridge. No sketchiness and a nice start to the route. In part we went this way due to getting screwed on the Taboo Glacier many years prior. I just looked in "50 Favorite Climbs" and it describes starting via the Taboo Glacier, presumably the current version of PMS' Select guide has the same info. Might be nice to get the word out, particularly to visiting climbers, that there is a better, or at least safer, start to the route than that commonly described.

My wife would never tolerate that shit

Additional info from NPS report. Thats a big, big hunk of ice. "When Luebben moved onto the upper section of glacier, a piece of ice measuring 100 by 20 by 10 feet broke off, taking the climber with it. A single cam device held his fall, but he still fell approximately 40 feet and was critically injured by falling ice. " http://home.nps.gov/applications/morningreport/

Sounds like a golden shower might help complete your little fantasy there........

That summit register is in amazingly good shape for being 30+ years old!! Those guys probably knew the difference between a ridge and a face. Awesome pic looking down on Jim.

On top the 2nd to last pitch of the SE Buttress of Cathedral Peak in the Pasayten som asshole managed to scratch Keremeos (name of a nearby town) into the lichen on a large flat slab of granite. Ugliest thing I've seen in the mountains, definitely left by a climber too.

As alluded to by Off-White apparently the edge of the schrund collapsed beneath him. Link to Article in Times How many times a year do you put yourself in a similar situation?

For a peak that attracts a fair number of climbers to alpine rock routes I would agree the rock quality is subpar. With that said it's still not all that bad at least on the south ridge While it's total speculation on my part I've always found the glaciers in the head of Boston Basin to be pretty damn unstable. One summer I remember spending a day watching these enormous seracs peeling of the toe of the glacier below Forbidden's South Face and go sliding then tumbling down the smooth rock slabs below. Watched a team of three almost get creamed by one of those.

Just picked this up elsewhere. Craig Luebben (inventor of Big Bros) died on Mount Torment yesterday, apparently hit by a block of snow/ice. Partner Willie Benegas injured as well. So sad. Anyone know more? Link to post on mtnproj

Excellent photos. Looks really good!

They want the guvment to keep its hands off their Medicaid and Medicare.

This question will generate 20 pages of BS before you can blink. Some people like Aliens, some people like TCUs and some people like C3s. Buy whatever you're comfortable with.

Hey Wayne I'm glad you thought the route was good and I wasn't just high (though I am a little now so excuse me if I ramble...) When Matt and I climbed the route I had actually snuck a bolt kit into the bag as my recollection was of a clean, featureless arete (which it is). Since we started low down on the left side, I carefully metted out the first pitch to Matt knowing he would have to stop at the base of the killer arete therefore allowing me to have all the glory of the lead, bolt kit in hand. Of course Matt nearly drug me off the belay with a 59+ meter pitch that got him to the top of the difficulties. Had I led that pitch there's a good chance I would have stopped and sunk a nice 1/4" buttonhead somewhere on that arete and now everyone would say "great adventurous climb..... and what a great place for a bolt". But Matt had to screw it all up! I definitely plan on going back with some more pins to fix the belays and maybe some wire brushes but you know how it is...maybe next year I'll get around to it. I've considered going back with a bolt kit as well but I'm real hesitant on that one. Cleaned up and with some of the larger runouts tamed the route would definitely open up for a lot more climbers which I think is a good thing (Note that pretty much everyone who's climbed it so far had at least one solid 5.10 or 5.11 rock climber in the party.) Personally I find bolts to be a useful tool for climbing, they definitely have their place in helping to craft the user-experience on a given climb. Unfortunately adding the first bolt to Mount Shuksan sounds like a dubious distinction to have. Also the jitters you mentioned are a very valuable part of the experience, its what gave the route it's character. On the other hand the route name (named after my first daughter Araya) was inspired by the idea that maybe someday in her twenties she would climb the line and have some understanding or feel some connection to who her dad was when he was young (ok cheesy but whatever...). If thats the case I sure would like to think of her clipping a fat bolt rather than running it out way up in the mountains... Anyway I was trying to get to some point I swear.. oh yah...for the meantime I definitely think it should be left in it's current state. I still think that arete might be tamed by a craftily fixed angle in a horizontal and the rest of the route will continue to improve as the minor looseness and occasional dirt gets clean up. Basically there's no real hurry. The route will evolve. At somepoint the concensus might change. Because honestly as Wayne pointed out this route is sort of unique in that 1 or 2 bolts might open the route up to significantly more climbers without really changing the adventurous nature of the entire route. And then that many more people go climb it and have a good time and then there are that many more happy people which is really what the world needs IMHO. More happy people. MHP with CHPPD So there's a bowl of ice cream calling my name right now but those are my deep thoughts tonight.

Nice work Wayne. Glad you liked it. Another twenty ascents or so and it might actually start getting cleaned up. Still no linkup to the summit of Shuksan....

If I were going to hike all the way in there I'd skip Agnes and head over to Main Gunsight and climb the 5.6 Beckey Route up the SW Arete. I know one person whos done this climb and they said it was spectacular. Looks good too.

There are many phases in life. The one you're in is pretty damn sweet. Awesome pics, keep on enjoying that endless freedom....

The movie and book rights required a confidentiality agreement. Plus the families of the dead have yet to all be informed.

This thread makes me sad. I wish I hadn't mentioned the free ascent. Whats up with the negativity Blake? After a huge effort the guy free'd the roof at 12c!! Amazing! One of the most impressive roof cracks around. Are you really going to slag him because he started from a stance above some piddly little low-5th class approach crack? He also cleaned and free'd the rest of the route at 11-. Apparently though all this might not have gone down in a single push. Regardless you might consider congratulating him rather than dismissing his effort in public. Anyway if anyone here knows the mysterious freeclimber I have his (or his partners) watch that got dropped in the bivi meadow. Darin

Already_on_Top is right!!