512dude

Clint...we really didn't do the climb, we just used some previous post's pictures and Photoshop'ed ourselves in. I'll send you the .psd files to save you some time Cheers mate!

Thanks for the info Jesse. It is funny how your 2 hour ascent has become a sub one hour ascent in other posts. It sounds like your car to car was something like 10+ hours then. I totally believe you cranked it out in just over 2 hours as it took us 3 hours and 20 minutes and we weren't even hauling donkey and belayed quite a few pitches. Good work but I am sorry to hear about your crappy descent - I'm sure we'll run at it again. So did you guys just simul-solo the route unroped or did you leap each other at any old point or did you stop at a given belay and swap out or ??? I am curious to know your tactics. What do you mean you did it in 2 pitches? You only belayed two pitches? Cheers

Trip: Slesse - NE Buttress Date: 9/12/2007 Trip Report: It has been a great season climbing thus far but Slesse was still on my hit list and the summer drawing short. With the high pressure system that formed over the PNW last week I knew that it would likely be the last chance for a summer ascent on Slesse. My post for a partner resulted in a hook-up with a great guy and experienced climber from Bellingham. After a quick stop at the Triple O in Chilliwack we rolled down the Chilliwack Lake Road and found Slesse Creek Road at the mileage quoted by Becky. There were a couple of tougher sections and so we pulled my gear box off the back of my van and stashed it to give me more clearance to get thru the wash outs. We tried to follow Nelson's and/or Becky's instructions but with new logging activity things got a bit confusing and we ended driving around looking for the Slesse Mtn trail head. I ripped open a sidewall and had to change a tire on a steep logging road but luckily that only ate up time and didn't strand us. We ended up finding the a trail but with no signs we had to only assume it was the correct spot. Our approach notes have the updated information with regards to finding the correct trail head. By the time we got to the Nesakwatch Creek side it was already dark and so we had to look for trails by head lamp. The best we could do was locate the old trail head at ~3.5 miles from the road. I had read about a new trail on the mountslesse.ca forum but we had no luck locating it so we parked and crashed at the old trail trail head. Alarms were ringing around 4am and we were up and going by 5am by head lamps. The first business was to cross the Nesakwatch Creek and the cold water ensured that we would not be sleepy for the rest of the approach. The growth on the far side of the creek is pretty thick so following the old logging road is best done by looking up and making sure there is no canopy cover above. A bit of bush whacking took us thru thickets and at one point we came across a large hornets nest hanging in a tree. I wasn't sure it was still inhabited so I tapped it gently and boy was I wrong. Within an instant the hornets were pouring out the entrance and surrounding the nest. We backed off quickly and with good luck neither one of us sustained any hits. A little further up the trail Kurt plunged into a dirt crevasse just catching himself before really going in! Luckily he also avoided injury. We discovered that this area of the trail had what looked like small mine shafts of sorts?!? We crossed a couple of wooden foot bridges and in about 45 minutes emerged from the brush to find a nice hiking trail with flagging tape. I believe that we just hooked up with the new and much better Memorial Trail. Soon thereafter we arrived at the Memorial Plaque and found the climber's trail leading up the bowl just behind it. We continued up the scree bowl following the rocky drainage and passing an old landing gear and various plane wreckage bits from the 1956 plane crash. We decided to take the gulley just SE of the East Buttress toe and then cross over the notch in the lower part of the East Buttress which would put us in the pocket glacier cirque. (Good map on pg.170 of Becky’s guide Vol.III) The good news was that the pocket glacier had slid and the objective danger in that area was now minimized. It allowed us the ability to cross quickly and in trail runners. Just as we were standing in the notch of the East Buttress we watched a huge avalanche let loose as the north side glacier broke away and swept straight through the headwall gully, a common approach for the Direct NE Buttress start. We down climbed into the pocket glacier cirque and as we made our way across the cirque we came across a rope which had been cut through. We coiled it up and talked about whether or not this could be the rope from the accident back in early July in which a climber was killed by falling ice. A sobering and sad thought but a reality to remind us of the serious nature of this environment. We moved on quietly knowing that this mountain has been a place of many tragic events. As we reached the long ramp we gave one last look back at the cirque and the remaining glacier and were thankful for the safe passage. 8:30am and we were now crossing onto the buttress through the treed section. We followed a semi-trail that wound its way through the 3rd and 4th class terrain and eventually took us on to the crest where we changed over to rock shoes for the 5th class terrain. It wasn’t long before we were through the double cracks, the short 5.9 (Becky’s pitch 8/Nelson’s pitch 13) and into the nice 5.8 layback where we bootied a very old stiff-necked Friend. After the large bivi ledge we simul-climbed the next 600’ until we reached the leaning pillar. A nice corner with a fixed pin took us into a couple of short pitches and more ledges. Then the loose blocky corner pitch with the ¼” Leaper bolt and a fun step though a notch in a roof. The next pitch went long for almost a full rope length to the described alcove atop Nelson’s pitch 22. A good belay with nuts here and a great photo op looking down the whole buttress below. Two more longer pitches and we were at the summit at 5:30pm. The climbing was not very difficult but the rock appearance gave the impression that whole sections of the mountain were ready to peel away at a given moment. I found huge hand holds and plenty of footholds the whole way up and even though the over hanging roofy sections which always provided some stemming option. We weren’t on the summit long before we need to start moving and find our way down, daylight was limited. We had opted for a single rope so we were prepared to do some down climbing to get to the large lower ledge system. As we followed the cairn marked descent SW around the corner we only had a small 4th class down climb and then we discovered a new set of slings. Kurt and I figured this was recently set up by someone not too happy to down climb this section but who only had a single rope. So we rapped and of course found another station about 80’ to 90’ down. One more rap and we were at the large ledge which was easily walked to the other rap stations. I spotted a faint trail heading across the scree bowl and towards the wooded ridge so we knew where we were headed. Once we made it to the big gulley behind the north face we only had one task left. Follow that trail along the crest and down towards Slesse Creek. This is one arduous trail that seems like its’ steepness will never end. It will definitely give you a good thigh work out and when it finally hits bottom you’ll have another ~2 - 2.5 miles back to the car along the old logging road. Overall our car to car time was 17 hours. A BIG thanks to Kurt for being a great climber and a great partner. Basic area map showing overall start and finish of the climb Hazards on the road approach Ominous Slesse in the early morning Plane wreckage - landing gear Look back at the approach up the basin from the memorial Kurt heading for the gully Approach gully with the tower on the right Looking down the approach gully East Buttress and cross over notch Heading up the slabs to the East Buttress A look across the pocket glacier cirque to the approach ramp Remnants of the pocket glacier with the descent from the notch in the background Crossing the slabs in the cirque A sobbering find with the objective dangers above The last bits of dangerous ice A look back across the cirque - our line follows the shadow The ramp to the Ne Buttress crest The twin cracks on Becky's pitch 7 Short 5.9 on Becky's pitch 8 5.8+ Layback flake - Becky's pitch 9 starting the 600 ft of 3rd/4th class Kurt with a twinkle in his eye as we simul to the headwall the upper wall with the leaning pillar 5.8+ vertical wall with a fixed pin - Becky's pitch 11 nice exposure up high is that block going to hold? "the incredible 5.8" as Becky describes his pitch 13 looking down from the alcove belay at the top of Nelson's pitch 21/Becky's pitch 14 view from the belay Kurt cruising up Last sunlight for the summit shot Baker in the south What? We got to go 6000' down there??? Last light on the Border Peaks Gear Notes: For our one day climb we took 3L of water but soaked up a fair amount of water in the cirque and also on the pocket glacier slabs. We did find small snow chunks on the upper reaches of the route and on the last 2 miles of the Slesse Mtn. trail there was water. We each carried a Bullet pack. I ate 3 bars and 1 shot of gu but had an additional 2 bars and 2 packs of gu with me. Climbing gear consisted of ten 2’ slings, one 4’ sling, Camalot set from .3 – 3 and a set of BD wires from 4-13 and doubles from 10-13. I also recommend leather gloves for the descent as they come in handy for grabbing and swinging from trees and bushes. Our shoes consisted of simple approach shoes/trail runners and were more than sufficient. One 60m rope is sufficient for the descent since new slings have been set up for single rope rappels further south from the original rappel stations. Just follow the cairns. Approach Notes: The most popular way to climb Slesse’s classic NE Buttress route is to approach from the Nesakwatch Creek on the east side of the mountain and then descend down the Slesse Mtn. trail towards Slesse Creek on the west side of the mountain. To facilitate this option a second car or other mode of transportation should be left at the Slesse Mtn. trail head on the west side of the mountain. A popular option is to leave a mountain bike at the end of the Slesse Mtn trail head and ride the ~15 mile trek back to the car on the Nesakwatch Creek side. Drive – Take the Trans Canada Highway #1 east from Vancouver to Chilliwack. Take exit 119 / Chilliwack-Sardis exit and head south on Vedder Road for 3.4 miles. Take a left turn onto Chilliwack Lake Road (paved) just before the Vedder Bridge. Part 1 - Follow Chilliwack Lake Road (paved) for 13.2 miles to the Slesse Creek Road. Turn right (south) on to Slesse Creek Road (dirt) passing a fork at ~3.7 miles and staying left (right goes to a bridge). At the next fork stay right as the left goes into the DND Test Area and is typically gated. Head uphill to another fork at ~4.3 miles at the top of the hill. Stay right at this one and head down to a small bridge. This road can be deeply rutted and may require a high clearance vehicle. At ~4.6 miles reach a three way intersection and ignore the right and left options instead heading straight through to a parking area at approximately 5 miles. The Slesse Mtn. trail currently begins from the south end of the parking area and this is the place to leave the 2nd car or stash a bike. Part 2 – Return to Chilliwack Lake Road and head east for another 5.7 miles until you reach the second Riverside Recreation Site Entrance on your right. (Both entrances are within 500m of one another). Take the second entrance and pass over a small bridge, followed by a larger bridge. Keep driving straight until the road branches and go right. This is the Nesakwatch Creek Road (dirt). Follow this for road and in 3.5 miles from Chilliwack Lake Road you will find a small pull out and the “old” trail head for the approach as described by Fred Becky. A new trail head exists on the river side of the road about 1 mile further up the road but at the time of writing we had a hard time finding the pull out and trail head. Approach – Starting elev. ~2000ft. Once you have found the new trail, head down towards the Nesakwatch Creek and cross it on a log. Three quarters of the way up the steep trail you will reach another log crossing over a small creek. Follow the beaten trail and occasional tape tied to branches until it meets up with the old logging road. The trail will then switch back gradually, crossing over several avalanche chutes & runoffs along the way. Once you start getting close to the memorial you will see two signs a short distance apart and eventually reach the memorial plaque at ~3900 ft. From here Slesse will be in full view and it is a good position for assessing the conditions of the pocket glacier and to gape at the route. From behind the memorial plaque a climbers trail heads down the slope and follows the drainage rock into the basin. Depending on the time of year, approach route conditions and the whether the party is doing the direct start or the by-pass, each party will need to negotiate their own approach risks from here to NE Buttress. Descent - Walk south from the summit a couple hundred feet across a ledge system above the east wall. Move over the crest and onto the south west side of the summit ridge and follow cairns south until one has to make a short 4th class down climb to a good ledge. A rappel station will be obvious tied off to a large block. 2 raps will get one down to the obvious ledge system. Walk northwest down the deep gully with the tall gendarme on your left. Continue down to where the gulley becomes steep and begin traversing northwest along good ledges. Look for another cairn as you traverse around a corner to another single rope rappel station. After the rap, traverse the slopes to the north west and find 2 more rappels in a gulley. Traverse again to the north west and find the last rappel station. Make another rap; angling hard climber’s left to an obvious ledge (~50 ft. rappel). Walk up until able to enter the large gully (somewhat loose) and head to the bottom of the gully. At the exit of gully, find the climber’s trail at the top of the scree bowl that heads off towards the wooded ridge (cairns, turning to footpath). Follow this trail down, with occasional down scrambles past a saddle with many dead trees and on to a meadow at ~4,000 ft. The trail becomes steep in many places and is unrelenting in its descent. More trail, getting better as you go down takes you (after what seems like forever) to an old logging road in the valley bottom. More endless deactivated logging road leads (~1.5 hours) to the parking lot shortly after a wooden footbridge. ~4.5 hours summit to parking lot.

Jens, can you post the details about that sub-hour ascent. Who, when, how etc. Thx

Bug - he didn't in mine ...

Weather looks ideal to run up Slesse. I'd prefer someone with alpine experience, comfy to lead safely any of the stuff on Slesse, knows self-rescue and it would be great if you've done the route before since I'd like to do it in a day. I can go any day this week and am happy to lead whatever. I have a ton of alpine and multipitch experience. Let me know if you are interested. Thx, c

Jens posted this: "Don't quote me on this but I think it has gone in under 60 minutes from base to top (not counting approach or descent)." ...good thing you quoted him though

Sorry to break the bad news but here are our times for today... Car to Car 6:11 Base to Base 5:11 Base to Summit 3:20 Summit to Base 1:51 Let the games begin!

Read a posting for a speed climb on Infinite Bliss back on July 28th and decided to see what we could do. I hooked up with my mate Michael Cartwright earlier today and we made the following times (insert chest beating sounds here): Car to Car 6:11 Base to Base 5:11 Base to Summit 3:20 Summit to Base 1:51 Rip it up!

Far North, I'd be up to meet with you at some point. I am looking at the Bugs but still have routes I want to run in the pass. Recent posts of WA Pass climbing in the North Cascades section if you want to check it out. PM me and we can chat a bit. c

Trip: Cedar Creek Wall - ? Date: 8/1/2007 Trip Report: I was wanting a few days of back country camping coupled with some climbing so I looked up a few options for remote climbing areas that offered longer routes and came across the Cedar Creek Wall. Never having heard of anyone else climbing in the area I thought it would prove interesting and adventurous to go see what the wall offered. I hooked up with Kevin for round two and this time a 3 day excursion involving a longer approach, camping and climbing. After a bit of discussion we opted to approach via Twisp and the Twisp River Road which brought us to the North Creek trail head ~3680'. From the trail head we took TR413 for ~3.25 miles (~1.5 hours) to the intersection with Cedar Creek Trail #476, ~5200'. From here the trail climbed up to Abernathy Pass (~6400') in a short 0.5 mile which took 45 minutes at a good clip. Then we continued another mile or so down the other side until we reached Cedar Creek ~4900' and good camping in another 45 minutes. The next morning we departed camp around 7:00am and followed a faint trail that paralleled Cedar Creek on its' north side (I was surprised at how cool the temperatures were, about 39F at night after seeing highs of 91F in the day time). The wall itself is in the sun in the morning but gets shade for most of the remainder of the day due to its' NE exposure. The line we took was thru a weakness on the left of the slabs and eventually trended over to the larger crack/chimney system on the right via a large treed ledge and some traversing. What we found in the crack/chimney system was very little gear and some loose and rotting sections of rock - typical kitty litter granite decomposition. Most of the pitches had marginal gear and long runouts. Neither one of us thought the route was that stellar and agreed that we wouldn't recommend it very highly. At the end of the day we meandered our way back to camp. The thoughts of freeze dried food wasn't that appetizing but to our surprise we discovered that we had neighbours. From the looks of their camp they were either some burly dudes or they got packed in by horses. These guys had huge tents, cabinets, booze, coolers, lanterns, tables, chairs, you name it! So we went over and introduced ourselves asking them if they had brought extra steak for us - jokingly! They ended up being very friendly fishermen and had many questions for us about the climbing. Before long we ended up with cold drinks and were eating steak, salad and rice for dinner. On the way out we encountered 4 younger hunters - bear season opened Aug 1st - who had spent the night camping at Abernathy pass. Looking like a group of militia wannabes in full fatigues I was disgusted to see that they decided to defecate and leave their paper remains on the trail and not even clean-up. When we questioned them about it they claimed that they didn't notice it and it must have been one of their buddies. Further down the trail we came upon the shit-head himself who had once again purged his bowels right on the trail and left his paper behind. I'm sure he respects his prey as much as the wilderness he hunts in. 100' out and do you see any gear? Cold rewards at the end of a long day...maybe that is why those packs were so heavy?!? Approach Notes: Recommended: Park at Cedar Creek/Cedar Falls Trail Head off of SR20. Hike ~2000' and 7.5 miles to Cedar Creek camping area. From the camp area follow a trail paralleling Cedar Creek on the N side until below the wall. Head up thru the forest and boulders to the base at ~5300' in ~30 minutes

I have a copy of the Preliminary Guide book signed by the author himself! He's been dang busy bolting and cleaning and if you know how much work it takes to do what he does then give him a break on the release schedule. I'm sure that I could share a few pages Cheers, C

OK - I did that and from what I can surmise the Nesakwatch Rd is open to the Slesse trail head and now Mt. Rexford trail head if you have a high clearance vehicle. My call to the Chilliwack Forest Service gave me the info that Slesse Creek Road was closed at the 0.0km point. That would add 7 miles for coming out. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/dck/Engineering/fsroadclosures.htm Anyone know otherwise? Thanks, Chris

Jan, did you guys climb Slesse? It sounds like you can make it to the Mt.Slesse trail head at 5.9km if it is open to Mt.Rexford trail head ~8km. Did I interpret your post correctly? What about the descent and hike out on Slesse Creek Road - heard that was closed at 0 mile post? Cheers, C

Thanks guys - appreciate it!

Thanks Chuck!

Trip: WA Pass - N Early Winter Spire - West Face Date: 7/25/2007 Trip Report: After my earlier excursion on the NW Corner I really had a craving for that fine looking line called the West Face. I have to say that this route didn't disappoint and delivered for me the finest crack climbing in the pass up on the upper pitches. For this route I hooked up with Kane from CascadeClimbers. We headed out a little after 9am and started up the winding Blue Lake trail reaching the turn off from the main trail in about 1.5 miles with ~700 vertical feet being hiked. 30 more minutes and 1K more vertical feet brought us to the base of the route. The first pitch is straight forward and is a shared start with the NW Corner. It can be stretched out to get one to the mini amphitheatre below pitch 2. P2 is a well protected short 5.8. P3 starts up some easy cracks until one reaches a small ledge and the flake. We didn't bring anything larger than a #3 Camalot so the flake had to be climbed unprotected. It was committing to lay back the thing knowing it would be tricky to step back out of it but all went well and the flakes above have slings to clip from a good stance. I scoped the traverse and saw the bolt, an old 1/4" time bomb. I thought this bolt had been replaced!?! So I got some gear in under the lip and a nut to the left of the traverse and started out. It was only as I was part way thru that I noticed the shiny new bolt on the upper lip. DUH! The traverse is airy and wonderful with great friction until I was able to blindly lay back around the corner. A nice reach to a high right foot around the corner allowed me to work a nice Camalot #1 below an old fixed pin. Then I moved up and left to the base of the thin crack. Kane arrived at the belay and we arranged gear and got ready for my anticipated lead of the crux. I prepared the small gear and struck off on the good entry to the thin crack. Overall this section took small nuts very well and offered excellent finger jamming. Part way up is a small horizontal tipper edge that made for a great place to work gear in. My next goal was to get my foot up on that tipper edge so I laid back the crack and smeared hard. Another good stance here with my left foot on the tipper edge let me work a Metolious #1 Cam into the crack. I pushed on and up with the crack getting tighter until I could see a good flake edge. As I reached up for it my feet blew and I was off for some flight time. At this point I realized that I climbed too high and that after I placed the cam I should have traversed left to the second crack system. Back on and in a few moves I was in the left crack system and ready to build the next belay after that short crux pitch. The next pitch is the best on the route. It starts with a few gaston opposition moves in a crack to a small overlap that takes a .75 Camalot well and then up into another finger crack. The upper potion starts as an intimidating looking thin crack and then with awesome finger jams it just keeps getting better. I wished that this pitch could have just gone on and on and it is the money pitch on the route! Eventually it peeters out and one has to traverse right to a larger crack and a belay if your partner mistakens his 50m rope for a 60m! A longer rope would have had us complete the pitch to the top. West Face Route, 6 Pitches 5.11a Kane almost done with P2 Heading into the crux crack View from belay at base of P6 The amazing upper crack pitch Traversing over from the end of P6 Easy cracks that lead out to the low 5th and summit Gear Notes: Rack to 3" with extra .5,.75,1 Camalots 60m 12 draws + two 4' Approach Notes: See Nelson's Select Cascades Guide

We rapped from the top of P4. If you go and finish it please share your exploration of this old "classic". Cheers C

Trip: WA Pass - S. Early Winter Spire - Direct East Buttress Date: 7/24/2007 Trip Report: After a botched attempt with Chris Kouba a week earlier, I returned with a vengeance and my best arsenal: a good weather forecast and my South African buddy Michael Cartwright. Michael met me at Blue Lake Trail Head Tuesday morning ~8:30am with breakfast in hand - nice. We talked about a route and decided we'd take a run at this even thou I'd be climbing it again in a few days. We parked his car at Blue Lake and drove my van to the hairpin with the strategy of coming down the South Arete and taking the pleasant Blue Lake trail back to his car. Sorting gear and filling water he introduced me to his little blue alpine pack, describing it as Spider Pig and singing the Spider Pig jingle. A little explanation may be required: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=12995490 Spider Pig would end up being our "light weight" climbing companion for the day and would get a free ride up the route on our backs. Mostly it carried 2 pairs of shoes, a jacket, 3 litres of water, a few bars and 2 Egg McMuffins. The climbing route is about 10 pitches long, consists of crack and face climbing and back when Fred Becky first put this up it took them 2.5 days to ascend the line. The 2 bolt ladders can now be freed at 5.11a and it was our intention to do just that. Departure time was a little late at 9:30am but we are the masters of the casual pace. Michael immediately set pace and with the approach gully steepening I could feel it. Temps were just right and so we made good time ~1hr. to the base of the route. After soloing up a bit of the easier lower section we roped up and I led off on the second pitch which went fast and easy and got us to the 3" 5.9 crack. Michael handed off Spider Pig and launched into some easy flakes which led to a feisty layback jamming crack and a under clinging traverse under a roof. As I climbed this pitch I often cursed at Spider Pig because he was fat and uncomfortable. Happy to drop Spider Pig off, I picked up the continuance of that crack for the next pitch which also included a balancy step left under a small roof. A quick move of the belay and we were at the base of the 1st bolt ladder. Michael decided to free the bolt ladder and made fast time with a pull around the crest to the next belay. I, on the other hand, had to ferry Spider Pig across this section. I freed most of it until the crest where Spider Pig distracted me and caused me to fall. I almost pitched Spider Pig off had it not been for the water and shoes that Spider Pig so valuably carried. Once again free of Spider Pig I could climb as intended and pitch 5 started off by traversing right two bolts and getting into a beautiful 5.10 Canadian finger crack. The short crack leads up to a face and a traverse right brings you to a well camouflaged bolt and some slabby faces moves to a good ledge. One more money pitch of 11a bolt ladder begins up and left from the belay. This pitch has a couple of funky mantles and ends below much easier low fifth class terrain. A quick run up easy lines brought us to the summit. At this point we ripped into Spider Pig and emptied its guts while we searched through its internals for something nutritious. After a quick lunch we made our walk down the South Arete and eventually to the trail. Our car to summit time was 5 hours and the descent down to Blue Lake Trail Head from the summit to us ~2 hours. South Early Winter Spire - Direct East Buttress,10 Pitches 5.11a Finishing the approach Looking up from the base Starting P3 - 5.9 Freeing bolt ladder #1 Around the crest 10eh! finger crack starting P6 Spider Pig getting it exposure following P6 Looking down from P7 Gear Notes: 10 slings 1 set of nuts BD 4-13 1,2,3,4 Met Cams .5,.75,1,1,2,3 BD Cams 1 x 60m rope Approach Notes: Park at hair pin and head up gully to the base. See Select Climbs in Cascades, Nelson

I am looking for a high res photo of the south east face of Snow Creek Wall. That is the end that Orbit and Mary Jane can be found. Anyone have a good shot they'd care to share? Thanks in advance!

Trip: Snow Creek Wall - Galaxy - A Gardener's Dream Date: 7/29/2007 Trip Report: [font:Microsoft Sans Serif]Craig and I went to try some other route on Snow Creek Wall besides Orbit, Outer Space, Iconoclast or Hyperspace as those seem most popular. We decided to give Galaxy (FA 1966) a run since it goes at .8/.9 for about 9 or so odd pitches. The guidebook doesn't say much more than pro to 3" and wandering up the gully to the left of Iconoclast. With a later start we didn't end up finishing the route but I am curious if any others have been on this thing?? We ended up doing a bunch of bush bashing P1: Start up what best figures as the easier entry to the gully system 5.6 and pass slings atop of the first set of blocks. Move up and right thru bushes to find gear and then step further right on good face moves to continue up until reaching the 2nd set of slings 20' higher. P2: Continue up the corner/crack/gulley system 5.7, to a two pin rap/belay station. (We climbed past this and enjoyed building our own belay about 30ft. below the tree and at the bottom of a left trending rotten crack that lulls one out on the chossy face and towards a stew of slings and a small dying shrub-ask me how I know!) P3: From the 2 pin belay continue up the corner/crack with fine stemming and jamming, 5.8+, until 30ft. below the tree. Move up and right and get good gear in cracks on right. Traverse back left across a thin ledge and a blank face (no protection) and into a rotten layback crack reaching the tree from the right. P4: Continue up from the tree in the ramp and crack system leading up to another bush and another rotten corner. 15 feet up this corner reaches another lesge and belay point. At this point we decided to bail since we spent too much time getting lost and gardening the route. Kramer's hand drawn topo of the wall is somewhat misleading and we ended up trying to follow his line and getting off route. The third pitch is great but overall the climb would be much better if it would see more traffic. Good gear but way too much greenery on the route that we had to bash thru or tear out. The cracks were also very dirty and required much cleaning for us to place gear and proceed. It felt more like landscaping then climbing. We later discovered that the slings on the chossy face and dying shrub are useful for bailing from the route. A single 60m doesn't go from the tree to the 2 pin rap below so one must use the intermediate station. I'd like to go back and finish the line but from below, the route finding for the next 4-5 pitches looks just as wonder filled as some of the earlier stuff. Anyone else been on this route? Has anyone else done any of the other routes at Snow Creek Wall and can they recommend any of them either than those I listed? What about Mary Jane Dhdrl?[/font] Approx line looking up from the base P2 looking mossy but protectable Into the great stemming and 5.8+ corner The traverse across the thin ledge and unprotected face Looking down P4 and at the tree ledge Gear Notes: small + med hexes full set of nuts 4-13 BD 1,2,3,4 Met Cams .5,.75,1,2,3 BD Cams 12 slings include 2x4' bail webbing Approach Notes: Follow approach for Snow Creek Wall.

Want to know the latest on Slesse and road. ANyone have some beta to share? Thanks

I am looking for a partner for Tues 24th and/or Wed 25th this week. Want to do 1) Clean Break on Juno Tower 2) West Face on NEW spire Option for Lexington Twr.

Dana, if you want to go to WA Pass I am looking for a Tues/Wed partner. Chris

E Face of Lexington has a fairly new piece of wood (2x4) with a sling around it wedged in the off width and also has 2 new bolts in the chimmney. I hear that you don't need to bring a four as it won't work but a 5 just makes it.