catbirdseat Posted September 1, 2003 Posted September 1, 2003 In this unsuccessful attempt, our party of four approached via Gunsight Notch and camped below CJ Col where water is available by melting snow. Approach took 8 hours. Belayed a 3 foot step across at GS Notch (Right side). You can also go the left side over some snow bridges, but it is steep with crevasses waiting if you should slip. Don't take the gully below GS Notch, but rather the heather slopes to the left, then cut right to the goat path. After 6 hours running belays we reached the East Summit and realized we were going way to slow to go for the true summit and still get off early enough to get back to GS Notch before dark, so turned around there at noon. Might have gone for it if we had budgeted a third day. Made it back to the cars by 11 pm. Still it was a valuable learning experience. I learned the following: There is too much rock fall potential for parties of more than two. The route is so long that even running belays are too slow. You have to be willing to simulsolo fourth class rock if you are going to climb J'Berg. Only a few short sections needed protection [but one of our climbers wasn't comfortable with it so we were roped the whole way]. One should allow three days if going by GS Notch. The rock protects better than I thought it would. Bring a small rack of medium to large nuts and small to medium cams. The yellow and red Aliens got a lot of use. Bring two 37 m x 8 or 9 mm ropes for rappelling. Quote
jja Posted September 2, 2003 Posted September 2, 2003 Could you even see what you were climbing in all that smoke? For most of the day yesterday I couldn't even see jberg from forbidden!! ... must have been hard on the eyes and lungs. Quote
catbirdseat Posted September 2, 2003 Author Posted September 2, 2003 There were times when the smoke was pretty bad. It made Mars look all the more ruddy when it rose at night. I was suprised that the smoke didn't bother our lungs more than it did. I had to launder everything I owned yesterday, including slings, harness, pack, sleeping bag. Everything reeked of smoke. Quote
Stefan Posted September 2, 2003 Posted September 2, 2003 I have heard of people doing that traverse.....I thought it was a myth. I have heard experienced Cascade folk talk about that traverse as a waste of time. Cascade couloir is not that bad in the late spring or early summer. Quote
catbirdseat Posted September 2, 2003 Author Posted September 2, 2003 I had a partner who was adamant that he would never under any circumstances enter that couloir no matter what time of day, time of year, going up or down. He said every time he'd ever been to Cascade Pass he had seen ice fall thundering down the slot. So yes the traverse is a waste of time, if you aren't afraid of the couloir. If you have the extra time and have a lower risk threshold the traverse isn't all that bad. No I didn't put the slings in the washing machine. I used a bucket of warm water and dishwashing soap. Quote
mattp Posted September 2, 2003 Posted September 2, 2003 Catbird, you have way too much time on your hands if you have time to wash the smoke out of your slings!!! Quote
Colin Posted September 3, 2003 Posted September 3, 2003 "I have heard of people doing that traverse.....I thought it was a myth. I have heard experienced Cascade folk talk about that traverse as a waste of time. Cascade couloir is not that bad in the late spring or early summer." I did the traverse to Gunsight Notch after climbing J'Berg in summer, and it wasn't that bad at all. I wouldn't want to be in the CJ Couloir late in the day (which is when you'd be descending). As of two weeks ago, the CJ Couloir had about a 200 ft. section of no snow. It's a sad summer... Quote
Stefan Posted September 3, 2003 Posted September 3, 2003 I have glissaded the couloir from top to bottom--in a light rain drizzle. Hell, people have skied the couloir from top to bottom......and Colin.....well.....Colin is several notches above my climbing abilities....... Quote
catbirdseat Posted September 3, 2003 Author Posted September 3, 2003 mattp said: Catbird, you have way too much time on your hands if you have time to wash the smoke out of your slings!!! While it is true that I do have way too much time on my hands, I didn't have a choice on the slings. All my climbing gear is stored in the house (we have no garage). My wife would complain of the smell if I didn't take care of it. Quote
Jens Posted September 5, 2003 Posted September 5, 2003 Stefan said: I have glissaded the couloir from top to bottom--in a light rain drizzle. Hell, people have skied the couloir from top to bottom......and Colin.....well.....Colin is several notches above my climbing abilities....... Cool who nabbed the ski? That was one I wanted. My advice for the couloir is keep movin. I got avalanched by calving shit a long time ago and only survived by diving blindly into a bottomless moat on the side. Quote
skykilo Posted September 5, 2003 Posted September 5, 2003 Jens said: Cool who nabbed the ski? That was one I wanted. Ahem... I think a couple of posers skied it last April... http://staff.washington.edu/skykilo/CJCouloir/CJCouloir.html (Insert chest-beating icon.) Quote
russ Posted September 5, 2003 Posted September 5, 2003 skykilo said: Ahem... I think a couple of posers skied it last April... http://staff.washington.edu/skykilo/CJCouloir/CJCouloir.html (Insert chest-beating icon.) skykilo - only 2 of the pictures come up for me and the link to the second page doesn't work. Is it my pc settings or something with the site? Looked like an excellent adventure. Quote
skykilo Posted September 5, 2003 Posted September 5, 2003 Oops... I edited it a little last night, but I didn't realize the links to those flicks got farked up. I'll fix it this afternoon. Quote
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