Another weekend and another horrible forecast.  Jared and I spent most of the week duking it out over where to go climbing.  Smith? Leavenworth? WA Pass? Squamish?  Somehow the weather model for squamish got just good enough that we decided to take our chances.  I left Seattle around 6:00AM on saturday, and made good time up to Bellingham.  We wasted a bit of time to allow things to dry, pulling in to squamish around 11:00 or so.  Driving past the cheif we noticed numerous water streaks running down the apron.  Apparently it had rained a bit over night.  Already hungry for lunch, we grabbed a Hot’n'ready from Little Ceasers, then headed to the Smoke Bluffs to climb the SB connection.  There was a party on Mosquito, and SM was wet, so we opted to wait a few minutes.  The current leader had just followed the pitch and seemed to be making an early lead for himself.  Contrary to what one would expect in such a situation, he hiked the pitch, rapped, and cleaned his gear in short order.  I started up Mosquito and found it to be a wonderful pitch of climbing with great varied moves.  Jared swung the next lead up Phlegmish Dance, which was short, but provided some very good climbing as well.  At the top we walked over to Jabberwocky and were disappointed to find it running water.  A quick walk around and we finished 3/4 of the connection on Wonderland: an amazing traversing pitch with great exposure and fun climbing.

Phlegmish Dance:

From squamish

Wonderland:

From squamish

On the hike back down, we stopped by Neat and Cool where Jared lead the namesake route. This thing was surprisingly steep, with somewhat fiddly pro and a bit of water pulling the roof. Needless to say, a great lead.

Me following Neat and Cool:

From squamish

We hoped that some other things would be dry by now, and we wanted to scope out the grand wall, so we headed over to the grand wall base area. The grand looked a bit wet, but maybe ok. The base area though was mostly deserted. We walked over to the super classic Exasperator just as another party was finishing up. I started up the first 30m pitch of amazing 10a finger locks. Hands down the best finger crack I’ve ever climbed. Jared took the crux 2nd pitch. The moves off the belay are very thin, and Jared took a short hang after fiddling too long with a nut. The rest of the pitch went off without a hitch. Amazing tips finger crack to great rests to thin hands splitter. I’ll have to come back and lead it as one long pitch, but even so I think it is the best <60m climb I've ever done.

Leading P1:

From squamish

Following P2:

From squamish

From squamish

We debated between Apron Strings and Seasoned in the Sun next, ultimately deciding on Seasoned. With great luck again, we walked up just as another party was pulling their rope. Unfortunately 30 seconds later it started drizzling. Optimistic with the nicer skies around us, we waited and 30 min or so later the rain stopped. The warm rock was instantly dry and soon I started up. Not quite as good as exasperator, but still a great crack. My slightly tight climbing slippers were a poor choice on this climb, leaving me cursing by the top.

Leading Seasoned:

From squamish

Nice Evening:

From squamish

Another stop at Little Caeser’s and we headed down to the water to drink beer in the car in the rain.

We slept in late to give the Grand Wall a chance to dry, but we were not too optimistic. We hit the trail around 9:30 or 10:00 I think. We thought we might move ahead a bit in the cue using the flake ledge bypass. The soaking water on the hanging chain didnt inspire too much confidence though. We ended up self belaying this section.

From squamish

We got to the base of Merci Me and noticed quite a bit of water across the runout dyke. We waited a while and contemplated. One party had made it up, but another had turned around without giving an attempt. Shortly after another party showed up, so we let them give it a go to cure our indecisiveness. The leader made short work of the wet sections, instilling some confidence in me. I started up, encountering occasional wetness, but generally nothing too worrisome. 10′ beyond the third bolt a came across a very wet area with fewer positive holds. I weighed my options for a while, but unwilling to commit to the wet moves, I left a carabiner and lowered off. Jared wasnt too eager to give it a shot himself, so we resolved to find an alternative.

The day before we had scoped out the Peasants Route, a 6 pitch 10c between Apron Strings and Exasperator. The start looked very wet, but the rest appeared dry. Because of the wetness at the start there were no other parties on route. Jared set out with some improvised aid up the first 20′ before things got dry enough for free climbing. Well worth the time and effort for the pitches above. P2 is easily the best pitch on the route. A left facing corner of increasing stiffness with crux moves coming near the end. I felt quite privileged to have drawn this lead after Jareds messy first pitch. The climbing begins technical but relatively low angle, with short cruxy sections. The final arching bulge was a bit intimidating, but I managed to push through it. At the base P3 I looked up to see more water. Jared seemed to be getting the short end of the stick, although the pitch was still free climbable and the water didnt seem to detract to much from the climbing. A cool move off the deck followed by a great rest and some liebacking up to easier bolted climbing. Without a topo, the next pitch was a bit confusing, but eventually I determined it was just a move-the-belay type pitch to get to the next corner system. P5 is another money pitch with steep undercling liebacking to a rest in a tree, folllowed by even steeper liebacking. Great Fun! P6 looked pretty uninspiring from below and we werent sure whether to follow the corner to it’s end, or pull on to the face on the left. We almost just gave up on it, but it seemed unfortunate not to finish the route, so I headed up. Turned out to be really fun. Some balancy moves in the corner to a crazy bolt protected swing up on to the neighboring face. Some fun face climbing and then the chains. Super easy 5×30m rappel descent to boot. All in all a fun climb with a couple great pitches and some other ok ones.

Jared aiding the wet start of P1:

From squamish

Free climbing higher up:

From squamish

Me leading P2:

From squamish

Jared following (it is as good as it looks):

From squamish

From squamish

Jared heads up P3

From squamish

Jared gets P5 (another great one)

From squamish

Me on P6:

From squamish

From squamish

After Peasant route, it was time to head back to town for beer and late lunch. We opted for Taco Del Mar, which proved to have dire consequences at the base of our next climb, Centerfold on the Papoose. Jared led the first pitch onsight, stressing a bit at the slippery crux, but pulling through just fine. I started up, and was immediately hit by the revenge of my tacos. I lowered 10′ back to the ground and ran as fast as I could in to the woods to take care of business. Back to the climbing I wasnt quite feeling 100%, and ended up taking a fall at the start and at the crux. By the time I reached the first belay, I felt a bit better and didnt really want to turn down the stellar looking pitch ahead. It started out in a great splitter hand crack, then moved left into an awkward chimney finger crack flare thing. I checked out a finger crack to the right, but it looked a bit steep, so I stuck with the flare. At the top I placed some pro, but was having a hard time commiting to the crux traverse ahead. Turns out my right foot was low, and I ended up hanging. After a readjust I got back on and found the moves reasonable. Beyond the crux, outstanding face climbing (reminiscent of Loving Arms at Index) led up to the belay. Jared set off on P3, with steep moves off the belay leading to easier climbing before some steeper slab. The slab gets steeper and steeper, and after pulling the crux one is supposed to escape left to easier ground. However, we did not read the topo closely before leaving the ground, and straight up was heavily worn (by rappels in retrospect). After smartly realizing that straight up would result in injury, Jared smartly traversed out, but probably not far enough, and reached the belay a bit frazzled. I followed and after some discussion, it became clear where the proper topout was. We made the descent in 2 rappels (1x 32m, 1x 50m). Another outstanding climb that I would definitely go back and do again.

Me heading up P2:

From squamish

Jared follows in beautiful evening light as a train speeds by:

From squamish

Awesome face climbing:

From squamish

From squamish

Jared heads out on hard moves at start of P3:

From squamish

Higher up:

From squamish

Me following:

From squamish

Another gorgeous night:

From squamish

New South Howser Descent Beta

I’ve badly been wanting to visit the Bugaboos every summer for the last few years. Slowly my friends went and ticked off many of the classic routes, while I never seemed to have the time for a week or longer climbing trip. With trying to finish grad school, this summer was seeming no different. In July, Jared went to the Bugaboos intent on climbing the Beckey Chouinard on South Howser, but in the end he settled for the classic NE Ridge on Bugaboo. Immediately upon his return we began discussing plans to go back. Given time constraints, the trip would have to be short. 4 days became 5 days, which ultimately became 3 days. Just barely enough time to climb the BC assuming weather and everything cooperated (unlikely). Leading up to last weekend, the forecast was looking nearly perfect. Warm temps and 0% chance of precip in Radium. We settled on a Thursday evening departure.

To make the short trip more affordable, we stopped by my parents house and traded my minivan for my mom’s hybrid civic. Around 5:00 we were on our way out of town. It wasnt until Moses Lake that we realized we had forgotten to by hard alcohol. The GPS revealed a nearby liquor store, but when we arrived it was closed down. Scrolling through the list of of nearby towns and liquor stores, one by one we found they were all closed for the evening. We resolved to complete our climb without a celebratory beverage waiting at camp. After the long drive through northern Idaho, we crossed the border without issue. By now it was 2 AM and we were getting tired. We eventually found a good camp spot on a dirt road a few miles before Cranbrook. The next morning we were up around 5 AM and back on the road. Shitty breakfast at Tim Hortons in Cranbrook and we were off. In Invermere we spotted a Liquor/grocery store and thought maybe the day would be saved. It was 8AM, but when we pulled up to the door we found that it didnt open until 9AM. Beaten, and unwilling to wait an hour, we headed back out. Just as we pulled out of the parking lot I made a startling revelation: MOUNTAIN TIME! We pulled back around to the front of the store while the checker went about unlocking the doors. Surely the mountain gods were smiling on us. We grabbed some Whiskey and hopped back on the highway. Shortly after Radium, we left the highway and picked up the dirt road leading to the trailhead.

Near the end of the road is the pretty Bugaboo Falls.

The trailhead was very full, with only one or two reasonable parking spots around. This immediately concerned us with traffic on the popular routes. Nonetheless, we shouldered our already-too-heavy packs and hit the trail. The trail starts in flat forest for a mile or so before breaking out for about 2000′ of sweaty uphill climbing with beautiful scenery.

Although the trail crosses some fairly rugged terrain, it has been equipped with ladders and chain hand rails to provide safe and easy passage.

My cold pizza was a welcome treat at our lunch stop at the hut. The hut is quite the luxuirous place with stoves, running water, toilets and beautiful views. Unfortunately it seems far to low in elevation to provide a good basecamp for any reasonable climbing trip.

Above the hut, the trail follows very nice moraine trails with rock stairs on all the steep bits. Those climbing around the Bugaboo and Crescent glaciers can make a nice camp here, but our destination was still a good ways off. The first major obstacle is the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col:

The difficulty of reaching the col typically increases throughout the season, shifting from easy snow, to ice, to loose rock. We caught it with mostly snow, with patches of ice underneath. Crampons and ice axes were welcome, although others made due without crampons.

Above the col we had the first view of our objectives. Turns out that crossing the Vowel Glacier is actually a pretty significant distance and another climb. Pigeon spire on the left and the Howsers on the right.

Approaching Pigeon Howser Col

From the Pigeon Howser Col, it was finally all down hill to camp in East Creek basin. There were reportedly some crevasses opening along the way, so we stayed roped up for the descent.

Much to our surprise, in spite of the great weather and approaching weekend, East Creek had only one other party (a group of strong climbers freeing old aid lines). This was a large relief as other climbers along the approach informed us of a large international party who had fixed ropes up the lower half of the route, culminating in a very busy previous day. I was pretty upset about the thought of fixed ropes destroying some of the alpine nature of the climb. Luckily this mess had been cleaned up when we arrived and we had our choice of prime camp sites.

From camp we had a great view of our route, which would ascend the obvious long buttress.

During dinner we watched the strong Belgian climbers freeing an aid route in the Pigeon Feathers. (One of them, Nicolas Favresse recently made the 2nd ascent of Cobra Crack, one of the worlds hardest crack climbs, in 7 tries). If you look closely you can see a climber in red near the top of the prominent dihedral.

In packing for the next day we had many mixed thoughts. This would be one of the biggest routes either of us had climbed and we weren’t too certain what to expect and what to bring. Light is right, but how light could we get away with? The night would be warm, but we knew an axe would be handy for the descent back to east creek. Similarly, crampons looked like they would be handy on both approach and descent. I’m in the habit of always bringing a light puffy jacket, so that went in a pack. Jared only had a heavier down jacket, but in case of unplanned bivy it would be nice to have. The bugaboos are notorious for rain, so I brought an 8 oz rain shell…. Basically, things were adding up fast. We basically bought enough gear that an unplanned bivy in worsening weather would be tolerable. We planned to split gear between leader and follower packs.

The leader pack contained

12 oz down jacket
1 L water (+1 L that we would drink at base of route)
1 pair grivel aluminum crampons
1 ice axe
1600 calories or so of food
Medium weight softshell jacket

The follower pack contained

26 oz down jacket
2 L water
2 pairs boots
1 axe
Crampons
1600 Cal food
8 oz rain jacket
Spot GPS PLB thingy
Sunblock
Compass
Space Blanket

On the approach scramble, group gear would be more or less split evenly. Including:
Two 7.8mm x 60m half ropes
Blue - Red Tcus
0.5-4 camalots
green, blue and silver DMM 4cus
1 set of nuts

We turned in early, but the bright sky made sleep difficult. Still, we managed a few hours and were up around 4:15 and soon ready to go. After an obvious descent on loose scree and talus, we climbed a steep snow patch leading to the ridge.

The ridge starts with enjoyable scrambling over large boulders, with occasional snow patches. It is quite fun, but there is a much easier bypass to climbers left. Half way up, we dropped to the snowy bypass and gained the next few hundred feet much more easily. Eventually we came to the start of the route. We were climbing on brand new 7.8 half/twin ropes, so flaking was a bit of an issue. I won the rock paper scissors and took off up the first pitch, intending to simulclimb the first 3. Rope tangles immediately became an issue, which slowed things down. Jared ended up tying in around 30m and we’d just deal with the ropes later. On P2 I think I made a small route finding error and found myself on terrain that felt a good bit harder than 5.4. A belayed Jared up, then we sorted out the ropes and I led off again. For P3, I couldnt resist the splitter right hand crack (topo says to take left). It felt a bit harder than 5.6 to me (more like 5.7-5.8), but well worth it.

Somewhere near the start

Jared coming up P3

Jared got the first crux pitch. Great crack climbing up a steepening wall to an awesome juggy crux roof. Topo said insecure, but the roof itself is just bomber moves on great holds.

P4 didnt look like much, but turned out to be very fun. Steep 5.8 climbing leads to easy ground, then a choice of unprotected chimney on left or awesome face cracks on the right. I walked up to the chimney, then promptly wandered over to much better looking climbing on the right.

Up next the route continued to get even better as we entered the “Big Dihedral”. Not sure on length, but it is probably around 300′ long and almost entirely 5.8 with some steep and wide stings in it. We ended up breaking it into 3 pitches instead of 2 out of fear of a hanging belay stance.

After the dihedral, the next pitch doesnt look like much from below. A ledge becomes a gully, which steepens into some surprisingly awesome 5.6 climbing.

At this point we were getting hungry and decided to take a break and let the party behind us pass. We had a nice time watching them climb the pitch and move along their way. This pitch started with some steep hard moves, then stayed pretty sustained throughout. Some of the pro was a bit strenuous, but Jared stuck with it and got it done in good style.

Next pitch was another business pitch. All of a sudden we were feeling pretty dehydrated and the climbing ahead was looking even harder. At the advice of the party ahead of us, I decided to haul my pack on this pitch, then belay short after the crux. The pitch was a brilliant hand and fist crack that ended in an awkward chimney. The protection was excellent, and the climbing strenuous. Here is Jared helping the hauled pack through the chimney.

Another very fast party with almost no gear caught up to us at this point, so we took another break and let them pass. Jared took the 2nd half of the pitch, which is less strenuous, but still pretty challenging and a bit wet. The pitch passes an old piton, then moves in to a grove before tackling some intimidating moves up high.

In giving Jared the 2nd half of the previous pitch, I had given myself one of the more feared pitches on the route through the squeeze chimney. I was very dehyrated by now and my muscles were cramping with most movement. We were running pretty low on water. The pitch starts with a 5.9 balance move to gain the corner. Half ropes make this move easy to protect, but I imagine a single rope would necessitate running out the move. The climbing in the corner was challening, but very good. A small finger crack ran up left of the corner allowing frequent nuts and small cams. There were also amazing face holds scattered up the face. The pitch had quite a few cruxy feeling moves on it, many of which were quite difficult with a pack and cramping arms. After finally gaining the squeeze I was distraught to find it dripping wet. I licked the rock a few times to hydrate and noted that I was also running low on protection and slings. I stuck it out and got through, very relieved to arrive at the belay. Jared followed quickly, only being briefly stymied by the chimney with the larger followers pack.

The next pitch started with just a short crux, then rapidly eased off to scrambling terrain. Jared decided to play a cruel joke on my cramping body by finishing the pitch with a short overhanging 5.9 hand crack. The climbing was awesome, and we were finished with the meat of the route, so I wasnt too upset.

We drank our last half liter of water and I sized up the pitch ahead. Two perfect hand and finger cracks. I took the right one to avoid any more wideness. For the first time a pitch felt easier than the advertised grade (5.8) and I was relieved.

Jared took the next pitch past the crux with some TR help from two well placed pins. From there, an easy gully led upwards. I wasnt to sure how to follow the traverse. Jared said he couldnt get any gear in to position one of our ropes in TR position from above. Fearing a swinging pendulum I threaded my one rope through the eye of a piton and climbed the traverse with TRs from both sides. Turning the corner I realized my shenanigans where unnecessary. I untied my blue rope, pulled it back through the piton and continued on my way.

A short down climb and rappel led us to the base of some blocky terrain. Two more simul pitches finally brought us to the summit.

We were met on the summit by yet another very fast party of 3 (including Ines Papert). One of the climbers had finished a new single rope bolted rappel route down the NE Buttress 2 days prior. In exchange for us letting their group of three go first, they offered us some beta on the route.

The rappels started well, taking a nice reasonably clean line over some broken terrain. On the 4th rappel we encountered our first problem. Jared rappeled down, but upon reaching the end of our ropes he found himself 20 feet from the ledge and the next anchor. Luckily Jared had the 2nd rope and some gear in his pack. He built an anchor, tied off, and pulled the 2nd rope through, allowing him to easily make the ledge. Significant time was lost and the other party was now long gone.

Another single rope rappel over blocky terrain led us to a steepening wall. Jared headed down with it now becoming dark. Initially we followed the main weakness of the wall. Jared could not see any more blots at the end of his ropes. I recommended he climb back up a ways and try the cleaner wall around the corner. Eventually he found the anchor, but could just barely reach the bolts with his feet. He clipped in and let the ropes slide through his device. Frustrated with the supposed 30m raps, I tied the 2nd rope on and rappeled down to Jared. We decided all future raps would be double rope, even if that increased the odds of stuck ropes. The next anchor again was about 32m away, but logically located. One or two more raps and we were over the bergshrund and able to finally start the slog back to camp.

The creek near camp allowed us to rehydrate a bit. At camp we ate a very late dinner and soomehow spent another hour or more eating dinner and drinking our bottle of whisky. It was almost 2AM now, not sure how we stayed up that long.

We slept in until 8:00 or so, when we were awoken by the screams of the Belgians working to free a beautiful line on the Minaret. They put on an impressive show during breakfast.

Laying in my sleeping bag, still a bit exhausted I decided that I really wanted to climb the W. Ridge of Pigeon on our way back out. It was too close and too classic to pass up. I knew it would put of our arrival home by a good bit, but it seemed well worth it. We packed up our stuff and broke camp shortly after 10:00AM. 2 hours or so later we had dropped out packs on the glacier, and were walking up to the base of Pigeon.

There were a few groups on the ridge pitching things out. We hoped to climb fast, and luckily all groups were quite accommodating. Right off the bat, the climbing was outstanding. Some of the grippiest rock I’ve ever seen. The moves were very easy, but thoroughly enjoyable. A nice contrast with the strenuous nature of the climbing the day before.

Before long, we passed the 3 parties on route and made our way to the infamous Cheval Arete.

A bit more easy climbing with some short 5th class steps and we were on the summit.

Shortly after we heard our first thunder. We made two rappels from the summit, then proceeded to quickly down climb the ridge.

Sometimes down is up:

On the way down we passed all of the other parties, who had been forced to cut their climbs short in light of worsening weather. At the base we discussed our options for waiting out the storm. All of our gear was on the glacier, so decided to make a sprint to our packs and back to bugaboo-snowpatch col where we found a nice large boulder to wait out the storm.

After things let up a bit, we down climbed from the col and began the painful trudge back to the car. Back at the car we drank some surprising still cold beer and began packing up. Jared decided to create some panic by locking the car key in the trunk with the valet lock activated. After about 30 min of trying to figure out what to do, we found a small screw next to the lock, that when removed allowed the trunk to be opened. We stopped for food in Invermermere, then began the never ending drive home while trying our best to fight off the urge to sleep. A 2 hour nap near Coeur d’ Alene and a bunch of red bull eventually got us back to Seattle around 6AM. I slept in until around 10 AM before heading in to work. Jared got about 45 min sleep before driving up to work in Sedro Wooley.

Last weekend Prusik and I made a loop hike up the Chatter Creek trail to Icicle Ridge.

Here is our route:

We began at the Ida creek washout and I biked while Prusik ran the 1.5 miles to the trailhead. The biking was really fun, and Prusik sure seemed to like it. The trail started out low angle, weaving its way through the woods.

After crossing over chatter creek, the angle steepened and views improved.

After the third creek crossing, we began looking for the fisherman’s trail to Ida lake. Eventually we spotted a worn path that headed steeply (sometimes very steeply) uphill. Soon the woods turned to stable talus with occasional detours to the dirt path on the left side.

After a while, the slope lessened in angle and we entered a beautiful alpine meadow with a strem running through it.

Unsure of the path ahead, we opted to follow our 6800′ contour to the lake, rather than head over the obvious looking saddle. A short while later and we were rewarded with beautiful views of the surrounding hills…

and eventually Ida Lake itself.

We set camp in a nice flat spot with a bit of wind protection. It was my first time using our OR Nighthaven, and I was pretty impressed with the roominess for the weight.

At camp we did some exploring and enjoyed the great views towards the Stuart Range and the Enchantments.

I managed to do some flyfishing, although weather was quite poor for it.

We called it a night pretty early as rain started to fall. It was pretty wet and a bit windy through the night, but nothing too bad. In the morning I did some more fishing, but the weather didnt seem to be improving as forecast, so instead of fishing all day and heading back the way we came, I decided that we would make a nice loop hike to Edna Lake.

We traversed the east shore of the lake, and reaching the saddle on the far end we bid Ida farewell.

Over the saddle we were greeted to expansive views of meadows, forests and ridges.

We also found some snow.

We traversed as high as possible, hoping to eventually intersect the Augusta Lake trail.

Upon finding the “trail” we found that it is not very well traveled:

A long descent eventually brought us to index creek.

After which another moderate climb lead through very wet brush, eventually leading to more prisitine meadows.

After a quick snack break at the chatter creek junction, we headed up to lake Edna.

The weather was pretty awful, so we made an obligatory fishing lap around the lake (does this lake even hold fish???), then were back on our way.

The great scenery didnt stop

After one more short climb we were dropping back in to chatter creek valley for the endless descent.

The road still had a surprising volume of water running over it.

Prusik was happy to finally get a chance to lie down and take a nap.

All in all we did around 18.5 miles. With the majority of climbing the first day, and majority of mileage the second day.

On Sunday, Mike tied the knot with his long time girlfriend Yuko (Big Congratulations!!!), so we took Friday as an opportunity to go out with the men and do some skiing. Weather looked pretty threatening, but it turned out Muir was an awesome choice. In an effort to make it home at a reasonable hour, I picked up Armin at 4:45, then we cruised over and picked up Mike and Pete just after 5:00. Despite a few wrong turns, we made the paradise parking area at an early hour, under mostly cloudy skies. Mike assured us that the WARF model said it would be clearing up, so we took his word and started heading up.

We started out a bit away from the wanded route, but eventually intersected it. Skis came off a few times on the way up, but skinning was still the preferred method of travel, And soon enough we were above the clouds under beautiful blue skies.

Weather on the summit looked pretty vicious:

But aside from a few clouds, conditions were perfect down where we were.

Armin hovers:

After a few hours we arrived at Muir

Armin had the foresight to bring some tasty Italian liquor which really helped warm the core

After an hour or so on top, we decided to head down, and after a short traverse skiers right we were greeted to some phenomenal corn skiing.

On the way up we spotted what I think are referred to as the Nisqually chutes. They looked to be the nicest lines down, and avoided any of the trail sections we encountered on the way up. We were a bit uncertain as to the entrance, but it looked good from above, and a few turns in it only got better.

After the chute, we were engulfed again by clouds, but not before we spotted a high traverse that brought us within 100 vf of the uptrack. A few minutes of booting and things were good to go.

The rest of the skiing was a bit firmer and more suncupped, with way more people, but it went fast and the upper turns more than made up for it. Pretty awesome to get 5000′ of skiing in July without any hiking.

Back at the car we all enjoyed a beer before heading back to seattle, arriving 12 hrs after we left.

40′ up the crux offwidth on Backbone Ridge I got the bright idea to knee bar a no hands rest. Getting ready to move again, my knee wouldnt budge. Usually when an appendage is stuck in a crack, relaxing the muscle is all it takes to set it free, but this time no positioning of my leg seemed to alleviate the pressure. I tried to mask the panic with some humor, but still the moment seemed pretty long. Next goal was to yank it out with my free hand, while my left hand chicken winged the crack. A hard tug, and nothing. Harder, still nothing. Finally, a hard tug, a girlish scream, a free knee, and I was back to work climbing one of the finest alpine cracks in the cascades.

After a few years near the top of my to do list, I finally got around to climbing Backbone Ridge on Dragontail Peak last Saturday. Early in the week I sent an message to Jared, and he quickly signed on. Now that permit season is in full swing, the only reasonable way to climb in the enchantments area is with a faster pace day trip; not that I mind too much. As the weekend grew closer, as with all my free weekends lately for climbing, the forecast trended grim. Still, I managed to convince myself that the enchantments rain shadow would do its job, and the climb would go.

We arrived at the Trailhead around 11:30 friday night, but I had a lot on my mind, and managed to catch very little sleep by the time the alarm went off at 2:45. I drank a 5-hour Energy and Jared drank a monster, and by 3:15 we were wide awake and setting a quick pace up the trail. Dawn came shortly after the turnoff to colchuck lake, and we reached the lake around 4:45.

A quick walk around the shore, and we were drinking water, eating food and stashing the now deemed unnecessary crampons. After a steep walk up the moraine and we spotted tracks leading to the start of the route. The route starts with class 3/4 climbing, but some of the exposure quickly grabs you attention when you haven’t scrambled for a while.

Jared won the rock-paper-scissors, granting him the 5.6 first pitch, and leaving me with the notorious offwidth. I secretly hoped he’d need to break his pitch in two, giving me a vaild cop out on the wideness, but no such luck. After doing battle with a significant tree, I found myself racking up below the offwidth. Off with the boots, on with the rock shoes, and upwards. The climbing is immediately interesting, and aside from my scary stuck knee moment, incredibly enjoyable. Knee bars and chicken wings are the name of the game, but thanks to occasional stems, palms, and heel toes, very little thrutching is required. The two biggest camalots protected the pitch perfectly, and one could even leave the 5 incher at home thanks to the plentiful chockstones early in the crack (not that I minded the moveable toprope throughout). The 6 incher took me right to the top, where small gear and hand jams are graciously offered up. I topped out dry in the mouth, but very stoked on the pitch. Hauling packs was a bit of a pain, so I basically had to autoblock Jared and the packs on either end of the rope so that the packs could be periodically freed.

After the offwidth, we moved slightly left to a series of fun moderate crack systems on generally good rock. 2 long pitches lead to a short scrambling pitch, followed by 800′ of scrambling up the ridge crest and across the face of the Fin.

Atop the obvious ramp cutting the fin, Jared led a fun pitch of steep cracks 60m to the large notch in the crest. The climbing was mostly 5.7-5.8, with an extra spicy traverse at the top to gain the notch (could have been avoided one crack left).

From the notch we heeded the cautions of others and avoided the third couloir by traversing the eastside of the crest for 80′ before crossing back through a notch to some enjoyable cracks and ledges.

A quick and easy summit scramble and we were on top. Jared has been working on his summit shot technique, so we threw down an over-under for posterity.

The descent went easy to the lake via walking and glissading

From the lake it was the familiar sleep/calorie deficit ridden march to the car, which we reached around 6:15, easily putting us in Leavenworth in time to meet Sam, Ruth and Emily for dinner at Gustav’s.

For sometime now I’ve stared up at the Rat Creek group and wondered if it was worth the trek up there. It looks so close from the road, but popular wisdom says otherwise. After dropping our plans for a bigger climb, The Mole, one of the most important summits in the group, seemed like a great consolation. Being unfamiliar with the approach, and not looking to suffer too heavily, we packed lightly for an easier route, planning to approach via the Hook Creek trail. Overnight a few rain drops fell, but nothing to dissuade us from the climb. We were up at 5:00AM and after a quick breakfast drove to the alphabet rock pullout. The approach is not too bad, but it is definitely a bit of work and a bit f suffering. The trail is in great shape up to Yellow Jacket Tower, but from there things get a bit interesting. We traversed close to the base of yellow jacket tower, which ultimately forced us to descent some unpleasant sand ledges and slabs. From there we picked the line of least resistance through the slide alder and dead fall, ultimately arriving at the brushy creek. Spirits were a bit low at this point, but after ascending a few hundred feet, travel became much easier, especially by following the prominent rib in the middle of the drainage. Eventually we reached intermittent snow, and then permanent snow, which was welcome on the steep upper slopes. We reached the socked in Mesa around 10:00 and we had a quick bite to eat.

Mike on the nice trail to YJT

After some short unpleasantness the going eases

Snow makes the going easier

Edwards Mesa - supposedly very cool

A quick descent from the notch down a loose gully and we were traversing towards the S. Face. As clouds cleared a bit we were able to identify some features of our prospective route. Getting to the base was fairly easy, although racking up in the sandy sloping gully wasnt great. The severe 5.7 crack mentioned in Nelson’s guide was easily identified, but it wasnt 5.7 (more like 5.4). After the crack I climbed up and left to the base of an attractive corner system. The cracks above looked improbable for 5.7, but maybe I was missing something so I brought Mike up. Mike agreed that the way above was 5.7, so he downclimbed to investigate some cracks to the right, but they didnt look 5.7 either. Unconvinced, and confused by the topo, Mike started up a beautiful right trending flake somewhat reminiscent of the topo. 8′ up pa large piece of the flake came off in Mike’s hands and we realized that route had probably not been climbed. After down climbing, Mike set off up the cracks and chimeny I had originally identified, but the large holds I imagined werent there it it quickly turned in to >5.10 terrain. More confused, we made a short rap to another corner system with easier, albeit less attractive, terrain above. Mike climbed the corner (5.7-5.8) belaying 20′ below some rap slings on a horn. From there I lead up the slightly broken flake, avoiding loose blocks stemming on blocks behind, clipping the rap slings and heading up fun 3rd to low 5th terrain to the summit. After belaying Mike up we hung out on the summit for a while as views came and went. We rappeled down the east face which had been recently reinforced with a shiny bolt at each of 5 rappels. Back at the base we scoped out more of the S. Face routes, then headed back up the notch for the fast harsh descent. Coming out of hook creek, we started sidehilling just below the lowest YJT slabs, aiming to intersect the trail maybe 500′ below the YJT chockstone.

Our first view of the South Face

The chockstone

Mike on P1

Mike on P1

Mike, no longer quite so lost on our eventual P2

Lots of Relief down rat creek group

Turns out the mesa really is cool

Mike on Summit

Giant Chockstone (looks like bull head)

Our Route and Detours (start not shown)

Finally back to YJT trail

Lots of Lupine near Hook Creek Boulder

I’ve had a serious alpine itch lately and last weekend seemed like the weekend to scratch it. This itch has mostly focused on a desire to climb a steep snow / ice route and ski an easier route. Early last week the forecast looked pretty good, so I emailed Mike suggesting we climb either NF of Shuksan or NR of Baker, skiing the respective easier descent routes. As seems to be the norm lately, the weather gods had other plans, and the forecast slowly deteriorated. As with most backup plans, ours involved cragging, although I also suggested a climb of the Mole to add some alpine flavor to the weekend.

Saturday we drove out to index amid partly cloudy skies, and arrived at a fairly empty parking lot. We started on Princely Ambitions, which is certainly one of the most fun 5.9 pitches in the state. At the crux traverse rightward, I couldnt remember if I usually stay low on thin feet, or go up on the scary broken flake. I stayed low, as I am certain I had before, and made it through no problem. As usual, the finger traverse was awesome, and the climbing above enjoyable. From the belay, Mike led up Dr Sniff, a fun finger crack with a cruxy traverse in to an awkward corner. Mike slowly wiggled his way up, managing to stay in the corner the whole time. Following, I tried to wiggle as well, but found it too awkward, so instead resorted to the much easier (especially for the 2nd) layback outside the corner.

After rapping down, we headed over to Godzilla for a 3 pitch link up. I hadnt climbed godzilla in a few years, and at the time it was a significant accomplishment for me. I was happy to find the route very casual this time around, but along with Princely still one of the best 5.9s around. Next I lead p2 of city park, which I hadnt climbed before. I wrongly placed a cam in a key finger hold, making for a difficult crux mantle. After falling a few times, I removed the cam and shortened the sling on the nut below. A few more attempts and I figured out the required combination of stemming and jamming to stand up and enter the easier upper half of the route. We didnt have enough small cams for the classic Sloe Children, so we moved the belay 20ft left to the base of Klaus Von…, which Eric had just recommended. The climb starts up a very difficult for the grade (10b/c a bit wet) finger crack, before easing off to more friendly sizes and a final interesting roof problem. Mike styled the finger crack, but missed a key jam at the roof. He got back on and sent it easy. I couldnt pull the start with the wet foot jams, so I had to aid one move. The rest of the crack proved pretty challenging, but doable.

Mike on Godzilla

P2 City Park

Klaus Von

Eric trying for the redpoint on Japanese Gardens P1

Next, on another recommendation, we checked out the short version of Shirley. The climb ascends steep cracks to a cool arching flake, before exiting right to avoid the upper difficulties. I led up, doing fine to the base of the arch. There I assessed the gear I had, and with some hawing reckoned I had enough and managed to reach the top of the crack. Here, the peanut gallery told me I needed to had traverse way right with no feet, then mantle to the thin fingers ledge. With no holds in site and a 0 TCU holding the swinging fall into the corner, I couldnt bring myself to commit to the traverse. I tried a few times, but never made it very far, and ultimately lowered off. From the ground I saw that ultimately some holds would have shown up, but from my vantage I wouldnt have known. Mike led back up on the pre-placed gear, and cruised the had traverse. Following I found the traverse struous but doable, and the hold very bomber, just dont fall.

We finally ended the day on the short version of Model Worker. I had always thought this climb looked cool, but had never had a chance to try it. Mike led it clean, and garnered some new helpful beta from Scott and Eric who decided to watch. Following was a bit humbling as many of the moves seemed a bit over my limit. Still super fun to try and the finishing crack was sweet.

After planning a ski trip to WA Pass, for about a month, the weather gods had other plans involving inferno like heat and massive avalanche cycles. After some last minute replanning, we decided to spend four days up around Squamish. On thursday morning we drove up to Alice Lakes Campground a few miles north of squamish. Unfortunately they had the whole campground reserved for Victoria day, so only two walk in sites remained. While a nicely maintained park, they have very restrictive dog policies, effectively limiting what one can do in the park (the entire Alice Lake shoreline is off limits). Luckily the other lakes in the area allow dogs, so we started our trip with a nice walk around stump lake.

After it cooled down a bit, we headed down to Burgers and Fries in the Smoke Bluffs. We started up the classic namesake route. A few years ago I had walked past this route and dismissed it as not worthwhile, but it reality, it is very fun for the grade. The runout at the top is not bad at all, but it does keep you nicely on your toes. Sam climbed part of the route, but she was having a hard time getting her climbing-legs back after not doing much for the last year+.

Next I tried to TR the 11c slab to the left, but it was waaay too thin for me, so I moved the rope over to the easier, but still tricky, Peaches and Cream. We also climbed Dusty Eyes, the excellent Wisecrack, Catch Me and Catch Me Quicker. All in all a fun evening in the bluffs.

Friday we decided to check out Cheakamus Canyon for the first time. According to guidebook descriptions it sounded more like Sam’s style of climbing. I had heard it was similar to the climbing at the Exits in Northbend, however it has the added benefit of beautiful views of the Tantalus and no free way noise. We spent the day climbing many of the routes in Conroy’s castle, a nice moderate crag with 30 second approaches. We started on the 1st pitch of Emil and the Detectives, a decent easy 5.8 route. Next we moved to the classic Charlotte’s web. Again we only climbed the first pitch, and it was very good, if not a bit hard for 5.9. The crux moves involve commiting climbing with a bolt around your feet. All in all, this was probably the best route we climbed in Chek. Moving to the right along the crag we climbed Clear Cut (10a), a so-so climb that pulls some fun but easy roofs. We finally finished on Bullet the Blue Car (10d), a climb which caught my eye when we first drove up. Bullet climbs a steep beautiful buttress of very smooth granite. Working hard through the steep crux and tricky finish moves, I was able to onsight the route, which made me pretty happy.

Emil and the Detectives

Base of Charlotte’s Web

Start of Charlotte’s Web

Noming the Sticks

Saturday was forecast to be very hot, so we came up with a good plan involving bouldering in the morning beneath the Grand Wall, hanging out in the afternoon, and cragging in the evening. We climbed and attempted a number of easy boulder problems in the Easy Chair and Black Dyke areas, sending some, but mostly just finding out how bad of shape I was in for Bouldering.

Looking for easy problems

As it started to warm up, we drove to the Adventure Center, inquiring about possible hangout spots near lakes and rivers. We settled on the very busy, but scenic Brohm Lake north of Alice Lake. After much searching we found a nice private spot to sit by the water and dangle our feet, while trying to entice Prusik to chase sticks in the cold water.

Prusik

Needing a tan

Nice Lake

When it started to cool down we headed back to the Smoke Bluffs intent on climbing Pixie Corner. When we arrived, the line was pretty long given the late hour, so we kept on walking up to Octopus Garden arriving around 7:00 or so. A party was about to start up the classic name sake, so we began on Edible Panties, a decent 5.7 with a challenging start move (5.9 or harder). Sam gave it a go, but couldnt figure out the bouldery start and she was reluctant to french free the moves. After a quick TR lap on Unearthly delights, Octopus Garden opened up. A bit hesitant to start up so late, and us without headlamps, I deliberated, but ultimately decided I’d just climb it fast and clean on rappel. I figured it’d be a shame to miss such a nice looking route while I was in the area. The climb went very well, and was, as expected, quite classic. Lots of sweet hand jams and only a short 5.8 crux. Definitely glad I decided to climb this one before dark.

On Sunday we made another short foray up to Chek for some more sport climbing. We started by heading to the Well of Souls where we climbed a challenging and mediocre 5.8 (Professor Ravenwood) and another somewhat challenging, but very fun for its length 5.9 (Marion Ravenwood). After some hanging and figuring Sam was able to figure out the sequency climbing on Marion Ravenwood, which was a good step forward for her. We then headed back to the Main Event Area, hoping to climb the area classic Kigijiushi, but it was lined up deep and we wanted to get out early. Instead we decided to try our luck at the popular roadside Foundation Wall. Although the routes here are only 2-3 stars in the book, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the climbing. We started on the third route from the left, which I though was Real TV (10a) but was actually Polychronopolous (10d) as a newer route had been added since the book was printed. I found the climbing challenging, but not unreasonable for a balancy 5.10. The funny thing was, I told the party next to us they were getting on the 10d, after his climb I asked how it was and they remarked it was mostly pretty easy except for on 5.10d clip. This seemed funny in retrospect because the route was actually 5.7, but in the subjective nature of climbing, the newer climber had managed to find a way to make the 5.7 moves feel like his perception of 5.10+. Anyhow, the route we climbed was very excellent, and Sam, thinking it was 10a, made a very valiant effort on the route (she probably wouldn’t have bothered had she known it was rated 10d)…ahh the power of grades in affecting our experiences. We finished our trip on In Your Face, a very fun steep 5.9 with 4 spaced out bolts. Only 2 stars in the book, but a blast to climb. I wonder if the guidebook author had some sort of bias against this “beginner wall” because his quality ratings seemed quite a bit more conservative than the rest of the guide.

Anyhow, a fun mellow trip to squamish. Not a ton of climbing, but still enough to keep me happy. Hope to get up again soon to climb so more longer routes.

Saturday, Frank and I headed out to Northbend for a climbing/fishing twofer. Unfortunately the fishing wasnt too productive. We made it out to Exit 38 around 11:00, and decided to check out the we did rock area. I hadnt climbed there for a few years, and Frank had only been to Exit 38 once before. We ended up climbing three of the 5.9s on the main wall, the new 9+ish route to the right, and the 10c and 10a right of that. The new route is immediately right of Blockhead and is apparently called “Bad Chew Chew”. It has some pretty fun moves, and I suspect the crux is a bit height dependent, but shouldn’t be harder than 10a for mostly reasonable height would be climbers.

Frank on “Absolutely Nothing” 5.8+

Frank on “Bad Chew Chew” 5.9+

After the climbing, we drove down to Rattlesnake Snake lake for some fishing. First thing we noticed was how low the lake was:

Luckily, this is good news for bouldering:

No luck with the fishing from the shore with a variety of streamers and dry flies, so when the rain started in earnest, we beat a hasty retreat.

On Sunday, Sam, Shannon (sister), Dave (Brother-in-Law) and I ran the Kirkland Half Marathon. This was Shannon and Sam’s 2nd 1/2, and Dave and My first. This would also be the longest I had ever run in my life. With no idea on the type of pace I could maintain, I lined up optimistically in between the 8:00 and 9:00 minute pace folks. Out the gates I was feeling pretty good, but got a bit scared when the 2 guys next two started talking about the 7 minute pace they were currently running. I took it down a notch and just tried to find random people to pace from. The hilly training I had done seemed to pay off well on the hills, where I felt really strong. Around 7 miles I had doubts whether this was actually fun. Shortly after I started feeling quite a bit of tightness in my groin muscles. I managed to run through it all, and finished with what I felt was a very respectable 1:45 time. I arbitrarily threw this number around as a top goal, so I was happy to achieve it. After the race I went and grabbed Prusik from the car, making it back to the finish line in time to watch the rest of the family cross:

Sam finished in 2:12, shaving almost 10 minutes off her previous time of 2:21, all that on a hillier course.

The rest of the day was spent with various Mother’s day activities including a wonderful Lunch with Sam’s parents, a visit to my grandma, and a family lasagna dinner back at our house.

After trying with no avail to find a partner to climb the East Face of Cutthroat, I decided to join Frank for a weekend of climbing in Leavenworth. Aside from gym time, I havent done much climbing this spring, so it was nice to get out for a whole weekend. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit iffy on Saturday, which limited our plans a bit.

On Saturday we decided to climb the Snow Creek Wall class Orbit (5.8 or 5.9, 6-8 pitches). I climbed the route a few years ago, and think it is one of the more fun moderate routes around. The approach was mostly snow free, although were definitely more patches than you would expect this time of year. Beyond the SCW turnoff, things look like pretty much mostly snow up the rest of the trail. It was a bit hard finding the Cairn marked trail in the snow patches, but we still made do and eventually found the proper start of the route.

I lead the easy first pitch, belaying beneath the short chimney section. Here, Frank took over, and with a few false starts eventually sorted through the awkward crux slot.

Here is Frank at the lower, easier crux.

Frank ran the rope almost 70m, belaying near the base of the twin finger cracks. All this time, it was raining on and off, mostly lightly, occasionally with more oomph. When I reached the belay, we discussed our options. Having climbed the route before, I left it up to Frank, with the warning that the upper face pitches would likely be a bit frightening if wet. Ultimately we decided to rappel using some fixed anchors on the route. In 4 half rope rappels, we were back at our backs and enjoying some time with the locals.

We made the walk back out to the car amid more of the same threatening, but not horrible weather. Next we drove in to twon to buy some stove fuel. Apparently a weird convergence zone exists at the leavenworth 76 station, as it apparently had rained heavily there. After buying fuel we headed up to the Sam Hill area where we climbed Ski Tracks Crack and Don’t Forget Arete. Ski Tracks is a great easy 5.9 crack climb with some really enjoyable climbing for its length.

Don’t Forget Arete is one of the cooler 5.9 and under bolted pitches I’ve climbed in Leavenworth. Unlike most easy to moderate arete climbs where you mstly use big face holds or friction technique near the arete, DFA has true arete climbing with fun lie backs off the crest, and great stances for clipping bolts. Unfortunately the route is only 50′ long, but it is a great 50′.

We had a nice evening Saturday night, camping at 8 Mile campground, eating pasta, drinking beer, and sitting by the fire.

On suday we woke up leisurely, and not wanting to repeat the approach to orbit, settled on climbing in the icicle. We decided to check out an obvious link-up in the Duty Dome area, combining Animal Farm (5.8), Kilt Twister on Keen Acres (5.8), and Yard Art (5.9 4 pitches). I would recommend this link up as it requires minimal walking between crags (rock shoes on the whole way), and gains height nicely. Animal Farm was a pleasant surprise, with great jams, steep climbing, and great pro. Here Frank tops out on Animal Farm:

We hoped to climb the name sake route at Keen Acres (5.9+), but it was occupied, so we took the somewhat mediocre Kilt Twister instead. The key to linking this pitch to tthe top of the crag (and the base of yard art) is to head right at the ledge before the anchor, then finish via the top of Snakes!!!. We opted for the right hand of the two cracks, as the left is very wide. Frank finished in a chimney above Keen Acres, then flipped the rope back on to the face so I could enjoy the somewhat licheny slabby/crack finish of Snakes!!!.
Kilt Twister:

A 20′ 4th class down climb off the back of the crag (climbers left), leads in to a gully maybe 50′ from the start of Yard Art. Yard Art was a nice enjoyable climb. The route has a good mix af bolts and traditional protection, with a few spicy moves (as in pro at your feet, not dangerous), to keep things interesting. The last pitch starts just right of a bolted face, in a series of easy grooves. The grooves steepen and widen in to a unique rounded chimney, followed by some steeper, but easier moves in large Huecos. A #4 camalot could come in handy for the top of the route. This pitch is a little dirty, but really unique and fun. We were just barely able to the last pitch rappel with a 70m rope, scrambling the last 5′ (exposed class 2) to the belay.
Frank leading the last pitch:

We contemplated a climb up the attractive peek-a-boo tower, but we were getting a bit hot and hungry at this point so we decided to head down. We finished the day on the bolted slab route (10-) next to Animal Farm. I left my helmet on the ground and panicked a bit above the 2nd bolt so I took a sissy take/fall (early season jitters). After clearing my head, I finished the pitch cleanly. It was nice to make some difficult moves on lead again, although I was a bit disappointed in myself for falling.

After a quick stop at the surprisingly good Thai restaurant in Monroe, we were home with daylight to spare.