Megan signing the summit register
Maple Canyon - changing the Stripes
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Ski training, running, and hikes
The time of year has come when I divide my time between climbing on the last few warm days, skiing after a big snowfall, and training in the gym.
In Vail’s back bowl looking toward Gore Range
My training the past 10 days consisted of:
rock climb at climbing gym
rest day
weight lift, gym
rest
ski 5 hours: Loveland demo days - try new skis
rest
hike uphill / jog about 1 hour
hike uphill / jog 2 hours
weight lift, gym
hike / jog about 1 hour
Arapahoe Basin looking toward East Wall
I “hike/jog” the trail behind my house, Ptarmigan trail, which goes from 9,300′ to the summit at 12,498′. I walk the steep parts, and run the flatter parts and some of the less steep downhill.
The gym workouts consist of basic weight training with the addition of a few ski-specific exercises, involving jumping, lateral agility movement (more jumping!), core strengthening exercises such as crunches, push ups, or plank, balance training, and quad strengthening exercises.
Unlike Lindsey Vonn, who trains 6 - 8 hours daily, I’m i the gym between 1 - 2 hours. But then, I work as a ski instructor, and she’s a World Champion and Olympic Medalist.
However, for all my ski students, especially the ones from lower altitudes (most of you!), I recommend at least a few days weekly of aerobic exercise, and a few days of strength training.
It’ll make your ski vacation so much more fun, if you can ski all day without being tired halfway through the day, and if your legs aren’t burning after the first few runs.
Today’s a gym day, so I’ll be off to warm up on the exercise bike, and then do my push press, dumb bell rows, leg press, lat pulls, tricep extension, crunches, and push ups.
When my son Tristan arrives for winter break, I’ll add squats ( I like him to spot me for squats initally, to make sure that my form is correct ) and dead lifts.
Enjoy your workouts!
Dick Dorworth, climber, Skiing Hall of Fame
Dick Dorworth at City of Rocks, 2010
I met Dick Dorworth in the 1970s in the Cirque of the Towers, Wind River Range, Wyoming. I’d hiked in to the Cirque with big plans and two other girls - Anne Marie Rizzie and Linda Covert. I say “girls” intentionally, since we were teens, and college students.
Dick was guiding a client and had his wife and son with him. After the client, wife and son left, and my two friends departed early, Dick asked me to climb with him.
In my second summer of climbing and leading, I still felt new to the ropes. But, I figured, with a professional climbing guide, what can go wrong?
However, Dick wasn’t planning on climbing an easy trade route. No, he’d been eyeing an as yet unclimbed line on the North Face of Mitchell Peak (12,482′.)
N. Face of Mitchell Peak
Photo by Jason Funk
We started up early in the morning. Dick led the first pitch, which he’d climbed before on his first attempt on the face (with his client, I believe). At the belay, he pointed up and said,
“Just follow that corner until you reach a good ledge and then belay.”
I was a teenage girl. This was by far the biggest, and scariest, wall I’d ever been on. And the longest route I’d ever been on, by far. I also was used to climbing with my father, and doing what he told me. So I grabbed our nuts and hexes and climbed up the corner until I found a ledge to belay from.
We climbed about four pitches until the weather looked very threatening, and a Dick’s urging, we rappeled down.
A few days later, armed with a waterproof parka I’d borrowed form another climber, we started up again. After the first four pitches, we entered terra incognito. Dick led the next pitch, and at the belay, pointed up again.
“Just head up that flake,” he encouraged me.
I was even more nervous. Here I would lead an unknown pitch on an unclimbed route, with no idea of difficult it was. My habit of climbing up anything that someone told me I could do stood me in good stead, and I led the next pitch, which wasn’t too desperate.
We’d now climbed 6 pitches, with the angle and climbing difficulties easing off. However, the weather and nightfall more than threatened, as black clouds boiled up from behind the wall and thunder grumbled in the distance. Dick headed up quickly, and we reached the summit plateau it got dark and all hell cut loose.
Luckily I was wearing the borrowed parka. Dick found an overhanging ledge we crawled under, as hail pounded us and wild lightning strikes lit up the summit.
I’d never been in such a storm in such an exposed place.
“Are we going to make it?” I quavered, sure that we’d be forced to spend the night up here, and not at all sure that we’d survive it.
“I know the descent.” Dick reassured me. ” I f we can find the gully, I know were the rappel anchors are. We carried no headlamps - I didn’t own one, and headlamps in those days were big, clumsy things.
Once the brunt of the storm eased, we crawled on hands and knees toward the edge, looking for rappel anchors during the brightest lightning strikes.
Somehow we found the anchors and commenced rappelling. After numerous raps on soaking ropes, from which streams of water ran down our arms, we reached more crawlable terrain.
Eventually, close to midnight, we spied a roaring fire. Our friends, knwoing we were out there, had built an enormous bonfire to help light our way back to camp.
We happily crawled in next to the fire to dry off, and eat some lunch and dinner.
Dick named our climb ‘the book of Ecclesiastes’, perhaps to commemorate out trial by water and fire.
This year, my friend and mentor, Dick Dorworth, was nominated to the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame for his world speed record and his many books and articles.
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Ambition and Ethics, 2011
In the past, when speaking on ‘Ethics and Ambition’, I’ve concentrated on ambition — clarifying what ambition entails for climbers, and the potential consequences of ambition.
This year we concentrated on ethics— what are the ethical dilemmas to which ambition drives us?
First, without ambition, climbing poses few or no ethical dilemmas. It’s a climber’s ambition to be the best, or the first to climb an unclimbed peak, or a new route on a mountain, that puts her at risk.
I’ll state two (dictionary) definitions of ethics:
1. A branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.
2. moral principles, as of an individual
Why would striving to become one of the best climbers cause ethical dilemmas?
In one word: sponsorship.
As an example, The North Face (TNF),
the world’s second largest expedition funder, pays a team of 71 athletes to — basically have adventures. Conrad Anker, a climber who helps decide which athletes’ projects become ad campaigns, looks for people who are among the top athletes in the world.
Other companies that make climbing gear, clothing, and camping equipment also sponsor climbers. Receiving such a coveted climbing sponsorship becomes a highly desirable goal for young climbers, and they attempt more and more daring feats in their quest to join the ranks of sponsored climbers.
Sometimes climber’s attempts to climb a new route ends in tragedy. Micah Dash,
Jonny Copp, and the photographer Wade Johnson died in their attempt to scale a new route on the southeast face of Mt. Edgar.
Chinese authorities had called the climbers before their trip to advice them of very bad weather and conditions on the mountain, and suggest that they not go at that time. Copp replied that he was booked for the next three years, and it was now or never.
This pressure to perform for sponsors, and to attempt new and daring feats, may cloud climber’s judgment and cause them to try climbs that they would perhaps not go on were there no pressure to retain a sponsorship.
Other examples of sponsored rock climbers and mountaineers daring difficult climbs include Alison Hargraves, who perished on K2; and Charlie Fowler, who disappeared climbing in China.
Solo climbing — without use of a rope — another way to do something new. Alex Honnold, recently featured on “60 Minutes”, became the first person to climb Half Dome entirely unroped (TNF sponsors Honnold).
The ethical situation remains confounding. The quest for publicity and income encourages climbers to attempt potentially fatal climbs. However, the public watches the videos, much like the Romans watching the gladiators. Should climbers attempt dangerous feats? If they don’t, then someone else will, to whom they might lose their sponsorship.
Should outdoors equipment manufacturers sponsor climbers on dangerous trips? If one doesn’t, another will — but that’s not generally a good answer to ethical questions.
A third factor is young climber’s belief in their invincibility. I went to Shishapangma in 1994, despite having a 3-year old son, convinced that because it was “a small 8,000-meter peak, it was safe.” I even said that while Everest, K2, and others were dangerous, that Shishapangma was perfectly safe. Arriving at Camp 3 at 7,350 meters to find three corpses frozen in their tent disabused me of the notion that it was safe.
But when the Austrians invited me on the trip, I thought it would be safe, and I went. Likewise, many of the climbers who attempt climbs with a fatal end go on the trip firmly convinced of their potential success.
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Maple Canyon, Utah
We were climbing at Maple Canyon, Utah the last week of September, just in time to watch the leaves change.
Maple trees on hike up the Middle Fork trail.
Maples and aspen trees near the top of the Middle Fork trail.
Maples past the fork in the Middle fork trail, heading up toward road 069.
More maples ..
I’ll talk about climbing next time. the maples were so beautiful, I had to share them.
Colchuck Lake Hike, Enchantments
Bridge crossing soon after junction
I write earlier about our climb of Prusik Peak and about the logistics of getting to Prusik Peak.
Here I’ll describe the easiest part of out trip: the hike to Colchuck Lake.
We started up the well-maintained trail to Lake Stuart to the junction at 2.5 miles, then turned left at the marked junction to Colchuck Lake. Past the junction, we crossed the log bridge above and then navigated through the boulderfield beyond it.
Logs for creek crossing
After the junction with the Stuart Lake trail, the going got rougher and steeper. Instead of on bridges, we crossed streams on logs.The trail became steeper, requiring occasional use of tree branches to pull myself up.
The ranger at the Leavenworth Ranger Station had told us how hot it had been, and how much hotter they expected it to be. I foolishly believed them and hiked up in my running shorts.
Near the first campsites at Colchuck Lake
As we neared the lake, and saw the snowfields beyond, I began to suspect that my clothing was not adequate for the trip.
Colchuck Lake, Dragontail Peak, and Aasgard Pass to left
The hike to the lake tired me: not only were we carrying camping gear such as a tent, sleeping mats, and sleeping bag, but additionally we had our climbing gear - ropes, nuts, boots, and harness. (Note the omission of cooking gear - we didn’t bring any.)
We dropped our packs at the first possible campsite and continued partly around the lake to see whether we’d find closer sites, or better ones. After walking for five more minutes, we decided that our little spot was just fine for one night, and put up our tent.
Once the sun set, I got really cold, and quickly jumped into the sleeping bag while eating. Having very little food (four bagels, some left-over lemon cake for lunch, and four energy bars), our dinner of a bagel apiece was quickly done.
It was too cold to get out of my bag, there was nothing left to eat, so, about 8 p.m., we decided to call it a night and try to sleep. I wore everything I’d brought - my thin top under my light-weight fleece top, and my down vest; plus my fleece pants with long underwear over them!
I hoped that this would be enough clothes for climbing the next day, telling myself that, after all, we’d be in the sun.
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Prusik Peak logisitics
Hiking toward Prusik Pass; Prusik Peak in back
My last post describes our climb of Prusik Peak; here I will describe the logistics of getting in to (and back out from) Prusik Peak.
One can access Prusik Peak from either of two trails: the Snow Lake trail, which gains 4,100 feet in 6.5 miles; or the Stuart Lake trail to Colchuck Lake, which gains 2,100 feet in 4.75 miles.
Realistically, we picked the trail for which we got a permit - hike in to, and camp, at Colchuck Lake, often described as one of the most beautiful alpine lakes in Washington.
Colchuck Lake and Aasgard Pass
From our campsite at Colchuck Lake, we circled around the lake (1.75 miles) and proceeded up Aasgard Pass, gaining 2,200 feet in about 8 tenths of a mile … all before breakfast!
West ridge and view toward Aasgard Pass
Atop Aasgard Pass we shared one of our two bagels, re-filled our water bottles, and headed to Prusik Pass. After 2.5 miles, we reached Perfection Lake and then headed up Prusik Pass.
Snowfield on the way to Perfection Lake
I fell when descending the snowfield to Perfection Lake in my lightweight running shoes, and right after that, Andy slipped and proceeded down the next section his derriere.
Any earlier in the day, when it’s still frozen, might require instep crampons to safely negotiate this slope.
Either approach, Colchuck Lake or Snow Lake requires about 10 miles of hiking before climbing Prusik Peak. Some parties prefer a 3-day trip, with one day for the climb, and the other two for the hike in and out. However, we had a permit to camp one night, and four bagels between the two of us, so a two-day trip it was!
Perfection Lake
West Ridge - The Climb:
The route follows the ridge. See Mountain Project for a description with photos.
Trails:
Take trail 1599, Lake Stuart / Colchuck Lake trail, for 2.5 miles to a junction. Turn left toward Colchuck Lake up switchbacks for about 1.5 miles. Proceed around the west side of the lake toward Colchuck and Dragontail Peak. The trail then ascends to the left of Dragontail Peak to Aasgard Pass at 7800’ after 2 miles. Descend into the Enchantment Lakes for almost 3 miles to the base of Prusik Peak.
Permits:
Get permits for overnight use, June 15 - October 15, from the Wenatchee Ranger District.
A recreation pass for day use is available at the trailhead.
Dogs and campfires are prohibited.
Prusik Peak adventure (Enchantments, Cascades)
Prusik Peak
One dictionary defines adventure as:
“ a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.”
That’s my definition of adventure: it involves some risk,
and success isn’t guaranteed. I’d add that most adventures I’ve had included a certain amount of discomfort or pain; and many were spontaneous undertakings.
Our Prusik Peak qualifies on several counts: it was unplanned, we weren’t at all sure we’d make it to the top, I was the coldest I’ve been in over ten years; it was my longest day in probably 20 years, we were out of food, and we hiked out in the dark.
I was camped at, and climbing at Squamish. One morning, my climbing partner Andy suggested that we drive to Leavenworth to climb Outer Space on Snow Creek Wall.
The next morning, after packing our gear for Outer Space, we stopped at the Ranger Station to buy the required parking permit.
“Do you have any available permits for Prusik Peak?” Andy asked.
“We have a Colchuck Lake permit. It’s for one night only, tonight.” the ranger responded.
“We’ll take it!” Andy enthusiastically replied.
Apparently, people wait for years to win the lottery to camp at Colchuck Lake, so walking in to find a permit waiting for us was like winning the lottery.
We quickly re-packed. Out went:
most of the hardware, leaving 3 cams and some nuts.
the heavy lead rope, instead using a 8.8 mm line
And we added:
a tent, sleeping bags, and pads.
We had earlier bought food for car camping, and so were well equipped with soups, salad, Tasty Bites, and burrito makings. And a two-burner propane Coleman stove.
What we did not have with us was a lightweight backpacking stove (mine was back in Colorado.)
We brought four bagels that Andy had (four bagels total, not each.) Andy, who had been in the area before, suggested we hike in that afternoon, camp at Colchuck Lake, and the next day hike over Asgard Pass, then down and over Prusik Pass, climb Prusik, hike back to the tent, pack up, and hike out.
Part one, hiking in and camping went ok. The ranger had told us how hot it was, so I blithely hiked in my shorts.
Iceberg on lake near Asgard Pass
What no one had mentioned is how cold it gets at night. After putting on my tights and lightweight fleece, we both crawled into our sleeping bags to eat our bagel for dinner.
In the morning, I shivered while eating cold cereal with powdered milk while Andy decided to save his bagel until later.
We hiked around the lake, getting lost once, and then started up Aasgard Pass. The mountain goats made up for the rubble on Aasgard Pass. Two hours later, we were ready to head down the far side of Aasgard, across the Enchantment Basin, and over Prusik Pass.
“We should be back at the tent by 8 pm,” Andy suggested.
This was the first I’d heard of the length of the climb we embarked on. I quickly revised my mental estimates: 13 hours of daylight leaves 6 hours up, 6 hours down, and one to eat and pack the tent. We’d started at 7:17 am, and would need to turn around by 1:30 p.m.
Goat overlooking Asgard Pass
Near the icy lake, we stopped to eat one of our two remaining bagels, and then hurried on to Prusik Pass, jogging on the flatter sections.
We reached Prusik Pass to find two other climbers about to start up the West Ridge, the climbed we planned on. We passed them on the approach scramble, and they let us climb ahead, since we planned on simul-climbing the route. We belayed in three places to avoid rope drag, but arrived at the summit by 1:00 p.m., within our original parameters.
Rappelling took longer than expected, putting us a little behind schedule. We ate our second bagel back at our shoe stash near the pass. Our bridges burned (no food left) we were now committed to making it out (as well as no permit to spend another night).
By 5 p.m., sliding and stumbling down Aasgard Pass (even worse than scrambling up through the precipitous scree) I was hungry enough that when I saw an almond on the ground, I quickly picked it up, ate it, and looked to see whether they’d dropped any other nuts.
At Colchuck Lake, at 6:30, I explained to campers I passed that we were hiking out that night since we had no food.
“No food!” they exclaimed. “You want some food?”
Yes, we were happy to eat their leftovers, and did.
Finally, about 8 p.m., we started our hike out. Soon, we brought out the headlamps. Somehow, hiking down a steep trail, full of scree, tree routes, and scrambles between boulders is not that easy, even by headlamp.
We reached the car at 11:20 p.m., tired, sore, but successful. We’d gotten a rare, sought-after permit to climb one of the jewels of the Cascades.
And, we experienced several classic adventure hallmarks:
being very cold
running out of food
descending in the dark
getting lost
Somehow, I don’t think that “Adventure Companies” will be able to sell “real” adventures.
Squamish—Millenium Falcon
The tree belay at the end of pitch 8
This past weekend, we climbed Millenium Falcon , a wonderful route in the Dihedrals are of the Chief, that goes to first to Bellygood Ledge and then on to the summit.
We climbed only as far as Bellygood Ledge, and hiked down from there. Aside from the usual excuses, such as that it was getting late, and we’d been delayed by two groups in front of us on the route; I must admit that I was tired!
Pitch 2 - my favorite one on the climb
The climb started out easy - a 5.8 chimney, not too steep, or strenuous. However, that didn’t last!
On pitch 2, the holds got a lot smaller. We quickly went from a thin corner to a steep layback with tiny holds. The good holds to the side, for stemming, saved me here - allowing a rest periodically.
thin cracks on Pitch 3
Pitch 3 was harder than pitch 2, with a thin finger crack to a stretch left for the next foothold, followed by a traverse left, on to another thin finger crack.
Pitch 4 was the one rated 5.11, supposedly most difficult of the climb, but I found pitch 3 as hard.
Chimney on pitch 5
After three difficult pitches, the wonderful chimney on pitch 5 was almost relaxing! No hands rests, good holds, what a treat! It brought us to a wonderful, flat, grassy and mossy ledge where we enjoyed a quick snack.
After this , we traversed left across “Trichome Ledge”, one of the numerous sloping ‘ledges’ that seem to consist of mud, vegetation, and moss, and criss-cross the Chief in odd places. I always worry that the entire ledge will fall off (one did, when Tristan and I were on the Squaw), but he locals seem to trust them.
I’d not looked at the topo before starting up the route, and was under the delusion that we’d done the hard pitches, and climbing would now be easy - a romp to the top!
Boy, was I wrong. Pitch 7 was another 5.10d traverse to a sloping ledge, followed by pitch 8, which I thought was 5.10a.
It wasn’t. It was a steep crack, starting with small gear (1″, or red Camalots) and increasing in size to 3″ - that part was ok. But then it kept getting wider, and was wet. I could no longer jam the crack (too big) and instead, had to layback the very steep corner.
That crack was very burly, and my arms felt like limp spaghetti. Tis pitch ends with the magic tree, which may have been a lot more useful as a climbing aid prior to several year’s worth of desperate climbers grabbing it to pull themselves up.
The last pitch, a layback going to a chimney, seemed pleasant, and if I’d been less tired (like, if it started on the ground!), I’d have enjoyed it. As tired as I was, reaching the top was its own reward.
The route has 4 more pitches. We’ll hike up to Bellygood Ledge someday and start on those well-rested!
Elfin Lakes, Mamquam Icefield, Garibaldi Park
Mamquam Icefield from Elfin Lake, 2011
Mamquam Icefield, August 2010
photo by Andy Cairns
I’d heard that the Mamquam Icefield increased in size during 2011.
On reaching Elfin Lake, I could easily believe that it grew.
We hiked 5 km to Red Heather Meadows on relatively dry trails, but past Red Heather Meadows the trail became mostly snow-covered.
Sabine on “trail”; Diamondhead in back
Trail map posted at trailhead
Last year, we hiked to the Gargoyles. This year, I wanted to hike up toward the Opal Cone and on to Mamquam Lake, but excessive snow cover made this an unrealistic plan!
Instead, we enjoyed a pleasant hike to Elfin Lake and back. Some year, after a less snowy winter, and a warmer, sunnier spring, I’ll be back!