Sasquatch Climber

Extra Brewing Supplies

2012-01-17T21:39:00.001-08:00

When you have extra supplies from your brewing process, you must do something with it. In this case, it was a handful of hops and a mug of half brewed beer, so the logical way to dispose of the concoction us to drink! Cheers!

Top 10 Albums of 2011

2011-12-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

2011 was another awesome year in music, Seattle's musical sound is just fantastic. The Pacific NW really knows their music (besides grunge). It must be in the water, we get a lot of it, usually applied in rain form. OK here's my list for 2011:

1. Black Keys - El Camino
- Damn, they did it once again, I asked the question once "What can't these guys do?" my friend Dave responded with "I'll tell you one thing they can't do, and that's be more awesome." Well Davy Boy for both our sakes, I'm glad you were proven wrong! Can't stop listening to Gold on the Ceiling, Little Black Submarines, and Nova Baby.
2. Head and the Heart - The Head and the Heart
- Such a great album to listen to. This band has exploded in a short time. Can't wait to hear more.
3. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
- Fleet Foxes put a great album together, had no sophomore slump and added a few new sounds too.
4. The Decemberists - The King is Dead
- I had listened to this band before, but after this album I'm now a for real fan.
5. M83 - Hurry Up, Were Dreaming
- Wow, different, out there, a song with 5 year old talking about magical frogs, it works though, just go and listen. It starts on the first song with Zola Jesus and gets better from there.
6. The Cave Singers - No Witch
- Another Seattle band makes the list! (see a trend here?)
7. The Lonely Island - Turtleneck and Chain
- "This is a tale of Captain Jack Sparrow...." haha! "than I THREW IT ON THE GROUND!!"
8. DJ Quik - The Book of David
- I've listened to this album many times this year and it never disappoints.
9. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
- I was late to listen to this one, once I did I was hooked. It's experimental but good hip-hop, I really like the use of different instruments and sounds on the record.
10. Foster the People - Torches
- Grammy nominated band, catchy tunes, a really solid album. Didn't see that coming after their radio hit "Pumped Up Kids".

If anyone was counting that's 4 Seattle bands (Head and the Heart, Fleet Foxes, The Cave Singers, and Shabazz Palaces) and none of them sound alike!

The sasquatch still climbs

2011-12-14T23:14:00.000-08:00

Although there's been an obvious lack of fresh content since August. I have been out and about wandering the far reaches of The Cascades and beyond. Now that the weather has turned and I'll have a bit more time so share some of my adventures. Well, in-between chasing that elusive Cascade powder. Stay tuned for more to come...

Mt. Baker Ski Area Video Premiere

2011-12-14T22:43:00.000-08:00

Mt. Baker Ski Area from Luke Shy on Vimeo.
A fun weekend of skiing and boarding at Mt. Baker Ski Area. Dave and I filmed with my GoPro HD. All set to Del the Funky Homosapien and Gorillaz playing Rock the House.

Hans and Frans Go Climbing

2011-08-08T01:09:00.000-07:00

The adventures of Hans and Frans in the Alps continues with their report from the Platthorn summit.

One of many videos taken while in Switzerland, more to come!

Switzerland Update

2011-07-24T12:43:00.001-07:00

Climbing was great this past week in zermatt, we didn't get the matterhorn, but three other summits!

Breithorn was our first and the tallest at 4164m tall. The nice part is you get off at 3800m at the top of Klein Matterhorn cable car. A very airy ride as you go over heavily crevassed glaciers thousands of feet below you. Even if you're not a climber this is something you should go on.

Our final two summits were the Platterhorn and Mettelhorn just north of the city. Both were around 3400m and were rewarding summits after some very steep trail, scree and a small glacier traverse.

On our descent we stopped for a half liter of beer, Switzerland's finest -Cardinal, and enjoyed the view of the city from the hut. A fine way to end a day of climbing in the Alps.

Zermatt Climbing

2011-07-18T14:50:00.001-07:00

The matterhorn is nicely plastered with fresh snow. So we now plan for the other big peaks in the area that are less rock and more glacier travel.
We hiked towards the hornli hut today, its amazing how accessable the alpine is, the cable cars are everywhere! This makes the Cascades feel only that more rugged.

I can't wait to get up the peaks around here this week. Matterhorn or no, they all look fun!

Shuksan Camp

2011-07-09T14:01:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you get a bitchin' bivy site.

update - now with the picture!

Big Snagtooth - June 2011

2011-06-20T20:53:00.001-07:00

Big Snagtooth - June 2011, a set on Flickr.

A FDA - First Dog Ascent! Plus some mixed climbing and shoulder stands to the summit.

Mt Stuart - Ice Cliff Glacier 6/12/2011

2011-06-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

We headed out at 10 am from the Stuart Lake trail head and headed for the first switchback turnoff on the Stuart Lake trail. Once we turned off we met up with Phil (cc'er "lowlife") and Anastasia. (great to meet you two!) They were headed up to try the Stuart Glacier Couloir. We all headed down the climbers trail, quickly turned to snow and then made the big creek crossing. We found a really nice log to walk across, about 20 yards above where we intersected the creek.

Colcuck Argonaut Sherpa and Stuart

Creek Crossing

From there it was post hole heaven as we made our way along Mountaineers Creek, following a faint snowshoe track. At the 4800' where the creek splits we took the right branch and followed closely along it. More post holing, more over and under downed trees. We got to the steep part and ran into Tom, Daniel, and Wayne heading down from their NW Face climb . (Nice work guys!) We finally made it to camp and set up camp on the sweet bivy rock that they told us about. We set up camp, and kicked steps up to the moraine to check on the route conditions - looked great, game on!

Pre-Climb stoke at camp!

The route lookin' good

Alarm came at 2:30 am, damn that's early, didn't start moving till 2:45 am, headed out at 3:45 am. Following the preset boot pack, we headed up the right side of the moraine to stay out of the ice cliff fall line, put on crampons, and roped up. Rick lead the first part as we simul-climbed up to the flat above the ice cliff. He placed a bunch of pickets and 3 screws. Snow was nice and hard and made for smooth climbing to up above the ice fall.

sunrise

roping up

Rick on lead

From there Sean took the lead and headed right around some obvious crevasses and then back towards the middle of the 'schrund at the snow bridge. He belayed us in from there and Rick took the lead again. He crossed the semi-sketchy snow bridge and headed straight up the steep snow slope. Snow conditions were still great. Once out of gear he set a belay on the right wall and belayed us in.

Heading up to the 'Schrund

Crossing the 'Schrund - photo by Jenny

I took the final lead up the right final gully and headed straight up towards the middle of the cornice, which was no more than vertical snow. By this time the sun had been baking the final 50', which had turned it into mush, but kicking steps in it wasn't too bad. The final hump over the lip was nice because the snow on the south side was nice and solid. I belayed the team up, we high-fived, took a few minute break and headed for the summit.

Topping out - photo by Rick

belaying the team up

The final push was good, snow was soft but there were plenty of steps to use. Took a nice break on summit and enjoyed the spectacular views.

On the false summit

Summit Ridge

Jenny on the summit

We headed down past the false summit and got to the top of the Sherpa Glacier. We roped up there and headed down, snow was good for the most part and the boot pack helped through the harder snow pack areas. Crossing the 'schrund was easy, just follow the trail over the big snow bridge that traverses from right to left. From the toe of the glacier, we glissaded back to camp.

We headed out and were back at the cars at 6:20 pm where we ran into some other buddies and they offered us beers! Big thanks for that guys!

It was a great climb, thanks Rick, Jenny, and Sean for the great weekend!

Flickr Set

Mt. St. Helen's - May 2011 - Memorial Day

2011-06-05T19:45:00.001-07:00

This was an awesome Memorial Day Weekend. It started with some car shopping on Saturday, then a 56 mile bike ride around Lake Washington. Aubrey and I then drove down Saturday evening to St. Helen's and hiked in 2.5 miles to camp with our other climbing partners! (long day...) The next morning we awoke at dawn, around 4:00 am and climbed the mountain. I got the chance to skin up and ski down. Even with the limited visibility, it was a fun ski down all the way to the car!

Mt. St. Helens - May 2011 - Memorial Day, a set on Flickr.

People of the 2011 ICC

2011-05-13T09:52:00.001-07:00

People of the 2011 ICC, a set on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Play this song and watch the slideshow
grooveshark.com/s/Concerning+Hobbits/2qVo1O?src=5

UW Rock

2011-05-04T19:14:00.001-07:00

Practice for Smith Rock

BCC 2011 - Mt. Ellinor and Mt. Washington

2011-04-17T21:52:00.001-07:00

BCC 2011 - Mt. Ellinor and Mt. Washington, a set on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Team Steam ventured over to the Olympics for the weekend to experience overnight camping in snow.

The weekend started out about 2 miles below the 'trail-head' where we helped 2 teenagers dig their non-4wheel 4wheel drive SUV out of the snow and off to the side. Their troubles convinced us in lesser vehicles to park there. So after getting parked we headed out at the early hour of 9:45 am. We headed up the snow covered road, passed by the trail-head filled with 4wheel drive SUVs and trucks, and arrived at the lower mt. ellinor trail-head around 10:45. From there we ventured up the trails general path up the ridge. Also along the ridge some even got to go over the now infamous "Luke Step". We arrived at the 4600 ft basin at the treeline and gathered together and began some avalanche danger assessment. Along with a forecast calling for high danger on the type of slopes we'd be climbing, the results of a few shovel shear tests and the late hour at which we were getting there made our decision easier to make camp and climb the next morning.

We made camp, which consisted of making platforms for tents, building a kitchen area, a bathroom, creating an interestingly shaped igloo (see egg shaped igloo), and a snow cave. We enjoyed playing in the snow all day building/digging our various snow projects. Dinner was enjoyed in the large kitchen area and we relaxed from a hard day of climbing and building. Everyone headed to bead early with thoughts of getting up at 4am the next morning to climb.
We awoke at 4 am and it was still raining/snowing as it had been doing off and on from 10pm the night before. So we decided to wait until first light. We all got up at 6:30am and the skies had cleared and the sunrise was beautiful and warming in the cool morning air.

We packed up quickly and headed up the main gully to the summit of ellinor. The snow was challenging with the new rain crust on top of fresh and another crest below that made for many postholed steps. With all of that the weather was sunny and beautiful and we made great time up to the flat below ellinor. The rest of the team ventured to the summit while Carter and I explored the option of climbing "A" Peak . I was hoping to get to climb/lead it because as a student I didn't make it up the 25 ft climb due to lack of skills and frozen hands. Unfortunately this was not the chance, there was at least 5" of rime ice and snow covering the route. Not a climb for BCC students. Oh well another reason to come back again.
We did find the other BCC team coming up to the saddle next to "A" Peak and we chatted with them as we admired the views of Mt. Washington in the distance. We were joined by the team after their successful summit of Mt. Ellinor and they enjoyed the beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains with us.

From there we headed back down the gully we came, broke camp and headed out the now well packed snowshoe/ski/boot track down. We ventured off at the sign to the lower trail-head and regained our up trail on the ridge. We got to the road and hiked down to our cars. Another super fun trip in the mountains.

ICC 2011 - Snow Outing

2011-04-11T08:34:00.001-07:00

ICC 2011 - Snow Outing, a set on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
We skinned up the old Yodelin Ski Area for the ICC snow outing. It was a fun weekend of ice axe arrest, 2 man crevasse rescue, snow caves and skiing with 40 lb. packs on. It was fun weekend for everyone.

ICC 2011 - March - Horsethief Butte

2011-04-05T08:51:00.001-07:00

ICC 2011 - March - Horsethief Butte, a set on Flickr.

It was a great weekend at Horsethief Butte. It rained a bit more than last year, apparently that's the norm.

The trip down was good, only a few Aaron pit stops along the way. Luckily it wasn't raining yet when we arrived and got our tents set up in dry conditions.

The next morning we awoke to some light rain, had breakfast across the Columbia River at Linda's diner. From there we headed to Horsethief and reviewed many skills and hopefully learned a few new ones. It rained most of the day, but the weather broke by the end of the day and we were treated to some sunshine as we headed out for the day. On the way back we stopped at a WW1 memorial that was an exact copy of Stonehenge along the Columbia River.

Once back in camp we had our cookout and had fun around the campfire with the now annual 'Rope Rodeo'. Monica was the winner this year. After that wrapped up and BK 'jumped' the fire. (note his pants didn't quite make it) we all headed to bed.

On Sunday we got up, headed to Linda's again then to Horsethief. We learned more cool skills, got rained on a bit, but the weather got nice at the end of the day. We enjoyed a post climb beer and headed back to Western Washington.

Mos Def - World Premiere (new song!)

2011-03-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

1 Mos Def + 1 Mic = awesome!

I hope this is from a new album he's working on.

Red Mountain Backcountry Ski

2011-03-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Aaron, Niki, Monica, Matt and I ventured into the Commonwealth Basin to skin up and ski down Red Mountain. There were great powder turns - a fun day in the mountains.

Whistler Ski Trip

2011-03-03T01:28:00.001-08:00

Aaron Flying, originally uploaded by Luke W Shy.

One week out from the epic Mt. Baker trip, it was time to venture north to Canadia Land. We set out Friday night missed the Duty Free store, (seriously, I'm like 1/4 finding this alleged store!) crossed the border then stopped from some "libations" - see Kokanee (hooray Canada beer!!!) After that we made our way through Vancouver and Squamish finally making it to Whistler and our cabin for the weekend.

We spent the next two days on both Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains and even rode the Peak to Peak Gondola. A super cool ride high over the valley in between the two mountains. Back at our cabin we relaxed our weary bodies in the hot tub. Good times were had.

Mt. Baker Weekend

2011-02-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

My friends came into town from Colorado and Cleveland for a long ski weekend at Mt Baker. Since the snow has been ~~nonexistent~~ crappy lately I was starting to worry last week. I think I checked Cliff Mass's blog like every day. Luckily the weather decided to turn back to regular winter storm cycles. Even better the snow clouds went away and we were treated to some amazing bluebird days of powder skiing and boarding! Man you couldn't really ask for a better way to spend the weekend with great friends.

The Crew

We do this for a living

Matt and Dave - H.A.M.


Dave Tearin' it Up!

Flickr Photo Set

Put A Bird On It

2011-02-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

From the show Portlandia

Snowmageddon in Everett

2011-02-22T09:38:00.001-08:00

Snowing in Everett, yet currently still sunny in Seattle!

UPDATE [10:20 PM]: still snowing here in Everett

UPDATE 2 [12:20 PM]: snow storm has slowed down and the sun is out, still sunny in Seattle

Mt. Baker Porter

2011-02-20T12:51:00.001-08:00

Lunch time at white salmon lodge. Porters are always a good choice

Whistler Thanksgiving 2010 Video

2011-01-04T23:31:00.000-08:00

I've completed my first video from my new GoPro HD Helmet Camera. What a rad little camera. I used Premiere CS4 to edit it and it took 9.5 hours to compile! Check it out:

My Top 10 Albums of 2010

2010-12-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

2010 is coming to a close and its time to review what the music world gave us this year. Here is my Top 10 albums of the year:

1. The Black Keys - Brothers
    - Dan and Pat doing what they do best - be awesome! (If you have the means - see these guys live, Dan will melt your face off with his voice and earth rattling fuzz guitar and Pat will beat you into submission with his no-regard-for-human-life drumming)
2. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
    - Damon put together another awesome crew to create yet another awesome album
3. The National - High Violet
    - I wasn't a fan (never really heard) of The National before this album, I certainly am now.
4. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
    - Wait for the beat to hit on the first track, you'll be hooked from there
5. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
    - Say what you want about him, this album is way better than his auto-tune album disaster 808s.
6. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
    - Such a good album that includes George Clinton, Hotlanta should be proud.
7. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
    - Another great album, an interesting take on suburbia.
8. Aloe Blacc - Good Things
    - This guy has got some soul, and he needs a dolla (hey hey)
9. Vampire Weekend - Contra
    - Hipster/Indie band - whatever, its a fun album to listen to
10. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager
    - Solid second album from Shaker Heights own
(my list can't go to just 10)

11. Ratatat - LP4
    - Good album, go see them live you wont' regret it

Bonus Fact: 3 out of my 10 are Ohio bands, way to produce some cool music this year Buckeye State!

Back to Brewing

2010-10-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again when the days are getting shorter, daylight is dwindling, and the weather shifts to more rain than sun. Sunday was a perfect example of that wind, rain, and snowing in the Cascades (POW). This leaves plenty of time to brew! Andrew and I fired up the burners and began our craft of turning water, barley, hops, and yeast into delicious homebrew. We both had awesome beers to make; Andrew picked up a mocha porter from the local brew shop and I got an amber (a highly recommended recipe from my friend Alex) as well as the ingredients needed to make my Baker Cap Winter Ale. Something I'll be brewing up a few weeks.

The brew kettles (l) (yes that's a converted keg), Hops! (r)

The amber during the 60 min boil (l), Brewing equipment (r)

Pyramid Brewery, very cool font

flickr photos

Post brew report - I'm happy to say that the beer is doing fine and fermenting nicely in the plastic tub and carboy, I'll be transferring it this weekend to the secondary fermenting carboys. Then one more week till kegging and its beer time!

A Cascade "Man" Mountain

2010-10-24T00:17:00.000-07:00

Buck Mountain – SE Route – October 17^th 2010

With a forecast for great fall weather, two sleep deprived adrenaline junkies set out at 3 am from Seattle to climb Buck Mountain. Josh the day before had played Tennis, ran 8 miles and went to the UW football game only getting 2 hours of sleep. I took a 32 mile bike ride and then played a game of ultimate disc in the evening and got only 4 hours of sleep. Driving there was going to be as much of a challenge as climbing. Josh only requested a 10 min power nap at Steven's Pass as was good to go! Arriving at the Trinity trail head at 6:15 am Josh and I quickly got ready in the chilly morning air and headed out 2 miles down the trail to the Buck Creek Trail junction.

Gearing up at the trail head (30 sec. exposure) – Photo By Luke Shy

From the junction, we went another quarter mile down the trail and headed down to cross Buck Creek. We both planned for a cold creek crossing and had each brought a pair shoes to cross in and keep our boots dry. We found a good spot to cross and yes the creek was really cold!

Josh crossing the creek – Photo By Luke Shy

After regaining the feeling in our feet we started up the slope at 7:30 am for approximately 2,500 vertical feet of bushwhacking. Our intended route took us straight up from the creek on a WSW heading going south of King Lake to the upper south basin. This definitely was the tough part. We broke though the lower slide alder rather quickly only to encounter lovely patches of devils club. Once we did that we were high enough so that there was still a light dusting of snow making every tree, brush, and branch extra slippery. We pressed on slowly, navigating around a few cliff bands and finally at 10:30 am broke mostly above the dense trees and started our traverse to the south ridge. We finally got some great views of the surrounding mountains too, making the effort so far well worth it.

Luke coming into the clearing – Photo by Josh Ricardi

Looking North at Fortress and Chiwawa Mountains – Photo by Josh Ricardi

We took a quick break and headed out again with our goal in sight now. We then traversed though some mostly open slopes and went up into a beautiful alpine meadow filled with heather. We headed up though it to the next ridge where were to go though the “rectangular notch” to get to the other side. We didn't see that this was higher up and went though the “brushy notch” just below a large cliff face and down climbed the more difficult gully on the other side.

The Upper Basin – Photo by Josh Ricardi

We went below the large cliff, the rectangular notch was further up

Once down and around the ridge we headed up into the barren basin. Over scree, moraines and a few snow patches got us most of the way up. I was feeling a bit tired and was about 50 yards behind Josh, so I requested a longer break. We had been moving basically nonstop and it was already 12:00 pm when we took a break. I'm glad he agreed to take the break!

We headed out again at 12:20 after resting and refueling. From our break spot we picked out the middle of the 3 gullies we could see to climb up on the south ridge. We took off and easily climbed up it. Once we topped out the views towards Glacier peak were spectacular, a fresh dusting of snow on the mountains made it a beautiful sight to see.

Glacier Peak – Photo by Luke Shy

From the saddle, Josh continued up the ridge thinking that we could keep gaining elevation along the ridge but quickly got cliffed out and we had to go down a few hundred feet on the west side. From there it was an easy traverse over rocky terrain to the final snowfield. We put on our crampons and quickly crossed the icy snowfield went to the saddle just right of the summit. The final scramble along the ridge was enjoyable with the beautiful views all around us and some cool exposure looking down to the King Glacier and King Lake. We got to the summit at 1:30 pm, signed the summit register, enjoyed some summit snacks and enjoyed the beautiful alpine setting we were in. We both agreed we were lucky to not only get a great weather window but to be able to summit Buck Mountain in a day with relative ease for such a rugged mountain.

Summit Register, Placed by Darth Vader in 1980 – Photo by Luke Shy

Luke on the Summit (L) Josh coming up to the Summit (R)

Photos by Josh Ricardi and Luke Shy

We headed back down at 2 pm and made quick work of the upper slopes to the bushwhacking section. From there it was slow going down. We tried to follow our track on the GPS so that we would avoid any cliffs. The snow and steep slopes made it challenging. I'm sure our lack of sleep was finally catching up to us too. We made it, it wasn't pretty though. We got down to the slide alder section just above the creek and found an easier way down just to the right of our up track. We were both happy for the gentler slopes and easier terrain. From our new descent route we only had a short section of slide alder to the creek and our cold wet shoes. We crossed the creek in the fleeting light of the day and were back on the trail by 6:45 pm. We then enjoyed having a trail to follow for the last 2 miles as we hiked to the car in the dark. We arrived back at 7:30 and were happy that the successful day had come to an end because our bodies were ready for some rest.

Flick Photos

New Videos on Vimeo

2010-09-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

Inspired Bill Booth and his awesome setup for editing photos/videos at his place, I created a video of my own for the Horsethief Butte ICC outing using the video I took from my D90. I just used Windows Movie Maker, which ended up not being too hard to use. Check it out:

ICC 2010 Horsethief Butte from Luke Shy on Vimeo.

Also - here is the video Bill and I created for the ICC Graduation Party:

2010 ICC Slideshow from Bill Booth on Vimeo.

Editing wasn't as time consuming as I thought. Now I plan on getting some better photo & video software and perhaps a GoProHD Helmet Cam.

Boogie Till You Poop

2010-08-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Amazingly craptacular! :P

Boogie 'til You Poop from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

June Happenings - Part 4 - Epic...

2010-08-04T01:05:00.000-07:00

It finally happened, my first alpine climb epic. Long story short - We climbed the East Ridge Direct (5.8, Grade III) on Forbidden Peak. Clouds rolled in just before we summited at 1 pm and it started raining. We started rappelling down the west ridge. I slipped going down, hit my head and lost consciousness for like 30 seconds. This was 5:30 pm. We fixed lined the ridge and made it to the notch at 12:30 am. Then down climbed the steep couloir and made it to camp at ~4:30 am. Slept, hiked out, ate lunch, went to the ER had a CAT scan done and the doctor cleared me with just a concussion. Phew, no more head injuries for me. I'm glad I was wearing my helmet and have such awesome climbing partners. Thanks guys!

Forbidden Peak - East Ridge is the right skyline

Climbing the East Ridge

Oh yea one more thing - the climb up the east ridge was radtacular!

Boston Basin Trail

Matt Pulling the Crux Moves

Fogged in Forbidden from the Boston Basin
Flickr Set

June Happenings - Part 3 - Prusik Peak

2010-08-04T00:34:00.000-07:00

Climbing, Climbing, Climbing!!! This time with Aubrey :) and my two great friends Mo and Francois. Our destination: The Enchantments, Prusik Peak - West Ridge, 5.7. A classic cascade alpine route. You might have seen it in a magazine, they tend to showcase it each year in some shape or form. Anyways if you have the means to even see this mountain - do it! It is so choice.

Prusik Peak - view from camp

We hiked in on day 1, ate enchantment pancakes for breakfast and climbed in mixed wind and rain on day 2 hitting the weather window just right, and hiked out on day 3 after our tent was nearly blown over from the high winds! Such wild weather this year. Aubrey cleaned the whole route with the 30+ lb pack on and did a fantastic job the whole time! Especially being her first technical alpine climb. It was great a great 3 day trip.

Flickr Set

Aubrey on the West Ridge

Summit!


Little Annapurna in the Fog

June Happenings - Part 2 - ICC Alpine 1

2010-08-04T00:13:00.000-07:00

The ICC is in full swing now as we move into our four Alpine outings. Finally they let us get out and climb alpine routes. I was assigned Argonaut Peak - NW Arete, 5.6 Grade II. I was stoked to climb such a fine route and we planned to make it a carry over resulting in us climbing with our heavy gear on our backs for the whole trip. Unfortunately this was not to be as we discovered on the approach that the route was quite snowed in still. Snow up high in the Cascades hasn't melted quickly this year.

So instead we climbed Mountaineers Ridge and enjoyed beautiful the views of the Enchantments from Cashmere Mtn. to the thundering hanging glaciers of Mount Stuart then camped at Stuart Lake. The next day we hiked out and climbed the classic Beckey route Midway - 2 Pitches of 5.6 (the hardest 5.6 I've ever lead) on Castle Rock in Tumwater Canyon.

Pitch 1

Pitch 2

Flickr Set

June Happenings - Part 1 - San Juan Island Trip

2010-08-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

Yes it's already August and I'm just getting around to posting about June. It's been that awesome of a "summer" so far! So lets see... To start the month Aubrey and her best friend Lo ran the San Juan Island Half Marathon. We rode the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, rode the course on our bikes, carbo loaded, they ran the race and I took on the photography duties, drove the course and cheered them on as they ran.

Aubrey workin' hard!


The Bikes

Run Lo, Run!


Happy Finishers!

Climbing in the Tatoosh

2010-05-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I joined the Boealps Basic Climbing Class team "Super Delicious" on their climb of Eagle and Chutla Peaks in the Tatoosh Range just south of Mt. Rainier in the National Park.

I got to stay at one of Aubrey's teammates cabin on Lake Ohop. I wish I had brought my fishing pole, the trout were jumping all over the place!

Lake Ohop

We awoke super early that next day and headed into the National Park to Longmire to start our climb. We headed out early at 6:30 am after giving each student a rope, shovel, and picket for not being prepared to discuss the climb the Wednesday before. We quickly made it up the switchbacks and into the snow. From there we headed up the ridge, into some clearings and finally onto the ridge between Eagle and Chutla. The wind was howling at this point and snow was going horizontally into the eyeballs.

Rime covered trees on the ridge

Traversing the ridge

Pinwheels!

I took one look at the rime ice covered rock on Eagle and decided it wasn't a safe thing to try. We headed across the ridge towards Chutla and ran into some rocky steps covered in rime ice, so we headed down and around, but eventually ran out of time. So we practiced the z-pulley technique and then headed back to the cars. The weather wasn't ideal and we didn't summit but it was fun to be out climbing with some BCC students.

Leavenworth ICC

2010-04-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Here's what we do in the Boealps ICC Class. It's another cool video from Bill. This time a combo of video and photos from his Cannon 7D and his GoPro Hero HD Helmet Cam. (I want one of those!)

2010 ICC Rescue Outing from Bill Booth on Vimeo.

Ah Seattle...

2010-04-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

I was driving home last week and noticed how beautiful the city skyline looked in the evening light. We're rapidly approaching (but not there yet) dryer and less cloudy weather in Seattle so you really notice when its nice out. With my new Nikon D90 camera in hand I went to the roof top patio of my apartment and took some pictures of the view.

Lake Union, Sailboats and Mt. Rainer

Seattle Skyline

HWY 99 and Bridge Way Intersection

Steven's Pass Powder Day!!!!

2010-04-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

"its beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go..."

the winter storm arrived ~~on time~~ in April and dumped 5+ ft of new snow in two weeks in the Cascades!!!
With high avy conditions in the back county it was time to do some in-bounds skiing at Steven's Pass:

Some Photos Too:

My New Camera!!!

2010-04-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy taking photographs. I like to thank my buddy Dave for getting me into it in college. That's when I got my first camera a Kodak Z7590. Which is still today a super awesome 10x zoom camera even though its only 5 MP. I got my next camera a Cannon SD880is in February last year I really like it because of how vibrant the picture quality is for such a compact camera. (All of my Aconcagua photos were taken with it) One of my photos even unknowingly got published in the 2010 Granite Gear Catalog! (page 10 of the .pdf) (thanks Aaron for submitting it!) That photo was taken with my Kodak zoomed way in with Aaron going over the 'shy step' on Mt. Baker. So that brings me to my latest camera purchase. The Nikon D90. word.

If you looked though my Horsethief Butte post you'll probably notice the quality of pictures increased. Not because I'm any better at photography (Seriously I'm trying...) but because of how freaking awesome this camera is! Seriously if you have the means, I suggest you pick one up. It is so choice.
I can't wait to start to use it more and more.

Taken from a car going 70 mph

Beautiful Mt. Hood

Horsethief Butte

2010-04-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

We had our first outing for the ICC down on the Columbia River at Horsethief Lake State Park. Doesn't sound like the place you'd practice rock climbing skills, but there's a nice butte in the state park that works well. The first day we went over various anchors and rope skills. Learned and practiced more advanced techniques which will come in handy in the alpine. We camped at the near by Maryhill State Park on the banks of the Columbia River Saturday night. We ended up having a knot tying competition NCAA tourney style for all of the students. Some did better than others... Anyways Sunday was a blast too we learned how to aid climb, awesome fun, and did a Tyrolean Traverse too!(see the video below)

The construction of a tyrolean traverse from Bill Booth on Vimeo.

Link to my photos

Francois - the happy fallen climber

Ropes and Rocks and Other things..

Belay

Matt and his nuts...

Bobby Fisher - the knot tying master!

Mt Hood in the distance

Matt Tyrolean Traversing

2010 Boealps Begins!

2010-04-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

Another year and another great spring of climbing with the Boealps (Boeing Alpine Society) Basic Climbing Classc(BCC). This year along with the BCC I was accepted into the Intermediate Climbing Class (ICC) which happens every other weekend though this August! That's a bunch of climbing, I can't wait. I'll be learning advanced climbing skills and begin climbing more challenging and technical routes. I'm getting stoked about it just typing this...

Since I haven't updated my blog in over a month I've already gone on quite a few outtings. I helped the BCC with basic rock climbing at Mt. Erie in early March and then helped out at the Steven's Pass outing a few weeks later. Aubrey and I spent the night snow camping and night skiing at Steven's Pass before the BCC outing. Her idea :)

Link to photos

PBR and Aubrey's Board

Hiking up Big Chief Mtn was fun as usual. I carried the big red emergency sled like last year. We built some anchors and did ice axe arrest practice. After wards we headed up to the summit. It was an awesome weekend!

Steven's Pass - Big Chief Mtn

Ice Axe Arrest Practice

Big Chief Mtn Summit!

view from the summit

Photos from Aconcagua

2010-03-06T15:22:00.000-08:00

I posted my pictures yesterday on flickr yesterday. Amazingly I pared down the 1,400+ pictures I took to 750. I'm glad I brought 8 GB of memory for all of the pictures and video I took. Here's a few preview shots to check out:

Aconcagua and Ameghino

Heading up the Vacas Valley

Plaza Argentina (4,200m) - Base Camp

Me on the way out - see my sweet mountain beard???

Mo, crossing the Rio Vacas in her bare feet!

(the water was very cold)

Back from Aconcagua

2010-02-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

I'm back here in Mendoza, Argentina for the rest of the week. My team made it to Camp 1 of the Polish Traverse route on Aconcagua. Camp 1 is at 16,500 ft but we had a great acclimatization plan so it made it not so hard on us to get up there. We encountered heavy winds, 50+ mph, the two days we were there and we knew the winds were only going to get higher as we climbed further. Tent shredding winds, not something you want to deal with at high altitudes. With that in mind we turned around and headed back for base camp Plaza Argentina. We hiked out though the Vacas Valley and headed back to Mendoza earlier this week. Now were taking some time to do wine tours and enjoying the local culture. I'll post the pictures I took when I get back to Seattle.

Go Bucks! Go Cavs!

2010-01-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

I've been lucky this past month to see the Cavs play in Cleveland at the 'Q' and in Portland at the Rose Garden. I also was fortunate to watch the Buckeyes play on new years day in "The Granddaddy of Them All" - The Rose Bowl.

The Cavs are playing great basketball this season; hopefully they will bring that elusive championship to Cleveland this year. The Buckeyes proved why they were in the Rose Bowl after loosing respect in the national media because of the two national championship losses and then loosing a close game against Texas. Terelle Pryor had a breakout game in The Rose Bowl, I can't wait for college football season this fall.

Quicken Loans Arena - Cleveland, OH

The Rose Garden - Portland, OR

The trip to Southern California to see the Buckeyes play was an amazing trip. It was sunny and at least 75 degrees every day I was there. My family and I had a great time staying at my great aunt and uncle's house.

The Rose Bowl - Pasadena, CA

My Top 10 Albums of the Year and Decade

2009-12-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

I had to think about these for the past week, before I finalized both lists. The 2009 list was a bit easier because most of this music is still in heavy rotation. The decade list was somewhat of a challenge considering where my life has taken me from January 1, 2000 to now and all of the musical influences that have resulted from it. I've gone from the shores of Lake Erie (Euclid, OH) then onto the banks of the Olentangy River (Ohio State University) then finally the West Coast (Seattle, WA). It was fun to look back at the decade of music...

Best of 2009:
1. Blakroc - Blakroc
2. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
3. Miike Snow - Miike Snow
4. Mos Def - Ecstatic
5. Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
6. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day
7. Passion Pit - Manners
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
9. The Flaming Lips - Embryotic
10. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Best of the Decade:
1. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
2. Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030
3. The Black Keys - Rubber Factory
4. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Like Bad News
5. Gorillaz - Demon Days
6. 50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin
7. The White Stripes - Elephant
8. Eagles of Death Metal - Peace, Love, Death Metal
9. Various Artists - O Brother Where Art Thou?
10. The Strokes - Is This It?

Honorable Mention:
Outkast - Stankonia
Kanye West - Graduation
Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica
The Black Keys - Thickfreakness
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Dr. Dre - 2001

Ginger Cyborg

2009-12-11T12:33:00.000-08:00

Don't remember where I found this, but it's awesome:

the ginger army is forming...

Aconcagua Training

2009-12-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

Training to climb a 22,841 ft mountain is difficult to do this time of year in the Cascades. The snow is already falling in copious amounts, limiting road access to the higher elevations. Even with the access and weather challenges, I think the team has hit the ground running. I've climbed the past 3 weekends:
-Mt. Si (4,167 ft.)
-Paradise Snowfield up to 8,880 ft

yes that's a mountain moustache

-Granite Mountain (5,629 ft)

More details to come about my upcoming expedition to Aconcagua

First Post

2009-12-05T19:01:00.000-08:00

I've finally created my blog. Updates will come soon
I leave you with the music I've been enjoying lately

Blakroc - Dollaz & Sense ft. RZA & Pharoahe Monch

I wonder is there anything the guys from The Black Keys can't do?