Colin

Climb: Chiwawa Mtn.-NW Face Date of Climb: 3/6/2005 Trip Report: Dave Burdick and I climbed a new route on Chiwawa Mtn this past weekend, after spotting the awesome-looking line in John Scurlock's new pictures. On Saturday we snomobiled up the Chiwawa River Road (with a snowmobile generously lent by Phil), and then skied up the Chiwawa Basin Trail (lot's of dirt skiing involved). We woke up early yesterday and hiked up to the Chiwawa-Fortress col, and then made a descending traverse to the base of the NW Face. Our route climbed the very obvious gully/chimney in the center of the face, starting mostly on ice, and gradually becoming more mixed. The climbing was fantastic although hard, and the route was the best mixed climb I've ever done. Our last pitch bailed out of the chimney onto the face on the right, but if some strong mixed climbers head in there they'll probably do the direct finish. Dave had his digital camera, so I expect we'll see some pictures soon. Chiwawa Mtn, NW Face New Route: "Intravenous" - IV, WI4, M6. Gear Notes: Reccomended Gear: -60m rope -5 knifeblades -a few small nuts -cams up to #1 camalot -2 stubby, 2 17 cm screws Approach Notes: The Chiwawa River Road is starting to get bare, so snowmobiling won't be a good option soon. However, the route sees no sun, so it will probably be in for at least a few more weeks, and perhaps the road will be drivable by then.

What'd they do, Dan? Those were some of my friends from school - Tom, Erin, Sam, Andy, and Ajay. The story I heard from Ajay is just that they brought a few beers left over from Sat night to the crag with them, and were joking around a bit. Nothing wrong with drinking beer while belaying - those tactics were used on the FWA of Burgundy Spire. If you were simply uncomfortable about them drinking while climbing, it's a good thing that you weren't at the same crag as them on Saturday!

A few pictures: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=9595&sort=1&cat=504&page=1 http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/show...=504&page=1 http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/show...=504&page=1

N Face? I thought they did the Japanese route? Impressive climb either way.

Here's another photo: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=9557&sort=1&cat=504&page=1 And another: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=9558&sort=1&cat=504&page=1 Sorry the scans suck so bad. I was 0 for 4 this winter before this past weekend - seems mother nature is finally producing some decent conditions and weather though. Bear's N Butt would indeed be a proud line in winter, even if just the classic Beckey way (upper half). I still think that climbing the North Face of Triumph in winter would be a fantastic thing.

I'll scan a couple more as soon as I have time. The snow and ice conditions are excellent in general. Lot's of ice, lot's of neve, and very little unconsolidated snow. The NE face didn't seem quite continuous, but the NW Face Couloir looks to be in better shape than I've ever seen it before. I don't know about Backbone Ridge, but Ade and Alastair should have a good idea, since they were up at Colchuck Lake.

I tried scanning a few slides, mostly unsucessfully, but here's one on the gendarme: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=9552&size=big&sort=1&cat=500

Thanks for the compliments, guys. It was a fantastic climb, and even with the awesome weather and conditions it still really worked us to pull it off. Here's a basic trip report - I'll write more when I have some more time to think (I'm way behind in all my classes now). Sat - Left the car at around 6:00 I think, and hiked all the way to the bivy boulder in around 6.5 hours, because we had a packed trail. Ran into NOLSE and crew who had just come down from the Ice Cliff Glacier. Sun - Slept in, and then fixed the first three pitches with two ropes. Mon - Left the base at 6:00 am, and began jugging the ropes. We chucked one of the ropes after jugging it, and we also left one of our sleeping bags at the base. We made much better time on the lower ridge than we had back in December, and arrived at the notch just as it got dark. We kicked out a small platform for the tent (BD Firstlight), and shared the sleeping bag that night, with a special "V" of nylon Mark had sewed up to be zipped into the bag. This system worked really well - it is obviously light, but quite warm as well. Tue - We slept through our alarm, and didn't leave the notch until 7:30. We made good time on most of it, and arrived at the base of the gendarme at around 12:45. The first pitch of the gendarme was straight-forward aid climbing, but still time consuming of course. The second pitch took a long time (finished leading right as it got dark), and was quite challenging because are biggest cam was a #3 camalot and more significantly because most of the cracks were totally choked with ice. The second jugged with two packs on the gendarme pitches so that the leader could climb without one. The remaining 4 pitches went fast, except for the '5.8 crack' which was also time-consuming aid. We finally topped out at around 11:15 pm, and began the descent down the Sherpa Glacier, which was straightforward. We pitched the tent town in the boulders, and Mark starting melting water and making dinner while I hiked back up to the base to get our rope and sleeping bag. We didn't get to sleep until around 3am and then slept in until about 10:30. Wed - Hiked out in the sun.

I've had a chance to use both the eVent and Epic tents a fair amount now, and compare their breathability and weather resistance. First off, the eVent tents absolutely rock. They are just as weatherproof as Toddtex/Tegraltex, but significantly more breathable. I had been planning on getting one of my own for about a year, but kept putting it off. I'm really bummed now, because I can't get one, and no other bivy tents available right now are as good. The Epic tents are good for summer use with only slightly bad weather, but they aren't a full-on tent. I found that in the winter, they breathe worse than eVent, and they even seemed to breathe worse than Toddtex/Tegraltex. When using them in summer though, they seemed to breathe just fine. I don't know why they breathe so much worse in cold weather, but it was very evident. When we were on Stuart the inside walls of the tent were icing up at least twice as bad as with standard I-tent or MK1-Lite. As for why eVent tents are no longer available - it's not Integral's choice. I guess that the eVent company decided for liability reasons that they didn't want their fabric used on tents, as Gore did back in the day. How very lame that we have to buy worse tents because of stupid imaginary liability issues. Major bummer.

Yo Juan, I biked up to the end of the road a couple weeks ago, and at the time the road was completely snow-free all the way to the end (but gated at Eldorado Creek, and with one landslide blocking the road for cars around milepost 21.5 or so). The entire lower half of J'Berg's NE Buttress was snow free! A sad sight for January... Perhaps the CJ Couloir was barely continuous, deep in the back of narrow gully (I've never been up it, so it's hard for me to say for sure), but as far as I could see it was still not continuous.

Hey, sorry guys: It was George Sharrett and Jack LEWIS (not Jack Davis) who climbed Surrogate Panama. One of the photos in the CAJ is mislabled as "Jack Davis," but Sharrett's writing correctly says Jack Lewis.

Hey, are you Bill Dwyer? If so, I think I've got a pair of your early prototype overboots that you gave my dad when he went to Denali. Or am I thinking of totally the wrong person? Sorry, haven't been back to Stuart yet...

I posted a photo showing the different starts: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=9134&sort=1&cat=509&page=1

And by the way, crazyjz, it was Alex Frid and Jack Davis who had attempted the second-winter-ascent of the upper North Ridge the winter before. Alex Frid was not involved with Surrogate Panama at all.

The complete North Ridge has NOT been climbed in winter (or atleast no one has claimed an ascent). If you think that Jack Davis and George Sharrett climbed the complete North Ridge in Dec. 1989, you ought to go re-read the 1990 CAJ. They put up a new route, "Surrogate Panama" (it was during the US invasion of Panama), in a very impressive and fast climb. They were able to drive up the Mountaineer Creek road with chains on, just as Wayne and David and Mark and I did. They had planned to try the Complete North Ridge, but changed plans at the bivy boulder (Mike Martin and Tim Wilson had been thwarted on a Complete North Ridge attempt two days earlier, and hadn't made it higher than the first pitch). Their climb started well to the right of both the East and West Lower North Ridge starts, in a gully that I can point out if someone posts a photo. They had planned to meet the North Ridge route at the notch, but they accidently climbed right over the notch-approach-gully and continued climbing, well west of the upper North Ridge. They finally met up with the North Ridge about 2-3 pitches below the Great Gendarme, and followed it to the base of the Great Gendarme. Here they traversed east, and finished their climb up the upper Northeast Face, hitting the summit ridge crest at dark. They summited the next morning, and then did the descent and hike out that day. Surrogate Panama is an independent route, and only follows the North Ridge for about 2-3 pitches. It is an impressive feat that Sharret and Davis climbed the entire route (except the first two pitches which they fixed), in a single day, especially considering that they had four days of provisions on their backs. The Complete North Ridge has not been climbed in winter, and neither has the Great Gendarme on an Upper-North-Ridge-winter-ascent. Jim Nelson's highpoint from his attempts at the complete was two pitches above the notch (with Doug Klewin, I believe, but maybe it was one of the McNerthney brothers). More recently, Wayne and David made it to the notch. Mark and I made it three pitches above the notch, and then we too bailed. I wouldn't be shocked if another attempt had made it even higher. By the way, the article about Surrogate Panama in the 1990 CAJ is a good one, with nice pictures and excellent writing.

Yeah, I saw that on your TR. I would think that most all of that snow has melted now, but my larger concern is with downed trees and washouts. Perhaps I'll just have to drive up there and find out...

Anyone know what the current status is of the Cascade River Road? Any downed trees? I'm guessing that one can drive all the way to the Eldorado Cr. trailhead, but that it is gated there?

Getting around only speaking English is no problem - there are lots of Koreans that know a bit of english. Just carry around some kim-chi and you're bound to make friends!

Well, I don't know much about the waterfall climbing in S Korea, but I know they have a fair amount of it. There are climbing stores all over - just stop in one and find out where the climbs are. There are way, way more climbers per capita in S Korea than in the US - it's a fairly mainstream activity. I was there in the summer, and I spent a few days climbing at Insubong (Seoul city buses take you to the trailhead), which was great. One of the routes I climbed was called "Shenada" - it's a bastardized version of Chouinard, as he made the first ascent of the route while over there. It was as good as Outer Space. The whole country is littered with awesome granite crags. One thing to note: be extra alert if you hook up to climb with some Koreans. They are good climbers, but they are extremely cavelier about danger. Seriously, they make French climbers look like safety freaks.

Lowell, Torment saw a winter ascent in 81 - it's in the new green CAG.

When I hiked the W Butt (in early-mid June) the only bag I used was rated to +10 degrees (Integral Designs North Twin). I don't neccesarily reccomend such a bag for the W Butt, but consider the added warmth from all your clothes.

Mark and I bailed early this morning from our high point 3 pitches above the notch, due to bad (and particularly cold) weather and really bad conditions. Our itinerary: day 1 - hike in day 2 - fix the first 3 pitches day 3 - sit in the tent while it dumps snow day 4 - head up with 5 days of food and bivy gear, and make it to the snowfield right above david's "super alpine" ice pitch. day 5 - climb the remaining pitches to the notch in nasty weather and pouring spindrift day 6 - sit in the tent at the notch while it is really windy and snowy day 7 - leave the notch at 2:30, climb three pitches and then bail and hike out It is a really cool goal indeed. I agree with Wayne and David, that pre-stashing bivy gear at the notch is cheating. That's interesting about your friend, Layton, because I have frostnip on both of my thumbs now. Oh, and a gear note: A tent made of epic fabric does not work for full-on winter conditions, in fact it was totally miserable.

Well, regardless of whether you decide to call it "Infinite Bliss" or not, definitely don't call it the "Weiss Route!" The first ascencionist's name is Mike PREISS. And, yes, his claim is valid - he's a hardcore dude.

Well, obviously if the summit is reached outside of calendar winter then it isn't a winter ascent. I have wondered these questions of approaching myself, and although they only apply to a few days in December it is a good question. My personal feeling is that if the approach and maybe even the first day of the climb is done before winter it can still be a winter ascent as long as summit day is the first day of winter. These clarifications are fairly simple here in the Cascades were almost all of the climbs themselves can be done in 1-2 days, but it is perhaps harder to define on climbs that require a lot of time (rope-fixing in the Himalaya, or some stuff closer to home. When Jim and Kit climbed the NE Butt of Slesse it took like 6 days or something). On longer climbs like that, perhaps it is reasonable to think that one must start the climb in winter proper. Yes, Iain, it is obviously a very silly and stupid clarification, but so is every single other type of "first" in climbing. If you have such a cynical view of proper winter ascents, then I should hope you've never taken note of whether you climbed a route free, or if someone skied from the summit proper, or if a hammer was used on the wall, or if the route was climbed alpine-style, or if oxygen was used, etc. From your view of whether a climb was a winter ascent or not I'll assume that you don't even know the difference between redpoint and onsight, since those are the uber-resume-nitpicks.

What makes you think that you can't replace the picks? They are bolted on, not permanently attached.