Rainier

Visited the Paradise visitor center on Mt. Rainier with my mom, dad and Krista. The new visitor center is pretty nice compared to the old Henry M. Jackson center. A gorgeous day on the mountain, without much of a crowd. There is something about this mountain that is transfixing; every time I stare at it, I feel as if I cannot look away.

From inside the visitor center

Taken from Alta Vista

Paradise alpine zone

Tatoosh Range with the visitor center in the foreground

Mt. Rainier during our flight home

Tourons

Krista and I played the role of tourist for a few days in Seattle. We headed to one of our favorite spots, which is Pike Place Market. We spent a while cruising the shops, bought some fruit, had a piroshky at Piroshky Piroshky (yum!) and then of course I had a latte. We also took a Duck Boat tour, which was a great way to spend an afternoon. We also spent some time with my aunt Kathleen. We headed up to Edmonds to check out some condos she was interested in. Overall, a fun time in the Emerald City.

Pike Place Market

Seattle from Lake Union

A Duck Boat tour from our Duck Boat tour

A seaplane landing on Lake Union

Krista and I on the beach in Edmonds

Squamish-Tacoma-PDX-Tacoma

(Lots of Driving)

After Squamish, Krista and I spent a night in Tacoma before heading down to Portland to see a bunch of my friends. We met up with everyone (Pete, Brad, Trevor, Whitney) at the Sandy River for some awesome swimming. After a relaxing afternoon, we headed to Brad and Olivia's house for some wonderful food, including some grilled chicken and vegetables. Obviously some amazing NW beers were had by all (including the Hopczar, given to me by Brad). To top off the night, we headed to the Concordia, which had some great brews on tap. Thanks to Brad and Olivia for their hospitality. We had a great time in PDX and it was nice to hang out with everyone.

That morning, Krista and I headed back up to Tacoma (first we stopped and saw Nate and had a snack at Muchas Gracias). My sister and cousin put on a wonderful baby shower for us. My whole family was there and we received all sorts of great gifts for our baby, which is due very soon. Lots of good food and fun games was had by all. It was a very nice get together.

Volcano evacuation route signs in Fife, WA

The spread at the baby shower

Krista and I at the shower put on by my sister and cousin

The gang after a relaxing day at the Sandy River, OR

(yes, Brad is wearing a sarong)

Mt. Hood, OR

Squamish

(WA Trip Part 1)

One of the first things on the list during our Washington excursion was some quality granite climbing in Squamish (Skwxwu7mesh, in the native language). Nate, Krista and I drove up for a couple of days and met BJ up there as well. Great times with good friends. I led a few nice routes that I had climbed before. Nate led an awesome route called Crime of the Century (5.11c). On our last day, Nate and I climbed Rock On (5 pitches, 5.10a), which was spectacular. Squamish is absolutely amazing; the best rock I have ever climbed on.

Mt. Garibaldi and a suburb of Squamish (from Rock On)

The Crew (Nate, BJ, Krista and Andrew)

Nearing the top of Pixie Corner (5.8)

Scoping the route ahead on Pixie Corner (one of my favorites)

All the Approach, None of the Climbing:

"Fun" Times On Giant Mountain

The northeast has some great climbing and the Adirondacks contain some supposedly excellent slide climbs. Isaac and I went to attempt Eagle Slide on Giant Mountain, which is rated very highly and I'm sure it is a great climb, but we never got to it. The guidebook description was a bit vague and cryptic in that details such as "at the base of the hill" and " follow the stream" did little to guide us while we crossed multiple streams and were on the side of a mountain with countless hills. I consider my navigation skills to be quite good, but those skills were put to the test today. I am pretty positive that we were originally on the right path, but underestimated the scale of the mountain, thus we turned around too early and did not stay near the stream we were supposed to. I will be back to climb it, but honestly, I'm not sure how a 4th class slide climb can be so highly rated with a mediocre approach that is in the trees 100% of the time. Next time I'll climb it and see if it is actually as good as they say.

The "herd path" leading to who knows where

Isaac near the start of the "herd path"

The map, route description, & gps did not jive

Vermont Summers

Are very rainy and hot! Granted that this summer has been fairly dry, with plenty of sunny weather, except for the damn thunderstorms which seem to occur every day. However even when it is nice if the humidity is 100% and the temperature is 92 degrees, one is not inclined to partake in active outdoor pursuits such as climbing. I have been able to get in a decent amount of climbing, mainly with Justin, whom I've been climbing with since the spring. Once again, my a well planned Presi Traverse trip was foiled by forgotten running shoes (my hiking partner forgot them, not me!). Still a few months of dry weather left before summer slips into a dreary fall. Thus far, I have climbed a Lake Dunmore, Bolton, and the wonderful Adirondacks. Soon I will be in Washington (home of big mountains, no thunderstorms, and great beer).

Isaac on his first climb of the season at Lake Dunmore

In the maw at Bolton (I try to like chimneys)

Justin rappelling from a climb at Chapel Pond, NY

Getting ready for the last pitch of a climb at Chapel Pond, NY

Tilmans Arete, Chapel Pond

Rumney Rocks!

Rumney Rocks is touted as one of the best sport climbing destinations in the U.S. and deservedly so. Though I am not a "sporto" by any stretch of the imagination, I was in need of a confidence boost for my first rock lead of the season; so what better way than to clip some bolts! From Lincoln, Rumney is a little less than 2.5 hours away (not bad for a such a quality venue). The weather was a perfect 50 degrees and being Monday, we had the place to ourselves (almost). Krista kindly belayed me and gave support as I thrutched my way up some face climbs. Climbed two easy routes, both of which were quite fun and a good intro into the season. Very excited about rock climbing this spring/summer; lots of places to explore. The Adirondacks, the Gunks, Katahdin, Cannon Cliff, Cathedral Ledge, and of course my local VT crags.

Lacing up for my first rock lead of the season

Love clippin' those bolts!

To Rappel Or Not to Rappel, That Is The Question

I have the habit of building climbs up in my mind, thus setting my self up for major disappointment when it is not in the cards.  Waking up at 2am and driving 3.5 hours to New Hampshire is quite a way to start a morning.  The approach up the packed trail to Huntington Ravine did not take long (2 hrs).  We were heading up the approach slope by 8:45, but already the sun was beating down.  The avalanche rating was moderate for Damnation Gully, mainly because of a wind loaded slope at the apex of the gully.  However, there was the added danger of an above average sized cornice looming over the entire gully and upper slope.  Deciding to travel under such hazards is tricky.  When conditions are low, most climbers go for it, while when conditions are considerable most would not travel under such hazards.  However, when the rating is moderate there is a rather large gray area of decision making.  Needless to say, we headed up Damnation and quite quickly I realized I was unwilling to travel under such hazards.  My mind became entangle in past experiences of being caught in avalanches and this subsequently affected my climbing ability.  I became sketched out on steep snow; terrain that would be easy.  Given slow climbing, warm conditions, and constant debris falling down the gully, I decided I was not going up, thus we rapped off a V-thread to terrain we could down climb.  Soon after descending, loose snow avalanches began flowing down the gully as the winds picked up to over 60mph.  We descended back to the cars...for another day I suppose.

Packing the "kit"

Alpenglow on Mt. Washington 

Ready to climb! (I've been up since 2am)

Jeremy soloing up the first bulge

The winds picked up to 60mph in the afternoon (Pinnacle Gully in the background)

Huntington Ravine; Damnation Gully is just right of center

The nastiness that is Mt. Washington (and it was a nice day!)

Birthday Wishes

To celebrate my birthday, Krista and I went ice climbing up at Bristol Cliffs in the morning.  Taking a different approach route that normal, we cut far left and discovered a flow of ice I had never seen before.  Though it has definitely been climbed before, I had never been up this particular route.  The climb was about one full rope length and WI2.  The ice wasn't particularly thick and there actually was a decent amount of water flowing underneath.  A fun climb overall; we dubbed it "Birthday Boy".  

After some climbing, we went out to breakfast at Snap's in Bristol, then later on in the afternoon we drove up to Burlington for some pizza at American Flatbread (amazing).  A wonderful day!

Flaking out the rope

Having fun!

Scoping out the rest of the climb

Starting up the climb

Krista and I at the base of the climb

On a Shoestring Budget

Drove over to NH to climb yet another amazing gully climb.  Shoestring gully is a ~6 pitch WI2 alpine gully climb.  Situated in Crawford Notch SP, amongst other classics such as Willey's Slide and Cinema Gully.  Shoestring was one of the best ice climbs I have done in years.  Despite the moderate nature of the the climbing, the alpine feeling of the route and the length (nearly 2000' of climbing/approach) added up to create a wonderful outing.  The only downfall of the climb was that near the base of the 2nd pitch, we were overtaken by a throng of climbers, due to some climbers ahead of us going a bit slow.  The ice was brittle (really brittle) and we were constantly pelted with chunks of ice.

Only two pitches from the top

Soloing the first "pitch"

On top at last; Mt. Willey in the background

A climber starting up the 2nd pitch

Shoestring gully on Mt. Willard

Crawford Notch: Round Two

Two weeks prior I had come to Crawford Notch, NH to climb Willey's Slide (in subzero temperatures).  This trip, my goal was the climb the immensely popular Cinema Gully.  Similar in character to Willey's Slide, Cinema is only 3 pitches long and roughly the same difficulty (WI2/WI2+).  The temperature was down right balmy (nearly 20 F) and towards the end the ice was getting a bit sloppy.  Overall the climb was very enjoyable and was in spectacular condition (normally this climb can be a bit "scrappy" with barely enough ice to place a screw.  I did bottom out a couple of screws, but for the most part, the ice was thick enough.  As mentioned, this climb is popular and Saturday proved this most assuredly.  There were over a dozen climbers on the face and at one point there were four separate belays at one ledge.  I have never ice climbed with so many people and I hope never to do so again.  Well worth the drive and having to deal with the junk show of climbers.

Myself starting up the last pitch, skirting one of the many climbing parties

Pondering the masses of people accumulating below me

Looking down Cinema Gully; here they come!

Posing at the 1st belay station (Willey's Slide visible to my left)

At the base of Cinema Gully