Shugga Mumma

It is definitely a great summer when the hardest part of the day is deciding...
Where should we climb today?

I was living the good life being a professional non-professional, traveling to the North West's premiere climbing destinations.

Some call us dirt bags, but we consider ourselves Dharma Bums on a quest to live the vision that pops up while not getting after it.

Most other climbers drool over blogs and wonder, how do they make that happen for themselves? We have known all along...

Don't work that much.

Move into your car.

Don't take extravagant vacations.

Eat lots of cliff bars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Don't be attached to the outcome.

Visit your friends who live in cool places.

Where your at, is where its at!

Sunblessed 5.10
Squamish, BC

Sunblessed!

We spent two weeks in Leavenworth waiting for the rain to stop in B.C. Icicle Creek Canyon is a gem! The peaks are massive and there is granite everywhere! Fred Becky came here many times as a youngster. The cragging is challenging and the backcountry routes are worth the hike. Not many climbers make it out to this destination because it is pretty far away from most places. We ran into another skier boy one day cragging and spent some time hanging out, whitewater rafting and hanging off cliffs.

Outer Space 5.9- Snowcreek Wall
Leavenworth, WA

We spent the 4th of July on San Juan Island kayaking with Tom Murphy.  When we got back to check the weather in B.C it looked like another week of rain... so we quickly decided to climb Dreamer, a fairly obscure route in Darrington, WA. The approach to this climb was adventurous to say the least. Driving up the road 12 miles, my subaru bottomed out and was making a loud noise until it corrected itself months later. We hiked through a dense wet forest up through snow bridges and then to the long slab leading to the base of this beauty!

Gae starting up the run-out Dreamer
Green Giant Buttress, Darrington, WA

Climbing out of the jungle in Darrington, WA

Flake pitch 6 on Green Giant Buttress
Darrington, WA

Finally the weather pattern changed, and after crossing the border we were where we wanted to be, Canada! I can't say enough about Squamish, just go there! In my opinion it is the best climbing destination out there. We climbed for ten days straight because there is just so much to do. Once you are there you hardly use your car- which is a good thing because gas is expensive in Canada! Every climb we got on in Squamish we loved! We talked about not leaving because the more we climbed the more we treasured this place.

Angel Crack 5.10c
Angels Crest Squamish, BC

Top of pitch 12 on Angels Crest

After a few weeks we packed up from Squamish and left without looking back, heading east into Alberta. We couldn't drive through Glacier National Park without having an adventure. These peaks are iconic and we needed to see more. Mt Tupper's neighbor, giant Mt. Sir Donald, is the true classic in the park.  It still had lots of snow on the ridge so we went over to climb the West Ridge of Mt. Tupper instead. We headed up towards Rogers Peak and the Swiss Peaks, then detoured over to this awesome ridge that we solo climbed. It was a 8,000 foot day up and down and the views and climbing were memorable.

Mt. Tupper
Rogers Pass, Glacier National Park, BC

Lots of scrambling on MT. Tupper

Ropeless 4,000 feet above the road on Mt. Tupper



Pitch 10 on Squamish Buttress 5.10c

 After checking out Lake Louise and the town of Banff we headed to Canmore, AB and got some beta about some classic climbing to get on. We quickly found out that there is lots of limestone sport climbing in Canmore, some of it covering entire mountains. They used to call this peak Chinamans peak because of the story of the man who first climbed up its south face, but these days it's known as Hai Ling Peak. The rock was surprisingly solid and we had a blast climbing its 1400 foot face in 5 hours casually.

Hai Lin Peak Canmore, AB

14 pitches of 5.6 on solid limestone

                                                  

Happy to be moving fast to beat the heat!
Good exposure

Great corner on Hai LIn

We didn't chance the Bugaboos because the weather was too fickle and our time was running out in Canada. We decided to drive to the Valhalla mountains outside of Nelson, B.C. These mountains are dramatic and not many climbers get out here to climb because of its remoteness. There is lots of potential for new routes here! We climbed the cleanest line in the range, the South Ridge of Mt. Gimli. The gnieiss was different then any route we had done in months and the moves and exsposure were fantastic. We climbed its 8 pitches in five hours with a lighntning storm on our ass, wow!

Mt. Gimli- Valhalla Mts, AB

Southeast Buttress of Mt. Gimli

Impeccable Gneiss on Mt. Gimli

We reentered the states in early August, driving through the smallest border crossing I have ever witnessed. There was only one guy working there- way more relaxed than the crossing in Vancouver. We stocked up on supplies in Mazama and hiked up to the Early Winter Spires and Liberty Bell. It felt great to get back on some granite. The mosquitos were heinous but we toughed it out to get up both South and North Early Winter Spire and the Becky route on Liberty Bell tower in two days of climbing.

Whats in a Dharma Bums pack?

Gonaa miss you guys!

After running out of money we went to California for a couple of weeks and scored some work! It also gave us some time to reflect on what we had accomplished so far this summer. Getting back on the road we were excited to drive down into the Sierra mountains and meet up with our friends Justin and Olivia.  We pulled onto Tioga Road, sussed some camping outside the park, and planned out the next few days. The next day we got backcountry permits and backpacked out to climb Mathes Crest and Cathedral peak. Both of these routes are moderate ratings and the rock and views are as good as they get anywhere!
After the Tuolumne warm up we hiked into the Incredible Hulk outside of Bridgeport, CA. Peter Croft calls it the best alpine cliff in north America. We had to go. We climbed the Red Dihedral 5.10c in twelve pitches, taking ten hours on the route.

Hiking into Cathedral Peak
The south east face is rated 5.7

Mathes Crest
We simu climbed this mile long ridge

Gae leading the first pitch of Cathedral Peak

Summit Cone

Fun with ropes on the long exposed ridge of Mathe Crest

The Incredible Hulk

Gae leading the first pitch of Red Dihedral

Fraser on our heels the entire day!

Memorable pitch after Memorable pitch for twelve rope lengths

Fraser jamming the crux 5.10c pitch of Red Dihedral

Panthers on the top of the SIerra

Thanks Gaelen for being an incredible person to travel and climb with for five months and counting. Thank you for your sponsorship, I would have never done it with out your help. We had a blast and hope to be on the road again next summer following the same guidelines we have been. Live the Life you Love
Jah Buf

Crystal Lake: September 7

The winds of shit were blowing; blowing real hard. And along with the monster wind storm came big precip. When the clouds lifted, the high peaks had the first snow of late summer, probably not enough to ski but enough to get a guy thinking.

Tasty Couloir near Girdwood

I figure you need at least a foot of heavy, wet snow to ski glacier ice, but only an inch or two to greatly improve the summer snow.  Fortunately, Crow Pass has both glaciers and summer snow.

Tundra: The Best AK Foliage 

It was a pleasant hike and the Fall colors are near peak in the tundra.  It's been a short cool summer; the salmonberries are still green and there is already termination dust in the mountains. Kind of a rip off if you ask me, but life, lemons, et cetera.

Ragged Top: 5,215'

I got my first view of the Jewell Glacier, and there was no warm fuzzy. It looked downright scary because I didn't know if there was any old snow under the fresh. It might be great or if might be dust on straight ice. A few years back Tommy and I tried the dust on ice approach with limited success - definitely a junk show I did not intend to repeat.  So it was on to to Crystal Lake to suss out snow fields.

The Jewell
Is there old snow under the new?

There was a nice, steep 200' shot straight to the lake with about 1" fresh.  Not ideal, but it is still summer for another 2 weeks, so life, garden, dig, et cetera.

Looking Down

That angry inch was just enough to make the skiing pretty dang good. The sun cups were still there, but barely noticeable making for a smooth ride. It was good fun to spray the fresh slush / snow with each turn.  I noodled to make this fleeting preview last longer.

Today was just a tease of the winter to come. It was better than summer snow, but nowhere near as good as its gonna get. Soon the shit barometer will drop and the winds of shit will build. Soon the mountains will be blanketed from top to bottom, the roads icy, and the sun weak. The storms will line up. Sleep won't seem so important. The base will build. The chairs will spin. Weather reports, snotels, wind readings, and radar will be studied daily and nightly.

Today ratcheted up the anticipation, the stoke, the giddiness of what is to come. Get ready! It will be here soon

Soon, but not soon enough.

 - U.K.

Ptarmigan Couloir: August 5

August is here and that means it is time to ski the Ptarmigan Couloir.  Today made for four consecutive August descents of this shot.  Conditions in the past have been shitty, awful, and everything in between.  This is where I try to convince you the lousy skiing is actually pretty darn fun.  Well, it is.

I like getting the funny looks from people at the trailhead, I like trying to set a booter in firm summer snow, I like getting a bit nervous before the first tentative turn, and I like skiing year round.  The Ptarmigan Couloir is best reached by using a mountain bike.  My, alter-ego, Snotty von Dooshenheim, describes the a typically day of ski-mountain-bike-a-neering.

The big winter and cool summer in Anchorage has the Ptarmy in good shape.  It is still possible to ski from the ridge and the cruxes are still relatively wide and deep.  There was 2-3" of soft on top of very firm.  Long fall line mini-ridges of extra firm snow / ice are aligned in neat rows.   These ridges are 2" high x 2" wide x 100's of feet long about 3-4 feet apart.  It makes for a bumpy ride which is nicely contrasted with the spray from the top few inches of soft snow.  Click for the moving pictures.

So choosing between unleaded, supreme, and diesel, I give today a diesel.  Ricky gives further explanation of this odd rating system.

 - U.K.

Colchuck Glacier

        

It’s July and the heat is on in central Washington.  Climbing and rafting has been great this spring, as another couple boyz can attest to, but the need to ski has gone unsatisfied for too long, and with the temperature on the rise Lizard and I were afraid we might have brought our skis up to Washington in vain.  We had to let ‘em ride on some Cascade corn before the summer is over.  S-Bomb rolled into town with the urge to shred and it was on.  Plenty of snow left in the upper elevations with some friends claiming ski descents of Mt. Daniels and Steven’s Pass area the week before.  Our plan was to climb to and camp at Colchuck Lake, ski the glacier and possibly tag a summit.  Liz and I were also hoping to use the trip do some recon on the numerous alpine routes in the Enchantment area. 

We left for the lake on Tuesday, making short work of the trail. 

Lizard is trying to catch a fly!

Greeted at the lake by cold rain and mist, skipping around on granite domes amidst pine and fur forest, it reminded me a lot of the Whites, except for the towering granite mountains of course.  

Dragontail Peak, with Colchuck Glacier lookers right

Colchuck, glacier on the left, peak on right, shrouded in mystery

The next day dawned clear and beautiful.  Our pace was relaxed and our spirits high, a leisurely start of 10ish brought us to the col by, well I can’t remember.  

The way up, with plenty of boulder caves for an un-permitted bivy!

Stair master to the Sky

A quick scramble up the snow and boulders to the summit of Colchuck peak rewarded us with amazing views of Stuart, Sherpa, and Argonaut peaks to the north, as well as Dragontail’s Backbone, and Serpentine ridges just across the Glacier to the south. 

Liz, Sherpa,  Mt. Stuart, gnar couloir anyone?

Ladybug hatch on the summit

A few pulls from the flask and we headed back to the Col to begin the shred. 

The descent was sublime, almost 3,000 feet of continuous pitch right up to the edge of the lake.   A little suncupped towards the lower elevation but otherwise soft and fun.

Loving it

Trying to spray some climbers

Making turns and taking it all in under the sheer wall of Dragontail. 

S-Bomb flapping the wings, CAW!

Lizard letting em run

The hike out was a bit of a slog, tired legs and the unwillingness to stop and become mosquito food kept us pounding all the ways to the beers at the truck. 

Confuscious say, think rike a forest.

 A beautiful trip with great friends, stoked to make some turns in July!

Cheers,
Shagnasty