Search the Community

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.

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.

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.

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.

Trip: Bonanza Peak, Washington - FA: The Oregonian Route Date: 9/4/2013 Trip Report: First Ascent Trip Report The Oregonian Route a.k.a NW Buttress of SW Bonanza Peak (Slightly closer than the Soviet Route but also not really the “North Face”) 5.9+, 2200’ (1600’ new) Grade V A few other Statistics: Six days, 36 miles of hiking, 43 hours on route, 2 bivies We also wish to express our gratitude to Steph Abegg for her vision and research digging up the Soviet Route and documenting it. SW Bonanza Peak (right) and West Bonanza Peak (left) seen from the west. (Photo: Steph Abegg) 1. NW Buttress, “The Oregonian Route.” 5.9+ V. Keena and Bonnett 2013. 2. W Buttress, "The Soviet Route." 5.9+/5.10 V. Bershov et. al. 1975. (Overlay as documented by 3rd ascent party) When looking for some alpine mischief to get into this summer we stumbled across Steph Abegg’s excellent trip report from her third ascent of the Soviet Route. To our delight, we noticed a parallel buttress starting slightly uphill to the northeast. A bit shorter, probably a bit steeper, just as remote. Within moments we were smitten, ready for adventure, ready to go climb and explore the vertical world, ready to overcome obstacles… and of course there were many more than we had anticipated. Approaching Bonanza Peak has become increasingly complicated as of late due to the Holden Mine remediation to the east (the quickest approach). Since we were constrained by work schedules, we opted for a combination of mountain biking and hiking over about 30 miles from the west up the Suiattle River to Suiattle Pass. This approach offered shorter driving time, low cost, and schedule self-determination, but unfortunately no quality bushwhacking. The loaded rig. The west side approach also possessed the customary WA mountain road condition; limited use during construction. Riding past the work and gradually ascending the narrowing gravel road for 10 miles led to the FS-26 – Glacier Peak Wilderness boundary. We then hiked the following, respectively: Suattle River trail, PCT to Suiattle Pass, hiker trail to Cloudy Pass, finally cross country to Bonanza Col (South of Grant Glacier). MTB approach Great bridge near Suiattle River- PCT trail junction North Star Mtn and the cross country route taken to the Col (far right bench). High camp Finding ourselves still in dense fog and rain on a drab fourth dawn we were becoming worried about getting climbing weather before we’d have to pack up and leave. Just as the meteogram had predicted, however, the weather began to lift, just slightly, around midday (visit pataclimb.com for a great description on how to generate meteograms for climbing). With intermittent fog and less-frequent drizzle, we decided to pull the trigger. The approach and first afternoon of climbing was made continually challenging by the banks of fog and drizzle that continued to lethargically glide by. However we were grateful to have a “window” and excited to be climbing! We made the traverse from the top of the col, past the Soviet Route buttress, to the first climbing technicalities in an hour and a half (enough time to surf some stellar scree). Erik on the talus approach. At 3pm we began by making a somewhat sketchy approach-shoe traverse up the toe of the pocket glacier to the north. Gaining rock a few dozen yards uphill and left of the lowest point of the buttress, we were immediately making near-vertical 5.8-5.9 moves. The toe of the NW buttress. Climbing began on the upper left side Looking up from pitch one We continued ascending moderate terrain with more challenging moves for seven pitches to the lower ledge. The climbing was often loose, sparsely protected, somewhat lichen-covered, and wet, but with excellent position on the crest of the buttress. We only wish we could have seen the view! Erik making moves Banks of drizzle moving by added special "zest" to the evening. Seth Arriving at the lower ledge at about 10pm, we quickly prepped a flat talus surface and snuggled into our lightweight bivy system (1 bag + 1 foam + homemade nylon wedge + 1 small siltarp). We were excited to notice stars that night, and generally slept surprisingly well. We awoke at daybreak to clear skies(!) Morning light on N. Star Mtn and Glacier Peak from bivy 1 ledge. And… A near-vertical wall punctuated by several significant overhangs rose for over 600’ above our bivy ledge. Given the quality of the rock and length of the route, we considered beginning to rappel. As the light slowly increased, we were able to make out a small ledge system, traversing left to regain the buttress crest. This pitch ended up having the highest quality rock of the route and gave us the emotional pump we needed to keep going. It was 6:30am with the makings of good weather. First pitch of the day on great rock Working up and left around loose overhangs We continued for 8 pitches up arêtes and troughs, generally staying just left of the buttress crest, eventually reaching the talus field below the summit block. We climbed in micro-blocks of two pitches because we found leading over the loose and/or steep terrain mentally and emotionally taxing. We were surprised to notice that the rock was often better in the troughs and on vertical terrain, while the lower-angled arêtes tended to be looser. With a report of a party’s Soviet Route attempt ending in rockfall injury earlier this summer, we were very careful to position belays out of the line of fire. Up and slightly left (north) of the arete proper. Note the airborne rock- a constant working up the lesser vegetated troughs At the talus field, we considered bivying again since it was already 4pm, but decided to continue, breaking the remainder into two blocks: ascending the upper Soviet Route (Seth), and the descent (Erik). Some simul-climbing led us past the upper ledge (used to bivouac presumably by the Soviets) and on to the summit block. Three more pitches gained the summit in waning daylight. Summit of Bonanza SW looking west Summit of Bonanza SW looking north. Can you name any peaks? Looking east form the summit at the two higher sub peaks and Isella Glacier (right) THE DESCENT We had planned to descend the south ridge using rappels and down climbing. We had scoped the bottom portion of the ridge from camp, but standing on the summit saw a long section of sharp ridgeline leading down to what we had seen below. It looked like the descent would require several rappels down a loose knife-edge arête just to reach the ridgeline. That descent seemed like a bad idea even in the daylight, as did trying to bivy on the summit. Following previous party’s routes along the ridge to the northeast would also require extensive 4th/5th class climbing in the dark. As light faded, Erik spotted a talus bench between the upper and lower Isella Glacier, exposed by glacial recession. We quickly slung a boulder and started to descend as the ledge disappeared into darkness below us. A rope caught on the second rappel and was bravely fetched on lead by Seth. After three rappels we made our home again amongst talus, a few feet from the cliff edge. Though our thirteen hours of movement did evoked sound sleep, smashed up cheese wraps and celestial beauty were not missed. As the sun rose and we were pleased finally to be in position to benefit from its warming rays. As Erik brilliantly led the downward charge, we moved quickly in and out of technical terrain toward the toe of the main Isella Glacier far below. Erik and.. Seth, feeling fine in the shine (finally) Due to an excellent choice of rappel anchors we got to shower off in waterfalls during two rappels down to the sculpted bedrock below the glacial toe. We quickly coiled the ropes and walked out of the serac-fall zone, grateful to be back on terra firma! (belated) Summit Snickers. Background: Isella Glacier basin, the descent ledges, and the SW summit. The 2nd bivy was at the last snow patch before the summit Seth had to be back at work the following morning so we kept moving through camp and down the trail. Unbenounced to us, our last challenge still lay ahead. Six miles from the trailhead, tendinitis in Erik’s knees began limiting his ability to walk. Quickly Seth took all the weight while Erik staggered down the trail leaning on two trekking poles. Fortunately we were able to continue slowly to our bikes and arrived at the car just after 2 AM, twenty two hours after leaving our second bivy. A caffeinated drive, a divine shower at NOLS PNW, a quick goodbye, and Seth caught the 9:40am Edmonds/Kingston ferry with 12 minutes to spare! Gear Notes: Cams: triples in fingers, double to 2.5",single 3", and a tiny fella. Stoppers: rack of nuts and RPs. Two 60m ropes (we used an 8mm and a 9.6mm)and lots of single slings with a few doubles. Approach Notes: Park at mile post 11, FS-26 and give workers excess tomatoes to let you ride bikes past. Ride 10 miles to Glacier Peak Wilderness boundary. Hike Suiattle River trail taking PCT North at their junction. At Suiattle Pass take trail to Cloudy Pass. Navigate to Bonanza/North Star Col. 36+ miles total.. Or take the ferry/bus from Chelan.

Trip: Mt Terror, Southern Pickets - Central Buttress of South Face III 5.9 Date: 7/13/2013 Trip Report: Rolf and I climbed this (likely) new route last weekend, provisional name = Fear and Loathing. Grade III (approx 6 pitches; we did 5 1/2 with a 70m), 5.9 adventure climbing on mostly solid (and well featured) Skagit gneiss. Another objective the next day turned us back, but we'll always have Terror. And loathing. After the most enjoyable and casual 6.5 hour approach (it's an acquired taste) to our camp near the Chopping Block, we could look across lovely Crescent Creek basin at Mt Terror. Hard tellin' not knowin', a route up the face sure looked improbable. We took a casual approach, waiting for the sun to get on the rock (frosty night), and weighed a number of potential routes. The most viable options appeared to be the butresses on the left, center, and right. We agreed the most aesthetic was the buttress snaking up most directly to the summit. Our route - poorly marked in red - goes up the barely lit central buttress to the summit: I didn't take v many pics, my camera was thawing out. And sorry ladies, no butt pics of Rolf on lead--he seemed to quickly disappear from view, as befits a rat. For first lead, I won rock paper scissors, and got probably the best pitch of the route. Up a steep juggy corner (careful hold selection), then a rising, more solid and exposed ramp, that at times gave that familiar feeling of pushing you off toward the void. Some 5.9 on this pitch, an engaging exercise putting together the pieces. Looking down pitch 1. Rolf's pitch 2 took the chimney/gully, 5.8 or 5.8+?, to a nice belay and decision point: the central buttress, or east buttress of the south face? We stuck with our original plan. For p 3, I hung a left and sent an easy boulder prob to gain the ridge crest and a spate of more sustained climbing before it relented to more wandery rambling. 5.8+ again? I stuck to the buttress crest, but there are certainly variations on this ledgy gneiss. Looking down p3 from a belay on the crest, just below a prominent tower; you can see the east buttress off on the left. Rolf's pitch 4 skirted the tower on the left; more moderate climbing, but also greater loose rock management. From his belay, I climbed some steeper rock (nice corners) and then ledge systems, carefully constraining the course of the rope to avoid dislodging some slayers. Super fun pitch, with fine air and views. Top of p 5; mt despair central background. For the last pitch, Rolf ran up a steepish blocky and juggy section, which then backed off to the remaining summit scramble. Nice views both ways along the Southern Pickets. L to R: McMillan spires, Inspiration, Degenhardt Glacier. We then boogied down the West Ridge route and then the couloir back to our packs. For fun and moderate climbing on mostly good rock, in a remote setting, I recommend this climb. More pics. Gear Notes: Tri-cams useful. Brought pins but did not use. Approach Notes: Lovely walk to Crescent Creek basin. There's now a non-high-wire-walking log that takes you across Terror Creek.

Trip: Three Fingers - Northeast Face (FA); FWA North Peak Date: 2/3/2007 Summary: First Ascent of the Northeast Face Three Fingers WI4+, M3 Grade IV. Feb 3rd 2007 Dave Burdick and John Frieh We believe this was the FWA of the North Peak of Three Fingers by any route. Also... we both wanted to make sure and tag the high point which prior to today we both thought was the south summit. By the time we reached the top of the ice the weather was already crapping out so we hit the North peak instead (which I think most would agree is the more aesthetic finish to the route). Dave checked today and according to Beckey's book the North peak has been the true summit since 1931 as in 31 they blasted 15 feet off the south peak, thus making it lower so we did the highest summit by accident I guess!?!? Hopefully someone can provide some further insight on either one of these... Northeast Face of Three Fingers courtesy of the great John Scurlock: topo (dots mark approximate belays): Conditions the week prior (taken jan 28th): Quick note for the newbs: Comparing John Scurlock's photo (top pic) with the conditions last week photo is a great illustration of how foreshortening works. blah blah blah: Ummm... where to start? Dave, Micah and Keith attempted this line some time last year (2006) but a combination of factors (deep snow, later start, etc) resulted in them coming up short... Jump forward a year. Dave, Pax, Keith and myself hiked in last Sat Jan 27th. With a little work we managed to get to the trailhead. WA state representatives: We hiked in and camped in the valley below the face at the last available running water. Dave and myself headed up the following morning... we had just gained the glacier when a healthy avy came down near the entrance to the couloir... we took a vote and bailed. On the hike down Dave and I joked about the bad luck the two of us have had with avyies (we've bagged a few attempts in the years due to avy) and this came out of it (Alpinedave's excellent artwork): Stay tuned for Volume 2! Never the less as bad as it sucks to get skunked we agreed we needed to come back before this weather window expired (which according to NOAA was roughly noon on Saturday) as the route looked to be in great shape. So Saturday it was! We left the car at 2 on Saturday and made good time to the face thanks in part to the boot pack we had installed the weekend prior and a full moon to light our way: We managed to find the access couloir that gains the glacier with relative ease and traversed over to the start of the route. We started the NE face couloir about first light. Dave fired through the initial step (a wee bit of 3/3+) and when the rope ran we began simuling. We covered approximately 1000' of mostly neve mixed with patches of ice and snow before arriving at the ice step. Dave on the initial step that starts the couloir: Lower couloir: So the ice... 600' of fat ice as blue as your balls are going to be after you look at the pics Pitch 1: Pitch 2: Looking down from the top of 2: Pitch 3: Pitch 1 was solid 4+... I could see it easily being a 5 in thinner conditions. Pitch 2 was 3+ and Pitch 3 was a 4. All 3 pitches were 60 m in length minimum (we climbed on a 70 m). From the top of the ice step we simul slogged for the north summit. To The Top! We encountered a short mixed step followed by a ramp that put us on top The mixed step: The ramp: Dave on top So we had topped the ice around noon and it started lightly snowing at 12:05 (why is it that NOAA is always right when ever you hope they are wrong ). We summited the north peak at 1:30 and by this time it was a healthy snowfall... we took a quick snack break and headed for home. Marco Polo on the descent: We wasted some time finding the access couloir that connects the glacier to the valley floor but we managed to find it before dark and followed our boot pack out and headed to Darrington for burritos at the Shell Station Gear Notes: 11 screws 1 picket (used a few times) Rock gear we brought: 4 cams to #2 camalot 7 nuts Rock gear we used: .75 and #1 camalot few nuts (larger size) Dave would likely recommend 1 set of ear plugs for this route or for that matter any route you climb with me ... 2 sets if I have dehydrated food for dinner Approach Notes: Darrington Music Notes Pete Murray, Bloc Party

Trip: Mt Rexford - FA - North Couloir Date: 5/27/2012 Trip Report: Shaun Neufeld, Maxim de Jong, and I climbed this route on Sunday. We crossed Centre Creek below the route at 7 AM, summitted at 2 PM and were back at Shaun's truck in Centre Creek by 5:45 PM. Conditions were great except for some icefall due to the warm day and occasional small wet slush avalanches off the sunny aspects of Nesakwatch Spire. The route forks left about 100m up the Priest-Coupe Couloir leading to the Rex-S Nesak col and climbs to high on the NE Ridge of Rexford, topping out about 50m from the summit. Climbing consisted of snow to 65 degrees. We used a small rock rack to protect the roped pitches, mostly due to sporadic icefall. This was my 4th? and Shaun's second try attempt on the route, and Maxim's first. He was our good luck charm, I guess. We descended the normal west ridge route, making two rappels: one 15m one off the summit to the first notch and one 60m one off the false summit to the west side ledges. Nearing the schrund at the bottom of the Priest-Coupe Crossing the schrund The 3rd belay The line as seen from John Scurlock's plane in Jan 2008. Gear Notes: Few nuts, four cams 0.5 Friend to 2 Camalot sized, couple slings, a couple Tricams. Picket and a few screws taken but not used. Approach Notes: Two cars or long logging road walk. Even with a quad we had to hike the last 4km of the Centre Creek road due to snow-broken alders. Centre Creek gate is locked as of May 24 but you can get the key from the hatchery as per usual.

Trip: Dome Peak - S. Face - Indian Summer (III, 5.10) FA, South Gunsight Peak - West Face - Lily of the West - FA (III, 5,10) Date: 9/2/2011 Trip Report: Dome Peak - Indian Summer (III 5.10, 8p, 1000') Photo by Tim Halder South Gunsight Peak - West Face - Lily of the West (III 5.10, 5p, 600') Nate Farr and I ventured into the Dome Peak area last week and were able to climb new routes on the South face of Dome Peak and West face of South Gunsight Peak. We had spectacular weather and a scenic camp at the Dome/Chickamin Col. Dome, Sinister, and the Gunsight Peaks are situated in some of the most remote and inaccessible terrain in the state of Washington, if not the lower 48. Ever since tagging Dome on the tail-end of the Ptarmigan Traverse five years ago, I was interested in exploring the Gunsight Range and surrounding area. Nate and I had talked about doing this trip as far back as January, but we couldn’t line up our schedules for most of the summer, and figured this one would have to wait until next year. But we both were able to finagle the first week of September off and were ecstatic to see an extended forecast of stellar weather. So we loaded up the bikes and headed for the Suiattle River road. Photo by Nate Farr Several friends had mentioned the Westside approach in preference to the eastside Chelan option. Riding bikes for ten miles on the Suiattle River Road to Downey Creek trail was not difficult and went quickly. Downey Creek trail is in wonderful shape and is plush with many bog bridges and boardwalks. Soon we reached trail's end and headed up Bachelor Creek on an unmaintained climbers path. Our spirits and energy faded with the daylight as we continuously lost the trail in the thick creekside brush. Bachelor Creek workout. Photo by Nate Farr We searched for a flat place to bivy, but the brush didn’t relent. We finally entered the forest as twilight faded and found a flat campsite. After a leisurely morning, we began the final push to high camp. We suffered with our heavy packs and followed pink flagging through the woods and across the creek, where we picked up the trail. All signs indicated that we were in the heart of bear country. The path continued through mud and up along the avalanche path at the headwaters of Bachelor Creek to Cub Pass. Avalanche path at the head of Bachelor Creek Cub Lake We caught our first glimpses of Dome and rested at Cub Lake. With waning energy we traversed to the Dome Glacier and ascended to our high camp. We reached the Dome/Chickamin col in the evening and set up camp at what would be home for next three nights. There was plenty of snow for melting and great bivy sites. We were worked from the two-day approach and went to bed early in anticipation of Dome’s South face the next morning. Getting to the base of the face was rather easy. Mike and Wayne mistakenly referred to this face as the Southeast face of the Southwest peak, but it actually is the south face of the main peak, according to the map and the Beckey guide. The face actually ends at a peak marked “8786” on the USGS map, which is technically the SE Peak of Dome, although not named as such in the guidebooks. We rapped and downclimbed the east ridge and then cut across grassy ledges that split the face. Rappelling the east ridge Side profile of the face. Our line went up the far left side of the face and up the obvious chimney near the top of this photo. The bottom half of the south face is a system of grassy ledges and slabs that provides easy access to the base of the technical climbing. Ramps splitting the South Face of Dome We walked past the beginning of Gran Torino. It looked rad, but we continued on the ledge and scoped the wall for new route potential. We continued to the far side of the face and began climbing clean mid-fifth class terrain on solid rock. Photo by Nate Farr The angle steepened with the third pitch and Nate lead through some loose rock to an airy belay below a cruxy roof and leaning crack. Photo by Nate Farr The next three pitches delivered the goods: solid, steep climbing on great granite. Nate led through the crux chimney on the fifth pitch, which was consistently steep with great stemming. He exited the chimney onto a ridge crest. I took over the lead and was greeted with a nice flourish to the route. The sweet, jagged handcrack led to an arete and another nice hand crack on the other side. A short pitch led to the end of the technical climbing and we scrambled to the summit. The descent to camp took less than 5 minutes. We celebrated the climb with whiskey and marcona almonds as the sun set on another perfect day in the mountains. We awoke to another fair morning and decided to take advantage of the weather. To the best of our knowledge, the west face of Gunsight's South Peak had not yet been climbed. So we descended the Chickamin glacier and wended our way through crevasses en route to the fabled Gunsight Range. Sinister Peak from the Chickamin Glacier Sinister, the Gunsights, and Agnes, r to l. We dead-ended in an ice-fall and had to backtrack to descend the glacier near Sinister Peak. As we approached the face, what seemed like splitter cracks from afar appeared as shallow, thin cracks. So we settled on a chimney starting on the left side of the face. The climbing up this feature was fun with good stemming on solid rock. Photo by Nate Farr I belayed at a bush as Nate led out of sight, aiming for the grassy ledge that bisected the face and led to the dihedral that punctuated the upper portion of the face. But before Nate could reach the ledge, he encountered some bad rock. “Nate are you building an anchor,” I asked, after moments of silence. “No I’m just trying to survive,” was his reply, as he delicately tiptoed through loose terrain. Relieved, he reached the ledge. A short traversing pitch led to the base of the dihedral, which looked difficult. Nate led it with caution and grace past two cruxes. The first was a short lieback on a large block that didn’t seem to be attached from my vantage point. Nate trusting the questionable pillar The climbing was exhilarating and a little scary. The second crux involved delicate face climbing to surmount a roof. Nate contemplates the roof. I led a short pitch of easy, but horrendous rock to the summit. Photo by Nate Farr The euphoria of the previous day’s climb had given way to a bitter aftertaste and disappointment that the face had not delivered the incredible rock that the Gunsights were famous for. We rappelled down the gulley to the glacier and began the long climb back up the Chickamin Glacier to camp. As I trudged up the glacier, I wondered if anyone had ever climbed or even tried to climb the gigantic southeast ridge of Old Guard, which dominated our view to the south. Eldorado through the gunsights Side profile of Dome's South Face from Gunsight Peak Getting off of South Gunsight Peak We really were feeling the effects of four days of continuous motion, and decided that we would hike out the next day. We passed our last night at the col trying to finish the whiskey and any other heavy food items. We were blessed with another bluebird day on the hike out. It went quicker than expected, taking about 9 hours to get from the col to our car. The bike ride on the Suiattle river road was mostly downhill and a relief. The heat in the lowlands was shocking as we picked up the beer we had stashed in Downey creek. Glacier Peak from the Dome glacier Headwaters of Bachelor Creek Re-navigating the Bachelor Creek jungle. Photo by Nate Farr Bounty of Bachelor Creek Nate and I were grateful to have had the opportunity to explore this remote section of the North Cascades. We didn’t see a soul for five days and were fortunate to have perfect late season weather for the entire trip. Thanks to Tim Halder, Morgan Zentler, Blake, and Layton for beta and pics, and to the Mazamas for funding this adventure. And thanks to Nate for great companionship, suffering through the difficult approach, and leading some bold pitches on both routes. Gear Notes: bikes, twin 7.7mm/60m ropes. Single rack to 4", doubles from .4" to 2", whiskey, swedish fish, landjaeger Approach Notes: the Suiattle River Road is a pleasant bike and makes for a quick ride back to the car.

Trip: Sloan Peak, Southwest Face - Diamond in the Rough (FA) Date: 9/11/2011 Trip Report: Diamond in the Rough: a new route on the Southwest Face of Sloan Peak. 1100 feet, Nine pitches, 5.10, Grade III. Brandon Workman and Rad Roberts. The route had some greenery and loose rock in a few spots, but it’s much cleaner and safer now. Should be good to go. The image below is a Scurlock shot of Sloan in winter. The cliff was snow-free when we climbed it. Diamond in the Rough is blue. Fire on the Mountain is red. The unroped summit scramble is green. There are many dimensions in climbing to explore, but I’m pretty much a one trick pony: Rock climbing. Actually, I’m an aging, day-job-holding, 3-kid-parent, weak-sauce, weekend-warrior pony who should’ve been sent to the glue factory years ago. Blake and I had a perfect day in the mountains in 2009 on the first ascent of Fire on the Mountain, a stellar eight pitch 1100 foot 5.10+ route on the unclimbed Southwest Face of Sloan peak. The rock and movement were fabulous and the line flowed naturally. Sol and Rob repeated the route last year. In a world inundated by a deluge of digital information, it’s refreshing to know that our local mountains still hold amazing new adventures. Since that day, I’ve been itching to explore more new routes on Sloan. Time and weather conspired against in 2010, but the stars aligned this year on September 11th, the 10th anniversary of THE September 11th. It seemed fitting to spend that day trying to forge a new route up a pristine cliff in our wilderness. Brandon has pioneered a variety of new rock routes in Darrington and the foothills around Highway 20, but this would be his first time going ground-up on a first ascent. I’m still a new to the game, but I love the uncertainty and adventure of these outings. We decided to leave his hand drill at home. We met in Sedro Wooley at 4am and drove past Darrington toward the Bedal Creek trailhead, spinning tires and bumping my oil pan on the final gravel road. Two other climbers were crashed out in the parking lot, catching some ZZZs before their own adventure. We departed as quickly and quietly as we could, starting by headlamp. The first waves of daylight brought us to the meadows below the immense West Face of Sloan. We left the trail, gained a notch in the ridge, and soon found ourselves below the Southwest Face. The lupine bloomed like it was mid-July instead of mid-September, no doubt due to the giant snow pack last winter. Fire on the Mountain starts at the right edge of the photo. We scoped out a few possibilities and settled on the striking giant diamond feature seen on the left side of this photo from 2006. This cliff has amazing dike features reminiscent of Lover’s Leap in Tahoe. We considered soloing the 4th class section below the first pitch but roped up instead. It was a good decision. Brandon found himself leading loose, vegetated, unprotected, and steeper-than-expected terrain to gain the target hand crack (Side note: it may be possible to traverse in from the right and avoid this). Brandon climbed up the crack and set up a belay at a small ledge. Looking down at the first pitch. I followed, and then Brandon continued past a crux to a fun corner leading to the base of the diamond. The sun peered around the mountain as I cast off on the much-anticipated diamond pitch. At this moment, the climbers from the trailhead passed underneath us. From a few shouts, we learned they were headed up the South ledges scramble route to the top of Sloan. We bid each other good luck and got back to our separate adventures. But the diamond pitch would not easily give up her treasures. We could see a small section of finger crack above us that seemed to lead over a bulge and up into the target dihedral, but it was guarded by 20+ feet of vertical, unprotected, and difficult face climbing, with a loose flake just before the crack as a bonus. It didn’t look promising. I traversed across a small ledge to take a look. The face climbing started with an airy traverse out right to a bizarre tooth of rock the size and shape of an ancient book protruded vertically out of a shallow scoop in the cliff. I climbed over to check it out, half expecting it to levitate out of the rock, glow white, and unfold its unearthly pages. It seemed solid. I slung this bizarre feature, but it was smooth and had no constrictions. I was concerned the sling would slip off as I climbed past it, leaving me with a possible long fall and pendulum back toward Brandon. Nope. This pony wasn’t going to stick his neck out on this section. Maybe another day. So I returned to the belay and headed up a beautiful finger crack on a buttress that led to the left side of the diamond. Around the corner, the angle eased a bit and I considered my options. The left side of the diamond was low-angle for forty feet before a vertical section that didn’t look very protectable. Shoot. I traversed left to a vegetated crack and was able to get a better view of the steep diamond corner. It did have some cracks and features and might go after all. So I traversed back and started up the steep corner. The moves involved improbable combinations of high steps, stemming, palming, liebacking and other opposition moves between decent features. They were strenuous and devious. The gear was decent, but it didn’t come easily. In a few spots I had to scrape dirt out of the crack with my fingers while locked off on a lower hold with the other hand. I wished I'd had the nut tool to clean out the crack, but I’d left it with Brandon. Fingers would have to do. Sunblock plus dirt is not the best combo. The resulting gear placements didn’t always inspire confidence. One was a cam in a flaring, smooth, and dirty crack. I’ve never zippered out gear, where multiple pieces of protection pull out of the rock when the rope comes tight in a fall. The prospect of a zipper fall above a ledge several hundred feet up a cliff, miles from a remote trailhead, motivated me to spend precious energy placing extra gear and setting it well. I got a good green camalot and made tricky moves to a large flat edge. Unfortunately, I couldn’t rest there because it was still vertical and the footholds were crappy. The pump clock was ticking. Brandon at the same spot: Lactic acid demanded a quick decision. I reached down and grabbed the sling on the camalot below my waist, gingerly lowered my weight onto it, and clipped myself to it. And that was it. No more “onsight”. No more “all free”. No more instant classic route for the guidebooks. No more perfect story for the internet. What? Neil Young warns us against such folly: “Media image slaves live by random selection”. When experience fails to meet expectations do we toss in our cards and head for the bar? It can be tempting. I traded a few shouts with Brandon, asking if he wanted to rap down and climb Fire on the Mountain. Perhaps I was searching for an excuse to bail. Brandon reminded me that we’d come for the experience of climbing a new route ground up. He felt we should continue, even if the line wasn’t perfect. I’m really thankful he didn’t let me back off. Sometimes you just have to play the hand you’ve been dealt. Oddly, I felt relief when my dream of a ground-up, onsight free climb on flawless rock was dashed. I had been released from the weight of expectations. I was reminded of a Zen realization hammered home for me in the Pickets: let go of the past, let go of the future, and allow yourself to fully experience the present moment. I looked at the moves above me again. Could I climb them without falling? Maybe. Were they protectable? Probably. Should I go for it? Definitely. I placed another piece of protection, equalized it with the camalot, and started up again. But the difficulty didn’t ease. I made some more moves and placed a few pieces of gear, including a micro-cam in a tiny crack in a small lip above me. The climbing got harder, the gear got more tenuous, and my muscles started to burn with lactic acid again. I might be able to punch it and climb past the lip, but it looked like the difficulty would not ease up, there might not be any more places for protection, and it might not be possible to reverse the moves above me without falling. I hung on the tiny cam and looked at my options. A series of small edges led left. I followed them to a small ledge with a crack behind a block. It looked solid. Mostly. There was a small ramp leading back up to the diamond dihedral. I started up that and found a flaring cam placement. A hard move guarded the traverse to the dihedral, and there didn’t seem to be opportunities for protection above that. No crack at least. So I reversed the moves, cleaned the piece, and went back to the little ledge. It was not an optimal belay, so I traversed left to a shallow corner with a couple of cracks. Upon inspection, one “crack” was behind a large block that looked detached. The other was behind a flake that rang like the liberty bell. So once again, I headed back to the little ledge. I slung the top of the block, locked it in with a directional nut, and placed a couple of small cams. This anchor would have to do. I’d mentally assigned the probability that the key the block would fail as less than 10% and then put that thought out of my mind. No sense dwelling on it. OFF BELAY! I hauled up the remaining rope and put Brandon on belay. If it seemed like a long time to read about this one pitch, at least you didn’t have to hang in slings and belay me! Brandon did it with a smile. Brandon followed. Despite carrying the pack, he fought through the section where I’d rested on gear and followed the pitch without falling or hanging on the gear. He climbed the last 25 feet with a long sling dangling by his ankle because it was too strenuous to stop to remove it. Finally, he found a decent stem. I brought him over to the belay, gave him the gear, and sent him off up the next crack. It was the only game in town. Brandon floated up the corner. He paused to contemplate the giant roof, found a line around its right edge, and zipped up out of sight. I felt the rope come tight, waited for the telltale tugs, and started up the pitch. Sure enough, the large block at the start was detached. I checked to make sure there was no one below us and then did a leg press on its upper edge and launched it into the void. It fell clean for sixty feet and smashed into three pieces that hurtled several hundred feet to the slopes below. Boom! Boom! Boom! The rest of the pitch was quite nice. The crack took gear and the rock around it was covered in small dikes. The moves around the right end of the roof proved engaging and interesting, with good sidepulls and poor footholds. Tenuous opposition moves led to pumpy fingerlocks in a solid crack before the difficulty eased. Nice onsight Brandon! And then we were at the halfway ledge. We unroped, soaked in the sunshine, and scoped out possible lines up the next section of the wall. I chose a “changing corners” pitch that starts in a rock scar, goes over a roof, ascends a dihedral, changes corners, and goes over a second roof into a final dihedral. It was a stellar pitch with a really fun changing corners crux. I cruised past some crispy lichen at the second roof, and danced up the arête above that. Brandon scowled upon hearing the time and started off on the next pitch. He climbed up to and over the top of a pillar reminiscent of the Finger of Fate on Cannon’s famous Moby Grape. Twilight was fast approaching, and we still had a long way to go. I zipped up a short cliff to another ledge and looked at the next section of cliff. It didn’t look too hard, but this pitch would turn into another epic. Here’s the short version: tenuous moves to a mediocre cam placement to a steep face with few holds – deadend #1. Reverse. Traverse left to a corner with stacks of loose blocks – deadend #2. Reverse, downclimb to main ledge. Go left. Weave up, find gear, zag left to a crack below an unprotected face – deadend #3. Partial reverse, traverse right, find ok gear, traverse further, belay at a decent crack. It took 45 minutes to gain 50 feet of elevation! Brandon 50 feet below me with a rock band between us: The traverse end of the pitch: The sun was heading down into the smoky haze of the horizon, and the guys who’d slept in the parking lot were heading back down to their car. They shouted up at us, but we were too far to hear anything. I waved once and gave them the thumbs up so they wouldn’t think we needed a rescue. Go time. It’s funny how it can take 45 minutes to climb 50 feet, and 20 minutes for the next 300 feet. Brandon cruised up 5.fun terrain. I cast off on what we hoped would be the final pitch. There was one 5.8 move and then the rest was a romp. Looking back. We unroped as the sun turned fiery red in the haze of smoke on the Olympic peninsula. The ancient orb was reflected in the waters of the distant Puget Sound. We ditched our gear on the corkscrew trail and soloed directly to the summit. You can see the full moon in our summit shot. I’d done the descent a twice before and wasn’t worried about doing it in the dark again. We zipped down to our packs and headed off down the corkscrew trail to the South descent. Melting snow blocks on the lower ramp provided some much needed drinking water. We made a fun moat leap onto the snow. Thankfully, it was quite soft. The air was still. The moon was high. It was late, very late, and we had lots of terrain left to cover, but we didn’t care. The Diamond in the Rough was in the bag. When we reached the car there was a note on my windshield from the guys we saw during the day. They expressed concern that we were still on the wall at sunset and asked us to call them when we got down, or they would “send help otherwise”. It was pretty cool that they were looking out for a few strangers they'd never met. At 2am we reached Sedro Wooley and made the call: Ring. Ring. You out? Yep. Get to the top? Yep. ………………. p1 5.9. Hand crack and face holds to a small ledge. This could easily be linked with p2. p2 5.9+ Vertical crack to a stemming groove to a belay on small ledges 25 feet below the point of the diamond. p3 5.10 Finger crack on a buttress, 5.easy, a strenuous and tricky corner, and a traverse left to a belay. It is possible to bypass the 5.10 corner by making a 50 foot, 5.easy, unprotected, left-ward traverse to the obvious crack followed on p4. p4 5.10- Follow a crack up and right past a large roof. End at the mid-way ledge. p5 5.10 Changing corners pitch to an arête above that. p6 5.7 Rambling face to the top of a small tower and then up to a large ledge. p7 5.7 Meandering madness. p8 5.6 Blink and you missed it. p9 5.8 One 5.8 move and then a romp to the end of the technicalities. I hung on gear on the third pitch, but I didn’t pull on protection to ascend. Lowering back down to the belay for a redpoint attempt didn’t make sense at the time. Brandon freed the pitch. What does it all mean? I don’t know. Maybe it's a two-hang, follower-freed, non-aid, two-dad ascent. We did what we did. Nothing more and nothing less. Gear Notes: Gear: We took one ice axe, a rack of double cams to #3 camalot, a single #4 camalot, and a set of stoppers. We took my 70m rope, but a 60m rope would have been better. Sadly, I left my helmet (dark gray) on the corkscrew trail above the SW Face. It’s probably still sitting there, covered in the first winter snows. Approach Notes: WTA Bedal Creek trailhead directions: Take exit 208 off I-5 and drive 4 miles east on SR 530 to Arlington. Continue on SR 530 for 28 miles more to Darrington. At a three way stop turn right (south) onto Mountain Loop Highway, and continue 17.2 miles (not sure how accurate this mileage is as we were not looking at the odometer) turning left on FR 4096 which is about a mile past Bedal campground. Continue on FR 4096 for 3 more miles to the trailhead! Maps (Google and my old Gazetteer) suggest you'd take fS4080 and then bear left on 4081 to get to the Bedal Creek trailhead. This is wrong. 4081 is blocked off and you can't drive there from 4080. 4096 is not on either of those maps. FS49 wraps around to the backside of Sloan. Basically take the road that heads East that is between 4080 and 49. There is one 'road-looking thing' that deadends at a redneck gun range in 50 yds. The other is 4096. From the end of the trail, head for the lowest notch marked in the photo below (traveling close to the West face of Sloan is rather loose and unpleasant). Traverse the spine of the ridge on an obvious climber’s trail and drop down into the basin below the SW face of Sloan. Traverse straight across to an obvious gully and ascend this directly to the SW face.

Trip: Mix-up Peak - The Misunderstanding (FA) Date: 10/25/2011 Trip Report: Yesterday Forest McBrian, Dave Jordan, and I established a new line on Mixup Peak in North Cascades National Park. The route climbs the northeast face of the north summit and is partially visible from Cascade Pass. We had spotted the seasonal line last week while climbing on Sahale Peak and hoped that the weather would hold out long enough so we could sneak in an ascent. Fortunately the weather was with us and we had clear and cold temperatures immediately following a brief warm spell that included rain up high--this created perfect conditions on the climb. The line climbs the center of the North Face. Approaching the route (in upper right corner) The route begins in a narrow gully that sits about 60 meters east of the obvious couloir that splits the face ( 2004 TR for that line). The first pitch set the tone for the route with excellent sticks in perfect snice, but a dearth of protection opportunities. Each of the following eight pitches were all rope stretching pitches, totaling almost 1800’ of climbing on the face. This route was both longer and more difficult than we had anticipated and is unusually sustained for a Cascades line--only two pitches didn’t have 55 degree or steeper terrain and all of them went straight up without any side-to-side deviation (except pitch two which moves about 15 meters right at mid-height). The belays were all sheltered from icefall, but close enough for good photos! Pitch one Pitch three (one of the easy pitches) Pitch four We found the crux to be surmounting a roof draped with icicles on pitch five and agreed that the pitch was undoubtedly the best pitch any of us had ever climbed in the mountains. Forest led it in impeccable style. Above the crux was an incredible ice chimney that led to yet another ice pitch and, finally, a short snow slope to the crest. Pitch 5 crux Following pitch 5 (Cascade Pass trail in upper left) Following pitch 5's ice chimney Pitch 7 Following pitch 7 The technical climbing ended at a small notch in the summit ridge where we took in an incredible view of Johannesberg and Formidable in amazing evening alpenglow. It was a perfect day in the mountains. Gear Notes: Knifeblades (4-6) Cams (purple TCU to 3”), doubles to 1” 2-6 short screws 70m ropes, two ropes recommended in case of retreat. Approach Notes: Hike to Cascade Pass. Follow the trail onto Mixup Arm. The route starts about 60M east of the prominent couloir. It lies above a remnant snowfield that is obvious on the USGS map. An easy 2.5 hours to the base. Descent Notes: From the crest of the ridge at the notch, traverse on the west side of the ridge southwards towards the south/true summit for about two rope-lengths on shattered rock. Gain the first obvious notch and continue past it to the second notch. The rock quality in the second notch is noticeably better than along the crest. From here, we down-climbed the East Face to the Cache Glacier on steep snow to 55 degrees. Rappelling may be necessary in other conditions. From the Cache Glacier, traverse north and west around Mixup Arm and back to Cascade Pass. Here is a modified Scurlock photo ( original) showing the east face. We downclimbed just west/left of the ridge that lies just right of the center of the photo. Special Notes: We found that the route gets a tiny bit of sun until about eleven in the morning. Small amounts of spindrift and ice chunks came down during that time, but after the sun moved further south the debris stopped. Due to the exceedingly compact nature of the rock, anchoring options were extremely limited and much time was spent finding anchors that frequently (and unfortunately) verged on being inadequate. Although we managed with 60m ropes, we strongly recommend bringing 70m ropes to potentially give more options for finding belay anchors. Mix-up Peak, The Misunderstanding IV, AI4R, M4 2200’ of climbing Kurt Hicks, Dave Jordan, Forest McBrian October 25, 2011

Trip: Picket Range - Complete Enchainment Attempt Date: 9/2/2011 Trip Report: On September 2nd Jens Holsten, Dan Hilden and myself (Sol Wertkin) began an 8 day attempt at the Complete Picket Range Enchainment. While we came quite short of our original goal, we were able to complete the 2nd ascent of the Souther Picket Range Ridge Traverse (Bunker, Haley, Wallace 2003) and push it forward a bit to the North through Picket Pass, and over Outrigger and Luna Pk before exiting via Access Creek (15 summit in total). Day 1: The Three McMillan Spires Day 1 is a true ass-kicker, gaining over 10,000 vertical feet, and unfortunately I had been here before, 2 years earlier Blake Herrington and I had made an attempt at the Southern Traverse, completing 5 peaks before bailing out via fried nerves and weather via Terror Creek. We had fallen short of our intended itinerary on day 1 bivying between the East and West McMillan Spires. It was with this knowledge that I set the alarm even earlier this time around. As predicted, we approached as a weather system cleared the area and lucky for us an amazing high pressure window graced us for the remainder of the trip. The days objectives: SE Face of Little McMillan 7,600 ft, East ridge of East McMillan 7,992 ft, and the East Ridge/Face of the West McMillan Spire 8,000 ft. Though the packs were heavy, the views were incredible, the rock wasn't half bad, and the psyche was high. Myself celebrating the Triple Cumbre We were happy to have completed our goal for the day, but undeniably worked from the long approach and rock climbing with such heavy packs. We settled into the bivy just as it became dark. Day 2: The East Towers Traverse to Inspiration Peak We slept in until nearly 8 am on day 2 rationalizing that to complete such a big undertaking we would need to periodically recover. I began our late start pushing the rope on familiar terrain around the East Towers towards Inspiration. I was able to gain precious time compared to Blake and myself's onsight attmept and within a few hours we were starting up beautiful stone low on Inspiration Pk's East Ridge. Jens led on, scaling Inspiration's two beautiful crux pitches. It was here, at the base of the 5.9 pitch on Inspiration, where, 2 years earlier, I had come as close to dying as I ever have in the mountains. A microwave sized block that Blake was stemming on came loose and crashed onto the belay ledge from 50 ft. I narrowly escaped by jumping barefoot off the ledge with just enough play in my tether to dodge the missle. It felt strange to be back at the scene of the incident and was a relief to climb on uneventfully. The traverse over the E and W Summits of Inspiration 7,880 ft was as aesthetic as ever. But my oh my, where had the time gone? By the time we descended the W Ridge of Inspiration it was nearly 4 in the afternoon. On my previous attempt Blake and I had pioneered frightening new ground at 5.10R on our next objective, The Pyramid. Not feeling the need to launch into another late day epic on Pyramid we made the hard decision to bivy there and tackle it first thing in the morning. We had fallen incredibly short of the first ascencionest itinerary (in which they had amazingly moved on through Pryamid, Dengenhart, and Terror to a summit bivy on the Rake), but felt it was a necessary decision considering the time of the day and the enormity of our objective. Day 3: The Pyramid, Dengenhardt, Terror, and The Rake Our third day began with a more traditional alpine start and Dan took the lead and nailed it. Climbed The Pyramid the right way and it was a great route. Dan on the 5.8 crux of the East Ridge of The Pyramid Near the summit of The Pyramid 7,920 ft Mt. Degenhardt, 8,000 ft, was an easy scramble and we kept trucking on towards Terror. It was near the base of Terror where I had given Blake, "the look." The look that says, "dude, i'm done, it's over," and we had bailed. This time around I just focused on placing one foot in front of the other, and really didn't look ahead too much at the exceedingly intimidating East Ridge of Terror. We knew that Wayne and party had had a hair-raising experience scaling it's loose flanks so we just focused on finding the best path. And we did, and it wasn't so bad. Myself, leading our first pitch on the East Ridge of Mt. Terror Jens on the Summit of Mt. Terror, 8,151 ft. While the ascent wasn't so bad, the descent sure was. Loose unprotected down-climbing characterized the descent and before long we were strung out on a steep face searching for anchors or a way to continue down. Eventually we found some very old pins, and rapped off into the col, a disgusting place, perhaps the loosest col of them all. On the menu for dinner was the Rake, and Jens took the lead for the first and crux pitch. Loose climbing took Jens out of view and before long it was only his breathing and moans that we could decipher. I could tell the climbing was hard and that for the first time of the trip Jens was, "going for it." In the face of steep overhangs, Jens had set two OK nuts, equalized them and embarked on a 9+ traverse across "solid" edges, running it out 50-60 ft to a belay. Luckily for Dan and myself we were able to get intimate with some super-choss and keep the protection slightly more sane as we followed. Endless simuling ensued as we traversed onto the true ridge of the Rake. The rock quickly changed and we climbed phenomenal stone around the East Summit. Jens climbing into the golden hour on the Rake DFH getting his follow on Loving it Late-night belay duty Climbing at night, deep in the Pickets, high on the Rake, isn't the most relaxing endeavor. But things continued to unfold well. We wandered around many false summits and gendarmes and finally late into the night we heard a distant "monkey-call"from Jens and knew that we had finally arrived at the West Summit of the Rake, 7,840 ft. A short rap into the high col ended a long day. A wind-protected bivy we affectionately named,Ice Station DarkStar. We were in deep now. Day 4: East Twin Needle, West Twin Needle, and the Himmelhorn We awoke to a crisp morning on day 4. I started off the day wandering down the long west ridge of the Rake towards the Twin Needle Spires. Looking back at the Rake As we approached the summit ridge of the E Twin Needle the rock got better and better. Crescendoing with a wild pitch of 10- to the summit, 7,936. Jens leading through terrible rope drag DFH Scary downclimbing (a theme for the trip) got us off the E Twin and we simuled up the West Twin. The Himmelhorn, the crux of the traverse (10+), was wildly intimidating. Jens got're done, finding the right path up the sheer north face. We pushed on over the summit, down the backside, where two long rappels took us to a good bivy at the Ottohorn-Himmelhorn col. Day 5: The Ottohorn We again woke up late, intending on first bagging the Ottohorn via it's 3rd class East Face, and then the Frenzelspitz. We were worked from the previous's day's climbing and moved slowly out of the bivy with quivering legs and throbbing fingers. Unfortunatly, our romp was not to be as new rockfall just below the summit proved too unsafe to tackle unroped. Dejected, we turned around and headed back to camp. We rested for a couple hours, discussed the high proabability that the complete objective was not to be, and headed back up the Ottohorn, this time with a rope and rack. Dan led us to the to summit via two quality pitches of solid 5.7. We returned to camp and continued resting. Day 6: Outrigger Pk (SE Fury) Though our fifth day had been predominatly characterized by resting we still awoke to day six tired, sore, and HUNGRY. Our rations basically consisted of 4 bars and 4 GU's for breakfast, lunch and snacks, a Mountain House meal for dinner and a group instant potato meal as a second dinner/before bed snack, with some random sausage, cheese, and extras here and there. Somewhere in the ballpark of 1400-2000 calories/day. While this works for the first few days, by day six you've burned through your reserves and you can't help but feel the effects as you start to metabolize your muscles. Nonetheless, as we rapped off into the Ottohorn-Himmelhorn coulouir I began to formulate my, "let's keep going" speech to be delivered after we easily tagged the Frenzelspitz and effortlessly galavanted across Picket Pass. Jens, aka "Alpine Man" preparing to do work in the Ottohorn-Himmelhorn coulouir A long double rope rappel onto the snow, led to another long double rope rappel, lots of downclimbing, and more rapping. While we were at times just 10-15 ft away from tromping up the 4th class East Face of the Frenzelspitz, the late-season snow was laying the "smack-down" on our spirits with hard sun-cupped conditions and impassable moats. Nearly 4 hours after first rapping into the coulouir we crested the snow to solid terra-firma. It was a strange mental space in that we were now deeper then ever, but at the same time, finally off of the demanding 5th class terrain of the Southern Range. Any wishes of sending the Frenzelspitz collapsed into the impassable September moat as did my Pattonesque speech. What do you know, more sketchy downclimbing moved us up and over Cub Scout Pk, and onto Picket Pass. On a route punctuated with many highpoints it was interesting to feel equally moved by the brush and sub-alpine trees of Picket Pass, our first major low-point in a number of days. We hydrated and pushed on up and over Outrigger (SE Pk of Fury)7,757 ft. via aesthetic slabs, exposed ridges, and golden staircases. Chossy downclimbing led us off of Outrigger onto the flanks of the SE Glacier of Fury, which we elegantly traversed down and onto a heather basin, beneath a large ridge connecting Fury and Luna Pk. We reached running water and a fine bivy high on the ridge just a hour or so into the dark night. Day 7: Luna Pk The next morning we awoke to sore bodies and breathtaking views. The effort of the past few days was layed out in front of us and we could finally get the feeling that we had accomplished something. The beautiful high ridge route continued on and before too long we were ditching our packs and heading up to tag Luna. Great view of our route from high on Luna Pk, 8,331 ft From Luna we descended and traversed steep heather slopes into Access Creek. Jens strung-out in the heather We continued descending through the brush of Access Creek to the forest of the Big Beaver Valley and Luna Camp. Day 8: The Deproach 12+ miles of hiking found us in the heat of the valley and finally back to the car. We had the great pleasure of celebrating our adventure with good friends who happened to be in the area. I can't give enough thanks to the many folks who helped us out on this endeavor including Cheryl and Adam Mckenney of Leavenworth Mountain Sports, Jim Nelson of Pro Mountain Sports, Teresa Bruffey/Outdoor Research, John Race and Olivia Cussen of the Northwest Mountain School, Geoff Cecil, Blake Herrington, and of course Wayne Wallace. Wayne's advice, psych, and willingness to let us give his project a go proved instrumental in our success. We were awed by his bold leads while on route and kept discussing that we couldn't imagine a more committing objective than solo on the Mongo Ridge. On our final day of preparations we orchestrated a phone consultation with Wayne where we hurriedly jotted down notes in the drizzle of a Safeway parking lot as we picked his brain. This beta sheet proved quite valuable (I will scan it and post up). Gear Notes:I plan to blog in detail about the gear we used for this objective in the near future. I will link the blog post here. Links: Jen's Blog: Always Upwards Day 1 & 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Dan's Blog Colin Haley's original TR for the Southern Ridge Traverse AAJ: Walking the Fence Josh Kaplan's original TR for the Northern Enchainment (Kaplan, Wallace, 2005) NWMJ: Northern Pickets Enchainment We sure do live in a special place to be able to embark on an adventure of this magnitude just a few hours from home.

Trip: Southern Pickets - A Thread of Ice 2nd Ascent and 1st Ski Descent Date: 7/4/2011 Trip Report: Over a clear weather window Louie Dawson and I spent 3 days adventuring, climbing, and skiing in the Southern Pickets. Sorry it took a lot of work to write and add photos all info can be found here: http://mtnsaremyhome.blogspot.com/ Gear Notes: Lots Approach Notes: Long

First Ascent of the White Chick “White Chick” (Pk 5884 southeast of White Chuck Mountain) May 21, 2011 Personnel: Paul Klenke, Stefan Feller, Martin Shetter, and Fay Pullen (the token white chick). Stefan says he likes my trip reports because I always put in so much detail. Well for this report, I’m not gonna. Why? Becuase I’m a busy family man. Plus, I’m 40 now, so I’m old(er), and stupid(er), and out-of-shape®. Here are some views of White Chick, the rocky bump to the right of White Chuck: [img:center]http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/79240.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/96702.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/186265.jpg[/img] We met in Seattle at 4:45am, which is usually REM time for me, not RPM time. So motoring to the Park ‘n Ride was a catatonic affair. But there they were, the OTHERS, waiting for me, already there, already laughing about something. Anyway, Stefan drove to the “trailhead.” Well first he drove to the Darrington gas station (I know it well, as do you) so I could purchase an energy drink. What? Two for one? I’m all over that like crappy snow on a Cascades ski resort. Here is White Chick from the bridge over the river: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/599x401xWChi01_fr_river_bridge_I_sm.JPG.pagespeed.ic.AsoHnu-gmb.jpg[/img] We started at 6:45 on the overgrown logging road at the head of Dan Creek (elevation 1970 ft). The first obstacle was Black Oak Creek where the bridge had either slumped and disappeared or had been removed. All that remains is a large rusted girder and very steep banks. The Black Oak Creek washout (the banks are steeper than they look): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi03_Black_Oak_Cr_washout_I_sm.JPG[/img] After this creek that reminds me of a Soundgarden song, we walked the remaining three miles of mossy road eastward and upward. The annoying windfall decreased, but the annoying snow cover increased (plod plod plod). At 3400 feet we came to the end of the roadway at a spur ending in a regrowing clearcut. We avoided this wetness and arced around it through nice old growth (some big trees here). The old road: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi04_old_logging_road_sm.JPG[/img] Stefan and I descended steep duff a couple of hundred vertical into the big gully beyond the last clearcut. But Martin and Fay pullened it and took the ridge upward paralleling the west side of the gully. They essentially got cliffed out while Stefan and I easily ascended the avalanche debris escalator to approximately 4000 ft. We only lost about 20 minutes waiting for them. A view of the big gully (my wife said the snow fooled her into thinking it was a white-water torrent): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi05_the_big_gully_I_sm.JPG[/img] The cliffy west side of the gully at 4000 ft (Stefan's in this photo; he pulled his pants up just in time…): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi09_north_side_of_gully_sm.JPG[/img] That mountain whose name I forget as seen from the big gully: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi08_Forgotten_fr_gully34_sm.JPG[/img] I took off to break trail up and right from the gully, traversing more rightward than upward to avoid the likely cliffs obliquely abutting the gully. Since I’m old(er) and fat(ter), Stefan eventually caught up to me and finished the remainder of the slog up to the base of the rocks, which finally opened up to us at 5300 ft. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi10_Stefan_at_5300_ft_sm.JPG[/img] A view of the northwest side of the summit rocks (this is about as good as the views got on this day): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi11_at_5400_ft_sm.JPG[/img] I took a brief second shot at kicking steps before motorfoot stomped past me. We took a snowy gully rightward from the left side of the rocky corner until the gully headed at short cliffs. A steep 55-degree snow chute got us up over a minor spur to the next gully over. We took this adjacent gully up a tad then left up a straight “Triple Couloirs-esque” gully to very nearly its col looking over the East Face. The cornice at the col notch was too much to approach comfortably, so Stefan exited right to continue up through short trees and minor rocks. Looking down the straight gully from the notch: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi22_final_gully_near_top_sm.JPG[/img] He got up to a rocky knoll a hundred or so yards from the summit and waited for me to catch up. He thought that belaying the final corniced ridge was the wise thing to do and I concurred. The climbing wouldn’t be technical but no one likes to do cornice tobogganing. The rocks abutting the cornice were wet and sloped and not conducive to walking over. Stefan took the lead up and I followed, dragging Martin and Fay’s second rope. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi21_final_ridge_IV_sm.JPG[/img] I made it up and immediately planked the summit (there was photographic evidence but Stefan erroneously deleted it because of its poor quality—the photograph, not the plank move). Stefan struggling to belay the token white chick. She’s sooo heavy! [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi15_Stefan_at_top_III_sm.JPG[/img] Fay at the summit (in nice weather White Chuck Mountain would have been looming behind the white chick in this photo): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi16_Fay_at_top_sm.JPG[/img] Martin: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/599x401xWChi17_Martin_at_top_sm.JPG.pagespeed.ic.1rbJxq2NUE.jpg[/img] I placed a Fay Pullen Special at the summit and built a cairn. This cairn kept falling over. I must suck at building cairns. Paul (no we weren’t all sharing the same jacket): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/600x450xWChi18_Paul_at_top_sm.JPG.pagespeed.ic.NJFZ1gBfzX.jpg[/img] It had taken 5.5 hours to get up. Approximately 4.5 miles and 4000 ft of gain. We had taken not a single break and I only took my pack off once to put a jacket on. That’s not bad. Maybe I’m not as out-of-shape-and-fat-and-older as I thought. The token white chick in her element (w/o skis on!): [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi23_Fay_at_4200_ft_sm.JPG[/img] We returned the way we came, glissading the big gully (that went quick!). The road walk back seemed longer on the way out (but isn’t that always how it seems?). 9.5 hours round trip. Our route: [img:center] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi01_fr_river_bridge_I_anno.JPG[/img] [img:center] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/WChi02_fr_river_bridge_II_anno.JPG[/img] Our GPS Track courtesy of Fay: [img:center] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/504/medium/White_Chick_Route_Fay_Pullen.JPG[/img] A comment on the weather, though it wasn’t bad (we were only blemished by light rain), remember that we had superb weather only the day before. And so it goes in Washington. Due to the weather, the conditions were cloudy and a white out most of the day. White Chuck Mountain made a brief appearance from the belay knoll and I took too long to photograph it. Drat! It would have shown the mountain from a previously unseen angle…if this truly was a first ascent. We think it was. Prove it if it wasn't. Epilogue So we’re at the car and Stefan breaks out a wrinkled dress shirt and suit and puts them on. Then he puts on a tie. Now, I’ve never seen him wear a tie before—and especially at a trailhead. This is most peculiar. He had said he had a memorial service to attend to in Ballard. Oooo-kay. Stefan in a “birthday” suit... In reality… He was just trying to throw me off (and he did). In reality there was a surprise 40th Birthday Party waiting for me back at the house. I opened the garage door with the opener as I’m backing my car in and the first things I see are a whole bunch of legs and then I realize for sure the thing I suspected might happen really is happening. I had a great time that night, so great in fact, that I did not go to bed until 4:00am—fully 24 hours after I got up. But I was only 39 years, 363 days old then. I’m 40 now and probably couldn’t handle that now. I am older, stupider, out-of-shaper, and weaker now. Gear Notes: Ice axe, safety rope for cornice adventures, suit and tie. Approach Notes: I don't know that this climb would be easier without snow. Steep duffy ground in the trees and then perhaps mossy rocks or steep heather higher up.

Trip: Leavenworth Midnight Rock - Running Start (New Route) Date: 8/25/2010 Trip Report: Melanie Estrella wanted to go to Midnight Rock in Tumwater Canyon for a loooong time and I too was taken with the idea. It perches another steep 30-minute hike above Castle Rock. Following the approach, we wander around Midnight Rock for a good half hour looking for the start of the famous ROTC. We didn't know about or find the ledge at Midnight Rock's mid-height that wraps around from the climber's left to almost the base of ROTC. So we decided to climb from the base of the crag 200 feet to ROTC. HOW HARD CAN IT BE? Note the forshortening in the pic. We aimed for the left of the side-by-side roofs. They look like the closed eyes of a giant wearing heavy mascara. [img:center]http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs661.snc4/60144_1499923013859_1107670161_31397475_2474442_n.jpg[/img] Mel gets the party started and takes a cool line up a diagonal crack system working up along a short fist to offwidth crack, onto an incredible layback flake, to another crack system to some face climbing and finally to a final layback flake to a small grassy alcove below 2 large roofs. Prolly goes at mid-5.10 with pretty good gear from micro to 4 inches. Here she is at the alcove about to balay me to God knows where. Beautiful smile. [img:center]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs658.snc4/61816_1499921293816_1107670161_31397465_1922473_n.jpg[/img] Above the alcove, seems an impasse. The wall is blank on all sides except under the roof up and right. There is a 25-foot no-feet fingertip traverse on small gear rightward, under this roof (crux). Near the end, find a no-hands rest on a vicious knee lock and shake out. With a toe hook one is then able to flip up and over the roof's right side, to reach across a blank wall to a sweeeeeet hand crack (5.9 ish) with good gear to a much easier second roof and onto a spacious ledge above. *whew!* Here Melanie tops out modeling a sexy hula skirt of bling. [img:center]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs718.snc4/63822_1499921973833_1107670161_31397467_7880547_n.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs718.snc4/63822_1499922013834_1107670161_31397468_6514975_n.jpg[/img] Here, my appreciative 6th chakra is leaving my body, whatever a chakra is. Sorry, no other pics of the route. Having too much fun. Overall, first pitch 120 ft, mid 5.10 second pitch 80 ft, mid 5.11. Descent: Walk off the ledge system at top of pitch 2. Enjoy! Gear Notes: Pretty good gear. Doubles cams from micro to 3 inches. One #4 or #5 friend helpful for start. One set of stoppers. Approach Notes: Go to Castle Rock, cross Loggers Ledge and continue on a rising rightward faint trail to the base of Midnight Rock.

Trip: Washington Pass - New Route - Wright/Pond (5.11, 4 pitches) Date: 10/4/2010 Trip Report: I'm not sure how much climbing weather we'll have left this year, but we did a new route up on a feature near the pass and if anyone wants to go climb it and let us know what you think, we'd be stoked. It's all set up with bolted belays and a handful of lead bolts, and the route is pretty clean and super fun! It takes about an hour to get to, each of the first three pitches are rope-stretchers and are awesome and I'd say it was worth a day if you're looking for something new. Now!Climbing There's a complete write-up and more photos here if anyone's interested. P1 5.11a/b, 55m – Begin by climbing the obvious left-facing arch depicted in the photo below. At its terminus, head directly up gaining a shallow, right-facing corner. Climb this past one bolt to a strenuous pinch at an overlap. Gain the pinch and move left to a stance (crux) below a handsome, right-facing corner to the right of a large roof. Climb left around a flake to gain the corner and climb the corner crack to a bolted belay at a ledge with a small tree. A bold lead. P2 5.10c/d, 50m – Leave the belay to the left and head up a large flake towards a bolt on a small overlap. Clip the bolt and step right into a clean open book. Stemming and thin fingers lead through the open book and past another bolt to gain a stance. Step right and follow the line of six bolts up the face (crux) on small edges and pockets. Step left past the last bolt to a clean, shallow, right-facing corner. Follow the corner to another bolted belay. P3 5.10a, 50m – Head up the obvious right-facing corner (mostly fingers) until it closes out. Work the corner and face past one bolt until a small roof. Pull left past the roof into left-facing corner crack. Climb the crack up and left before another crack trends slightly rightward. Jam fingers and hands to its finish and climb a short, easy slab up and right to a treed ledge and another bolted belay at the base of a left facing corner/chimney. P4 5.8, 45m – Climb the blocky corner/chimney up past a tree until you gain a low-angled slab. Head left across the slab to a wide hand and fist crack hidden in a left-facing corner. Exit the corner up and right on blocky but easy ground to low-angled ledges. A tree with rappel slings is on the left. Descent: Rap the route in four double-rope rappels. Gear Notes: Double rack to #3;, emphasis on smaller cams and wires. RPs useful. Approach Notes: Turn off Hwy 20 app. 4.5 miles east of Washington Pass following signs for the Cutthroat Creek Trail. Drive about a mile down the road to a trailhead parking with a bathroom on the left side of the road. Walk up through the woods (no trail) towards the wall, gaining elevation quickly before traversing leftwards in open forest and on slabby benches. You should reach a shoulder near the base of the wall’s right-hand side within an hour to an hour and a half.

Trip: Silver Horn - F.A. - Spice of Life - III 5.10 C1 Date: 8/12/2010 Trip Report: First off: Im impatient and kind of an internet numbskull so I've posted photos on picasa Spice of Life Photos If someone could send me a PM with some simple instructions to insert directly I would appreciate it. Anywho... So awhile back I was visiting our friend Blake Herrington and talking about climbing. Go figure. He was showing me some photos of his trip to Silver Horn in '08, remarking about the rock quality and pointing out the two lines that now existed from the previous ascents. To my peaked interest (pun intended) there was a large corner system on the upper half of the formation that still lay untouched. Fast forward a few months and my good friend Mike Pond and I are getting psyched to go fire this thing. We roll into Mazama with perfect July weather but get sandbagged by athletic tape. Turns out Mike is horribly allergic to the adhesive substance on the tape and after taping his ankle for a long day in the mountains it swelled up and blistered for a week. Ugh. Fast forward again, roughly one year. Im coming off an injury, Mike has not climbed any serious rock for a few months and needs a good send off before he goes to Ohio for grad school. Seems like a perfect time to test this idea of ours deep in the mountains so we start hiking up the Cedar Cr. Trail outside of Mazama. This trail is super mellow for circa 7 miles. We hit the first major drainage and started the uphill schwack that would lead us into the proper cirque. (It turns out that a pretty decent, albeit discontinuous trail can be found that runs about 50 yards climbers right of the drainage creek.) From the cirque it is obvious where to go and we settled in for an open air bivy in the gorgeous meadow below Silver Star, Silver Horn, and the surrounding peaks. We woke at dawn and began the approach up through the slabby gully just east of Silver Horn to the base of its apron wall. Blake's line, Playin' not Sprayin', is an obvious corner system that looks fantastic. Although tempted by what is sure to be great climbing for the apron pitches, for the sake of doing something new we opted for a corner/crack system that runs between sprayin' and The Chalice. We swapped leads as we climbed and after reaching the bench and looking up the massive corner system that lured us up there I almost creamed my pants. The climbing through here is fantastic and the position is awesome. Topping this out we were met with a surprise. Thinking that it would top out, instead this put us about 15m below to summit. The rock for this short pitch left something to be desired and we probably would have opted to finish on the last chimney pitch of sprayin' as it was just out of reach via a sketch down climb. I attempted to tackle what seemed the "best" section of rock via an offwidth through a roof. My OW skills also leave something to be desired and after fussing with the crux for a bit and not totally trusting the rock/gear I frenchied the move and finished what was still some hard 5.10 climbing to the top. Mike tied in short so he could haul the pack up this last pitch and was able to pull through with a well placed fist jam. A quick mantle on the summit block and some belly timber for the soul left us ready to descend. To descend we rapped off the W/NW side into the gully (1 rappel) that heads south to into the cirque. Eventually cliffing out we resorted to rapping from tree to tree. Wondering if we took the shitty way down as we approached the final rappels down some slabs Mike made a mild suggestion to rappel of a questionable bush. As he said this I looked at my feet and there lay some sunbleached tat around a horn. I chuckled at the circumstance and remarked that we either had indeed taken the right way down or someone else had made the same mistakes. Assuming there was not a skeleton below we replaced the worn cord and reached terra firma 2 raps later. After all the terrain covered with the moments of tension and joy, at the end of the day, adventures like these boil down to one thing. Climbing is what we love to do. It is the spice of life. Pitch Breakdown: P1: Start 60 or so ft' right of Playin' not Sprayin' in a giant left facing corner. This widens drastically and move left into another left facing corner. Follow nice fingers to hands past a hollow flake until it pinches down to a seam. Pull right over an arete and back into the original corner for 20' to a small ledge with a tree. Move left along wicked finger rail traverse back into the other corner system (5.10), past some hanging flakes to a tree belay. 40m P2: Head straight up into a left facing flake/corner. Move past some slabby tree-grovel moves up and left of a small roof (past some more trees) and up about 15' right of a wide crack. Pull a bulge into a finger crack (5.10) that arcs from hands to wide and onto the belay. Sick! 60m P3: Follow grooves and a small flake up to the bench mid point. (5.7) 10m From the bench, move the belay left until you are below the awesome left facing corner. The next two pitches are brilliant. P4: Follow beautiful, mostly clean cracks on great rock. Stem your way up and pull a wild exposed mantle out right to the base of a prominent hand crack. (5.10-) 1" - 2" gear for belay. 50m P5: Climb the splitter until forced into chimney moves. Grovel/climb/work your way up until forced out left into a corner. Follow up into crazy orange rock and chimney up through the horn feature. (5.10) 60m P6: Climb exfoliating, suspect rock through an offwidth roof (effin hard!) and continue with mostly wide crack to the top. (5.10+ ish) 15m Mantle the summit block and be psyched. Gear Notes: Doubles in fingers through hand sizes. Single #3 and #4 (crucial). 60M rope. Good approach shoes. Approach Notes: Head up Cedar Cr. Trail for circa 7 miles then start bearing west up into the alpine cirque. From there it is obvious to the base of the apron.

Trip: Darrington, Squire Creek Pass - Pass the Nut's (FA) Date: 7/25/2010 Trip Report: I finally got up to Squire Creek Pass with Karen and Carsten to climb the wall to the north of the pass. Of course I forgot the camera:-( I wanted to try to climb it ground up and clean. We took a line straight up the center of the wall, starting with an amazing steep knob field with a dirty crack in the middle of it (5.9). An easy ramp leads to a perfect 5.8 finger crack in a shallow corner and then a comfy belay ledge. The second pitch traverses right under some bushes and then up, with a slabby crux. The moves are probably 5.9 but with no pro at the crux I'd swear it was 10a :-) The third pitch goes left around a steep bulge on a really cool natural stair case and then up cracks and flakes to the top (5.7). Descent is a scramble down the back side. Although there was surprisingly fun climbing it's not the family friendly route I was hoping for. There are a lot of expanding and detached flakes and you have to be really careful where you go and where you put gear. Some of the route is pretty run out and a lot of the gear you do get is marginal. I don't have any plans to put in anchors or bolts. If someone wants to put bolts in have at it. I climbed it the way I wanted to. I'm calling it "Pass the Nuts" in reference to Squire Creek Pass and the fact that you have to be nuts to climb those flakes ;-) All in all I'm really glad I finally got up there and did it. It was an accomplishment for me and the view from the top just blew me away. Gear Notes: 00 tcu up to #4 C4. doubles on micro, fingers and single or doubles on hands depending on how much you want to carry up there. 60 meter half ropes. Approach Notes: South on Mt Loop Hwy from Darrington 2 miles, then right on the forest service road 6 miles to the Eight Mile Creek trailhead. Hike past Three O'clock rock to Squire Creek Pass (5 miles total). From the pass bush whack north and a little west to the boulder field at the base of the wall. Follow the base north several hundred yards to the knob field.

Trip: pyramid peak - fra ne face--larson/wallace, III wi 5 (1 pt a0) Date: 2/21/2010 Trip Report: wayne and i climbed a worthy variation to a minor obsession of mine on the ne side of pyramid peak. wayne was instrumental in getting us off the ground and things fell into place, so to speak, after that. we belayed 8 pitches to the junction with the north ridge then stomped up to the summit from there. five pitches were full value, the other three were change. hard to rate but the water ice crux seemed like a short but steep wi5 and was tough enough that wayne had to take a bit of rope tension to put in a screw and de-pump. the other pitches probably clocked in at snice/ice 4/4+ with some feet on the rock but i decline to give it any m-wtf grade just to keep things simple. expect runouts. on the hopefully attached photo, the route is immediately right of the red line on the lower face and immediately left of it on the upper face. the photo was taken by retrosaurus (mm) on a previous spring attempt in the mid-2000's. we found conditions similar to what is shown on the photo. as you can see, a direct start is still in the offing. i wrote this up as the fra of the ne face but am curious where the cotter-rusch route actually lies. the beckey bible says north face but having started up a route over there one spring, i never saw an chimney with "incipient ice". is it possible we repeated or did a variation to their route? anyone have some insight? Gear Notes: nuts and cams to 3", kb's and la's, a handful of shorter screws and a specter. Approach Notes: thanks to the party who tramped in before us on saturday morning. you saved us a ton of effort.

Trip: Northern Pickets - FAs on Middle Challenger and West Challenger Date: 8/5/2009 Trip Report: Mario, Sandy, Keith, and I (Seth) spent the first week of August in the Northern Pickets. We climbed two new routes: * Middle Challenger, South Ridge, 1100', 5.7, 5 pitches plus 3rd/4th class terrain (August 5 2009) * West Challenger, Birthday Route (aka East Ridge), 5.9, 6 pitches (August 6 2009) On our Pickets traverse last year, we had some killer views of the West side of the Northern Pickets, which left us salivating about new route possibilities. In particular, a photo i'd taken of the South Ridge of Middle Challenger presented an obvious and appealing route. 1100' of vertical from toe to top in a wild alpine setting. A winter of staring at that picture, plus a little encouragement from Wayne (thanks Wayne!) got us motivated to head back in with some rock gear this year. photo from July 2008 (note that by August the snow band has melted out) We had more than the usual amount of pre-trip hand-wringing, with injuries, illnesses, family matters, road closures, and forecasts of thunderstorms all weighing us down. But on August 4th we were camped up at Middle Challenger col. The next day we descended the col to the base of the ridge. The climb began at the toe with fun scrambling on the ridge crest. Several steps down low presented climbing to 5.7 on cracks and ramps. Here is Keith belaying at the top of one step. We drifted left of the crest as the climb became steeper, first scrambling 4th class terrain, then pitching out 3 pitches of fun mid-fifth class climbing back onto and up the crest. Soon we were on top, enjoying the thrill of a vision becoming reality. Mario (aka "Papa Pickets" on top) Our attention turned to West Challenger the next day. From our col camp, the East ridge and Southeast face presents a compelling view, with steep slabs split by cracks, amoung outrageous scenery. Would it go for us? We debated back and forth. We decided to give it a go and find out. I led a first 5.7 pitch on blocks and slabs to the notch at the base of the ridge. After some discussion at the base, Mario and Sandy decided to let Keith and I have a crack at it with the group's two light rock racks combined into one more sizable rack (thanks guys!). The slab above looked inviting, like Castle Rock set in the Pickets. I led the pitch, following perfect hand and finger cracks with occasional face moves. Higher and higher, wondering if the route would blank out. But it just kept going. A final fingertip traverse led to a belay on the ridge crest. Wow! I whooped with excitement. This 5.9 pitch would be three stars at any crag, before even factoring in the scenery. Keith followed it, and then basked at the belay notch. Keith led an airy traverse on the crest, followed by another airy traverse left by me. Here is a photo by Keith of me starting that fourth pitch. And Keith following it. Keith led up a clean gully, setting me up for a 5.9 sequence out of an alcove, and then up blocks to the summit ridge. With our lazy mid-day start, we were now running low on time. Our turn-around time was 6pm, and it was... 5:55pm. We tagged the summit at 6. Here is a picture by Keith of me at the summit. We set a rappel route down the East face. Three double-rope rappels took us back to our boots and our good friends. It was quite a way to spend my birthday. And as such, we named it the Birthday Route. A great team, and a great time. And finally Miller Time at the Little Beaver dock. Gear Notes: Gear to 3". Light rack for the South Ridge of Middle Challenger; Medium rack for the Birthday Route on West Challenger. Approach Notes: Approached via Little Beaver and the Whatcom Peak traverse. Got quite a smoke show from the Brush Creek fire just West of Whatcom Pass.

Trip: NF Colonial Peak - FA: "First Date" Gr.IV AI3/M3 Date: 2/21/2010 Trip Report: On Saturday Beau (pronounced "bow") Carillo and I (Geoff Cecil) headed up to the North Cascades to climb something on Colonial Peak. We had a few things we were very interested to climb. The trip came to together with the help of Wayne and a helmet that he let me borrow. Then I left it in the backseat of my car. I guess I'll climb something on the NF of Colonial without a helmet? The approach was too...awesome. We had an open bivy below the face. It was cold. Woke up to a perfect bluebird day! What were we going to do? Not Watusi Rodeo. My head would've turned into a smashed grapefruit on an ice route. So, we just started climbing straight up from our bivy site. We encountered alpine ice 3 for a few sections down low along with some steep (70-75) degree snow climbing. Got up into the unclimbed couloir. 60 degree snow which turned into some short AI3 sections along with some mixed climbing up top. We simul-soloed the whole route but brought a rope, ice and rock rack. Speed was our ally as I had no head gear and was paranoid of things melting and falling down on my head. We pushed hard to the summit and ran down and grabbed our packs and started the schwack/falling down over logs back to the car. A great route, beautiful day, and a great climbing partner! Thanks Wayne! Gear Notes: Tools, bivy gear, crampons. Approach Notes: Colonial Creek

Trip: Mt. Formidable - Direct NE Buttress (FA), III+, 5.9 Hicks/McBrian Date: 7/22/2009 Trip Report: On June 22, 2009 Forest McBrian and I climbed the complete NE Buttress of Mt. Formidable. This feature splits the Middle Cascade Glacier from the Formidable Glacier on the mountain’s northeast aspect. From our amazing bivy near the Middle Cascade Glacier along the Ptarmigan Traverse, we descended onto the Middle Cascade then climbed 40 degree snow to the toe of the buttress and searched for a suitable moat crossing. This dictated our starting point—at the left edge of a sidewalk/ramp system, close to a small, white crystalline band. From here, we climbed about 1000’ of new terrain, up to 5.9, before intersecting the 1962 route near the top of the buttress. The technical crux consisted of a tricky move out of a dihedral on the second pitch. Numerous pitches of less technical, but decidedly alpine terrain (a.k.a. steep, loose, nearly impossible to protect, fifth class heather) led to a snowpatch at mid-height. A couple more technical pitches to 5.8 led to the phenomenal snow arête that caps the buttress. We then climbed up and over the East Ridge pyramid that sits at the head of the Formidable Glacier (though this can be bypassed easily), probably making the second ascent of that feature (Martin Volken did the full East Ridge a few years ago). Incredibly fun and exposed ridge traversing led from the right-hand col to the true summit. Descent was made by cutting across the south face, generally traversing southeast towards the head of Flat Creek (exposed class 4/5 in spots, no rappels needed); then following the Ptarmigan Traverse route northward to the Spider-Formidable Col and back down the Middle Cascade Glacier. Our roundtrip was fifteen hours, eleven of which were spent on ascent. All things considered, our route is similar to the NE Buttress (1957) of nearby Johannesburg except that it is not guarded by 2000’+ of heinous bushwacking and the rock quality is better on Formidable. The exposed, but safe position on the buttress crest between two very active glaciers gives the route its appeal. Forest on the opening pitch Pitch 3 Snow Arete Upper East Ridge The NE Buttress Mt. Formidable Direct NE Buttress III+, 5.9 Kurt Hicks, Forest McBrian July 22, 2009 Gear Notes: A single rack to 3”; small cams most useful. One axe and crampons per person if snow conditions are firm. We placed one Lost Arrow, but other options may exist. Approach Notes: Hike to Cascade Pass then follow the Ptarmigan Traverse until able to descend down to the base of the NE Buttress.

Climb: Chiwawa Mtn.-NW Face Date of Climb: 3/6/2005 Trip Report: Dave Burdick and I climbed a new route on Chiwawa Mtn this past weekend, after spotting the awesome-looking line in John Scurlock's new pictures. On Saturday we snomobiled up the Chiwawa River Road (with a snowmobile generously lent by Phil), and then skied up the Chiwawa Basin Trail (lot's of dirt skiing involved). We woke up early yesterday and hiked up to the Chiwawa-Fortress col, and then made a descending traverse to the base of the NW Face. Our route climbed the very obvious gully/chimney in the center of the face, starting mostly on ice, and gradually becoming more mixed. The climbing was fantastic although hard, and the route was the best mixed climb I've ever done. Our last pitch bailed out of the chimney onto the face on the right, but if some strong mixed climbers head in there they'll probably do the direct finish. Dave had his digital camera, so I expect we'll see some pictures soon. Chiwawa Mtn, NW Face New Route: "Intravenous" - IV, WI4, M6. Gear Notes: Reccomended Gear: -60m rope -5 knifeblades -a few small nuts -cams up to #1 camalot -2 stubby, 2 17 cm screws Approach Notes: The Chiwawa River Road is starting to get bare, so snowmobiling won't be a good option soon. However, the route sees no sun, so it will probably be in for at least a few more weeks, and perhaps the road will be drivable by then.

Trip: the roost - northeast face Date: 9/13/2009 Trip Report: hey swingers, lunger and i climbed it so you don't have to. don't be a wimpy, do 9 pitches plus some simul-climbing starting just right of the indistinct rib in mid-face and ending just left of it. go way out on 5 pitches of bushy galore and 4 of terrortainment. III, 5.9ish. "should clean up nicely with a little traffic." Gear Notes: nuts/cams to 3.5"

Trip: North Cascades - First Ascent N Arete of Varden Creek Spire Date: 6/22/2007 Trip Report: After looking at this fantastic piece of rock for several years while skiing around Silver Star Larry Goldie and I finally overcame our sloth and made the long trek up to try to climb what we thought would be the N Arete of pk 8252. This striking piece of rock rises up from the head of Varden Creek and forms a significant high point along the complete E ridge of Silver Star. We made this foray late last Sept and were sent packing by very thin pro and a thin coating of frost that did not melt. After two longish and very run out pitches on slippery lichen we rapped off trees vowing to return with knifebaldes. The rock quality, position and asthetics of th eline were irresistable. In mid June of this year we ventured back armed to the teeth. The climbing turned out to be all we had hoped and so I think others might like to know about a route of this quality. We reached the toe of the buttress proper and stayed very close to the arete all the way to the last pitch. The rock quality is some of the best I have seen in the WA pass area. And it remains such all the way until a short very easy section just below the summit tower. The climbing is consistantly 5.FUN with a few spicey moves thrown in to keep you on your toes. We placed (and left) around 7 knifeblades in strategic locations so that you won't have to lug in pins and a hammer. Just stick close to the arete unless the climbing becomes harder than 5.9 then follow the easy way but steer back the arete ASAP. We never went more than 20 feet or so off the ridge and most of the time were right on the arete which gave great climbing and nice exposure. I'll post a few photos and a topo here but there are more photos on ncmountinaguides.com. The climbing in general is not sustained with just the odd hard move here and there. The exception to this is the 5.9 variation on P7 which is a sustained finger crack and licheny. View looking up Varden Creek at the proud line Sorry for the squiggly line Sweet rock typical of the whole route Larry following P5 Larry leading P6. Yep, it goes up the RH skyline Larry next to the summit Gear Notes: Light rack of single small cams to number 2 Camalot, runners etc. Like I said we went in loaded for bear and were way to heavy. Most hard pitches have crux protected with fixed pin. Approach Notes: We are nothe guys to ask about approaching this thing as we went the hard way both times. What I suggest would be one of the two following options. 1)Camp at the Larch bench below Burgandy col and approach over the col and cross SS glacier and over the Varden/ SS creek divide to the toe of the route. 2)Ascend Varden Ck but reputed to open trees and not bad by moderately reliable local source. We went up Mudhole lake trail and then cross country to the base. Took us 4 hours to the base. DESCENT; It turned out that this was not the N ridge of 8252 but was its own seperate little sub summit and hence the unique name. So we did two short raps to get us back to the start of the last hard pitch and then down climbed to the snow basin below the E side to the Arete. Pretty easy down climing but it could be rapped from tree anchors too.