Colin

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. To answer your question, Dru: I think that the Bravo Glacier Route and the W Ridge, Angel Glacier route are about equal in difficulty. Advantage of starting from Fury Gap: You only have to carry your bivy gear to 3200 m, rather than to the base of the summit pyramid. Advantage of starting with the Bravo: You could start and end your traverse from Sunny Knob - this means no food caches to be dropped off, and therefore a cheaper heli fare. Starting from Combatant Col would obviously be the easiest, but then you wouldn't have "traversed" Waddington to any extent.

Climb: Waddington-"Full Range Traverse" Date of Climb: 7/26/2004 Trip Report: Mark Bunker and I made what we believe to be the 2nd ascent of "The Waddington Traverse" recently, over 7 days (July 26 - Aug 1) of spectacular weather. Here's a brief trip report: July 26: Fly to Fury Gap, and hike up the West Ridge to a camp on the Angel Glacier at 3200 m. Very straightforward. July 27: Hang out at camp and acclimate. July 28: Hike up the Angel Glacier, via straightforward crevasse navigation. Downclimb steep couloir to get to the summit pyramid - very icy and time consuming. Climb SE Chimney on summit tower, via Harvard Notch Direct (Wadd Hose). The Chimney was running with water, so we climed on the rock to the right. Every once in a while ice gargoyles would come crashing down. Right before leaving the summit, we saw Jeff and Brent (CA and CO) nearing the summit via the NW Ridge of the summit pyramid. Rap the SE Chimney, and climb back up the steep couloir to the Angel Glacier. Use someone's steps to quickly climb the NW Peak, and then descend the Angel Glacier back to camp. July 29: Descent to Combatant Col is complicated, and involved one rappel. NW slope of Combatant was very icy. The N Ridge leading to the NW summit was straightforward. The ridge scramble from the Great Couloir notch to the main summit is really enjoyable. The descent to Chaos Col was very time consuming, because the "snow slope" was again hard, blue ice. The west face of Tiedeman was a fun mix of good rock and moderate ice slopes. Bivy on summit of Tiedeman. July 30: It took us 7 hours to descend Tiedeman. One 30m section was the worst rock I have ever encountered (although not steep). The "snow slope" was again hard, blue ice, and we made a couple rappels. The west ridge of Asperity was a really enjoyable climb - one of the best along the traverse. We again experienced hard ice on the descent of Asperity, and chopped two bollards on the way down, all the while cursing ourselved for not bringing one screw and a v-threader... Bivy at Asperity-Serra col, on prepared tent platfom. July 31: Climb the NW Corner of Serra V, and finish through the keyhole. Excellent climbing on good rock. It felt like 5.9 with gloves and boots, but I don't think the rock is actually any harder than 5.7. Picked up fresh rap slings on the way up, to use on the descent. Mark signed our initials in the summit register with his blood. The descent down the E face was indeed the crux of the traverse. I think we took a line more to descender's right than previous parties, because we had to climb back up to the 4-5 col. We made 3 full-length raps (50 m ropes), and one half-length rap, leaving 2 pins, 2 nuts, and 1 cam. Climbed Serra IV in the evening light, and bivied on some ledges between Serra IV and III. This seemed like a much better spot than the 4-5 col. Aug 1: It took quite a while to get to Serra III from Serra IV, and we made one half-length rappel to the north. The descent to the II-III notch went quickly, and we ditched our packs to head up NW ridge of Serra II. It was one of the best climbs along the traverse, and here we met the ever-cool Peter and Katy. From the II-III notch we rapelled down to the Tellot Glacier, drank some water, and then headed up for Serra I at 9pm. We climbed the Firey Route and rapelled Don's route, and then stumbled down the Tellot to the Plummer Hut, where we arrived at 3:30 am. We spent the following week lounging around, and doing easy, short peakbaggin on Claws 1-4, Shand, McCormick, Termination, Eaglehead, and Dragonback. Gear Notes: -should've had 2 ice screws and a v-threader -should've had real ice tools instead of 3rd tools -having a tent was much nicer than bivy sacks would've been -two 50m ropes worked well (a 9.0 stratos, and a 6mm perlon)

You guys climbed it first. We not only used your tent platform at the Asperity-Serra Col, but we took your nice new spectra rap slings on the way up, and promptly left then on the east face. We also found ourselves without a pencil, so Mark selflessly wrote our initials with his blood, ala Diedrich and Davis. I'll write a full report of the traverse when I'm not so tired.

I've never been to the Bugaboos before, and might be going shortly. What is the best website out there for predicting the weather in the Bugaboos? Thanks in advance.

Climb: Mt. Terror-North Buttress Date of Climb: 6/29/2004 Trip Report: I climbed the North Buttress of Terror today, after hiking into a camp in Crescent Creek Basin on Monday. Views from the buttress included rad-looking ski tracks of the first descent of the Degenhardt Glacier (Sky? Ross?). I used the Himmelhorn-Ottohorn col, which is very easy right now, although the Terror-Rake col would've been faster (and was used by the skiers to cross over). In any event, if you want to climb it, do it within the next 3 weeks, before the glacier gets too broken up. I'm not sure, but I believe I climbed the Stoddard Buttress rather than the original route. I encountered climbing of about 5.7 in difficulty. Descent via the West Ridge goes quickly.

I've been told by several people that Petzl/Charlet is coming out with a removable pinky rest for the Quark (similar to the one for the Viper), fairly soon. I just hope it is compatible with the Quarks out now!

I'm sure this info is available somewhere, but I can't seem to find it on the NPS site. Can one drive to the Ipsut Creek trailhead right now, or is it washed out or something? If one can drive the Ipsut Creek way, I assume most people would say that is the currently preferrable way to approach Libertry Ridge? It sounds like you have to cross Lower Curtis Ridge no matter which way you approach (assuming a descent of Emmons), it's just a matter of whether you do it on the way down or the way up. Thanks much.

Well, it seems from the map that the White River Road branches out from 410 at 3,686, so I would think that a significant portion of the road would be bikable even if the road is closed. Seem reasonable?

So, it looks like Cayuse Pass is opening on Friday afternoon (http://www.nps.gov/mora/pphtml/newsdetail12325.html). Does this mean that one will be able to drive to the White River Campground, or will that road still be gated?

Climb: Summit Chief Mountain-North FAce Date of Climb: 4/18/2004 Trip Report: Dave and I climbed the North Face of Summit Chief Mtn today after hiking into the base of it (via the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie) on Saturday. The conditions were fantastic, and we encountered more actual ice than I have ever before seen on a Cascades alpine-ice route. I think that the route took use about 5.5 hours and then about 2 hours to descend via a couloir on the west side. Joe Catellani, ever generous, clued Dave and I into the face a while back, and mentioned that it was probably unclimbed. Whether it had been climbed or not, it was a fantastic route, very similar in character and difficulty to the 1971 route on the North Face of Dragontail. We chose a line just right of the central rib, but many different routes would be possible on this face - generally harder to the right and easier to the left. Dave had a digital camera, so some pictures should probably surface fairly soon. Gear Notes: We had only 2 ice screws, but wished we had 3-4. The rock is quite compact (although not very loose), so knifeblades were useful. Approach Notes: Bikes, hiking, snowshoeing.

Yeah, that line was totally visible in Sean's article in Alpinist a while back. It's been tried several times I've been told, but everyone has just encountered snowy crap. If conditions materialized it looks like it'd be amazing.

I just saw the new UW Climbing Guide. Looks really well done, and it's being distributed locally by Captain Defacto himself. Something to check out.

Awesome climb, and awesome ski! By the way, I'm pretty sure that was the first winter ascent of the North Face of Buckner.

Fuckin' awesome! I might have a new favorite website.

I've used the Integral MK1lite Event tent on the last 3 climbs I've done, and it rocks. The normal MK1lite weighs less than the I-tent, and the Event MK1lite weighs significantly less than the normal MK1lite. The Event fabric is also more breathable than Toddtex or Tegraltex. I also think that the Integral vents are much better than the Bibler vents. If I could afford two single-wall tents, I'd get the MK1lite Event AND the Bibler Firstlight (I think the Firstlight would have it's place for when the forecast is really good.). However, I can't afford two, and thus I would get the MK1lite Event.

The first 4-5 miles of overgrown logging road are easy, although all the creek beds you cross have been changed somewhat. From the end of the logging road to Terror Creek is the bushwacking crux, and I lost the route both on the way in and on the way out. I didn't put on snowshoes until up on the crest of The Barrier, although there were plenty of consolidated patches before then (In fact, there were little patches of snow all the way down to the trailhead, at about 600 ft.). The snow was soft where it hadn't seen much sun, and there was a firm crust where it had - covered by about 6 inches of fresh snow. The fresh snow was sliding off the crust very easily, which is why I wanted to get out before another 6 inches fell.

Climb: The Chopping Block-SE Route Date of Climb: 2/15/2004 Trip Report: I climbed the Chopping Block today after hiking in yesterday via Goodell Creek and The Barrier. The entire Goodell Creek valley (and I would imagine most N Cascade valleys) has plenty of evidence of November's torrential rains. The Goodell Creekbed is about 4 times wider in places, and the landslide that came down the opposite side of the valley is enormous. The SE route was moderate - mostly steep snow with a couple tricky mixed sections. I originally planned to stay up for Monday, but the avalanche hazard seemed to be rapidly growing. I believe this was probably the first winter ascent of The Chopping Block - If you think or know otherwise, please let me know. Gear Notes: -altimeter would've been useful -50m 6mm cord -Camp XLH 130 harness (4.5oz) -DMM Bugette -Snowshoes very useful

On my calendar, March 20 is marked as the vernal equinox. Does that make it the last day of winter, or the first day of spring?

Gordy Skoog and I are once again working to make sure that the Washington section of the American Alpine Journal is as complete as possible this year. We are already aware of several new routes that were done in 2003, through this site and elsewhere, but my guess is that others have gone undetected. Grade IV and harder routes are ideally recorded as first-person reports, and we will be compiling reports of Grade II-III routes into a general summary. If you have something to submit, please send a description to either Gordy or I. Thanks much, Colin Haley gordys@altrec.com colinhaley@comcast.net

We rapped down the standard North face. We found the first rap anchor, but then had to build two of our own. The traverse back to Prusik Pass is a bad angle for avalanches, but the snow was quite firm. There has been enough wind up there that the fresh snow has only accumulated in some spots.

We hauled crampons and tools all the way in there, but ended up just doing the ridge in boots and gloves - There was lots of snow on the ledges and holds, but no ice. The 5.7 slab was interesting in plastic boots...

Climb: Prusik Peak-West Ridge Date of Climb: 1/26/2004 Trip Report: Mark and I climbed the W ridge of Prusik today, after spending Saturday and Sunday skiing in via Snow Creek. In the general Enchantments area there is about 3-4 inches of new snow on top of a crust. We saw lot's of ice on the approach - in particular, there are many pitches of ice above Nada Lake.

What is that? The Canmore "special" snowshoeing team?

I can't seem to figure out which leashes are the best if one plans to waterfall climb and alpine climb on the same tools. The BD lockdowns are great for alpine climbing, but really are not very comfortable for steep ice. All the clippable leashes (androids, Charlet version, etc.) are nice for waterfalls, but not so nice for alpine stuff. I've found the Grivel Fast leashes to be the most comfortable, but they are a bit finicky and slow for getting in and out. The BD twist leashes have almost no security in terms of dropping a tool. Perhaps the Grivel Easy-G is the way to go, although I certainly wish it weren't so bulky. Obviously, I'm a bit too picky, but do any of you have other ideas/opinions?

Yes, I agree, that was a ridiculous article. I had no idea while being interviewed what she planned to write about. The majority of those quotes were totally garbled and vague references to what I actually said.