Marko

Like totally!

JB, The first pitch of the Blob (I think that's the earlier name, ask Silas Wild) was pretty loose except for the crux. Right after that it was bad but then the rock got surprisingly good. Most of the remaining Blob was incredibly fun, solid, exposed ridge climbing. I think all of that was either running belay or soloing. Alot of the climb went with Wayne soloing with Colin and me doing running belays. (I was <the word "almost" deleted> always the first to call for the rope.) Right on the West Summit of the Blob we found a perfect bivy with a convenient snow patch. Where it was 5.whatever, the rock in general was some of the best I've ever seen attached to a mountain. The East Needle had a short section on the SE Arete of easy vertical where the wall cut away under you for some wicked exposure. I've never crapped myself on 5.4 before! The east side of the Himmelhorn was exceptional. There was some looseness immediately after the crux. Colin, please correct me where I've erred since you're the one who brought the memory.

For what it's worth this is my definition of Wayne: STOKED! The guy is fucking stoked. He's stoked about what you're doing, he's stoked about what I'm doing, and yes, he's stoked about what he's doing. So what the hell. After we got back to the car we were sitting in the dirt barefoot eating Pringles, drinking beer, and giggling like idiots. It was a damn splabdoobie adventure that I won't forget anytime soon. Still smiling, Mark (Oh, when I say we were drinking beer, I mean like not Colin, right.)

I know of one way to avoid most of the bushwacking: Winter!

Very cool secret project. Congratulations! Inspiring photos, too.

So enough chestbeating. I would totally recommend the climb. Although totally dwarfed by Temple Ridge proper, it's a cool outing. Beautiful, adventurous approach and ~3 ropelengths of perfect cracks on a solid knife edge ridge. Mid 5th, could use one rope to rap the normal east route. Clothing optional.

Right Forrest, that made the adventure all that more satisfying. It was fantastic to be climbing with those two guys on all that terrain. The climb was way more than we'd hoped it would be, like 10 quality full-value trips in one. Wildman Wayne's lead on Himmelhorn was freakin' awesome! I mean the actual definition of awesome, that which inspires awe. The fucker even placed a pin at the crux just so Colin and I could yard on it! Colin's pitch after that was spectacular as hell. We followed au cheval with an abyss on both sides. Holy crap, every peak was incredible. Only problem is I can't get this damn smile off my face. It's starting to freak out everyone in the office.

Congratulations Robert. That thing is one bigass chunk of geology. Cheers!

Ah, nekid ascent w/ pack, knife in shorts pocket for descent. Maybe a purest would say a climb doesn't count as nekid if you've got boots and a pack on. Better amend this to FRNSAWBAAPOBPERD.

Howdy Wayne! Could be a first, but I'm usually wary of claiming any rock route first ascents in the backcountry. I am sticking to this specific claim though! I'll just add more qualifiers if anyone gives me any crap! Unfortunately no one saw my footprints and I didn't bring a GPS. Figger, it was kinda wierd: The slabs on the Nada Cr approach had several rappel stations (1st biner), the slabs getting to the route start had several more (2nd biner), and the descent down the normal E. ridge route had a shitload more (more biners, one a nice keylock). On the way down I cut off and brought back ~5 Lbs of old tat. There was a helluva lot more evidence of humans on the normal route than there was on the approach I thought.

Yeah that's right, the plum of the Cascades has finally been picked. Poached right out from under Fred's nose (thank Dog). The First (Recorded) Nude Solo Ascent Of Black Pyramid's Direct East Ridge. Beautiful approach up through Temple Canyon and a classic sharp ridge with way solid rock. Even bootied 4 biners. Cheers!

How about something on Temple Ridge up by Snow Lakes? Leave tonight? Mark

What's the boat? Do you race out of Squalicum? Are you going to do PITCH this year? Alright, nothing but questions I know. Mark

Shit Wayne, that is light and fast perfection: Peeing while moving! Nice work man.

A section on the route of steep knife-edge crap snow with thought-provoking exposure off both sides. Forrest and Mark should have a better definition than I do though. Mark

Goddamn hysterical! Thanks for the laugh.

Pretty sure it's above where the two routes meet. I gotta check a photo to be positive though. Mark

Oh man, very freaking cool Forrest! Hunter is definitely THE grandest peak I've had the pleasure of failing on. South Ridge, nice. Did you enjoy the Happy Cowboy? Pictures man, pictures! Cheers, Mark

Tried Moonflower a couple times. Need any info on that? Mark

Ryland, Yeah, we used all of the guy points plus the climbing rope draped all over the tent and tied down, plus a high snow wall. The guy points were sewn to the fly like most tents. After a while these points started ripping off the fly and it was a downward spiral from there. Later, a couple of the snow wall blocks blew onto the tent and broke a pole which started flailing around slicing up the fabric. The other pair of us had an older Jansport tent that was much lower. It also had the guy lines threaded through the fly and tied directly to the tent body and to the poles. I don't think I've ever seen that feature on any other tent. That sucker was bomber but a pain to set up. On the other hand, this occurred at 17,200 on the W. Butt. If you're heading up that route I would say summit from 14,200 and NEVER camp at the 16k or 17k camps. It's a long day but way funner! So if you do that, pretty much any old tent will do. Just make some decent walls or better yet use the time to make a cave. If you're going to do a route where you're climbing with a tent on your back then I could only recommend the Integral Designs or Bibler, in that order. Lighter is so much funner... Cheers, Mark

Here's a spartan yet comprehensive alpine rack: 2 KBs 1 LA (optional. Well, I guess it's all optional.) 6-8 nuts pink tricam red tricam green camalot yellow camalot orange tricam Not all sizes overlap, but it's pretty rare when you can't move the piece around a little until it works. -Mark

I watched a buddy's brand-new VE-25 get destroyed in 100 mph winds up there. Several years later my several-year-old Integral Designs easily withstood the same conditions. The height of the VE-25 seemed to be a big factor. Which route are you doing? Have a blast!! Mark

"Is Slipstream on your list? or, Are you on Slipstream's list?" THAT is no shit.

You gotta fly with McKinley Air Service, the "2 babes and a bird". They are great people and they care about getting you in and out ASAP. They're also usually a few bucks less. Keli and LeeAnn used to work for Geeting, got sick of him, and started up their own business around '95. Just give them a call or email a few weeks in advance to give them a heads up. http://www.mckinleyairservice.com Tell them Ramenless sent you. And, no I'm not getting any money for this. Mark

Erik at Marmot went above and beyond the call of duty spending about 1-1/2 hours getting my Thermoflex liners just perfect. I was pretty insistent about getting a perfect fit and he was cheerful about getting the job done. Definitely recommend Marmot. Mark