dberdinka

NW Rib of Forbidden i.e. Verbottenhorn

Black Peak or something nearby...Logan in background

South Buttress of Gimli Here's a photo (see attachment). Oh, and the peak does have a name. Not hard to identify, but it's all I got on my computer here at work. Think I need a slide scanner....

Dru #2 = Viennese ???

Anyone here ever climb the East Face of Pigeon? That looks like an amazing line..if it's not running with snow melt.

The McCallister Glacier from....god knows where....

Dragontail from Colchuck?

(I'm assuming Dru would be the one to answer this!) Thumbing throught the new route book at MEC over the weekend I came across Shaun's topo-photos for the Nesakwatch Spires. Surprisingly all his new routes seemed to avoid the obvious clean dihedrals just left of the SW buttress route you (Dru) climbed this summer. Was it just missing a page? (That area was enclosed in a penciled in box) Or did he just avoid the apparently steepest, cleanest part of the wall? Thanks D

I was long a doubter, but Aliens rule! They can be completely bomber in a placement that you couldn't even get a TCU to fit or stick in. I think for the most part it's due to there single stem design, allowing them to be placed it constrictions where a TCUs stem would bind up against the rock. Only downside is that the action seems to get mucked up a little faster than TCUs. Regardless, when I have to get more or replace old gear I will definitely be picking up Aliens.

First off, if this website was visited only by individuals like me (quasi-lurkers) if would lack a lot of the entertainment value it currently has. On the other hand it is slowly sinking under the weight of pointless, indiscriminate posting. This thread being a perfect example! You can argue that it's all just for fun, but read through this thing again. Mattp begins with a very well articulated post trying to start an actual discussion on how this resource should be managed. In return maybe 1 in 15 posts has anything of relevance to say, much less anything witty or intelligent. "Blow me, tool" just doesn't qualify. (Maybe it should have been posted somewhere other than in Spray?) Personally I like the idea that some part of this website could actually be dedicated to the discussion of climbing, rather than a place to fire off one more knee-jerk moronic post. So I'm all for active moderation (i.e. delete ALL the bullshit) of posts in the trip report section. Do it enough and eventually the drivel will end up where it belongs. People can scream censorship, but you can still post whatever you want, you'd just have to do it in the appropriate place.

desert spires = yawn ??!!???? Go climb some Dru. It's a hell of a lot more like alpine climbing then you might imagine!

Necro's actually a pretty nice guy, if a bit on the ugly side...

Hi Tim. We've actually met. I jump-started your car in the parking lot of Index a month ago. Climbing access: Squamish, Darrington, Index are all just over 90 miles from town. Erie is often times good all year long and is 45 to 50 minutes from town. Some people hate it. But the climbing is decent and the views are amazing. Good for a spring afternoon. Bouldering at Larrabee State Park (10 minutes from town) can be a pleasant diversion as well. There are other areas near town but they're all pretty much chossy and forgotten (sorry Jason). Alpine climbing in North Cascades is obviously closer than Seattle. Lots of stuff in BC is close as well (i.e. Slesse's less than 70 miles away) Cost-of-living: Been here to long to compare. Rent is cheap. Buying a house is ridiculously cheap compared to Seattle. Covers at bars are generally non-existent to cheap. Milk is about $3 a gallon. If you've got a decent paying job (most don't) you'll be just fine. Climbing Gyms: There are two in town. The YMCA just installed a riduclously huge wall (70+ feet tall?)and plans on running it as a real climbing gym rather than a daycare. It will cost you though. Definitely a good place to get a pump. Community, Climbing and otherwise: This is the city of subdued excitment. It tends to be kind of quiet around here. Maybe it's just me but any sense of climbing community is fractured to nonexistent. The climbing gyms have certainly never been an epi-center. That said, most people here are very open and friendly, we just all tend to stay home at night. Other perks: Excellent system of trails and parks. Chuckanut Mountains have extensive trail system 10-20 minutes from town. Including a cool cave with an underground lake. Great mountain biking, good beer, good food, blah, blah ,blah. Curious to see what others have to say......

Check out the forecasts at www.nwac.noaa.gov they tend to be more detailed and accurate IMHO. Predicting a 4000' freezing level for Thursday and Friday with continued dry weather. I won't be making any bets but it looks like next weekend might be a good one to get out into the mountains. Cross your fingers...

The 'cheval off Springbok is a bit unique in that it descends significantly. Quite terrifying when you first look at it. I straddled out of fear and nearly cut the jewels off. Dull it is not. So what are the "classic" chevals in the Cascades? Descent off Les Cornes (Springbok) SW Buttress of Dorado Needle SE Arete of South Early What else qualifies?

Dave just got a ***** rating! Projects? projects? ...hmmmmm Go back to the desert. Get scared, climb the Titan.

On the Upper Town Wall yesterday I had the thrill of watching my static line slowly fray over an edge as I did a free hanging jug up it. By the time I got past the damage, the sheath was half gone and the core was just starting to go. Talk about a near-life experience! I was feeling pretty damn alive after that was all over. <--- me

quote: Originally posted by Scotch-a-Go-Go: I just hope that when one gets written that it will be done in a way that reflects the history of the development there. Which would probably mean coming to grips with the crowd who did a lot of it.... Ummmmmm.......I think DavidW has that part under control. [ 11-23-2002, 02:05 PM: Message edited by: dberdinka ]

Aaaaaaghhh! The wizen forecasters are calling for an extended period of sunshine! Can my soggy, pale skin handle it? I'm thinking I might head down to Index to do some aid climbing. Any recommendations for a clean aid rack for Green Dragon and/or Town Crier? Widgets and trickery? Thanks in advance. Darin

With so many good memories it’s always hard to pick five. 1) Soloing the Direct East Buttress of South Early (Lots of anxiety until I actually got on it) 2) Soloing Prodigal Son in good style (Zion rules!) 3) Climbing Warbonnet in the Sawtooth Range (didn’t see anyone for 2 nights and almost 3 days) 4) Yellow Brick Road in Marble Canyon (excellent, fun climbing on an apparently big, scary wall. Just do it!) 5) King Fisher and Ancient Arts in the Fisher Towers (beautiful landscape & scary fixed gear) 6) Optimism to the South Buttress of Notch Top in RMNP (8 pitch, 5.10-). Maybe the best alpine rock climb I’ve ever done. 7,8,9,10,11............. Sorry, 5 just wasn’t enough! Biggest Defeat: Having to bail from the approach to the North Central Coulior of Joffre when my knee decided to get angry. I let my partner down, it sucked.

I think being a "Northwest hardman" doesn't necessarily mean you need to climb 5.12 or WI6 (though doing either probably wouldn't hurt your chances) instead it means getting out and doing those routes that WE ALL keep telling ourselves we’re going to do but never quite get around too. Here’s my short list of the routes in question: Complete North Buttress of Bear Mtn Girth Pillar on Mount Stuart Thin Red Line North Buttress of Fury North Buttress of Terror North Buttress of Nooksack Tower North Rib of Slesse Ptarmigan Ridge on Rainier Anything technical in winter Any of those would be technically, physically, mentally and climatically challenging to just about any climber in the NW or otherwise. Knock a couple of those off and you probably have the Cascade alpine climbing thing dialed.

Very near the top of the South Ridge of Gimli my buddy and I were simuling across 4th class terrain. He stepped up on a big block maybe 3'x5'x8'. It began to slide! He surfed it for a few feet before jumping off. It clattered down the slabs past me, then took a 1000' dive down the SW Face. Lots of noise, lots of dust. Next day we checked out the trail that runs below the face torwards Mulvey Basin. The block had dug a crater a couple feet deep just above before ending up in pile in the trail. Glad the place was deserted!

The west ridge of North Twin Sister is a popular winter climb (At least as popular as winter climbing gets around here). What makes for a beautiful scramble in summer can be quite exciting when plastered in snow. Furthermore, the approach in winter is no longer than it is in summer due to the always closed gate. Thats a rarity.

A climbing (sort of) near-death epic About 4 or 5 Februarys ago a couple buddies and I decided to go ski the White Salmon Glacier on Mount Shuksan. Temperatures were very cold and it hadn't snowed since a major storm about a week before. Most shady aspects were covered in a beautiful, deep layer of hoary powder. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, slog, slog, slog. After much suffering we finally turned around not far below Winnies Slide as the day was passing and conditions had changed to wind crust. Taking the lead I headed down. The best snow seemed to be right up next to the Northwest Rib, so we tracked down along this eventually ending up in a very exposed spot directly below the Hanging Glacier. I cliffed out above a nasty looking shrund while my friends were far enough back that I managed to point out the neccesary traverse to bypass the mess I was in. They disappeared while I popped my skis off to hike back up to the traverse. The absence of fresh debris in the basin below the Hanging Glacier indicated that nothing had come off in the previous week. Of course at this point there was a thunderous CRACK! I looked up to see an enormous avalanche pouring off the lip of the hanging glacier. This is all taking place about 2000' directly above me. It's growing bigger and BIGGER getting louder and LOUDER. There's a little outcrop above me so I slam my skis into the snow and try and get REAL small. Last thing I see is this powder cloud the size of GOD baring down across the slopes above me. I close my eyes and bury my face in the snow. The rumbling grows louder and louder, suddenly it grows very dark even with my eyes closed. I'm getting slammed into the snow by vicous blasts of wind. This goes on for 20 seconds that felt like 20 minutes. As quick as it started, suddenly the rumble diminishs and the winds stop trying to tear me from the hillside. Looking around, all that is left is a quickly diminshing cloud of powder and a HUGE debris trail maybe 75 feet to my left. Later that day I remember standing in the forest, looking at hoar frost crystals and feeling really, REALLY, REALLY! alive.

I am proud to have climbed the first (5.4) pitch of Sunday Cruise on Witch Doctor Wall and lived. For those interested here is a description. From base of wall scramble 3rd and 4th class to pin belay on ledge below vague right facing corner. Climb corner. Corner is composed of stacked, loose flakes up to 30' long. Handholds and pro can be found by digging through moss and ferns. Eventually bearhug a very large, very scary flake wedged in corner to wide crack and decomposing chockstone belay. Look at mossy, schrub covered headwall. Bail A forgettable Darrington classic.