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Trip: Alaska - West Ridge of Mt. Hunter (Begguya) Trip Date: 06/07/2019 Trip Report: It wasn't apart of the plan, it wasn't necessarily on our radar. My partner and I were coming off of a total failure. We had spent time and energy to attempt to climb the Cassin Ridge. We spent 2 and a half weeks acclimatizing and waiting for a proper window at 14,000’ camp. Including reaching the summit from 14’ camp round trip in less than 12 hours. We were feeling good and were poised to send. All the work was going to pay off, all the time, energy and money were going to come to fruition. After descending down the Seattle Ramp to close to the base of the Japanese Couloir, my partner started displaying signs of HAPE. He wasn't exactly a rockstar at altitude while we were acclimatizing, but this came out of absolutely nowhere. It was out of the blue and I didn't know how to react. It wasn't setting in yet, the fact that we had to keep walking downhill, right past the base of the route we had been planning on for months. It wasn't until we were walking out the Valley of Death in the middle of the day, sweating and scared. Chance (my partner) was feeling better as we descended and our plan was to head to 7800’ camp. Eventually making it to the safety of camp we contemplated what to do. It had finally sunk in, that we bailed on our main objective. I was pissed and mad. Not at Chance, but at the circumstances. Chance wanted to head back up since he was feeling better. I was adamant was that I wasn't going to go through all of that again. Knowing that there was no way he was going to be 100 percent. I told him to stay at 7800’ camp, while I go up and retrieve all of our gear from 14,000' camp. And boy did we have a lot of stuff at that camp. I ran up to the camp in less than 6 hours and slept the night at 14,000’. Planning on descending the next day. I packed up my 100-liter pack and 2 sleds full of gear. With so much gear I shuttled loads up and down Windy corner and Squirrel Hill. Against my wishes, Chance met me up at 11,000' camp to help the gear shuttling shitshow. We then made it down to 7800’ camp and discussed our options. We settled on heading down to the Airstrip where we had friends and booze. With maybe having a chance at the West Ridge. A few days go by and we get a solid 2-day weather window to try something. Chance and I settle on the West Ridge of Hunter, where we will be accompanied by our friends Ryan and Chris. Just coming off a successful ski descent of Denali via the Messner Couloir and were looking for some more exciting “climbing”, or so we thought. We leave at 6 pm the day before the weather window, skinning down to the base of the route at 6500’. The first section is snow and has some considerable overhead hazard. We are able to move quickly and make our way up to the Cats Ears, where we rappeled 2 60 meter rappels to the base of ice face. We kept trucking along the beautiful ridgeline until we got to the rock steps. Where the 5.8 Beckey Chimney proved to be more demanding than expected, a few more simul pitches of some easy mixed terrain brought us to a nice bivy at around 4 am. We then slept until 10 am and continued on the ridge. Some more rambling ridge terrain moved slowly on, as we were tunneling through cornices and were dealing with some deep snow. We finally got to the base of the “Ice face” which didn't have any ice on it. Just before hitting the saddle, Chance was downclimbing a snow face and he took a crevasse fall, fully overhead. After pulling him out, the 4 of us were a bit shaken. We still had lots of ridge to go and were unsure of the weather in the future. Ryan and Chris made the decision to bail back down from there. Leaving Chance and I a bit more out there than we were planning. We were sad to see those 2 go but knew that we were going to be able to move a bit faster and focus more on the climbing. We continued moving up, passing another easy mixed pitch and passing an overhanging ice serac feature that required legit WI5 ice climbing, even for just a body length. We made it to the top of the famed Ramen Couloir and got caught in a whiteout, with no ability to see where we were going, we decided to bivy again. Splitting one mountain house between us and taking rations for food. We had planned on a single push effort, but with the weather, we had decided to wait until the morning. After sending out messages for weather info, we had received confirmation that we would have a full day of climbable weather the following day. We slept and woke to beautiful clear skies and the ability to see the route in front of us. A bit of new snow, made trail breaking slightly more difficult but after some chest deep postholing, we ventured onto the Summit Plateau. The Plateau seemed safe and smooth, and we couldn't see any cracks. Honestly, we both got complacent (mostly Chance) and he walked up on me while I was trying to route find. The new snow had blanketed a massive crevasse and I popped in 25 feet. Dropping my trekking pole and a picket. I was fortunate to be ok and was able to climb out. We learned from our mistakes and kept going to the summit. The final 50-degree snow pitch turned out to be blue ice covered in 3 inches of snow. It made for slower progress than anticipated, but we were on the summit of Mt. Hunter after a short ridge traverse. We saw wonderful views of the South Face of Denali and all other parts of the range. Now we just had to get down. We descended back to the camp above the Ramen Couloir and finished our food, besides one single Gu. We made 5 or 6 V-thread rappels down the top of the Ramen Couloir and decided to unrope and start downclimbing. The conditions were great besides the final 1000 feet, where it turned into 3-inch breakable crust to bottomless facets. Eventually making our way to the base of the Ramen somewhere around midnight. Out of food and wasted we were unsure where the sneak around was. The Supertopo beta we had said to climb 700 feet up an “easy snow slope” We blindly started rappelling into a couloir and had to climb back out. Chance and I are great friends, but in this instant, we were mad at each other and tempers were flaring. We took a pause at 2 am and brewed up, realizing being mad wasn't going to solve any of our problems. We had a description, but couldn't pick the correct gully. Finally choosing one. Knowing that we could see the bottom of the couloir but not the middle. We choose to descend as any more time up there could turn out poorly. We left gear all of the places, using all of the slings we had, even expending my prusik cord. 1 nut anchors and shitty chossy cam placements led us down to more steep snow. Similar to the conditions in the Ramen but worse we made slow progress. This was where I had started to hallucinate. The snow was so variable that the mini slide paths in the couloir proved firm enough to front point down, whereas the rest of the snow surface proved slow and postholey. The trick of the slide gullies was to get out of them when the barrage of rocks and ice funneled down the 5 foot deep paths. It was a risk, but I wanted to get off this thing so bad, the safety of the Kahiltna was right in front of us. The whole ordeal from the bottom of the Ramen to the Safety of the Kahiltna lasted around 10 hours. We then walked back to our skis at the base of the route. While walking on the Kahiltna a heavy cloud layer moved in and started dumping snow on us. We just really didn't care. We were off and thankful to be alive. With no food, fuel and very little water left we continued the journey back to the Airstrip. Our GPS’s on our phones had died and were “walking blind”. Chance took us into the wrong basin mistaking it for the Airstrip, realizing just short of some extremely crevassed area. We finally make it back to our camp at the Airstrip and stuff our faces of bacon and sausages and chocolate. It's now 5 pm and we had been awake and on the move for the past 36 hours. Those 36 hours didn't contain the hardest climbing I have ever done, but they pushed Chance and I the farthest we have ever gone. Those 36 hours gave me the most intense time period my young adult life has had so far. And the best part was I fucking liked it. As of the time of writing, we were the only party to have climbed Mt Hunter in the 2019 climbing season. The only team to have climbed the full West Ridge in at least 2 years. And both at the age of 21, we believe we were the youngest team ascent of the West Ridge and possibly the summit of Mt. Hunter via any route. Not that any of that matters, but I like to feed my ego sometimes. Please reach out if you know of anything different. Gear Notes: 5 Screws, 2 pickets, a small selection of cams. Approach Notes: K2 Aviation

Trip: Alpine Lakes Wilderness - Mt. Daniel via Snoqualmie Pass (The Alpine Lakes Crest Traverse) Trip Date: 06/30/2019 Trip Report: Over the weekend, Logan and I completed a high route from Snoqualmie Pass to the summit of Mt. Daniel, traversing the remote 7,000 ft+ peaks we call the "Alpine Lakes Crest". We started at Snoqualmie, took the PCT to Chikamin, went over Chikamin, down to Iceberg Lake, up to the Overcoat Glacier, across to Summit Chief Pass, down to the Dutch Miller Gap Trail, up to La Bohn Gap, over Hinman, across to Pea Soup Lake, up Mt. Daniel and down to the Cathedral Pass Trailhead. 37 miles, 14-15k ft gain. The meat of the the trip is a spectacular 20 miles of nearly continuous off trail, above treeline travel. We didn't see a single other soul in those 20 miles. The crux was definitely traversing from the Overcoat Glacier to Summit Chief Pass. Stay high on the ridge and aim for the "key ledge" an obvious sloping ledge about 100 ft below the ridgetop that gets you through the obvious vertical cleft that splits the ridge. The scramble up to the Overcoat Glacier from Iceberg Lake was also a little cruxy near the top on the wet 2nd and 3rd class ledges. On a side note, we figured out a great alternate route up the Lynch Glacier. Climb the ridge on the west side of Pea Soup Lake to a snow finger and ascend this to the Upper Lynch Glacier. This gets you by the lower icefall, which is difficult to even access once the lake melts out. This region may not have any Bulgers, permits, or a national park to its name, but we think it is as raw, rugged, and stunning as any other part of the Cascades we have visited. We crossed four glaciers, passed dozens of sparkling lakes, and danced across remote summits. The terrain was huge: everything we dreamed of and then some. There were so many special spots I don't know where to start. And the line felt so pure and alpine. We did the traverse comfortably in two days, having to route find along the way. Our first day was 11 hours and second was just over 9, so it is definitely doable in one big push, but it is also worthy of 3 or 4 days to enjoy the marvelous spots along the way or maybe bag some more summits. If you want to get it, I'd recommend sooner rather than later because the snow cover makes all the boulder and talus less painful. For more details and beta, see: https://climberkyle.com/…/…/the-alpine-lakes-crest-traverse/ Descending Chikamin. Nice tarns on the backside of Chikamin. Iceberg Lake. Looking up to Overcoat Peak. Crossing the Overcoat Glacier. Chimney Rock. Summit Chief Pass. Little Big Chief. Williams Lake. Chain Lakes. Shoulder of Hinman. Lepul Lake and Baker in the distance. Hinman Summit views. Descending to Hinman Tarns. Hinman Tarns. Alt route: Ascend the ridge and snow finger on the right up to the Lynch Glacier. Pea Soup Lake. High on the Lynch Glacier. Daniel Summit! Daniel summit views. Racing down before the storm hits. Gear Notes: Waterproof running shoes, crampons, ice axe. Didn't bring a rope but some might want to for the Lynch Glacier. Approach Notes: PCT to Chikamin, then straight up the face.

Trip: Tatoosh Range - Tatoosh Traverse Trip Date: 06/30/2019 Trip Report: 12 peaks with 2 rock climbs in 2 days. 25 hours moving time. About 18 miles and about 9000ft gain. So, this isn’t one of those “fastest time” kind of trips, no trail running involved. Just 3 climbers with 25-30lb overnight packs and climbing gear. With our 9-day Pickets Traverse plan weathered out we kicked around ideas for the weekend and decided to roll the dice on the slight thunderstorm forecasts around Rainier to do the full Tatoosh Traverse. Picked up a camping permit at 7:30am on Sat at Longmire and were on the trail by 8:50 at the Snow Lake trailhead having left a vehicle back at Longmire. 4 hours in we tagged Stevens Peak after having done a long off trail traverse below Unicorn, some thick bushwhacking down into a snow filled basin that took us up to the saddle between Stevens and Boundary. Saw a fox right at the col as we popped up. From there ran the ridge back to the saddle and on to Boundary peak, from Boundary we were at Unicorn by 5pm and climbed the 2nd 5.6 route. From there went up and over Foss. Thought we spotted a boot track in some snow on the way to Castle and went to follow it, but it was a fresh bear track. Got to the base of Castle by 8pm and setup camp. 4 down on day 1. So, we would have to hustle to get 8 on day 2. Found running water at this point only in the basin on the way to Stevens, running off a wall on the backside coming off Unicorn and a convenient little stream right at the top of Castle near our camp. Rest of our water fills had come from stuffing water bottles with snow along the way. Up at 6am and on our way to climb Castle before 7. Finished off Castle, packed up camp and had knocked off Pinnacle within 2 hours. 6 down 6 to go. From Pinnacle headed over to Plumber then Denman and had those knocked off within an hour each. 8 down and 4 to go. Up next was Lane Peak which was a little trickier. We wound up scrambling up the narrow gulley that we remembered having ice climbed up last winter right to a tree that had a rappel sling on it. The gulley seemed to be 4th class or 5.0, easy climbing but really exposed but good rock (as opposed to the rest of Lane). Then we found a scramble path down climbers left of that gulley for the way down. #9 down and 3 to go. Had lunch and it was about 1pm at this point. Took longer to get over to Wahpenayo having to do a long traverse side hilling over heather and screen slopes then turning upwards about halfway to gain the ridge. On the other side it was a mix of snowfields and ridge running to get to the summit. #10 down and 2 to go. Some more steep heather and grass slope travel to get to the climbers trail between Eagle and Chutla and some more bushwhacking through trees. Right about when the predicted thunder would be starting, we were hearing some thunder nearby and started getting a little rain. But still had sun and blue sky to our South and we knew the thunderstorms were predicted more over Rainier to the North. At the trail we dropped packs and cruised up Chutla Peak crossing our fingers the thundercloud wouldn’t get worse. #11 down and 1 left. Cruised back down to our packs and did the short traverse over to the saddle and dropped packs again. Had a quick discussion about how we felt about the thunder and decided to get in the trees and start heading up Eagle as we still has some blue sky and sun to one side. #12 of 12 down and by the time we were back at our packs the storm clouds had moved off and we were back to blue sky. Long trail back to Longmire and back late evening before dark. After picking up the car shuttle and back to Ashford found the only place open to eat anything was the Highlander where we got a big pizza that was a combination of a little overcooked and undercooked but was everything we needed. Too tired to drive home we crashed in the cars in the parking lot across from Whittakers Bunkhouse. I must have been low on salt from sweating buckets for 2 days all I wanted for breakfast the next morning was a salty French dip and a bag of chips which I found at the bakery in Eatonville. According to the beta we read after the fact a full Tatoosh Range traverse of all 12 peaks with overnight gear takes about 2.5 days and involves hiking in the night before the start and finishing at twilight the "3rd" day if you count hiking in early on Friday for a Sat/Sun traverse. So, we did it 2 days flat without an early hike in. We started at 8am after getting permits on Sat. Did the longer and harder initial approach to Stevens. And finished at 8pm the next day before dark. And we didn't cut corners on the technical climbing where some people only do the easy pitches or the scramble routes. So, way to go team Rodica and Philip. Beast Mode. We just grabbed some gpx tracks we found somewhere and what we collectively remembered from having done most of the peaks individually or in small groups at one time or another in the past and winged it. Gear Notes: 40m rope, light alpine rack, ice axe, crampons Approach Notes: Snow Lake trailhead, lower traverse under Unicorn to basin up to saddle between Stevens and Boundary. Then after Stevens and Boundary did the standard traverse hitting all 12 peaks. Plenty of snow and water sources available for water. No bugs out. Great conditions.

Trip: South Twin, Jaw's Tooth, Skookum (Kloke), Little Sister, Cinderella - Green Creek Circuit Trip Date: 06/30/2019 Trip Report: Me and Dylan climbed the Green Creek Circuit per the "Cascades Rock" guide: Green Creek Arete to South Twin, NW Face of Jaw's Tooth, NE Ridge of Skookum, central arete on the NW face of Little Sister, then the west ridge of Cinderella. It was amazing. Lots of fun mostly easy travel on varied terrain with soloing, simul-climbing, downclimbing, snow, loose gullies. My kind mountaineering and classic Cascades style. I would say that the left arete on Little Sister might be better due to a section of scary detached blocks on the right one that we climbed. On the left one you would get more ridge scrambling which was amazing. 14.5 hours car-to-car, 7800', 13.4 miles. More terrain to be explored past Cinderella at left: Dylan on the final scramble to Cinderella: Looking back up Green Creek after a great day: Dylan in the upper Green Creek basin: Dylan eschewed my offer of a trekking pole in favor of looking like a doofus crossing the Middle Fork: Gear Notes: 30m rope got us off Jaw's Tooth with some easy downclimbing and was perfect for simul-climbing axe small rack Approach Notes: Per Darin, the Forest Service has actually cleaned up their part of the trail and it is getting moderate use to Elbow Lake.

Trip: Mt Adams - Adams Glacier Headwall "Ice Extension" (IV, AI3+, 55 deg snow) Trip Date: 06/09/2019 Trip Report: @nkimmes and I climbed a variation of the Adams Glacier Headwall "Ice Extension" June 8-9. First ascent by @wayne and @YocumRidge July 4, 2011. Approach was straightforward from Killen Creek TH. Open air bivy at 7,000'. Minor glacier travel with little to no crevasse danger to base of the route. A long, moderate snow slope began at about 9000'. Some rock and ice fall as the sun hit the cliffs on the upper headwall. We solo'd a short WI2 pitch on the left side of the lowest cliff band at 10,400'. The WI3+ pitch began at just below 11,000'. In this case it climbed in one 60m pitch to the upper snow slope. Ice was a bit thin in spot but took 10 and 13cm screws well. From there we ascended a bit more to the rime at the base of the upper cliffs. We checked for an exit to the right but this is a no go. As mentioned in the FA report, the traverse to the left is sketchy with hardly any pro (hollow screws and some makeshift rimy/snow horns that I chopped out and slung). Unfortunately, the AI4 pitch in the left corner looked nothing like 2011, and was mostly rotten rock. Instead, we opted to traverse all the way left to the spine which divides the headwall from the next snow ramp over. We solo'd this to 11,800'. From there it's a long flat slog to the summit. We had initially planned a ski descent of the nf of the nw ridge. However, we watched another skier drop in and climb back up after about 1,000'. He joined us on the summit to report that it was completely bulletproof. We opted for plan b and found cruiser corn all the way down the north ridge to our bivy. 13 hours camp to camp. View of Rainier from the bivy. Ascent in red. Descent in blue. Solo'ing the WI2 pitch. Approaching the base of the WI3+ pitch. First moves of the pitch. Noah following the ice pitch. Route zoomed in. We actually stayed more left on the snow slope. Sketchy traverse. Summit! S Noah on the ski descent. Gear Notes: 2x10cm, 4x13cm & 1x17cm ice screws; 2-3 pickets Approach Notes: Approached from Killen Creek TH.

Trip: LIBERTY - The path of freedom Trip Date: 06/01/2019 Trip Report: Sometimes you see a mountain enough that it must be climbed. Such was the case for @Kit and I and this mountain called Liberty. Both of us have been driving by it for more years that we care to think about. That, and who doesn't want to be free?? Despite the reports of horrendous brush, washed out roads, and failed attempts, we were smitten. What is wrong with us? Well, we don't have time to cover all that here. But, if Liberty is wrong, I don't want to be right! It helped that we happened to stumble upon an actual pleasant route up and down the peak, with minimal brush. Really! I even recorded a track for all you obsessive P2K baggers out there. So go get it before the brush reclaims the 4130 road once again..... The massive south face of Three Fingers: LIIIIIIIIIBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEERRRRRTTTTTYYYYYYY @Kit crossing the South Fork of Canyon Creek: Pretty reasonable actually: The upper part of Liberty: The view north into the Slabbage Patch: I remember some good trundling down this face in about 1994: We only used the rope for a short rap on the way down: Extreme! More South face of Three Fingers Who doesn't love LIBERTY??!! and lots of solitude? And blown out roads? And blown up stuff? Gear Notes: We brought a rope and used it in a couple places to rap on the way down, mainly because we had it. We didn't rope for the two 4th class bits on the way up. It is actually likely better after the snow is gone and the crossing of Canyon Creek low. Approach Notes: Walk 4130 for 4 miles or so until you intersect the GPX track I've posted. It will serve you well to the summit and back. A couple more years and the road will be totally brushed in and very annoying. Go now! LIBERTY!!!!! 6_1_19 8_30_51 AM.gpx

Trip: Royally Smooting - North Ridge of Clark, Deception, from Royal Basin Trip Date: 06/15/2019 Trip Report: Who else out there is working through the Smoot book? C'mon, it's OK to admit it, Jeff came up with a great list of peaks that will get you to the corners of the Cacades and the Olympics. Take Royal Basin, for example. I wouldn't have thought of dealing with the hassle of ferries, permits, and bear cans if it weren't for that long out of print tome. And, I would have missed out on a great adventure with @ZakG. I'm continually reminded that there is a lot to recommend in that book. If you do go Royally Smooting though, you may not want to haul all the gear necessary to climb the North Ridge of Clark (as recommended by Smoot). While supposedly the "best" climb in the Needles, Zak and I thought that it wasn't THAT classic. The regular scramble route is interesting enough and easily passable with no rope, harness, or pro. On Deception, you'll want enough snow to cover the amazing amount of loose rock that this peak is known for. Shoot for when Royal Lake is snow free but the upper basin is still snowed in....like we did. It was just about as good of conditions as you could ask for. Captions refer to the photos below...... You know you're hiking in the Olympics in the spring when you see rhododendrons on the trail: Shelter Rock is aptly named: First look at the Needles, Johnson and the Sundial (L-R): Hiking up to Clark with Deception behind: Clark. The North Ridge is the right skyline: Mount Johnson: Leading up the North ridge of Clark. Lots of lichen and mediocre rock. Good, I guess, for the Olympics: Summit views from Clark looking across Royal Basin to Warrior, Constance, Inner Constance, Stone(?), Mystery, and Deception (L-R): Descending Clark, don't go this way. Up and right from where the photographer is instead: The regular route on Clark is impressive and actually pretty pleasant, despite appearances: Mount Mystery: Gray crested rosy finch, lord of the high alpine: Heading up the regular route on Deception with Johnson behind: Gilhooley Tower: Last look at Deception leaving upper Royal Basin: The classic finish to an Olympics trip. Waiting for the ferry at Kingston: Gear Notes: Light 40m rope, small rack of nuts and tri cams, helmet, crampons, ice axe. Approach Notes: Royal Basin, the permit is key. Go early in the season before they allow for advance reservations. We had no problems securing one, although we started on a Thursday and finished on a Saturday.

Trip: Mt Hood - Cathedral Ridge (via bike approach) Trip Date: 06/22/2019 Trip Report: Ever since I encountered this excellent-looking bike ride on the interwebs, I've been scheming to combo it with a climb of Hood. http://bestrides.org/lolo-pass-back-road/ I left the town of Zigzag (at a painfully low 1500 ft elevation) on my bike at 4:30am, and began the ascent up to the trailhead via FR 1828. The pitch was quite reasonable, I was worried about the bike ride with all my gear, but after popping it in my lowest gear I was able to putter up without too much effort. I reached the trailhead around 6am and began the hike up Timberline trail. Pretty fantastic misty-light-through-trees action on the way up. I downloaded a trip report of Cathedral Ridge onto my phone, but hadn't started reading it until I got up to McNeil shelter. The TR made it seem quite convoluted and exciting, which gave me a bit of pause since I was just going up solo in my approach shoes. The route turned out to be quite straightforward though. Between 7400 and 8800 it stays more climber's left of the ridge, and ducks right of the ridge around a big cliffband at 9200. At least the way I did it. I took crampons on & off a few times when nice snow slopes appeared, but I encountered nothing steeper than 40 degrees. And it probably goes without saying, but the rock was pretty shitty and loose. I summitted around 11am, and saw my first humans of the day. Largely uneventful on the descent, other than a few exhilarating glissade runs. The road surface on FR 1828 was a bit iffy, so I instead descended East Lolo Pass Rd, which just consisted of open straightaways at relatively mellow grades. I was really psyched on this trip! Really cool part of the mountain, although this was my first time up Hood so I can't really compare. Route: Gear Notes: Ice axe, crampons, bike Approach Notes: Zigzag --> Timberline trail

Trip: Colchuck Balanced Rock - West Face Trip Date: 06/23/2019 Trip Report: Some people use the solstice for really long days from sunrise to sunset, getting in as much adventure as possible. We used it to sleep in and still get in a full day of awesome climbing. Leaving the trailhead at 9am we made quick work of the hike up to the lake. From there it was uncharted terrain for the both of us. The climbers trail was way easier to follow than we expected, very well cairned and worn down. The wall looking very very good Two guys crushing Let it Burn. They looked very cool from our route. Such a cool looking route! The corner had one serious wet patch that thwarted my OS. Not bad at all though. I got very cold at the belay under the corner, making for some numb tips on the traverse. Sean about to onsight the freaking crux! Unfortunately I got no photos of the chimney. I thought it was fun. Sean did not. The descent to the base was pretty cruiser. About 50/50 kitty litter to snow. A fall on the snow could be pretty bad if you don't stop but definitely not worth bringing an axe on route, just be careful. There are currently no bugs at the base or on route. Overall the route is in great condition. Only one small wet patch up near the top of P4 and the only fixed gear is the nuts and pins at the top of P4. I cleaned a fixed nut out of the crux thinking my partner had placed it. It came out very easily. Our time came in around 11.5 hours C2C giving us enough time to go get some dinner in town. Gear Notes: Double rack .1-2 single 3&4. A bunch of slings and a single rack of nuts, mostly small. There is no longer a fixed piece at the crux. Sorry. Approach Notes: All snow free and in good condition.

Trip: Mt. Hood - Infinity Loop Trip Date: 06/21/2019 Trip Report: After a hard day and a half in the mountains, I'm stoked to report the Mt. Hood infinity loop goes! The past few weeks I was busy with graduation stuff and couldn't get on the mountain. Finally, on the 20th, the weather looked alright and I decided to head up to attempt the loop. My plan was to climb up Cooper Spur, run half of the Timberline trail, climb Cooper Spur again, and then run the other half of the Timberline trail. Knowing how much gear I needed, I cached some food, water, and clothes by Timberline Lodge before I started up. The rest of the supplies I would hike up with and stash at Cloud Cap Campground. At around 4 or so I arrived at the trail head to go to Cloud Cap Campground. The gate was still closed so I hiked up the trail to camp in about an hour and half. The weather was pretty nice despite some wind and clouds surrounding the summit of the mountain. I was all alone at camp which is always welcome. After eating some dehydrated pad thai, I was asleep before the sun set. The beautiful approach hike 4 am rolls around and my alarm goes off. I throw some food in my small pack and head up trail. Everything is going pretty good until I start the switchbacking up to the route. Visibility could have been better, the wind was howling, and I was pretty cold. The tee shirt plus R1 was probably not the best clothing choice for the conditions that day. When I got to tie in rock, I hid behind it and warmed up for a few minutes. Having never been on Cooper Spur before, I was surprised at the type of climbing. The first few thousand feet were basically a moderately steep snow slope, however, the last 600 or so involved thin ice climbing, mixed moves, and lots of exposed rock. I was glad I decided to bring 2 tools. After about 3 and a half hours I was on the summit. There still wasn't any visibility but the wind was gone. I cruised down the old chute and was at Timberline by the early afternoon. Part of the trail up Summit selfie When I got to my cache, I put on running shorts, ditched the boots, crampons, and stocked up on more GU and water. I decided to take the west side of the Timberline Trail first, the west side was longer and would provide less down time before the second summit. The first few miles of the trail were pretty snowy but after Paradise Park it was largely dry. It was pretty wet and fog obscured any scenic view. I think I made it to camp around 7 pm that night, the first climb slowed down my pace on the trail significantly. At camp, I was no longer alone. Apparently the gate opened that day! I was stoked because I could hitch a ride down after my trip instead of hiking back out. After eating some apples and changing into climbing stuff again, I was off on the second lap. This time conditions were absolutely perfect. Clear skies and no wind allowed me to enjoy the stars and see the lights of the city. That view will never get old. This time it took me about 6 hours to reach the summit. I took liberal breaks because I didn't want to be tired for the mixed section. At 2:30, I was on the summit for the second time in 24 hours. It was quiet, clear, and very enjoyable. This time, the descent was harder. The hard snow put a number on my knees during the descent. At this point, the lack of sleep was catching up to me. Cool rock I saw The stunning, but haunted Ramona Falls Creek crossing with huge carin Enjoying better conditions later in the day When I made it back down to Timberline, I had 16 more miles to go. My legs felt surprisingly fresh when I headed out. The first 6 miles or so were cruiser, however, intermittent snow slowed me down on the last little bit. I made it back to the parking lot after 32 hours, 28 minutes, and 8 seconds. This trip was one of my favorites in recent memory. I hope the infinity loop catches on on Mt. Hood. I would love to see some hardmen knock down the time. In total it was 56.65 miles and 20,445 feet of elevation gain. Get after it Gear Notes: Tee shirt and R1 Approach Notes: Road to Cloud Cap is now open

Trip: Eldorado Peak and Dorado Needle - E Ridge and NW Ridge Trip Date: 06/16/2019 Trip Report: Conditions are quite good in the Eldorado area right now. We made a casual ascent of Eldorado on our approach day and climbed the NW Ridge of Dorado Needle on Sunday. The climbing was easy but damn... that descent to the car was pretty punishing. Full trip report and photos: Spokalpine Gear Notes: Crampons/Axe for Eldorado. Light rock rack for Dorado Needle. Approach Notes: Wear a knee brace

Trip: Forbidden Peak - Beta photo Trip Date: 06/15/2019 Trip Report: Got a decently detailed shot of Forbidden from Sahale Glacier this weekend so I thought I'd share it. Zoom in and you can see the gully is pretty melted out. Nobody visible on the route from this direction at 12:20PM on Saturday. Just three people down on the glacier/snowfield. Gear Notes: N/A Approach Notes: N/A

Trip: Mount Baker - North Ridge Trip Date: 06/15/2019 Trip Report: Climbed the North Ridge of Mount Baker on Saturday morning, awesome day. Hiking in we met a climber we knew who said the snow bridge across the Coleman/Deming had collapsed the night before and parties were turning around. But they saw someone who had rapped into the crevasse and walked out, so we figured one way or another we had a way down. Ran into some skiers on their way down who warned us very emphatically that the bridge was out. We were like, okay thanks. Then he repeated "its out, the bridge is OUT". Okay thanks, we got it. Got to the snowfield and found a large group of about 6 who were bailing out because they heard the Coleman was out. Okay, on we went. Got camp setup around the 6600ft football area and had the place to ourselves early afternoon. Not much in the way of tracks we could see so we hiked about another 1000ft up to the base of the ridge to log a track and make a bootpath to follow the next morning. We did start to pickup some previous bootprints around the base of the ridge. Started up around 3:30am on Saturday and got to the base of the climb around 7:30. Saw previous tracks that came up both the left and right sides of the ridge. Most went lower around the base so we took that path which worked out great. As I was leading up the ice pitch saw a pair coming up behind us. First people we saw that day. A guide and his client we leapfrogged the rest of the route with. As I was belaying up my wife another pair of climbers were getting to the base of the climb, but we never saw them again. We also saw 3 climbers much further down the ridge but never saw them again either rest of the day. Got to the summit around 10:30am. Steep in sections but there was a cruiser bootpath already there. We only had to kick back in part of the path traversing over toward the base of the climb that had melted out quite a bit. On the way back down the Coleman, as expected, people had figured out the end run and the Coleman/Deming route was just fine. Back at the trailhead ran into another group heading up for the North Ridge who had just left a car shuttle at the Easton trailhead to do a carryover because they heard the Coleman was out. Bummer they had to do that. Gear Notes: 60m rope, 3 pickets, 6 screws. Approach Notes: While the snowbridge at the end run was in (where I was standing in the pic above) and is the way across it does look like it could collapse further. And rangers are saying its the worst conditions they have seen in 25 years. Just an FYI to check your route options before you go.

Trip: Chelan Mountains - Pinnacle, Cardinal, Emerald, Saska - 3rd class routes Trip Date: 06/13/2019 Trip Report: Tessa and I scrambled up the four tallest mountains in the Chelan Range on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm glad she's working on the Bulgers, otherwise these may not have been on my radar. The "Chelan Slam" was super fun: no rope or skis to carry, great weather, easy scrambling, snow still covering lots of the scree, lots of flowing water for drinking and shirt/hat dipping, good snow conditions for travel, amazing views, and a good amount of up and down. My summary: Pinnacle: 1 star Cardinal: 3 stars Emerald: 3 stars Saska: 0 stars We met up in Wenatchee at a park and ride a bit before 11 AM on Wednesday, and Tessa drove us up the Entiat River Road. We set off along the Entiat River and it felt like it was about a million degrees out. The turn off for Emerald Park Trail is marked by a burned up sign post. This area is neither brushy, snowy, nor emerald -- it is charred, ashy, and really frickin' hot in the sunshine. The trail is easy to follow though! We turned off this trail, away from Snowy Brushy Creek (flowing well), up toward Borealis Pass, before getting into the guts of Pinnacle. Looking up toward Borealis Pass A few marmots were spotted. I think Summit Post says it's 13 miles from the TH to Borealis Pass. We ended up going up a narrow talus/scree gully (not the beta, but it went OK other than the loose rocks...) to get up to the broad basin (snow here) on Pinnacle and then wrapped around the choss pile to get on top. Very sedimentary/slate-ish/exfoliating rock. Not much 3rd class at all. Great views of our other three objectives to the southeast. Panorama that Google Photos made me From there, we descended the proper way which was further west than where we came up, went back down over the pass, crossed the creek, then set out on the very charred/ashen landscape up toward Saska Pass. Luckily we found the somewhat difficult-to-follow burned out trail relatively quickly. The plan was to get up to the meadow camp described on Summit Post/Klenke for our bivy/setup for the next day, but daylight was going quickly and there weren't lots of great bivy spots (steepish terrain, dead but standing trees everywhere). We decided around 9:45 to stop at a slabby bench that had some tiny flat spots and was surrounded by some of the only green trees around (lots of larches in there!). I slept between a rock and a conifer, more comfortably than I expected! The moon, mostly full, was bright and the sky was full of stars.... Good enough The next morning we set off a bit before 6 AM up and over the pass (some snow, no crampons needed) to the side of the living, found the trail pretty quickly, and made quick work over to Cardinal. This North Fork basin was beautiful! Getting up to the sweet basin below Cardinal was quite straightforward, and then from the saddle over to Main Peak was easy, pretty solid rock, friction slabs, and a fun steep snow traverse with full-hilt axe plunges and solid feet. Minimal scrambling, great views everywhere! The descent included lots of fun snow running! From a bit above the saddle on Cardinal, can you spot Bonanza? We went back down to the trail, and next was Emerald. Emerald turned out to be a little more complicated (so many gullies, so many depressions between them, which one?!) but because of the minor shenanigans, we got a bonus summit (the north NORTH summit) and a few actual 4th class moves including an unexposed VB boulder problem up and out through a hole, which was fun. All that only cost us about a half hour total, and luckily it was very easy to get down and over to the correct gully and up the correct summit. Great views! Some peak identification: Bonanza, Maude, 7FJ, Goode. More fun snow running and boot skiing on the descent! Damn, that one is definitely taller.. Last was Saska, which sounded like the easiest of the group... but it also ended up being a choss pile of unimaginable proportions. UGH. Highly do not recommend. The best part of this one was that there was still a fair bit of snow on the lower third. This did not make up for the stress induced by the shitty, shitty rock everywhere on this thing. Interesting to notice about 5 different types of rock, 4 of which were really crumbly/peeling/disintegrating/etc. Pretty windy on top and we knew that we had a slow descent in front of us, so we didn't hang out long. I'm waiting for Tessa to get out of firing-line range Looking toward Saska Pass, I believe We headed back over the pass and picked up our sleeping bags/pads, I unloaded my last muffin onto Tessa, and we headed out in much cooler weather (thankfully). We played a few rounds of hanky panky, an interesting name for a pass-the-time word/rhyming game I learned going up to Bungundy Col in 2014. Tessa came up with a great one: her clue was waterfall, and the hanky panky was MOUNTAIN FOUNTAIN. Yesssss! So charred My feet were ready for the Chacos when we got back to the car at 9:45 PM. Great trip, thank you Tessa for this idea, and I highly recommend at least Cardinal at this time of year! Did you know?! You probably already did, but according to Wikipedia, the name Chelan derives from the traditional Wenatchi name Tsi-Laan meaning "deep water". Gear Notes: Brought light axes and crampons -- got out axes a couple times, never used pons. I was glad to have a helmet on Saska. Approach Notes: We took Entiat River -- you could also approach via the North Fork Entiat.

Trip: Bolivia - Cordillera Real - Pequeño Alpamayo, Cabeza de Condor, Huayna Potosí, Illampu, and Illimani Trip Date: 05/26/2019 Trip Report: I just returned from a 3-week climbing trip to Bolvia and figured some folks here would be interested in hearing about the climbing down there. We stayed mostly healthy, had perfect weather and conditions, and the logistics went smoothly, which made it possible to pack in a lot of climbs: May 26 - Arrive in La Paz May 28 - Pequeño Alpamayo (17,618') - West-Southwest Ridge (III, AD) May 30 - Cabeza de Condor (18,530') - Southwest Ridge (III, AD+) June 2 - Huayna Potosí (19,974') - French Direct Route (III, AD+) June 6 - Illampu (20,892') - Northwest Headwall to Southwest Ridge (III, AD/AD+) June 12 - Illimani (21,125') - West Spur / Normal Route (II, PD) June 15 - Depart La Paz My partner and I had previously done similar trips together to Patagonia and Peru, so we felt comfortable designing our own itinerary and climbing alone without guides. I'd recommend this for experienced climbers who appreciate a "faster and lighter" mentality (and only if you have at least one person who can speak enough Spanish to get by). We bought Yossi Brain's 1999 Bolivia Climbing Guide and found enough beta online as well. We did a healthy amount of Google Earth scanning to identify camps and approach trails too. In my trip reports linked above, I've included Strava links with our GPS tracks to save others some trouble (just ignore if you want more suspense : ). In terms of logistics, we flew into La Paz, which is crazy city of nearly a million people in a valley with another million or so on the sprawling altiplano called El Alto. The city is an interesting experience in contrasts, with everything from folks living in dirt-floored huts to a shiny cable car system. La Paz is about 12,000' depending on where you stay and El Alto is about 14,000'. We opted to rent an Airbnb in La Paz for the whole trip as a basecamp (at ~$30/night, this was pretty economical). We started in La Paz for 3 days / 2 nights to acclimate before our first objective, which we deliberately chose to be one of the shorter peaks (Pequeño Alpamayo at 17,618'). This worked well for us. We slowly ratcheted up the elevation over the course of the trip and never felt worse than headaches and throwing up breakfast once. You can hop into the links above to hear more about our experiences and the routes. I've put a few pictures in here to whet your appetite! - Jeff Gear Notes: We brought 5 pickets, 8 ice screws, some nuts, and some pins, just in case. We ended up placing pickets only once or twice on the trip and simul-climbed or simul-soloed almost all of the terrain. Approach Notes: See each trip report for some details on how we got there and a GPS track.

Trip: Mt. Adams - North Face Northwest Ridge Ski Trip Date: 06/11/2019 Trip Report: There's a good amount of beta out there already on this line, so here's a short conditions report. Left Hood River around 4:00 PM on Monday, hiking around 6:30 PM. We hit patchy snow about halfway to the camp, but decided it would be faster to keep the skis on our back and just hike it. Made a nice camp just short of the typical high camp ridge and enjoyed a nice sunset. Got a leisurely start the next AM, moving around 6:45 AM. We could almost ski to the base of the north ridge, just one or two short carries before hitting the ridge proper. Looking towards the ridge. Looking up the North Ridge with another climber ahead of us. The goats tracks went almost all the way to the top! From this vantage point, the ridge seemed really straightforward. We booted our way up for a while, and then hit a section with two option: either up a short chimney/scramble or over the ridge (we were on the left side) into a really loose chute. I headed up the chimney, which didn't go anywhere, and had to come back down and around. This didn't seem to lead anywhere: We did a bit of downclimbing and some traversing on frightening rock to get onto the N. Face proper, and followed some snow patches to get back on the N. Ridge. Once back on the ridge we slogged up for what seemed like eternity. Sloggin As the photos show, the snow was pretty wet and sloppy, and we saw some good sized naturals come down the Lava Headwall on our way up. I was pretty skeptical that our line would be in condition, but we figured there was only one way to find out. We topped out on the ridge around 1:30, and melted some snow and ate snacks, and were treated to views of Rainier, Goat Rocks, Baker, Glacier Peak, and the Enchantments (we think). Both of us commented on how much of a slog the N ridge felt. We both climb Hood pretty consistently in good time, but were amazed at how painful this route felt. From here we put skins on and headed across the ridge to get to the top of the Pinnacle, where our line started. Trevor is smiling because there's skis on his feet. Rainier in the background. Skinning across the top. That black dot in the middle is Trevor. We skinned to the top of the Pinnacle and dropped into our line around 2:30. The snow was excellent. Slightly grabby up top, perfect corn for the majority, and a little wet on the bottom. The line is truly amazing, with thousands of feet of fall line skiing that only gets steeper and steeper the farther you go. Trevor cruising on the upper section: Getting steeper: The choke is pretty wide, and had the best snow of the day. It took a little scouting and traversing to piece together the exit onto the Adams glacier, but it was cool skiing next to the seracs and crevasses. The Line: Overall, amazing ski line. I don't know why you would choose to climb the N. Ridge unless you're going down another way. If I were to do it over again, I'd probably find a different way up. Gear Notes: Axe, Crampons, Skis (why would you walk down a volcano?) Approach Notes: Beautiful hike through the forest.

Trip: Mount Adams - Adams Glacier Trip Date: 06/11/2019 Trip Report: Went for a night out to the Adams Glacier for a go at things. Just wanted to share a few notes. The road between Divide Camp TH and Killen Creek TH is nearly melted out and has one rutted snow patch passable with a decent clearance ride. There's still decent snow cover for most of the second half of the approach to High Camp. From the base of of the Adams Glacier we noticed a disconnected block above the left traverse exit out the top of the route. As the sun rose we saw light shinning through the sides and underneath the block. So we opted for climbing ice in some crevasses instead. There was a decent amount of ice fall and rockfall activity while we hung out on the glacier yesterday until about 1300hrs. If anyone heads out here over the next year for the Adams glacier any notes on the block above the left exit traverse would be appreciated. Gear Notes: Pickets, ice tools and screws, rope, harness, no snow flotation devices, suncreen, hot tub. Approach Notes: Walk trail to snow and then find your way.

Trip: Colchuck Peak - North Butress Couloir Trip Date: 06/09/2019 Trip Report: The NBC is in fine shape right now, go get it! morning light on Colchuck Peak and Colchuck Lake: on the approach: looking up the couloir: there is one melted out rock band down low: enjoying the climb: on the upper face: summit city: goat-ville: Gear Notes: small rock rack; no ice screws necessary right now Approach Notes: trail is in good shape

Trip: Colchuck Peak - East Route Trip Date: 06/08/2019 Trip Report: Route is in great condition, mostly snow covered still. Trail to colchuck lake is snow free. Once, you reach the pass there's no need for ice axe or crampons on the other side as it's already thawed out. Views are quite dramatic from up there. I decided to microspiked it, I would not recommend it. Crampons would have been the better choice. Fun glissading on the way out. If you're interested in my gpx file, you can get it here http://bit.ly/ironKneeColchuckPeak Gear Notes: Microspikes, Ice Axe, Trekking Poles Approach Notes: Road to Stuart Lake Trail Head seems to be getting worse every year.

Trip: South Sister - Devils Lake climbers trail Trip Date: 06/01/2019 Trip Report: Started hiking at 4:35 a.m. and lost the trail under the snow about ten minutes later. We went too far west and ended up on top of the small Butte between Kaleetan Butte and Devils hill. If there is snow when you go stay climbers right, and find a narrow canyon with a tiny flow of water. There will be ski tracks. Across the plateau we had a rousing discussion about wealth inequality, which ended when we started climbing and had to breath. It was so warm, 40 degrees, we were wearing low-top trail running shoes, and getting plenty of purchase and grip, no slippy slippy. We had our climbing boots in our packs in case it got cold, icy up top, or we wanted to use them for the descent. There were several parties in front of us doing all the step kicking all the way up to the pool at the base of the Lewis glacier. Yes please, and thank you! It was possible to walk on lava cinder from the Lewis glacier about halfway up the final ascent. This is when it was really nice to have trail shoes instead of our climbing boots and we decided to stick with our trail shoes all the way to the summit. After some quick pictures on the summit we descended to The Summit glacier to get out of the wind and took an hour break eating lunch, and switching to dry socks and boots. After that it was all downhill on our butt sleds. The snow was incredibly soft and it was difficult to slide on anyting less than a 20° slope. Had a straightforward hike back to the car and we both got sunburns on the way. Joy! FOR SKIERS: The snow is starting to thin in places up top, and definitely once in the trees on the descent there are bare spots. Mileage: 12 Time on route: 7 hours 45 minutes Elevation gain: 5239 Gear Notes: Waterproof trail runners, ice axes for the first 1000' of descent Approach Notes: Glad we started early, it was warm

Trip: Diamond Peak - Corrigan Lk Trailhead Trip Date: 05/31/2019 Trip Report: Diamond Peak Directions Oakridge, to hills creek dam, road 21, to road 2149 and Corrigan Lake trailhead. There's only one small hiking sign on the right side (East Side) of the road. We left Eugene at 4am, and arrived at the trailhead at 6am and got on the trail at 615. The was snow within a .5 mile of the trailhead. One of our party had previously summited from this side so she became the group leader. After following the trail for a mile the snow covered it. Basically she headed uphill on the first hilly ridge we found. After an hour and half we started getting good looks at the western false summit, and our leader took a bearing to stay on course. When broke through the trees we opted to head up the ridge thad runs southwest off the false summit. The snow was still pretty thick but we decided to climb the rocks ona few of the gendarme? instead of the steep snowy slopes which were surprisingly firm. The forecast had thunder storms in the early afternoon, and looking south to Thielsen they were building in that area quite thick. (We camped at Diamond Lake that night and had an amazing lightning show. Check out my "Mt. Thielsen double rainbow lightning strike!!" on YouTube if you wanna see pictures. ) We kept moving up, and slightly to the right of the western false summit. That put us in great position to transition to the final section up the summit ridge without gaining unnecessary elevation. The snow was in great shape for climbing, despite strong wind gusts that were making us walk like drunken sailors. The summit was glorious. A few quick pics and we retreated to a small rocky area out of the wind. After some food, the fun began. Using some butt sleds and Avi shovels we dropped elevation super fast to the saddle of the false summit. The second drop was even faster, and longer. We were all giggling like little kids, and covered in slushy beautiful snow. We had taken a compass bearing to Corrigan lake before we glissaded, and followed that to the lake. Some of us swam, others napped, and then picked up the trail and hiked the one mile back to the car. Total Mileage: 8.4 Time on route: 7 hours 43 minutes Elevation gain: 4025 I included a picture of the south ridge for those interested in doing that route. The top still has a lot of snow for those wishing for the type of ascent. Here's a link the a video I made of our ascent of Mt. Thielsen the following day. Double Rainbow, multiple lightning strikes!!! Gear Notes: Butt sleds for the way down. Approach Notes: Bring a compass, because it's so helpful for navigating through the snow, off trail, and through the trees.

Climbed the North Ridge on June 3rd. Conditions are pretty cruiser to the summit. Gaining the ridge is particularly easy, basically stairs. The right ice variation is abnormally rocky right now, I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it myself in person. Full trip report here

Trip: Mount Rainier - Liberty Ridge Trip Date: 06/03/2019 Trip Report: My friend Matthew and I headed up a couple of days ago to attempt Liberty Ridge, but in the face of high winds decided it just wasn't the time. The recent accident also definitely contributed to our unease. If anyone is interested in conditions, however, here are a couple of photos. The boot pack on the Carbon went through the right of the two obvious corridors through the chaos in the photo, the line seemed very direct from what I could tell from Curtis Ridge towards the west side snowfield below Thumb Rock. A couple of skiers we ran into said the schrund at the top of the Carbon looked very manageable. The ridge itself looks pretty well covered still, with exposed ice near the top of the Black Pyramid, but in what appear to be very manageable quantities. Crossing the Winthrop was mostly trivial, with one narrowish bridge near the far northwest side. View of the Carbon: Close up of the route: Gear Notes: Just standard glacier travel gear for the Winthrop. Approach Notes: Standard approach from White River

Trip: Mt Redoubt - NE Face Trip Date: 06/02/2019 Trip Report: We had a chill day into base camp on Friday, the trail brings you all the way to the basin, however is hard to follow at times (and hard bushwacking at times with A frame ski carry). As other reports mention there is a water fall that will get you quite wet on the approach (bring dry socks!). Near the waterfall and above there were some carins you can follow they will take you towards the Lake and the start to the South ridge, so once in the open we veered off the " carin "trail" to camp. Instead of camping in the moraine (as most beta seems to suggest) we opted to camp a bit lower closer to the river so we would easily be able to pick up overnight gear on our way out. We woke up around 4:00 and skirted towards the moraine and then up to the base of the NE face. The Face was mostly fun hard snow but near the top it was a bit soft. We then headed onto the rock for some interesting climbing in ski boots! Next we climbed steep snow to the saddle just to the right of the summit, this was quite mushy. We left gear at the saddle but it may be wise to bring with you as we found what looked like the rap line for the South route close to the summit. we then however down climbed back to our packs and skis, with one easy rap we were into down-climbable steep snow and then into some mushy skiing out of the couloir. We followed the south ridge route all the way back to our overnight gear skiing almost all the way to bivy spot. We then started back to our car getting to it around midnight. Gear Notes: N/A Approach Notes: N/A

Trip: Mt Redoubt - NE Face Trip Date: 06/02/2019 Trip Report: We had a chill day into base camp on Friday, the trail brings you all the way to the basin, however is hard to follow at times (and hard bushwacking at times with A frame ski carry). As other reports mention there is a water fall that will get you quite wet on the approach (bring dry socks!). Near the waterfall and above there were some carins you can follow they will take you towards the Lake and the start to the South ridge, so once in the open we veered off the " carin "trail" to camp. Instead of camping in the moraine (as most beta seems to suggest) we opted to camp a bit lower closer to the river so we would easily be able to pick up overnight gear on our way out. We woke up around 4:00 and skirted towards the moraine and then up to the base of the NE face. The Face was mostly fun hard snow but near the top it was a bit soft. We then headed onto the rock for some interesting climbing in ski boots! Next we climbed steep snow to the saddle just to the right of the summit, this was quite mushy. We left gear at the saddle but it may be wise to bring with you as we found what looked like the rap line for the South route close to the summit. we then however down climbed back to our packs and skis, with one easy rap we were into down-climbable steep snow and then into some mushy skiing out of the couloir. We followed the south ridge route all the way back to our overnight gear skiing almost all the way to bivy spot. We then started back to our car getting to it around midnight. Gear Notes: N/A Approach Notes: N/A