Mt Shuksan, Fisher Chimneys

Mt Shuksan, Fisher Chimneys

I just moved back to Washington from Denver and I was psyched to get out in the North Cascades on return. I met Byron at the Mt Baker Ski Area on Friday evening and we camped out so that we could have a leisurely start Saturday morning. The road is currently closed up to Artist Point at the Heather Meadows Visitor Center, or Grandma’s Hut as I’ve know it to be called. This added only…

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South Arapahoe Peak, Skywalker Couloir

South Arapahoe Peak, Skywalker Couloir

The county plowed the road to 4th of July campground on Thursday so we got up early Saturday morning to go ski Skywalk Couloir before the weather turned to rain for the weekend. It has been a grey and wet spring in the Front Range. The forecast for Memorial Day weekend, starting around noon on Saturday, was thunderstorms and heavy precipitation through Monday, but there was a short window of sun Saturday morning that looked…

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Mt Moran, CMC Route

Mt Moran, CMC Route

There’s a good chance that any climb requiring a canoe approach is going to be a good one, however, first we had to get the boat in the water. On a busy Saturday morning in July this proved to be the crux of the trip. After circling the String Lake parking lot for 20 minutes we ultimately found a spot to park the cars where we could gear up and get in. So we finally…

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Climbing, Washington

Mt Goode, Northeast Buttress

by  in Climbing, Washington
Peak of the Week is back! And after a considerable hiatus. The adventures never actually stopped, the motivation to write about them stalled out for a bit. It was temporarily. This year we wanted to utilize a long holiday weekend on the 4th of July for a long holiday climb. Our plan was to try the Northeast Buttress on Mt Goode in the North Cascades. We would go in via Bridge Creek at Rainey Pass,…
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Washington, Touring, Mt. Rainier, Central Cascades

Mt Rainier, Fuhrer Finger

by  in Washington, Touring, Mt. Rainier, Central Cascades
It’s Friday evening, and Zach and I had just been set up by our mutual friend Whitney to climb and ski Mt. Rainier together over the weekend.  We had both been looking for partners to attempt the Fuhrer Finger route, and had both approached Whitney about skiing the Finger.   The Fuhrer Finger is an extraordinary ski mountaineering line; it takes a direct line up a south aspect of Mt. Rainier, and gets its name from the…
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Climbing

Cochise Stronghold, Endgame

by  in Climbing
Written by Timbo, copy/pasted by David This was our first time climbing in Arizona. We had a couple areas to choose from but ended up selecting Cochise Stronghold for its unique climbing and adventurous reputation.  Our first decision to make was where to stay. It is a 2 hour drive from Tucson making it a long day trip. There is camping on both the east and west side of the area which in fact is…
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Climbing

Castleton Tower, North Chimney

by  in Climbing
After driving half the day on Friday and most of the day on Saturday Ben and I got into Moab Saturday afternoon and went to climb Wall Street before it got dark. Climbing the sandstone of southern Utah is as similar to the granite of Washington as geography between the regions is. Crack climbing technique doesn’t change much, but unfortunately I have none of it. No matter though, we’re all warmed up now so we…
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Climbing

April Fools Tower, Snow Creek Wall

by  in Climbing
Located on the north end of Snow Creek Wall, April Fools Tower is one of several towers in the immediate area and constitutes a long approach, a short climb and a spectacular rappel. If your goal is to climb everything in in the area it should definitely be on your list. If your goal is to climb the good climbs in the area you can probably wait on this one. Starting at the Snow Creek…
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Washington, Mt. Adams, Touring

Mt Adams, South Face

by  in Washington, Mt. Adams, Touring
We had planned to do this one a couple weeks ago but the weather was bad. This weekend however delivered perfect climbing conditions so we trekked south for a Mt Adams climb. Leaving Seattle on a Friday is a loosing prospect to begin with. Then there is the location of the mountain itself. It is said that Glacier Peak is the most remote volcano in Washington, but I think I would rather do a few…
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Climbing, Mt Hood, Touring

Mt Hood, Cooper Spur

by  in Climbing, Mt Hood, Touring
We’re standing on the top of Oregon’s tallest volcano which by itself isn’t that impressive considering over 10,000 people attempt the summit every year but our path was windy one and for awhile the whole thing seemed unlikley so for now we are just happy to be here.  The Cooper Spur route on Mt Hood doesn’t get traveled nearly as much as its cousin route to the south. The steepness of the route combined with…
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Touring, Snoqualmie Pass

Snoqualmie Pass, Holy Diver

by  in Touring, Snoqualmie Pass
Having both been recently unencumbered by employment, Rory and I made plans for a weekday tour.   Monday’s forecast was for Sunshine and temperatures approaching 60F, so we brainstormed higher mileage tours that would avoid south facing, large and/or steep terrain in the afternoon.  The prior weekend was unseasonably warm as well, so we figured any good snow would be hidden on north aspects. We settled on a loop in the Aplental backcountry with descents down a…
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Washington, Touring, Snoqualmie Pass

Chair Peak Circumnavigation, Alpental Valley

by  in Washington, Touring, Snoqualmie Pass
We went out in Alpental Valley on Saturday. For me, it was my first time out there on a splitboard. Our objective was to Circumnavigate Chair Peak. We left from the upper parking lot at 8am and split up into the valley following the groomed track until it ended. At this point split left until we met up with the main skin track just below Source Lake. The East Shoulder of Chair Peak was pretty…
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British Columbia, Selkirk Mountains, Touring

Asulkan Hut, Rogers Pass

by  in British Columbia, Selkirk Mountains, Touring
I booked three nights at the Asulkan Hut after the third separate conversation when it came up last year. The hut was built in 1995  so who knows why it took so long to get on my radar but I guess I’m still relatively new to British Columbia huts so away we go, to Rogers Pass. The long term forecast had looked nice for the weekend of our trip. A couple feet of new snow…
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Crystal Mountain, Touring

Crystal Mountain, Silver Basin

by  in Crystal Mountain, Touring
Just a quick update on early season conditions so far. We went out in Silver Basin at Crystal on Saturday. There were probably about 50 cars in the parking lot when we arrived a little after 9am. It was wanting to snow so badly while we geared up but it was coming down mostly as mixed precip. Our group of 10 split up the Quicksilver chair line more or less in some very heavy snow…
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North Cascades, Climbing, Movies

Inspiration Peak, East Ridge

by  in North Cascades, Climbing, Movies
This year Tim and I decided we wanted to learn the true meaning of Labor Day so while we could have spent our three day weekend climbing anywhere we chose the Pickets, a range in the North Cascades known by climbers for its remoteness and inaccessibility. In 1931 when all of the major peaks in the Tetons had established routes the Pickets saw their first recorded technical ascent. When people talk about the wild of…