hakioawa Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 What do you think is the toughest WA peak to bag? I mean overall, so things like techincal climbing, approach, altitude, season, route finding. The whole shebang. Some peaks look tough at first glacne, but have a walk up route around the back. Others are not too technical but have 20+ mile bushwacks. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 nooksac tower maybe. mattp and i talked about this once and it throughs everything at you. and is burl from all sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 the harder twin spire grizzly tower swiss peak mighty mt si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertm Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Nooksack is a pretty tough package -- not hard but intimidating. What about Agnes. It is a long ways in and I think the easiest route up it is 5.6. Could it be done in a day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegetablebelay Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 I hear Lincoln is pretty tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Middle peak of Mt. Index. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Those are all easy peaks compared to some of the peaks surrounding the government installation I believe they call "Area 51". Hell, you'll get shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 I like that exit driving back from Leavenworth to Portland that just says "Military Area" in the middle of nowhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 How come in the coolest PNW town thread no body mentioned Shaniko? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 cuz it's a ghost town, mebbe...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 pop 20! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 and a hide-out for those sneaky OSP wankers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 isnt manashtash pass in there too somewhere? everry time i go over it i think of the ads for the hemp chalk bags featuring the dirty wookie scrambling up some boulder and dipping into his chalk bag, apparently for a scoobie snack, that used to run in climbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Dru said: isnt manashtash pass in there too somewhere? You talkin' 'bout the manastash pass over here b/w Yakivegas and E-burg? Don't see many WSP wankers up there, altho they do sit down in the median around MP 21 or 22 and bust the truckers coming down off the last hill into Selah. Sometimes they get private cits, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Dru said: the harder twin spire grizzly tower swiss peak mighty mt si Dru: None of these look "hardest" from Becky's books. Nutsack Tower certainly qualifies for the hardest with the easiest route being a Becky grade III-IV, 5 hours to summit. "This mamoth rock tower is one of the most difficult and imposing summits in the Cascade Range...." Not sure how much the approach adds. Index Middle finger: "...is certainly one of the most inaccessible spots in the Cascade Range...." Easiest route is the West face, Becky Grade III-IV, 11 hours to summit. Pretty sure you can reach the summit of the middle peak via the traverse route in around 10 or 11 hours from the car as well. Either way, lotsa brush and route finding . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegetablebelay Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 What's he say about Lincoln?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 according to Burdo, Grizzly Tower is the most difficult summit in the Cascades to attain by its standard route: 5.10 climbing mandatory. it's only 1 pitch or so but still....it looks like a bitch to get into too, right in the middle of a ridge of towers.... anybody here done it? nooksack climbing is mostly 4th with some 5.4 is what someone who did it told me. the far twin spire is not as long, but is significantly worse rock and a longer hike in...also what i was told and how it looked to me hhikingby it in the moonlight after coming off redoubt it looked hard.... who here has done em both and can compare? what about fearsome mt si, beauty queen of the north cascades and hazardous enigma? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 vegetablebelay said: What's he say about Lincoln?????? nice avatar! Herb Staley says, "The West Butte presented a vast forest of lava rock in various stage of decay" Becky omminously says "9 hours from the trail, Grade III, note that this is a serious climb with technical difficulty and rockfall hazzard; the descent can be difficult." deduct a point for no brush, add a point for glacier travel. I think a Becky grade III is like a modern day IV and a Becky grade III-IV is a V! I wonder what he thinks is the toughest? Index middle peak is home to one of the only Grade VI's in the state also. What's some of you cascade hardmen think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Dru said: according to Burdo, Grizzly Tower is the most difficult summit in the Cascades to attain by its standard route: 5.10 climbing mandatory. it's only 1 pitch or so but still....it looks like a bitch to get into too, right in the middle of a ridge of towers.... anybody here done it? I am unfamiliar with this Tower. Which ridge is this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picketeer Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Middle Index never made it onto my tick list. It is Most Impressive and a rockfall nirvana! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 stefan grizzly tower is in a group of towers near Tower Mountain and N of Wash Pass. there's a photo in the red beckey. grizzly, lynx, parcae pinnacle etc i dunno what the rest are called. pete doorish et al stuff from the 1980's and 1990's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Dru said: stefan grizzly tower is in a group of towers near Tower Mountain and N of Wash Pass. there's a photo in the red beckey. grizzly, lynx, parcae pinnacle etc i dunno what the rest are called. pete doorish et al stuff from the 1980's and 1990's. Oh now I know. I have been near it. The group is called The Needles just east of Washington Pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 yup dat the one. bet many if not all peak baggers give it a miss (too hard) and tech climbers ignore it too (too short) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jens Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Dru said: "according to Burdo, Grizzly Tower is the most difficult summit in the Cascades to attain by its standard route: 5.10 climbing mandatory. it's only 1 pitch" ___________________________________________________ If that is the criteria, then there are hundreds if not thousands of tiny towers or fingers of rock in the PNW that require 5.10 to get to the top. My vote is for Nooksack Tower. Jens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Jens said: If that is the criteria, then there are hundreds if not thousands of tiny towers or fingers of rock in the PNW that require 5.10 to get to the top. My vote is for Nooksack Tower. Jens Is the criteria including approach, difficult of climbing, etc. as a whole? Is nooksack tower getting votes because of objective dangers as well? In reality, the approach to nooksack tower is pretty easy in my book. The bushwhack is minimal, in fact it's not really a bushwhack, and the glacier is straight-forward. it's not all that long. it's true the approach is gully is pretty steep, but I'd have to imagine the in terms of overall difficulty something deep in the pickets would be higher on the pain in the ass factor simply due to longer distances, more 'whacking, etc. BTW, where is swiss peak? It's in the pickets near challanger right? I dont have a becky guide near by and I can't find it on a USGS map. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.