Latest News

This page contains quick news items, and gives the most up-to-date information on our whereabouts.

When? What's up?
Since August 7, 2007 We're back at Washington Pass for some mellower (we hope) alpine climbing. It's reaaally cold. Feels like fall already; some of the nights have been frigid. We climbed the Southwest Buttress of SEWS on August 9. Two days later, we made a failed attempt at the NW Face of SEWS. We bailed after a pitch and a half with frozen fingers and bruised egos. Tough route... Waiting for milder temperatures.
August 3-6, 2007 After a full-on alpine adventure in the Pickets, we spend a couple days recovering in Seattle with our friends Clay and Donna. Airshow, Seafair, and lots of good food (and coffee). Our knees are aching. We don't even feel like doing much walking in the city's steep streets.
July 30-August 2nd, 2007 The high pressure system is here to stay, so we head to the Southern Pickets, one of the most remote ranges in the Cascades, to climb the East Ridge of Inspiration Peak.
July 24-27, 2007 The forecast is finally showing a couple of days of stable weather. We leave the bus at the Cutthroat Trailhead and head to the backountry to climb two WA Pass area classics: Clean Break and Rebel Yell. From a camp in Silver Star basin, below the east side of the Wine Spires, we climb Clean Break, a good ~18-pitch climb on Juno Tower and Rebel Yell, a great 6-pitch climb on Chianti Spire. Great fun, despite the horrendous mosquitoes!
July 19-21, 2007 The weather is not improving, so we drive down to Mazama in search of better weather. We climb two good clip-ups on Goat Wall: Prime Rib and Sisyphus.
July 18, 2007

We've been at Washinton Pass for about a week now. The weather has been pretty good, although today it is raining hard and it doesn't look like it's gonna get good again for a few days. So far we've done the Northwest Corner of NEWS (again), the East Face of Lexington Tower, and the East Face of Minuteman Tower.
July 9, 2007 I think we've given up on snow and ice for now. It's just too warm. We're headed for WA Pass for some rock!
June 24, 2007 Moving North to the vicinity of Shuksan, which we haven't climbed yet. We were initially hoping to do the NF, but the approach issues (bushwhacking...) and the very warm weather cooled our enthusiasm a bit. After another easy conditioning climb on Ruth Mountain (amazing views of Shuksan!), we figured we would ski the Sulphide Glacier instead. This was terrific fun, including good skiing! After that we climbed the West Ridge of North Twin Sister, a minor route in the same area. The fun part of that climb is the mountain bike approach (or, actually, going back down!).
June 21, 2007 Questionable weather... we just moved to WA Pass to go find another conditioning climb on snow with a good chance of decent weather. Picked the Silverstar Glacier. Phew! That trail to Burgundy col is steeeep!
June 19, 2007 We finally had a day of great weather. Climbed the East Wilmans Spire, near the ghost town of Monte Cristo, on the Mountain loop road. Long day! Damage to the road to Monte Cristo forced us to carry our bikes in sections. Lots of snow, starting just below Glacier Basin. Good step-kicking conditions.
June 15-17, 2007 With weather too ugly to climb and a forecast that does not give us much hope either, we spent the weekend in Seattle, visiting with friends. It was the Solstice parade in Fremont; lots of fun.
Since June 11, 2007 We've been stationed in Darrington for several days now. The weather has been really awful, with the exception of one day, when the sun pierced through the thick clouds long enough to allow us to climb at 3 O' Clock Rock. We're really here to try and get on some mountains, but the weather is simply not cooperating so far.
June 3-10, 2007 Cragging at Tieton River. Excellent 1 to 2 pitch climbs on basalt columns. All grades (5.3 to 5.11), with lots of climbs in the 5.10 range. Best cragging in Washington in our opinion.
June 2nd, 2007 Arrived at Tieton River after a stop in Yakima for groceries. Parked the bus on a pull-out just below the Royal Columns. The weather is really, really hot! Hope we'll be able to climb!
June 1st , 2007 After stopping at Western Truck Equipment for an oil change (for the bus), we drive to Baker City, OR to spend the night. Baker City is an old mining town with a couple of buildings worth seeing if you are in the area.
May 31, 2007 Heading to the Cascades for the summer - the cragging area near the Tieton River will be our first stop. We make it to Twin Falls that evening, just in time for a movie at the Orpheum Theatre, one of our favorite old movie theatres!
May 23-30, 2007 We're kicking off the trip with a week of cragging at Little Cottonwood Canyon. We're just trying to get back to some sort of climbing shape. Lucie is still recovering from carpal-tunnel-related problems and has not been climbing since last summer. Deprived of my climbing parter, I have not been doing much either... We spend a week enjoying easy and moderate climbs on the superb LC granite. We also bike the Union Pacific Trail from Echo Lake to Park City and hike around Big Cottonwood Canyon.
May 22, 2007

Finally made it to Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City, UT, late afternoon. We took our time driving and didn't do much along the way, except for checking out a couple of gear shops in Durango and Moab and sleeping like marmots - still recovering from last week's craziness (it took a lot of effort to move out of our appartment and into the bus and put all the stuff we left behind into storage).
May 20, 2007 The 2007-2009 bus trip has begun! Left Los Alamos at 1:30 PM. Made it to our habitual spot in Durango (the Wal-Mart parking lot...) around 6 PM.