failed attempts

[plexus]

This winter it has been a traverse of Welker-Widget-Wobegon. Twice made plans to climb them, twice met with friends to go climb them, and each time the weather and visibility has been such crap that the day resulted in indoor climbing.

 

But this is Washington, I've come to accept that the weather more times than not will stymie my plans. I just hate it when it rubs it in my face by having gorgeous weather on the days I have to work.

[gregm]

the closest i ever came to dying in an avalanche was trying to climb whitehorse while we were just below lone tree pass. a minute later on our bailing return boot track and a huge one would have taken me out. some summit fever contributed to that near accident and it remains one of my most important personal reference points for better decision making.

 

our second attempt was during much better conditions and i will never forget how nice a day it was. cest la vie.

[dkemp]

Sheesh, I've got so many failed attempts one of my friends gave me the nickname "Double-Try" Dox.

 

HEY! I RESEMBLE that remark!

Dox

 

[leejams]

gregm said:

the closest i ever came to dying in an avalanche was trying to climb whitehorse while we were just below lone tree pass.

 

Yeah that's the prob with turning back cause of what you think might happen. But then you get that nagging feeling, did we do the right thing?? We were making great time with 3 switching off breaking trail so the summit was well within reach timewise.

[jj221]

EAST COAST CLIMBER SHAME

 

While learning to lead at the Gunks I was working my way up through the grades. I had made it a point to tick every 3 star climb that I was capable of climbing per a grade as I progressed. My partner and I had been planning on a climb called Frog's Head (5.5, 2 pitches). The first time I tried we were under dressed for the frigid weather that moved in over the course of the day. I got about 20 feet into the first lead when my partner said "pull" he couldn't take the cold anymore. Gratefully me and my iceberg hands jumped off the route. That would be the last time I would see that route open for the next 8 months. If you haven't climbed the Gunk's before it is a great place but has a lot of crowds. 3 star classics at a moderate grade are crowd magnates. I estimate that the next 30+ times we went to the climb it was occupied. It happened with such regularity that it became joke with our friends- the climbed was dubbed Eldorado after the lost city gold. I finally had my chance on the morning of 12/15/01. It was cold but we were prepared. The whole of the Gunks was empty. I was approaching the base of the climb only to find a person camped out at the base of my much-coveted climb. As I got a little closer I noticed it wasn't a camper but rather a body. 2 days before somebody dissatisfied with their life decided to end it by jumping off a cliff. There are 500 possible routes on the Trapps escarpment of the Gunks of all the places this kid could have managed to land he touches down at the base of a climb I've been unable to climb 30+ times because of crowds. Needless to say I didn't get to climb the climb that day. 2 hours of body extraction and a 1 1/2 of police reports at the local barracks sucked the climbing wind out of sails that day.

 

I have 4 attempts on the Oh My God Dihedral at Old Rag, Virginia. A combination of weather, partner failure, and getting lost has rebuffed me. Someday....

 

In a slightly manlier vein I've had the ferocious storms of Mt. Washington kick my ass twice. 80 mph winds, zero visibility and bitter cold will end your day fast.

 

[erik]

welcome (l)east coaster!

 

[Alpine_Tom]

wayne1112 said:

Johanesbuger took me 4 tries! same with Baker and Illumination in winter. The big one is still the Great Center Drip. I have tried it 12 times

 

Yeah, well, you expect something like Johannesburg to take a few tries. But fer cryin' out loud, this was my FIFTH attempt on this lousy peak -- four times via the glacier and once via Lone Tree!

So I've decided that it's actually a "project." So on Saturday I was just "workin' my project," rather than failing to summit.

 

I attached one of Lee's digital photos (I hope) so you can decide for yourselves if we turned back too soon.

[plexus]

Looked like wonderful conditions to work on your "project"

[catbirdseat]

The best time to climb Whitehorse is in early June during the Bluegrass festival. You can climb and listed to some great music from the summit.

[iain]

I never fail.

[JoshK]

plexus said:

Looked like wonderful conditions to work on your "project"

 

Yup, that's chance of showers according to the NWS. it snowed non stop from when we left the car to when we got back, albeit the snow level had moved up a bit by then.

 

What shocked me the most was how little the snow had consolidated over the past week. I had expected to find it knee deep up high possibly, but when we turned around Tom was up to his waist in it.

[texplorer]

iain said:

I never fail.

That's cause Skiing is easy.

[iain]

texplorer said:

iain said:

I never fail.

That's cause Skiing is easy.

contrary to the smear campaign presented here, I don't ski everywhere. Only when it makes a lot more sense to move 20mph w/zero effort versus 5mph with a ton of effort. I don't fail, I simply maintain a holding pattern until the summit is attainable. This may involve going back to town to resupply and rest, but success is inevitable.

[JoshK]

iain said:

This may involve going back to town to resupply and rest, but success is inevitable.

 

 

Town is mearly my basecamp, and every climb is my attempt to squeeze through the weather window to the summit.

[leejams]

Joshk, did you notice you just hit 1,000 posts. Whew, thats a bunch and a few more thousand and you will join the upper crust

[JoshK]

Yup, I celebrated 1,000 with a brief mention on the "WA 50 classics" thread.

 

I wish their was a way of tracking posts my time, date, etc. with graphs. I'd like to see how it coincides with my downtime at work. Probably very closely

[texplorer]

cuddos to you Ian. Sounds like your a smart climber. I am usually smart but have been known to push through when prudence would warrant retreat.

[texplorer]

Congrats JoshK,

I too will soon join you at 1000.

[klenke]

catbirdseat said:

Beckey has a description of the route we used for the Upper Pride, but it is sketchy and in some cases wrong. We went in via Quartz Creek, camped on the ridge. Climbed the glacier and summitted at 2 pm. Descended west face to Columbia Glacier and camped at North end of Blanca Lake at 6 pm. Hiked the rest of the way out in the morning. A strong party could skip the second night out. The route sees a successful attempt about once every three years or so, judging from the summit register.

 

On my second Kyes failure, a group of four of us tried it via the Northeast Ridge in mid-September. Had a slow party member, but that wasn't the real problem. We had forgotten to bring crampons and the upper part of the Pride Glacier looked like it would have to be traversed a bit on steep snow. So we turned around at the last ridge saddle before going up the final steep bit to the class 5 corner. I'd go back there and try it again. We were going to do it in a day (coming down the South Ridge). Probably better as a two-day unless you get an early start or have more daylight to work with than September offers.

 

All was not lost though, for myself and another went over to Goblin Mountain on the way out. Its got an interesting bouldering problem for the summit rock. I like the fact that I can say I've climbed Goblin Mountain since it's pretty rarely visited.

[j_b]

erik said:

josh very doable

 

once you get to that crappy little lake before you drop down to blanca go past the lake and right before you drop down towards blanca there is a trail on the right side.....easy way to the top.. like an 2 hours or so....

 

we dropped to the lake and then went up to columbia, traveresed to monte cristo and then to keyes returning down this path i speak of...

 

some seriosly crappy rock in that rage!!!

 

though beautiful!!

 

we bivied at the col/micro pass between columbia and m/c.

 

good times!

 

Kyes is a nice day outing (car bivy) from the North (Sloan Pk road-Curry gap), through Goblin Basin (nice rock in there) and up NE ridge (decent rock) or Pride Glacier. As you mentioned, it's possible to traverse over to Monte Cristo and decend via the North Face and traverse back toward the lower NE ridge.

[wayne]

I forget to mention:

 

I have full-on attempted Chair Peak....4 times .

 

I still havent made it up the North Face.

 

I got lost in the night-fog on my last try! Circled right back to the parking lot!

 

Such a wanker

[TimL]

Wayne - that makes me feel better. I've attempted Chair in winter 2 times, Clean Break 2 times, Prussik Peak South Face 2 times, Whitehoarse 1 time and NE ridge on Kyes 1 time, Colchuck Balenced Rock 1 time. If 3 is the magic number then this year should be good. Oh, seems like everytime I post on CC its a failed attempt at something or the other.

[catbirdseat]

So for those of you climbing the NE Ridge on Keyes, were all of you planning to climb the fifth class section above the shoulder? It looks hard to protect. I'd bring knifeblades. Since we were ice climbing, we had only one or two pieces of rock pro and decided to traverse to the South Ridge then up the slabs to the scramble route. That NE ridge is really interesting to downclimb when you get to the few fourth class parts. The best time to do the ice route on the Pride is September or October. Probably same for the NE Ridge if you prefer rock to snow.

[randygoat]

 

 

In a slightly manlier vein I've had the ferocious storms of Mt. Washington kick my ass twice. 80 mph winds, zero visibility and bitter cold will end your day fast.

 

Hey fellow eastie, I summited Madison once in the single didgets with a wind up to 110mph. Bruttle, had to cup my hands over my nose to get a breath of air.Face the wind and I couldn't exhale, turn around and I couldn't inhale. Not to mention being sent sprawling on the rocks many times. 8 hours to cover just a few miles[ we camped below tree line], came down, grabbed the tent[ wadded it in the packs] and went down to North Conway to get a room and eat and drink like fiends.

 

Also got turned back from Pinnicle Gulley twice this fall. Once it was a constant flow of spindrift pouring down[ when the wind wasn't blowing it back up]just like trying to climb through an hour glass. tooknhalf an hour to climb 50 feet of thin ice, no idea if the rest o the route was even in or not. Went back a few days later[thanksgiving day] and the wind chill was somewhere around -90. Run away,run away!!!The next day is when those dudes got killed in the avelanche in Tucks.

[eric8]

wayne1112 said:

I forget to mention:

 

I have full-on attempted Chair Peak....4 times .

 

I still havent made it up the North Face.

 

I got lost in the night-fog on my last try! Circled right back to the parking lot!

 

Such a wanker

 

Cracked and I did the samething . We still made it up the ne buttress though and I thought you were a hardman.

 

this winter i have gotten my stuff together 3 times for the south rib on guye but only once made it into a car and was turned around by rain at the pass.