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Marko

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Posts posted by Marko

    Johannesburg Mtn

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    Ah hah! You finally saw through our thinly veiled charade. We thought Stuart was pretty good but wily ol' Bob picked up on it right away. For this trip we were actually warming bar stools in western Saskatchewan. We bought our photos at a truck stop east of Calgary.

     

    Shit, foiled again!

    Johannesburg Mtn

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    Howdy Pope,

     

    Well, if there's any reason to be impressed (which I deny) it's from our perseverence, not any alleged skill required. There was some very satisfying climbing but nothing real technical.

     

    Inspiration? That was our first choice if conditions were safer!

     

    As far as being horrified, I hear you. Actually the route up was quite safe except for the first several hundred feet which we were able to get up pretty fast, and the last ropelength to our camp below the summit. The one place we were very lucky, I mean very lucky, was the last 1500' down to the valley southwest of the West Peak: A good size slab avo had cleared the big gully down to turf. If that hadn't happened we would have had to do a pantload of rappelling down the west ridge proper.

     

    And the reason we chose J-Berg over Rockies ice climbing was because I've been having elbow tendon problems and didn't want to do any pullups...

     

    We took 2 rolls of slides but there's only a couple good ones. Can you scan slides and get meaningful pictures?

     

    Cheers,

    Mark

    Johannesburg Mtn

    in North Cascades

    Posted · Edited by Marko

    As always, Colin is a man of susinct posts. In 24 years of "advanced backpacking", this was probably the most engaging climb I've done in the Cascades! He forgot to mention a few things: The technical crux early on (the tree climb / stem / dry-tool section), the DEEP wallowing, the cornice forming over the tent and the subsequent digging out during the first night on the route, the tent walls collecting sheets of ice on the inside every night thereafter, the DEEP ASS wallowing, the occassional clearing and stunning, stark views across to Forbidden and Torment, the wicked snowed-up knife edge section to the rap into the gash, the canyon-like gash itself, the snow arete, the funky looking crevasse bridge (Colin being the lightest you understand, and therefore the first), the steep GODDAMN DEEP wallowing, the perfect camp with clearing skies and views of only the peak tops above the clouds, the first taste of ramen since a less than successful Alaska trip in '92, the next morning Colin leading a rather heady section to the summit (30 meters of steep looseness with the everpresent 12 to 18" of unbonded snow and zero gear), the reappearence of the storm, the summit hand shake and smiles, the daunting descent ahead, the spectacular ridge traverse to the West Peak, the surprisingly looooong ridge traverse to the West Peak, the mindful pitch out of one of several "ackward notches", the camp perched on the ridge crest, the spilled pot of water in the tent (Mark), the bottomless 10-foot diameter mistery hole on the way, the brief appearance of a spectre, the 1-1/2 days it took to get from the camp below the main summit to the W summit, the blinding wind and snow, the incredible aretes and ravines everywhere, the rime, the W summit finally, the mindfuck routefinding with bad visiblility, the little slab avos we kept setting off that tug surprisingly hard on the torso of a wet tired human, the solid partner, the 600' we didn't really have to climb back up and then down, the 3-1/2' deep slab that cleared the way for a "safe" descent down to timberline, the heartbreaking wallowing, the wetness, the 900' wallow up out of the western valley, the 3' slab crown we caused but didn't ride, the dark, the guesswork on the way down, the compass, the wettest camp I've ever experienced (not necessarily Mark's best idea), the sensation of hypothermia, the fuel running out, the light, the car.

     

    Then there was the repetitive pattern of this post, sorry.

     

    Not the biggest deal in the world, but we're pretty stoked!

     

    Cheers,

    Mark

    Revenge

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Moonflower 3 times:

    1. Fear and spindrift (Hey, a book title?)

    2. Spindrift and hollow ice

    3. Weather crappy for 2 1/2 weeks, didn't even get on the bugger

     

    Mark Nobody

    Kahiltna Plan B?

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Howdy Wayne!

    Sultana shouldn't be a problem sans permit. Not many patrols on the peak.

    It's a long slog up and over Crosson but with cool views on the other side! It's also very exposed to the nasty weather from the W.

     

    Cheers,

    Mark (from NY Gully)

     

    Complacency kills.

    NEED BUSH ACCESS!!

    in British Columbia/Canada

    Posted

    Vert,

    Went up to the NE Ridge Aug '99. On the Bush road drive to around the 123 km point (I think it's measured from Golden) and turn right to cross the river. There was a sign "Rice Brook Main" after the bridge, take that road. This road went for about 10 km basically following the approach description in Dougherty's guide. This is the most RADICAL road I have ever taken a passenger vehicle on! Made it up with my beater Peugeot wagon a couple k from the end. Can't imagine log trucks ripping around up there.

    Walk what you don't drive, traverse the clearcut over to the north fork of Rice Brook and follow the creek to the bowl below the start of the NE Ridge.

    It's a hell of a beautiful place with a very out-of-place road.

    If you go in late season, go before the first snows of fall. We didn't, and ran out of time slogging through the deeps on the ridge.

    Cheers,Mark

    THE AAJ

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Yeah, I noticed that too, Lowell. A friend of mine soloed a new route (unless Doorish did in '72 or something) on West Garfield. He self-belayed a bunch of pitches, spent a night, probably a grade IV. Beckwith no like.Same guy and I did a route on Sloan, 3000'+, easily grade IV. Same deal, but a 1500' snow route gets in the journal.No big deal, but the 2 rock routes are the type of climbs I wouldn't mind knowing about. Anyway, blah, blah, blah.

    Cheers,Mark

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