AP-Adventures

The wind, unforecasted, unexpected, came in the night. Our tents were protected, but the gusts whipped and ripped at our guy lines. Sleep was elusive at best. Exhaustion came with a benefit...the wildfire smoke had been forced down into the valley, providing clarity and vision.....The summit pyramid called to us, beckoning us to climb above the rising smoke. By the time we made the summit, Mt. Baker was all that remained in the clarity of the windstorm. The smoke had caught us, but not before our moment of victory. We would soon descend into obscurity, walking away from our singular objective, into the complexity of life, a glacier. Preparing to descend from the summit PC: Ryan -- This week marks yet another first day of school for me. While I am excited to be that much closer to finishing up at the University of Washington, I had hoped to get a post up on here before I needed to complete required writing assignments. No such luck! I cannot believe how much I have neglec...

Seasons change, and with each change of season comes drastically different weather patterns and  thus sporting efforts, especially here in the PNW.  Collin on the Triple Couliours in May 2017 Spring is prime for great alpine ice climbs and long ski traverses. The mountains start to shed their winter coats, exposing ice hidden by the massive amounts of snow, creating fun couliour climbs and opening up some rock climbing. Skiing is great because the weather is generally better with longer daylight hours than in the dark months of winter, and glaciers are still fairly filled out. Here in the good old Pacific Northwest, we are blessed with the coolest alpine terrain in the lower 48, and have a dry but not too hot summer accompanied by long days of fun climbing in the mountains. The rock climbing is also exceptional, and the long days make alpine rock objectives attainable. Cassandra on the West Face of SEWS in July 2017 The fall is not as awesome. I often make...

February 25, 2017 Tod and I had plans to take a quick trip out to Alberta for some quality ice climbing. He has been climbing ice and alpine routes for about twenty years longer than I, so obviously I was psyched to get out and gain some experience with him. On our drive to Canmore, we stopped to check out Marble Canyon. This slot canyon is home to some awesome rappel accessed climbs of about 40m in height. We spent a few hours top-roping a cool WI5+ pitch (Tokkum Pole) with a few variations and some fun mixed climbing. It was a perfect start to the trip. We eventually made our way to Canmore and found a place to call home for a couple days. Tod rappelling into Marble Canyon Standing beneath Tokkum Pole We made our plans for the next day and prepared the kit for our objective: The Sorcerer. The climb is a remote and adventurous outing with about 215m of water ice and goes at WI5. The climb is located near Ghost Valley, in the Johnson Creek drainage. The drive o...

Smith Rock State Park in Oregon is a place that I spend a lot of time. Each year in the spring, and then again in the fall, I take advantage of its desert climate to have fun and also work among the droves of hikers and climbers. Its pretty great, and nearly always climbable! Smith is home to some of the best and most classic sport climbing lines in the United States. There is a rich history of climbing in the park, and before it gained the reputation as a mecca of sport climbing, Smith was a place that helped push the grades of hard traditional free climbing, To top it off, the scenery is phenomenal! As my friend Jon Manz once said, "You can point a camera in literally any direction and take an amazing photo." Smith Rock State Park is absolutely stunning. The desert and river meet to create a harmonious and lush beauty. Soft greens are contrasted by sharp tans and reds. These are typically laid out below a brilliant blue sky in one of nature's greatest triumphs. Com...

Mt. Stuart in the distance Every year my goals and aspirations for alpine grandeur grow exponentially. Right or wrong, and without regard to previous successes or failures, I make more plans that are increasingly complex. My time is always tight due to the various obligations I have accrued, and the plan for this day was not outside of my distorted “normalcy”. I had to drop my kids off at the airport with their mom in the morning, and then pick up my partner and head to Leavenworth to climb Scarface (III 5.10+) in the Enchantments. I was not certain that we would even attempt the climb, as the weather forecast was looking rough. The Spring had been warm and sunny, so I expected the hike and approach to be mostly snow free. We leisurely made our way east, arriving at the Stuart Lake trailhead around 11 am. We grabbed our gear intending to hike up to the lake, but not intending to climb. Turns out that carrying a pack of climbing gear to the base of a climb makes it difficult to wa...