dberdinka

Wayne - the cap rock is climbable but highly variable and appears to generally get more weathered and friable as the angle increases. There are a handful of good routes that all tend to be very slabby or follow blocky ridges. As the angle increases I think you would be looking at bottoming rounded cracks with a friable and sandy skin and the real potential to rip entire pitches. The unclimbed summits out there are are unclimbed for good reason. In the area I was in I would highly recommend the South Guardian Angel. It's got to be one of the most classic summit experiences in North America. Seriously, it's that good. Heard good things about the west ridge of East Temple which is probably the hardest of the cap rock "trade" routes. Over the years people have done some pretty astounding traverses with hard climbing on bad rock and huge adventurous descents.

Trip: Zion - Sand Dune Summits Date: 11/3/2014 Trip Report: Over the years I've made a habit of quick trips to Zion to knock off one more obscure wall or another. I doubt there is a corporation more openly hostile to its customers than Allegiant Airlines. However, living in Bellingham, they are supremely convenient. You can work a full day and still make it to Zion by midnight. Spend a couple days adventuring then make it home in time for lunch. Last year I scored in early November with perfect weather and a completely deserted park. This year I went for a repeat. Of course as the day approached the forecast deteriorated as the first "major" winter storm coincided exactly with my itinerary. Climbing was out so I chose to instead explore an area I've become increasingly enamored by, The Great West Canyons of North Creek. This exceedingly rugged area occupies a large portion of the park but with the exception of the famous Subway is rarely visited. Almost alpine in nature there are numerous named and unnamed summits, many of which have yet to be climbed. I settled on repeating the high point of the Bishopric. This prominent sandstone pyramid may have only received it's first ascent in 2007. Cross bedding allows for typically easy scrambling on what appear to be steep blank slabs. Between rainstorms, thunder, hail and flash floods I managed to stumble into the area and climb the peak as well a handful of other obscure domes. While the hardest climbing I did was a 20' slab of 5.0 the trip was as every bit as amazing as well every other trip I've ever made to Zion. Can't wait to go back. Good weather in 2013 On the Approach After the Storm Bishopric South Guardian Angel Mighty Mount Ivins Desert Alpine Approach Notes: Follow the Elk Tracks

BITD while climbing the CH route, it appeared to me that there was a hidden ledge system that connected the Polish route and the CH route together exactly at the base of the hanging ice dagger on the Polish route. Seemed like the combination would create a very long WI4 route.

I was about to post the same general question. Wet October, 6-12 inches of snow and now cold temps in the hills and town. I'm thinking Alpine water ice must be off the hook in places like J-berg, Big Four etc. Pics anyone?

Good work. Great photos. 27 I can handle. When I first started reading that I thought it was going to be a 12 year old or something.

Raping 4 people or more should be no problem for you Bob, that we can all be sure of. The first time I tried to climb CC there was something like 12-14 people standing around the base, it was crazy. We went and climbed Ginger Cracks like you recommend. In the afternoon we encountered the 2nd or 3rd party that had only made 3 or 4 pitches up due to how slow the initial parties were. Eventually climbed it but agree that it was not somehow particularly better or better at all than many many other climbs. Still think Community Pillar is the best!

Agreed. Sometimes your just going to loose gear climbing. Taking to it like an accountant is a good way to loose the partner as well.

That cabin is a friggin obnoxious, ugly eyesore. That guy might as well fly an enormous banner that says "I'm a self-entitled jackass". Seriously he should be embarrassed. T

Holy F%$*&^g S#@t! What an amazing way to spend a week with your 5! and 6! year olds! What in the hell was I doing when I was six? Watching cartoons. Maybe camping out for a night. You're a great dad! To bad those kids expectations are messed up for life now.

Comet Spire has a great West ridgeline on it. Couple (2?) pitches maybe 5.6 to a classy summit. We traversed Razorback (W-E) as well along the way. A nice half day adventure with maybe 4 5th class pitches a couple rappels and two cool summits. I bet there is some other short moderate stuff up there as well. Though at that grade you might as well do the W ridge of Prusik.

What will the next six years bring?

Very cool. Amazing how much variety is packed into the Cascades. Thanks for sharing the details.

Cool. Glad to see it's getting lots of love. A few different parties I know climbed it over the last couple weekends and everytime shared it with at least one other party. So relatively speaking it's getting a lot of traffic. Somewhat surprised you found loose rock on the upper pitches. I cleaned a lot of shit off. It's amazing how much loose rock you'll find on a seemingly solid face once you start removing vegetation and dirt.

Just experienced this yesterday. A worthy $4.25. They cut the potatoes to order and use real peanut butter in their shakes.

pics of this melting back?

It could be described as such, though the preferred right-hand start only shares a portion of one pitch in common out of six while the easier start shares the first pitch as well. Generally it stays further right closer to the edge. I did retro-bolt the anchor on the shared pitch (P4 of the topo) as it required pins to put together a so-so belay.

Very sad. To many deaths this year. RIP. Was he a regular poster here? The name sounds familiar...

Yeah. With so many great options these days it's nice to see something one put some effort into achieve the "Critical Mass" that will keep it clean and enjoyable.

Good to hear that the route's getting some traffic and staying clean. Though I'm surprised the trail is still discernible!

WOW. Considering the rock quality and sheer amount of elevation and alpine terrain covered thats as bad-assed a day of soloing as I've ever heard of anyone accomplishing anywhere. Completely unbelievable to cover that much ground in twelve hours. I hope people start buying plane tickets to the Karakorum immediately

I'm personally on the don't reintroduce grizzly bears to NCNP side of things. Maybe taking your kids hiking in the woods changes your perspective on things. Speaking of hyperbole proponents of reintroduction routinely a small population currently exists yet for years of attempts to document that they've never had a single confirmed sighting, photo, sample. To wit the info page here has a photo of a griz from north of the border. http://www.conservationnw.org/what-we-do/northcascades/north-cascades-grizzly-bear Not sure if the hiker spotted grizx in 2010 near Sahale Arm was validated or not?

Good to hear. I wonder if the lichens actually grown back or if in my day and half of cleaning I just didn't quite get it all. The start of pitch 4 had stacks of loose rock before cleaning. I aggressively cleaned it all off. I do recall one wedged block that rattled a bit but made a good foot and wasn't going anywhere. Definitely a spot to tread lightly.

Has anyone jumped on this this summer? I thought it was easy and spectacular enough to get a heap of traffic. Maybe I was wrong?

That place was a disgusting health hazard. Based on the amount of trash piled up around the building and the filth visible in the kitchen I couldn't believe the state hadn't shut it down. Maybe they finally did. Fwiw there is an really excellent burger joint in Concrete right where the speed trap starts. Great quick food.

That is a really spectacular climb. Seems there are too many great routes and not enough climbers to regularly climb them anymore. Exfo might sadly be a little to far off the beaten path these days.