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Old School Moose

By Geoff Hardy

Posted on 5/20/2018 9:28 AM

When you hear “Moose Mountain”, you may not always think of scrambling but it’s actually a pretty fun shoulder season trip if you avoid the usual route.

On 19 May 2018 we biked to the end of Canyon Creek Rd, followed the SW to the main summit and then returned via the SE ridge with a stop at the ice cave before biking back. Apart from the 30 people on the main summit and at the ice cave, we had the rest of the route to ourselves.

The most fun scrambling is on the rocky spine of the SW ridge. The least fun is side sloping through steep, loose rubble to circumvent cliff bands when descending from the SE ridge.

Stats: 11km bike, 18km hike, 1600m elevation gain, 9:20 hours

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Gunnery Mountain

By Gerry Richardson

Posted on 5/12/2018 8:13 PM

What a difference 4 weeks makes. The knee to waist deep snow is gone and its relatively quick to gain the 600m vertical to the peak in under two hours. We extended the trip by heading north dropping down to a col on the connecting ridge to Holy Cross Mountain. There is still some lingering snow among the trees,  knee deep occasionally. We made short work of it and didn’t encounter more than a few small patches after that. Very obvious and good trail to the Grass Pass..Far more interesting than the direct trail up the creek from the road. Once at the Grass Pass we sat in the sun and had lunch. Unfortunately the hungry ticks were having the same idea. I seemed to be the target. and my companions swiftly brushed off 5 or 6 from my jacket before we got going again. We headed up to the right along the ridge to a highpoint known as Boundary Pine.. A large stand of old limber pines cover the west slopes. They lean away from the prevailing west winds.. I haven’t seen this in the Rockies however it is very common on seacoasts where constant winds seem to cause foliage to grow on the leeward side of the trunk and the whole tree leans away from the wind. No gales or heavy wind from the west today just a light cooling breeze. From there we headed directly down the ridge sometime on a well marked trail . Other times just crossing open ground avoiding deadfall or brush. As we neared the end of the ridge it looked like a dropoff would  halt progress .We did notice a rubbly break that brought us down to some scree slopes that almost reached the road. This section was the only real scrambling of the day.  Some Bighorn Ewes and their offspring were munching the new grass on the roadside on the way back to the car. Its been a long winter so I’m sure they were eager to stock up on some quality feed. We  stopped at Marv’s diner in Black Diamond on the way home for some well earned burgers and shakes. Yes a very relaxing leisurely day with great company. Better keep an eye out for those unwelcome hitchhikers for the next few weeks. I know I’ll be scouring the car for a few days for the eight legged creatures. Good thing my dear wife is away until Tuesday. LOL 🙂 Thank you all for joning me on a most excellent adventure ticks and all.

Tagged as GunneryGrass PassHighwoodWizard
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Climbing Gear Inventory

By Tom Waddell

Posted on 5/6/2018 7:09 PM

I would like to thank Gerry and Erich for their help in checking over the club’s gear and help with creating an inventory.  This inventory has now been posted in the Documents section of the website as well as the Gear List page (which can be found under the Training and Gear tab.

This is how things looked when we started.

And 3.5 hours later when we done.

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Climbing at Porcupine Creek

By Anna Niedzwiecka

Posted on 5/4/2018 7:09 AM

We had a great time climbing and putting up ropes in creative ways at the crag after work. It was Edgar and SangMi’s first time climbing outdoors and I’m pretty sure they’ll be back for more:)

I posted some more pictures of the event on Facebook, go have a look!

Thank you to the members for joining me for such a fun and adventurous evening! Until next time!
Anna
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Door Jamb and Loder April 28, 2018

By Tom Waddell

Posted on 4/28/2018 9:01 PM

Donna, Annie, Duffy, Jill, Peter, David, Jessica, Clifton and Alison joined Layla, Sophie and I on our first outing since last August.  It was a beautiful Spring day and the girls and I were glad of their company.

We met at the trail head just before 9 AM and were on our way by 9:15.  We set a relaxed pace, enjoyed an extended stay on the summit of Doorjamb and even longer one on the summit of Loder.. After some chat and interaction with the numerous others enjoying the day, we headed back and arrived at the cars about 5.5 hours after we set out.

Thanks all for a great day. I look forward to our next adventure.

Tom

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Ski Mountaineering – Mt Rainier, Mt Adams, Mt Hood

Rainier in the books before storm arrives, plus trip leader takes full body swim and loses pole on approach…

SUCCESS! Despite the many challenges facing us we managed to bag Rainier, Adams and Hood all in excellent conditions. 

Some trip highlights include:

• Nailing the weather window on Mt Adams by less than 30min with rain/snow on either side and still getting blue ski on the summit surrounded by clouds
• Skiing your favorite frozen Brassica Oleracea (Broccoli, Cauliflower) off the summits
• Facing the crowded routes on Mt Hood aka Disney Land of the North West
• Enjoying many a fine brew at the end of each ski
• Taking 30minute hot KOA showers and drying out our stuff
• Managing extreme weather – heat wave on Rainier, then torrential rain before a window opened for Mt Adams and then absolute blue bird on Mt Hood

Many thanks to a great team. 

The next volcanoes on the list are Baker and Shasta, hopefully a bit earlier to minimize walking. Bring your sunscreen.

• Having the GPS tells us that the crevasse crossing was 30m right but the wands aren’t 
• Leaving your SPOT on the summit of Rainier only to remember and spend another 15min getting premium exercise returning to the summit caldera
• High consequence crossing a raging afternoon torrent with overnight pack and ski boots via some creative 5.4 Tree aiding over a tree stump that half extended to the other side
• Carrying skis way more than we ever wanted to
• Losing one participant to a work emergency after Rainier and getting to the airport just in time
• Coordinating 5 participants with 4 cars in both time and space
• Finding places with power, internet and decent food from which to work on the ‘off’ days
• Driving ~ 3300km there and back with ~ 13hrs each way

• Dealing with ornery border guards
• Slipping on a vociferous stream crossing with ski boots with an overnight pack, taking a bath and losing a ski pole, and then drying out completely in the heat
• Jerry rigging an ice axe and ski shovel handle to double as a ski pole (ultra light gear utilization)
• Forgetting your lunch/snack bag for the 2 day attempt on Rainier

forgot a couple:
• Having the GPS tells us that the crevasse crossing was 30m right but the wands aren’t 
• Leaving your SPOT on the summit of Rainier only to remember and spend another 15min getting premium exercise returning to the summit caldera
• High consequence crossing a raging afternoon torrent with overnight pack and ski boots via some creative 5.4 Tree aiding over a tree stump that half extended to the other side
• Carrying skis way more than we ever wanted to
• Losing one participant to a work emergency after Rainier and getting to the airport just in time
• Coordinating 5 participants with 4 cars in both time and space
• Finding places with power, internet and decent food from which to work on the ‘off’ days
• Driving ~ 3300km there and back with ~ 13hrs each way
• Dodging the dreaded blue bag only to be assaulted by the intense vapor pressure at Camp Shurman’s outhouse
• Carrying the used & feared blue bag to the summit of Hood and back down again structurally intact

Thanks Robert for the top notch planning and execution of this multi-day multi-summit out of country trip!
Thanks to all other partners on the trip too! We had a great solid and well prepared team which translated into a great experience with a low epicity factor ( I made that word up! Low drama=no epic).
Looking forward to the next big adventure with this fine gang 🙂 – Gen

Thanks again Rob for all the research and planning you put into this trip. It looks like you covered all the highlights of the trip already, except for Shaun going to Oceanside for surfing in between Adams & Hood! – Mike

Rob, A truly memorable trip made so with your careful planning, an outstanding group and some good luck with the weather! The highlight of the year for sure. Thanks for making this happen. – JM

This is definitely a trip worth repeating several times – with multiple lines to be had on each mountain. – Shaun

Stats – values approximate

Ranier
Day 1
1580m vertical
6:50hrs
11km
Day 2
1483m vertical
7:30hrs
7km
7hrs, 18km descent

Adams 2050m vertical
6hrs up
2:50hrs down

Hood 860m vertical (after lift)
3:30hrs
2.6km
1hr, 1615m vertical, 6.2km descent

Original CSMC Trip https://www.meetup.com/Canadian-Scrambling-and-Mountaineering-Company/events/228880636/

Details

Primary target is Rainier 14411ft 4394m according to Wikipedia. The record is 4 hours round trip though weekend warriors come in more like 18hrs up and 1hr down.

The good news is that it snows a LOT on the coastal range. The bad news is that it snows a LOT. Meaning that it is absolutely mandatory we hit a good weather window. So booking a flight in advance is out of the question. And booking a flight 2 days before will cause premature nosebleeds in terms of pricing.

So dates are tentative and you have to be able to shuffle work schedules to meet the appropriate priorities 😉

About You

You also need to be able to wrap your head around 3000 vertical meters without taking your ski boots off! So yes, you need to be fit but not necessarily genetically gifted. Having a masochistic streak helps as does a general mountaineering attitude / memory impairment.

And yes, numerous stops on the 3000m run down are expected. Of course you are comfortable on variable snow: from concrete, concrete sustrugi, breakable crust, perfect corn and slush.

You will also be proficient with crevasse rescue best practices.

MOUNT RAINIER DETAILS

So, the best alternative is to watch the weather like a hawk late May to mid June and spot that magic H over the pacific. Google says we can get there by car in 13:43hrs for 1254 km. So say 14hrs with 4-5 drivers depending on which vehicle drives. Yes, that’s a lot of driving and, Rainier is the prize. So realistically that works out to:

1 long day drive down

1.x long day for Rainier

1 recovery day

1 more modest day for Baker (it’s only 10,000 ft)

1 long day home and crawl under a table at work the next day

Total time: 5 days

Alternative Scenario

Depending on work schedules/timing etc., some of us may bring their laptops with the idea of going down on a Friday and returning a week later on the Sunday. This scenario mitigates the brutal 28hrs of driving and offers additional summit or at least ski potential. Much will depend on who is able to go and who is able to drive / take the time. It also offers the opportunity to stop by REI and Trade Joes.

Keep in mind that people take up to 5 days in the summer to reach the summit so bagging Rainier in 1.x days is pretty sweet and sans the 3000m of knee bashing on the way down.

Great site for all of the Cascades: http://www.skimountaineer.com/CascadeSki/CascadeLargeMap.html(https://www.wildsnow.com/16575/mount-hood-skiing-snowboarding-backcountry/)

Routes

To see what the genetically gifted can do see: http://www.outdoorresearch.com/blog/stories/dorais-brothers-crush-fastest-known-time-on-rainier

We will be taking the Fuhrer Finger route from Paradise parking lot. http://youtu.be/VmX_aOwyhRk

Nisqually chutes video for reference: http://youtu.be/VjdcjxDHUWw

Park logistics can be found here: http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/things-to-know-before-you-climb.htm

Weather and roads are found here:

https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/weather.htm

http://www.atmos.washington.edu/data/rainier_report.html

http://www.nwac.us/weatherdata/campmuir/now/

Snow Depth

http://data.nwac.us/CLISNO/CLISNO.TXT

NW Avalanche

http://www.nwac.us/weatherdata/paradise/now/

Maps

http://npmaps.com/mount-rainier/ (free)

The above posting is Rainier centric, more details to follow re Baker. The trip is in the planning stages and final details will be forthcoming once we get past the April Rockies peak bagging season.

MOUNT BAKER DETAILS

Mount Baker sports a respectable summit elevation of 3280m (10760ft) and offers up to 2200m vertical from the parking lot. The terrain is relatively modest though there are crevasses which are filled at this time of year.

We will use the standard Easton/Coleman Glacier way aka the tourist route. I’ve personally walked this route at a moderate pace in 15hrs in late summer with lots of crevasse threading. So skiing it on a clear day will be easy in comparison.

Overall description: http://www.skimountaineer.com/CascadeSki/CascadeSki.php?name=Baker

To see what’s possible click on this links:

http://coastmountainskiing.com/mt-baker-north-ridge-fkt/ (we won’t be doing the technical bit)

Consider that it’s even posted as a guided one day ascent (as in ‘how hard can it be’):

http://www.pacificalpineguides.com/skiing/northcascades/mt-baker-one-day-ski-ascent

Then there are:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/125628-Mt-Baker-Easton-Glacier-Approach

https://bcmc.ca/m/articles/view/Mt-Baker-Easton-Glacier-Single-Day

http://www.summitpost.org/easton-glacier/155616

Road Conditions

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/mbs/home/?cid=stelprdb5150500&width=full