first ascent [TR] Johannesburg - “Flight of the Bumblebee” FA of the sit start to the NE Buttress of J Berg TD 5.9+R 1500’ 08/27/2022

[Sam Boyce]

4 hours ago, dberdinka said:

Juan I was pretty much referring to everyone but Sam and Kyle.  Who do see when you look in the mirror?

the use of Tacos and spending a couple days up there is a pretty cool level of commitment to a new jungly line.  Was there water on route?  I assume not, so how much did you bring for 3 days?  Seems like that follower pack would have been heavy!?

Edit to add the Moljinar is a nice touch.   Nothing in 40 years has improved on the utility of an old school north wall hammer for Cascade FAs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planned iten was to bivy on the wall the first night, then climb up to the bivy at the snow arete high on route the second night. So we went relatively light on water. No water on route. We carried 5 liters total. We tagged the leaders pack through some of the harder pitches when it looked like we could find anchors within 100’. Followers pack was likely sub 30 pounds. Stopping on the route where we did meant a night/morning without water which ended up being not that bad because there is water near the base. 

[pms]

51, or 57 route?

When I started thinking about the NE Butt. I knew a few friends who had climbed it, so didn’t consider the 51 route. Having been on the 57 route only, I can’t compare the two. I remember thinking the 57 route had a very serious section. A couple hundred feet without ledges, stances, or pro. Not rock climbing, but exposed with small foot holds kicked into the dirt by previous parties. Three of us tied together without pro is how I remember it. For the fall 2021publication of Classic Cascade Climbs and drawing on Tom Sjolseth’s experience, we decided to feature  the 51 route. Pick your poison. Btw, the east ridge is somehow sounding better all the time.

I was always more interested in the routes on the NE Face above the Sil Glacier, which I never attempted beyond the glacier. Half hearted attempts with Mark Twight, Bill Pilling, Dan Cauthorn, and Matt Kerns, 4 trips.

Props to Sam Boyce, and Kyle for exploring tough new ground. Pretty cool. I like Dberdinka’s idea about working on it. Johannesburg is one heck of a mountain. The mountain was originally called Elsbeth by the Ptarmigan’s in memory of Ome Diaber’s first wife killed in a float plane accident.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by pms
removed the bold. don't knoiw how that happened

[JasonG]

7 minutes ago, pms said:

I remember thinking the 57 route had a very serious section. A couple hundred feet without ledges, stances, or pro. Not rock climbing, but exposed with small foot holds kicked into the dirt by previous parties.

This part really got my attention.  We climbed it unroped with our axes in low dagger, wearing crampons.  Blue collar good times!

Thanks for the backstory on the various routes in your books @pms!

[Rad]

Holy Mossy Choss Buckets! Nice one!

I love that in the Cascades there are a significant number of new lines where I think, "I'm NEVER doing THAT!" - but so glad you did.

Thanks for posting.

You've got the spirit. Keep going! 

[Kposaune]

I led all of The Nose off the couch this spring (a point of pride, but not particularly sure what that means) and Sam just ate this F---ing climb for breakfast. At this point in my life I am balancing on the knife-edge between adult responsibilities and still finding Ramen delicious. The mirror is reserved for mornings where I have not eaten too many carbs, and think that I may finally be ready to onsight Godzilla.

What younger people need to understand is you can ADD stuff to Ramen, but not mashed potatoes. And not in a Nalgene bottle. These are beginnings of a story that are never meant to be written, but find their way into the lexicon of a few and create legends. 

[lunger]

Wow--impressive Cascadian scrub-alpinism, gents! Looks like an instant J-berg  classic.  

[Trent]

Great ghastly grunge, gents! A true J-Berg classic! You guys certainly posses the masochistic munge mojo. But seriously, all I can say is "Wow"! Just looking at that line makes be a bit nauseated. And a great name for it as well!

[mountainsloth]

Yikes! Sounds like you found the next modern moderate in the n. Cascades? 😏

I too understand the edge of adulting when you still climb but start to consider the consequences of such a line. Stay safe and thanks for sharing!

[kurthicks]

I lost a Black Prophet up there about 15 years ago--I can't remember if it was a carbon or an aluminum/rubber one though. Not much of a tale to tell--it fell off somewhere and I had to use a skinny rock to dagger my way up the glacier. Who knows how many tools are lost up in the park!?

 

[JasonG]

3 hours ago, kurthicks said:

Who knows how many tools are lost up in the park!?

At least two..... from your climbs.  We pulled a tool your partner lost from the NW face of Forbidden  @kurthicks. 

[CascadeClimber]

On 8/31/2022 at 9:52 AM, Juan Sharp said:

We later lured Bob Davis to join

"My Kingdom for a Cell Phone" is classic Cascades reading. I pull it out for a laugh about once a year. Bob's regard for J-berg and what he'd rather have done to him than ever go back up on is is utterly classic and, frankly, part of the allure of this mountain for me.

[Sam Boyce]

On 10/23/2022 at 3:03 PM, kurthicks said:

I lost a Black Prophet up there about 15 years ago--I can't remember if it was a carbon or an aluminum/rubber one though. Not much of a tale to tell--it fell off somewhere and I had to use a skinny rock to dagger my way up the glacier. Who knows how many tools are lost up in the park!?

 

Look familiar? Parker still has it. 

[Off_White]

On 9/1/2022 at 4:55 PM, pms said:

51, or 57 route?

When I started thinking about the NE Butt. I knew a few friends who had climbed it, so didn’t consider the 51 route. Having been on the 57 route only, I can’t compare the two. I remember thinking the 57 route had a very serious section. A couple hundred feet without ledges, stances, or pro. Not rock climbing, but exposed with small foot holds kicked into the dirt by previous parties. Three of us tied together without pro is how I remember it. For the fall 2021publication of Classic Cascade Climbs and drawing on Tom Sjolseth’s experience, we decided to feature  the 51 route. Pick your poison. Btw, the east ridge is somehow sounding better all the time.

I was always more interested in the routes on the NE Face above the Sil Glacier, which I never attempted beyond the glacier. Half hearted attempts with Mark Twight, Bill Pilling, Dan Cauthorn, and Matt Kerns, 4 trips.

Props to Sam Boyce, and Kyle for exploring tough new ground. Pretty cool. I like Dberdinka’s idea about working on it. Johannesburg is one heck of a mountain. The mountain was originally called Elsbeth by the Ptarmigan’s in memory of Ome Diaber’s first wife killed in a float plane accident.

We did the '57 route back in 1982, so my memory is a little fuzzy. I think we did something non-standard to get out on the rib from the lower bit, up to the triangular snowpatch then out right on some ever so gradually increasingly difficult rock, until the last move onto the heather and I thought, "huh, coulda used a rope back there."  That heather was pretty heads up, but we just kept going until the rappel point before we uncoiled the rope. As I recall, there wasn't much gear placement opportunity, and it was the accumulation of constant mild anxiety that was so wearing. That's the kind of terrain where old fashioned stiff mountain boots are really helpful. We rapped down into the couloir, which we climbed on snow, but it was partly melted out and bridged over the rock in various places, so we just kept the rope on. We invented some cockamamie descent straight down the south side, winding up with the most cush forced bivy ever - soft bed of moss and heather surrounded by dry firewood. We did that descent that heads west, over the far shoulder and straight down the steep timber to wind up near the Torment Basin trail; that descent was out of fashion even back then, but all we knew was the Beckey guide. 🙂

 I thought it was a really good outing, but once was enough. This direct start looks both wild and ghastly, tip o' the cap to you gents.

[rat]

Sounds like someone should start a J'burg Epics thread....

[pms]

Off_White - I had some cheap high top approach shoes. They worked ok, but only because there were steps kicked into the heather by big ass mountain boots.