Bugaboos- Beckey-Chouinard

After a rainy and miserable three hour slog to East Creek Basin, we set up camp below The Beckey Chouinard.  This was the ultimate objective for our trip, and the line didn't disappoint.

The BC follows the skyline.

Since an electrical storm rolled in when we arrived, we watched some climbers retreating just below the white headwall.  A reminder of the unpredictable weather in the Bugaboos.

After the weather cleared up we spent the evening greeting the other climbers and learned that we had a celebrity in our midst.  More on that later...

No shit!

We woke up at 5:30am and were approaching the route by 7:00am.  We soloed the first 1000 feet of easy slab and roped up at the first 5.8 corner.  From there we simul-climbed all the way to the first 5.10 pitch.  At this point, we ran into another party and the process dramatically slowed.

Me on the first 5.10 pitch.  Notice the guy above me.

Another picture of the first 5.10 pitch.  I am just below the crux.

Ben on the tails of another party.

First view of the headwall.

Looking up at the second 5.10 pitch.

After a few more pitches, we ran into two more parties that graciously let us pass.

A nice view of the lower half of the BC.  Also note the other parties on the ledge.

The route finding was simple, and every pitch threw something different at you.  Most of the climbing was wide, slightly flared, and thuggy, but the occasional finger crack and roof kept things interesting.  Gear placements are abundant, and I never felt runout or scared.  Belays are very obvious, and higher up you simply climb until the end of the rope and set up a station instead of worrying about the "right" belay spot.

A typical pitch at the top of the BC.

Me on the 5.10 traverse at the top of the route.

The ridge traverse was not trivial.  After the initial rappel, we had no idea exactly where it went so we just kept heading up and right.  Some of the spots had 5.6ish moves and I was very glad to be roped up.

Me on the summit of the BC.

The rappel was fully bolted and fairly easy to find.  We had a 60 meter rope and a 6mm tag line which worked great.  Without a tag line, you would probably need a 70 meter rope.

I think we got off route on the second to last rappel...

Final rappel over a schrund to reach the glacier.

One the way back to camp I kept imagining how much different the route was in 1961 when it was put up.  No crowds, no topo, way more involved decent, less advanced equipment.  This route was a true adventure.

Which brings me back to the mystery climbing legend.  It was Fred Beckey!  It was his first trip back to East Creek in 51 years!  He is 89 years old and still climbing.

Me with Fred.

Fred walking to the helicopter pick up site.  I was really nervous watching him walk across the snow.

Anyways, I had to get my picture with him.  Thanks Fred!  You are truly inspiring! 

Alpenglow.

Mt. Evans- Area D

On Sunday we headed up to Area D on Mount Evans.  This is one of the most beautiful areas I have ever climbed.  Unfortunately, large sections of these massive boulders fail to offer climbable features so there aren't very many boulder problems.

Looking up valley at the Black Wall.

However, the problems that we did climb were very nice.  Here is a video of Alex Kordick climbing a possible FA between Equitos and The Nothing.  We thought it was hard V6.

A few were interested in trying The Nothing V8- a 35 foot problem with the business at the start and a nice victory romp to the top.

Metro cleaning The Nothing.

A video of Mark "Metro" Avery onsighting the classic highball, The Nothing. 

The hike out is much longer than Lincoln Lake but the views are rewarding.

Bugaboos- Divine Intervention and Paddle Flake.

We spent the next two days "recovering" from the hike and climbing near Applebee Campground.  The weather forecast warned of afternoon storms so we decided to keep our days short .

Snowpatch in the background.

Our first objective was a newish route on Bugaboos Spire called Divine Intervention 5.11b.  The route is 10 pitches but the best rock, and hardest pitches are pitches 1-5.  Plus, you can rappel off after the fifth pitch meaning you don't have to climb with boots, crampons, etc. making it a great choice for a mellow day.

Unfortunately, we didn't take very many pictures, but the route is very nice and the rock will only improve with time.  Overall the route is very well protected, and the climbing tackles inspiring features with a great mix of classic crack climbing and interesting face moves.  I blew the onsight by going left instead of right on P5 which lead me up a crack system that dead ended.  Too hard to downclimb, I set a really good nut, and bailed.  SCARY!!!  Oh well...

Looking up at P5.  Go right at the roof!

View of Applebee Campground from Bugaboo Spire.

Ben rappelling P3.

The next day, we decided to climb Paddle Flake 5.10 on Crescent Spire.  It follows a prominent corner system for four pitches to the base of a handsome headwall.

The lower pitches are very polished, requiring stemming, good footwork and faith in small gear at times.  The upper pitches get steeper, testing your endurance.  Definitely a classic route, but a bit short.

The scariest thing about this route is simply getting to the rock.  To get to the start of P1 I had to solo 40 feet of steep snow, kicking steps with my rock shoes and using a nut tool to as a mini ice axe.  I swear I almost fell at the top!

P1 of Paddle Flake 5.9. 

The upper pitches.

Ben at the beginning of P3 5.10a.

Ben inspecting the crux of P3.

Ben at the crux of P3.

Taylor on P4 5.10 hands.  Really nice and steep pitch.

Au cheval the top of P4.  Classic alpine move!

Ben on P5.

The view from the back of Crescent Spire.

Bugaboo Spire.

Ben rappelling.  Applebee Campground in the upper left corner.

At the end of the day I realized that I had some tea from a broken teabag floating around at the bottom of my pack.  Undaunted by the fact that it had been there for over six months, I scooped it out and brewed the most amazing cup of tea ever!

My reward for the day.  

Hey, I packed it in, so don't judge me.  And no, I am not addicted to caffeine.  Although it's debatable whether my headache was caused by dehydration or caffeine withdrawal.

Bugaboos- The Death March to Applebee

Our first view of the Bugs.

Some experiences leave you scarred for life.  Whether the damage is physical, emotional, or psychological you are left with a permanent, inescapable reminder of an event you would rather forget.
  

Ben posing with Critter Ridder.  Black pepper and Capsaicin spray.

Ben spraying the car with Critter Ridder.

Apparently critters don't like to eat FJ Cruisers.

Deceptively cute, cable eating devil.

The hike up to Applebee Campground is one of those moment.  Granted I have never enjoyed hiking, but this hike completely crushed me physically and psychologically.

The trail is only 4 kilometers, and the grade, although steep, isn't outrageous.  The tipping point was our packs.  With 10 days of food, clothes, climbing gear, ropes, and various stuff to survive in the wilderness our packs were almost 100 pounds!

Once I had the beast on my back the shoulder straps started digging into my chest.  So I pulled out some underwear, and shoved them behind the straps to provide extra padding.  Only 10 minutes into the hike and my dignity was already disappearing!

Self portrait of suffering.

Isn't this great!!!  Such a nice hike.

Then we got above treeline.  With no shade, and limited opportunity to pump water, I got dehydrated and quickly fell apart.  My back screamed under the weight of my pack and my legs could only take about 20 steps before they begged for a rest.  Just past the ladder, about 2/3 up the trail my mind and body cracked.  I felt helpless and desperate.

Totally cracked.  Note the underwear.

Is there a pack on me?  I can't tell.

It got so bad that Ben came down the trail looking for me and offered to hiked my pack about 400 feet up the hill while I pumped water.  He also took the rope and draws out of my pack and put them in a smaller pack which he shuttled up the hill along with his huge pack in alternating trips.

Looking down the valley.

 Feeling a bit better, I finally made it to the Cain Hut. 

The kitchen has running water, electricity, and gas stoves.

Unfortunately, we still had about 900 feet of vertical gain to make before we reach the Applebee Campground.  So I slowly made my way up the hill- resting about every 50 feet.

Almost to Applebee!  You can see the Cain Hut in the upper left hand corner.

After about 5 hours of hiking I finally stumbled into camp with a devastating headache.  I was disappointed with my performance and stressed about the rest of the trip.  It felt like a horrible glimpse into the suffering that awaited. 

Luckily my legs have recovered, but my mind will never forget the death march to Applebee Campgound.

Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta

The Bugaboos are only two weeks away, and the trip is looming in my conscience like the huge granite spires waiting for us over 1,200 miles away.  

Unlike past trips, where I did way too much research, created extensive tick lists, and obsessively charted out rest days, I am showing up with almost no goals.  This makes the trip seem deceptively relaxing.  Although the technical nature of the climbing is less demanding, the logistics, and cumulative effects of long approaches, climbing 20 pitches in a day at altitude will probably crush me.  The only goal I do have is to show up, have some fun, climb some beautiful stuff, take lots of pictures and try not to hold my partner back.

Tan Buttresses.  Our route goes up the sunny face to the right of the leftmost large shadow.

So as a last ditch effort to prepare for the Bugs, Ben Collett and I headed up to the Tan Buttresses on Mount Evans and put up a new route.  The goal was to spend time at altitude, and establish something ground up, on an unexplored and impressively steep section of the buttresses.

Ben approaching the Tan Buttresses.

Two things made this route more memorable.  At the base of the route, I realized that I had forgotten my belay device.  So we decided that the second would be belayed with a Munter.  I have been climbing for 17 years, but I had just coincidentally learned the knot a few weeks ago driving home from Utah.  Second, Ben convinced me not to bring any water.

Old school!  HTFU!

The first pitch headed up a left leaning dihedral.  Fun moves and a few crack transitions led to a wet chimney which topped out on a grassy 4th class ledge where we set up an anchor.  I would say this pitch was 5.9.

Ben on Pitch 1.

Since the rock above us look questionable, we decided to follow the vegitated ledge up and left in search of a more inspiring line.  After scrambling for 80 feet, I was forced to climb a 20 feet 5.7 dihedral.  Barely able to pull up rope I constructed an anchor on a small green ledge below a steep, broken corner.  Not the best pitch but it got us in position.

Pitch 3 (House of Cards) turned out to be a much cleaner than it appeared.  Although we trundled a few blocks, most of the pitch was steep and airy with blocky features and lots of good gear.  The top half of the route follows a large, lower angle corner with multiple cracks to the base of a pretty gray headwall.  We thought it was around 5.10b.

Ben starting up Pitch 3.  Note the loose looking blocks.

Ben on the House of Cards Pitch.

Higher up.

The last pitch follows a pretty finger and hand crack that breaks left from the large chimney system onto a steep gray head wall.  Riddled with uncertainty, I cast off into a series of discontinuous, splitter cracks that undulated between fingers and hands until I reached a large pegmatite band.  To my horror, the crack pinched off.  On the brink of panic, I clawed past a slopey offset feature and with choss raining down on Ben, made a few face moves to reach more cracks.   With every point of contact crumbling beneath me, I realized that the next set of cracks were almost 15 feet away.  Freaking out, I noticed some large features, so I followed them to the right towards the chimney.  Then, my brain froze, my body started down climbing, and my mouth said "Take".  And all the sudden, the madness stood still while the disappointment gathered.  I hung for a moment, and then did the 5.10 escape moves to get into the chimney where good gear, solid rock and a steep hand crack lead over a roof to an easy and well protected chimney.  Adrenaline makes it hard to rate things, but I would say the 4th pitch was 12a.

Starting Pitch 4.  The Gangsta Pitch.

Stemming like a Gangsta.

Pulling into the chimney.  You can see how the crack continues up the steep face above where I broke right.  Harder variation?

Topping out, all I could think about was my throbbing toes, my nagging dehydration headache, and how I had cracked under pressure.  We grabbed our stuff and started hiking out, which left me alone with my thoughts.  Thunder cracked and the sky drenched us with absurdly cold rain that washed away my sense of failure.  There was a lot to be proud of.  We had fought with the unknown, grappled with our fears, and created somthing new for others to enjoy.

 

As we rolled out of the Summit Lake parking lot the first song we heard was "Damn It Feels good to be a Gangsta".  For some reason, it felt appropriate.

A complete route description is posted on Mountain Project at http://mountainproject.com/v/damn-it-feels-good-to-be-a-hamsta/107716834.