I recently found the treasure trove of beta called Clint Cummins. This guy has been absolutely everywhere and has documented everything. He compiled a guidebook to Index in 1993 and is freely distributing it on his website. That kind of generosity is truly amazing.
On his website the topo’s are scanned page by page and he has posted [...]
Not much to say except the cracks were splitter, the rock was bomber and I got hooked.
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Sometimes climbing a peak is just meant to be. This week, it seemed that every time I got close to climbing the Triple Couloirs on Dragontail Peak something would derail my plans, and yet it all worked out in the end. Funny how that happens sometimes.
I’ll spare you the happenstance that led up to the [...]
I finally found the time to sharpen up my tools and get out and climb. It was a blast and considering this was my first alpine-esque climb it went well. I say alpine-esque because it was more like alpine cragging. It was the first time I’ve had a snow approach, sunk rock pro while ice [...]
Mt. Shuksan is one of the most beautiful mountains I have ever laid eyes on. Like most mountains, Shuksan has an easy way up and a myriad of less easy ways up. The Sulphide Glacier is the standard route of the mountain. I cannot attest to the quality of that slog but I imagine it [...]
I had every intention of climbing Mt Rainier this Labor Day weekend but absolutely no expectation to. I say this because NOAA issued a winter storm morning that called for 1-2 feet of snow to be dumped above 7,000′ and high winds.
With a forecast like that why would I even want to climb Rainier? The [...]
This trip report may sound unduly harsh but if the saying “good judgment is the result of experience and experience is often the result of bad judgment” then this is a story of developing better judgment. I’ll apologize in advance for the length but even at over 2300 words it still does not encompass the [...]
One of the many perks about living in Seattle is the proximity to big mountains. Last year when I climbed Rainier it was months of training, planning and praying for a good weather window. Now it’s “oh the weather is nice so lets go climb Rainier” and so I am. Yesterday I took someone up [...]
Training for mountaineering and training for Rainier in particular is an expectations game. If you don’t know what to expect you fret over every little detail and want to make sure that your training regime is the “right” one for mountaineering. If you do know what to expect especially on a climb like the standard [...]
Part II of my Mt Rainier climb up Disappointment Cleaver is really a completely separate trip report from Part I. Earlier in the week I missed the summit of Rainier because the altitude knocked my climbing partner on his ass. To add insult to injury, Mt Shuksan had repelled me due to sloppy snow conditions. [...]