dberdinka

The most reactive conditions I ever encountered were on a day where the avalanche forecast was Moderate. On the singular aspect we went to ski there was an intact hoar frost layer and the entire slope slid easily. Very similar aspects across valley appeared totally bomber as we watched other parties ski down them. Point being is the NWAC forecast is painted with a broad brush with far too little actual observations to be considered definitive. FWIW my rudimentry understanding is that this particular accident occurred in an area that I would consider to be the sketchiest terrain by far in the entire Heather Meadows area.

Silvretta 404s mounted on 177cm Hagan TX titanium skis. Skis are ultralight, 177cm in length with dimension of 92-69-80 and weight 1.1 kg each (w/o bindings). Considering their size and weight they ski very well. Bindings are size N (normal) and supposedly fit sole lengths of 11.375" - 13.375". Gear is very lightly used and in excellent condition. Ski bases are pristine. No skins. $120 OBO. Located in Bellingham. Would prefer pick-up. Buyer pays shipping and packaging costs. PM or e-mail dberdinkaATgmailDOTcom.

Basically brand new. Size large, worn for a single day of ski touring. Great pant/layer. I just decided since I don't actually do any winter/alpine climbing anymore I'd be better off with a more ski specific pair of pants. I'm 5' 11" and 170-175lbs and they fit fine. $150 + shipping. ($300 retail) PM or email dberdinka AT gmail DOT com.

Saw this Woman of the Skag in the local news

Jason, how do you interpret the "column-integrated cloud water" loop? That one didn't make immediate and obvious sense. The Low/Mid/High cloud water loops seemed more intuitive, where I assume they are an indication of how cloudy the skies are going to be. If Low is green/blue your in a whiteout if not your in flat-light or better?

I never would have thought that would be so casual. Nice job.

Hey Mike. Like it or not I would counter that in the last 25 years "Top Down Development" of alpine rock climbs has been used on a majority of significant new routes outside the Stuart Range and NCNP. Doorish/Burdo free routes on Dolomite Tower. Free version of TRL, Freedom or Death, Liberty & Injustice on Liberty Bell. Hitchiker, Passenger, Mojo Rising on South Early. Gato Negro across the valley. Numerous free routes on Exfoliation Dome. Numerous free routes on SQW and vicinity. Infinite Bliss. Edge of Space on SCW (thought I heard it, could be wrong) IMO in the mountains you should go ground up where the rock quality allows it. Stuart Range and NCNP are perfect examples of that. Personally I think there's a lot potential for high quality alpine rock routes on the lower elevation and more accessible peaks on the west side of the Cascades hiding underneath a layer of munge and superficial looseness. In those cases top down development is entirely reasonable.

I've skied right along the base of it and always thought of going up there again. It actually looks pretty good and really steep. Appears granitic which seems odd for Sefrit. Definitely vertical crack systems exist. The hogsback leading directly to the summit of Sefrit looks cool as well and presumably much easier. The obvious issue is getting there. Midwinter works. In a good snow year (if that ever happens again) there would definitely be a period of time in late spring where the access would be reasonable and the route may be dry. Good luck. That ones going to take some serious motivation.

Jason of course is correct. Such nice fall weather right now. I'd be up there again working on route three if I hadn't grievously sprained my ankle last week stumbling out that god forsaken trail with a 50 lb pack. Love that area.

You're thinking of Vega Tower located a couple hundred yards further south. Starbird Ridge 5.8,put up by Reese Martin and Jerome Eberharter back in the 80's. It's the right skyline in the second to last photo. Great looking summit and line, wonder if it's ever been repeated? Reese Martin was apparently a well know climber and paraglider married to Charlotte Fox who died in a paragliding accident sometime ago.

Trip: Vesper Peak - True Grit II 5.8 - another new route Date: 9/25/2015 Trip Report: After intermittent work over the last two seasons I finished up another new route on the North Face of Vesper Peak. Once again extensive cleaning revealed a sustained moderate line in an outstanding position. The highlight of the climb is a long finger crack up the middle of the headwall followed by positive face climbing to a great belay perch. Some of the climbing is only so-so but overall I was pretty happy with the end result. Belays are all bolted and protection is about 50/50 bolts and gear. Bring a rack to a #2 Camalot including small-to-large stoppers and some extra finger to off-finger cams. Seasons starting to get a bit long in the tooth up there but it should be doable for a bit longer if you don't mind the chill and give it a day or two to dry out after rain. Pitch Description P1 Easy climbing on clean granite. Step left to a bolted belay below an obvious narrow chimney. 5.4 ~200' P2 Up a groove to the squeeze chimney then a difficult move onto a short bolted slab. The chimney can be avoided by moving right into a short corner (watch for loose blocks at it's top) 5.8 100' P3 A nice pitch. Slab, then a shallow corner, pull over a small overhang and follow jigsaw rock to a tiny belay ledge. 5.7 100' P4 Climb the long sustained splitter with a crux step across where the crack disappears briefly. Fun juggy climbing leads to a belay at the crest of the headwall. 5.8 120' P5 A short scruffy pitch of easy face and slab climbing leads to the top of the face. 5.6 (not 5.8 like in the image below!) 80' Click for Larger Image Looking down the headwall at the intermittent finger cracks Climbers on Pitch 4 of the Ragged Edge Gear Notes: Bring a rack to a #2 Camalot including small-to-large stoppers and some extra finger to off-finger cams. Approach Notes: See Ragged Edge TR

That must have been a bummer of a descent/walk out.

It was done with a lot of grueling effort. Enjoy.

Nice trip. Summers winding down isn't it? Traversing Razorback and Comet Peaks is another really nice and significantly longer route in the same vicinity. I remember maybe 4 pitches of 5th class to 5.8, some 4th class and a rappel or two. Great, deserted area. There's also a two pitch 5.12? up there that looks totally amazing. Overhanging hand cracks to OW. Always wondering about the climbing history of that thing.

Nice to see. Presumably you got your rope eaten by a crack on the descent? If you clip the pull strand through a leaver biner on that bolt it's a non-issue...though maybe I need to go hammer some chunks of wood into that crack....

Maybe this is old news but Google Earth has done some sort of magic in Yosemite and Zion National Parks with an incredibly detailed and accurate rendering of the landscape and cliff faces from every possible angle. Features seem accurate down to a meter or less. Overhangs are accurately depicted. Wild stuff to waste the afternoon on....How? How did they possibly do that? Even the waterfall spray is a 3-D rendering Temple of Sinwava in Zion with perfect detail on The Pulpit Even the trees are accurate in height

Is there anyone else put off by the idea that the supposed front runners are either the brother and son of or the wife of a former president? I know this is all a bit polyannaish on my part but could we at least try and pretend there's some sort of meritocracy in politics and not just dynastic power and connections? While I'm basically a diehard liberal if it comes down to a Bush/Clinton vote I may just abstain. *Political meritocracy being something like a politicians policy views and character being what attracts votes rather than inside political connections and big money. Like I said Polyanna.

Uhhh....wow...

tennis shoe alpinism this summer. Though something a little stiffer soled may be appreciated if you're going down crossover pass. Last good water just before the notch crossing into the "pocket glacier" basin. On the descent first running water appears just beyond crossover pass/"wooded stump". I would bring a second car and do the south side descent if at all possible. Nose plugs so you don't have to imbibe the stench of human shit all over the route may be useful as well.

Nice trip, great photos! Looks like you put a more direct start on The Nose route. Definitely a sort of quasi-classic. And you saw how many other people on the trip? Seems like the G-M-M traverse would have a queue on it all summer long if it were anywhere else.

FWIW the approach from the Canadian side is both much shorter and highly scenic. An enjoyable moderate day of work. Regardless nice trip to a beautiful area.

If I knew how to give a trip report stars I'd give it *****.

North Face is already sadly melted out. Final stretch is already discontinuous and lord knows if it will even exist in August. (North Face of North Twin is also snow free, not all that long ago it was a permamant snowfield). Not a great year to climb the classic snow/ice routes of the range.

You sure do rack up the hall passes. Great pics as usual.

While I assume your last quote is in jest I always thought that the south-ish buttress or possibly the NW Peak were primed for an easily accessible, alpine sport route. In my experience the pro on that peak is pretty bad! (and the rock is highly variable).