Nordic at Hyak - 12.04.10

I discussed with Jennifer earlier in the week about getting a Sno Park permit for this winter. I wondered if she was interested in skiing and would feel up to it being pregnant. Jennifer was interested in seeing if she could go skiing and Ken wanted to go, so we headed out with him today. Jennifer didn't want to head to Cabin Creek due to the hills. She didn't want to fall. So we went to the Hyak Sno Park to follow the railroad grade.

The temp read 32° in the parking lot, but it felt colder. I put on all the clothes I had and couldn't wait to get moving. Jennifer had packed more warmly and wore a large down poofy to start skiing. Ken had little clothing but he hoped as I did that skiing would warm us. It didn't work for Ken, and he headed back to the car after we were out for 10-15minutes. I kept skiing along in an effort to get to an outhouse to pee. Once there, I warmed up a touch and started back. I saw Jennifer and she told me about Ken heading back to the car. I said we should head back too.

An interesting outing for the first of the season. Ken said one of the reasons he turned back was to not sour himself to the rest of the season with a bad first outing. While it took me the whole time to get back to the car before I actually started generating enough heat to perspire, it was a fun time. The snow conditions were better than any we had track skiing last winter. Soft snow, well packed and nicely groomed. Only there was a large group of boys (scouts?) that were snowshoeing on the groomed trail, and that is just bad etiquette. It also marks baby's first ski outing!

Baby on board

The Tooth - South Face - 02.20.10

2600' Elevation Gain
4 miles RT
Left Car: ~8 am
Summit: approx 3pm
Return to car: 7:30pm
<12 hours car to car

Ken wanted to knock out one of his winter goals of climbing The Tooth. He was recovering from a tweaked ankle and felt that his ankle was up to it. I warned him it may not be as easy as he thinks while trying to paint a picture of the conditions Julie and I climbed in last February. This time I packed steel crampons in case I felt I needed to climb in them.

We got off to a casual start and saw a few guys in the parking lot with plastic boots. (One was in Randonee boots, but no skis.) Since they had a rope, but no ice tools we figured they were headed for the same destination. We knew due to trip reports, that the North Face of Chair would be a zoo as everyone in the state would be descending upon it. So we would have one other party to work with. No big deal.

Three of us donned snowshoes from the start although they were not needed on the groomed road, it was nice to have their crampons when we left the road and the "trail" got icy. At which point, Jack who does not own snowshoes donned crampons for the ice (after prompted by a slip and fall.) We made time to the hanging valley although the path up was arduous and not very tracked snow. We were happy we made the decision to go with snowshoes, and I was especially happy I now had snowshoes with a riser bar. (And better still, that I could operate the riser bar with my trekking poles which have a notch in the handle for such tasks. Once in the hanging valley we took a break in the sun and donned a layer as it was colder and more windy higher up and we would be in the shade until getting on the rock. At this time we could see the party ahead of us and knew they were headed for the same destination.

We originally contemplated caching our snowshoes at the big boulder in the basin, but opted not to as they were helping more than ever near the head of the valley. We took them off near the entrance to the notch gully where we had to do a sketchy traverse over the cornice. (Which seemed safer than attempting to go through it on the right.) After that, Ken set a hand line for us to make the high traverse on the other side. Then we scurried up to Pineapple Pass.

The other party was still on the first pitch, so we geared up while they moved on. It turned out the guy hiking in ski boots had brought rock shoes, but the other guy was going to climb in his plastics. The original idea was I would combine the first two pitches, and Ken would have the second two. Jack and Dylan would climb together and decide who led what pitch. I led the first pitch, but due to rope drag, and an abundance of pro placement I opted to stop at the top of the first pitch and bring Ken up. That would also give Jack and Dylan the ability to get on the rock sooner. While definitely more attention grabbing than in summer, the first pitch was not nearly as scary as last February where virtually all holds had snow or ice on them. Many of the larger ledges did have snow and ice on them, but the smaller holds did not. And at no time was I wishing to have crampons on. In full sun the rock was warmer too. This meant I got to climb in bare hands and not in gloves which may have reduced the spiciness. While Ken climbed the pitch, the sun went behind clouds and with his wet gloves on struggled to maintain warm hands.

When Ken came up I offered him the pitch two lead and he set about climbing it. There was a funky two piton anchor part way up that he was glad to clip into. Then he placed a nut and a cam to protect an awkward mantle into snow from rock. The rest of the pitch he danced around the snow up the slab to the belay tree. I took the next pitch.

Although the party ahead of us had kicked nice steps into the snow on the third pitch, the sun was back out and it felt pretty sketchy on the soft snow and I opted to take the ice ax with me. (We had brought it up in case we felt we wanted it.) While it added security, it was better for keeping my hand out of the snow and getting cold for the rock bits. I brought Ken up and we contemplated the final pitch. Normally Ken likes to take the ramp, but the right side is supposed to be easier up to the rappel tree. So he decided on it and was on his way.

Since there was a traverse to the right on snow under the wall, Ken set a nut before heading out that way. Neither of us had climbed this section before and Ken did not know where to start. So he set about trying to place pro. After a cam and a slung horn, he tried to chop some ice to get at the stuck cam that had been there for years. (It was now joined by another BD .3 Camalot.) Since they were encased in ice he opted to place his own cam and had a web of rope around him. He removed the first cam he placed and straightened out the rope to reduce drag. Then he started upward. We did not realize until rapping off the summit that this was not the easy way. Ken likened it to 5.7, and when I got there I would say it was not 5.4, but hard to tell. Ken led a touchy lead up the left of the three or so small corners. It had awkward moves with not so go foot placements in between nice ledges. At one point Ken was doing the Fred Flintstone up. When we saw the two fixed cams on the right side corner, we knew that was supposed to be the easy way. Oh well, it was fun and interesting.

I led out the last bit to the summit from the rappel tree which consisted of steep snow. I was able to find a one foot square block to belay Ken up from. We hung out on the snow dome and noticed the paw prints of something that could have been a fox, coyote or bob cat. Wild. We watched as we saw people reaching the summit of Chair. As it was getting late, I belayed Ken back to the tree and took the ax so I could follow down. The last step before the rap tree alcove was tricky, but then I was back into the relative safety of the alcove. Ken had stopped Dylan and Jack from continuing up and they were setting a rappel from the top of the third pitch tree. Ken rapped to their anchor and I followed. It was nice to be in the sun again after hanging out at the windy and shady top rap station.

Our second rappel got us to the top of the second pitch and we set a double rope rappel to the base. Jack, Ken and Dylan all rapped on single strands before I tore out the extra anchoring and rapped last to the packs. It was starting to get dark and we were quickly getting ready to go. After the long period of time it took to get up and over the notch and to Pineapple Pass, we decided to rappel from Pineapple Pass down into the basin. Ken went first, as I was hesitant about cutting through the cornice. I followed and Dylan and Jack came behind. There was an issue and then we were back on snowshoes hiking out.

Once we hit the steep part exiting the hanging valley it was time for headlamps. We also removed snowshoes for this part as it seemed easier to descend without them. Although I will state having my new shorter snowshoes made it much easier to go down steep hills with them. There were plenty of times during the day where I stated aloud "I would not have felt comfortable doing that in my old snowshoes." Once back at the trail, we put the snowshoes on for the slog out.

This was a great trip, and it was fun to get out in the mountains on a climb with Ken. The route was in much easier shape than last year when Julie and I attempted it. Or perhaps the bluebird sunny day just made it feel easier. I looked at last years pics, and it did seem like there was more snow then. The climbing was enjoyable and Ken and I had a great time. Ken also got to take one of his 2010 goals off the tick list and that always feels nice. I'm pretty happy about this trip and hopefully I will remember that at the end of the year when I am reminiscing.

My pics are here.

Amabilis Mountain - 11.29.09

Ken had organized a mellow outing up Amabilis so that people could either ski or snowshoe. The road up or in has not been groomed yet, so I made the decision to bring fat skis. There were six of us on the trip and it was split with two people snowshoeing and the rest skiing. We had a casual start, and didn't leave Seattle until 8am. With a few stops on the way, we were finally on snow around 10am and headed up the road.

The road conditions down low

Despite the recent warm weather and rain, there was enough coverage down low. Shortly after getting on the road to Amabilis, there were a few dirt patches, but there was adequate coverage from previous skiers to keep going up a track that was put in by multiple parties before us. We skied up under cloudy skies and hoped that they would turn "partly sunny" like the forecast had told us. While the coverage was nice on the road, snow depth in the trees was minimal. The snow on the road had a packed section where people had previously traveled, but the snow was deep and mushy outside of that section.

Upon reaching the intersection for the loop of the upper mountain, two of our party decided to turn around. Liz turned around because she had Nordic skis which just weren't ideal for the situation. And Jack turned around due to blisters from his boots. This was his first time using his AT setup to skin. After our little break the rest of us continued upward, choosing a clockwise direction to complete the loop.

In the woods near our turn around

The conditions got worse from there as there were few people who had gone up that section of trail. The snow had a breakable crust which wasn't good for the two remaining skiers or the snowshoers. It took a long time for us to continue up while the weather worsened. When we finally made the last section of woods before our turnaround, a cool mist was wetting us and I quickly put on a rain shell. In moments we had reached our turn around point, where I donned another layer under the shell. We all had a quick snack/lunch. While us skiers transitioned into downhill skiing we discussed with the slowshoers that we would wait for them at the intersection of the top loop.

And away we went. The skiing was surprising not horrible. With a slightly steeper road than on Mount Catherine, I was able to glide without a whole lot of double poling. But Ken and I did have to remain in the track otherwise we would slow to a stop. A few portions were difficult to maintain speed as they were lower angle or the track wasn't wide enough for both of my skis. Had we not had to wait for the snowshoers, Ken and I would probably have returned to the parking lot in a little over and hour.

The ski out

After a certain distance, the track widened, and was more compact and our speed picked up. I had to occasionally snowplow in order to maintain speed. Sometimes you could just steer into the deeper snow to lose some speed, but this practice proved to be a little difficult as you didn't know what to expect outside of the track. Once closer to the intersection, the packed swath of road was wider and more firm. I really picked up speed on this section without trying. And the last stretch into the meeting point was all snow plow. Ken followed behind me and attempted to scrub speed by sticking a ski into the deeper snow off the packed section. He started to lose control and laid down instead of continuing toward the immanent crash.

Ken on a faster section of the road

We waited a long time before our snowshoe friends arrived. We greeted them and asked if they needed anything. They didn't. And we were on our way. I got to the car in about 20 minutes from that point, and that even included one stop to rest my legs and a short uphill that I had to side step. The lower section of the road had some good snow and the packed section comprised more of the road in certain areas to the width where I could actually make small turns. Before I knew it, it was over and we were back at the parking lot where Liz and Jack were waiting. Once again we waited for the snowshoers, and then it was time to head back to Seattle.

Jennifer and I had done this trip with Gabriel and Lindsay a few years ago. At the time I was new to skiing and debated about trying it on my skinny skis. I opted not to and stuck with snow shoes. After seeing Gabriel's ease of skiing it, and the relative easy conditions, I had wished at the time I had attempted it on skis. While it would be interesting to try it with a Nordic ski, they weren't the right option for today's conditions and I was happy to have my backcountry skis which did not inhibit my performance at all.

North Twin Sister - West Ridge - 06.19.09

Elevation Gain: 3800'
10 miles RT
Left car: 6 am
High point (5000'): 10 am
Back at car: 1 pm
7 hour round trip

We were supposed to head to Washington Pass this weekend. But when Julie made her surprise visit to Ken and Liz's wedding last Saturday, she told me she was done with climbing for now and wanted to concentrate on her bike ride.

So Ken and I started planning something for ourselves. This became a climb a Mount Constance in the Olympics. And we were pretty excited about it. As luck would have it, after 29 days in Seattle without precip, the weather was starting to look sour for the weekend. So we made a last minute decision to change the destination to North Twin Sister. A climb Ken and Sammy wanted to do earlier in the season, but didn't go due to avy danger.


View Larger Map

The weather for the Constance area was 30% chance of precip for Fri/Sat while North Twin can be done in one day and had a mostly cloudy forecast for Friday. So things looked good when we drove up Thursday evening, and we could see the route from Highway 9.

The weather was a bit more gloomy when we awoke Friday morning. There was a low cloud deck, and no sign of the sun. While we ate breakfast in the car, a wet mist coated the car. Ken and I decided to go ahead with the climb, and that it might just burn off and become sunny. We figured we'd take our time to give the sun a chance to fight the clouds. The approach route on logging roads is supposed to be confusing, but we had no issues finding the appropriate turns, which even had mile marker posts. There was a new bridge over a creek crossing and what seemed like no time, we were on the overgrown logging road section of the approach. By this time, it was not only misting, but legitimately raining. It was driving me nuts, so I put on a rain shell. Ken toughed it out and kept going.

Shortly afterward we arrived at the 4100' "trail head." This section was never a logging road, and was a steeper, narrow, muddy trail. Within a short distance, the fronts of my pants were soaked. We then reached a section of tall (old growth?) trees. The brush wasn't bad, but I made sure to knock water off the blueberry bushes before hiking past them. The treed section was short, and we were soon out on the ridge to start the technical portion of the climb. We had agreed in the woods to climb short distances at a time so retreat would be easy. Since we could not see the summit, or most of the route, we determined that navigating the snowfield down would not be a great option, and we should down climb the route.

We dropped our poles, and started on the mostly 2nd class ridge. After a short 3rd class step we were on fairly level ground again. The rain was coming down in big drops. The wind was blowing. We had cold hands from touching the rock. We were at 5000'. Just a few feet short of the first down climb into a notch. We contemplated going to the notch and then decided we had had enough. We headed back into the woods.

In the woods we met a few guys and a kid who were going to attempt the climb. They looked ill prepared for the conditions, but who am I to say? They rode motorcycles in to the highest point they could so at least they didn't have the commitment that Ken and I did hiking about 4+ miles on logging roads. Ken and I hiked out and drove back to Seattle after that.

This was an interesting trip, as Ken and I both needed to get out (and prove to myself at least) that we were not afraid of a little weather. It just didn't make a whole lot of sense climbing with no views and in the rain. We would have been sketched the whole way, and it would have taken longer. And for what? But now we know how easy navigation is on the approach. We now also think it may be worth it to bring mountain bikes for the approach as well. (Although I'm glad I didn't have one, as mountain biking in the rain would be really muddy.) We also realized that if you are not doing the glissade descent, there is no avy danger from wet slides on the route which means it can be done early in season before the snow has settled. (But from what I've heard, one of the reasons to do the route is the 1000' of glissading.)

Sorry, no pics. I left my camera in the car and Ken never took his out due to the rain.

Leavenworth - 05.09-10.09

With a avalanche report that read like this:

We are urging potential backcountry travelers to avoid
traveling in or near avalanche terrain until the recent snow
has either slide or settled and stabilized over the coming
days. [NWAC]

Julie and I were not going to be going anywhere where snow was present. Which was a shame as it was her last weekend in Washington before leaving on her trip. So we scratched our plans for something big and snowy and resigned ourselves to heading to Leavenworth to do some rock climbing. Ken and Sammy had canceled their plans for North Twin Sister due to the same avalanche forecast, and we would be meeting them in Leavenworth Saturday morning.

We arrived in Leavenworth with no sign of Ken and Sammy. We started up Icicle Road to see if we could find them at eight mile campground. We found them walking the road just in front of Icicle Buttress and said we'd meet them in town to discuss plans for the day at Starbucks. In the Starbucks we decided to hike up to Givler's as Ken and Sammy had never done it. Julie and I had done it back in March, and we decided we would just lead the opposite pitches we led then. So after a brief stint in Starbucks we headed up the Icicle to climb Givler's Crack.

The hike up is a little longer than most approaches in the Icicle which keeps traffic down to Givler's given it is a four star route that mortals can climb. We had some difficulties in staying on route, but eventually wound up at the base where another party was on the first pitch. We sorted ourselves and gear and started off after the second of the previous party reached the top of the first pitch. Julie led the first pitch, and hung out at the bowl after the crux opening moves. Once the previous party started leaving the belay at the top of the first pitch, she headed off to finish the pitch. I quickly followed. Ken was about half way up the first pitch when I started off on the second. Now having climbed Givler's Crack three times, I can say that the second pitch is one of my favorite leads. I can also say that I enjoyed it much more on lead than following. It is super enjoyable, and long. I arrived at the top and started to bring Julie up. The wind at the top was pretty brisk and we huddled behind the anchor boulder to stay out of the wind.

After a short time Ken was in sight, and he finished the pitch with a tired smile on his face. He clipped into my anchor and brought Sammy up. Sammy was successful at removing the fixed nut at the bottom of the second pitch and came into site with a big smile on his face. I think they were both happy they didn't just go climb R&D. Once we were all on top, we basked a bit and then headed back to our packs at the base. We collected our gear and hiked a bit down before finding a suitable ledge to eat lunch.

After the hike down, we considered another multi pitch climb. We looked at R&D, with crowds on it and some clouds blowing in and decided if it started to rain, we didn't want to be on R&D. We chose to head to Barney's Rubble area which was by the roadside and had some climbs we could do.

Sammy wished to lead a 5.7 that he had led a few years earlier. Julie and I headed to a 5.6 crack to climb. I started up the 5.6 while Sammy climbed the 5.7. The opening moves of the 5.6 were weird as it had to be accessed through a cave like feature and then step up into the crack. After placing three pieces, I was having difficulty gaining the crack and finally asked Julie to lower me off. [I later realized that when she led the route that there were plenty of options for feet on the face. I was trying to put my foot in the crack which was painful and awkward. Sometimes I just have difficulty reading a route.] Sammy was undeterred, and was still making his way up the 5.7 as Julie took the lead on the 5.6. After getting about halfway up the route, Julie slipped and took her first lead fall on gear. It was a minor incident as she mostly ran down the wall backward about five feet or so. She bumped her knee, and had a small rope burn on her wrist. She got right back on and finished the route. I eventually followed (as Ken followed the 5.7) and we topped out. I found the rock on the route to be very greasy feeling and I am not surprised by Julie slipping on it. We later talked to Ian and he used the same adjective to describe the rock and stated that it was because it sees so many ascents being so close to the road.

After topping out, we headed into town to see if we could find Ian and his team who had climbed Yellowjacket Tower that day. We chatted at dinner, and then went our separate ways.

The next day our goal was Condorphamine Addiction(5.10b). It is loosely described as a seven pitch bolted alpine route. Ian had told me that it was within my reach technically. And if we couldn't do the .10b moves it was easy to aid past them. The hike in was long and steep (for cragging.) The trail was loose and sandy as well. We had a minor difficulty finding the correct trail when entering the woods. The book is fairly accurate with the turn left after the first boulder on the map description. Then it was fairly easy to stay on the path up to Condor Buttress.

Once at the buttress, it was easy to identify the start of the climb. Julie and I were apathetic about who climbed which pitch and she finally decided to lead the first (5.7) pitch. After a short distance, she was at the belay and brought me up. The first pitch was nothing remarkable, and a good warm up for the rest of the climb. I took the lead on the second pitch (5.9) which starts with a fun traverse, and then goes up around a corner on steepening terrain to the belay. I think there was 12 bolts on the pitch as I was nearly out of gear at the next belay station. I brought Julie up and she started off on the next (5.4) pitch. After nearly a full rope length, she brought me up. I commented that the latter part of the pitch seemed a bit thin for 5.4. We briefly studied the topo for the route and I was off on the next pitch.

Our fourth pitch started out with easy fun climbing with some horizontal crack features on the slab. It then got to a point where it was steep and there was a difficult move. I commented down that I thought Julie combined the 5.4 and 5.8 pitches and that this was the first .10b move. She didn't believe me as it looked easier from her stance. Not knowing for sure if it was .10b, and feeling like I would kick myself if it 5.8 and I aided the move, I set about trying to figure out how to gain a dish above a bulge with no discernible hand holds. (There were some very tiny edges etc. and an arete to my right that I could use.) After a few attempts at upward progress, I informed Julie I was grabbing the draw and heading up. While it made the move easier, it did not make it more secure, and after gaining the dish, I held on to the draw for a bit until I was able to grab a small hold above me. At that point I moved slightly right and clipped the next bolt. The next moves went left around/through a roof where the difficulties lessened to the next belay. The moves left from the clip felt more like 5.8 or 5.9 from the previous .10b moves. I quickly moved through them and was at the next belay.

I brought Julie up to the crux where she agreed with me that it was a .10b and she proceed to follow my lead by yarding on the draw to complete the move. When she arrived at the belay, we consulted the topo again and agreed that she must have joined the 5.4 and 5.8 pitches and that was indeed the first of the .10b pitches. She then led off on the next .10b pitch.

On the next pitch there was a point from the belay that did not look difficult, but Julie was hesitant below it. She said the moves were thin and committing. I asked her if she thought it was the crux of the pitch. She said she wasn't sure. After some pause, she successfully completed the moves and put me on belay. I arrived at the same spot and saw what she meant. While this portion wasn't as steep as the crux in the previous pitch, it had some thin feet and not a whole lot for hands. I gingerly transferred my weight up to my right foot, and made moves to quickly get through the crux. The difficulty eased after a few moves and I continued to the top of the pitch. When I arrived, we both agreed that the moves felt more like .10a moves than .10b.

Since I had most of the gear, I told Julie I wasn't stopping to transfer gear or the backpack, and I would continue on the final 5.4 pitch to the top. I arrived at the top chains in no time, and brought Julie up. We remained anchored in, and ate our lunches. We wanted to get started on our rappels as we could see another party coming up the route.

We made seven raps down bypassing a party of four on two ropes on the way down. The rappels were easy, and being only single rope, we had no issues with throwing or retrieving the ropes.

The whole climb and rap took about 4.5 hours and Julie and I decided we would check out Bathtub Dome to see if there were options we'd want to climb there.

With some navigational difficulties and some steep sandy trail, we finally arrived at Middle Tier of Bathtub Dome where we were looking to climb a 5.7 crack called New Fixtures. (A two star route.) After looking at it and remembering that Smoot has it rated R in his guidebook I talked to Julie about it. The first 15' or so is climbing between a detached pillar and flake, so I would say there are not safe gear placements during that segment. We then opted to climb Chumstick 2-Step which is a bolted 5.9 to the left of New Fixtures. As we started gearing up, the wind picked up tremendously and started blowing clouds over our heads. we went from shorts and t-shirts to pants and jackets. Then we decided we did not wish to get rained on and packed up and hiked out. Arriving back at the car around 3:30pm we decided to just head back to Seattle.

Overall, the climbing on Condorphamine Addiction was fun. I think my favorite pitch was the 5.9 pitch. The 5.10b moves are easily aided if need be, and I would like to go back and give another shot at freeing the first .10b moves. We witnessed the leader from one of the other parties climb it, and he made it look effortless stemming his hands out to both sides. It probably still wouldn't be easy, but I'd be happy if I could free it. It would also give me a chance to come back up to Bathtub Dome to climb Chumstick 2-Step which looked enjoyable. The hike in and out of the area was tedious, but worth it considering how enjoyable the climb was. I did not find this climb to be as classic as Lost Charms or Dreamer, but was definitely something I would go back to do again. It can also be done with combining pitches, but I think the way we did it was fairly enjoyable. The topo is fairly accurate, and should be easy to follow. You may be able to save time rapping with two 60m ropes, but since it is setup to be rapped with a single 50m rope, I like not bringing the second rope, and not having to deal with the mess that is associated with double rope rappels.

My pics are here.
Julie's pics are here.

Smith Rock - 04.03-05.09

The stars aligned for the possibility of Ken traveling to Smith Rock with Julie and I to climb Monkey Face. Ken could do the Friday and Saturday, but couldn't do Sunday. That was alright with Julie and I as we had planned to ski Mt. Hood on Sunday on the way home. So we took two separate cars.

I rode with Ken on the way down Thursday afternoon. We met Julie in the climber's bivy parking around 10pm at night where we promptly went to bed. It was a cool and windy night. I had a bit of ice in my Nalgene bottle the next morning. (I left it on the ground outside my bivy sack.) The morning was windy and cold. We decided to let the day warm up a bit by driving into town and stopping at the Starbucks inside the Safeway. We got back to Smith Rock and proceeded to hike up Misery Ridge to Monkey Face. Hiking got us warmed up, and the day was not looking bad. There were some clouds, but the sun was shining through. When we arrived within view of Monkey Face there was a group who appeared to be setting up a Tyrolean Traverse. We asked them if they were going for the summit, and they replied "no."

So we went to the base of the Pioneer Route, and geared up. Julie was to lead the first two pitches, and in less than 25 minutes, we were all at the base of the second pitch. At this point the weather turned a bit more sour (snow flurries.) Julie headed out on the second pitch only to encounter high winds at the notch, and a bunch of men in various states of climbing. Ken and I could only watch as the other group's ropes blew in the wind with horizontal flurries. Julie got to the ledge and belayed Ken up. Ken belayed me, and after crossing the notch, my hands were so cold, they were practically useless. Once all three of us were on the ledge we started to gear up for the aid pitch. Only to realize that the other party had started and they were taking an horrendously long time. Ken was trying to give pointers to the guy on lead, but he did not seem to grasp even simple concepts of leading on rock. Ken predicted they would take 2+ hours to reach the cave mouth and that we should bail. We all agreed. As Ken set up our bail rappel from the end of the Bohn Street Ledge, Julie and I discovered that this other party was a bunch of army guys on their first rock climb. We were astounded. Monkey Face is not a good first rock climb.

After bailing we decided to head over to Superslab(5.6). The wind and snow seemed to fade out and I started up the first pitch. It was enjoyable climbing that followed a crack up a steep shallow corner. I brought Ken up and then he belayed Julie up. Then the graupel started. We decided to wait it out a bit, but then Ken got impatient and started off on the second pitch. The snow subsided as he crossed the traverse, but the cooler temps prevailed, and Julie and I climbed the second pitch with gloves on. At the belay, Ken offered the third pitch lead to me, but I let him have it. He started up and led the pitch to the top. Julie and I arrived at the top without incident. Two rappels later, and we were back at the packs heading for the car.

We decided to go for Monkey Face first thing in the morning on Saturday and went to bed after dinner. It turned out there was a record low(15°F) for the area Friday night and I awoke to a Nalgene completely frozen solid. It was time for another trip into town to let the sun warm things up. Getting back to the parking lot, and hiking misery ridge a second day seemed worse. To our delight, no one was on Monkey Face when we got there. We tried to experiment with the notion of connecting the first two pitches, but when Julie started the first pitch again, there was too much rope drag for that to be a possibility. Soon, we were all back on the Bohn Street Ledge with no one else there. Ken started up the aid pitch while I belayed. Once in the cave, he hauled the pack and fixed the lines. Julie got the easy jug of the free line in space. I had the more difficult task of cleaning the route. What seemed like an eternity later, I was finally in the cave. I had opted not to re-aid the final traverse into the cave, which didn't prove to be any faster, and involved a lot of grunting and struggling for me.

In the cave we organized gear and I got ready to lead the scary Panic Point pitch. The pitch is rated at 5.7, but felt much harder the first time I did it. The difficulty comes from leaving the relative safety of the cave and stepping out with 180' of air between you and your packs at the base of the climb. I hemmed and hawed and tried to offer the lead up to Julie. She didn't bite, so it was out of the cave on the sharp end for me. Fortunately, you can clip two draws from the cave before stepping out on a bit of top rope. Shortly after stepping out you are heading up a face (that I remembered to be steeper.) The crux for me was the not ideal hold you have to hold onto while placing the second draw and clipping. The rest of the pitch seemed to be a cruise after that. After Ken and Julie came up, I set off leading the final pitch. It is fairly easy climbing to the top, but not particularly easy to protect. We all reached the summit, lounged, had lunch and then proceeded to rap over to the rap station to get off Monkey Face.

Ken set up the rap and went first. This was the part Julie was waiting for. About 180' of rappelling free in space. I followed Ken so I could take a few pictures of Julie on her way down. The rappelling went smoothly except for a bit of confusion on which rope to pull at the end. After pulling the rope, the time was 3:30pm and we decided to just head for the car rather than climb anything else. We celebrated at the cars with Monkey Face Porter from the Cascade Lakes Brewing Company.

We had dinner and checked the avalanche conditions for our Mt. Hood attempt. Avy conditions were high above 5000', so Julie and I decided to stay another night in Smith. We said good night to Ken as he would leave for Ellensburg earlier than Julie and I were waking up.

On Sunday, we headed straight to the dihedrals to climb Cinnamon Slab. There was a group there, but they were only interested in the sport routes, so we were able to get on Cinnamon slab early and climb both pitches. From the guide we had, the second pitch is rarely climbed. Which is a shame, because it was fun easy climbing. Although I will admit, that the route gets its three star rating from the first pitch. After climbing Cinnamon Slab we waited a bit for some of the sport routes to open. Julie led Lichen It (5.7) and I led Easy Reader (5.6) before the sun got to hot and we started our 5 hour ride home.

Unfortunately due to the army (and some uncooperative weather) we didn't get as much done as we wanted to. It was fun for me to finally get on something other than Monkey Face. I really enjoyed Superslab and was jealous of Ken for having led the third pitch. I found that the second pitch on Monkey Face felt way harder than I remembered it as well. Overall, still a great trip.

My pics are here.
Julie's pics here.

Desert Climbing - Sunshine Wall - 03.07.09

With a good weather forecast only for Eastern Washington, Julie and I decided to head out to get on real rock. We also figured we could help Ken out as he was having his basic students out there for rock climbing practice. Our goal was one day of rock climbing and then skiing in the mountains on Sunday.

We opted to have two followers as we were looking for a more mellow day. Tony and Andrew joined us as we did a few routes in the sun and wind at Sunshine Wall. Highlights of the day included the first pitch of Chossmaster (5.7) and Skip 'em or Clip 'em (5.8). Both routes which Julie led. I led a 5.6 (Peaceful Warrior) and a 5.7 (??) which were not as nice. I really liked Skip 'em and wish I had led it.

What seems to be the norm for me at Vantage, is not climbing well. Julie and I thought that we both do not climb well when we are there. We think it has to do with our motivation. We are not really interested in being there, but want to get out on rock. I need to refocus my energy on climbing there the next time I am there as perhaps this will make me enjoy it and climb better.

My pics are here.

Guye Peak - 02.14.09

Ken asked if I could help him out with his students and a winter scramble of Guye Peak. I accepted, but hoped to ski the route as I grow more and more weary of snow shoes. (Although part of it is growing weary of my 12"x30" giant, non-technical snow shoes.)

In the end, I decided against skiing. This is partly for solidarity with the students and showing a united front, but also, if I was to be the only one on skis, I had better be able to handle them better than anyone could handle their snow shoes. Since I'm not that good of a skier, it made sense not to come out with skis. Also, being the only one on skis defeats the advantage of skis. I couldn't be any faster, as I would have to wait for others.

While I do not regret the decision to bring snow shoes, I do believe I would have been OK with skis on. There would have been sections that I most definitely would have de-skied and bare booted. There would have been a few sections that were fun as well. There would have perhaps been a few sections that I would have lamented for being uphill on the way out too.

The climb went off without a hitch. We hiked up on well beaten snow trails most of the way. There was one section that had us a bit worried as it was steeper and icy in the morning on the way up. It turned out to be OK on the way down. Some warming during the day, and others who also tore it up with snow shoes seemed to have helped.

We set up hand lines for the two steps near the summit, and Julie acted as the human anchor for the hand line to the summit. We again set up the hand lines for the way down. Everything went according to Ken's plans. On the summit at noon, and back to the cars at 3pm.

We had variable weather all day, but mostly flurries with clouds coming in and out. Visibility wasn't great at the summit, but better than the last time I was on the summit of Guye Peak in the winter. We also saw a couple of climbers come up from the SW Rib route and traverse from the South Peak. Pretty wild stuff.

My pics are here.

XC Skiing - 01.31.09

With most people unavailable this weekend, I asked Ken if I could join his "Intro to XC Skiing" group. I didn't need the lesson, but it wouldn't hurt me either to get more learning in.

Ken warned me I didn't know what I was getting into. He told me it would be slow without a whole lot of skiing. Well, at least I would be outside.

In a good turn of fortune, Ken accidentally brought his skate skis. So he borrowed my track skis to teach, while I spent the time on his skate skis. I have been wanting to try skate skiing, and this was the perfect opportunity.

Upon first getting on the skate skis, I found them easier to handle than track skis. They edge better, and since they were 25cm+ shorter than my track skis, easier not to trip over. Conditions at Crystal Springs were icy with just a touch of fresher graupel on top. The conditions were not ideal for learning.

Originally, I found myself poling too much because I was unable to work my feet correctly. Later after Ken gave me some pointers, I started to get the hang of it. However, since you build speed quickly when skate skiing, I would lose my rhythm quickly once I got going too fast. I was even able to skate down modest hills (on green trails.) It was super difficult to skate up steeper slopes, where I resorted to a herringbone walk. Overall it was a fun learning experience. Perhaps next winter I'll take up skate skiing?

No pics. Left the camera in the car.