Back in Seattle

Tomorrow evening will be the first time I've been home for more than 48 hours during the past 4 months! In mid June I left Seattle to spend 6 weeks in redneck, Southwest Montana, taking a 6-week geology field course that is the capstone of my geology BS. It was painful to spend 6 days a week in school, from 8am to 5pm, but I must admit that I learned some stuff.

After Montana I flew down to Salt Lake City for a few days for a Black Diamond meeting, and left almost immediately afterwards for Pakistan. This summmer I went to the Choktoi Glacier with Maxime Turgeon, Josh Wharton and Whit Magro - Max and I to attempt the Southeast Buttress of the Ogre, and Josh and Whit to attempt the north aspect of Latok I. In the end, none of us were able to make an honest attempt on our routes due to the weather. Early in the trip we had two 3-day windows, but they weren't quite long enough for Latok or the Ogre, and we weren't yet adequately acclimatized. Later we had a 6-day period of mediocre weather when, in hindsight, we should have made an attempt, but it's unlikely it would have been good enough for a decent summit chance. At the very last hour of the trip we thought a good window had finally come and set out for our routes, but Max and I had to turn around because our two cached ropes were hopelessly lost under about 3 meters of new snow (seriously), and Josh and Whit bailed because it was so cold (I have since concluded that the last week of September is getting a bit late for 7,000m peaks in the Karakorum, especially north-facing objectives).

Although absolutely insignificant compared to our main objectives, we did all get to do some satisfying climbing while acclimatizing. Josh and Whit climbed a 5,700m peak by a new route, and believe it was the first ascent of the peak. Max and I climbed a 5,900m peak by its aesthetic south ridge, and we are about 85% sure it was the first ascent of the peak, but we need to do more research to be sure. We are tentatively naming it "Baintha Kabata," which in Urdu means "Ogre's Son."

Basecamp below the spectacular north side of Latok I:


Max carrying gear up to the col at the base of the Southeast Buttress of the Ogre:


Setting V-threads while rapping down from the 5,500m col in a storm:


Max leading a rock pitch on the morning of the second day on Baintha Kabata:


Max following a slabby pitch a bit higher:


Max following a traverse across an icefield near the summit:


Back on the glacier. After a cold bivy at 5,700m, a full day of climbing and a night of V-threading down the west ridge, we were very tired:



On the way home from Pakistan I decided to stop in Oslo for a week. I had a wonderful time climbing and skiing further north in Norway a couple years ago, but had never checked out Oslo before. There are several crags and bouldering areas in Oslo that are accessible by the subway!

Camilla bouldering at a couple different subway-accessed areas:




I had about 20 hours at home after Norway before flying down to Ventura for a Patagonia design meeting, and then about 15 hours at home before flying to Anchorage for a slideshow at the Bearstooth Theatre. I had two days to play in Anchorage after the slideshow, and spent them mixed climbing up on Ptarmigan Peak in Chugach State Park. On Friday Scotty and I climbed a steep 4-pitch route called "Three-Headed Bitch," and I Saturday Clint and I climbed a longer, more moderate route called "Ski Tracks Gully." Scotty describes Ptarmigan well as "urban alpinism."

Clint following a pitch in Ski Tracks Gully:


Clint right below the summit of Ptarmigan, with saltwater behind:



Now I'm doing massive amounts of laundry, and catching up on all sorts of small tasks and errands. I swear I'll be home for at least 10 days...

Outer Space and Prusik Peak

Justin was visiting Seattle for just a few days, and didn't get very lucky with the weather. So, chasing drier air we headed to the east slopes, and climbed Outer Space on Saturday and the West Ridge of Prusik on Sunday. Pretty good climbs considering that Justin had never been more than a single pitch off the ground before!

A goat hungry for halite:


On the West Ridge:


Right after the slab:


A still snowy traverse back to the base of the West Ridge:

Mt. Stuart, Upper North Ridge

The forecast for Memorial Day was wishy-washy, with both the west slopes and the east slopes looking iffy. Dan Aylward and I decided to go try the Upper North Ridge on Stuart, and figured we could just climb the West Ridge if the weather was truly nasty. The Teanaway River Road is not totally snow-free yet, so we left the car about 6:30am, still 2.5 miles from the trailhead. I would estimate that the road will be drivable to the trailhead by next weekend.

The approach was characterized by lots of work kicking steps in the slush. Almost to the climbing, Dan traversing across the Stuart Glacier:


Dan on the partially snow-covered slab pitch:


Dan nearing the Great Gendarme:


Colin on the first pitch of the Great Gendarme, which was still a bit wet and icy. Photo by Dan Aylward:


Dan following the first pitch of the Great Gendarme:


Colin at one of the Cascade's best belay ledges. Photo by Dan Aylward:


Dan climbing above the Great Gendarme:


On the summit at about 6pm. The torrential rain, hail, and lightning didn't start until we returned to the car, at 9:30:


Dan dropped me off at the Park and Ride at midnight. In the dark, and in my tired state, I didn't notice the artwork someone left on my car until the next morning. This pastoral scene, depicting a climber's passion, is typical of the style pioneered by Bellingham ice climber, Crazy Polish Bob.

Early Winter Spires in Late "Winter"

With freezing levels dropping back down to 3,500 ft., Sunday promised to be the last day of the season with wintry conditions. So after some 3am antics due to a slept-through alarm clock, Mark Bunker, Dylan Johnson and I drove up to Washington Pass for the Early Winter Spires. From the hairpin turn we climbed the Early Winter Couloir, to the notch between North and South Spire, then up the ridge to the summit of the North Spire.


Mark on a short ice step in the Early Winter Couloir:



Wallowing was the norm for most of the couloir:



The cornice was big and overhanging. Since tunneling through snow seems to be my specialty these days, I started digging... Mark exiting the cornice tunnel:



The terrain from the notch to the summit had one spicy section of mixed slab climbing, but was otherwise pretty juggy. Dylan starting up above the notch:



Me, Mark, and Dylan on top of North Early Winter Spire.



After some down-climbing and a few rappels down to the west, the hour was still early, so we rambled up South Early Winter Spire via the SW Couloir:

Rainier Skiing

Friday was forecasted to be sunny, so Dan Aylward and I headed up to Rainier for some spring skiing. From Muir we headed up the Gib Ledges route, to the base of Gibraltar Rock at 12,000 ft. We had planned to traverse from there to the top of Gib Chute for a nice steep descent, but changed plans upon seeing all the seracs that loop above Gib Chute. I'm willing to accept some serac risk for an amazing climb, but not for a little ski gully. The skiing back down the way we came was good nonetheless!

Wednesday Night Alpinism

So, you're a 9-5 business man/woman, planning an alpine-style attempt on the Shining Wall of Gasherbrum IV this summer. While hitting up the climbing gym after work is probably beneficial, those round, plastic holds won't, by themselves, adequately prepare you for soloing M4+ at 7,600 meters...

The solution for you is Wednesday Night Alpinism: Leave work at your usual time, drive straight to the mountains, and go alpine climbing all night, preferably in horrendous weather. The difficulty of staying awake at work the next day will help train you for the 40+ hour summit push on GIV...

Dylan and I climbed the East Face of The (Mighty) Tooth on this not-long-ago Wednesday: