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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 1, 2007 - 07:08pm PT
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Remember those back-to-school essays you always had to write in Junior High? "What I did over summer Vacation"? Anyhow, here's the most recent installment of my summer break.
Jon "JB" Baum and I have known each other for nearly 15 years. We met and bonded over Powell/Peralta videos and Slayer but hadn't climbed with one another for about five years. July 24 we drove up from his place in Kila, MT.
We were impressed by the ingenuity of drivers to ward off rogue porcupines. This guy seemed to have it dialed. We wondered if we were doing it right, but then again we don't exactly live in a culture that teaches you to protect your brake lines from small mammals.
Anyhow, JB hoisted what has to be the biggest pack ever seen...on a human.
There are some nice creeks along the way.
The only bad weather we had all week came on the approach and man are Canadian raindrops big! At long last we made it to the Kain Hut.
The Houndstooth isn't too hard on the eyes either.
Nor is Bugaboo Spire.
Day two we did the Snowpatch Route.
The "snowpatch" is said to be five acres in size. Maybe globalwarming is cutting it down to size.
A couple of dorks on the summit.
The view can't be beat. Pigeon Spire and the Howser Massif.
Even the snow is cooler up there.
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dirtbag
climber
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Awesome, I loved this! Can't wait to see the other two parts.
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2007 - 07:22pm PT
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Day two we humped our ways out across the glacier to do the NE Ridge of Bugaboo.
Snowpatch's East Face is particularly rad. The shadow is covering the mighty "Sunshine Crack". Darrel Hatten's "Tom Egan Memorial" is in the sun.
The NE Ridge is another one of Roper and Steck's 50 Classics and of course we slept in. Anyhow, the approach is dead easy and the line is pretty easy to follow.
I felt totally at home up there. If it was the Eastern Sierra or Valley you'd have had a line twelve deep at the base. As it was we had it more or less to ourselves.
Again, you can't beat the views. This isn't Pakistan, it's the Vowell group. Best part? The locals speak English and you can't easily catch The Worm!
Looking toward the South Summit and the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col.
JB following:
JB finishing:
Me? I'm bringing sexy back.
The descent started easy enough. A few raps and some kairns to follow, but then true to form, we got horribly off route. A million miles of manky death-trundle downclimbing, butt sliding, and a chopped bollard later, we were back on the glacier and heading to the hut.
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Duke-
Trad climber
SF, aka: Dirkastan
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Stunning pics, thank you so much.
-Dirka
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Out on the sand.... man.....
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That better be lividity from the hike in under them there nails......
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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great one - thanks for the post!
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2007 - 07:51pm PT
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Okay, day three we rested. JB tried to fatten me up.
The nylon ghetto's pretty rad.
We even got to hang with ArchDirtbag Fred Beckey (note the photo in the background):
The next day we did the sensible thing and actually got up on time.
I'm no naturalist, but that's some nice light.
JB doing the Canadian StairMaster routine:
Those Canucks think of everything:
Crossing the glacier we ran across some very fresh cougar tracks. Rad!
Here are some guided climbers coming up from the SouthWest:
JB starting the West Ridge of Pigeon:
Classic pose down shot:
Again, a couple of dorks on the summit.
Different view of Snowpatch:
Another side of Bugaboo:
Last shot of the Howsers:
JB looking all stoic on the way home:
Rad parting shot of a farm in Brisco:
Summer highlights, so far:
*Soloing Whitney's East Face and East Buttress back to back
*Nailing the tyrolean on Sun Ribbon
*Climbing on the East Side with my uncle, 20 years after he taught me how to climb
*Getting out of the States, if even for a short week.
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marty(r)
climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2007 - 07:53pm PT
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Kathy and Mark: Next time for sure.
Russ: All this "danger-hiking" has left me with toenails that make Rudy's look healthy. The nail polish was a vain attempt at covering up the funk...to no avail.
Durkadurka: Where you living in the city?
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Ezra
Trad climber
WA, NC
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Amazing, I can't wait to go.
Looking forward to part three!
-ezra
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tooth
Mountain climber
B.C.
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Awesome TR! Can't wait to get up there...
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
New York, NY
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WOW!!!
My screen stopped loading after the first few shots from your second post. I'll have to try again. But....WOW!!!!
The porcupine scarecrow and setup is awsome, too. Guess poor-Q's are a bit of a problem up there...
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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These pics deserve a bump. Looking forward to parts II and III.
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rhyang
Ice climber
SJC
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Awesome !
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Spectacular!
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Kartch
climber
belgrade, mt
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Wow! ! !
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handsome B
Gym climber
SL,UT
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Fantastic! Great work!
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bobmarley
Trad climber
WAS Auburn CA, NOW Seattle WA
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awesome shots! always wanted to get up there. what are the logistics of the approaches and descents? you need crampons right? what about the descents? do you need to haul up crampons for the descent?
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Ever notice how in every summit shot from a Bugaboo trip the climbers seem so happy and content? Ah...this brings up harsh feelings from long ago when a buddy and I were going head up there for a couple of weeks one summer and he jilted me to go climbing in the Gunks instead. Some day.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Bad-a$$ for sure, nice pics too!
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