[TR] Anthony Lakes - Various on Angel Peak and Lees Peak 9/5/2009

[WageSlave]

Trip: Anthony Lakes - Various on Angel Peak and Lees Peak

 

Date: 9/5/2009

 

Trip Report:

My buddy Michael and I drove out east from PDX Friday afternoon to escape the coming rains and find some of that fabled eastern Oregon granite. Drove up to the ridge leading to Lees Peak just in time for sunset.

We scrambled up the north ridge of Lees in the dark and decided to rope up right before the shelf Michael led out on collapsed about 500 ft down the mountain.

No injuries or actual falling involved, so we scrambled up and found this great quality 5.6 handcrack on the other side of Lees. That was enough for the night so we crashed out in the dirt.

Dawn was a treat. We hiked over to Angel Peak and found the short cragging that is listed in the Falcon guide. Its lots of fun all fairly easy.

The Falcon guide had no routes listed along the north face of Angel Peak, so we decided to do some adventure climbing.

We climbed two pitches above Michael in this photo and found old rusty bolt belays, the top one sketchier than the first. Fun moderate climbing with ok gear and super featured granite.

Next up was Free Ride to Heaven (4 pitches, 5.6) which goes up the slab in the photo. We simul-climbed the this as one long pitch and found it to be fun friction climbing, though the top pitch was a bit dirty. That could have just us being a bit off route.

Michael is a pitch up and I snapped this before starting to climb. Good gear in bomber granite all the way up. All in all, a great mellow granite climb in a beautiful alpine cirque. We scrambled over to the saddle with Lees, back up Lees, and down to the ridge to make a big loop out of the day.

 

Weather rolled in that night and we failed at finding a local crag in La Grande, so we rolled back to PDX happy to have gotten some dry, warm granite climbing in.

 

Bigger/high res photos can be found @ http://colinbohannan.blogspot.com

 

This is a great spot for Portland climbers to escape the rains and gloom. Lots of moderate climbing, especially if you're willing to do some cleaning. Mostly putting this out there so more folks go out and climb the neat stuff that's out there.

 

Enjoy!

 

Gear Notes:

Light alpine rack. Some slings to replace the old stuff on bolts.

 

Approach Notes:

Short, but no belaying from the car.

[shapp]

Again a bunch of youngins f-ed in the ass by the piece of shit falcon guide, RuefF and Bolf have long dangly cocks f-ing every want-to-climb granite west-sider. Lees peak is to the east and Lakes Lookout is to the west. You were on Lakes Lookout Peak in the dark, not Lees Peak. Angel Peak is back behind (southeast of Lees Peak, up in Angel Basin, which is routinely skied in the winter by bespeckled bearded guys toking J's every powder day in winter. Every 10 year old kid that skis at Anthony Lakes, and every 14 year old that routinely skis/boards Lees Peak slab on any given Saturday during the winter knows this. Fucking-A carry and read the USGS 7.5 minute quad. And the dumb ass jesus freak guide book authors made up their own name for the ramp on Lees Peak that you climbed which is not called "free ride to heaven" by anyone but them, except I guess for those that wasted cash on their book that don't know any better. Dave Jensen climbed that back in the early 1970s and suspects others climbed it before him. It is locally known by several names, Lees Peak slab, Coulier or Ramp, that is all.

 

Shapp

 

p.s. this rant is not directed at you, but the dumb ass authors of the piece of shit guide

 

The old rust stuff you found to the north (left) of Lees Peak Slab is probably left over from Dave Jensen, he put up a few lines out there in the 1970s too, which have fallen into obsurity.

 

Consider yourself educated and spread the word.

Edited September 8, 2009 by shapp

[dberdinka]

Jesus loves you too Shapp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But everyone else thinks you're an asshole.

Edited September 8, 2009 by dberdinka

[ScaredSilly]

Good on ya for getting out east and seeing some new country. There is fun little stuff to be sniffed out. Not to mention some bigger lines.

 

As one of those who came after Dave Jensen and spent many summers and winters up at Anthony Lakes climbing, skiing, and forms of debauchery Shapp is spot on. The Falcon guide is a piece of excrement. I spent an hour with at the Falcon booth correcting the numerous mistakes in the book not such for this area but others as well in Northeastern Oregon.

 

I will see if I can find the article we wrote for summit,it may be old but it is at least accurate.

 

In the meantime this article we wrote might help for High Valley - Climbing 100, 1986

 

[shapp]

In all seriousness, it is hard to imagine how so many mistakes in the NE Oregon section were made, many were obviously not typos, but total lack of research on easily obtained documentation, such as USGS 7.5 minute topos, 2 issues of Climbing Magazine, or how about just asking around at the ski area? See map below for future reference. Good for you guys in getting out there, that part of Oregon is a very special place to a lot of folks, including me

 

p.s. If you study this map, you might find other objectives to visit of which will remain unnamed.

 

Edited September 8, 2009 by shapp

[billcoe]

Again a bunch of youngins f-ed in the ass by the piece of shit falcon guide, RuefF and Bolf have long dangly cocks f-ing every want-to-climb granite west-sider. Lees peak is to the east and Lakes Lookout is to the west. You were on Lakes Lookout Peak in the dark, not Lees Peak. Angel Peak is back behind (southeast of Lees Peak, up in Angel Basin, which is routinely skied in the winter by bespeckled bearded guys toking J's every powder day in winter. Every 10 year old kid that skis at Anthony Lakes, and every 14 year old that routinely skis/boards Lees Peak slab on any given Saturday during the winter knows this. Fucking-A carry and read the USGS 7.5 minute quad. And the dumb ass jesus freak guide book authors made up their own name for the ramp on Lees Peak that you climbed which is not called "free ride to heaven" by anyone but them, except I guess for those that wasted cash on their book that don't know any better. Dave Jensen climbed that back in the early 1970s and suspects others climbed it before him. It is locally known by several names, Lees Peak slab, Coulier or Ramp, that is all.

 

Shapp.......

 

I still find it amazing that folks would drive 300 miles or so to climb these routes just because they are finally in a guidebook. Wow, the power of a guidebook to drive hordes of people.

[NateF]

Thanks for the TR guys. That sounds like a fun area, for skiing and climbing. Glad the ledge collapse turned out A-OK. The crappy guidebook sounds like it adds to the adventure, despite chapping a few a**es. As for hordes, it looks like you escaped them and got some climbing in.

[LostCamKenny]

I still find it amazing that folks would drive 300 miles or so to climb these routes just because they are finally in a guidebook. Wow, the power of a guidebook to drive hordes of people.

 

I drove over there for it and i didn't do it because i had the guidebook, bill! I did it because it was granite, and granite in oregon, and climbable granite in oregon at that. where else in oregon do get granite that you can climb? tell me and i'll go there... the guide just helped the approach to the slabs.

 

good job guys! I was over there in early july and had a blast on the dome, but there was too much snow to reach the slabs that you guys were on. great pics. did you guys go look at gunsight dome at all?

[LostCamKenny]

p.s. this rant is not directed at you, but the dumb ass authors of the piece of shit guide

 

... then send the F-ing authors your rant and don't piss on the TR here because your pissed that they got it wrong - so what! at least it is getting climbed - this obscure shit probably has seen fewer ascents than some of pdx's local crags have. i understand your point is to educate others but do it off the thread and don't knock 'em just because they used a guidebook that had it wrong... it'll be another few years before anyone else goes to climb it in the summer again anyway...

[billcoe]

Well, I can say I'm amazed...but realistically despite being way old, over the hill and decrepit I totally understand as last weekend I hung out on this side of the hill and got rained on 2 days in a row. Went exploring Saturday since it was so wet, the Granite on this side of the crest near PDX was so damn wet you couldn't even see it from the road. Bet the granite over there was dry.

 

I think I did that route you are calling "Free Ride to Heaven (4 pitches, 5.6)", in 1976 with a handful of wired nuts and hexes with the late Ken Cronk and Richard Canelaria. I mostly remember it cause there was a huge mass of glacial ice 7/8 of the way up blocking the route and we didn't have crap for tools, nor did I think having the ice break clean off and falling on us was a good idea as the day was way warm. I basically got the quiet peer pressure thing that got me going up it. But the ice hung like the sword of Damocles the entire way, threatening our lives if it collapsed off. There was an easy traverse off into the trees (5.6?) where the ice blocked all passage as it turned out. Then later these guys, mostly Ken I guess, all teased me publicly (in a friendly way) for being such a pussy...so I got some feedback from some other bros about this climb throughout the year which made it more memorable than about everything else we were climbing on all the time.

 

We thought we were the first there till my brother explained that about everything up that way had already been climbed years before. Bad memory but I think maybe Dave Jensen (Jensens ridge) or Mead Hargis (Yos ranger) did this one, like a lot of the cliffs over there. Some good stuff over that way, but you have to hunt for it or hike to it. The Matterhorn for instance, the longest, biggest baddest assed rock climb in Oregon, has gone how many years without a 2nd ascent? 36 years....Dave Jensen was a Mensch for sure. A badassed Super Ubermensch.

 

Found and climbed some bits of sweet sweet Elkhorn granite last year here and there.

 

My Manboob pose.

[shapp]

p.s. this rant is not directed at you, but the dumb ass authors of the piece of shit guide

 

... then send the F-ing authors your rant and don't piss on the TR here because your pissed that they got it wrong - so what! at least it is getting climbed - this obscure shit probably has seen fewer ascents than some of pdx's local crags have. i understand your point is to educate others but do it off the thread and don't knock 'em just because they used a guidebook that had it wrong... it'll be another few years before anyone else goes to climb it in the summer again anyway...

 

I would send the Authors my 20 page correction of the book, but can't seem to find an address anywhere (I have tried). Sent it to Falcon with no reply. Your post above is spoken like a true ignorant west sider, Lee's Peak ramp is climbed every summer, and skied countless times in the winter. Climbers from EOU Outdoor Program and such climb it, and climbed it plenty before there was a guide. The approach is pretty much self explanitory if you ever ski at Anthony Lakes. Any given sunny weekend you might find some EOU climbers on Slabs up around Hoffer Lakes. Maybe you didn't notice anyone there when you went cause it was too early in the year! duh, they probably didn't write that in the guidebook for you to follow though. All the EOU kids were at Hells Canyon then. You could have PMed me about climbing out that way, and I would have hooked you up with some goods, like many others who have PMed me over the years, but I guess that is out of the cards. I will give you one tip though, don't bother with the drive out for Gunsight Peak.

 

P.S. Bill is hot!

 

Edited September 11, 2009 by shapp

[billcoe]

P.S. Bill is hot!

 

Hah! Just last night my wife of 29 years was saying that I was way out of shape. I knew that saying "hey I'm still cruising 5.10" was meaningless so I just used the classic Scott Peterson line as she was doing that eyebrow arch thing and giving tubby hubby the stink eye: "Round is a shape too honey". LOL

[ScaredSilly]

Sent it to Falcon with no reply. ...

 

Shit I did not even get hardly a thanks when I gave the owner of Falcon my corrections in person. So what you expect a hand written thank you with a complementary signed copy??? :-)

 

Lee's Peak ramp is climbed every summer, and skied countless times in the winter. Climbers from EOU Outdoor Program and such climb it, and climbed it plenty before there was a guide.

Sorry, youth but the kids from the high school in La Grande were climbing those nipples well before they ever went to EOU (EOSC for you old farts). Some of those sorry ass punks even skied them. One of those punks just had Pattagucci publish his book on his romps around the hills.

 

I will give you one tip though, don't bother with the drive out for Gunsight Peak.

 

Alright now I am insulted, BITD that was one of my finest FAs. Yeah, it is dirty, ain't very hard, and lacks any difficulties and some people make fun of it by skiing it but shit we drove up from LaGrande at least twice before we got the thing done. What do ya expect for a couple of 18 year olds that had barely got away from their mama's apron strings??? I think Lee's took us three tries cause of the damn snow Bill mentioned. Hell once later we were on a roll and did both in a day. We were such studs.

 

Yeah stay out of Eastern Oregun nuttin but mutton ...

 

 

 

 

[billcoe]

OK OK OK, please tell me you have some shots of this BITD stuff! I never use to carry a camera preferring to live in the now, tell me you felt otherwise!! I want to see EB's and swami pictures....or Willans Harness....or whatever was typical climbing stuff dejour then.

 

ps, patagucci book reference, is that Steve House?

 

[shapp]

Quick note:

 

Scared: I was there when it was EOSC, didn't attend, wife did.

 

I respect your FA and all your climbing that lead the way for others, but still think the route is not worth a 4.5 hour drive from PDX

 

going to Alaska this morning, more banter latter

Shapp

[vert]

I believe i posted this in the past, Lute Jerstad employed Dave Jensen and ran a climbing school at Smith and anthony lakes way back when. French extreme skiers Anselm Baud and Lionel Vibault visited EOSC and presented a film of thier descents in the alps. They skied all the steep stuff around anthony and climbed those routes during thier visit(Anselm also made the first descent of the NF Hood too). Previous to that, Stein Ericksen visited while searching for a ski area location sponsored by the Union Pacific Railroad and he skied gunsight on wooden skis with leather boots and bindings. This was witnessed by Fred Phillips, rest in peace, a local rancher who gave me my first job in 1980. Steve House grew up here and i dont think put up any routes at anthony; one though with me at hells canyon and two others at Benthos. As i look back, i am beginning to see a valid point for producing a guide book for historical value and user enjoyment. While still just a thought, i am open for hearing the pros and cons by interested parties. If i move foward with this idea, i would also be up for partners or teams to help with photographs and logistics. I think the time is right and a guide would be full of objectives to offer PNW climbers alternatives to go at.

 

Let me know what you all think-

Thanks, Mark Hauter-

[WageSlave]

Wow. I'm surprised by the volume and intensity a little TR on some neat, dry granite has stirred up. It was a fun reason to get away from the rain out west.

 

Billcoe, you're right on about the weather. Driving 4.5 hours isn't so bad if the other options are Smith or sitting in the rain storm back in PDX. That hanging snow/ice sounded like it made that way more interesting. We just found silt and small rocks where that used to be.

 

LostCamKenny, we went out there for the same reason: granite in OR. It seemed novel enough to warrant a drive out east. Plus it happened to be more fun than the shitstorm is seemed to have brought up on the interwebs.

 

Shapp, no one is making you drive out east so no reason to bitch about us doing it. The guidebook was crap, but at least we got the library's copy, so we didn't have to fork over any money for it.

 

All the historical info about the area is awesome and interesting. I knew that there was a lot more climbing out there after some locals gave us beta & history on the area. Having a guidebook to the area would have kicked ass. There's not really a resource for those who don't already know someone out there.

[Checat]

If anyone were to do it, it should be you (mark hauter); from what I've heard of your exploits in that region of the state. The authors of the (I agree with shapp) failed Falcon state guide misrepresented the area but still let people know about its wherabouts. Out of respect to the areas and these great visionaries who developed them, a guidebook should be developed.

Edited September 13, 2009 by Checat

[billcoe]

The guidebook was crap, but at least we got the library's copy, so we didn't have to fork over any money for it.

 

THAT IS AWESOME!!!! LOL! (embarrassed to say I didn't even think of it!)

 

Mark, If I had even a single picture of those days it would be yours. At one time I had a pic of my brother on some steep near vertical water ice that forms on Mt Emily on occasion...styling with 10 point crampons, wool shirt and pants with a single ice axe, but don't even know where that is. Good luck!

[ferg]

i love the elkhorns, it's been about 7 years, i used to do some moderate climbing (nothing spectacular though), and snowboarding up there, but it sure was fun.i spend more time in the wallowa mtns.

awesome pics BTW.

a buddy and i hiked gunsight during the winter, and snowboarded down, it was enough to make our buttholes pucker, never tried it again. we were lucky.

but back on subject, some very fun climbing up there if your starting out IMO.

it's about a 40 minute drive for me during the summer months.

very cool guys i,m glad you had fun.

 

[LostCamKenny]

[ Your post above is spoken like a true ignorant west sider

 

perhaps... but you, sir, are an asshole

[LostCamKenny]

Wow. I'm surprised by the volume and intensity a little TR on some neat, dry granite has stirred up. It was a fun reason to get away from the rain out west.

 

Billcoe, you're right on about the weather. Driving 4.5 hours isn't so bad if the other options are Smith or sitting in the rain storm back in PDX. That hanging snow/ice sounded like it made that way more interesting. We just found silt and small rocks where that used to be.

 

LostCamKenny, we went out there for the same reason: granite in OR. It seemed novel enough to warrant a drive out east. Plus it happened to be more fun than the shitstorm is seemed to have brought up on the interwebs.

 

Shapp, no one is making you drive out east so no reason to bitch about us doing it. The guidebook was crap, but at least we got the library's copy, so we didn't have to fork over any money for it.

 

All the historical info about the area is awesome and interesting. I knew that there was a lot more climbing out there after some locals gave us beta & history on the area. Having a guidebook to the area would have kicked ass. There's not really a resource for those who don't already know someone out there.

 

Do doubt, huh?

[LostCamKenny]

Shapp, no one is making you drive out east so no reason to bitch about us doing it. The guidebook was crap, but at least we got the library's copy, so we didn't have to fork over any money for it.

Well, apparantly, anyone who uses the shoddy guide or defends ones trip or anothers trip over there is an ignorant westsider. Shapps jealous that the jesus freaks that made the crappy guide got to it before he could - that's what it sounds like to me

 

I say, keep going over there and keep climbing it using the wrong names and everything! Sound as much like an ignorant westsider as you can so that shapp will be able to educate everyone doing it as though he is the resident expert!

 

Climbing is climbing and - to me, maybe I'm wrong - it matters not how you get your beta or from what source, just as long as you get back to give beta to someone else. Good on ya , WageSlave! If ya ever wanna go back let me know - I'll ride along!

[Checat]

I will try and defend schapp a bit on this, its only fair because, like him, I was doing my share of belly-aching when that Bolf piece of junk was released.

 

The guidebooks that have defined and depicted Oregons rich rock-climbing history, in the past, have had defining qualities that have lended to an amazing oral history of the activity in our great state: Dodge's initial state guide, Jeff Thomas' Oregon Rock, Watt's Smith. Even the regionals like the local style stuff that came out of the Umpqua and Southern Oregon and Tim Olson's Portland Region series are quality resources with history, ascentist information, and they were developed by and in conjunction with the developers of the areas that they covered.

Even Greg Orton's series has picked up the torch for this concept that a guidebook should go beyond the driving directions and route information.

 

In all these situations modern and historic the RIGHT person developed the RIGHT guidebook because of REAL route knowledge and an obvious emphasis on research, communication with involved ascent parties and an acknowledgement of the areas history and its place in Oregon Rock-climbing.

 

THE FALCON GUIDE IS EVERYTHING THAT THESE OTHER GUIDES WERE NOT:

 

While this thread is in regard to Anthony Lakes, my frustration, (and I believe shapps if you pressed him) is that the authors of the Falcon guide were not the right gentleman for the job. Pure and simple. They flagrantly posted areas that had been developed for decades before they were even "climbers". Local climbers who were already part of these areas, had (and have) a greater knowledge of not only the correct names and ratings but also have something to present in regard to WHO came before them and developed, WHAT ethical and stylistic regard the area was developed under and WHY these previously unknown areas held a place in the states anthology of great climbing. The Falcon authors completely disregarded all these attributes that make up a GOOD guidebook and opted to post directions that they obviously procured from the Web and opted for cheap, less than helpful hand drawns for areas that were already published, and included new stuff that they weren't really prepared to do the footwork for in a tawdry attempt to actually sell some copies.

 

If they called their piece of junk Rock and Web and simply called it what it was: a compilation of internet facts of the time, and presented it as their interpretation of a seemingly GUMBY roadtrip based on information ANYONE could have garnered from the web than they would have at least been honest about what they were peddling.

 

BUT NO! They are trying to sell it as a STATE GUIDE. If it is a state guide, than people that have been climbing around this state for longer then they have will have an extremely high standards for that State Guide.

 

If some are content with it as a resource to at least get them in the vicinity of "new" terrain to them, fair enough. But in real terms: How often is Falcon going to sink money into developing an Oregon State guide? As an Oregonian climber objectively looking at said guide, does it represent your states climbing potential in a positive light?

 

IMHO - If I was from Vermont and looked at that pile of butt-wipes I would scoff at Oregon and assume the same old moniker: "nuthin much outside of smith", which after climbing in and out of this state for over 8 years now, I know is false.

 

They were the wrong guys for the job, and I welcome there defense of this accusation.

 

The fact that they were unwillingly to even see the error of their ways when knowledgable folks contacted them post-publishing and care little to make amends for their ULTIMATE FAILURE of a guidebook is even more evidence that the job of publishing a State of Oregon guide was someone else's to undertake.

 

BTW, Sorry to truly hijack this from a stellar Trip Report on a stellar area. But people should understand shapp's (and my) condemnation of the Falcon Guide. We shouldn't have to accept as Oregon Climbers a misrepresentation of what Oregon climbing is about.

 

Or should we? should we be content that two jokers are making money off of something I wouldn't use as mountain money on cragging expedition?

Edited September 15, 2009 by Checat

[LostCamKenny]

BTW, Sorry to truly hijack this from a stellar Trip Report on a stellar area.

 

No you're not... and neither is Shapp. If you were you'd have left it alone! This is at least shapp's 2nd time hijacking a TR about this place because of his distaste for that guide (he did it to mine, too - thanks jackass!) I'm done with this thread because it is only going to further degrade WS's TR, when all his trip was was an effort to avoid crappy weather here in the valley. Whether or not the falcon guide was done by the right people or not makes no difference anymore - what's done is done and the only thing to do now is accept the fact that someone got it wrong. If you really want to be proactive then go out and make your own guide - sounds like with the amount of ranting going on here that there are actually some climbers who know something abnout the place. Maybe they should collaborate and put together a quality guide that has information correct and honest - that would certainly be better than ranting about it here!

Again, nice job Colin!