Ames Ice Hose & a Blizzard? Sure.

Yesterday was a great day in Telluride if you like ice and snow, or more like snowy ice, and come to think of it, snowy everything (snowy rock, snowy gloves, snowy jackets, snowy pants, snowy boots, snowy faces, snowy ropes - just snowiness in general, if that's a word, which I'm pretty sure it isn't).

My good buddy John and I decided to head over from Ouray to climb the mega-classic Ames Ice Hose. The Ice Hose was one of the few routes I knew I needed to climb when I came out here for the winter and it didn't disappoint. It's an unbelievably elegant looking line, snaking its way six hundred feet up a massive cliff sitting high above the old mining village of Ames. The route is steep, atmospheric and amazing.

At times the ice is no wider than your shoulders as it passes through the second pitch chimney, and by the top you're in a sea of it. Amazing. One of the best routes I've done in a while, and the storm we climbed in only added to the character of the whole experience. The complete picture set is up on my Flickr account. Awesome stuff (the climb, that is).

Colorado Climbing & Skiing: Still Pretty Alright

Well I figured after I mentioned coming to Ouray for the climbing in a post about going to Crested Butte for the skiing, I should maybe post a few climbing shots.

A few days ago I went out with my friend Libby, and we had a good ol' fashioned multi-sport day. We started out by heading up to Red Mountain Pass, which sits south of Ouray and east of Telluride, and taking advantage of some really nice stable snow conditions before an impending storm (which is now dumping on us here in the San Juans), we skinned up Red Mountain #1 to ski a couloir into the Gray Copper drainage.

As we were skinning up and getting pretty close to the summit of the peak, Libby mentioned how much she would miss the area after she split next week, and she said she liked how close to the sky you feel around here. I couldn't help but agree.

I'd say Libby was living pretty close to the sky dropping into the couloir.

We were able to find some pretty soft snow that had blown from the west onto this northeastern aspect. Surprisingly soft powder all the way down made the booting at the top all the more rewarding.

The start of our line is somewhere to the left of the prominent black crag at the top of the gully. Not bad for two weeks of warm warm weather after the last snow.

After we finished skiing back to the car, we headed to the ice park for a few laps on some ice and on Libby's project, a tricky and wicked pumpy M7+ called Super Dave. Unlike most of the hard mixed lines in the park, this one has no bolts on it and takes a selection of cams and nuts in the crack it follows. It's hard. I may need to make it my project too.

It starts out with some cruiser ice up to a thin crack that splits the headwall above. You climbing is an athletic series of moves off hooks, torques and some fairly crazy stems. The light was flat when we were down there, but here you can see how steep it is as Libby dominates the business section of the climb.

Needless to say, she fired it.








Tomorrow it's off to Telluride to say hello to one of the San Juan's mega-classics, the Ames Ice Hose. Reports will be forthcoming.

TMG Guides Unite and Shred Pow (Go Skiing)!

Much as I love living and climbing in the Northwest, this winter I thought I'd head to Colorado in search of the one climbing medium we don't really have in Oregon - ice. I decided I'd spent the season in the US's ice climbing Mecca, Ouray Colorado. Well Ouray happens to be pretty close to another of the country's winter hotspots, the backcountry ski paradise of Crested Butte, home most of the year to TMG guide Johnny Mackinnon. Needless to say I had to head up and get in some skiing.


I feel like some places just sort of beckon one to do something - Yosemite makes me want to climb rocks, Big Sur makes me want to go surfing, well Crested Butte is one of those places and it makes you really want to go skiing. The terrain is amazing. The town sits on the southern end of the Elk Range, about forty miles south of Aspen, which guards the northern end of the range. Between them is a plethora of ridges, bowls and glades that look like a dream. Anyway, with John as my guide (meaning I get to make him break trail most of the day!) we got out there and got ourselves into some of the "creamy creamy pow" (read soft powder).
We toured a few thousand feet up a ridge on the backside of Mt. Emmons, between the Wolverine and Redwell basins, and we skied a very right couloir called The Wrong Chute.

We had a great time. We took more photos that are up on my Flickr site. If you like to ski and would like to try the Colorado backcountry, John will be working all winter with Crested Butte Mountain Guides. Fun.

Success in Ecuador!

From December 1 through Dec 15th climbers John, Jennifer, and Heather along with TMG guide Joe Owens and Ecuadorian guide Edgar Vaca spent two weeks climbing a series of peaks in Ecuador. The team started with Pasachoa (13,776’), and then climbed Guagua Pinchincha (15,700’) and Imbabura (15,190’) as preparation for the first glaciated peak Cayambe (18,993’).

At 10pm on December 7, the team got up for the ascent of Cayambe (18,993’) seeking to take advantage to take advantage of clear overnight skies. At 7am, when Heather and Edgar made the top, it was clear, but my 9:45 the weather had become windy with poor visibility. Both teams had made it back to the hut by 1:30 pm, 14 hours after departure time. The next objective was the famous Cotopaxi (19,347’), a nearly symmetrical volcanic cone. In the late evening of December 10 again at 10pm, the team began their preparation for another long ascent. A few hours into the climb, both Jennifer and Heather didn’t feel well, and the team decided to descend to the hut.
After some deliberation and rest day in Quito, the team decided they wanted to return to Cotopaxi (19, 347’) and finish their business on such a beautiful peak. Again, rising early at 10pm on the evening of December 13, the team headed out under clear skies and good conditions, making the summit at 7:50am on December 14. If at first you don’t succeed try, try again.
Congratulations go out the team for summiting all these fantastic peaks! Great job everyone! TMG will be offering this fantastic trip again in December, 2009.

Last week Stephen Perry came out west, yet again, for some North Cascades climbing. We chose the Fisher Chimneys on Mt Shuksan. This is a true alpine climb with some great snow climbing and glacier travel as well as rock climbing to gain the summit. Above, Stephen on the approach, with hulking mass of Shuksan above him, just before we saw a bear!

Below, Stephen on the Upper Curtis Glacier at sunrise.

Stephen rock climbing on the SE Ridge of the summit period.

Below, Pete and Stephen on the top with Mt Baker in the background.

It was a great trip! Look for more North Cascades trips from TMG in 2009!

Mount Rainier, Emmons Glacier 7/28-31/08

It was wet. It was gloomy. It was the end of a month-long rainless high pressure system and it was the beginning of our four day trip up Mount Rainier. The forecasters were using terms like "unseasonably strong front" to describe what was heading our way. Rangers would laugh when we asked about a weather report. I half jokingly suggested everyone pack a paperback for the long tent sitting session that was about to ensue. Sure enough, the most recent Economist was safely Ziplocked deep in my pack.

Undeterred, Monday we headed in from Whitewater Campground at 4400'. The sun greeted us that first day as we hiked along the flood damaged White River trail. We broke out of the trees at Glacier Basin and found the wild flowers in full effect on the meadows and moraines as we made our way into the alpine.










Roping up, we ascended the small Inter Glacier and climbed to 8600' where a small, flat, protected hollow was chosen to be our first camp. The clouds slowly moved in that evening, but we didn't see any precip or wind to speak of. Our plan was to spend a night here then a night at 9800' before our summit attempt. This plan is nice in that it is unhurried and gives plenty of acclimatization.









Tuesday dawned with some clouds, but they only lended a nice alpine atmosphere. It was our short, restful day. We only had to pack up camp and ascend 12oo' to Emmons Flats. In no time we were passing a busy Camp Shurman at 9640' and checking in with the climbing rangers. A few more minutes and we were alone again at 9800' on the Emmons Glacier. It was a bit of work to dig our tent platforms on the glacier, but worth it for some solitude on what can be a busy mountain.


No sooner had we gotten our tents pitched and securely guyed that the winds picked up. We had a lovely mix of snow, rain and freezing rain. Snug in our tents we had some hot drinks and dinner. From the forecast it sounded like this could be our weather for the next 24 hours. We could only hope that maybe we would have a weather window Thursday morning that would let us go from camp to summit to car in one epic push.



I woke at midnight to check conditions. The tent shook loudly as gusty winds came down the mountain. Outside I was surprised to find a starry sky with clouds only below in the valley. But the wind was very cold, and it wouldn't be light for hours. Rather than force into the arctic air, we slept a few more hours to let the warming sun catch up with us. Soon after leaving camp our headlamps were off and we had a little sun to warm our minds if not our fingers.


Forty-six hundred feet and many crevasses later we were all on top of Rainier. We had climbed the largest glacier in the lower 48! More importantly, we had a safe and smooth descent back to camp. We enjoyed a hot meal and great night's sleep then hiked out the next day as the clouds began to build on the summit again.

Great job Kim, Lili and Tom!!!!

Illuimination Rock, South Chamber 5.4, 7/16/08

Here's an idea; Ride a chairlift, hike thirty minutes and be at the base of an alpine rock climb all without dealing with passports, customs or that fussy Euro exchange rate. Right here on Mount Hood the sub-pinnacle Illumination Rock offers up some close to home alpine pleasures worthy in their own right as well as being perfect training ground for advanced climbs further afield.

Pete took Sarah and Kim up the standard South Chamber Route that involves easy fifth class climbing and fun scrambling. The setting is very alpine with the backdrop of Mount Hood, its glaciers and cliffs close at hand.


Entering the South Chamber on easy ground.












Starting up the second pitch.






















Gaining the summit ridge.












Scrambling along the ridge.












Looking through the "keyhole" onto the Reid Glacier.












Quite the setting!





Oh yeah, did I mention the chairlift?
















More pics over at nickpope.zenfolio.com