1st Annual Mt Si Run, 6 September

There are still spaces open for Pro Guiding Service's 1st Annual Mt Si Run. This deceiving trail travels only 4 miles but gains over 3000 feet of elevation, making the climb just shallow enough to run but steep enough that you will never forget it.  Come join us on Friday, 6 September.

More information here:  LINK

Rock Climbing!

Spent a great weekend with Alex and Josh, introducing them to the finer points of climbing outside.  They had signed up for an Intro to Rock Climbing from Pro Guiding Service.

On the first pitch of 4th Avenue (2 pitches, 5.6) at the Easy Street Wall, Exit 38.

Learning about technique on Corner Flash (5.7), at the Inner Wall, Index

Over the course of three days, we practiced setting up top-ropes, cleaning anchors safely, and technique.  Lots and lots of technique.  We climbed 4th Avenue, a 2-pitch route (sharing a second pitch with Easy Street) that is a great introduction to multi-pitch climbing, and then followed that up by climbing the Great Northern Slab, a 3-pitch that is arguably the most fun climb of its grade on this side of the Cascades.

All of our scheduled Intro to Rock Climbing trips are done for the summer, but the weather is still splitter and custom dates are easily arranged.  Grab a friend who's interested too, then email me or contact Pro Guiding to book a weekend for yourselves!

Rock Climbing at the Exit!

Jim, Amelia, Giaco and Mal came rock climbing with me for three days this week for an Intro to Rock Climbing with Pro Guiding Service.  These guys have some experience already, so our itinerary was more "Intermediate" then "Intro", and tailored more to what they wanted to be able to do afterwards:  lead sport climbs and set up top ropes.

Mal is stoked on his gear anchor.

Mock leading teaches lead belaying and proper rope management.

Giaco demonstrates proper teenager nutrition:  by eating a whole roasted chicken for lunch.

Graduate exercise on the third day:  setting up a top rope on this 5.8.

Chair Peak Basin

This was my lunch view while taking on a steep snow climb with Roger M. in Chair Peak Basin:

Not so bad, eh?

Condition Report - its 99% snow from snow lake divide, making for a fast approach over the talus fields.  And the NE Buttress on Chair Peak (4th class or low 5th) is completely melted out, and I think a direct line up the buttress edge would make for a fun 5th-class outing.  An awesome day out in Pro Guiding Service's home terrain.

June's Smash & Grab

Below is an excerpt from my latest newsletter - Smash & Grab, which comes out monthly (more or less).  If you're interested in joining the cool kids' club, follow this LINK.  Come on, everyone else is doing it! I do know that there are some glaring contradictions between the newsletter and the website, but nothing that keeps us getting outside, so let's ignore those inconsistencies and get going, hmmm?

| sma-sh; and; grab | phrase. 1. A distinct form of burglary. It involves smashing a barrier, grabbing valuables, and making a quick getaway.

Issue 8 - We're back!!
On the first week of May, my plane landed in Sea-Tac on a late, late, drizzly night. I had an incredible trip to Europe - my first time on that side of the Pond. I skied the Haute Route and Mont Blanc, and road tripped to central Italy and back to Switzerland. I hope to go back next spring - want to join me? Since then, I've skied Mt Daniel (near Cle Elum off of I-90) and Mt Shuksan. My Shuksan descent of the White Salmon was likely the last one of the year - it featured steep bushwacking for 1000' from Chair 8 to the valley floor - oy! I've also started rock climbing again and during the rainy days trail running.

 One access note - Glacier Creek Road, which is used to access the northwest side of Mt Baker, is washed out at mile post 3. This adds a 7-mile hike or mountain bike ride up the road. If you want to climb the north ridge in solitude, this is the year to do it but be prepared to earn it!

What's happening next.
So much is starting to happen this month. Smash and Grab is going to turn into a monthly occurrence - I hope to send one out by the 10th of each month (I realize that this conflicts with the notice at the top of website - expect the S&G to come out again on the 20th to a much, much bigger audience! -Chris) It will also be posted on my website. The website is also going through a serious redesign. I'm working with the folks at Squarespace to launch something a little glossier, little less blog-y. I'll still be posting stuff up, but it will be more thoughtful, informational, and less trip reports but still lots of photos.

 I'm working on the logistics for trips to China, Chile, and Antarctica. I hope to have material on the website next month.

What's good?
Its June - the snow is still up high, but the rock has dried out down low. So this month is the best time for some of the big tours and high mountain descents for ski mountaineering, and taking advantage of the sunny days to warm up your rock climbing skills. Here's what I recommend.

For Ski Mountaineering

• Mt Adams, Southwest Chutes - 2 days or "The Express", an extremely long day. 
• Mt Baker, Easton Glacier - 2 days or "The Express", an extremely long day. 
• Mt Baker Circumnavigation - 5 days. Features an ascent of the mountain from the east side via the Boulder-Park Glacier, and a ski descent of the Park Glacier from the summit. Not for the weak of heart! 
• Ptarmigan Traverse - 5-7 days. A tour through the heart of the Cascades, from Cascade Pass to the Suiattle River. Several side day tours possible if we bring a little bit of extra food and fuel. 

For Rock Climbing

• North Bend / Exits 32 & 38 - 1 day. The best thing about the Exits are their convenience to Seattle, and ease of access. Its a great way to spend a day or an afternoon warming up for the season. 
• Index - 1 day. A little bit of a farther drive, but trad climbing and a great intro to multi-pitch climbing. 
• Leavenworth / Icicle Creek - 2 days. The climbing at Icicle Creek is some of the best in the Pacific Northwest. Everything from single pitch to multi-pitch outings are possible. Really, to make the most of the time you should book two days, and either stay in Leavenworth or camp out on the Icicle. 
• What to work on? What do you want to learn? We can have instructional days based on anchor building and top-rope site management, full "what-if" rock rescue clinics, and pushing into lead climbing. 

For Alpine Climbing

• Snoqualmie Pass - 1 day. The Tooth and Chair Peak are dry, and snow coverage allows for quick approaches. 
• Colchuck Peak - 1-2 days. 
• Washington Pass - Early Winter Spires, Le Petite Cheval, Cutthroat Peak. These are awesome day climbs, right now with a thick blanket of snow that makes the approaches really easy. Stay down in Mazama or Winthrop in the evenings!
• Boston Basin and Eldorado Peak - there is still a lot of snow, adding two miles to the approach into Boston Basin. Doesn't mean it can't be done - but you're going to earn every bit of it!

Interested?  Questions?  Email me at chris@chrissimmonsguiding.com.  Hope to see you again in the mountains!

Avalanche!!

Level 1 avalanche classes are always interesting, even if the snow isn't.  I don't just try to teach my students why this or that slope may slide, to think about what questions we should be asking on any given day for the given snow conditions.  Its an important distinction to me - the former teaches a rote, "cookbook" methodology, but that latter emphasizes evaluation and judgement. In the end, I think it makes a better backcountry skier.

Today's forecast:  snow.  Yes, this was good skiing.

Getting ready for a companion rescue drill.

A lot of relevant observations of the snowpack can be
made while moving, and can answer a number of questions
without stopping to dig a pit.

Digging a pit is a fun way to really get your head into
the science of snow and avalanches, but can be a real
time-suck on a ski day.  Its important to be able to decide
1) if a pit needs to be dug at all, and
2) what we're looking for when we dig that pit - different
conditions dictate what the pit is for.

Vertfest!

Vertfest is something I look forward to every year - even though I still haven't raced in it!  But I've gone over the course countless times, helping set it up for the races in 2011 and 2012.  This year I helped manage the course on race day, then its wiped away in the afternoon.

Dawn Patrol to do a final condition check of the course.
This year we had a lite rain that actually made the up-track
very sticky for skin contact, but poor edging.  The result was
that proficient skinners (who use edges and heal lifters less)
had a great advantage over those with less experience and
technique.

Take-off!  This is a 2000' climb to the top of the ski area,
then a ski down experts runs to the bottom - racers in the
expert division turned around and climb a second 1700'
up a more technical up-track.  The winner completed both
laps in under 40 minutes each.  Wicked impressive.

Afterwards, we had some fun - like blowing off a BCA
Float pack in this crowd...

Everyone hung out for the beer and celebration despite the rain.
I was particularly impressed with the women's division -
two of the podium winners were new moms!

Special thanks to the Summit at Snoqualmie, Outdoor Research, and to my own Pro Guiding Service was hosting, sponsoring, and supporting this event for another year!

Pro Guiding Service's Advanced Navigation Clinic

The day started at 3pm inside North Bend's Pioneer Coffee.
Maps and compass and bearings and navigation and gps and tour plans.
Its a lot of material to cover in three hours!

But it all adds up to a tour plan.

And a night out navigating by that plan proves the point.
Practice, practice, practice!

Statistics:  Pro Guiding Service, Advanced Navigation Clinic.  2 February.

Snow Science

Winter's here!  Need proof?  My first work for winter was to teach an AIARE 1 course in avalanche science and safety over the first weekend of December.  The photos below are from Day 2.  This course had a unique format for Pro Guiding Service - two evening sessions to take care of classroom subjects, and then two field days.

Pro Guiding Service usually offers this class as three full days - with a classroom and field portion each day.  Its a better format, even if its a little inconvenient.  Historically, this first class of the season was taught in cooperation with a local REI - this year, that arrangement was ended but not before the class filled.  No worries - we found a great venue at the Sammamish Club and ran with it.  And the weather god was good to us and we had a great snowpack to work with.   Two field days to Alpental were wet but very applicable.

Interested in learning more about avalanche safety?  Check out PGS offerings here, and a couple additional private offerings from me here.

Dave Jordan and Erin Smart demonstrating a few simple
field tests in a pit near Alpental.  Photo | Sara Lingafelter

Solveig Waterfall and I doing the same with a second group nearby.

Statistics:  Pro Guiding Service, AIARE 1 Course.  Classroom sessions at the Sammamish Club, Issaquah; field sessions near Alpental Ski Area, Snoqualmie Pass.  3, 5, 8-9 December.

Classic Climbing at Snoqualmie Pass: The Tooth's South Face

JR called me Wednesday night while I was half-packed for our climb in the morning.  "Chris, I'm really sorry," he launched into it without warning, "Dude, there's a s#!t-storm at work and I'm not going to be able to play hooky like I planned.  I'm sure you'll have a good time with Chuck - he's strong."

So this Trip Report is dedicated to JR.

The solo drive up to the pass gave me time to think about the past summer, the past month, and writing about this post.  Before highway 2 was opened over Stevens Pass, and highway 20 was pushed through the North Cascades, Snoqualmie Pass was Seattle's alpine training ground.  Access up the Middle Fork and into the Lemah's was actually easier than it is today, with maintained roads making both of these areas reasonable weekend objectives.  Even now, there is classic climbing to be had from the Alpental parking lot, taking only 6-12 hours car-to-car.

The South Face of The Tooth is one of those classics.  Only 400' long, Beckey calls it "low-5th class", and it certainly meets my definition of old-school 4th class or new-school 5.4.  Speed solo alpinists have been known to run in, climb and down climb, and run out in an evening.  Earlier in the summer, the approach demands ice axes and crampons to cross the snowfields in Alpental Valley and Pineapple Basin.  By this time of the year its a fantastic approach-shoe climb.

After a stop at George's Bakery in North Bend for a donut breakfast and a ham-and-cheese croissant for lunch, I met Chuck in the Alpental Parking lot and we were hiking by 9am.  Along the way we saw the unbelievable - a mountain goat in Alpental Valley!  I've seen them further to the north and east, but never here in the valley itself, and there one was, climbing up the Chair Basin avalanche path/talus fields, perhaps 500' above us.  Amazing.

The mountain goat is visible immediately below
the talus field in the middle of the photo.

The smoke from the east-side fires made for some incredible light, but is also completely wrecking the views that I've come to expect to the east and north into the Enchantments.  It makes me wish for the rains to come and help the firefighters out.  That'll happen soon enough (rain is in the forecast for the end of next week).

At the base of the climb we met three teams from the Mountaineers, led by Cebe, who was king enough to let us pass by.  3-2-1 Liftoff!

Pitch 1.

Pitch 4.

Summit photo - where's JR?

The South Face, as I climb it, is 2 pitches of 5.4, a third pitch of 4th class, and another final 5.4 pitch to the summit.  Chuck was awesome, following smoothly and even able to pull out a stopper that I was sure I had placed to well, joining the ranks of a ton of fixed cams littering the last pitch.  We were standing on the summit at noon.

The Tooth - the South Face is the sunlit aspect.

This route gets so much traffic, there are four perfectly spaced rappel stations for the descent.  We made sure to thank the Moutaineers as we passed them on pitch 3.  Back at the packs we ate and drank again, waved good by to the 6 teams that were now on the route, and headed back to the cars.  Mission complete at 4pm.

Statistics:  Pro Guiding Service.  The Tooth (5604ft), South Face (II 5.4, 400', 4p).  27 September with Chuck C.

Guides' Day Off on Day Tooth

I've been meaning to climb with Kurt all summer, so I was psyched when our schedules finally worked out.  We only had a day, and we were both feeling a bit on the low end of the fuel gauge.  Kurt had a great idea - checking out the East Face of the The Tooth, a route that sees practically no traffic compared to the South Face.

This route was a lot longer than we expected:
P1 - 200', low 5th - this pitch could be broken into two, and probably should to protect the belayer from rock fall
P2 - 80', 5.6
P3 - 200', 4th class slab
P4 - 80' 150', 5.6 with 3rd class schrubbery
P5 - 80', 5.8
P6 - 140' 180', 5.8

Our big observation - the rock itself was super solid and compact.  It was only the amount of loose rocks sitting on ledges and sills that detracted from the climbing.  This is a route that deserves a bit of time to sweep and clear the looseness off.  And the compact nature of the rock meant that the protection was sparse, especially on the lower grade pitches.  It will never be as classic as the South Face, but that can be a plus too - on a weekday we rappeled past three teams making their way up the South Face in a slow fashion.

I was home 12 hours after leaving the house.

Statistics:  The Tooth (5604'), East Face (III 5.8, 775', 7 pitches).  12 September with Kurt Hicks.

Guye Peak

Everyone who has driven east over Snoqualmie Pass has seen Guye Peak.  Its West Face guards the entrance to Alpental Valley, towering over the community's cabins and roads.  Six routes criss-cross the face, but the most classic is the Improbable Traverse - a 900'-long route that climbs the biggest feature of the face, right up the center, on some remarkably good rock.

After last weekend's dose, Dave wanted to see a bit more, so we left Seattle early.  We were a bit worried when we arrived to Snoqualmie Pass in a cloud bank, completely obliterating the view, but we trusted the posted forecast and sure enough, we were having lunch in the sun, part-way up the face.  The Improbable Traverse pitches went past quickly, and by early afternoon we were on the summit, enjoying the view.  After clearing the summits we were able to put away the rope, and follow the steep scrambler's trail back to the Alpental Valley.

Low clouds completely obscured the mountain, and we certainly
slowed down - I wanted to make sure we didn't miss the entrance
couloir to the route.

The view above made the initial route finding difficult.
This is the first pitch.

300' and three pitches later, the clouds had burned
off and this was the view of Snoqualmie Pass.

Trying to look back down at pitches 1-3.

Dave taking a moment to relax at the Lunch Ledge, half way
up the pitches.

Looking across the 150' Improbable Traverse.

The traverse is broken into two pitches for rope drag.  Dave's
belaying me from the Lunch Ledge (top of p3) - I'm at the anchor of p4.

The last two pitches are low 5th and 4th class.

A few hundred feet of 3rd and 4th class climbing lead to the summit.

On the hike back to the car, we finally got the view of the face.
The Improbable Traverse climbs the big corner immediately left of the
white rock in the center of the face, and leads straight to the summit.

Statistics:  Guye Peak (5168'), West Face, Improbable Traverse (III 5.8, 9 pitches/900').  31 August with Dave N.

The Tooth

Dave and Karen joined me for a day at Snoqualmie Pass, and I wanted them to have a good time.  After an earnest but failed search to find the old trail mentioned in a guidebook, we turned around and followed the new trail up to the Tooth, and climbed the East Face.

Getting ready in the lot

Crossing Source Lake basin to reach Pineapple Basin.
The Tooth is in the background.

Summit photo

Statistics:  The Tooth (5604'), South Face (II 5.4).  26 August, with Dave and Karen N.

Chair Peak Solo

Once upon a time, Snoqualmie Pass was the training ground for Seattle alpinists.  When I-90 was still US 10.  Before Highway 2 or Highway 20 had been built.  When there was a twice-daily passenger train from Seattle to Snoqualmie Pass.  When the roads up the Middle Fork and to Lemah were still navigable.  Those peaks are still there.  So are the climbs.  On Saturday, I spent the afternoon running the Snow Lake Divide Loop, with a "detour" to climb the NE Buttress on Chair Peak.  A took a couple of variation to stay on cleaner rock, which up'ed the grade a little bit.  6 hours later I was back at the car.

Statistics:  Chair Peak (6238'), NE Buttress (III 5.4 with variations).  25 August, solo.

Rock, This is Climber. Climber, Meet Rock.

Todd and Phil met me at the Pro Ski Shop in North Bend on Friday for our Intro to Rock course.  The goal of the three days is to get novice climbers comfortable following single pitch routes, cleaning the anchors and being lowered, and being able to set up top-ropes at established anchors for their own climbing.  These two had some limited experience climbing indoors at gyms - Todd had also spent one day outside working on movement skills - so they were the perfect students.

On Day 1 we hiked to We Did Rock at Exit 38 and focused on movement skills and safely cleaning anchors to be lowered.

On Day 2 we went to the Gritscone at Exit 38 and worked on top-rope anchor skills - and got in a few good climbs along the way.  The 5.10a there is fantastic!

On Day 3 we upped the ante by heading over to the Repo towers at Exit 32, where exposed top-rope anchors require protecting the scrambles and rappelling.  The heat was wilting, so we kept it short and simple and then hiked around to a couple of the other crags.  We also discovered George's Bakery in North Bend - I'm a little shocked and embarrassed I haven't walked into this place before - its right across the street from the shop!  Another bakery to add to my list!

Those donuts are about 8" across.  No kidding.

Statistics:  Pro Guiding Service - Intro to Rock.  Exit 38 - We Did Rock, The Gritscone; Exit 32 - Repo I and II Towers.  3-5 August with Todd and Phil.