Kyle_Flick

Skyclimb, We were up on Torment on Sat. morning around 10:00 am and thought we saw someone soloing two nobs over on the ridge traverse. Good job completing the traverse. We were surprised how precipitous the first section of the ridge traverse is and figured we'd need bivy gear to complete the whole thing. Any more beta? E.g., Did you rap to the northside from the notch below Torment to bypass the gendarmes and regain rock on the next major nob?

Hey Scott, According to some friends who were just up there two weekends ago--no it still hadn't slid off yet.

For what it's worth when I reached the bottom of Cascadian Sunday afternoon, there was a party of four who had topped out at 8:00 a.m. that morning after having done the north ridge.

I think I talked to you and your partner at the summit on Sunday. Glad you guys made it down okay . Although longer, probably safer going down the West Ridge than NW Buttress IMHO.

After climbing Razorback Ridge on 7/15, Sat. morning, we descended the NW Buttress and found it a little convoluted and loose in several places. Although we only did 2 rappels, I'd bet the West Ridge is more solid. Patches of snow and ice were able to be negotiated around.

Boy aren't we chummy and touchy, feely today? This is where the acroynm: GYSMASTFU came from. I think I'd rather stay home and just be abused by my wife with honey dos.

Great job Curt and Tom! Ron, Curt and others have talked about doing the Recurve Dihedral for years, but in winter. Ugh.

Good persistance to stick with it and finish the West Face. Great beta. Psyched to go in there via Agnes Creek vs. Bachelor.

Thanks for the troll...I'll bite. We were able to do it clean (credit: hybrids, hooks, slider nuts and a # 4 friend) until the 2nd roof of the fifth pitch. WTF do you use there?

Hey Matt I'd be happy to join you. Hopefully the forecast will improve. PM me.

No, Mike go up and right from the belay at the top of Psychopath (not up and left to the bolts). There are no bolts at top of the next pitch. You'll see what we're talking about when you get there and match up the features to the picture.

Michael, I did just what you did above Psychopath a couple of years ago. Just go right from the belay instead of left. It's real obvious and clean. Also continue that pitch past the slinged boulder and set the anchor after the double corners for a full 200'. It lines you up nicely for the next pitch.

Pete, Now that you mention it, you're absolutely right. I was stopped short of the top with rope drag nearly pulling my harness (and my pants with it) down around my knees. The anchor I built was in crappy rock and could have used more pieces the right size.

Climb: Snowcreek Wall-Hyperspace Date of Climb: 5/21/2006 Trip Report: With misgivings all around, Telemarker and I meandered our way up to the Pressure Chamber pitch. Afternoon rainshowers didn't bother us in the deep bowels of the left side of the shield. It did add to our concern about the last pitch that might involve slippery exposed slabs. But for now we were dry watching the curtain of wetness twenty feet out from us. Telemarker with a mix of free and aid made his way up the horror show with the only exit awaiting him--an ugly overhanging offwidth. For those of you hardmen who can free that climb, my hat is off to you. But for those of us mere mortals, we were shell shocked (and I only jugged the pitch). On the last pitch I was able to avoid the sickening exposure of the left step across on wet slab by aiding straight up under the dripping last roof and traversing out left. However, I made the mistake of backcleaning a piece to avoid rope drag which made it more difficult for the second. We were fortunate not to epic. Telemarker may post a couple of pictures when he can summon the strength to revisit the nightmare by developing his film. Gear Notes: Medium rack to 4 inches. Approach Notes: Dry, less ticks.

Icicle Buttress was Thurs. afternoon. She was lowered and carried out. Sunday's accident was Yellowjacket Tower and was much more serious involving head and neck trauma. He was removed by a Navy helicopter. More than four accidents already this year up the Icicle. Be careful out there.

Just say no to bouldering. Besides several months ago the County commissioners were considering blasting those mtn. home boulders out of the way to make way for a two lane road.

No and yes. No pictures. I hate skiing pictures; they never do the scene justice. The folks skiing at Cutthroat were part of the Freeheel Fest; so many of them stayed overnight in the Methow Valley.

Amen brother. Sam, Thanks for posting your well considered words of wisdom and thoughts to live by. Truly hope your rehab is progressing satisfactorily.

Add another two road miles past Varden Creek, but probably a mile less creek travel.

Climb: Silver Horn--Silver Star-Varden Creek Date of Climb: 3/4/2006 Trip Report: With the festivities of the Freeheel Festival ongoing this weekend, Tom Janisch and I thought it might be good fun to head to the Methow and try some backcountry skiing up the basins below Silver Horn and Silver Star Mt. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), the Highway was snowed in three miles farther than we anticipated. So the skins went on the skis where they stayed for the next eight hours. Up the road for about three or four miles we turned up Varden Creek. Tom "The Piston" took over cutting an uptrack alongside the creek up into the NE basin below Silver Horn. The snow wasn't particularly good--windcrusted in much of the area; so we continued on up trending west to 7500' where finally the skins were removed to head down the glacier to Silver Star Basin. When we arrived at the high point for the day, we were pleasantly surprised to see some friends already there who had come up Silver Star Creek. Up to this stage my legs were reminding me how little time they've spent on skis this winter. But all that was forgotten as we all whooped it up in near pristine powder for thousands of feet. The snow pack is incredible as evidenced by nearly all the brush covered in Silver Star Basin. Another 1000' of survival tree skiing deposited us on the highway where all of us hitched rides from kindly snowmobilers. In fading light, back at the car, we briefly chatted with other friends who reported great skiing up in the bowls of Cutthroat. Now another fond memory to cache.

Some better shots of the falls to keep the ice stoke,yo! Almost the complete Drury: Upper Drury: Descent Ramp: Sweet bivi site at the base of Drury:

Climb: Tumwater Canyon-Drury Falls Date of Climb: 2/18/2006 Trip Report: Curt Haire and I attempted a one day ascent of Drury Falls on Saturday, but conditions (falling ice) prevented us from completing the upper falls. Forecast was for well below freezing temperatures on Saturday which bode well for things remaining in place all day. We came to find out that the clear skies were a blessing for navigation in the dark, but a curse as the sun warmed the area regardless of the purported temperatures. The river crossing gave my old sea kayak a chance to come out of mothballs and function as an ice breaker to break through the accumulated ice on the opposite shore and enable me to ferry our packs and partner across. We started hiking after 2:00 am and reached the lower bivy site at the base of the first pitch less than three hours later. We hung out awaiting the sunrise. Small stuff was coming down regardless of the cold early morning temps, but we figured the bigger stuff would stay in place. We finally summoned our energy and I led out the first pitch of WI2+ around 7:00 am. Once I topped out, a small section of the bottom of the next tier of falls, which was in the early morning sun, collapsed in a lump of slush with ice cubes strafing the area around me. I didn't want to set an anchor while remaining in the line of fire; so we simulclimbed to the second spacious bivy/camping spot in the trees climber's right. By the time Curt came up, I figured we were done for the day due to the looks of the bottom of the second pitch. But Curt found solid ice to the left of the missing bottom of pitch 2 and headed up what was a fun pitch of WI3. We reached the base of the main falls and watched bigger debris raining down on our intended route on the left side. The first pitch of the main falls looked like WI4 and the top pitch looked like sustained WI5, but it wasn't to be on this day. We began descending around 11:00 a.m. and were back to the the base of the lower falls after 4 double rope raps an hour later. It should be noted that Glen Frese showed us an alternate route off the right side of the upper falls which only requires one rap and walk down a large ledge to the trees on the left side for the lower falls. The walk down the gully was uneventful except to briefly stop and admire (i.e, gulp at) the size of the avalanche debris that would clobber any unlucky soul caught in there at the wrong time. Now, a few pics. Overview of the lower part of the route (1st pitch and bivy site): Kurt Haire next to pitch 2: Kurt on lead; Gear Notes: Ice screws, stoppers, cams to 1" Approach Notes: Cross Wenatchee River 200 yards upstream of Falls Creek outlet.

When ice climbing, my face gets cut by shards of ice dinner plating off. I agree with Gary and Alpinefox--good idea to take the few seconds to reduce the sharp edge.

The ice has evaporated; so all you can do is rock climb. Warms up for free climbing around 11:00 a.m.

As of last Sunday both Frenchmen and Fugs Falls were nearly nonexistent. Hopefully their demise is only temporary.