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  1. Trip: WA Pass - FA Southern Man 5.9+ C1 (5.11d) ;Recently Reported Date: 8/8/2008 Trip Report: NORTH CASCADES: WASHINGTON PASS South Early Winter Spire (S.E.W.S) F.A. SE Corner “Southern Man ” IV 5.11d (C1 5.9+) Mark Allen, Leighan Falley, Joel Kauffman Aug-24h 2008 Trip Report By Mark Allen Index Photo showing Southeast face of South Early Winter Spire (S.E.W.S.) at Washington Pass in the North Cascades. The South Arête on the left and East Buttress on the right. ~ Photo Tom Smith A. Beckey-Leen 1968 “Direct East Buttress” IV (5.9 C1) or 5.11 B. Allen-Falley- Kauffman 2008 “Southern Man IV 5.9+ C1 C. Anderson-Myher-Richardson-Young 1965 “Lower East Buttress to Southeast Face” IV 5.8 A2 D. Marts-McPherson 1966 “Inferno Route” III 5.9 A2 E. Briody-Yoder 1984 “Inferno~ Direct Finish” IV 5.10c F. Windom - Co. 2000 “Escargot” IV+ (5.11 Ao) 5.12 G. Burdo-Johnston 2007 “Hitch Hiker” IV+ (5.10+ C1) or 5.11 H. Burdo-Doorish-White 1991 “Passenger” V (5.11b Ao) or 5.12 I. Coultrip-Sanford 1977 “the Midnight Ride” IV 5.9 A4 (There is little known of this route. Recent explorations have suggested that it might not have been established as previously once thought) After we put this line up, Burdo cleaned it a few rounds and pulled the free ascent with a partner (rope-gun) the next summer. Its seen 4 free ascents since. All parties are impressed with the classic quality and position. If your looking for a new free climb at a high grade go check it out. This southern face holds a very striking steep and direct line. I planted a photo of this feature in Joel’s mind in 2006 and he was been line-drunk ever since. Leighan was on vacation from Talkeetna Alaska fresh off the “Ruth Gorge-Eye Tooth” and was up for some goose chasing. Background Activity on the Southeast Corner of South Early Winter Spires By 1965 all sub summits of the Liberty Bell group had seen ascents, but the steepest and tallest faces still lay untouched. This fact was exactly what Donald Anderson, Paul Myhre, Jim Richardson, and Margeret Young knew when they hitched a ride from Fred Beckey and Dave Beckstead on the bumpy dirt road leading to Early Winters Creek in June 1965. This was the first year the groomed, but primitive, access road was open leading to the trail head for the Early Winter Creek Trail heading to the East side of the Liberty Bell Group. This road eventually opened completely and soon become the North Cascades Highway. Paul Myhre described hanging off the side of an over crowded Volkswagen filled with gear, his three partners, and the Becky party (Myhre, 2008). The two parties had hopes to pioneer climbs on steeper aspects of the alpine spires at Washington Pass. Many climbers shared this hope beginning the second but most influential surge of climbing history at Washington Pass in 1965. The first visiting climbers in 1937 had a much longer trek from the Twisp River trail over Kangaroo Pass before reaching the group of granite domes and spires know to them as ‘The Towers’ named by naturalist Martin Gorman in 1897 (Beckey, 2000). Kangaroo Pass would be the standard approach for all routes climbed until the new access of 1965. During the first ascent of any of the Liberty Bell Towers the 1937 party climbed South Early Winter Spire (S.E.W.S.) via the Southwest Couloir. They renamed the Massif ‘Mount Liberty Bell.’ It is unclear if they intended to name the entire row (three major peaks and two minor) or just the highest point known today as South Early Winters Spire. North Early Winter Spire (N.E.W.S.) was referred to as ‘Middle Peak of Liberty Bell Mountain’ after its first ascent in 1950 also inferred to the entire massif as being the ‘Liberty Bell’ (Beckey, 2000). Fred Becky and his brother Helmy climbed the first ascent of the South Arête on the recently named ‘Mount Liberty Bell’ in 1942. With increasing popularity and route activity Jim Crooks and Fred Beckey would later see the “need for the classic bell [shaped tower] to be separated from its southern counter part” (Beckey, 2000) and named the proximal twin spires North and South Early Winters Spires as a tribute to the mechanical weathering process that he suspected sculpted them. The Liberty Bell Group was no secret to the aspiring Washington climbing community. In 1965 the improvement of access now made the steeper aspects attainable by a few miles on trail. Climbers would kick of this milestone surge by establishing Liberty Crack, the East Buttress Direct, and West Face if N.E.W.S, the Southeast Corner of S.E.W.S. and make the first attempt at the Independence Route (Beckey, 2000). In June of 1965 the Beckey and Myhre groups walked the trail parallel to the highway construction and beheld the East faces of the enchained Liberty Bell Group. This was the first time most of the climbers had been to the Liberty Bell Massif. The teams climbed up to the spires out of the glacial carved Washington Pass where small surveyor and logging teams continued to clear the swath for the highway. Beckey and Beckstead circumnavigated the massif to pioneer the West Face Route on N.E.W.S. later to become one of the best free-climbs in the Liberty Bell group at grade II 5.10d. Anderson, Myhre, Richardson, and Young found themselves with bivi gear and racking heavily with pitons at the base of the East Buttress of S.E.W.S. They would be attempting to gain the crest via any route possible (Myhre, 2008) and would be the first team to attempt any of the steep East faces of the Liberty Bell group and first route with an on route bivi. The Myhre party later found themselves 500ft up and two-days out on the Southeast Corner. At their high point new Lost Arrows fixed a pendulum for the four climbers to cross the Southeast face. These artifacts left behind would be of the 50 pitons placed during the rather circuitous but groundbreaking ascent on any of the ‘Mount Liberty Bell’ spires steep East aspect. Only weeks following the exploration of Myhre’s party, several parties were also inspired to explore the area after seeing a photograph in a local Seattle newspaper showing two engineers leaning against a bulldozer in the proximity of Washington Pass. The striking skyline of the Liberty Bell group in the background captivated Steve Marts and Don McPherson (Marts, 2008). Don McPherson would have remembered this aspect having seen these towers during several of his ascents in the 1950’s on the Silver Star Massif prior to climbing with Marts in 1965. The two were prompted to achieve the same goal, establise new routes on the abundance of rock newly accessible in the North Cascades. Marts and McPherson invited Fred Stanley to join them come up Early Winters Creek. The trio had much larger ambitions than any party to date. They had visions of the much bolder plumb line on the East Face of Liberty Bell Mountain. They were successful and appropriately dubbed the new line ‘Liberty Crack’. McPherson and Marts came back the following year and naturally gravitated towards the weakness centrally located in the Southeast wall of S.E.W.S. This route would most famously become known in 1984 for the Off-Width crux above a skewer-shaped snag that Jim Yoder would free and directly finish out the headwall at IV 5.10c known as the “Inferno Route” (See Index Photo Line D). Joel Kauffman stepping of the Trianlge Ledge on to what we thought was new ground~Photo Mark Allen Concept of the Line Standing from the hairpin we pieced together the line of objective. I spotted three pitches of the East Buttress via the 1965 Lower East Buttress-Southeast Face variation and up to the major ledge called the Triangular Ledge. Here our reconnaissance would need to step off and continue up a 450ft dihedral system running continuously to the top of the Southeast Corner Buttress of S.E.W.S. (Beckey occasionally describes the arête feature making the left flank of the East Buttress of S.E.W.S as the Southeast Corner). I envisioned this potential line to the summit free of bolts and in a single push. Few routes IV and higher that share this statistic like 1985 Child-Goldie Silver Star-East Ridge IV 5.9, 1987 Burdo-Reeses’ Freedom Rider IV 5.10d, 1985 Child-Goldie Silver Star-East Ridge IV 5.9, 1991 Grossman-White Stellar Eclipse IV 5.11a on the west face of Silver Star, and 2005 Goldie-Johnston Gato Negro IV 5.10d. Further; these routes first ascents were done clean, all-free, on-sight, with out bivi gear, fixing, or use of hammers. Savage Clean This new route would need to be aided yet would not receive bolts in contrasts the route just proximal; the 1968 Direct East Buttress, with two pitches of hand drilled bolt ladders (which is core-town in its own right). This line disserved a visit. Forty-three years after the 1965 quartet established the inaugural bivi on the Triangular Ledge, Joel Kauffman racked up and took our first two exploratory pitches off that same ledge. I would read later the 1965 party last had climbed this pitch in a mixed-free-and-aid style (See photo above). The rock Joel climbed was excellent granite. The slightly left leaning 5.9+ crack had a classic nature with untraveled spice. Finger cracks, grooves, LB cracks, and face on a very protectable pitch of increasing difficulty. Joel found two more pins circa 1960 near the top of his pitch. Not up to date on the details of 1965 ascent we were not sure how far the artifacts would go. (See Index Photo line C and Photo above and photo bellow) Joel snaps a photo from the Alcove of Leighan Falley and Mark Allen following the 5.9+ pitch. Here the climbers approach the LA pitons the 1965 “Lower East Buttress-Southeast Face” party used in a two-pitch pendulum to a landing bellow. In 1966 this landing became the top of the Inferno off-width established by the 1966 Marts-McPherson “Inferno Route” on Pitch 5 (See Topo). ~Photo Joel Kauffman Once back at home I began to piece it all together. I learned the rather traversing 1965 Lower East Buttress-Southeast Face route begins on the northeast side of the East Buttress of S.E.W.S. They climbed a few pitches of the East Buttress then ran a high traverse on the Southeast face. During the wide cracks on the Lower East Buttress the party hand drilled two ¼ inch bolts for the 5”off-width too wide for bongs to protect (still spotted today sans-hanger). Reaching the triangular ledge the party bivied for one night. In the morning the quartet climbed a left-leaning crack for 130ft onto Southeast face (see both photos above). Myhre recalls the climb being busy with four climbers and that their line reflected interest of getting off the face with limited time. At the high point of the alcove they placed two pins for a pendulum and headed southwest escaping the steep crack system. This involved a two-pitch pendulum before the party gained the ramp system now better known to lead off the 1966 Inferno route. (See Index photo Line C and Topo). They continued to the summit via the South Arete. FA Account On August 24, 2008 8:00am the three of us rack up at the hairpin-turn on the North Cascades Highway thirty-six years after its inception. It’s first time our comrades Dan Otter and Andy Polocheck have been to the pass and prep for the Becky-Leen Direct East Buttress. The five of us ramble up to the S.E.W.S East aspect. The two teams simul-seage the mid-5th lower pitches and each take our own corners on the lower East Buttress. Our party coincidently takes the 1965 variation to the right while Andy and Dan take the 1968 Beckey-Leen corner to the left. Taken the variations we did that day added a fantastic historical reflection to the climb. I foundmyself at the belays wondering what it would be like to discover these lines. What it might have been like two decades ago to be aiding up the 5.9 crack in boots pounding in pins. Did they vision hundreds of climbers float these pitches free in hand-crack bliss with racks of cams. While inspecting the old bolts I applauded the contemporary bloke who removed the hangers seeing that a 5” cam is a cleaner and safer to way protect the crack. Our parties topped out on the triangular ledge. Getting there was like intermission. From our box seats of the Southeast Corner we could scope across the Southeast face from the Direct East Buttress to the Berdo-Johnston 07’ “Hitch Hiker.” Gaping off the ledge we spotted Tom Smith and Kevin Newell on the Leland Windham route affectionately known to the Methow valley locals as The Slug Trail (striking similarity) or Escargot (because most parties thus far pull on draws). Just around the corner Joel’s acquaintance Cole and partner were climbing the Passenger and audible whooping would drift to our ledge. Our friends are all over the place. This made a good day to be exploring. The moral was highly influenced by the partnerships, good weather, and good souls on the wall. Joel quickly led our pitch 4 off the ledge. Leighan and I seconded the pitch. We were surprised to confirm the climbing was good and the rock sound. Inspecting the 1965 knife blades they were in fantastic shape. I pulled the bail sling from the old iron and continued into the hanging alcove belay. The three of us hung like bats out of the roof crack. We were cramped. The leader needed to leave and soon. We reracked and Joel continued his block head on. Looking down at our progress we observed the yellow and orange lichen painted crack leave the triangular ledge and run continuously though the roof belay then strait up the Southeast Face. The dihedral was continuous all the way to the top. Steep. So much for 5.8 hand cracks to the summit. The dihedral was a left facing corner for 100ft to a small roof where the dihedral changes to right facing for the remaining 300ft. The rock was good and steep. Joel reported good climbing and let us know of his status with a raven call. The line was clean having no hint of previous passage. Off Belay. Lines fixed. Mark Allen cleaning pitch 5. The team was always reminded of the steepness by plum lines and hanging belays ~Photo by Joel Kauffman The upper headwall is surprisingly vertical. Loose rock cleaned from the route almost leaves your attention before audibly striking the lower face hundreds of feet down. The dihedral yields its slight overhanging nature and allows for clean jugging to the next piece without touching the wall. Relieved to get to Joel’s belay I regret to find it is hanging. I am comforted by the two 1- inch cams and half-sunk peton that stuborly would not drive or yield to cleaning The aid climbing is dragging out the day and the next pitch is dirtier than the last. Contrary to our aim for fast climbing the chance to free-climb off the anchor is lost. With our remaining rope I begin to short fix the steep dihedral while Leighan jugs the back of my line. The crack runs the face beautifully and the aid is straightforward. This is the first time I feel the burden of failure lift and the line fall to our efforts. Finishing the line simply means stretching out the rope as far as I can. Near the top I am able to free-climb and scamper up the final jams and mantels to a ledge. I excitedly engineer an anchor and fix the line after a 195ft pitch. After several minutes I nervously watch our light fade to gray. I take this time to pick the lichen out of my hair and teeth. Joel pops up and we quickly rack him. 50ft left to the crest. We top out and now it’s very dark. During the descent of the South Arête I think about our luxury of this 2008 alpine crag. Being benighted simply brings a different experience. The well-rehearsed descent will take the same amount of time regardless. Contrary to the 1960’s ascent we can run the Blue Lake trailhead back to the car and beer. If it were only that straight forward. We did not leave a car in the upper-lot but at the hairpin-turn on Highway 20. With zero traffic on the road at 11:00pm and a 1-½ miles of the pavement between the car and us we attempt to see the positive in the situation. We all want to be done. “Stars are nice.” No reply. A few cars did pass us but the American fear of cereal killer hitchhikers has penetrated the psyche. We did not receive assistance, not even brake lights. The August 24, 2008 climbing team. Mark Allen, Joel Kauffman, and Leighan Falley from leftto right. The decision to attempt “Southern Man” was made shortly after this photo was taken the day prior on the summit of the North Early Winter Spire’s “West Face Route”. ~Photo Mark Allen As a 2008 climbing party we wondered about the pins found on the route. What was the full story? The adventure for us did not begin stepping off the triangular ledge but after I started digging into decades of Washington Pass History. I was surprised to find my time travel take me back to the beginning. The Historical significance of our 2008 climb was not because of any boldness or style but because it’s resurrects old storys of Cascade masters. Currently the route Southernman has seen a hand full of free ascents first projected by Bryan Burdo and (?) in 2009. The grade of the route has been changed to IV 5.11d after several days of cleaning and climbing. This route by several climbers is reviered as on of the more classic hard free routes currently at the pass. LINK TO HIGHER RES TOPO Sources 1. Beckey, Fred W. Cascades Alpine Guide. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers, 2000. 2. Burdo, Bryan, and Brooks White. North Cascades Rock. 1st ed. Vol. 1. Seattle, WA: Rhinotopia. 4. Marts, Steve. "Your Washington Pass History." Telephone interview. Sept. 2008. 5. Paul, Myher. "Your Washington Pass History." Telephone interview. Oct. 2008. 6. "Original Activity at WA Pass." Beckey, Fred, E-mail to the author. Sept. 2008. 7. Burdo, Bryan. "Known Washington Pass History." Telephone interview. Oct. 2008 8. Copyright WSDOT © 2008. "Birth of a Highway." Washington Department of Trasportation. Aug. 2008. Gear Notes: See Topo Approach Notes: Park at the hairpin. Approach as per East Butt Direct
  2. Trip: Leaning Towers - First Ascent - east face of Hall Peak Date: 8/16/2014 Trip Report: Are you an alpinist or alpine rock climber or even just a frequenter of the Patagonia catalog? If the answer is yes then chances are you’ve heard of the Bugaboos and chances are… you haven’t heard of the Leaning Towers. They are a group of three notable peaks 50 miles south of the Bugaboos. They feature similar age granite (granodiorite) to that of the Bugs but the 16 km approach that requires a significant amount of bushwhacking keeps the crowds away. The first ten days of August Winter Ramos and I spent bushwacking our way to the best alpine granite that either of us have climbed on. In our days in the range, we established two new routes on the east Face of Hall Peak: - The Direct East Buttress of Hall Peak (IV, 5.9+, 17 pitches, ~2000') - Post Credit Cookie (II, 5.10A, 4 pitches) The Leaning Towers are best viewed from the air; they are composed of three major named peaks. Given a hint after two of our friends had put up a new route on the east face of hall peak the previous year , we aimed directly at the largest buttress on Hall Peak's East face. The LT's are ~50 miles south of the Bugaboos. One of the best (legal) ways to get into the range is via the Dewar Creek Trailhead and then a hike up the pass just above Bugle Basin and down into the drainage below hall peak. This trailhead is accessed out of Kimberley, B.C. ~50 km of dirt roads. We horse packed in the first 12 k; then shouldered our big packs to hike up and over the pass. If you hit it early season enough there will be plenty of snow to make for easy going. At the top of the pass, we found our first view of Hall Peak's DRAMATIC east face. A night at the pass was followed by an epic descent into the most remote and exclusive bouldering area in all of British Columbia. Only a two day approach! This bush on the up had us hiking straight up the creek. UP, UP and UPPPP! we went until we were camped just below Hall Peak and our prize. The "Direct East Buttress" is in the centre of the above photo. This comes after a compilation of others routes in the ranges shows how much rock remains untouched! (Lines courtesy of Ryan Leary) With a bit of a rest day and a chance to scout around for our descent route, we racked up very soon after arriving to try for the Direct East Buttress. A 20 minute walk from camp at 5:00 AM had us at a nice ledge below our first pitch of climbing. The most intimidating feature on the lowers portion of the route is a large roof we could see through camp. Expecting something super hard, we brought out aiders and a few pitons. Winter found a sneak through on airy 5.9 moves. The rock was SPECTACULAR, lots of cracks only requiring moderate cleaning in spots where a bit more traffic would make for perfect climbing. Awesome face climbing just to the right of the main ridge (which is overhanging at this point), we connected cracked systems with a bit of slab all at 5.9! Winter led the crux pitch of the route, 40m of 5.9+ splitter hands! Our face climbing ended a the notch below a large gendarme on the direct south buttress, from here it was meandering mid-5th ridge climbing. After 17 pitches, some shortened for lack of gear and rope drag, we reached the summit!!! WOOT! From here it was a bit of down climbing 4th class slab, a few rappels, some steep snow and we were back to the col where we rappelled onto the snow field above camp. (image courtesy of Ryan Leary and John Scurlock) (image courtesy of Ryan Leary, NOTE, WE FOUND YOU NEED A DOUBLE ROPE RAPPEL TO REACH THE GROUND ON THE NORTHERN TIP OF HALL PEAK) Followed this climbing day with a day of rest, when we slept and played around placing pitons in our campsite practice wall The day after a much needed 24 hours of rest; we felt just leaving would be a bit sad. After taking two days to get to such awesome granite, why not keep rock climbing? A jaunt placed us just below the shorter northern aspect of Hall Peak. We spied a good crack system and ended up putting up a four pitch 5.10a we called "Post Credit Cookie" The first pitch was the 10a crux, clean cracks and fun lie backing and stemming moves gave us a fantastic intro to this face of hall peak. Then came another quality 5.9 pitch. The third pitch was 5.9 with an exposed slab and then low-5th You top out 100m to the south of the fixed rappel anchor. A quick double rope rappel takes you back to the snowfield above camp. We descended, packed up, and hiked partway out. We tried the high road on the way out, sticking to moraines and sidehilling on moraines on the northern side of the peak just adjacent the pass we were aiming for. A cold campsite for the night, then more STEEP bushes followed by three single rope rappels through vertical bush put us on an endless block field to the pass, we recovered some stashed gear and then down the other side. Even though it was incredibly hot, we relaxed our weak knees at Dewar Creek Hotsprings. Finally back at the trailhead several hours later we headed back down that isolated dirt road, looking forward to dinner in British Columbia's own Bavarian Village (Kimberley, B.C.). Block Tower and Wall Tower still offer large and probably HARD objectives. Wall Tower has no completed routes up its east face Hall Peak, thanks again! Get after it! Will be posting more writing and photos at my blog Gear Notes: We brought 2 60m half ropes. Full double rack to 3, with one 4. Could probably get by with single rack to bd .5 then doubles .5 to 3, single 4. If you are thinking of leaving the 4, we used it every pitch Approach Notes: Horse packers help a lot! http://raftkimberley.com/land-adventures Brad helped pack us in the first 12 km. Give yourself two days on the approach. Also! Would like to thank the Mazama's for helping to support our expedition!
  3. Trip: The Himmelhorn - South Face-"Stonehenge" (FA) Date: 7/6/2015 Trip Report: The Himmelhorn, South Face First Ascent (“Stonehenge”) Jason Schilling and Tim Halder. 7/6/15. 5.10, 8 pitches 1400’ “We were born too late. Roper’s already been here. We’re just picking up his scraps.” Tim mused as we gazed up at the unclimbed South Face of the Himmelhorn. Maybe so, but he nor anyone else had ventured onto the big face in front of us. We wondered if there was a reason for its neglect as we tried to agree on a safe but proud line while lounging amongst the wildflowers of the Crescent Creek basin. I’d like to think that I’ve paid my dues in the Pickets. I spent three nights stormbound on the summit of Mt. Fury in 2008 with Donn Venema and Steph Abegg. Donn and I wore parallel sleeping grooves into the ice during that first bout of Picket's purgatory and I’d often wake up with his legs draped over mine or with his hot breath on the back of my neck. Fortunately we got along well. He invited me into the range for three extended trips in two years and became an alpine mentor and great friend to me. Donn and I sampling the bourbon at Perfect Pass during happier times (photo by Steph Abegg) The next year I was back with Donn and Steph and new partner Steve Trent. The trip came to a crashing halt when Steve was injured badly in a fall on the North Buttress of Mt. Terror. I stayed behind to care for Steve and help with his helicopter rescue and ended up spending four dark days in a coffin-sized crack waiting for another storm to clear. Although it took a while for me to recover phsychologically from that episode, I eventually emerged with a renewed passion for the mountains and climbing and a profound reverence for partnerships that make the alpine experience so worthwhile for me. That event changed my life in many ways. It exposed me to a wider circle of climbers and brought several people into my life that have since become dear friends. Tim was one of them. Tim and I were supposed to go the Sawtooths this summer to climb some of the classics and fish in the alpine lakes. A gentleman’s trip of alpine leisure. But when I asked him if he was interested in a week of route exploration in the Southern Pickets, he succinctly responded “yes sir!” Tim likes to sell himself short as a mediocre rock climber, but he has several things going for him which make him an exceptional partner on remote and unknown alpine trips. He’s an elite endurance athlete with an incredible motor. He’s also an elite joker. His accents on one pitch can range from Russian to British to Indian. But most importantly, he’s a gamer. Put him at the crag, and he’s bored and disinterested. Put him on an unclimbed face in the cascades or the Himalaya, and he steps up to the plate, big time. He’s an alpha choss-dog who’s quite capable of pulling a difficult technical move at 20,000 feet with an overnight pack on. A perfect partner for the Pickets. We shouldered monster packs on July 3rd and headed up through what Tim describes as a “medley of suffering” from the jungle of Goodell creek to a bivy at the breezy and scenic col below the Chopping Block overlooking the Crescent Creek basin and its namesake spires. Snow was scarce in the basin approaching the col and the water situation later this summer could be grim for that spot, unless the snowfield on the slopes above persists. We had our eye on the easternmost tower of the Rake as a warm up. Wayne Wallace informed me of it a few years back in the Index parking lot, mentioning that it was unclimbed as far as he knew. It looked short enough and reasonably solid. We were wasted from the approach and needed a short introductory objective to get acclimated with the Pickets. The Turret, right of center, above the Terror/Rake col After a leisurely morning at the col, we moved camp into the Crescent Creek basin amidst a collection of large boulders scattered about the heather. We were perfectly situated next to a stream with intimate views of the Crescent Creek Spires. Some snow persisted in the gully leading up to the Terror/Rake col, but soon we were directly beneath the tower, scouting our options. The rock directly above the col appeared compact and difficult, so Tim led off slightly left on loose ground. I followed with an exciting and airy pitch on improving rock. Tim took over on the final pitch as we simul-climbed easy 5th class terrain to the summit. We saw no evidence of an ascent and figured we may be the first to climb the tower. John Roper has since informed us that he had climbed it back in 1984, naming it the Turret. We were indeed picking up his scraps. Nevertheless this was a good introduction to what lay ahead. We spent the next day lounging and recovering at camp and took a leisurely stroll through wildflower meadows to scope the south face of the Himmelhorn. The South Face of the Himmelhorn, center We even had time to sew It probably sees an ascent every other year or so, by either the standard route put up by Ed Cooper, George Whitmore, Glen Denny, and Joan and Joe Firey in 1961, or the highly regarded Wild Hair Crack climbed by John Roper, Silas Wild, and Russ Kroeker in 1981. The face looked complex, but had several options. We considered the far left line that would lead past an interesting and steep dihedral before mellowing out on a long traverse of the summit ridge and its various pinnacles. The direct line looked most interesting to us, finishing on the summit tower and I was thrilled when Tim suggested it. Our plan was set for the following morning. Having nearly melted off of the first ascent of Golden Horn’s East Face the week prior with Joe Sambataro, I wanted to avoid another flirtation with heat stroke. We left our camp at four the next morning under clear skies and some of the warmest pre-dawn temps I’d ever experienced in the pickets. We were on the snow at 5 and started up easy ramps and ledges. The climbing was straightforward and fun and took us to a grassy col where we finally pulled out the rope and rack. Jason picking a line low on the South Face. Above us lay a feature we called the shield. It was three pitches of impressively solid rock. Tim led out on blocky, intermediate terrain for the first pitch and I followed with an attempt on an incredible looking dihedral. Tim start out on blocky ground on the first pitch of Stonehenge, the South Face of the Himmelhorn. I had to clean the lower part of the crack to reveal perfect hand jams but soon dead-ended at an unprotectable and flaring wide crack. I traversed left onto solid face climbing followed by a brief lieback and great hand jams. The rock went from solid to excellent as we moved higher. Jason encounters varied and solid climbing on the second pitch of ‘Stonehenge’ on the South Face of the Himmelhorn. “Tim’s Flake” on the fourth pitch Tim works past the incredible flake on the 4th pitch as the summit tower looms above Soon we were at the base of the summit tower and I lobbied for going straight up it to the summit. Surely we could find something that would go and take us to the top in 2 pitches or less. The rock was compact and steep. I had a cruxy traverse with poor feet but good protection down low and then the protection vanished. I aimed for a salvation crack 40 feet above my last possible piece of protection. The climbing was exhilarating. Pushing my fears aside, I moved past the runout difficulties to steep and joyous cracks and a belay 2/3 of the way to the top of the tower. Jason leads up the steep and runout 6th pitch. We were confronted with steep rock and sparse protection above, so Tim opted for a wild traverse on solid but unprotectable pock-marks to a notch between the summit tower and a pinnacle. Following the airy traverse of the 6th pitch The difficulties were over! He let out a whoop after reaching the notch and brought me over to his scenic belay overlooking the Mustard Glacier and wild McMillan Cirque. From there it was one cruiser pitch to the summit on low 5th class on deteriorating rock. It’s funny how so many of these N. Cascades peaks turn to rubble right at the top. I spied an old Kodak film register whose vintage seemed to be way before my time. We were amazed to find the original summit log from 1961 in the canister as well as the Roper and company’s chronicle of the Wild Hair Crack. The original summit register from 1961 We lounged on the summit for an hour, reveling in the views and the warmth, overjoyed with the climbing that was now behind us. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for this moment and the shared creative experience with Tim felt like a gift. The rest of the trip was all downhill, more or less. We spent our last night at the Chopping Block bivy, partying with the meager libations at hand, and watching Spinal Tap’s “Stonehenge,” in honor of our new route’s name. I could finally relax with the satisfaction of successfully returning to the range where I had learned and suffered so much. And it was reassuring to know that Roper had left a few blank canvases untouched and that more await for those who are willing to put in the effort. Summit or Siberia! (somehow my rotated photos reverted to their orignial state once they were uploaded to this server) Gear Notes: Double ropes, Double-cams from .4 to 3 Approach Notes: Goodell Creek to end of road, cross Terror Creek, then up up up like little hobbits to the Chopping Block ridge bivy.
  4. Trip: Golden Horn - East Face - F*@$ The Pain Away (FA) Date: 6/27/2015 Trip Report: Eight years ago, I just wrapped up an awesome week of climbing CBR, Girth Pillar, and TRL (aid) with my buddy Kyle and was keen to check out some other areas around Washington Pass. I hiked in the 10 miles along the PCT from Rainy Pass to scramble Golden Horn with Ty, Jaga, and my wife. We had just started dating and she had never climbed or scrambled, so I thought I'd throw her in the fire and see if it worked out - I guess it did! A short report is also up at Alpinist.com: Crumbling Holds and Expanding Cracks: Sambataro and Schilling's New Route on Golden Horn. From the ridgeline, you get a sneak peek of the impressive, unclimbed east face. Around the corner, Gordy Skoog and Jim Walseth did the first ascent of the Northeast Arete (Class III, 5.8) in 1979, with Lowell Skoog leading a KOMO-TV film crew to document the climb a year later. I knew it would involve some choss from my recon and rumors afield, but I’ve been eyeing those photos since we got back from our 5-year stint in Colorado. My partner Jason "Spiceman" and I have spent the last couple winters making the drive to climb ice in Cody, but this would be our first alpine trip together. We started hiking in via Swamp Creek off Highway 20 at 5:00 PM on Friday after work, involving some easy bushwacking and a steep sandy slope to gain the PCT. It required only 3.5 hours and 5 miles to reach camp at Snowy Lakes vs the 10 mile hike along the PCT. We left camp Saturday morning around 4:30am, scrambled up scree from the southwest and dropped down the east side via a snow couloir. Crampons and a tool/axe made the descent straightforward. We traversed to the base of the east face and started climbing at 6:30 am to allow enough time for the 1000-foot face, but this meant we were baking in the sun for over half the climb. Our 5 liters of waters just lasted to the summit. We hit the summit around 5:30pm and opted to stay an extra night in camp to rehydrate and recover. Pitch breakdown -I led the odd pitches, Jason even. We each onsighted our leads and followed clean: 1. 5.7 off snow to large bench, moved belay 2. 5.9 good cracks 3. 5.10+ linked intermittent cracks and finished with a boulder sequence on slopers – good rock 4. 5.10 R good rock led to a 20 foot stretch of kitty litter and poor protection, dubbed “Pitch of Terror”. It reminded me of the “Rite of Passage” pitch on King of Swords of the Diamond and my pitch on McNerthney Pillar of Mt. Waddington where a block fell in my waste. Kudos to Jason for committing to the terrifying expanding cracks and decomposing holds to top out this pitch clean! 5. 5.8 leftward ramp 6. 5.9+ on good rock 7. 5.10 intermittent kitty litter 8. 5.10 crack and bouldery finish 9. 5.8 corner/gulley 10. 5.6 gulley continued 11. 5.6 scramble to summit block First Ascent of East Face, "F*%# the Pain Away," 11 pitches, 5.10+ R. The name is an inside joke from listening to Peaches on our 13-hour road trips to Cody. For a good laugh, check it out on .For the first alpine climb of the season, it was quite the adventure with a strong and equally crazy partner. Topo of our route and the NE Arete climbed in 1979. Photo by Lowell Skoog. Our approach line from the InReach GPS/messenger The approach up the Swamp Creek drainage View of the East Face from the ridgeline at sunrise. Getting stoked! Tower at Sunrise Views from Snowy Lakes of Tower, Hardy, and Golden Horn Approach down the gully Jason at the base, ready to take on the hot sun Me starting up the first pitch with the east face above Jason starting up the second pitch on clean granite Jason following pitch 3, a highlight of the climb and the 10+ crux is shown here, transitioning from a crack around the corner to slopers. Jason heads off into the unknown of Pitch 4 with the soon-to-be-terrifying kitty litter above him Jason following Pitch 5 Me coming up pitch 6, and psyched to get a break from the hot sun Me heading out into the unknown of pitch 7, starting with another band of loose rock and doing his best to hold the rock together and get some pro And last but not least, the summit shot - the classy version! Gear Notes: Double rack to #3 would work well. We also carried #4 and #5 cams (largely unnecessary), knifeblades (but never placed any), and didn't leave any gear or anchors as you descend the standard scramble route. Tool and/or crampons for descent down gully. Approach Notes: Swamp Creek approach. See topo map.
  5. Trip: Lucifer - North Face "Agua Sin Gas" (FA) Date: 5/15/2015 Trip Report: Summary: New route on the north face of Lucifer on May 15 2015. John Frieh (Portland, OR) and Doug Shepherd (Denver, CO) "Agua Sin Gas" III W4/steep snow Lucifer is the peak just left of center: Details: I made my first trip to the Stikine Icecap in 2009 to make the first ascent of the west ridge of Burkett Needle. The climbing on the Needle was trumped only by the scenery; the Icecap seemed to be teeming with beautiful lines. I was amazed to learn many of them were unclimbed and as a result have more or less returned every year to attempt to climb one of them. In 2014 while approaching the West Witches Tit Jess and I spotted on the other side of what local climbers call "The Cauldron" or "Witches Cauldron" a very attractive looking face. I took a few photos and made a mental note to keep it in mind when a conditions and weather window coincided; I didn't expect it would be the following year. After reading SE Alaska's snowpack was 30% of normal earlier this year I more or less assumed I wouldn't get to climb there unless a weather window appeared early in the year. In August of 2013 I was shut down by extremely difficult glacier conditions in a low snow year and didn't want another "scenic helicopter flight" trip. I was in Salt Lake City the Monday prior training with some climbers when I noticed a solid weather window was taking shape. I pinged the usual suspects and Doug was available for a quick trip. I flew home from SLC Tuesday night, packed bags and drove to Seattle Wednesday night to meet Doug and catch the early flight north Thursday. Wally zipped us in Thursday afternoon; it was after he dropped us off as we were setting up camp that we realized I had in fact forgotten the stove in Portland. I think for most trips this would have ended the trip right there but the warm temps of the high pressure had turned the glacier into soup and we found a few shallow pools to collect water from. Still... no hot water meant no coffee which is an epic in my book. Doug earned a partner of the year nomination for not killing me right then and there. Given the heat wave we opted for a 2 am departure from camp in hopes of climbing a large majority of the face in the predawn hours. We found the same puddles we had collected water from the night prior unfrozen at 1 am so we knew it was going to be a mess. We managed most of the face before sunrise but we found the face slow going with numerous crevasses and sloppy snow in the unusual heat. We were hoping for a direct line up the headwall to the summit but given the temps and conditions opted for a safer, less direct line off the face climbers left of the summit. We managed the ~4000' face in about 12 hours; though we encountered some vertical snow/snice in places found the majority of the terrain to be moderate. All in all a good day out. We managed to snag a pick up some day and were back in Petersburg later in the day on the 15th making for a <24 hour Petersburg to Petersburg trip. Given my fuck up we opted to name the route "Agua sin gas" which in Spanish means "water without gas" Though usually this is reserved for still water (i.e. not sparkling water) it happened to also hold true for our situation. My 5th first ascent on the Icecap; my 10th in Alaska. Pictures: Glacier shenanigans Throw the horns! Partner of the year Gear Notes: Petzl Laser Speed Light screws. Arcteryx FL 30 was the perfect size for this route. Approach Notes: Wally at Temsco Air in Petersburg
  6. Trip: Mount Dickey (Ruth Gorge) - NE Face "Blue Collar Beatdown" (FA) Date: 3/20-22/2015 Summary: New route on the NE face of Mount Dickey on March 20-22nd 2015. John Frieh (Portland, OR), Jason Stuckey (Fairbanks, AK) and Chad Diesinger (Fairbanks, AK) “Blue Collar Beatdown” V W4 M4 65 degree snow Details: After much deliberation over where the low would settle in the gulf and what that would mean for weather in the central range I finally committed and grabbed a last minute ticket to Fairbanks. I landed early in the morning of the 19th and Jason, Chad and I immediately departed for Talkeetna. We rolled into town just as the Roadhouse opened where we each pounded the traditional half standard, a Rudy and a Razzy before heading to Talkeetna Air Taxi. After some bag shuffling we departed for the Ruth. As always Paul was gracious enough to “fly slow” on our way in and, after some observations from the air, ruled out a few possibles and made a decision to look at the NE face of Mount Dickey. After establishing camp (one of the downsides of being the first team of the year is you can’t recycle old campsites) we skied over and glassed the NE face. Though what we found wasn’t exactly confidence inspiring it was enough to merit a “let’s go see tomorrow” plan for the following morning. Upon returning to camp we found in the 90 minutes we had been gone a pack of ravens had ripped several holes in both brand new tents, opened a few duffels to pull out their contents out but mostly shit on everything. You can probably guess how we felt about this. The following morning we departed camp at approximately 4:45 am and made the short ski over to Dickey. We cached the skis near the face and started hiking. To be honest I can’t recall when we reached the face (it all sort of blends together) but I want to say around 7 am or so. We climbed two full pitches of snice (snow ice) that took sticks great but was a little limited on protection options. Given how thin these pitches were in places it would be my opinion that possible repeaters of this route should plan on an early spring ascent. These two pitches put us on the snow ramp that slashed the face. We immediately started blocking it out; simulclimbing when the terrain allowed for it. We encountered bottomless sugar to mixed climbing and everything in between. I had the final block of the day that started at dusk and ended well past dark. Our original plan/hope was to be off the face before the sunset and then rely on my knowledge of the descent from my 2012 ascent to descend in the darkness or, worst case, enjoy a sit, brew and exercise session on the summit plateau. Unfortunately we were not and after getting shut down by complex route finding in the dark we resigned to digging a pseudo snowcave into the side of a snow fin and sitting down to wait for dawn. When we finally sat down and settled in it was around midnight so we "enjoyed" four long hours of the Alaska night. Ironically (at least to me I suppose) that night was the last night of winter and the following morning was the first day of spring. As none of us had brought any bivy gear the Reactor saw plenty of use that night. No one slept out of fear for their fingers and toes. As soon as it was light we blasted out of the cave and promptly restarted our efforts to get off the face. After two failed attempts we finally found a way off the face. It was much later in the day than any of us had hoped. We slogged over and tagged the summit around 5 pm or so (again: it all blends together). We reached 747 pass around 8 or so and sat down for a final brew session as the last of the daylight faded away. Coffee, Perpetuem and what little we had left to eat was consumed before we began what would end up taking another 8 hours to finally reach our tent on March 20th at 4 am. All told we were awake for 48 hours and more or less on the move for all of it minus the 4 hour "sit and suffer" session. "Blue Collar Beatdown" is my second first ascent on Mount Dickey and my 9th “first” in Alaska since my first trip in 2009. Many thanks to all the great partners that have climbed with me on these over the years. My thanks to Paul and the great people at Talkeetna Air Taxi for the superior service. I cannot emphasize how critical a solid, reliable pilot is to the “Smash and Grab” approach; arguably it would be impossible without one. Fly TAT; you get what you pay for. Also a big thanks to the great people of Mountain Gear and the Alta Group for supporting local climbers like us as well as many local projects that benefit the climbing community. Finally many thanks to my Gym Jones family for teaching me how to suffer and the power of self image. Onward. Pictures: Off the glacier Looking back Trenching it up. The trench exceeded 6 feet in places. The pseudo cave. A dark night As first light breaks we immediately started climbing again Hour 40. Wasted. Gear Notes: Petzl Lynx: everyone wore these Petzl Laser Speed Lights: I can't get over how light these are but how well they hold up. The future. Arcteryx Alpha FL 45: My third "big" route in AK with this bag. Absolutely love it. The roll top took me a little bit to warm up to but I am a big fan now. Perfect size. GUs and Shot Blocks for the high heart rate stuff; bars and peanut butter for the lower heart rate stuff. Coffee and Perpetuem makes the world go round Laser Speed LIGHT! Approach Notes: I'll say it again: My thanks to Paul and the great people at Talkeetna Air Taxi for the superior service. I cannot emphasize how critical a solid, reliable pilot is to the “Smash and Grab” approach; arguably it would be impossible without one. Fly TAT; you get what you pay for. http://www.talkeetnaair.com
  7. Trip: Lincoln Peak - Wilkes-Booth Route (NW Face) Grade 4+ AI4+ Date: 3/13/2015 Trip Report: Lincoln Peak Wilkes-Booth Route (NW Face) AI4+ Grade 4+ ~2000 ft. FA- M. Rynkiewicz, D. Coltrane 3/13/2015 Michal Rynkiewicz and I climbed the NW face of Lincoln peak via a combination of glacial, alpine, and water ice, with steep snow fields and amazing ridge traversing mixed in. I was inspired to climb this route by a 2010 TR of Assassin Spire by the phenomenal Cascade hardman Tom Sjolseth. His trip report included a few choice picture of the NW face of Lincoln with big inspiring flows that would possibly lead to the summit of Lincoln. Given that and the great snow conditions we have been having this year I didn't really have a choice but to go out and give it a try. We were a little concerned with the warm temps and recent snow, but upon views of the start we couldn't resist. We climbed the route in a single push from the Heliotrope ridge trailhead ascending the NW face and descending the SW face (Standard) route. It was a big day and one of the most amazing routes I have had a chance to climb in the Cascades. I feel very fortunate to be blessed with outstanding partners and to be allowed passage by this amazing mountain. Sunrise on the Sisters Looking at first pitch on Descent. This is the same start as for Assassin Spire and the route shares the lower portion with Shooting Gallery until you get to the upper Ampitheatre. Starting up the first pitch. The upper half of this pitch is the crux with poorly protected overhanging ice of dubious quality. looking down at the overhanging glacier while cruising up through the first snow field. Vertical ice curtain headed up to the glacier. Michal climbing the glacier to gain the upper amphitheater. This was a fun step of glacial ice with good protection. First views of the ampitheatre. We climbed the obvious flow in the middle. It was about 120m of amazing WI3+ plastic ice like I have never seen in the Cascades. We climbed it in two long pitches. There are other climbs to be had along the face. Climbers right is a slightly easier variation that would traverse in to the main flow, and climbers left the gully would probably go with a bit of shenanigans at the top. Setting up an anchor for the first pitch. Michal Starting out the first pitch, this pitch was a full 70 meters with a little simuling on 60m ropes. this was the harder of the two pitches with a few vertical step of ice that had good features. So Much Ice! Starting out the second pitch. This was the easier of the two with one short 85 deg. section at the start and about 50m to the top of the flow. Cruising the upper snow field with the amphitheater below. Amazing ridge climbing along bomber snow and rime. Assassin Spire is the rocky spire down and right. Navigating the upper ridge to the first sub summit. From here we had to downclimb a short portion of rime ice to get to the last pitch to the summit. Looking back at the downclimb section. Such amazing position. Michal Working his way up the last technical pitch to the summit. Looking up the gulley to the summit. This was another full 60m pitch, but relatively easy. Summit Selfie! All that was left was getting off #2 on the hardest peaks in Washington. Just downclimb 2000 ft of steep snow... Out of the danger zone and glad to be heading back. From here we traversed back along the north side of the peak to Heliotrope ridge. Thanks again to my amazing partner for the commitment, and strength to get this huge climb done. Special thanks to The Tom Sjolseth for getting after it and sharing the stoke! I would have never known this was an option without his beta. Daniel Coltrane Gear Notes: 9 screws, 3 pickets, small rack to 2", set of Nuts, and small set of pins, 60m rope Mostly used screws and pickets. Approach Notes: Approached from Heliotrope ridge across the lower portion of the Thunder Glacier.
  8. Trip: Mt Rideout - Minus Six (NE Face) - 400 m WI3 70 deg. Date: 3/10/2015 Trip Report: The north couloir (aka Minus Five) on Mt Rideout was first climbed by Don Serl, Joe Bajan and Joe Buszowski in January of '83. A classic line that runs straight to the summit. In Feb. 1994, Rob Nugent and Bob Koen took an obvious left forking ramp out of the north couloir, traversing a couple hundred meters left across the midheight ledge of the face to reach a parallel gully to the left, which was followed to the summit ridge with some slabby 5th class rock to exit. Last Tuesday, Maxim de Jong and I climbed a separate gully left of the North Couloir to reach the same Nugent/Koen traverse and finishing gully. I guess the question that is brought up by this is, when is a variation to a variation a new route or not? The line we climbed was independent of the North Couloir throughout, so going by the numbering scheme for the Sumallo Cirque Max thought up in the 90s, our route would be Minus Six Couloir as it's the next line left of Minus Five, which is itself five gullies left of Zero Gully. I'd thought of Sumallo Cirque winter routes for a couple weeks but couldn't find an interested partner and/or was too busy with work. When Max became free, we originally tried to climb this on Sunday the 8th but only brought his pickup, no quad. When we ran into deeply rutted ice crust/snow at the gated bridge, 5 km down valley from the road end, we decided to come back in the midweek with his quad. With the quad, we were able to follow past snowcat, snowmobile and quad trails all the way to near the pulled-out bridge over the west fork of the Sumallo. We walked from there to the base of the face in about an hour. I thought we were there to climb Minus Five, but when we neared the base, I ended up heading into the next gully to the left, just following my nose. Max came along behind and said "Oh, this is where we retreated the last time". Max and Shaun had tried it once before but retreated from below the crux WI3 due to heavy spindrift and wind slab avalanches.We looked at the potential lower traverse into Minus Five and it looked like crap - unbonded melty ice over sloping rock - which left the straight up option as our only option Max coming up to where we started to belay. The straight up option was a narrow runnel of good ice but it was also a spindrift chute from the upper ledge. We waited out a few white powder douches before getting a stable spell. I led through and Max followed. Heading out from the belay, bottom of the ice visible A 60m pitch of WI3 with 5m of near-vertical to start and a long runnel of moderately good ice and snice followed, a couple screws and a couple good nuts helped. I belayed at a widening in the gully above as it opened out to the base of the mid-height ledge that crosses the face. Max led thru and out onto the ledge. We headed right and up to a point overlooking the North Couloir, which we still thought we were going to climb. Max heading to the junction with the Nugent/Koen. I had been supposed to bring pickets but forgot them, so at this point I had untied from the rope and was soloing next to it as that seemed a marginally safer technique. The snow was pretty stable, and there wasn't ,much chance of either of us coming off. The descent down the Nugent/Koen ramp to get into Minus Five looked feasible, but 100-150m of steep downclimbing didn't seem like the best way to make progress either. We saw a lwdge that might cross directly into the north couloir, but it also crossed a couple ribs, with unknown difficulty on the far side of the larger one, and we thought it might be time consuming. So we decided to head left and into the upper Nugent/Koen couloir line, even though we'd seen from below that it had a humungous cornice at the top. We traversed back left across the upper edge of the shelf for about two and a half pitches (some simulclimbing) to get into the upper gully. The rock varied between OK and total shit, so I ran it out 50 m, found a nut, simuled another 50 m, found a horn to sling to back up a crappy pin, and then belayed just beyond when the rock changed back to OK and a splitter nut crack appeared. Max led through into the Nugent/Koen gully. Traversing The upper gully was moderately angled but the cornice at the top looked like a cruise ship's bow hanging out over us, and it had not one but two crown line fractures! It was kinda intimidating. We found one or two sheltered belay spots along the sides of the couloir to huddle under while picking our way up. Max in the couloir Trying to decide which exit to take. We could see two possible ways around the cornice - a gully out right, or traverse a shelf right below he cornice to turn it on the left. I elected to go left. Heading up to the left exit. The left exit was one of the scariest places I have ever been in in the mountains. My helmet was a few centimeters from bonking the underbelly of the cornice, which hung out over my head a couple of meters. I know people bivy under these in the Himalaya and stuff but I couldn't help but think "this thing could drop at any second and if it does I'm fucked." When I got out to the left edge of the cornice, where it kicked back to just less than vertical, I was so relieved, and so worried about the rope cutting in to the overhanging part if I went any further, that I buried Max's old "experimental design" snow fluke and my tools in the snow and belayed right there. Max came up and led through over the bulge and onto the welcome flatness of the east ridge. Max with a couple of meters of steep snow left to go to the top. Once we topped out on the ridge we thought briefly about summiting but weather coming in and a desire to get off the mountain down a gully that we knew had more large cornices saw us decide to just head down. We found away around those cornices, and downclimbed the Silvertip-Rideout col gully all the way back to our tracks from the morning, where snow conditions relented enough that we could finally take off our crampons and plungestep back down the hill. We got back to the quad right at dark, for about a 12 hr round trip day. It was a good route - certainly not the longest on the mountain, but involving some fun terrain. I suppose I still need to go back to summit Rideout, though. Gear Notes: Small-med nuts, a couple pins, 4 tricams, 2 hexes, 4 ice screws (1 ea. 10 cm, 14 cm, 17 cm, 19cm), one "experimental design" flexible aluminum snow fluke from 1990. Should have broght a couple pickets. Single 8.something mm 60 m rope. Approach Notes: Big pickup with quad in back.
  9. Climb: Mount Outram-Ghost Passenger (FA/FWA East Face) Date of Climb: 3/12/2005 Trip Report: I have been scheming to climb the East Face of Outram for a couple of years now. The large, gullied face is hard to see from most roads but you can get glimpses from some other peaks, and the view from Snass (Justin Brown has some awesome shots on bivouac.com) is quite impressive. In August 2003 Fred Touche and I hiked up the standard route on Outram and I took a look see down the face and deemed it possible. In 2004 Merran and I hiked in in May planning to go up the standard route, drop down a gully at the S end of the e face and climb back out up another gully. However this approach, due to weather and also the fact that all the gullies are too steep to be comfortable descents, failed and we ended up bagging the standard route once again. I know Justin and Jordan also made one attempt and had the same problem. For 2005 I decided to head in via the old Ghost Pass trail and up the creek draining the east face. I gleaned some beta on this approach from the usual online sources and prepared for windfall and thrashing. The nice descent down the standard route means the best climbing choice is to carry over bivi gear and I packed accordingly. No stove, cold food, two tools, crampons, a few jacket layers, a -7C sleeping bag for a possible long night bivi and a 3/4 length z-rest. I parked at the wooden marmot around 12:30 on Saturday and started hiking the Ghost pass trail. this leaves the old Engineers' Road about 2 km east of the Outram Trail and cuts over the ridge into the valley of Eighteen Mile Creek. The trail was overgrown and had lots of windfall but wasn't as hard to follow as I had feared it would be. After about three hours of hiking I left the trail and cut up an obvious side valley towards Outram. By the time I reached treeline it was getting near dark and I was tired. There were lots of possible lines so I elected to bivi overnight and make an early start instead of picking one line and giving it by headlamp Fred Touche style. There were no real flat spots to bivi not covered in wet snow but I found a good hollow in the ground, filled it in with dead branches and laid the z-rest down on that; it was quite comfortable. For some reason all I could think of all night long was zombie movies and wild animals. I had found fresh cougar tracks not far from my bivi site when approaching and kept waking up in the night in a state of mild panic whenever the wind blew through the trees. Around 5 AM I got up, packed my bivi up and got out of the trees onto the approach slopes to the east face. The face is a very large one with numerous gullies, and is composed of a long face on the SE ridge, and a higher face directly below the summit, in a bit of a cirque. Because of the slanting valley and ridge slopes pretty much all the options on the face are about 400 to 500m high and there are at least a dozen unclimbed gullies here, They pretty much all had a mix of ice and snow in them too. It was hard to make a decision but I ended up heading up to the headwall, mostly because I couldn't see it from lower in the valley and didnt want to pick a good looking line only to find out that the headwall had better lines that I couldn't see. East face at sunrise from treeline near bivi Unclimbed gully with WI3? step Narrow and potentially mixed unclimbed couloir line. When I got up into the east face bowl there were three options... a shady, scary looking couloir and chimney line with chockstones on the left, an open face with a couple of vertical water ice steps in the middle, and a slanting line on the right. The slanting line looked the easiest and had the smallest cornices above it so that was what I chose. It had one narrow kink but most of it looked like snow climbing. East face headwall. Arrow marks line climbed. NS and SS are north and south summits (I had no idea where the summits were when I took the photo). Details might be too small to see in thumbnail, in that case check the gallery. I climbed up into the couloir and the climbing turned out to be awesome with well-frozen neve and little bits of ice where seepages from the sidewalls came in. It was mostly 45 degree climbing with short steeper steps. There was a constant flow of 'hail' on the gully bed as ice fell off the sidewalls and broke up, but almost nothing larger than golf ball size...only two fist size chunks came down and both of them bounced well clear of me. Looking up the gully from near the bottom. I was not climbing too fast and I was also worried about the cornices. The climbing was fun but I wasn't enjoying it much. I came around a corner into the kink I had seen from below and found a 25m step of 70 degree WI3. After climbing this I got above most of the falling ice and the snow relented to 45 degrees again. A few hundred meters higher I got close to the ridge exit and came very close to a big looming house sized cornice. Fortunately the cornice line was not continuous. I picked a line up to where the lip was amost non existant, and although the angle steepened through 50 to almost 65 degrees (tools over head) the exit move was only vertical for less than a bodylength. I pulled onto the ridge to find I was exactly half way between the two summits, which was the point I had been aiming for, but did not know I was about to arrive at. Also, the ridge between the two summits, which is Class 2-3 rock in summer, and that I had thought might be scary and double-corniced, was pretty much a broad easy walk. Almost immediately on topping out my fear went away and I felt a great sense of happiness and relaxation. Tracks on the ridge with north summit behind. By the time I got to south summit it was probably 11:00 or 11:30 AM. I drank the last of my water, ate some PowerGels and took a few photos before starting to descend. Rideout and Payne - Sumallo Valley Mt. Grant, Eaton Peak and Cheam Range behind. The uppermost slopes were pretty wind-blown and icy, then as I went lower the snow softened and the temperature rose. I shed crampons and layers as I descended and even got in some good glissading. It is a very long way back down to the highway (almost 2000m) which I reached around 2:30 for a car-to-car time of 26 hours or so. Obviously that includes a 12 hour bivi and so theoretically a day trip is doable, but if I did it again I would still biv in order to get good early morning snow conditions. The approach is not onerous but does take about 5 hours all told. Since there are so many other unclimbed lines on the face I decided to give the climb a name to distinguish it from other routes that will later be done. I ended up calling it "Ghost Passenger" since the approach is via the Ghost Pass trail and because I was somewhat scared for a lot of the climb. The overall difficulty is probably Grade III, Alpine Grade AD+, WI3 and snow to 65 degrees. The climbing felt quite similar to Central Couloir on Joffre, not as sustained and no rockclimbing exit but with a slightly harder crux than existed the one time I climbed CC on Joffre. Gear Notes: 4 screws, 2 pickets and 2 pins would be an adequate rack for a party of two. Approach Notes: Via Ghost Pass trail, 4-5 hours in. Plan on taking bivi gear up and over. Food notes: In 26 hours I ate 5 powergels, 1 halvah bar, one chocolate bar, a couple of fruitleathers, and a sesame snap packet. I think this is the least amount of food I have ever eaten on an overnight trip. Certainly for most of the climb I did not want to eat at all. I'm still not very hungry. it is possible thatt if I had eaten more and had higher blood sugar levels I might not have felt so scared, I have noticed before that I start to get spooked sometimes when climbing and not eating.
  10. Climb: FRA-Acid Baby III+ 5.10 approx 1000' climbing-Dan Cappellini, Rolf Larson, Mike Layton Date of Climb: 7/31/2005 Trip Report: "Now that we've climbed together, I think you're ready to meet Dan," Rolf stated at 6am in Leavenworth. The three of us had a blast doing a fantastic climb up on Asguard Pass across from the NE face of D-tail. All three of us knew of the line, although they tried to get me to do d-tail madness or the boving route instead. i made lies why we needed to do this route. We get to the base. Crap, this is gonna be quick. What looked like a 4-5 pitch climb now looked like 3 pitches max. At least it'll be over quickly...We got back to the car at 10:30pm. I posted a topo (too big for here) in my gallery. I'll add the link on my next post when i put up the photos. Anyway, our climb ACID BABY turned out to be unrelently steep, quality, and a clean line. I pegged out the contrive-o-meter when my pitch came up by trying to go directly up the roof in the center of the face. After an hour-long battle with gear and fear I backed off. I had a 1/2way in nut, a grey tcu that kept pulling out when i moved, an RP between two removeable stones, and a belayer-slayer i was standing on trying to make the impossibe (for me) reach up over and aroudn the roof. I fell and nearly shat myself in the process. The nut pulled, but came to a stop when the remain metal that was touching the rock somehow held. My RP and TCU blew out. I got real bloody! After a lot of "gosh mike, you're retarded" Rolf slung his balls over his shoulder and gave the roof a go. Much swearing and "careful" grumbling later, Rolf downclimbed my horror show, not as excited to be lowered off my nut as I was. "Well if Rolf couldn't do it," I though.... Anyway, I got the seat of SHAME while Rolf took the obvious and way better way to go up super exposed cracks, ridges, and traversing. Dan and I got stellar pitches, and more stellar pitches led to the top. Turned out to be about 1,000' of climbing all pitches very physical and almost every pitch in the 5.10 range, two being very sustained 5.10. Maybe my photos will do it more justice then my not so good TR (i'm tired and don't have time to post this later). We topped out on top of Enchantment peak after fully burying the CONTRIVE-O-METER on top by doing a sweet pitch of climbing on a large steep slab covered in cracks. We just couldn't stop climbing....well actually we all we bitching pussies by the summitt. If I think of anything else important to the actual route, i'll post it. Rolf and Dan are free to call bullshit, i don't care. feel free to downgrade it to I+ 5.6 55meters. anyone know the name of this tower? if it has one that is. Gear Notes: set and a half cams up to 4", nuts Approach Notes: can't see the tower till you're almost there
  11. Climb: The Mythical Bellingham Big Wall Date of Climb: 7/21/2005 Trip Report: For many climbers in Bellingham the Twin Sisters Range is the place were we first cut our teeth in the mountains, climbing the west ridge of the North Twin or more often than not failing on an attempt of the South Twin Sister. The rest of the range is somewhat of an enigma. During the month of July I made several forays into the east side of the range. While the west side of these mountains is a wasteland of clearcuts and decomposing logging roads, on the east side we discovered soothing old growth forest, wild rivers, impressive glaciers, lots of solitude and some great multipitch climbing on the unique and enjoyable olivine these peaks are composed of. Last February my wife and I decided to check out the Elbow Lake Trail. After we navigated the washed-out crossing of the Nooksack River the trail immediately began a gentle climb through impressive stands of huge trees in the drainage of Green Creek. Occasional openings in the forest afforded glimpses of steep walls near the creeks headwaters. Green Creek Arete II 5.6 On July 1st Allen Carbert and I returned to see if these walls measured up to the grandure of my memories. After a half hour on the trail we plunged straight into the forest and began traversing further into the Green Creek drainage. While the underbrush was thick and wet we made good time and after an hour of thrashing we broke out along the bank of the creek. This is a wild spot with great views of the Green Glacier to the west and Mount Baker and Lincoln Peak to the east. After crossing the creek we headed up the enormous talus slopes that define the upper regions of this drainage. One east facing wall stood out, steep, clean and bordered by an impressive gendarmed arete. Four hours after leaving the car we stood near its base. Intimidated and running short on time we decided the arete would be a perfect choice for the day. Like many routes in the Sisters the climbing was much easier than it looked. We scrambled up delightful 3rd and 4th class rock before slipping into rock shoes for a clean exposed slab on the crest of the arete. The horizontal section turned out to be exciting 3rd class scrambling right along the massive drop of the east face. We roped up for a 100' pitch of 5.6 cracks on more clean, solid rock before a final bit of scrambling led to...nowhere. The arete simply ended on a minor high point of the long ridgeline seperating the drainages of the Green and Sisters Glaciers. We built a small cairn and ate lunch while enjoying the unique views of the Sisters Glacier which looked to be no more than a 45 minute walk away. We had choosen to carry over and decided to descend by heading east along the ridgeline. After cresting a highpoint marked 5179' on maps we headed down through open meadows then more thick forest. At 3600' in elevation we hung a hard right, dropping back into the drainage of Green Creek. A steep descent led to an even steeper gorge where we once again crossed the creek before climbing back up to the trail. Eight and half hours after leaving we were back at the car, satisfied with a great day in the local hills. The Mythic Wall III 5.10 On July 21st Michael Layton and I climbed the wall. The huckleberries in the forest were now in prime season and we stopped every five minutes to gorge ourselves. Somehow we still managed to reach the face in a little over three hours. As we roped up an enormous black spider crawled across the start of our route. What in the hell is this thing? The climbing was excellent. Almost every pitch was steep, solid and sustained with adequate protection. Stemming up corners, linking face cracks, pulling over roofs on jugs, we had a great time. What loose rock there was we would pitch off into space watching it freefall for hundreds of feet before exploding into shrapnel. Michael led the crux pitch, a series of discontinuous cracks up the center of a steep, clean face. On the next pitch, intimidating roofs were passed on great holds. As Mike followed he easily pulled off the only belay-slayer on the climb, a 5' tall flake that exploded over the previous belay ledge. Four and half hours after starting we topped out in the still blazing sun. We had climbed the route in 6 pitches ( 5.8, 5.9+, 5.4, 5.10-, 5.9, 5.7) and decided to call it The Mythic Wall as it felt like we had just done that mythical alpine rock climb we've always wanted to find in the mountains near Bellingham. We downclimbed the Green Creek Arete (easy 4th class from topout) reaching our packs in about an hour. On the way out we cooled off in the creek before thrashing back out to the trail, the truck and, to celebrate, the North Fork Beer Shrine. Either of these routes are well worth doing, particularly if you live in the Bellingham area. While the approach certainly takes some effort it sure is nice having multi-pitch alpine rock climbs so close to home. Mythic Wall Route Description At the top of the scree gully below the wall the route begins on the left side of the large wet chimney (year round water?). P1 (5.8, 55m) Start directly below the only tree on the lower face. Pass a horizontal fault at 40', pull through steep black rock then follow ramps and corners to the tree. P2 (5.9+, 45m) Hard moves off the belay, then climb up and right until you can traverse right into discontinuous corners. Follow these to a large ledge splitting the face. P3 (5.4, 25m) Walk left then traverse up and left on a loose-looking but solid rock. Belay near another tree below face cracks on the smooth wall. P4 (5.10-, 40m) Link face cracks up and right (crux). When they end at a L-facing corner pull out right around the corner onto an easy face. P5 (5.9, 40m) Climb a nice L-facing corner, then pull a roof. Hand traverse left below the next roof into a fun dihedral. Below more roofs move out left to a belay. P6 (5.7, 20m) Steep flakes lead to the ridgeline. Gear: rack to 3.5", including a full set of TCUs or Aliens, micronuts and a double set of cams from 2" to 3.5". The wall can be seen in shadows on page 41 of Red Fred. It's above the "ek" in "Green Creek". Approach From Mosquito Lake Road follow the Middle Fork Nooksack River Road about 11 miles to the signed Elbow Lake trailhead (elevation 2200'). Ford the river on log jams and reminants of the old bridge then pick up the trail again 100' downstream. Follow the trail about a mile to a sharp switchback at 2700'. Leave the trail here dropping down into gentle forest and a crossing Hildebrand creek. Continue traversing up valley through thick huckleberrys and occasional dense firs trees. The best travel seems to be around 2750' in elevation. Once you reach Green Creek the wall and the long talus slopes to reach it should be obvious. 3-4 hrs. Descent Down climb the arete or hike east along the ridgeline passing a high point then descending into forest. At 3600' turn right and head straight down to Green Creek. We forded the creek around 2300' then climbed back up through devils club reaching the trail around 2500'.
  12. Climb: Northern Pickets-The "Savage" Traverse (Whatcom -> Ghost) Date of Climb: 6/30/2004 Trip Report: Let me start by warning you of the ridiculously lengthy trip report you are about to (or not) read. If you don't feel like wading through my mental dribble, feel free to skip to the bottom where I'll give a brief summary. If you want the full version, read on, and hopefully enjoy the story! The long story made long: A month or so ago Wayne approached me with an idea for an extended trip up in to the Northern Pickets. We had chatted before, but had never climbed together. Apparently my reputation for doing stupid shit was enough to convince him that I might be interested in little exploration of this amazing area. We both figured that it's good for new partners to do a "trial" climb together, and what better place to do that then the most remote wilderness in the lower 48? After mouth gaping at the awesome pictures from the southern pickets traverse last year, I was sold. I had never been into the Pickets, north or south, and I was about as excited as a 17 year old with dad's car and a box of condoms on prom night. Early last week the weather reports were calling for a rather extended high pressure system and some scattered clouds. It sounded like it was time to make this thing happen. The plan was to enter the Northern Pickets via the Little Beaver Drainage and start traversing from Whatcom Peak and to get as far as we could, exiting via Access Creek and Big Beaver Trail. We headed in with no beta aside from the map. Leaving Tuesday night we arrived at the Ross Lake Resort parking lot and car camped. I reminisced the days of my mom rocking me to sleep as I drifted off to the sweet lullaby of rednecks in big trucks and retirees in RVs struggling to make it up the grade of SR20. After a leisurely packing session and breakfast we made our way down the trail to the Ross Lake Resort boat dock. Despite my veins surging with enthusiasm, I couldn’t quite shake the thought of exactly how much goat ass walking back up this trail was going to suck. Right on time Brett, the friendly neighborhood boat driver showed up to shuttle us off to the glory, sin, exotic women and designer drugs of the Little Beaver Trailhead. Thirty minutes later we arrived at the boat dock, disappointed to find out that the National Park Service lied and, in fact, there would be no drugs, women, sin or glory. Despite my disappointment we headed off on the Little Beaver Trail. Of course, it wasn’t that simple. The sign pointed towards a general area where we just *might* find the trail but wasn’t kind enough to let us know which one of the thirty winding trails would actually take us up the drainage rather than to another campsite, a shitter, or a bear box. I think it was literally thirty minutes before we finally started heading the correct direction. Yes, the Mounties would be proud of our elite navigation and route finding skills. Seventeen and a half miles laid between us and Whatcom Pass. To pass the time Wayne and I discussed the fact that unlike normal approach distances, seventeen and a half miles was so ridiculous that we couldn’t actually comprehend how far it was. Normally you can think to yourself “ok, six miles, that’s just like doing the Colchuck lake approach and then walking around the lake.” I didn’t quite have anything to compare this approach to, so I simply decided to compare it to something that sucked a lot. Turns out, I was pretty much right on. The Little beaver trail is quite overgrown in places and would make a most excellent place to get mauled by a bear as you are pushing through the easy but head high brush. It’s also a really great place to practice your advanced river crossing techniques, which I believe the 8th edition of “Freedom of the Hills” will cover. If I remember, there were a bunch of your standard stone hops, a nice several hundred foot long boots off, near ball soaking wader and finally, my personal favorite, a several hundred foot BW4 schwack to altogether avoid a giant washout created when the mighty rains of October gave the big “fuck off and get out of here” to the Little Beaver Trail. I was feeling altogether great until the last 500 or 1000 vertical feet of the climb to Whatcom pass. It was at that point when all seventeen and a half miles and the last mile of super steep trail hit me all at once. Low on sugar and water I crashed when I hit the first bivy spot a few feet above the pass. Fifteen minutes later Wayne shows up, scaring the hell out of me since I had managed to fall asleep on the ground already. Apparently he hit the same wall and decided forward progress needed to be halted all of a hundred feet below me. A bivy spot was selected, water was collected, food was eaten and bugs were swatted. It was just another day in the mountains. After a leisurely start we made our way up from the pass towards Whatcom Arm. As I said, it was my first time in the area, and I was blown away. The climb up the north ridge of Whatcom is classic, in my opinion. It starts as a beautiful snow ridge, turning into a steepish snow climb and finishing with a short scramble. It is certainly nothing technical or difficult, but a natural line on a great looking mountain in an amazing place. After summiting Whatcom, we made our way down to the Challenger glacier and roped up for the mega-bake oven crossing. The Challenger Glacier, and Mount Challenger itself again blew me away. The brief (and cool!) 5.7 summit finish found us at the top, with me mouth gaping once more. It was here that we got our first link at the insanity that was about to take place – traversing the alpine ridge of the Luna Creek cirque. The cirque certainly looks big on the map, but I think we were both pretty stunned at just *how* big this place was. Crooked Thumb, the next summit on the agenda looked quite a ways away. Getting off Challenger was the first obstacle and that proved to be troublesome enough. This was where we encountered the nastiest climbing of the trip; a scary traverse over some of the loosest and most exposed ground I have seen. The footing was nothing better than god awful, consisting of shattered small rocks and high angle loose dirt. Hand holds were provided by loose rocks on the right, and to the left was your consolation prize for fucking up: a big ass fall. Hours and hours of traversing, rappelling and more traversing got us to the summit of Crooked Thumb peak. It’s hard to explain just *why* the climbing is so difficult, but we think it centers around the fact that there is nothing that actually resembles easy ground on that ridge. Most of it is certainly non technical, consisting of 3rd, 4th or low 5th class, but it makes you always stay on edge. You can’t screw up anywhere. The second issue is that the ridge is just gendarme after gendarme. It’s much more involved than what you can see from a distance, or even lower in the valley. While some of the gendarmes might only be a few feet, it’s simply the fact that there are so damn many of them. More often than not, the choices for getting down were either extremely exposed down climbing or a rappel. At some point just before the summit of Crooked Thumb we hit our first interesting gear issue; we had no more rap webbing. This wasn’t because we didn’t bring enough either. We just found so much ground that had to be rappelled we were burning through webbing like weed at a Jamaican family reunion. It was at this point that we realized exactly how committed we were. There are virtually *no* bail points from this ridge. It drops steeply off both sides the number of rappels to get off in most locations would make bailing impossible. We figured the first legitimate place we could bail would be the Phantom-Fury Col, and that was a long way off at this point. We certainly weren’t thinking we would bail at this point, but the reality of the situation began to enter our mind. The ground between beyond us, particularly up and over Phantom peak looked very time consuming. Given the rate we had traveled all day, which we both believe was quite respectable, it was reasonable to assume it would take another solid day to get over Phantom. Given the fact that we would have to start bailing off slings, gear, etc. at some point, this prospects looked rather grim. Hours of more of the same climbing finally found us over Ghost peak and a few hundred feet below its summit with fog blowing in and the light fading. Wayne and I were both wasted. A full day of mentally tiring climbing, four summits and not enough water had taken their toll. In addition the weather looked like it could definitely go downhill at any point at which point the situation was going to get a hell of a lot more interesting. We decided it would be in our best interest to bivy before we made a tired mistake, so we got to work clearing a small ledge and making the best site we could given the location. We had no snow, so we would have to go without cooking and split the last 20 ounces or so of water we had. With the thoughts of deteriorating weather, a completely isolated and remote setting and the seriousness of the situation, sleep was not easy to come by. At 5:30 we climbed out of our bags to slightly better weather but the presence of plenty of clouds. We knew the weather was a crapshoot at this point. We could get lucky, or we could get rained on. Getting rained on would mean pushing our situation to a whole new level. Moderate ground would become very time consuming and difficult ground way well become impossible. It was time to bail. Several hundred more feet beneath Ghost peak we reached a very narrow and nasty looking snow gully. It didn’t look like a very reasonable bail out option, but I started to consider it. Wayne was about 50 feet ahead of me leading up the other side of the gully when we commented that it was impassable and we’d have to find another way. I reeled him back in and told him I thought we should consider trying the gully. He wasn’t optimistic it would go and, frankly, neither was I. For some reason, however, I held a glimmer of hope and thought we could make it work. The reality was that I thought the option of going up and over Phantom to the Fury-Phantom Col bailout looked even more improbable given the circumstances. With that we decided to give the gully a go. The gully featured the steepest snow down climbing I have ever experienced. It was narrow, unforgiving and frankly quite nerve racking for me. Our one saving grace was that the gully seemed to experience very little rock fall despite looking like a perfect bowling alley. At the bottom of the first snow finger we encountered a crux to get off the snow and onto a rock ledge which we would rap off. The only way to the rock was by down climbing off the side of the snow finger which was literally overhanging, due to melt out from the surround rock. Thankfully the moves were easily accomplished due to our advanced snow/ice tools: a light axe and a ski pole with the basket removed each. A rappel down the rock step and another long section of snow found us at the top of the glacier. The glacier itself proved to be another obstacle despite the fact that we thought we were now home free. No less than two wondrous bergshrunds separated us from easier ground. We first rapped off the only picket we had then were forced to rap twice down a rock wall to get around the second bergschrund, burning a pin and a stopper. The glacier was a fairly broken mess, requiring some weaving and retracing of its own. Getting off the damn thing and onto the moraine was even more excitement as slabby bedrock, much of it running with water, was interspersed with small sections of talus. The key was connecting the talus sections by traversing across low angle or flat sections of slabby bedrock. I believe Beckey mentions this part of the cirque as possibly “impassable” and it’s pretty damn close. The real nerve racking experience of the trip was finally over. It was only physical pain from here on out. We made the climb to Luna Lake where we enjoyed a few hours of sleeping in the sun, a hot lunch, gear drying and endless amounts of water. Luna Lake was a beautiful oasis as far as I am concerned. After our rest we made the climb to Luna Col, which I actually found quite a bit easier than I expected. I think the ability for me to get my mind “off edge” made things seem a lot better. We ran into a party of seven camped at Luna Col, including Wayne’s friend (Marty, I believe?) and our very own Iain. It was cool to put some faces to names. We of coursed laid the whole sappy story on them, hopefully providing some pre-dinner entertainment. We were both dedicated to running up and down Luna since it’s a selected climb and neither one of us had an desire whatsoever to return to the area for a while to climb it. Thankfully it’s a quick summit from Luna Col, especially without packs. As Marty, Iain and crew prepared to make burritos for dinner we quickly departed to find a camp lower in the valley to enjoy some deluxe freeze dried goodness. We ended up making a bivy on a stunningly beautiful knoll overlooking the lower part of the Access Creek drainage. Luna towered impressively above the valley until the clouds came in and obscured it. We then settled in under the ‘mid for some sleep. I, for one, enjoyed one of the best nights of sleep I have had in a while, a sharp contrast to the night before. We awoke with only one goal for the day: make it to the Big Beaver boat landing before 6pm, when our boat was schedule to arrive to take us back to the land of beer, cars and TVs. Of course, before we could think of that, we had Access Creek to attend to. I’ve had several people describe it as “not that bad” so I’m thinking we screwed it up. It was pretty bad. After the events of the past three days, neither one of us were in the mood to schwak, but schwak we did. The sight of the Big Beaver Creek was a welcome one. Of course, the Northern Pickets just don’t like to make anything easy so a ford of the very fast moving creek was required, followed by another twenty to thirty minutes of schwacking to find the actual trail. The trail was a blessed site, at least for a mile or two, before I began to curse the trail just like the ridge, the snowy gully, the glacier, the moraine and the schwak before it. The damn think went on forever. I received some joy from the amazing trees along the trail but I mostly just wanted to see Ross lake and the boat dock. We finally caught sight of the dock after what seemed like a day of walking. In reality we were hiking quite fast given our tired legs simply for the fact that we wanted out ASAP. Jumping into the lake (falling in my case) finished off the trip and was a welcome reward. The Big Beaver dock is quite a busy place, and we enjoyed telling our tales to the various families and couples that came and went. A kind couple gifted us a couple of welcomed beers. Bless their kind hearts! Right on time our ride back to civilization arrived, complete with the beer and chips care package we had left with Brett three days prior. It was good to be going home. Oh, and yes, the walk up the hill really sucked. In summary, the trip kicked ass. In four days we summated five peaks in the Northern Pickets, two of which I am sure hardly ever get climbed. All five were new summits for me, and all but Challenger were new for Wayne. I can hardly call this a failure. More than anything, however, the experience was worth it. The situation was intense and quite nerve racking at times, but we did what we had to do and we did it well. The Northern Pickets, in my opinion, are just brutally amazing. I have been plenty of remote places in the cascades, and plenty of places where travel is difficult, but nothing like the unexplored parts of the Luna Creek cirque. She doesn’t give you anything easy, and that is just the way it should be. The long story made short: Wayne and I traverse the Northern Pickets from Whatcom Peak to Ghost Peak. We entered on the Little Beaver trail and Whatcom Pass and left through Big Beaver, via Access creek and the Luna creek cirque. We got off the ridge and down to the Luna Cirque glaciers via a steep and nasty snow gully. We climbed Luna peak on the way out. Peaks summited were Whatcome, Challenger, Crooked Thumb, Ghost and Luna. Da' Numbers: 43+ miles 17,500+ feet 5 summits 4 sore legs 2 scratched up bodies and god knows how many rappels. Gear Notes: Small alpine rack, a bunch of webbing, a picket, super light bivy gear. One particularly useful piece of gear was a #2 trango ballnut. I felt that the traverse should be more difficult so I dropped this into oblivion shortly before ghost peak. Approach Notes: *The Little Beaver trail is really fucking long and washed out in a bunch of places. It also is quite overgrown (but passable) in many places. *The Big Beaver trail is also really fucking long, esp. when you are tired. *The guys driving the boats for Ross Lake Resort are awesome. *Beer is a wonderful thing.
  13. Spring Mountain - FA: TickTac 2/22/2015 Trip Report: As promised, the windfalls have been taken care of, and the approach is clear and straightforward, taking about 25 minutes. Friend Chad and I put up a new 35 M pitch that goes from P1 of Ticktock and moves up left to find a nice arete feature that parallels Romantica's P2, ending in a set of belay bolts on a spacious ledge. It's 5.7+/5.8 and makes for a fun outing on great stone (typical of the area). We rapped Ticktock and dug the moss out of the cracks (which had not been scrubbed since 2005). It is in pretty good shape now, just needs a little rain and wind to flush. Gear Notes: 10 draws Approach Notes: Easy
  14. Trip: Assassin Spire - NW Face - The Shooting Gallery (IV, WI4+) - FA Date: 3/7/2010 Trip Report: Assassin Spire - The Shooting Gallery (IV, WI4+) Photo courtesy of John Scurlock. Assassin Spire is a subsidiary summit of Lincoln Peak, one of the intimidating Black Buttes on Mt. Baker. Until this weekend it had never seen an ascent via any route. Daniel Jeffrey and I headed up to Marmot Ridge via Warm Creek off the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River on Thursday evening after work. We had planned to approach that evening, but it was raining when we arrived, so we decided to postpone the approach until the following morning. Friday morning we awoke at 3:30AM, and got ready to head up. We were crossing a very icy Warm Creek by 3:50 in complete darkness. We then headed up new-growth timber through a clearcut for 700' to gain Marmot Ridge. From here, it was a long, undulating journey to camp at ~6200' in the basin below Assassin Peak and Heliotrope Ridge. The next morning we awoke at 3:30 again to crystal clear, starry skies. We brewed some water and coffee, and proceeded to cross the basin to the base of the NW Face. We had spied a vertical line of ice (~3 pitches of WI6) below the hanging glacier, but it looked a bit intimidating for us, so we opted to try a less sporty line on climber's right. 2 25m pitches of WI4+ (90-100 degree ice - short stretches of overhanging on the first pitch) separated by a ledge led us up to a 55 degree buttress. The ice on the curtain was very brittle and it took multiple swings to get good placements. This was very tiring, and we pumped out fast. I led 25m on the first step before running out of screws. I then lowered off and belayed Daniel up to finish the last 5m (one more screw placement). From here, he belayed me up and I led the next 30m pitch. The ice was better here, but still brittle in spots. A swing of the tool would shatter the ice as it broke off huge chunks. From the top of the first curtain, we climbed 55 degree snow (firm and punchy here) to gain the hanging glacier. Above the hanging glacier lies an amazing amphitheater of ice and rock that rivals anything else I have seen in the entire N Cascade Range. How impressive!! Many lines are waiting to be climbed here consisting of very aesthetic, sustained, and solid ice. We traversed the hanging glacier to another gully (45 degrees), which we simul-soloed. This gully led into some 70 degree ice which we also soloed. We went right at John Wilkes' Tooth before arriving at the final ice curtain (20m WI4+). Daniel led this and we topped out in another steep snow/ice gully to 55 degrees. 3 more pitches led us to the summit. What a place! From the summit, Lincoln Peak looks impressive, as does Colfax and Baker. We spied about 15 snowmobiles parked under Sherman Peak, and saw 4 climbers at the col below the upper slopes of the Coleman Glacier. We were buzzed on the summit by an EA6B Prowler who did a double-take and circled us 2 or 3 times. The pilot tipped his wing. Very cool. This was a fantastic trip of epic proportions with a great partner in Daniel Jeffrey. Thanks to John Scurlock for flying over before the ascent to take recon photos, and thanks also for flying over on approach day thinking we were on route (we had told him we would be climbing Assassin on Friday). We saw him circle about 10 times looking for us. If only we had a flare gun... Scurlock's photo from March 5. THANKS John! Tracks in front of the Sister's Range on the approach. On the approach looking up at Heliotrope Ridge. View of Assassin Spire from the approach. Daniel at camp. Assassin Spire from camp. Fading light over the Sister's Range from camp. Alpenglow on Assassin Spire. Sunset. Me leading the upper portion of the first ice curtain on Assassin Spire. Looking down from the arete. Looking up from just above the first ice curtain. Daniel topping out on the first curtain. Daniel climbing up to the hanging glacier. The amphitheater. Views to the Sister's Range from mid-route. Looking down from high on the route. The Assassin Spire conglomerate. Tracks on route. Weeping curtains of ice from mid-route. Daniel climbing up to the belay below the third curtain. Daniel leading the third ice curtain. The steep gully above the last ice curtain. The upper slopes of Assassin Spire. Daniel a few pitches below the summit. Daniel on route below the summit. Daniel approaching the final steps to the summit of Assassin Spire. Lincoln Peak from the summit. Mt. Baker and Colfax Peak from the summit of Assassin Spire. Daniel on the summit. View to the west from the summit. Looking down from the summit. Me on the summit of Assassin Spire. Unclimbed ice on Lincoln Peak's NW Face. A close-up of unclimbed ice. A huge curtain of ice (WI6) below the hanging glacier on Assassin Spire. Sister's Range in fading light. One parting shot.
  15. Trip: mount garfield west peak - preiss route Date: 7/22/1999 Trip Report: As I have never done an official trip report on this climb, I will now. In mid-July 1999 I was under the west peak of mt Garfield, in the woods trying to find the beginning of the rock wall. After traversing in from the trees, left of the rock wall, I gained the large ledge with a weak waterfall on its left side and an obvious stair stepped rock “gully” next to the waterfall. I then made a few difficult, (for me) un-roped moves just below and right of the obvious stair stepped rock. After approx. 60-80ft of climbing the easier “stairs”, I set up my first belay. The belay was in the first crack I came too, on the right side of the “staircase”. After rappelling and retrieving my pack I re-climbed the pitch. At the belay and staying on self-belay I exited the stairs, moving out right slightly to some fun 5.8-9 slabby rock with a few good cracks/pockets to add protection. After A full pitch I reached a shelf with a couple small pools of water on it. After retrieving my pack I went up, angling left, climbing easier rock un-roped until I reached the base of the great slabs. I then climbed sub-par 3rd-4th class rock un-roped, which seemed like awhile (6-700 feet?), eventually aiming for a small, thick stubby tree on the upper right side of the face. From here I self-belayed out of the tree via a few fun moves and went on to the next small tree patch. After retrieving my pack I decided to bivi here. It was only around 630-7pm but I felt like resting some. The tree patch had a few small trees and sandy ground but was tilted and not very comfortable. Looking back I should have went one more pitch and got to the large shelf below the upper headwall. But at the time I didn’t think of it and I can’t remember if I could even see it from where I was. I didn’t bring a stove so I ate my cold sandwich and tried to sleep. I awoke at 4am and started climbing at 430. Still un-roped, I climbed the hard to protect slabby rock. I reached the large ledge in less than a rope length. When on the large shelf below the headwall, I traversed it to its left side and self-belayed a fun (5.7) blocky corner. This pitch ended at a small sandy notch. After retrieving my pack I continued self- belayed up from the notch via a few thin moves (5.9+) with a solid thin crack for protection. After these few moves I reached easier rock on the rib. I continued up easy rock without the rope on until I reached what looked like my last obstacle, a rock wall of maybe 60-80 feet. I tried it with the rope in my pack but I felt it was little hard at the time, and I didn’t want to do something stupid, so I broke out the rope again. It seemed it was in the 5.8/9ish range with good protection. And then was finished. I walked A little down and left thru a small gap in the trees to the gentle northern slopes, then walked right 40-50 feet and climbed the back side of the final 30 foot summit rock. It was 1230pm. little did I know I would miss work the next day as I had a mini epic descent, but that’s another story. Preiss route IV 5.8/9 west peak mt Garfield July 1999. I belayed 4-5 harder pitches (with good pro) out of aprox 14-16(?) pitches. I took my camera but unfortunately I forgot to load the film before I left my car. Small/med rock rack to 3 inches. didn't need pins http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/2014-11-21_21_29_57.png[/img]
  16. Trip: Liberty Bell - East Face - F.A. Liberty and Injustice for All (5.12- 200m) Date: 9/5/2014 Trip Report: Liberty and Injustice takes a line generally 10m to 20m or so to the right of Thin Red Line. It is characterized by solid edges and thin crack features. It has a distinctly different feel than either Liberty Crack of TRL. The cruxes are mostly short boulder problems that lead to good holds and progressively easier climbing. Both of the 5.12- cruxes also come at the beginning of the pitches which should make them fairly easy to workout and then send. Two of the pitches share climbing with Liberty Loop, an obscure aid route established by Pete Doorish, Chris Chandler and Jim Langdon in 1975. A couple of their old 3/16" bolts can be seen along the way. A couple of the bolts snapped right off with a slight touch of the hammer! The gear is a mix of bolts and small cams. Some may find the small cams to be tricky to place but they are solid once they go in. Overall the protection is very solid but the occasional move has to be done above your gear. After 5 pitches (about 200m of climbing) it joins at the top of pitch 7 on Thin Red Line. Future parties can either continue on or rappel with two ropes from here. The rap is straightforward. From the top of P3 skip the P2 anchor and go straight to the P1 anchor. All anchors are two bolts with fixed biners. I established this route solo over 8 days of work. I'd planned on doing it ground up but after a fair bit of consideration I thought that pre-inspection would create a better overall experience and would reduce the risk of a botched and contrived route. I'm pleased with how it turned out. I redpointed the route rope solo which definitely added to the excitement and challenge for me! It turns out it is kinda scary to not have anyone holding the brake strand of the Gri-gri when you are pulling tenuous moves of 5.12.... Click for hi-res version... Yep that is Liberty Bell. Looking at the P2 face. really good and not that hard 5.11 or so. Great 5.12- climbing here. The gear is a bit exciting but solid. Pitch 4 corner and excellent climbing. I got a bit wet up there a few times... Pitch 5 boulder problem. not that hard once its figured out. Looking up at P5 thin crack. one move of 5.11 that is tricky to figure out. Old bolts from Liberty Loop. I left the old sling and bolt for everyone to admire. Gear Notes: Bolts and Cams... See the topo for the spray Approach Notes: 20 minutes from the road.
  17. Trip: 11 Day Pickets Traverse - W Fury - "Scorned Woman" (IV, 5.6) Date: 9/15/2014 Trip Report: After enjoying an amazing 7 days in the Pickets last summer with my high school friend Matt, we made plans to join forces for another trip this year. This time we would head in via Little Beaver to Whatcom Pass, carry over Whatcom Peak, descend to Perfect Pass, carry over the rarely-climbed W Challenger, traverse to Pickell Pass, carry over Swiss and the West & East Peaks of Mt. Fury, descend to Picket Pass, carry over Himmel-Otto Col, descend to Crescent Creek Basin, climb Twin Needles and Degenhardt, and exit via The Barrier and Terror Creek. This was obviously a full agenda, but based upon our successes last year I figured this would be a challenging yet rewarding adventure. It turns out I was sort of right. In an ideal world, we’d be able to complete this trip in 7 days. Matt told his contact we’d be out for 7 days, but that it was possible to be held up by weather for an additional 2 or 3. But this is the Picket Range, a place where plans and reality seldom agree. Leading up to the day of departure, I intently listened to the weather forecast, using all available resources. The last forecast I got before our departure indicated weather was going to be excellent for the first four days of the trip, then moisture would be moving in for a day or so, then it was to clear again. Weather at that time in our trip would definitely cause us to return late, so we both decided to pack for 9 days just in case. By some stroke of luck, my friend Mike H informed me that my friends Don B, Carla S, Mike C, and Brett D were going to be heading in to climb Luna Peak on Thursday AM. I contacted Don and asked him if we could share the boat ride up lake. Don was glad to have us on board, and we would all be saving money by filling the boat to capacity. So it was settled – meet at 0815 Thursday at the Ross Lake boat dock. Matt and I met in Federal Way that morning since I was visiting with my parents in Dash Point. Before meeting the boat at Ross Lake, we dropped off Matt’s car at Goodell Creek, our intended exit route. It took a little more time than we thought to handle all the logistics, and we wound up having to sprint down to the lake to be there right at 0815 sharp. But we made it! Before long, we were being dropped off at Little Beaver landing, and our adventure had begun. Day 1 – Little Beaver landing to Twin Rocks Camp 15 miles, 1100 ft gain, 500 ft descent With heavy packs, we set off up the dark, forested valley. Wild mushrooms greeted us frequently, and Matt found a few Chanterelles and Oysters. They looked delicious. We arrived in a deserted Twin Rocks Camp a bit tired from the heavy packs, but eager to get above tree line and happy to find a place to bed down for the night. We saw nobody between Little Beaver landing and Twin Rocks Camp. Day 2 – Twin Rocks Camp to Whatcom Pass 4 miles, 2500’ gain I was able to get a weather forecast in the morning that reinforced the one I heard before we left – weather moving in by Sunday night. As we made our way up to Whatcom Pass, the trail became brushier and fairly overgrown. At one point, the trail goes right at a creek crossing, but we missed it and crossed the creek. Immediately after crossing the creek, we saw the flagging upstream on the opposite side. We crossed the creek again back to the trail, but not before getting wet feet from rock hopping on slippery rocks. We stopped to try to dry our boots for an hour or so, and it helped a bit, but feet were still damp. By the time we got to Whatcom Pass, we decided to stay there so we could use the several hours of available daylight to dry out our socks and boots. We did not want to go into this trip with wet feet! Given our itinerary, we would ostensibly be on Fury on Sunday night. In light of this, we aimed to get to Pickell Pass on Sunday, a relatively safe spot to sit out the weather. Day 3 – Whatcom Pass to Whatcom Peak summit via N Ridge, and down to Perfect Pass 2.25 miles, 2400’ gain We awoke to beautiful blue skies and no wind, and we got started from camp around 9AM. We made our way up the N Ridge of Whatcom Peak, which was mostly rock with just a small amount of snow remaining (entirely avoidable). The climbing steepened a bit and there were bits of class 4, but for the most part it was exposed class 3 with marginal rock. Before long, we were standing on the summit enjoying the views we came for! Alan Kearney had signed the summit register that morning. In the register, Alan wrote that he was up there photographing the Challenger Glacier as part of an effort to depict glacial recession in action. He will be putting these photos up on his website and comparing them with photos he took in the 70’s. You can check that project out at http://alankearney.com. After savoring the views for a while and enjoying the warm temperatures and brilliant sunshine, we descended to Perfect Pass in perfect boot-glissading conditions. It took all of 10 minutes to get there. In camp early, we decided to lounge around and relax. It got hot that afternoon and we sought shade to cool down. As the evening wore on, the moon rose behind Challenger making for excellent photo opportunities. Day 4 – Perfect Pass to W Challenger summit to Pickell Pass 4.5 miles, 3000’ gain From Perfect Pass, we headed up the ridge to the glacier. Along the way, we encountered a memorial plaque commemorating the men who died on Firewood One on a SAR mission on the way to Redoubt Peak on September 11, 1980. It was interesting and sobering to see the crash site and find bits and pieces of helicopter on the way up. The setting is sublime. Heather and rock intertwine with small ponds that give way to dramatic views of jagged N Cascades peaks. May these men rest in peace in this beautiful little slice of our world. The Challenger Glacier is fairly broken up right now, and getting to the true summit of Challenger would be interesting (but not impossible as some recent reports suggest). Still, we weren’t aiming for the true summit of Challenger, we were aiming for the rarely-climbed West summit. Getting to the base of the W summit involved some careful crevasse avoidance and end runs and cramponing on hard ice with aluminum crampons, but it could have been worse. The route to the summit of W Challenger is best approached from the South to avoid a sketchy, rubble-filled gully on the N side. From the base of the rock it’s about two or three pitches of low to mid fifth class climbing (loose) to reach the summit. On top, we found the original summit register Kodak can with the Fred Beckey first ascent page still in it – all in perfect condition. What a treat. Rappelling back down the route involved delicate avoidance of loose rock and creative anchor-building skills, as the existing anchors I found left something to be desired. Continuing on, we descended through a notch between Middle and West Peaks to the glacier below, and traversed the W side of the Northern Pickets over to Pickell Pass. Days 5 & 6 – Tentbound at Pickell Pass Sunday night it started to cloud up, and by Monday morning we were in the soup. Visibility was nil when we awoke Monday morning as expected, and it was COLD! I had forgotten how cold it can get in September in the N Cascades. With our route ahead going over W Fury, we needed good weather, so we were prepared to sit it out for 2 days. It didn’t rain at all on Monday, but on Monday night into Tuesday it torrentially downpoured all night with freezing rain. When we awoke Tuesday morning, we had a sheet of ice on our tent. Fresh snow adorned the N flanks of the surrounding mountains. We needed Fury to be without high winds, we needed to have good visibility, and we needed the route to be free of ice-glazed rock. Until these three conditions occurred, I was unwilling to venture forward. During our stay at Pickell Pass (one of the most remote points in the lower 48 states), we saw nobody. However, we did have an odd-looking airplane fly over us less than 200 vertical feet above our heads. The plane came from Picket Pass, flew low over Pickell Pass, and continued to fly low out towards Challenger and flew directly into a large cloud and disappeared. We didn’t hear any explosions, so hopefully he made it out OK. Day 7 – Pickell Pass to Swiss Peak Wednesday morning dawned clear but windy. I would say winds were sustained at 30 gusting to 45. We were cold sitting around in all of our clothes at camp. These were not ideal conditions for being in the mountains – let alone climbing Fury – and so we felt the safest choice was to wait it out and see if the winds would subside. We knew we needed to contact someone back home to let them know we were OK, but we could not get cell phone reception to do so. We were concerned that people would be worried about us back at home, but we didn’t really have a choice.. we were at the very minimum 2 days in from the nearest road. We had a discussion that morning about changing our itinerary to exit via Access Creek, mainly due to uncertainty about the condition of Himmel-Otto col and the need to get out to the road faster so we could contact our loved ones before they could notify authorities of our late arrival. By about noon, the winds had calmed down enough and the sun had been out long enough to warm up the atmosphere a bit and give us the confidence we needed to continue on. We had listened to the weather forecast that morning and it indicated that warm temps were on their way back and it would be clear for the foreseeable future. So with that, we packed up camp and headed up towards Fury. I had done an E  W Fury traverse with Fay Pullen in 2009, so I was familiar with the route between the peaks and over to Luna Fury Col, but wasn’t sure about the route up from Pickell Pass. There is a W Ridge route reported by others, and I wanted to get up and take a look at it from Swiss Peak so I could see what we were getting into. So with that, Matt and I climbed Swiss and looked over at the route, and to our dismay the entire N side of Fury was coated in ice and snow. This would make climbing dangerous with our aluminum crampons and light axe, and so we decided to try and find another [new] route. By this time, it was already 3:30PM and we only had 4 hours of daylight remaining. Instead of trying to get up and over Fury today, we would play it safe and camp below the summit of Swiss Peak and get an early start on Thursday morning on a new route I had spied from Swiss Peak. I did not know how involved this route might be, so I wanted to give us all the time necessary. It turns out that was a smart choice. We bivvied at ~7500’ that night in the basin below Swiss Peak under clear, starry skies. It got so cold our water bottles froze completely solid. I would guess temps dipped into the mid-20s. Day 8 – Swiss Peak to W Fury Bivouac We awoke early to a very cold morning. We got a little bit later start than we wanted to as it was difficult to get moving in the colder-than-expected temps. Besides, we wanted a certain snow section on route to soften up before we got to it, as our aluminum crampons would be sketchy on the ice-hard snow. We started up a steep section of mid fifth class rock that eventually laid back to class 3-4. The route then crossed a steep (65 degree) snow finger, before entering into more steep rock just prior to gaining the crest of Mongo Ridge. From the crest, we descended into steep, loose gullies on the opposite side (class 4) that we opted to climb instead of the crest with our heavy packs and rather meager rack. From here, the route is a bit of a blur but we stayed right of the crest of Mongo Ridge, climbing over several very exposed towers along the way to the summit. In all, our route involved about 1000’ of climbing once we left the snow leading up to the col between Swiss and Fury. I would rate our route Grade IV, 5.6. As it was getting late in the day, we bivvied atop a very exposed tower on the crest of Mongo Ridge, about 200’ below the summit of W Fury. What a spot! I slept tied in, Matt opted to forgo the anchor. Throughout the night, I could hear a snafflehound in the rocks below me and plastic crinkling. I again tried to get cell phone reception that night, but could not. Day 9 – W Fury Bivouac to camp below E Fury When morning came around, Matt found that the little snaffle had stolen his headlamp! Strangely, all of our food remained untouched. We got going around 8AM from our bivy spot, and carefully made our way over to the summit among loose rocks. We signed the register on W Fury (Fay and I were the last to sign it in 2009), and continued on towards E Fury. It took Fay and I roughly 3.5 hours to traverse the ridge on our 2009 trip, so I was optimistic that Matt and I could climb it in roughly a similar amount of time. What I neglected to factor in was that we had a couple of things conspiring against us. For one, we had to ration our food because we were so overdue. This meant stretching 9 days worth of food into 11 somehow. As a result, we were both extremely low on energy. Also, we were carrying heavy packs. My pack going into this trip was about 75 pounds. While climbing Fury, I would guess it was at least 60. This made for extremely slow going. We eventually made it over to E Fury, but it took about 5.5 hours. By the time we got over to E Fury, we were tired. I tried again to get cell phone service, but I couldn’t get it. Not even a text message would send, despite my phone showing I had 3 bars of reception. That night we camped about 1200’ below the summit of Fury on some slabs. Day 10 – E Fury Camp to Luna Camp We were now in a mad dash to get out to the trailhead before a rescue could be called on us. We left camp and made our way down through Access Creek and out to Luna Camp. I saw a Blackhawk chopper flying over the Pickets and wondered if they were looking for us. We arrived at Luna Camp about 7PM after about 10 hours on the move. Hiking the trail 17 miles out to Ross Dam was not an option until daybreak. Day 11 – Luna Camp to Home We awoke early and continue our march out to the lake, hoping to flag down a boat on a busy, sunny September day on Ross Lake. About ½ mile from the lake, we encountered an NPS ranger who asked us if we had seen any bedraggled climbers. I said, “you guys aren’t looking for us are you?”. She held up a picture of both of us and that’s when we knew they were. It turns out Matt’s Dad (rightfully concerned with our late arrival) called the Ranger Station. They made the decision to send out two choppers, a ground team, and the ranger we ran into near Ross Lake. Crap. In retrospect, Matt and I both dropped the ball on this one. We should have been better at communicating our plan to our loved ones and to each other. My parents (who I usually leave my climbing itinerary with) are in India right now, and could not be contacted. Had they been contacted, I know for a fact my Dad would have said not to send out a rescue. I was carrying a PLB on this trip (a Res-Q-Link) and unfortunately that little tidbit of information was never relayed to the NPS. If they had known that I had a PLB, they would not have sent out a rescue. The problem is, I self-permitted for this trip because we had a boat to catch and a car to drop off, and I never contacted anyone at the ranger station personally. Had I spoke to a ranger at the time I permitted, I probably would have mentioned the fact that I had a PLB with me. I regret having valuable resources wasted on us. I understand the NPS is working with limited resources, and I feel terrible that this situation occurred. Still, it is a lesson learned and next time both Matt and I will better communicate our plans to loved ones (that are actually inside the country). This is the first time I have ever been overdue from a climb. It may not be my last, but next time I will have a better plan in place to prevent something like this from happening again. Thanks to the NPS and everyone involved in the search, and especially Kelly Bush who called my climbing partners seeking information and who went the extra mile to find us. She retired last summer, but still does some orchestration of rescues and other work for the Park. Her expertise and knowledge will be sorely missed. Mt. Challenger from the approach to Whatcom Pass. Matt hiking up the Little Beaver Trail to Whatcom Pass. Meadow below Whatcom Pass. Mt. Challenger and Whatcom Pass Trail. Matt hiking above Little Beaver Valley. Matt stops to appreciate the view of Mt. Challenger. Moon rising over Eiley-Wiley Ridge. Little Beaver. Mt. Challenger from our camp above Whatcom Pass. Sunset from camp. Alpenglow on Challenger. Matt hiking up to the N Ridge of Whatcom Peak. Matt takes in the views. Whatcom Peak and the Whatcom Glacier. Matt on the snow arête on the N Ridge of Whatcom Peak. Matt scrambling on Whatcom Peak. Matt scrambling. Looking down the W Face of Whatcom Peak. Matt on Whatcom Peak. Boot glissading down to Perfect Pass. Baker & Shuksan from Perfect Pass. Challenger at dusk. Hozomeen. The moon rising over Challenger. A pond near Perfect Pass at dusk. Matt at sunset at Perfect Pass. Matt scrambling up to W Challenger. Matt looks into the headwaters of Baker River. R.I.P. Near the memorial site. The N Cascades. Matt and Whatcom Peak. Looking into the headwaters of Baker River. Triumph, Despair, and Pioneer. Little Beaver Valley and the Challenger Glacier. Matt ascending Challenger Glacier. Matt on W Challenger. Matt on W Challenger summit. Matt rappels on W Challenger. The top of the Challenger Glacier. W Challenger. The notch. Matt downclimbs below the notch. Matt rappels below the downclimb below the notch. Matt walking down the S Challenger Glacier. The S Challenger Glacier. Matt and the Challenger massif. Sunset at Pickell Pass. Spectre and Swiss. Looking down Picket Creek from Pickell Pass. Mongo Ridge and W Fury. Spectre, Swiss, and W Fury. Matt and camp at Pickell Pass. Matt hikes above the Goodell Creek headwaters. Again. Mongo Ridge. Our bivi below Swiss Peak. Looking into Goodell Creek from our camp. Matt climbing a crappy gully on W Fury. Interesting rock. One of the several towers along the ridge. Matt looking tired. Dusk over E Fury at our bivi site. Matt at the tower bivi. Looking down from the tower bivi. Matt rappels. The S Pickets. Matt just below the summit of W Fury. The register. Looking back towards the upper ridge. Luna Cirque. Matt appreciates the N Pickets. The S Pickets from the summit of E Fury. Outrigger. Matt descends Fury Glacier in late season conditions. Crevasses were not small. Luna Lake. Matt on the ridge between Luna and Fury. Matt looks down on Luna Lake. Huckleberries were prime! Hucks.
  18. Trip: Blade Runner FA + info on 18 new routes at Shangri La, X38 ONE PAGE PRINTABLE TOPO ADDED BELOW. Date: 10/12/2012 Trip Report: Blade Runner First Ascent (Shangri La new route info follows). We like to think that our best days are ahead of us. As climbers, we believe that if we train harder, learn new techniques, and buy the right gear we’ll break through to a new level. This works for a while, but the tides of time are against us. At some point we must pass our high water mark. Most of us won’t recognize this milestone until months or years later, but sometimes you know when it happens. Mine was 8am on October 12th, 2012. For 15 years I’d been on a 5.9 to 5.10 plateau. There were always excuses. Grad school, post-doc, start-up, kids, remodel. Years of weekend warrior climbing rolled past. The tide finally turned in 2006 when I took a job across the street from the UW climbing gym. I started bouldering regularly and met new partners. Two of them, Alex and Scott, opened up my eyes to the world of new route development. Together, we put up a handful of 5.9 and 5.10 lines in the Deception area of Exit 38. That summer I climbed my first 5.11 in 15 years. 5.11 is barely a warm-up for strong climbers, but for me this was a breakthrough. For almost two decades, 5.11 had been a psychological barrier, an impenetrable ceiling through which I thought I would never pass again. This made me wonder what my potential really was. At 38, I knew I didn’t have long to find out, so I set a goal to climb my first 5.12 before I turned 40. It was a long shot, but if I tried I might bump up to a new level and be able to climb routes that had long been out of reach. There were obstacles. I was working full time, managing our home remodel, and riding the night train of two small kids with a third on the way, but I did climb. First ascents on the Shangri La cliff at Exit 38 marked a slow but steady rise in my abilities. 2007 Guillotine, 5.10. A gear-protected corner with a sharp flake in the middle. History Book, 5.10. A gear-protected crack with an ancient piton. Small Arms Fire, 5.10. A sustained route with small holds on a steep slab. 2008 Metamorphosis, 5.10+. A two-pitch line on a 300 foot face with a mix of bolts and gear. Crouching Tiger, 5.10+. A route with sloping features and rock as rough as #100 sandpaper. Forty came and went without a 5.12 redpoint, but I did climb some great 5.11s around the Northwest. The following year, I found three spectacular lines at Shangri La at my limit. To climb them, I had to learn a new process: find solutions for each crux, rehearse the moves, draw a detailed map, visualize the sequences, work to link sections, and then go for the redpoint. This type of mind/body training is not new. Tony Yaniro was one of the first US climbers to build a training wall that simulated the specific movements he needed for his project. Top climbers of the day scoffed at his approach, calling it cheating, but our bodies are remarkable machines that adapt to the challenges we present to them. If you want to get good at pull-ups you train by doing pull-ups. If you want to get good at certain climbing moves you train by doing those moves. In 1979, Yaniro’s training paid off when he established The Grand Illusion, then the hardest route in North America. On the mental side, repetition of movements creates muscle memories that allow our bodies to perform complex motor functions. Once these muscle programs, or motor engrams, are mastered they can be played back with minimal conscious input. Watch a toddler try to eat with a spoon for the first time and you’ll appreciate how complex this task really is and how much focus is required to learn new tasks. What enables us to eat our cereal without spilling while walking down stairs and talking on the phone? We’ve mastered each of these tasks through repetition. Interestingly, we can also train for complex movements through visualization, or virtual rehearsal, where we imagine ourselves performing the task. Thus, training your mind actually trains your body, and vice versa. Achieving mastery of complex motor functions allows us to focus on higher levels of control, such as managing fear, optimizing arousal levels, relaxing unnecessary muscles, and staying focused in stressful situations. Even strength can be traced back to mental training, when we consider that strength training is driven by motivation, discipline, planning, and self-assessment. Free your mind and your body will follow. I started using these tools and was able to do three 5.11 first ascents: 2009 Free Radical, 5.11-. A striking line on an exposed arête. Hidden Dragon, 5.11. Four different cruxes spread over a hundred feet. Hypertension, 5.11+. A hard opening and then several more cruxes. But I still hadn’t climbed 5.12. The few I'd tried felt impossibly hard. It didn’t help that I was spreading my energies across different sub-disciplines: bouldering indoors, setting routes in the climbing gym, climbing routes outdoors, developing new bolted routes, and climbing in the mountains a few times per year. Time was flying past. If I was going to cross the 5.12 threshold I needed to focus on that goal. In early 2010, I found my first target: Rainy Day Women at Little Si. It suited my style, with three bouldery sections separated by good rests. I found solutions that worked for me, drew a detailed map, rehearsed, and tailored my training to the three cruxes. On March 14th everything came together. The final crux, which had felt desperate on previous attempts, went smoothly and I made the redpoint. I was elated, but RDW is known to be soft for the grade, so I looked for my next target. I’d heard Lay of the Land was good, so we gave it a try. As before, I made a plan, drew my map, visualized the sequence, and trained for the crux. I planned to skip a bolt near the end that was difficult to clip and created rope drag. The second trip out I made it to the anchor but missed a key foothold and fell trying to clip the chains. I added that foothold to my mental map and sent the route on our next trip. The satisfaction of climbing a route is usually immediate and fleeting, but this was deeper and grew over time. One route might be a fluke, but not two. I’d started across the elusive 5.12 threshold. Two months later, I bolted a spectacular line at Shangri La that I knew would be in the 5.12 range: Skullduggery. It was continuously overhanging, sustained, and technical. New routes are particularly enticing for me because they represent unsolved puzzles on unexplored terrain. Maybe a few will become classics that people will climb for decades to come. Skullduggery had all the right ingredients, but I couldn’t link the moves. Psychology shows that motivation is highest when the chance of success is around 40% to 60%. Above 80%, we assume we’ll succeed and don’t bother preparing. Below 20%, we probably don’t think it’s worth the time and effort to try hard. But it’s not that simple. Creativity, visualization, rehearsal, and route-specific training can dramatically increase the odds of success on a route. Finding a solution to the crux that matches your skills and strength might increase the overall odds of success from 2% to 20%. Rehearsing sequences makes you more efficient and gives you more energy for the final cruxes, perhaps increasing the overall success rate from 20% to 60%. But you have to choose the right objectives. Skullduggery was a perfect goal for me in 2010 because it represented a possible first ascent just beyond my limit. I drew a map that detailed 68 hand and foot movements, rehearsed the moves, and trained for specific movements. Being strong enough to do the moves doesn’t guarantee success. The proper mental state is also essential. I needed to be calm but psyched to give 100%, energized but relaxed, and, perhaps most importantly, focused on the process and not on the outcome. Zen. On a cool summer morning in July of 2010, after two weeks of rehearsing and training on a fixed line, I went up with Jens to go for the first ascent of Skullduggery. Fortunately, that morning I was in the zone, that rare space where mind and body perform seamlessly as one. It was almost as if I was a detached observer watching a carefully choreographed gymnastics routine. I sent the route first go. Oddly, it was both anti-climactic and deeply satisfying. Skullduggery was the hardest route I’d ever climbed and is definitely harder than the four other 5.12a routes I climbed in 2010. As far as I know it hasn’t been repeated. Fifty feet left of Skullduggery is a clean overhanging face whose crux involves improbable moves on a protruding blade of rock. This feature inspired the route’s name: Blade Runner. The day I climbed Skullduggery, Jens and I tried Blade Runner. We could do the opening moves but were completely shut down by the crux. There were features, but we couldn’t work out how to use them. My brain wrestled with this puzzle on and off over two years. I would envision a solution, get excited, and go try it. Each time, I was shut down and went home thinking I would never climb the route. But I kept turning the puzzle over and over in my mind. In the summer of 2012, I made a close inspection of all of the features on the route and started working in earnest to find a solution. Idea #1: Grab two sloping holds and do a huge dynamic leap to an undercling and sloper that must be caught simultaneously. Fail. The slopers aren’t as positive as they look, the footholds are crappy, and the catch holds are too far away. Idea #2: Lie back up the left side of the blade. Fail. This is very strenuous, and the blade ends well below the next set of holds. Idea #3: Knee bar up the cleft left of the blade. Fail. The wall where you place your feet slopes away so this is challenging, and the knee bars end where the blade ends, well below the next set of holds. I wasn’t making any progress. Truth be told, there were times I was tempted to chip a hold. A tiny foot chip on the blade, or an incut in the arch, might allow me to get past the crux. I have a chisel and hammer. No one would know. But I would. And I would be bringing the route down to my level instead of meeting the challenge presented by nature. So I refrained, as I always have, even if it meant I would never climb the route. Instead, I started to break the problem down into smaller puzzles. Idea #4 and Solution Part 1: I figured out I needed to lie back on a vertical sidepull above the blade to reach the next set of holds. Getting to the vertical sidepull became the new crux. I tried to get my left foot up onto a high hold to set up the lie back. Fail. I can’t get my foot that high without falling because the handholds aren’t in the right positions. Idea #5 and Solution Part 2: I figured out I could get a heel/toe cam on the flat wall of the blade and use this in opposition with the sloping rail to move up to the vertical sidepull in a compression sequence. The new crux became the transition between the compression sequence and the vertical sidepull. Fail. If you compress too hard you fly off when you try to bump your hand up to the vertical sidepull. But this can be fixed. Idea #6 and Solution Part 3: I needed to work out how to move into and through the compression moves, maintaining high body tension, without pushing myself off when I made the bump to the vertical sidepull over my head. Small adjustments to foot, hand, and body positions, as well as force angles and force magnitudes, were going to be critical. After many hours on the rock I found an optimal combination and could just barely make the compression to sidepull transition. I’d solved the hardest part of the crux but still needed to move over to the next holds out left. Idea #7 and Solution Part 4: Maintain tension and pinch the blade between my feet to push out left to a crimp. This feels strange, but it works. The opening moves needed to be more efficient so I would have enough energy for the crux and the hard moves beyond it. The section after the crux would provide unexpected challenges and an amazing sequence as well, and, of course, I would need to link it all together, but I was zeroing in on my solution. I wrote a map that detailed 75 precise hand and foot movements from start to finish. After each work session I updated this choreography. Now I needed to link the sequences together, figure out where and how to clip the bolts, and train my mind and body to perform the route. To prepare for Blade Runner’s crux, I trained to compress two sloping sidepulls while maintaining high core tension and balancing on my right tiptoe. From this position, I had to bump my right hand to the vertical sidepull over my head. What had once seemed impossible was beginning to loom on the horizon as something I might just pull off. But time was running out. It was October. We’d had the longest continuous run of good weather in a decade, but the winter rains were on the way. I trained for the specific movements I needed for the route, rehearsed and refined my solution for the crux, worked out the most efficient path for sequences before and after the crux, and started to put it all together. When mind and body are primed for peak performance there is a window of opportunity to break through to a new level. I had entered that window for Blade Runner, but it wouldn’t be open for long. On October 6th, I went out with Ed to try to climb the route. Unfortunately, I had a cold and was on pseudoephedrine. Attempt #1: I moved smoothly through the opening but fell at the crux due to lack of body tension. I rested, but the pseudofed wouldn’t allow my heart rate to return to baseline. Attempt #2: I got through the crux but fell on one of the last hard moves after burning too much energy clipping the last bolt. Attempt #3: I made it through the crux but fell below my previous high point. Attempt #4: I fell at the crux, too spent to maintain enough body tension to make the bump to the vertical sidepull. I needed a little more strength, a better foot sequence after the crux, and a better strategy for clipping or skipping the last bolt. We went home. I rested on Sunday, did movement-specific training on Monday, refined my foot sequence, and planned to skip the last bolt. I felt ready, but the Fates were about to intervene. The long-range forecast showed a wall of rain coming on Friday, October 12th that would shut us down for the season. Several partners said they could go out on Saturday the 13th, but that would probably be too late. My window was about to slam shut. I was 44 and had three growing kids, a growing list of minor injuries, and a job that was growing more fun and more demanding. There was no guarantee I’d be strong enough, healthy enough, or have enough time to climb Blade Runner in 2013, or perhaps ever. I made two back-up plans. The first was duct tape. Blade Runner is steep enough that only three of its holds get wet after a light rain. I dangled from the rope and fashioned duct tape tents and drain systems for these holds in case I had to make an attempt on Saturday in the drizzle. The second plan was to call Jens and ask if he would go on a Friday dawn patrol mission. Thankfully, he knew how much I wanted this and was willing to give it a shot despite a mediocre forecast that showed rain starting around 10am. We planned to leave my house at 6am. My wife would take the kids to school. Thursday evening I ate a hearty meal, got the kids to bed, packed the gear, took a hot bath to relax the body and mind, and went to bed early. Then my wife’s pager went off. A patient in Bellingham needed emergency surgery. If the patient came down Friday morning I’d need to take the kids to school and we wouldn’t get to the crag until at least 10. By then it would probably be raining. Kids and patients come before climbing, of course, but it felt like the Fates were taunting me. The patient came to Seattle at 11pm, and my wife did surgery until 1am, so I was free to go at 6am as planned, assuming there were no more emergency calls. There weren’t. I woke at 5:20am. It was pitch dark, but I saw water running down the window and heard rain gently pattering on the roof. Everything was wet. I looked at the forecast for North Bend. 70% chance of rain for 7am and 8am, 30% for the rest of the morning, then 60% for the rest of the day. The window had slammed shut. Should I text Jens and tell him to stay in bed? I’ve worked too hard to give up now, and he was probably already on the way over. Let’s just go take a look. Jens arrived at 6am and we drove East through the rain. There was no wind. The wall of rain was marching slowly and steadily East toward Blade Runner. Was the crag wet? Would the duct tape keep the holds dry? There was no way to know until we got there. Amazingly, we emerged from the leading edge of the advancing rain when we reached North Bend. I turned the windshield wipers off. The highway was dry. We got to the trailhead just before 7am. Everything was still dry. Either the sky was about to open up or the forecast I’d seen was wrong. We would soon find out. We hiked up to the Shangri-La cliff. Temps were cool. The rock was dry. All was calm. We didn’t know how much time we’d have before the wall of rain was upon us, but I needed a warm-up so we quickly climbed Crouching Tiger. Then it was time for Blade Runner. I knew I wouldn’t have enough strength for a lot of attempts, and the rain could start falling any minute, but I stayed calm. I was ready. I’d climbed the route many times in my head. It was time to climb it in real life. I tied into the rope, put my shoes on, climbed up to clip the first bolt, and then climbed back down again. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly in and out, in and out, to get my heart rate down. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and cast off: crossover from the undercling into the first lieback, twist my left leg as I move into the second undercling (the opening flowed smoothly) clip the bolt at the crux, set my heel-toe cam on the blade, move smoothly into the compression sequence, tense the core, bump to the vertical sidepull (my mind was empty but focused) pinch my feet on the blade, press to reach the small crimp out left (I was now through the crux but had fallen past here before) keep weight on small footholds, skip the last bolt, deadpoint to a good hold (just a few more hard moves) reach left to the pinch, pop to the undercling (almost done now - breathe) cross through with the feet, balance on two slopers, lock a heel hook down, and move to the final sloping sidepull...Clip. Clip. It was done. The impossible dream had been realized. It was 8am on October 12th, 2012. I’d reached my high water mark. Jens tried the route, and then we removed the quick draws and pulled the rope. By the time we reached the car the rain had started. It wouldn’t stop for over a month, and the whole cliff would be soaked until spring. Blade Runner was one of the most rewarding experiences in my 22 years of climbing not because it was the hardest route I’ve ever climbed, but because it required a huge mental and physical investment that pushed me beyond my perceived limits. I’ll probably never climb a harder route. I’m OK with that. But twenty feet right of Blade Runner is an even steeper, more intimidating line that looks amazing. I’m sure it’s way too hard for me, but maybe I’ll just go take a look... ……………………. Shangri La Details on 18 new routes in the Shangri La area of X38 -Please pack out all trash. Obvious pathways away from the crag are on the lower approach so please don't soil them with human waste. Please leave carabiners on anchors for lowering a la Nason ridge. Enjoy! ………………………… Most of these routes get good sun exposure and dry fast. The start of History Book and one section of Guillotine are prone to seepage after a lot of rain, but most other routes dry quickly. Blade Runner and Skullduggery face South and are best climbed in the early morning or on a cloudy day. Metamorphosis faces East and can be hot on a summer morning. Route distribution*: 5.8 3 5.9 1 5.10 7 5.11 5 5.12 2 * - Ratings are subjective. Proposed ratings are suggestions based on how the routes might compare to similar routes at the Lower Town wall at Index. I will enter these on Mountain Project. Feel free to suggest your own ratings so we can arrive at a consensus. …………………………………….. Printable topo Approach notes: Orientation: The Far Side area of X38 has several East-facing crags in a line: Interstate Park, Eastern Block, Squishy Bell, and Headlight Point crags. Ellie's Sweet Kiss is a very popular route in the middle of Interstate Park. Shangri-La is on the Eastern and Southern faces of the large rock formation across the giant talus field East of these crags. A few Far Side maps: Driving map Roads and topo for X38 Far Side Crags map Far Side trails The trails map is not to scale. Winter Block is almost directly above Shangri La. Hiking directions: Go to the Far Side parking lot. Start up the trail that starts just N of the bridge over the SnoQ river. When the trail forks go left, then an immediate right/straight, cross a wet area on a tiny boardwalk, then go left. Gritscone is in front of you at this point. Follow the wide trail, avoiding turnoffs to the right. When the trail steepens turn left into the forest at a small saddle. Follow the trail up steeply to the where it flattens out. Turn right on one of the side trails and make your way to the line of cliffs that includes Interstate Park, Eastern Block, Squishy Bell, and Headlight Point. Shangri La is East of the obvious talus field East of these cliffs. There are two ways to approach Shangri-La from the talus field: 1 - Aim for an obvious dead snag on the buttress that is about the same level as Ellie's Sweet Kiss. To get there, follow a series of easy but exposed ledges that start below some brush on the E edge of the talus. Pass below a large pine and head to the dead snag. From the snag, scramble down about 25ft of 4th class to the East. This brings you to the base of the wall. The first obvious feature is History Book, a left-leaning dihedral. You may notice some chains at the top of the face near the dead snag. This is the anchor on Small Arms Fire, which is a rap in and climb out route. 2 - Follow the talus down to the bottom of the buttress, cross under the bottom of the buttress on a faint trail that passes a giant tree with a cable on it. When you get to a smaller talus field, go straight up hill. When the talus ends at the forest go straight up to the base of the Shangri-La crag with History Book and Guillotine and Skullduggery. You'll know you're in the right place when you see a giant corner with a huge flake about 40 feet up (Guillotine), and several bolted lines. To get to Metamorphosis and Magic Carpet Ride, go right at the top of the little talus field mentioned above. View of the talus and upper and lower approaches from the top of Ellie's Sweet Kiss. Looking back past Shangri-La with Ellie's Sweet Kiss in the background. Looking up at the 4th class scramble. It's easier than it looks. ……………………………………… The following routes are on a wall on the left side of the guillotine corner. From left to right: Science Friction = 5.10d bolted face with two friction cruxes. Left of History Book. 5 bolts. 15 meters. FA Roberts, August, 2012. History Book = 5.10a trad crack in a left-leaning dihedral. Follow the crack to chains at the top of the cliff. DO NOT trust the ancient rusty aid piton! A standard rack will suffice. 20 meters. FA (ground-up onsight) Roberts, August, 2007. Crouching Tiger = 5.10c bolted roof and face climbing. Start 10 feet left of History Book, head up and right to the first bolt, and then go straight up over a series of small roofs. 8 bolts. 20 meters. FA Roberts, October, 2008. Hidden Dragon = 5.11c (11+ if shorter than 5’9”) bolted face and roofs. Start 8 feet right of History Book. This route has four different cruxes, multiple roofs, and a clean upper dihedral. 12 bolts. 29 meters. FA Roberts, July, 2009. Hypertension = 5.11+/12- bolted face and roofs. A stick clip might be wise as the bouldery crux is off the ground. Requiring power, balance, and body tension, this route will test your versatility. 13 bolts. 28 meters. FA Roberts, September, 2009. Guillotine = 5.10b trad crack and flake in a giant corner. Enter the corner near the first bolt of Free Radical (a solid cam can be placed at the lip if you’re a purist). Climb up to and past the namesake flake on the right wall and follow the corner to its end. Then clip a fixed nut and make some airy moves up and right to the chains. A standard rack is fine. 22 meters. FA Roberts, August, 2007. Free Radical = 5.11a bolted route on the arête right of Guillotine. Outstanding moves in a great position. Shares an anchor with Guillotine. 9 bolts. 22 meters. FA Roberts, August, 2009. Hangman = 5.10a bolted face and roof with fun friction moves at the top. This starts at the Guillotine/Free Radical anchor and goes a full 30m to chains. You can link Free Radical and Hangman for a 52 meter pitch. You'll need about 23 quickdraws to get up and a 60m rope to get down. 13 bolts. 30 meters. FA Roberts, June, 2007. The following routes are on the overhanging face right of Guillotine: Bladerunner = 5.12c? (5.11 to V6 to 5.11) overhanging bolted face on pristine rock. Unrepeated. This route takes a striking line up the super-clean, overhanging face right of Free Radical. It has a devious crux that requires core strength and creativity. Easy to top rope after climbing Guillotine or Free Radical, but be sure to use the Bladerunner anchor as there is a sharp roof above that could damage the rope if you TR from the Guillotine/Free Radical anchor. Overhanging, South-facing exposure keeps this route dry most of the year. 4 bolts. 10 meters. FA Roberts, October, 2012. Skullduggery= 5.12b? Unrepeated. A bit of skullduggery (an act of trickery or deception) may be needed to get up this steep, technical, and sustained line Overhangs 17 feet in its 40 foot length. Starts fifty feet right of Free Radical. A worthy test piece. Use the hand line to ascend the slab. Belay/start at the bolt and fixed cam that anchor the hand line. 5 bolts. 13 meters. FA Roberts, July, 2010. Open Project = 5.12+ or harder route on an overhanging face right of Skullduggery. Bolted. The following routes are on walls around to the right from Shangri-La. To get there, descend a trail about 100 feet and then veer left into the next amphitheater. Three routes are ready for climbers: Meta Cliff: Metamorphosis = 5.10d adventurous two pitch line up the center of a 300ft face. If you stand at the giant tree, look up and left at a big face. Metamorphosis p1 (10+) climbs up the center of this. The first pitch starts at a small roof at the ground, gear goes in a small crack, two bolts lead past a bulge, gear protects moves up higher, and there is one final bolt before the belay just below a large ledge (5.10+). The second pitch starts up a flake and vertical crack, moves up and left and then back right past bolts and gear, follows three bolts up thin and exposed face climbing, passes a short crack before a ledge, and ends with a bouldery finish past a bolt (5.10+). You could continue up 4th class terrain to a bolted anchor at an airy perch atop the Shangri-La cliff. Rap with one or two 60m ropes. Ropedrag might be bad if you try to link the two pitches. Note: it is best to belay for the first pitch very low at a divot in the vegetation. Start climbing in tennis shoes and change to rock shoes at the small roof. Needs an approach trail. Gear from small cams to #2 camalot. 50 meters total. FA Roberts, May, 2008. Metaphysics = 5.11R? (5.10R to a well-protected V3 crux at the roof to a 5.10 upper section). Unrepeated. This trad line follows the start of Metamorphosis to the flake below the first bolt. Place cams in a diagonal crack on the face 6ft below this flake and then traverse straight right 6 feet. Follow holds straight up and over the obvious roof. There is good protection in cracks on the slanting roof section. Climb up to the second roof, place gear, and zag up and left to the anchor at the top of the first pitch of Metamorphosis. Microcams to a single #4 camalot for the last placement. FA Roberts, November, 2011. Magic Carpet Ride = 5.8ish trad crack up a series of corners. This is on the large slabby face about a hundred feet right of Metamorphosis. Head up to a large tree. Pass this and continue up to the higher of two left-traversing cracks. Follow a series of corner cracks/dihedrals to the top of the buttress. You’ll see the scrub line. Turn the last roof on the right and follow a mossy ramp to anchors up and left. This route is about 40 meters and will get better with more traffic. You can rappel with two ropes, just barely get down with a single 70 meter rope, or rap to the tree with a single 60 and rap again or down climb. Standard rack. 40 meters. FA Roberts, April, 2008. Unnamed = 5.9ish bolted line. This starts about fifty feet right of Magic Carpet Ride. Follow a scrub line up and right toward a small roof and a bolt. Follow a line of bolts up nice but slightly dirty climbing. Bolts are in a line but some zigzagging is needed to climb past the roof. It’s about 35m to the anchors so bring two ropes. Nice moves all the way to the end. 10 bolts? FA Krawarik, 2009. The following climb is on a face above the giant tree below the buttress with the dead snag. This can be approached by rapping in from chains at the top of the buttress next to the dead snag. Direct approach from the bottom may be developed. The following climb starts at the base of a large pine just uphill from the dead snag. Drive By = 5.8 bolted arête and face in a great position with excellent views. Clip one chain, skip the next chains. Put a long runner on a bolt 15 or so feet higher, and then aim for the slab/arête feature above you. There are several bolts on the slab leading to a final mantle. Rap the route. Be careful not to drop things on parties below. 25 meters. 8 bolts. FA Roberts, Krawarik, Anderson, May, 2007. Unnamed = 5.8 trad corner above Drive By that needs some gardening but is still fun. 27 meters? Standard rack. FA Krawarik, Locke, June, 2007. The following climb is on a face above the giant tree below the buttress with the dead snag. This can be approached by rapping in from chains at the top of the buttress next to the dead snag. Small Arms Fire = 5.10c bolted face with thin, balancy moves in a great position. Rap down to the starting anchor from chains near the dead snag. Lead out or do a top belay. 6 bolts. 20 meters. FA Roberts, August, 2007. The following route is quite close to Headlight Point, on the way to the lower approach to Shangri-La. Approach: Headlight Point is the first cliff you get to when coming from the Gunshow area. It is the Southern-most crag of easy (5.6ish) climbs on the trail. Right behind those climbs, is a tree and a dirt ramp that leads a few meters down into the forest. Follow the ramp a few feet. Skirt a bush, drop a few feet along a tiny talus field, and head across to the obvious cliff. A large flat rock at the base of a tree marks the start of Third Stone from the Sun. To continue to Shangri La, follow the small cliff to its end at the giant talus field. Cross that and head for the approach that goes below the bottom of the large buttress as described above. Third Stone from the Sun = 5.11c bolted overhanging face. Lots of action in a small package. 5 bolts. 11 meters. FA Roberts, June, 2011. Photos: History Book Crouching Tiger low Crouching Tiger middle Crouching Tiger high - McClellan Butte in the background. Hidden Dragon Red line is Hidden Dragon. Green is Hypertension. Both continue out of sight above. Guillotine Free Radical is the arete right of Guillotine, which Ian is climbing here. The Guillotine flake is visible on the left. Free Radical is the arete left center. Blade Runner is right center and ends at the visible chains. Duct tape engineering on Blade Runner Skullduggery Skullduggery Yellow is Metamorphosis. Red is Metaphysics. Metamorphosis is the yellow line. I'm approaching the top of Metaphysics. Both routes share a belay. Metaphysics Metaphysics Small Arms Fire Gopro shot from the top of Small Arms Fire. The dead snag is 10 feet behind me. Third Stone from the Sun Don't forget to hit the swimming hole! stay tuned for more... THANKS TO MANY GREAT PARTNERS AND HELPERS OVER THE YEARS: Alex, Scott, Jens, Matt, David, Ed, Michael, Mike, Blake, Leland, Frank, Scott, Ryland, and others. Gear Notes: See route descriptions above. Approach Notes: X38 Far Side trails. See details and links above.
  19. Trip: Mt Despair, N summit - NE ("Bipolar") Buttress, 3700+', 5.9 Date: 7/28/2014 Trip Report: Low. (Our first glimpse of the double buttress from banks of Goodell Cr.) High. (Rolf climbs the final snow arête of the N Ridge to the N summit of Mt Despair. The highpoint of the NE Buttress is barely in view on right. Pickets background.) Route summary: the NE Buttress (“Bipolar Buttress”) of Mt Despair, ~3700’ net vertical relief of climbing and scrambling; a few hundred more are climbed thanks to multiple rappels into notches along the way. Difficulties up to 5.9. (Rolf nailed the name.) I think we belayed a total of 9 pitches, 8 on the buttress and 1 to attain the N ridge? This shot taken from the southeast shows the NE Buttress toeing down into Goodell Cr. Photo courtesy of John Roper, taken from the Roost. We began climbing at the base of the big open book in the area of lighter rock on the lower buttress. The feature can also be seen in the background of this shot taken from Mt Terror last summer: And here: Trip summary: a delightful tour of Picket-ness proportions; we approached via Goodell Creek, climbed Mt Despair via the soaring NE Buttress/N Ridge continuation, descended Despair’s west flank, and ultimately exited via Triumph Pass and Thornton Lakes trail to a bike, where the lucky loser of roshambo commenced the 8ish mile ride to retrieve the car. Lots of ups and downs. (On a map, this looks like a reasonable horseshoe route. Plan for three demanding days.) More-enterprising types might more fully express this route by traversing from the N to the S summit, thence to Triumph Pass and home; we left this for future work due to budget constraints of calories and time. A good thing too, as I botched the de-proach; in a monomaniacal fit of hubris, neglected to thoroughly research the route from Triumph Pass to the Thornton Cr trailhead, instead relying on simply a map and odd recollections. As a result, deep into the third day, we achieved new psychological limits by rat-schwacking up a 600+ vf stretch of steep, dense brush. My bad, brah. A soi-disant Cascades dignitary pronounced this a Last, Last Great Problem of the Cascades, while the other side of same mouth pronounced it “table scraps”. The Bipolar Buttress is more akin to eating a spilled gourmet meal off the floor, tasty if a little dirty--the floor in this case is the Goodell Creek valley. The NWMJ notes Roger Jung used Goodell to score FWAs on Mt Fury, but my contacts with real Cascades dignitaries yielded little info re: optimal access in the brushy summer. Sundry, pleasant surprises await those who in future travel this way. Route description/photo blast: Scrambling the lower buttress. Around 1300’ of mostly solid and well-featured scrambling up to low fifth class. Chimney moves to finish the lower buttress difficulties. From top of lower buttress, we rappelled into a notch; a party could bail from here at relatively low cost. Beyond this point, costs increase. Rolf leading out of a notch after a rappel. A very deep cleft in the upper buttress weighed on our psyches during the whole climb; the most technical pitches had occurred climbing out of smaller notches after rappelling into them. This deeper cleft can be seen in Tom Sjolseth’s picture from the N. Only the upper buttress is visible here, extending left—the cleft is near the summit of the buttress. With apologies to Jimi Hendrix, this is the Manic Depression. New lows were hit upon closer viewing of the chasm. The wall we needed to climb appeared very steep, overhanging in places, and meager viable lines looked difficult to access. We rapped in and scoped around, finally settling on a route beginning maybe 50’ to the south of the notch: a right-trending stair-step ramp kept the climbing at a reasonable grade. Watch for loose rock here. Rolf led the first pitch, and I got the leftovers; a bunch more rambling (an exposed stretch felt like the TFT) and we found a dee-luuuuxe bivy site on heather near the high col, where the two E-side glaciers meet. Views into the Pickets were available all day, and made even more enjoyable by respite. Smoke filtering in from eastern Washington provided color. Mr Bo Jangles S Pickets N Pickets The next morning we crossed the high col, climbed a 70m pitch of rock to attain the N Ridge, and then continued on its final snow arête. This pic shows the upper buttress (blocks view of lower buttress) on the right, with Goodell Cr far below. Descent was made by downclimbing to the notch S of the N summit, then down the W side of the peak; one rappel required. Demanding tour, but rewards with sweeping views and ambiance. Bunch more photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/ewehrly/2014_07_28MtDespairNEBipolarButtress?authuser=0&feat=directlink [Might add or swap out some photos upon receipt of Rolf’s.] Gear Notes: Medium rack with several pins, but never used them. Axe/crampons. Lithium. Single 70m rope. Approach Notes: See above.
  20. Trip: West Witches Tit - West Ridge "No Rest For the Wicked" (FA) Date: 5/28/2014 Summary: First Ascent of the West Ridge of the West Witches Tit on May 28-29th 2014. John Frieh and Jess Roskelley. “No Rest For the Wicked” WI6 M7 A0 No Rest For the Wicked ascends the left hand skyline of the left hand peak Details: Nearly five years ago I made my second trip ever to Alaska where Dave Burdick and I made the first ascent of the West Ridge of Burkett Needle. That climb made a huge impression on me and I began making a list of climbs I wanted to return for. One of the lines I found in John Scurlock's excellent gallery was the West Ridge of the West Witches Tit. John's photo made it look like a series of easy granite ramps and the Ice Cap manager confirmed it was still unclimbed. In August of 2013 I flew with a group from Portland intent on attempting that line; unfortunately a lean winter followed by a hot summer resulted in impassable glaciers so the team opted for the 50 classic East Ridge of the Devils Thumb. A nagging injury from earlier in the season forced me to sit that one out and delivered me my first Stikine shutout. I had to return. I did this year and on May 28th Jess and I flew from SEA to PSG where we obtained our Stikine Ice Cap permits from the Manager and then flew to the Devils Thumb massif's single landing zone SE of the Devils Thumb. We scouted part of the approach before turning in early. The following morning (May 29th) we departed camp around 3:30 am and began the long traverse around the Devil's Thumb massif to reach our proposed route on the West Witches Tit. After 8+ hours of traversing multiple glaciers and ridges that required climbing and rappelling we finally reached the West Ridge which we were "pleasantly surprised" to find was anything but easy granite ramps. We took a brew stop and debated our options; if it had been any later in the day I doubt we would have tried. In the end Jess said "why not?" and we launched just before noon. Almost immediately we were faced with stout mixed climbing. I kept thinking "that had to be the crux!" only to be faced with another hard pitch. Roughly halfway up the route Jess led arguably one of, if not the hardest pitch I've ever seen in the mountains. 15 inches wide give or take; perfectly smooth and would have been unclimbable if not for the ice in the back of the chimney. Exiting out required lying back a giant flake with your feet above your head to attempt to get sticks in shit snow. Stout! As the pitch took nearly 2 hours to lead my sense was to bail at this point but we couldnt let such a proud pitch go to waste. More hard climbing followed; all told I recall 3 or 4 solid M6ish pitches and one solid M7 when it was all said and done. Near the top we crossed over Bill Belcourt and Randy Rackliff's rap line from their original first ascent of the West Witches Tit in May of 1995. We summited around 11:30 pm making the fifth overall ascent of the West Witches Tit. We discussed our options; though we were told a rap line existed down the south face that would make our hike back to camp shorter we were very worried about finding it in the dark and then rapping down new terrain. In the end we opted to rap the Belcourt/Rackliff line as we knew were it started and had some good beta from Randy and Bill about it. It turned out to be the right decision as their excellent line took us down very steep terrain on a single 70m rope. As an aside their unrepeated line on the SW face looks amazing. We hit the glacier sometime around 5 am; at this point it all gets foggy for me as all told we were awake and on the go for 36 hours on a measly 3000 calories each. We likely would have laid down for a brief shiver nap but with the weather window rapidly closing we death marched our way back to camp where Wally promptly snatched us up. "No Rest For the Wicked" is my fourth first ascent on the Stikine Ice Cap in the five years I have been climbing there and one of, if not the hardest route I have climbed ever anywhere. I am proud of our effort. Thanks to Wally of Temsco Air for the superior service; Dieter Klose for continuing to tolerate my flagrant behavior in the Stikine and of course Jess for being a great partner. Thanks to Randy and Bill for the great beta and encouragement as well as John Scurlock; I lost count how many FAs his pictures have provided me. Thanks to the great people of Mountain Gear and the Alta Group for supporting local climbers like us. Finally many thanks to my Gym Jones family for teaching me how to suffer and the power of self image. Onward. Pictures: Morning Coffee One of the more involved approaches I have done Foreshortened view from the col Stout pitches early on About to finally get some sun Cruiser Le Crux Another stout pitch High on the route Summit Hour 30: Starting to break down but still 6 more hours to go
  21. Trip: Gorillas in the mist - Date: 7/14/2014 Trip Report: Jon and I enjoyed this route last weekend. Being hot it was the perfect choice as it gets no sun until later in the afternoon. It has the feel of a big-time Cascades route. If you haven't checked it out yet here is a link to mine, and the other reports I could find. I am hoping someone has info on the direct finish, thanks Gorillas
  22. Been meaning to write something up on this new route we did last Jan. Finally found the time. Gilkison's Travels
  23. Trip: Black Peak's West Peak - NW ridge (and N Buttress) IV 5.7ish - FLA Date: 7/21/2012 Trip Report: Rolf Larson and I climbed this route on Saturday. We are not aware of previous ascents—and speculate this could be a first and last ascent, aka FLA. This 3,000' ridge/buttress climb impressed me when Dan Helmstadter and I were en route to a ski of Black Peak's (East and main summit) NW Face. Pic from my May ski trip with Dan: Pic from a climb/ski of Arriva a week before, early May. W Peak is on right, and the long buttress/ridge extending toward the viewer is what we climbed: It looked so classic, the long ridge with steep walls falling off to a glacier, ending in a high and scenic N Cascades summit. And it was. Classic. Uber-mega-meta-classic. Much better than any Internet meme. Sorta like the N. Ridge of Stuart (only longer) combined with the Torment-Forbidden Traverse (only steeper), and a High-Priest-like blockheaded finish. Purity of line, quality of rock, a graceful climbing partner: these are things devoutly to be wished. The pictures don’t do it justice, one must experience the climb for one’s self; a tonic for the soul, as Rolf might say. But probably not. Looking at the limited pics, we thought there could be some steep, more-difficult climbing. We were loaded for bear and a bivy—rope, a medium rack, light bivy gear, a stove, climbing shoes, and too much food. All but the rope ended up training weight—we made 2 raps, but otherwise the stuff stayed in the packs while we rambled up the scenic ridge, with lots of 3rd and 4th class scrambling, and difficulties up to 5.7 or so. As is often the case, the most difficult climbing usually occurred on the best rock. The approach was made over the northern col between Black and its 8395’ point to the north. Spicy downclimbing ensued to snow, then finally to the base c. 5800’ after running under looming seracs. The pics tell the rest of the story; this thing was long. Our first look during the approach, from the col: Near the start (from these humble beginnings), poor pic: Looking down initial stretch; photo doesn’t show considerable exposure here: Still much to do: We passed this gendarme on its right, but in retrospect would’ve enjoyed going over it On the torment-forbidden-esqe section (Rolf’s photo): Still more to go: Gramps hikes up his britches Rappin’ The rock quality suffers no comparison. And gets even better: final summit block Hard to believe this was a ski slope a couple months ago Some more scenics and action shots are here. We enjoyed this route, but as subtly hinted, were hoping for more difficult lines along the way. Still, motoring up a long climb is always a splendid way to spend a day.
  24. After a cold week in Seattle.What has always been high hanging ice was on the ground on that day (2/9/14) FA ? I dont know. who out there knows. first shot is of leading route CYA with part of the touching down ice in background. the rest of the shots are of leading the touching down ice.
  25. Trip: Miyar Valley, Himachal Pradesh (India) - New Routes in the Sir Don Chuuudong Terrordome Date: 8/30/2013 Trip Report: Sometimes trips come together so well, that I almost weep with joy when I think about it. This is one of those trips. The bug hit me as I was sitting in the Victoria Theater in San Francisco for Reel Rock back in 2012. I was completely mesmerized…I was watching Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk climb Mt. Meru in India. My mind was set, I wanted to go somewhere far away and climb something that hadn’t been climbed. I hadn’t done an international expedition since my trip to China back in 2005. I was craving adventure. So, during the intermission of the film fest, I texted the most "available" climbing partner I know to casually gauge his interest in a trip like this. Jason (Spiceman) immediately texted back - he said was on board for some international climbing shenanigans...and we started scheming. We thought about going to Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan or China, but ended up deciding on the Miyar Valley in India’s Himachal Pradesh. Freddie Wilkinson had put a bug in my ear a few year back in Cuba, saying that the Miyar had loads of accessible, moderate routes just waiting to be climbed by a moderate guy like myself. Done. Luckily, Jason isn’t moderate. Sure, I am in decent shape, can carry a backpack, and am experienced at suffering…but I would need to bring a ropegun along to ensure success. We eventually added another “comrade” to our team, Sandeep. This was particularly awesome because Sandeep is an inherently funny guy and is also a rope gun. Not only that, but as you might guess he speaks Hindi (and not only the dirty words, like me). Sandeep also had a friend in Manali who could organize all the transport, base camp equipment, food, cooks and horsemen - and also help us navigate the confusing climbing permit process requirements in India. The Secret: Just don’t tell anyone! Our Steeley-Eyed RiCkShaW dRiVeR. We didn’t see him blink once in the heavy traffic. After a 3am arrival to New Delhi and a watching a morning monsoon storm from our shoddy guesthouse balcony in central Delhi, Jason and I jumped in a rickshaw taxi for a harrowing ride through New Delhi rush hour, our huge bags (full of heavy climbing gear) bulging from the three-wheeled-near-death-machine. 16 hours later we arrived in Manali, Himachal Pradesh - the jumping-off point for our three-week climbing expedition. Jason, at the “bus station” in Delhi…the bus eventually came a while later. We were quickly greeted by Sandeep’s friend Omi and his friendly entourage, and spent a couple days in Manali acclimating to the time zone and Indian culture before heading up to the hills. Sandeep arrived a day after us, with his parents in tow. Soon, Jason and I began to call his parents “Uncle” and “Antie”. It was a special treat to get to spend time with Sandeep's family, and once our big van was packed up to take us 9 hours to the trailhead, his mom and dad jumped in with us to enjoy the ride to the trailhead! Jason, Sandeep and Sandeep’s mum – along with our unloaded van. Our first hurdle was to brave the monsoon-sodden roads, and cross the Rohtang Pass, a couple hours in a bus from Manali. I was never really frightened on the 25 mike drive to the pass, but I was intoxicated by watching the road unfold in front of us. The higher we drove, the hairpins got tighter, the road muddier, the sides of the road became nearly overhung. Then the mud gets deeper, goopier. The mud is the consistency of a Wendy's frosty, the color of chocolate milk - perfect for mud wrestling. Traffic on the way to Rohtang Pass… Our van driver Sano repeatedly takes us inches from a precipitous cliff, or passing within a whisper of large trucks as oncoming traffic closes in. Part of it feels dangerous, part of it seems like a symphony. Either way, it works...and I think that some of the uptight Seattle drivers could use some of this traffic experience for a bit of perspective. In Udaipur, the last town before heading up the remote and sparesly-populated Miyar Valley, we paid homage to the local Hindu god in a hillside temple. I felt as though our souls were cleansed, and we were cleared to violate the mountains at will. Before we left Udaipur, we passed a shop with a large "Cold Beer" sign outside. I sighed to myself - no more beer for 3 or 4 weeks. At the last minute Sandeep convinced me to buy a couple packs of smokes. Buying sashes before entering the local temple in Udaipur… Jason, emerges from the temple ready to CrUsH! Eight hours after leaving Manali, we were finally driving up the Miyar River Valley, hoping to make our way to the trailhead that night. Other cars weren’t the only obstacles on the way to the Miyar trailhead… Entering Miyar Canyon from the town of Udaipur, you would never imagine there is a vast wide valley above. Canyon walls are steep and tight. The road is in-cut into the cliffs in some places. The fact that there is a road here at all, is rather amazing in itself. Our progress up the Miyar Valley was halted by a stream overflowing at a road crossing. The heavy rains had brought down large rocks onto the "roadway", and the stream was flowing fast enough that we decided to wait till morning, when there was less water flowing, to cross. Well, after much shenanigans and deal-making by Sandeep, we eventually found our way across the side-stream with the rest of our gear, and started up the Miyar Valley on foot, following eight horses carrying provisions for a month in the mountains. Sandeep straightens out the confused horsemen… Loading up the horses was a bit of a shit-show, but most of our stuff made it to base camp without falling off… As we hiked up-valley for the nest three days, the shepherds and flocks were making their way downhill, on their way to lower climes (Punjab or lower Himachal Pradesh) for the winter. Huge herds of sheep filed around us like air over an airfoil. We hiked for two days, up-valley, through open, huge expanses - with nothing barring our advance besides the occasional rock fence to find our way through. A quick smoke break with the shepherds… A guy can get lonely up in the mountains for a month. Don’t judge! On our second day hiking up the Miyar Valley, the side valleys started to reveal glaciers a few thousand feet higher up - we could start to see big mountains up these drainages but the clouds kept their true appearance a mystery. Still, seeing high peaks above us got us excited to start climbing! We probably started walking faster without knowing it. Mount Doom Looms Above! The sheep guarded the best bouldering spots… Four days after leaving Manali, we found ourselves at what we call "base camp"...a spot in a meadow, not far from the termini of the Miyar, Takdung, and Chuudong Glaciers. Our little tent city was a relaxing place to call home for three weeks. A fresh spring nearby provided clean water, and the flat land around was perfect for throwing the frisbee. Base Camp views weren’t bad! Our cooks, Jogu and Sanu, held down the fort for us while we were higher up in the mountains. And, while we were in base camp they provided us with TONS of delicious Indian food to recharge our batteries. The kitchen tent, with our cooks Jugu and Sanu. After our long journey from Seattle to base camp, we were ecstatic to find ourselves at the base of the peaks we had been looking at for months - from photos taken from previous expeditions we found on the Internet and in the American Alpine Journal. We had read about these peaks several times - but to actually see them in person - it was very inspiring. Our first couple days at base camp we spent trying to acclimatize to the altitude. Base camp was at about 13,000' above sea level - the peaks we hoped to climb were around 19,000'-20,000'. So, we had a lot of elevation to gain to attain our summits. With the help of some 2000-3000' high acclimatization hikes, and a little boost from Diamox, we decided to head up the Takdung Glacier three days after arriving at base camp. We packed up with full alpine climbing gear and enough provisions for 6-7 days. Yard Sale! Gearing up for our first trip up the Takdung… Our packs were heavy! Our sights were set on 4 or 5 prominent peaks up a side-valley of the Miyar - the Takdung. We hoped that at least one of these unclimbed peaks would provide a reasonable, yet technical and enjoyable, route to its summit. We were hoping for 5.10 rock climbing and fun snow/ice climbing. All we could do was hope. And start hiking. Up. Up. Up. The hike up the Takdung was, frankly, a bit brutal. We were hiking in a large boulder field for miles. Our speed was tortoise-like. Carrying a huge pack, while hopping from one loose rock to another, while not fully acclimatized to the altitude proved to be a challenge. We took a ton of breaks, often times supporting our heads on an adjacent boulder to help us from passing out! BUT... we continued up, up, up. Talus as far as the eye can see… Up and down, actually. The glacial moraines were anything but straightforward, and we did a lot of zig-zagging, back-and-forth, up and down the loose boulders that lay atop the miles-long sheet of ice that is the Takdung Glacier. By 5pm, we were exhausted after 9 hours of toil, and decided to stop for the night - at a rather grim spot that I called "Camp Drear". The setting was unsettling. Wet gravel provided a soggy base for our tent, the clouds provided us with short bursts of graupel every 15-20 minutes, and the glacier provided water that was silty grey. Camp Drear! It wasn’t that bad, really. But perhaps more of a downer was the appearance of the mountains surrounding us. The quality of the rock looked loose and crumbly, and basically unclimbable. The glaciers, that provided access to the peaks called "The Ogres"(which we hoped to climb) looked melted out, steep, and the lower slopes were constantly peppered with rockfall and avalanches from above. Avalanches came down from Ogre II constantly… Thankfully, as we continued up the glacial valley on the second day, the appearance of the mountains, and consequently, our attitudes, improved. We were finally motivated by the peaks of the Upper Takdung… We climbed through, and eventually above, a large icefall on the Takdung Glacier, and we found ourselves on clean ice glacier terrain - MUCH easier terrain to travel than the boulder hopping hell we had to endure on the lower glacier. Jason takes a breather in the thin air… We eventually found a reasonable spot to camp on the upper Takdung Glacier at around 17,000' elevation. When we arrived at camp, we were each at various stages of hypoxia, fatigue and cheerfulness (grumpiness). We quickly got the megamid tent set up, hunkered down for the night, and discussed our options for climbing an unclimbed tower that lay to the east of us, across the width of the glacier. Oh Boy! Sanjana Peak is in the middle of this photo. The next morning, Jason and I packed up the ropes and climbing gear and made the two-hour walk across the glacier to scope out possible routes up the unclimbed peak. We saw what looked to be a decent, steep, crack system leading from the base of the peak to slightly easier terrain above. We roped up, and Jason led off, up the virgin crack. He led a wonderful pitch of 5.10b-ish climbing a full 70 meter rope length above the glacier. This is what I brought the rope gun for! Jason, about to head up off the deck on Sanjana… Very happy with the quality of the rock, and our prospects for climbing the mountain the next day, we let out a loud series of signature crow calls, yelps, yee-haws, yah-hoos and other esoteric phrases from the base of the mountain. Sandeep could hear us a mile below at camp. We left the ropes anchored to the mountain that night, to give us a jump start the next day - then hiked back to camp. That night we went to bed with high spirits, and with a plan to start climbing the mountain as soon as the sun hit it - around 8:30am. I guess we should have started earlier. The Upper Takdung at before the sun comes up… Our high camp, below the back side of Neverseen Tower… Jason and Sandeep, making their way to the base of Sanjana Peak… The next day, everything started well enough...we re-climbed the first pitch of rock as quickly as we could, then started swapping leads up the mountain. Stoked to be heading up! Around 8:30am here… Sandeep awaits at the top of Pitch #1… Sandeep led the second pitch up a nice line of cracks and face holds. I led a long, but fairly easy pitch of ridge climbing, with a cool, airy, hand traverse over a "whales-back" feature. Definitely airy, and I was euphoric with where I was finding myself. Looking down from the whalesback… We were all in a pretty good mood. We were making progress, and the sun was shining on us - at that point. Feeling “dreamy”. Around noon, pitch #5 or so… All smiles in the sun! A few more pitches up, we were getting higher and higher on the mountain, and started to encounter snow and ice, which slowed us down a bit. It was also starting to get later in the afternoon. I started to think about the prospect of having to descend (rappel) in the dark...not the greatest scenario, but not as bad as sleeping on the summit. I was still hoping it wouldn't come to that. Later in the afternoon on Sanjana, starting to get tired and cold… As usual, the clouds threatened in the afternoon. This day, we were lucky. The terrain was snowy, and it was cold enough to warrant boots in lieu of rock shoes. I was also mega-paranoid of the frostbite my toes had endured on Mt. Waddington, and I didn't want a repeat of that episode. I led one final pitch in my rock shoes, half of which consisted of kick-stepping into 40-degree snow-on-slab. My feet were freezing by the time I arrived at the belay, and I changed into new socks, boots, and chemical foot warmers. Ahhhhh. It was getting darker by the minute now, and we kept making progress upwards...but we couldn't yet see the actual summit - just more walls above us. We Have To Be Getting Close, Right?!?? Darkness still creeping in, Jason led a pitch of iced-up 5.9 cracks in his rock shoes, leaving slings for Sandeep and I to follow on aid in our boots. It was a great lead - and it took us to the base of what seemed to be the summit pyramid. I led a traversey pitch in boots that required a tender foot on loose rock, a bit of aid, and some very trusting moves across large blocks to what HAD to be the base of the summit pyramid. By the time I had a secure anchor set up, it was pretty much dark. I put on my down jacket. I was already wearing all of my clothes that I had packed. Following on aid in climbing boots. Donning his headlamp, Sandeep led up a short pitch if iced-up cracks to a huge block. I heard a declaration of "the summit" from below, and was relieved to be at our high point. The wind was starting to pick up, and I REALLY didn’t want to spend the night in the open, on the summit, at 19,500'. I followed Sandeep and Jason up to the summit via more aided climbing, and we had a pow-wow. It was about 9pm. After some initial disagreements, we decided it would be best to stick out the night on the summit, and take our time to safely decend in the early morning light. And so it began, "The Summit Bivouac"... Being a fairly hyper guy, who also gets cold easily, I'm not sure how I made it through the night without losing my mind. For 9 hours, we huddled on that summit, most of the time crouched behind a huge boulder that was a windblock. But, I got cold sitting still, so I would get up every 30 minutes or so and take off my boots and warm up my tender toes with my hands. Then, I would bang my headache-drenched head against a rock to alleviate the pain - which was made worse by being tormented by watching Sandeep actually SLEEPING, just a meter from my feet. Jason seemed to fade in and out of sleep through the night, occasionally appearing conscious and mumbling something incoherent. As the night wore on, and the moon began to rise, I saw a terrible sight. Above us, looming like Mt Doom, was another tower. A tower that looked steep and formidable. I laughed an evil laugh to myself. We were not on the summit after all! And it pained me to think we had more climbing to do before we could descend in the morning. The view of the final summit pyramid at first light… Hours passed, eventually, somehow...And by 5:30am, we roused each other into a light level of consciousness - we were all very tired and a bit delusional, BUT we wanted to climb to the summit before leaving this mountain. Jason tied in and led a snow pitch to the base of the ACTUAL summit pyramid. Feeling a bit groggy after a shivery night… Spiceman bravely heads off to the base of the summit pyramid… To get to the summit, one more rock climbing pitch was required - Sandeep deftly led this pitch on aid, and I belayed him while being about 7/8 asleep. Jason looked on with one eye open, one closed. Eventually, Sandeep yells "belay off", and Jason and I head off to tag the summit around 9am. Jason and Sandeep on the airy traverse… Tim heads across the horizontal crack, feeling for tiny hand holds… We Got This! The final final final climb to the summit! Three tired comrades atop Sanjana Peak. We decided to name the peak Sanjana Peak, after Sandeep's late sister. The Cascade Route, goes around Grade IV, 14 pitches, 5.10b, A1. We were all extremely exhausted, but we began the descent with the first of nine 70-meter rappels that would take us down to the Takdung Glacier. We had one stuck rope(my fault) and I prusik-climbed up nearly the full 70 meters to fix the situation. I was completely exhausted after that, and I won't make that type of rope mistake again. Jason catches 40 winks on the descent… Just a couple more raps to get to the glacier now… By 4pm, we were back at camp - 34 hours after leaving. We didnt say much to each other before crashing into out sleeping bags - we ate dinner, fell asleep, then woke up the next morning and hiked 8 hours down the boulder field, and back to the paradise of base camp. We ate heavily for the next three days, gorging ourselves on Jogu's cooking. Dal, curries, chapatti, chai, coffee, custard. We ate and ate and ate. Negotiating the boulder fields of the Takdung… On our first rest day, I celebrated my 40th birthday. I am not one to place a lot of importance on birthdays, but I have to say that being on an expedition and climbing new mountains with friends is a pretty awesome way to spend it. Our cook, Jogu, was kind enough to make a wonderful cake with chocolate frosting, using just a kerosene stove. My 4oth Birthday present from Jason. Gummy Bears, whiskey, jerky and an FA – not a bad birthday at all! This guys showed up at camp every day. His name was Sir Donald Chudong. We still had about 9 days left in the Miyar, so we headed up the Takdung one more time to tackle a couple more peaks we had our eyes on. The weather had become quite fickle, and every day an afternoon cold front would move in and it would start to snow on us. With the bad weather hounding us, we opted to try a less technical peak this time. A snowy peak at the end of the Takdung looked appealing, and we set off to claim the prize of its summit. Jason and Sandeep scheming about our next objective… After a long day of glacier hiking, gully scrambling and boot-kicking, we dug out a little snow pit to hunker down for the night. Immediately, it began to snow, and at 5pm we were zipped in our bivy sacks for the night. We were all starving, but couldn't bear sitting out in the cold and blowing snow to cook our food. The amazing view from the ridge above the Takdung Glacier… Quickly setting up camp as the usual nasty weather comes in… The long slog across the Upper Takdung… A cold and frosty morning… A fitful night brought a beautiful, sunny morning. The sun slowly warmed our frozen boots and bodies. Lulled into complacency, we stalled getting out of camp and didn't head up the steep snow of the peak until 9am. By 9:15, snow had started to fall, and it was COLD. My tender toes really hurt and I screamed in pain as we progressed up the 19,500-foot mountain at the head of the Takdung. Sandeep, at the final rock step on Mt. Sealth… Luckily, Jason was feeling great, and he led about 4-5 pitches of steep snow to the base of the summit. A quick scramble on compact rock brought us to the top if the peak, which we named Mt. Sealth - the name of the Duwamish Chief who worked with Doc Maynard to accommodate white settlers in the 1850’s. Cold, tired, and a bit frustrated with the fickle weather, we started rappelling down the mountain. 2-3 hours, and 9-10 rappels later, we were back on the Takdung Glacier. Just one of the many v-threads we did to get down from Mt. Sealth… We were all exhausted the next day, and we decided to head down to base camp, leaving the splendor of the upper Takdung behind us. We were almost out of food, and the graupel-y weather had broken our spirits a bit. But, we also felt like our time on the Takdung was a success, and we headed back to base camp with our heads held high. Another long day of boulder hopping with heavy packs brought us down to base camp, and the comforts that go along with it - food, frisbee, warm weather. The last full day at base camp, Jason and Sandeep were still stoked. They headed out at first light and climbed a new rock route right above camp on a feature called David 62 Nose. Climbing on solid granite, they reached the summit just as the daily dose of graupel was being deposited on them from the heavens. They called their 7 pitch, 350m climb the Emerson-Owen Route, with difficulties to 5.10a. The route took them most of the day, but it was a high-quality ascent - and it was another first ascent! Way to go guys! David 62 Nose, from base camp. Jason, on the lower section of D62N. Higher up on David 62 Nose. And, so quickly it was over! The next day, the horsemen arrived with five strong beasts, and we hiked back down valley to the roads-end in a long single day push. Before we knew it, we were drinking whiskey and eating chicken under electric lights. Another day of driving, and we were back in Manali, with wifi access at our fingertips. That night Sandeep was off in a taxi to Haryana, soon after Jason was off on a cramped bus to Leh, and I bought an Enfield Bullet. The climbing trip was over, but it couldn’t have gone much better. Two new peaks, three new routes, a great cultural experience - and great times with comrades. Near perfection. Just like they used to say in those Old Milwaukee commercials: “Ya know, It doesn't get any better than this!” Summary: Sanjana Peak(5,937m), southwest ridge, first ascent (Tim Halder, Sandeep Nain, Jason Schilling) Mt. Sealth(5,968m) east ridge, first ascent (Tim Halder, Sandeep Nain, Jason Schilling) David’s 62 Nose, southwest face, Emerson/Owen Route, new route on face (Sandeep Nain, Jason Schilling) Some Parting Shots… Three Comrades, below Sanjana and Trento Peaks… View of the Upper Takdung… Myself with our adopted dog “Scrambles”. Gear Notes: The whole kit. We used everything except the #5 and picket. Food from Trader Joe's was very handy. Maggi noodles get old when you have them for breakfast and dinner 5 days in a row. Approach Notes: 1 day airplane travel, 20 hours road travel, 4 days on foot.
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