Guide Justin Wood and climbing student Jim Tynan headed out from AAI's Bellingham office on June 5th, bound for the south side of Mt. Baker. Jim, 18, graduates from high school in Fairfax, Virginia on June 17th and will be attending the Coast Guard Academy soon after. As a graduation gift from his parents, Jim enrolled in a private version of AAI's 6-Day Intro to Alpinism course with hopes that it would be a refreshing vacation before he starts his training at the Academy. It was apparently just that. Once back in Bellingham after six days of marginal weather, one-on-one skills instruction, and a successful summit of Mt. Baker, Jim said, "The trip couldn't have gone better. I learned a tremendous amount, felt like I got my skills down for different conditions, and we topped out on Baker above the clouds. It was awesome."

"We experienced everything from bright sun to hailstorms to blowing snow to freezing rain," guide Justin reported of their six days in the mountains. On Sunday night, the two camped at the top of the Railroad Grade (5,900'), then on Monday and Tuesday Justin instructed Jim in essential glacier skills such as self-arrest, different cramponing techniques, rope systems and knots, and building snow anchors. On Wednesday, they worked on techniques for both one and two tools on steeper snow and ice and then "cruised around the glacier", as Jim put it, practicing the new skills. Towards the end of the day, the snow stopped blowing quite as hard, and Justin spent an hour introducing Jim to the logistics of two-person crevasse rescue.

The two moved up the mountain on Thursday, establishing a high camp at 8,100 feet. "It was amazing," Jim said, "When we got to about 7,000 feet we broke out above the clouds and had our lunch in bright sunshine. We got to dry gear and were very happy." Later that day, Justin helped Jim perfect his two-person crevasse rescue skills in preparation for that night's summit attempt. By the time they were ready for bed the clouds had risen up and engulfed their high camp. However, when the two woke at 3:30am the clouds had settled down once again and a starry night sky set the stage for their climb to the summit. "We took off with really great snow," Justin remembers, "We didn't even need crampons until we got to the headwall." The team reached the summit at 6:48am. Sunny but cold and windy weather made for a short stay on the summit plateau. "Jim's water bottle was froze, so we just grabbed a quick snack, enjoyed the great views, and headed down," Justin said.

The two were back at high camp by 8:20am where they rested for a while before breaking camp. The rest of the way down the mountain they post-holed through soft snow until they reached solid trail and the van at noon. The two were back at AAI in Bellingham by 2:30pm. "It was a great trip," Justin said. "Despite crazy weather and a lot of new snow, we went through all skills thoroughly and got the summit in good conditions." Everyone at AAI wishes Jim good luck in his intensive summer at the Coast Guard Academy and with his goal of becoming a pilot officer.

AAI guide Paul Ivaska and four climbers returned this afternoon to AAI's Bellingham office after a great trip on Mt. Baker's northern slopes. The group was a boy scout troop - Troup 222 to be exact - and consisted of gentleman named Michael Miller, his two sons, Tyler and Tanner, and friend Glen Wilson. The climbers' goals were mainly to learn the technical skills necessary to safely ascend a glaciated alpine route.

After meeting in Bellingham early Sunday morning, the group drove out to the north side of Baker and hiked up to the glacier via the Heliotrope Ridge trail. They made camp at the base of the glacier and discussed the climbing gear necessary for a route like Mt. Baker's Coleman-Demming route. Paul went over the various knots used in climbing, which as Eagle Scouts they all picked up very quickly.

Monday morning began with a geology lecture, followed by an entire day of snow skills. Amidst weather that was far from ideal (on and off rain), the four learned and practiced setting snow anchors, cramponing techniques, dynamic and static belays, and roping up. At the end of the day, the entire group roped up and did a walkabout on the Easton glacier. "I feel like we absorbed so much on the first day," one of the clients remarked. "It was great. These are skills I know I'll be using in the future."

A drizzly Tuesday morning found the group on the lower reaches of the Coleman glacier practicing ice climbing skills. "We top-roped single ice pitches for a long time," Paul said. "We practiced ice climbing techniques, including using two tools and front pointing. We also went over prussiking and everyone got a chance to climb up and down the rope a few times using their Texas-T prussiks."

On day four (Wednesday) the climbers woke to their first good weather - brilliantly clear sky. "It was absolutely stunning," one client said. "Being up so high on Mt. Baker in clear weather is a gift. We could see as far as the horizon allowed." The group moved camp to their High Camp at 6,900 feet, just below the Black Buttes. They spent the day going over the mechanics of crevasse rescue. Paul said everyone was very impressed with how easy it was to haul the weight of a person with the z-pulley system. They retired early for the evening, planning to rise around 2am to start for the summit.

As planned, the group woke in the middle of the night and prepared themselves for their summit attempt. Unfortunately, the skies were not cooperating, but the group set out anyways admist swirling clouds that bore rain AND snow, in addition to high winds (up to 50 mph gusts). Eventually the weather just got too bad. Paul said, "We got right up to the col - about 9,100 feet - just below the rock rib that leads up to the Roman Wall. Everyone was feeling really cold and the weather didn't look like it was about to improve any time soon, so we decided to turn back. It was okay, though. Everyone got what they wanted out of the trip - which was to learn the skills - so they were okay with turning around." One of the clients agreed, "Yeah, it's just what happens in the mountains. You can't fight the weather. We had a great trip through, really hammered in those glacier skills. I for one had a great time."

The group returned to their High Camp at around 8:30am, packed up their gear, then plunge-stepped down the boot-track and off the glacier. One of the two boys remarked, "Plunge-stepping is so much fun! You just let yourself go and you can move really fast!" After picking up stashed equipment from their camp at the base of the glacier they walked the dirt trail back to the parking lot and arrived at the van at 1pm. Paul said, "It was a really solid group. They picked up the skills easily and really applied themselves. I know the trip was reward for each of them, despite the nasty weather."

AAI guide Mark Johnson and three clients had a fun and productive six days on the south side of Mt. Baker on the Introduction to Alpinism course. Valerie Merges (Layton, UT), Larry Nicholson (Mountain Home, AR), and Scott Wendell (Spokane, WA) had all done plenty of backpacking before but were inexperienced when it came to mountaineering and climbing on glaciers. (Valerie had done small amount of mountaineering and canyoneering prior to the course) They each signed up for the Intro to Alpinism course with the goal of becoming competent members of a rope team and well versed in safe glacier travel.

The first few days brought mixed weather. The group learned and practiced essential skills for climbing in the glaciated environment (cramponing techniques, self-arrest, crevasse rescue, ect.). "We were in and out of fog for the first part of the week," Mark said. "I was curious to see what the upcoming weather patterns would be and tuned into my radio to discovered that Wednesday and Thursday were definitely going to be the best days to try for the summit, so we moved our summit climb a day earlier than planned." On Wednesday the group practiced ice-climbing skills on the lower Easton glacier, then moved up the mountain and established their High Camp at 7,400 feet.

After retreating to their tents in the early evening, the climbers woke at midnight to partly cloudy skies with a few stars showing through. "We were out of camp and moving up the glacier by 1am with a little light rain. As we went up, the winds increased - by 2am they were up to 25 mph. It was hard to see because there was no moon out and it looked like conditions were deteriorating. But then at 4:30am the clouds lifted dramatically as it was just getting light and we had a clear view of the summit. We took a break at the summit crater (9800') where it was seriously windy. We bundled up and were comfortably warm so kept on going."

The group had great climbing from the crater to the summit, with excellent cramponing on hard snow at the headwall (a 35-40 degree gradient). "It was great climbing. When we reached the summit plateau the wind picked up to about 40 to 45 mph and was really blowing people around," Mark said. "We could lean over pretty far with our arms out and the wind held us up. We did a quick group hug on the summit and took a little time for photos but it was too windy to talk so we decided to head down right away."

The team's descent was uneventful and went fast. They were back at High Camp by mid-morning and were ready for a good long nap. After the siesta and a hearty lunch, Mark gave a few field lectures on alpine ecology, Leave No Trace camping/climbing techniques, and discussed mountain weather in depth using the example of the weather progression over the last few days.

On Friday, the last day of the trip, the group worked intensely on crevasse rescue before hiking out to the vans. Each climber took a turn being lowered into a crevasse and doing a single person rescue. "Everybody did amazingly well," Mark said. "I was impressed at how well they retained and applied all the details. It was a great week all in all." The group left the trailhead mid-afternoon and reached AAI's Bellingham office by 4pm in an tired but happy state of being.

AAI guide Scott Schuman and climber Guy Sgan-Cohen saw beautiful conditions Monday morning on Mt. Baker's North Ridge. Having heard rumors earlier in the week from descending climbers that conditions were far from ideal and even that, "the route is at its extreme upper limits of its climbability", the two were not feeling optimistic for their attempt.

The weather had been unfavorable and rainy on Saturday when the two hiked into the glacier, set up camp, and spent a couple hours practicing ice-climbing techniques on a top-rope. On Sunday however, the weather improved slightly but remained unstable as they moved up to their High Camp near the Black Buttes and practiced some more crevasse rescue ice skills. "I wasn't sure what our chances were going to be for the North Ridge. The temperature was quite warm as we settled into our tent around 7:30," Scott recalled. "And then later that evening we were resting in our tent at High Camp when we heard voices from a returning climbing party. I went out to see how their climb had gone and ask them what route they'd come off of, and it turned out that they had done the North Ridge. They told us the route was in very poor shape - very slushy and barely climbable. We were then faced with a dilema." After some discussion, Scott and Guy decided to change plans and climb Mt. Baker via the standard Coleman-Demming route. They went to bed at 9:30, intending to get up around 1 or 2am to begin their climb. At 10pm, however, Scott's watch alarm went off. "I was confused when my alarm went off so early, but then I remembered that I had originally set two alarms, one for the North Ridge - just in case we woke to good conditions - and a later alarm for the Coleman."

When the first alarm went off at 10pm, Scott looked outside the tent to see a beautiful sky beckoning amidst the sunset. "It was fantastic! High cirrus clouds, excellent visibility, and a slight north wind. Seeing that, I knew we had a pretty good shot at the North Ridge. There was an unexpected high-pressure system that had moved in and it looked like the freezing level was going to really come down for us." Scott thought some more about the climbers who had told them the route was so awful and who had come down so late in the evening. "It made sense the conditions were poor for them. Theirs were also a larger party (5 climbers!), they had started at 1pm, and they had a high camp set up 1000 feet lower than us. They must have been on the route well after the sun had come up and had time to affect (warm) the route."

Scott and Guy decided then and there to go for the North Ridge, and were out of camp by 11pm.

Guy, who has taken courses in the past from AAI, returned just a few days prior from a trip to Alaska where he participated in AAI's 7-day Alaska Range Alpine Mountaineering program. "I was really primed for the North Ridge," Guy said on Monday. "After finishing the Alaska course, I felt pretty solid with my skills and wanted to climb something more challenging."

Scott's logic turned out 100% accurate. "Conditions were great," Scott said. "The ice was perfect. It really goes to show that you have to hit this route early." They enjoyed styrofoam-like snow conditions on the 50-degree ramp leading up to the ice cliff, then climbed two solid pitches of steep ice at the bottom part of the ice cliff. This was followed by three rope-stretching pitches atop firm neve on 60-degree ice which made for excellent ice screw belays. From there it was straightforward route finding through a few seracs to the summit. Scott said, "Aside from an initial bergschrund to deal with at the base of the 50-degree snow ramp, the route was in excellent overall condition."

Scott and Guy reached the summit at 7:55am feeling very satisfied with their accomplishment. "It couldn't have been a better climb," Guy said once back in Bellingham. "It was a good reminder that you really have to make your own decisions up here and take reports from other climbers with a grain of salt." Guy hopes to do more climbing with AAI in the Cascades before returning home to Israel.

Climbers Mike Koricki and Jeff Pritchard returned to AAI's office on Thursday wearing huge grins. "I got a ton out of this course," Jeff said. "We found some nice, hard ice and hammered in our ice skills. Also, Justin was an excellent instructor. He was very patient and always had a positive attitude - it was educational just being around him!" The instructor, AAI guide Justin Wood, also said the course went very well despite adverse conditions. "I had heard the freezing level was 13,000 feet but I wasn't too worried because there's always some place up there to practice ice climbing. We ended up summiting via the Coleman-Demming route, however, rather than the technical North Ridge because I thought the ice would have been too wet and sloppy with the high freezing level."

One highlight for the group was helping out with a rescue on Tuesday, the fourth day of their course. "Mountain Rescue came through our camp (at the base of the glacier) very late Monday night," Mike said. "On Tuesday morning we woke early and discovered that our help would be much appreciated, so we carried a rescue litter from our camp up to 7,200 feet (High Camp on the Coleman-Demming route). That was a learning experience! And a workout. Turns out there was a climber that was having medical problems who needed immediate evacuation. We then helped lower the litter down the glacier and onto solid ground and from there a Mountain Rescue team brought the patient down the trail to the parking lot. It was exciting to not only see a rescue in progress, but to be part of one."

On Wednesday the group moved up to High Camp beneath the Black Buttes (7,200') where they practiced crevasse rescue and prepared for their summit attempt. The next morning they woke very early and began climbing. "Conditions were less than ideal," Jeff said. "It was a total whiteout, and there was a lot of new snow so we were breaking trail the whole way. It was pretty tiring." Nonetheless, the team summited at 7am. Justin said, "I had my ice axe in one hand and my compass in the other, navigating as we walked across the summit plateau. It was pretty wild. We actually made really good time - six hours roundtrip from High Camp."

An interesting feature on the route had the group stalled for a while. "There was a huge, absolutely gigantic bergschrund that had opened up recently right before the col at 8,900 feet. We had to maneuver way around (climber's left) to get by it." Justin said. "The mountain is always changing. As a climber, you have to be ready for significant changes one day to the next."

All in all it was a sucessful and highly educational course for Mike and Jeff. They learned the ice skills they came for, played a significant role in a mountain rescue, and summited a major peak in adverse conditions. Mike has climbed with AAI in the past - two years ago he took a Level 2 Glacier course - and upon return from this year's course said, "I'll definitely climb with AAI again. You guys do it best."

Summits: Mt. Baker, South Early Winter Spire, Whistler Peak, Mt. Shuksan

Mark Johnson, lead guide for the second half of the June 13 Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership Part I program, returned to AAI's Bellingham office on June 24 and reported a highly successful trip. Course participants spent the first five days of the program on the south side of Mt. Baker, where they practiced glacier skills and made the summit. After that, the group loaded up in the vans and drove to Washington Pass where they planned on doing some rock climbing on South Early Winter Spire via the South Arete.

"We started out from the parking lot in light rain which quickly turned to snow," Mark said. "By the time we got to the base of our climb it was full on snowing so we just waited around a while to see if it would pass over. But it didn't, so we all decided to just go for it, pitch by pitch, and see how far we could get. There was no wind and we stayed quite warm. The snow kept mountain but the route was definitely doable. We moved up bit by bit and after each pitch everyone was doing just fine so we kept going. The route was so mentally engaging that before we knew it we were at the summit - we were so focused on our movements that suddenly we were there. The summit itself was anticlimactic because we couldn't see anything due to the weather. It was a great climb though, really good for everybody to complete a climb in that kind of weather. They were happy to have the 'big alpine experience'".

The next day, Monday, the group set off to climb Whistler Peak. They began on easy snow slopes that gradually became steeper as they drew closer to a ridge near the top of the snowfield. "The clients were leading on the snow and for part of the ridge and doing great," Mark said. "But then the guides took over as the climbing became more and more difficult. The last section up to the summit had some nasty rock and was covered in 3 inches of snow, with wet lichen underneath. This route is normally 4th class to 5.0, but it was pretty intense given the conditions." The group reached the summit and had some great views of the surrounding mountains and the lakes down below. "It was an incredible climb," Mark remembers. "We were glued to the weather all day long watching for threatening changes. While the spires across from us stayed socked in all day long, we had beautiful views and good visibility on our peak. We were lucky."

Ready for a break from the exposed alpine environment, the group traveled the next day east from Washington Pass on Highway 20 down to the small town of Mazama where they spent a day practicing rock skills at Fun Rocks. "We worked on developing a range of rock skills. Mostly, we enjoyed being warm!" Mark said the group learned about setting up anchors for a top rope, thoroughly practiced rappelling, and also began to attempt steeper, harder rock routes. "We focused on setting up anchors using natural protection like trees and rocks. It was a very productive day."

On Wednesday the group woke early and drove back up to Washington Pass with the plan of climbing a classic - the Liberty Bell. However, when they got to the pass the weather proved to be terrible - heavy rain and snow plastering the Liberty Bell from halfway on up. "We decided we needed a new plan," Mark said. "So we drove over to the west side of the Cascades to Rockport and used the big picnic shelter they have there to practice more glacier skills. We laid out the z-pulley system for crevasse rescue, and had long discussions about our upcoming climb on Shuksan. The students were going to lead the Shuksan climb, so they had to figure out what gear to take, when to leave, what the route would be like (mileages, elevations, etc.), what time we should be out of camp, and who should be on which rope team and in what position. It was a great chance for the students to do some critical thinking and to develop their leadership skills."

On Thursday the group began their venture to Shuksan. From the parking lot they hiked first on trail, then on glacier until they reached 6,500 feet where they set up their High Camp. Mark said, "When we got to our High Camp at 2pm the weather was pretty socked in. But then later in the evening it opened up and we got some fantastic views.

Unfortunately, the good weather didn't last through the night. "We out of camp by 3:30am in a complete whiteout," Mark said. "It was pretty thick, only about 100 feet of visibility. The students had taken some bearings on the map the day before and when the weather cleared enough they were able to compare the bearings with the actual landforms they could see - everyone was excited when they proved correct." The group stayed to the left side of the glacier the entire way up the mountain, using the ridge as a guideline through the fog. The visibility varied greatly, ranging from about 300 or 400 feet to zero feet, but even so the group found the base of the summit pyramid perfectly. From there, the guides took over leading the route on steep, 50-degree snow slopes. "It was beautiful climbing," Mark said. "Really nice neve - great for cramponing. Prior to that we hadn't used crampons because the snow had been so deep that we had to break trail. Right near the top we veered off onto a thin ribbon of ice that was about 40 - 50 feet long, which we belayed to gain the final ridge. Then there were just 30 vertical feet to the summit - about 6 moves on rock." By the time the group reached the summit the weather had cleared out. They broke out right above the top of the cloud layer that had fogged them in and had great views of their camp, Upper Curtis and White Salmon, and Baker sticking up through the clouds. "It ended up being a great day," Mark said, "The clouds blew away and we could see the whole mountain beautifully. It was just a spectacular climb. Usually it takes a couple of hours to get up the main gully through the rocks, but these students did it in about 45 minutes.

The descent was fairly uneventful, with snow that was slushy from the warmth of the sun rendering calf to knee-deep conditions. Mark said, "We took a straight line to camp because we could see clearly all the way down, but our students took a bearing just in case the weather turned again. It was an excellent experience for the students. We had a great summit all together after a tremendous alpine experience and everyone felt like they really learned how to deal with adverse weather. The climb was definitely a boundary setter and provoked in the students a whole new mindset about what was and wasn't possible."

Four climbers and two guides recently returned from an action-packed 24 days of the Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership course. Chris Petersen (Wayne, NJ), Kimberly Webb (Statesville, NC), Mike Applegate (Hawthorne, CA) and Eric Skidmore (Berkeley, CA) completed the first and second 12-day parts of this three-part course. AAI guides Stephen Karney and Justin Wood said it was a very packed trip, focusing on leadership skills in every catagory, from leading rock and ice routes to building rescue systems to organizing group climbing logistics. Justin said, "It was a really great group. All were very quick to learn and came away from the course able to lead mid-fifth class rock and 70-degree ice."

The group had great weather for the most part. "We were able to summit Mt. Baker in four hours roundtrip from our High Camp on Baker at 7,600 feet. That was pretty phenomenal." Stephen said. "We had a bit of an epic experience when we were on Forbidden, however." The group climbed the West Ridge of Forbidden Peak and was caught in a lightening storm on the descent that moved in surprisingly quickly. "It was wild how fast the weather moved in," said climber Eric Skidmore. "We were rappeling down the mountain in 70 degree weather and the sky was completely blue, and then within fifteen minutes a full-blown lightening storm had moved over us. Our pickets and ice axes started to buzz, and we really pushed it hard to get down off the peak. It was quite an adrenaline rush!" Justin agreed, "Yeah, luckily we weren't far from the col when it really started to hammer on us. We just had two double-rope rappels, and then we were down."

On a climb of South Early Winter Spire the group had nice weather, but the route was snowy and very wet. "We decided to keep our plastic boots on for the entire climb so our feet would stay warm and dry," Eric said. "I never knew I could climb a rock route in plastic boots!" The entire group completed the 5.6 climb in their plastics, making the climb much more challenging but providing a perfect practice opportunity for this important alpine skill.

In addition, the group climbed Colfax Peak, a rarely climbed mixed snow and ice summit adjoining Mt. Baker, practiced ice skills on the north side of Baker, did several alpine rock climbs from Washington Pass, and enjoyed the dry warmth of Leavenworth while working on rock skills. In Leavenworth the climbers learned and worked on leading pitches, and Justin said the entire R&D route was sucessfully student-led. "That's really what we try to focus on in these courses," Justin said. "We're not just guiding the climbers up and down the mountains, but we're teaching them how to negotiate the routes themselves as safe and strong leaders." Students also became proficient at various rescue skills on rock and practiced belay exchanges and other specialized alpine climbing techniques.

The final days were spent on the slopes of Mt. Shuksan. This climb was also entirely student-led and demanded that climbers use the full range of skills they'd learned over the past weeks. Eric said, "Leading a rope team on Shuksan was an immensely engaging experience. You're out in front using the full capacity of your skill and intuition to get the team safely up the glacier. In a way, you feel like you're putting yourself in the most danger for the best safety of others...and that is somehow highly rewarding."

Summits/Climbs: Colchuck, Ingalls, The Tooth, Mt. Maud, Givler's Dome and R & D in Leavenworth

Nine climbers and three guides returned July 7 from an eventful twelve days on the second part of the Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership course. The course included climbers Steven Cratty, Curtis Cratty, and Virginia Rozic (all from Butler, PA), Steven Jessup (Ashland, OR), Jason Cancro (Olgii, Mongolia), Josh Lucas (Lakeville, MN), Erin Addison (Great Falls, MT), Todd Snell (Westborough, MA), and Sean Robbins (Calabasas, CA), along with AAI guides Jason Martin, Mark Allen, and Paul Ivaska. All felt they gained essential skills for leading a variety of technical routes, and all have future plans to use their new skills on their own climbs.

The group went first to Leavenworth where they enjoyed beautiful, warm weather and spent a day practicing advanced rock skills. Then the group split up - one half practiced multi-pitch climbs at a roadside cragging area, and the other half went into Icicle Creek and climbed both the R & D route on the Icicle Buttress as well as Givler's Dome. The next day, the two groups swapped activities, and the group that had been cragging the day before climbed Outer Space on Snow Creek Wall, after which some of the students said the route was the best rock climb they'd ever been on.

After Leavenworth the group changed gears and headed into the Stuart Range where the group split up once again. One team of three clients and guide Paul Ivaska went to Colchuck Peak and had a spectacular climb and successful summit on the Colchuck Glacier route. They also practiced crevasse rescue and reviewed additional snow and rock skills.

The other part of the group - six climbers and two guides - headed to the heart of the Stuart Range to climb Ingalls Peak via the South Ridge, a three-pitch, mid-fifth class rock climb. The climb was entirely student-led, with guides Jason Martin and Mark Allen shadowing, and the entire team made a completely safe and fun summit. "We were a little worried because the weather was deteriorating to the north, but it never did end up affecting us. It was a great climb, and we had beautiful views into the Enchantment Lakes and of the west and south faces of Mt. Stuart. We were the only ones in the Stuart Range because it was mid-week. Also, our camp was constantly visited by families of mountain goats from the kids to the granddads. They were very curious and fun to watch. People got great photos." The group also practiced rock rescue and reviewed crevasse rescue before driving to and attemting a second climb out of Snoqualmie Pass called The Tooth. On this climb, the students led the four pitches of 5.5 and very competently protected the route up and the rappel down from the summit.

The entire group then reunited at Mt. Erie, a cragging area near Mt. Vernon, Washington, on Fidalgo Island where they spent a day thoroughly covering high angle rescue situations. Using practice cliffs and "live bait" (a dangling team member!), the students practiced raising and lowering systems as well as escaping belays.

The next day, July 4, the group drove over the Cascades to the Lake Wenatchee area to attempt Mt. Maud. The group hiked the six mile approach from the west side of the mountain and then circumnavigated to the north and climbed the steep couloir of Mt. Maud's north face. The program participants led this climb on their own and did a fantastic job of negotiating the 1,500 feet of 45-degree snow and ice (with one steep 60-degree section). Mark said all climbers were able to demonstrate and execute skills that they had learned over the previous nine days in excellent form, and that everyone climbed the peak in good style, was feeling comfortable with the terrain, and was feeling very happy.

The group summited at noon in perfect weather, amidst astounding views of the entire Cascade Range. "We could see all of the Cascade volcanoes in Washington, from the Mt. Baker in the north to Mt. Adams in the south," Mark said. The group descended and hiked out in order to commence with their plans for July 4th festivities. "Everyone was psyched," Mark said. "All the climbers had done really well and they knew it. It was gorgeous weather and it was the fourth of July, so we decided to have a little party at our camp. We drove to the shores of the Chiwawa River (by Lake Wenatchee) and were the only ones at the campground. We bought chips and beer and celebrated both our success on Mt. Maud and of course Independence Day!"

On the morning of July 5, the group woke, packed, and drove to the north side of Mt. Baker where they planned to wrap up the course with instruction in alpine and verticle ice. On the seracs of the lower Coleman Glacier, the climbers learned how to build V-thread belay anchors in ice, put in ice screws, climb verticle glacier ice using two ice tools, and also practiced specialized cramponing techniques up steep snow and ice.

The group also reviewed crevasse rescue once again and each climber was able to set up a successful rescue pulley system on their own. Leaving the glacier in the early afternoon of July 7, the group returned to AAI's Bellingham office at 5pm to end the course.

"Everyone came away from this course very cabable of leading on rock, snow, and ice." Mark said. "And everyone already has plans for climbs that require the skills learned during this 12-day program." In fact the three Pennsylvanians - Virginia Rozic, Curt Cratty and Steven Cratty - are already two days into an expedition on Mt. Waddington, located in British Columbia's Coast Range (see the 2005 Waddington Expedition Dispatches for current updates). Sean Robbins is planning on climbing the Fishhook Arete on Mt. Russell in the High Sierra. Steve Jessup is planning on going into the Waddington Range sometime later this summer. Erin Addison will be going to Russia soon to climb Mt. Elbrus with her father. Todd Snell wants to return to the North Cascades to do the Forbidden-Torment Traverse and also plans on doing winter camping on Mt. Washington (New Hampshire). Jason Cancro is returning to his home in Mongolia and plans on using his newfound skills on some of the country's remote peaks. And finally, Josh Lucas who lives in the Northwest is excited to start peak bagging around the North Cascades.

Eight climbers and AAI guides Dawn Glanc, Jonathan Spitzer, and Paul Ivaska returned from Mt. Rainier Thursday to report their successful ascent of the major volcano. Climbers Kent Bylund, Sr. (St. George, UT), William Baumann (Redondo, CA), Al Hendricks (Davie, FL), Alec Danz (Franklin, MA), Karl Danz (Los Altos, CA), John Bierschenk (Milford, NH), Jaromir Divilac (Bronx, NY), and Laura Ross (Tarpon Springs, FL) all reached the summit at 9:30am on July 27.

"It was perfectly sunny for all four days of the trip," said guide Jon Spitzer, a former Mt. Rainier National Park Climbing Ranger. "I don't know if I've ever seen it that hot - I was wearing one layer of capilene on the summit at 10 in the morning! Usually I'm bundled in my down coat and Gore-tex! It was a beautiful climb all in all. Everyone was feeling healthy and strong, and the conditions were perfect."

On the first day, the group hiked into Glacier Basin where they set up their camp about an hour's hike from the Inter Glacier. They spent the rest of the day practicing tying knots, traveling as a rope team, and reviewing other essential skills for glacier travel.

The team rose at 5am in order to avoid the heat on the Inter Glacier which they ascended to Camp Schurman, their high camp. "The Inter Glacier becomes an "oven" in the afternoon," Jon explained. "When the sun is high in the sky, its light reflects up from the glacier and just cooks you." The group arrived at camp at 12:30pm, just as the heat was beginning to peak.

Camp Schurman is located at 9,460 feet, tucked just beneath the Emmons Flats, where the Emmons Glacier and the Winthrop Glacier come together. At Camp Schurman, the team melted snow for water, rested, and discussed the route and their strategy for the climb to the summit. All climbers hit their tents at an early hour, hoping to grab a few hours of sleep before their wake up call at 12:30am.

That call came soon enough, and everyone was up and ready to climb by 1:30am as planned. Jon said, " It was a gorgeous night, full of stars, and we could see the lights of Seattle illuminating the horizon to the west. It felt like were the only ones on the route. There were a couple climbers who had camped at Emmons Flats, but we didn't see much of them. The route was in pretty good shape. The Emmons wasn't as broken up as much as it is usually this time of year - the mountain had some late-season snowfall that filled in a lot of the crevasses. There were some sketchy-looking snow bridges, so we end-ran a lot of the crevasses, which took some extra time. All things considered, we made great time. Aside from taking a long break at 4:30am at 12,700 feet when the sun came up, we pretty much kept moving and reached the summit at 9:30am."

The team stayed on the summit for 45 minutes, snapping photos and enjoying the view. "We could see everything!" Jon said. "Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, Glacier Peak, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, and the Olympics were all out in full glory. It was incredible to have such an extensive view. The atmosphere was remarkably clear." Some team members opted to hike down into the summit crater to sign the register.

Eventually it was time to go down, and everyone was ready for the luxuries and rest to be enjoyed at high camp. They descended to Camp Sherman and spent the rest of the day hydrating and sleeping in their tents away from the intense sunlight.

On the last day, the group again woke early to enjoy the morning views and then descended the Inter Glacier and hiked the rest of the way back to the trailhead in high spirits. "We were all really stoked that 100% of our climbers were able to reach the summit," Jon said. "It was a fantastic trip. Everyone was amazed with the views, completely glad to have been on the mountain in such beautiful conditions, and really happy about making the summit. I think some good friendships were formed, and that was another bonus. It was a great group of people."

Three climbers and one guide returned yesterday from a three-day trip on the north side of Mt. Baker. Climbers William Rankin (Seattle), Carl Boland (Atlanta), and Stephen Webb (Seattle) all reached the summit on August 9 via the standard Coleman-Demming route.

Because Will, Carl, and Stephen were new to alpine climbing, guide Mark Johnson spent the first two days on the lower slopes of the Coleman Glacier teaching them the fundamentals of glacier travel, including ice axe techniques and self-arrest, cramponing, and roped travel. "We had absolutely perfect weather," Will remarked, once back at the Institute. "If anything, it was a bit warm."

On the evening of the second day, the group camped on the Hogsback at the base of the glacier and went to bed early in preparation for their early rise. The next morning they rose at 3am to a star-filled sky and began climbing by 4am. "These guys were very fit, so we just blazed up the mountain," Mark recalled. "Also, the route was in pretty good condition - the crevasses were surprisingly filled in for this time of year due to the wet weather we had in June and early July, which significantly delayed the melting process."

The group began on the standard Coleman-Demming route and made a slight variation towards the top. "We climbed to the Colfax-Baker col and then, instead of climbing the loose pumice ridge like most teams do, we went up the glacier to the left of the ridge- basically, the northwest face of the upper Coleman. At one point we wanted to get back onto the pumice ridge, and so we had to somehow cross the moat separating the glacier from the ridge. There were these long, skinny fin-like ridges of snow that we just tip-toed right across. It was a pretty exciting and unusual feature."

The group summited at 8:30am, amidst still-perfect skies. "The guys were all totally stoked to be up there. It was definitely a great first alpine experience for them." Mark said.

After savoring the summit for thirty minutes or so, Mark decided it was time to descend. "I wanted to get down quickly because I knew it would be a warm morning and the snow would soften up quickly."

On the descent, the team traveled the complete pumice ridge instead of doing the glacier. "We were glad we didn't go up the ridge once we saw it on the way down," Carl said. "It wasn't anything difficult, just some low-angle loose scree, but it would have been a slog to go up. We were able to plunge-step down most of the ridge, which was fun."

They reached their camp on the Hogsback at noon, took an hour or so to rest and gather their gear, and hiked the rest of the way down the trail to the vans. They were back at AAI's office by 4:30pm.

Once back at AAI, Mark nodded his head approvingly at Will, Carl, and Stephen, and remarked, "They were a strong group, very fit and pleasant to climb with. I have a feeling that this will be the beginning of a climbing career for each of them."

AAI guide Jeremy Allyn recently returned with climber Meaghan Loughlin (Portland, OR) from a spectacular trip to the Bugaboos region of British Columbia's Purcell Range. Jeremy recounts:

On July 31st at 7am, Meaghan and I met at AAI's office in Bellingham and soon began the long drive north to the Bugaboos. Having both climbed the West Buttress of Denali last year, we were looking forward to another adventure together in a jaw-dropping setting. This year, Meaghan (affectionately known as 'Mega', in honor of her indomitable strength and determination) also completed Part 2 of AAI's Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership Course, and so was hoping to round out her rock climbing experience. The legendary granite spires of the "Bugs" seemed just the ticket.

After a full day's drive and a pleasant overnight stay at a small Swiss motel, our first crux was negotiating the extremely long and bone-jarring forest roads that access the range. Many a climbers' trip has ended here, but my trusty Toyota truck made quick work of this obstacle and we arrived in good style.

Next came the obligatory 'wrap your truck with chicken wire'. For years, porcupines and other critters have plagued climbers and their vehicles, necessitating this ritualistic, bizarre activity. Thankfully there were enough rocks, sticks, and wire to go around. With the truck and its cables, wires, and hoses seemingly protected from small teeth, we were off and hiking.

The short but steep hike took us four hours, and we found ourselves traveling up the Bugaboo glacial valley, over old moraines, and cutting a devious path through cliffy terrain that is often laced with fixed cables, steps cut into the rock, and even an aluminum ladder. Tibetan prayer flags hung in the trees at the base of the ladder, reminding us that climbing a ladder up a cliff with sixty pounds on your back is not something to be taken lightly.

Soon we arrrved at the Kain Hut, named in honor of Canada's finest guide, Conrad Kain. This wonderful hut sits atop a promontory at the base of Snowpatch Spire, overlooking the Bugaboo Glacier Peaks. We checked in with the warden and continued on to the traditional climber's camp, one hour away and at 8,137 feet.

Shortly after setting up camp, we were met with a brief storm that dashed our plans to get any climbing in that first afternoon. Without a doubt, it was some of the most violent wind and rain I have ever experienced. I found myself inside my tent, back bracing the poles, listening to the laughter and astonishment of our campmates as each gust threatened to blow us all away. Meaghan later said it reminded her of the wind in Patagonia, often called "La Escoba de Dios" (the Broom of God). Thankfully, the weather blew through by mid-evening and we caught a few hours of sleep before embarking on our first mission - Bugaboo Spire.

Bugaboo Spire (10,512') was first climbed in 1916 by Conrad Kain. At the time it was one of the most demanding climbs in the world. Kain's guided ascent of the South Ridge (now rated AD 5.6), completed in 17.5 hours valley to valley, is the stuff of legend - as is his mastery of the infamous Gendarme high on the route.

We left camp at 5 AM and were soon across the Crescent Glacier and ascending to the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col. We would become very familiar with this steep snow and ice face over the coming week as many climbs and approaches start and finish at this spot. Split with a bergshrund at half-height, by mid-season rappels are often needed to safely descend from the col. We found conditions this year to be casual, no match for Meaghan's prowess on steep snowy ground.

The intial section of the Kain Route (South Ridge) is scrambly, fourth-class rock. Above this the exposure increases dramatically and we began climbing short pitches. Chimneys, steep blocky sections, and spectacular knife-edge ridges brought us higher and higher and the wild Bugaboo environment soon began to reveal itself. We were honored to have our first route be this one. Meaghan kept yelling - as she did all week - that this was the most "out of control place" she had ever been. Indeed, the views were amazing.

Meanwhile, the previous day's weather seemed to be returning and ominous clouds hung over the Howser Towers to our west. Confident that the forecast for a week of high pressure would prove true, we committed to the crux gendarme pitches. Steep, thin cracks shot up the tower until an incredibly exposed traverse was before us. I paused to savor the position and called down to Meaghan with advice. I remembered reading about Kain's experience at this very spot. He wrote: "Near the top I was stuck for a few minutes, the edge being smooth and without holds of any kind. I applied the vacuum grip and pulled myself up and over." Conrad definitely had the moves! Applying her 'vacuum grip' Meaghan pulled the crux with no problem and in two more pitches we were both on top after six hours from camp.

The descent went smoothly, six or seven rappels and a lot of belayed down-climbing brought us to more moderate ground, where we traveled to and down the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col.

The following day we chose to mix it up a bit and shoot for a glaciated snow and ice climb. Descending below the Kain Hut, we traversed the base of Snowpatch Spire and climbed onto the Bugaboo Glacier, intent on a traverse of the Pigeon Feathers. The Pigeon Feathers are a series of peaks at the head of the cirque. They come highly recommended and are considered a classic in the area. Meaghan led us up the broken glacier, across a series of 'shrunds and up the initial section which reached sixty degrees.

Once on the ridge of the first Feather we climbed classic steep snow and ice, in and out of great rock, and finally onto a pristine knife-edge snow arete. The position was un-matched and we were both giddy with excitement, thinking it was the coolest thing we had done in years. The massive west side of the Howser Towers dominated the view in front of us. The ridge wound up and down over a number of summits and at one point we chose to climb through a natural "tunnel" between the snow arete and the rock. At the top of the last Feather, I belayed Meaghan down a full rope length and she kicked me great steps. Soloing down, I knew everyone across the glacier on the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire (10,355') was getting a good show! Next we went back into glacier travel mode and climbed to the base of Pigeon, down the upper Vowell Glacier, and descended the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col back to camp. We had circumnavigated Snowpatch Spire, and in all it had been a super-fun day!

By this point we were in the midst of incredibly clear weather, often a novelty in the Bugaboos. Day five brought us back to the West Ridge of Pigeon, a climb which has graced the cover of numerous magazines and catalogs and which is considered by many to be the best 5.4 alpine rock climb on the planet. The crowds, which came with the weather, drove us out of camp early and we soon found ourselves in a bitter-cold wind with Meaghan leading the initial section of the climb. Instead of continuing, we chose to descend back to more sheltered, sunny terrain and wait for the day to warm.

An hour or so later the wind died and we were back on route with some friends from Bellingham nipping at our heels. The only thing that can be said about the West Ridge of Pigeon is that you need to go climb it to believe it. It's uniqueness, exposure, and amazingly solid granite is unmatched. It was perfect alpine rock climbing training ground for Meaghan. We summited in good style, teamed up with our friends for the summit rappels, and down-climbed onto the upper Vowell Glacier.

Day six presented us with four choices: McTech Arete on Crescent Spire (a 5.10- straight rock climb), The Ears Between on Crescent Tower (5.8), the Buckingham Route on Snowpatch Spire (5.8), or the East Ridge of the Marmolata (5.6). Meaghan and I decided on the Buckingham, thinking it would be a good intro into harder, muti-pitch alpine rock. It would also give us a chance to summit the three main spires in the area. Morning came however and I caught wind that there were at least four other parties intent on the climb. Being as the climb was west-facing, a late start was a must to avoid the cold, and it seemed clear that all the parties would get bogged down. We quickly switched gears and opted for the Marmolata. Both of us had been eyeing this unique, lesser-climbed peak all week as it dominated the skyline above the Bugaboo Glacier. It appeared to be a mixed snow, ice, and rock climb, and this suited Meaghan's objectives very well.

Crossing a new section of the Bugaboo Glacier, we were challenged to find a safe passage over the Marmolata's gapping bergshrund. I led up a little snow finger, did a few mixed moves, and belayed Meaghan up. We traversed easily across a ramp and simul-climbed steep snow and ice above the 'shrund to a small notch at the base of the East Ridge. From here we climbed along the top of another steep ice face, placing rock protection and easily climbing in and out of a moat until we regained the ridge. From this point the rock steepened and became quite loose. Both of us had close calls with huge shifting blocks and it became un-nerving, especially in contrast to the solid nature of our previous climbs.

Not finding a suitable passage around the loose rock, we opted to retrace our ascent and tag the nearby summit of the Hound's Tooth, a peak adjacent to the Marmolata. It was also loose, but was significantly less exposed and much more manageable. We down-climbed from the summit, then rappeled safely over the 'shrund and down the initial snow finger we had climbed earlier in the day. All and all the day was a good one, and we got in some unique and fun mixed climbing.

Day seven brought sore and stiff legs (at least for me) and sunburned noses. The general motivation in camp seemed to be waning as most parties that go into the Bugaboos plan on getting a few rest days due to bad weather. No such luck this week! Our schedule was to hike out later that afternoon, so we slept in and woke to a mellow morning and countless cups of coffee. We planned to do one more climb before hiking out.

For our last outing, we climbed Eastpost Spire, the large feature jutting immediately above our camp. We reached the summit easily and in good time. The last bit was a fun, exposed face with juggy holds. The views from Eastpost were classic and we gained a better sense of just how complex and compact our section of the Bugaboos was. So many other nooks and crannies to explore! So many routes!

The hike out was hot and uneventful and our smiling, burnt faces past other smiling, less-burnt faces on their way in. It turned out my truck had survived the onslaught of porcupines, and we headed home feeling psyched and rewarded.

On the drive back to Bellingham, it didn't take long before we were already scheming about our next adventure together. The West Ridge of Alaska's Mount Hunter may just be looming on next year's horizon...

Meaghan signed up for this trip into the Bugaboos as Part 3 of AAI's three-part Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership program. We would like to extend our congratulations to Meaghan for successfully completing all three parts (12 days each) of this comprehensive course!

AAI guide Aidan Loehr and climber Richard Pedersen (Alexandria, VA) returned last week from a successful climb on Mt. Baker's North Ridge. Rich already had strong snow and glacier skills - while working throughout the 1990's as an engineer at a US military base in Germany, he had taught crevasse rescue and snow skills in the Alps. He signed up for this course to strengthen his technique on ice.

During the first two days, Rich and Aidan went over ice climbing techniques and sequences on the lower Coleman Glacier. Rich learned how to place ice screws, create additional forms of ice protection, and ice climbing techniques for the alpine environment. Rich proved quickly to be a quick learner and strong climber.

On the morning of day three, Rich and Aidan began climbing towards the North Ridge, planning to bivy that night and make a high camp at around 8,500 feet. Aidan said, "The glacier was very broken up that morning, challenging us with tricky route finding and some serious ice climbing. In fact, the climbing up to high camp was the most difficult on the whole mountain and the crux of the route. We did two complicated pitches of 60-degree ice, and a lot of weaving in and out of crevasses. We reached high camp after 12 hours of climbing - a long day!"

The two made an open bivy with just sleeping bags and pads on a rock buttress, having left their tents down at their base camp at the base of the glacier. Rich said, "It was a beautiful night, tons of stars out. We could also see the lights of Bellingham and Vancouver. It was spectacular to sleep out in the open like that, on the high shoulders of such an impressive mountain."

The next morning, the two rose early and were climbing by 5:45am. After a few mellow ice pitches of 60 to 70-degree ice, and a lot of glacier travel, they were on the summit at 10:30am. Rich said, "It was great to be on top, after taking such an exciting route up. We couldn't stay up there too long, as we had to descend before the snow became too soft."

Rich and Aidan made an "uneventful" descent via the standard Coleman-Demming route, and were down at the trailhead by 5:15pm, and back at AAI in Bellingham at 7:15pm. "It was a pretty perfect trip," Aidan said. "Great weather, great route, and Rich was very strong. I hope he comes back to climb with us."

We received word from AAI guide Seth Hobby yesterday late afternoon. Seth reported that the team had just arrived at Glacier Basin Camp (6,000'), after driving to the White River Campground (4,400') in the morning and hiking about four miles on the Glacier Basin trail. "It was a beautiful hike in the sunshine," Seth said. "Then we arrived at camp and set up in the sunshine."

Once camp was built, the team - which includes climbers Arthur Huseonica (Crofton, MD), Dmitry Didovicher (Baltimore), Raymond Como (Berkley, MA), Kevin Como (Chichester, NH), Robert Hammer (Chicago), Barbara Gorska (Houston), and AAI guides Seth Hobby, Jonathon Spitzer, and Paul Ivaska - reviewed skills for their coming days on the glacier.

Seth said yesterday that the team plans to ascend to Camp Sherman (High Camp, 9,460') today via a variation on the standard route up the Inter Glacier. Because the Inter Glacier is melted out and in late-season condition, they will instead climb a sub-summit of Mt. Ruth to bypass the Inter, and then ascend the Emmon's Glacier to Camp Sherman.

The team plans to make a summit attempt tomorrow (Wednesday) from Camp Sherman. On Thursday they will descend from Camp Sherman back to the trailhead, where they end their trip and drive back home.

Climbers Sam Rosenburg (NY), Bryan McArdle (NY), Jordan Erenrich (NY), and Ari Lazier (Seattle) returned Friday from six days in the mountains with AAI guide Seth Hobby. The group of friends signed up together for this course with the intention of improving their existing alpine skills, especially their understanding of safe glacier travel, route-finding, and crevasse rescue.

Having decided beforehand to take their course to Eldorado Basin and climb El Dorado Peak, the group met their guide at AAI's Bellingham office on Sunday morning, sorted gear, and drove to the Eldorado Creek trailhead. They used the day to hike up to the base of the Eldorado Glacier and build camp for the night.

The next day, Seth reviewed glacier travel skills, and the group ascended the glacier to 7,800 feet, where they made another camp at the base of Eldorado's East Ridge. After building their camp, the climbers spent the rest of the day practicing glissading and various self-arrest positions.

The third day was dedicated to skills. Seth reviewed snow anchors and snow climbing techniques, and spent several hours with the climbers on crevasse rescue. Each climber took a turn jumping into an enormous crevasse while their teammates "rescued" them by building snow anchors and setting up a z-pulley system to pull out the "fallen" climber. The group also spent some time learning basic ice climbing techniques and practiced front-pointing up the steep ice walls from inside the crevasse.

Wednesday was summit day, and the team left camp at 6am to begin the climb up Eldorado's East Ridge (or shoulder). They crossed snow and talus, then climbed to the final snow slope at 8,400 feet, a very narrow and exposed arete. After ascending this final snow ridge, they reached the summit rocks at 8:30am, feeling triumphant.

On the descent the team enjoyed some exciting snow-face rappels, and arrived safely back in camp later that morning. The remainder of the day was spent discussing various aspects of the alpine environment, including snow and mountain ecology, and map and compass navigational skills.

On their last climbing day, the group decided to mix it up and climb an alpine rock route. With the students leading and Seth following, the team traversed the upper portion of the Inspiration Glacier to the base of Klawatti Peak. From there, Seth took over and lead the southwest ridge, a loose 5.4 route, which eventually mellowed out into lower fifth class and fourth class terrain. The group scrambled easily to the summit, then descended the route and traversed back to camp.

Until then, the weather had been perfect and the skies constantly clear. As the group returned to camp, however, they saw that a thunderstorm was on the near horizon. Just in time, they prepared their camp for the storm and spent the rest of the day in their tents waiting out the storm.

On the final day, the group woke early and packed up their gear for the hike out. After five hours, they were back at the trailhead and ready to drive home to showers and a hot meal.

Seth said, "It was a great trip. Everyone was stoked - they all got what they came for, and learned essential skills that will be useful to them on their own climbs in the future. Plus, we climbed two peaks."

Guide Jonathon Spitzer just called in (3:30pm) from Camp Sherman (9,469'). He reported a "very long but very rewarding day", which started at Glacier Basin Camp at 5am and finished eight hours later at Camp Sherman.

Jon said, "As planned, we bypassed the Inter Glacier and instead traversed to the base of Mt. Ruth. We then climbed to the top of Mt. Ruth and were rewarded with extensive views of the various ecosystems on Mt. Rainier - alpine, sub-alpine, and the dense forests of lower elevations. We then traveled up Ruth Ridge from Mt. Ruth towards Steamboat Prow, and finished by down-climbing a section of fourth class rock to reach Camp Sherman."

The team plans to make dinner and go to bed early in preparation for their 2am start tomorrow morning. "Spirits are high among team members," Jon said. "Though it was a long and tiring day, everyone is very happy to be up here. We've been resting and hydrating, and will continue to do so until we go to sleep. It should be a great climb!"

Guide Jon Spitzer called today from Camp Sherman with some unfortunate news. He said that the team woke for the summit attempt early this morning to high winds and heavy precipitation.

"We decided to give it a go, despite the questionable weather," Jon said. "It was blowing steadily around 40 mph and the sky was quite foggy and raining - not great conditions for a summit day. We started climbing, and by the time we had gained about 1,000 feet in elevation the weather had turned even worse. The visibility was really bad. We decided that it would be dangerous to proceed, and so we turned around. With the combination of rain and high winds, everyone would have had a very difficult time staying warm."

The team descended to Camp Sherman where they hit the tents and dried off. "By the afternoon it had snowed several inches and the winds weren't letting up," Jon said. "It was a bummer to turn around, but I know we made the right decision.

The team will stay at Camp Sherman tonight and will be descending to the trailhead tomorrow morning and driving back to Seattle in the afternoon.

AAI guide Jonathon Spitzer and friends Femke de Groot (Chicago), Jodi Bettler (Wilmington, DE), and Robert Magaw (Wilmington, DE) returned last week from an action-packed six days on Mt. Baker's north slope. Jodi, Rob, and Femke enrolled in the course to gain the skills necessary to join a Denali expedition, a goal of theirs. Though they've participated in expeditions on Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro, these trips did not involve much time on glaciers, and so the three climbers needed to acquire skills for the extensive glacier travel and camping required for climbing Denali.

On the first morning of the course, the climbers met with Jon at AAI's Bellingham headquarters and did a thorough gear check. Jon talked about expedition planning and about the special gear used in expeditions. Once they were sure everyone had the right gear, the group headed out on the Mt. Baker Highway to the Heliotrope Ridge Trail where they began hiking up to the glacier. Four and a half miles later the climbers reached their first camp at the toe of the Coleman Glacier.

"It was beautiful weather on the hike in," Jon said. "We used the remaining time we had after setting up camp to go over the knots and rope systems used in expeditions, and we also talked more about specialized equipment and how it's used in the field."

The next morning the group traveled onto the lower Coleman Glacier and used the day to practice a range of glacier travel and climbing skills. Jon began with a basic glaciology lecture, and then he moved on to explain crevasse rescue, prussiking, and fixed line travel. The group created anchors on a giant serac block and applied the z-pulley system to pull each other up in a feigned crevasse rescue scenario. Each climber was also able to practice prussiking up the rope. Next Jon anchored a rope on a slope and the group used their mechanical ascenders to travel up the rope (often on expeditions climbers utilize fixed lines to climb an especially difficult or steep section). Lastly, the group practiced basic ice climbing skills, using front points and two tools. "We covered a lot of ground on the second day," Jon said. "It was a very long but rewarding session."

On day three, the group moved up to the Black Buttes (7,000') where they set up a new camp on the glacier. "It took us a while to get up to the Buttes because the glacier was quite broken up this late in the season," Jon said. "But it was great practice for everyone to have to navigate and maintain concentration as we moved up the glacier." At camp they discussed all the fine points that go with camping on snow, including melting snow for water, Leave No Trace skills for glacier camping, and keeping warm. Jon, who has guided on Denali, related his lectures and demonstrations specifically to the experiences one might expect while on a Denali expedition.

The group moved up the mountain again the next day, mimicking the expeditionary method of continually moving camp to progress up a large-scale mountain. This time they camped at 9,000 feet, on the saddle between Mt. Baker and Colfax Peak. Jon said, "It was a great place to talk about camping in exposed places where there might be high winds. There were only light to moderate winds that day, but we built sturdy snow walls and went over techniques for making camp high on the mountain. Before we reached the saddle we had to do a challenging crevasse crossing, and so the group learned how to implement running belays. We also went over crevasse rescue again, this time using one of the crevasses near our camp."

Leaving at 9am on the morning of day five, the team headed for the summit of Mt. Baker and arrived just two hours later. After relaxing on top for a half hour, shooting pictures and enjoying the views in the spectacular sunny weather, they headed back down to their camp and spent the afternoon discussing map and compass navigation, as well as practicing knots for specialized purposes and additional skills.

On the last day of the course, Jon observed as the group performed a team crevasse rescue, which they did very skillfully. Shortly after, they packed up camp and descended the glacier to the trail and hiked out to the vans.

"It was a very successful course," Jon said. "Jodi, Rob, and Femke were incredibly enthusiastic about learning, so I was able to pack each day with a huge amount of information. They were also very fit and were able to thoroughly practice each of the skills I demonstrated. The mountain was in better shape than I expected for this time in the season, but it was still broken up enough that everyone learned a lot about navigating over a glacially complex area."

Congratulations to Jodi, Rob, and Femke for completing the Expedition Training course. We hope to see them on Denali in the future!

Guide Evan Stevens and climber Ward Colignon (Poulsbo, WA) returned last week from a successful two-day trip to Dragontail Peak's Serpentine Ridge, located in the Stuart Range of Washington State.

On the first day, Evan and Ward drove south from AAI's Bellingham office and hiked the 5.5 miles from the trailhead to the talus slopes above Colchuck Lake where they made camp.

The weather was perfect as they woke the next day and left camp to begin climbing at 5am. Evan said, "There were two 5.8 pitches of really solid crack climbing right out of camp. From there it was 1,500 feet of easy fifth-class all the way to the summit (about 15 pitches in all). On top we had great views of Stuart, Rainier, and Baker. It was a perfect day for the climb."

Ward has climbed extensively in the Cascades, and Serpentine Ridge has been on his list of must-do classics for a while. We congratulate him on the climb!

The second part of AAI's August Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership course returned yesterday from the mountains. This course directly follows Part 1 of the program, with one day of rest in between.

Part 1 left on the morning of August 8. Jason Seago (Zebulon, NC), Josh Bobber (Milwaukee, WI), Lars Keffer (San Francisco), Eric Ferguson (Austin), Tim Sowecke (Huron, OH), David Silverman (Brooklyn, NY), Tom Gray (Boulder, CO), Ian Golten (Mattapoisett, MA), and Dale Apgar (New Haven, VT) met guides Dawn Glanc and Matt Anderson at AAI's Bellingham office. Before heading out, they went through an extensive gear check and divided the group equipment between climbers.

The first five days of the course were spent high on the southern glaciated slopes of Mt. Baker. There the group learned and practiced essential skills for climbing in a glaciated environment, including the different crampon techniques, self-arrest positions, roped team travel, navigation, snow camping, and crevasse rescue. Despite clear skies, high winds with gusts up to 40 mph prevented the group from reaching Mt. Baker's summit crater. Nonetheless, Dawn said that everyone came away from the glacier clinic as fully competent rope team members, all able to perform the necessary skills for safe glacier travel.

Next the group drove east of the mountains to the town of Mazama, where they spent a day going over rock skills at a local cragging area called Fun Rock. Dawn and Matt demonstrated knots, belaying, rappelling, anchor building, and basic climbing techniques, and everyone spent time perfecting their technique.

With these skills under their belt, the group then drove to Washington Pass for some larger scale, alpine rock climbing. With sunny skies beckoning, the climbers broke into three smaller groups with Dawn, Matt, and Stephen Karney, who met up with the group to help instruct this portion. Each group set out to climb one of three alpine rock objectives: South Early Winter Spire, Liberty Bell, or Concord Tower. At the end of the day, each of the groups had successfully summited and had safely returned to camp.

Monday brought a similar situation - and similarly perfect weather - with each of the three groups venturing to a different rock-climbing site. Dawn took her group up the South Arete of South Early Winter Spire, which they summited and "had a blast on", according to Dawn. Matt's group went to climb the northwest corner of North Early Winter Spire, and Stephen's group went back to Fun Rock for a day of more advanced rock skills.

On Tuesday Stephen departed and Matt and Dawn drove the group back over the mountains to the west side of the Cascades, where they spent the day in Marblemount resting and planning for their next objective, Eldorado Peak. Because the emphasis in this course is placed upon leadership and trip planning, the students themselves coordinated and prepared for the next day's climb (with Dawn and Matt's observation and approval). Students had to consider a number of details for this glaciated alpine climb, including the what route to take, how they would navigate over the broken Eldorado Glacier, approximate climbing and summit times, what individual and group gear was necessary or excessive, how much food and emergency food to take, and what conditions they might encounter.

Wednesday was spent on the approach to Eldorado. It was a steep, long climb on talus in the pouring rain. Luckily, the skies began to clear as the group reached their campsite at the base of the glacier, and they settled down to rest for an early rise and climb.

The next morning, the team woke and prepared for the climb, splitting up into separate rope teams. They began climbing and the students very skillfully lead Matt and Dawn over the Eldorado Glacier, up the knife-edge ridge, and to the summit. "They did a great job leading," Dawn said. "They all really loved the knife-edge ridge, it was definitely their highlight and made the somewhat heinous approach worth it."

That night the group returned to their base camp, slept soundly, and woke the next morning to hike back to the vans. They arrived back at the Institute by early afternoon. "It was an awesome time," student Dale Apgar said upon arriving. "I can't believe I just finished 12 days of climbing. It was action-packed and went by very fast."

Dale enjoyed a day of rest in town and used it mostly to prepare for another twelve days in the field. "I enjoyed Part 1 so much that I decided to enroll for Part 2. I had been considering it before I came out to Washington, but hadn't yet decided. But I learned so much on Part 1 and had such a good time that I decided that I wanted to continue learning, and so I signed up for the Part 2."

Dale was one of two students in the Part 2 departing on August 21. Loren Henry (Baker City, OR) was the second. Loren had taken the first twelve days of Part 1 back in June, and had a similar story to Dale's - he liked the Part 1 so much that he decided to sign up for another twelve days.

Dale and Loren met their guide, Jason Martin, on the morning of August 21. Once again, they discussed equipment and sorted the group gear amongst themselves before heading to the northern slopes of Mt. Baker.

"We spent the first two days doing an intensive ice clinic with emphasis on leading pitches," Jason said. "We practiced creating and placing ice anchors on seracs - including both ice screws and v-threads - and Loren and Dale made an ice bollard which they rappelled from. They were also both able to pull off an overhang, which is very impressive for beginning ice climbers."

The group then drove to Leavenworth , where they planned on spending the next four days developing leading skills on rock. "We spent the first couple days on anchors. I had them mini-pitching a few routes to practice building anchors over and over so they could really get it nailed. They'd climb a mini six-foot pitch, build an anchor, climb six more feet, build another anchor, and so on. We literally did the Mountaineer's Dome, a sixty-foot route, in ten pitches. They were glad to get so much practice."

Loren and Dale also worked on their leading skills, and eventually led Jason up the R & D route on the Icicle Buttress (5.5, traditional). "They led the entire four pitches swapping leads and did great." Jason said. "After that we touched briefly on rock rescue, and then climbed two more routes the next day, Saber and Midway, both 5.7."

The three then left Leavenworth and drove to Fun Rock, east of Washington Pass, where they worked more extensively on rock rescue. Jason said, "By the end of the day, both Dale and Loren were able to escape a belay, rappel down to a fallen climber, safely lower a climber to the ground, re-ascend the rope, and pass a knot. They both did very well and were excited to learn the specialized methods of technical rescue."

Leaving Fun Rock the next day, they drove back up to Washington Pass and climbed the north face of Kangaroo Temple (5.6). Once again, Dale and Loren lead the climb while Jason followed and gave advice if needed.

Next the group tried for something more demanding. "I had heard about a new route that was just put up outside of Mazama," Jason said. "It is an eleven-pitch 5.9 bolted route called Prime Rib that seemed like a perfect challenge for Loren and Dale. They did a great job leading all the pitches and were psyched to be on a harder route."

For their last objective of the course, the group decided to climb Black Peak (8,970'), a massive granite mountain located in the North Cascades. Jason said, "We hiked into the base of the peak on Wednesday, about a 3.5 mile hike, and made camp. It was a complete white-out, and we could barely make out the mountain above us through the fog. Periodically we'd get a glimpse of what we thought was our peak, but we couldn't be sure until finally, late in the evening, we saw what was clearly Black Peak and were able to plan our route up."

The group left camp the next morning at 7am. Luckily, the fog had cleared. "The first pitches were mid-fifth class and pretty loose," Jason said, "but eventually the climb turned into this super-exposed knife-edge ridge with thousand-foot drops on either side. Loren and Dale were psyched to be on such a dramatic 'real' alpine climb. The views were jaw-droping."

After 12 full pitches the three were on the summit enjoying the views and resting. Though the tentative plan was to hike all the way out that day, they returned to camp at 6pm and hit the tents early. The next morning they woke, packed, and hiked out to the vans, arriving back at AAI's Bellingham headquarters by 2:00 that afternoon.

Upon returning to the Institute, Dale said, "I'm very glad I decided to do Part 2. Jason was a phenomenal teacher, and learning to do all the things that we did was so amazing - vertical ice, exposed climbing on 8,500-foot ridgelines, and lead climbing 11 pitches was sweet. I can't wait to put all that I learned into practice."

Congratulations to both Dale and Loren for completing Parts 1 and 2 of AAI's Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership course, and good luck to them in their future climbing ventures.

John Cobb (Atlanta) and AAI guide Seth Hobby returned Friday from an intensive seven-day course on rock climbing. John, who had done some climbing before, wanted to improve his technique and hoped to do so by signing up for seven days of private instruction.

After meeting at AAI's headquarters in the morning and discussing gear, John and Seth drove east over the Cascades to the small town of Mazama. They spent the day at Fun Rock, a nearby cragging area, where they reviewed basic skills and climbed a few routes, focusing on technique.

The next day Seth selected a new bolted route called Prime Rib (5.9, 11 pitches), which is just outside of Mazama. John had a good time and enjoyed the challenge of an extended multi-pitch route on more difficult terrain.

Seth and John then decided to return to Fun Rock again for another day of skills review. This time, they went over technical rock climbing systems including anchor-building, belaying, rappelling, and additional focus on technique. Later that evening, they drove to Marblemount where they camped for the night in order to be closer to the next day's objective: Boston Basin.

The plan was to hike into Boston Basin, and then to do a few alpine rock climbs there. Unfortunately, decidedly "gross" weather ensued, and the two opted to turn around and drive east to Leavenworth where they hoped to avoid the rain.

Their hunch and hope for dry weather proved true, and on the fifth day of their trip John and Seth enjoyed several routes in Leavenworth. Seth said, "We climbed on Pearly Gates, a crag near Snow Creek Wall, and did a bunch of 5.7 and 5.8 multi-pitch trad climbs."

The remaining two days also brought clear skies and dry routes. Seth and John first drove to Icicle Creek and climbed Givler's Dome via Givler's Crack, a multi-pitch trad route of 5.7+. On their last day, they climbed Mid-Way Direct on Castle Rock, a three-pitch trad route of 5.6+.

"In all, it was a great six days of climbing," Seth said. "It was really good for John to get so many days of climbing in a row. He really learned a lot and was able to improve both his technique and his knowledge of the technical aspects of climbing."

Charl Bester (Miami) enrolled in a ten-day private version of AAI's Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership, Part 1, with the hope that one-on-one instruction with a guide would be a thorough introduction to rock and glacier climbing.

Charl met his guide, Dawn Glanc, at AAI's Bellingham headquarters early in the morning on Tuesday, August 30. They discussed gear and logistics for an hour or so, then drove east over the Cascades to the small town of Mazama where they spent the day at nearby Fun Rock working on basic rock climbing skills. It was the first time that Charl had set foot or hand on vertical rock, and he enjoyed the experience.

The next day they drove to Washington Pass and hiked to the base of their chosen route on South Early Winter Spire, the South Arete. Dawn led the varying fourth class scrambling and several low to mid-fifth class pitches until the two successfully reached the summit. They had lunch, took some photos and then made their way down. "It was a great introductory alpine rock climb for Charl," Dawn said. " We had the whole spire to ourselves, which was very unusual because it's such a popular route."

Thursday found them back at Washington Pass where they endeavored to climb a classic: the Becky Route on Liberty Bell. Again, they enjoyed the rare experience of having the entire route to themselves. "Charl was psyched to do this climb," Dawn said. "We ate lunch again on the summit and soaked in the views. The weather was gorgeous for this climb and also for the South Arete. We got lucky on both days."

With basic rope and protective systems under his belt, it was time to move to the glaciated environment. On Friday, Charl and Dawn drove to the south side of Mt. Baker and used the day to hike into their high camp at end of the Railroad Grade, right below the Easton Glacier. They had light rain on the hike in, but it cleared up by dinner.

The next morning they woke up and headed for the glacier. Dawn went over the basics of glacier travel, and Charl got to practice self-arrest, cramponing, building snow anchors and other protection, and the different snow belay stances. Dawn also spent a while instructing Charl in the different characteristics of snow, ice, and neve and in basic glaciology.

Unfortunately, the rain came back on Sunday. Waking to pouring rain, Dawn opted to utilize the mega mid (their cook shelter) as their classroom for the morning. She continued with more lessons on glacier travel and demonstrated the z-pulley system of crevasse rescue. In the afternoon they ventured onto the glacier to practice roped team travel and to set up a crevasse rescue system. That evening they retired with hopes for clearing skies. The plan was to rise in the middle of the night and, depending on the weather, begin climbing towards Mt. Baker's 10,778-foot summit.

At 2am on Monday morning, Dawn rose and saw the stars. She woke Charl to prepare for their summit attempt, and they were on their way up the glacier by 3:00 a.m. "The climb went really well," Dawn said. ÒWe applied all the skills we had been practicing, and Charl got to experience hard snow, some ice, and a variety of gradients. We made great progress and summited by 8am. We were really glad that the weather changed - the skies were beautiful the entire way up and down." They stayed on the summit for a while to eat a snack and take some photos, then headed back down to their camp, packed up, and hiked out to the trailhead.

Tuesday was a day of drying out their gear and organizing for their next climb, Kangaroo Temple, which would be led by Charl as a way of integrating all the technical and leadship skills that he had learned during the previous week. That evening they drove back to the Washington Pass, where the approach to Kangaroo Temple begins.

Waking early on Wednesday, they prepared for the climb and Charl led Dawn on the approach to the base of Kangaroo Temple. He correctly navigated to the beginning of their route and was able to identify the line to the summit. Dawn led the technical sections, and by 12:30 they were on top. They had another summit lunch and rappelled down, with Charl skillfully leading the way back to the trailhead.

They returned to the Institute on Thursday. Dawn said, "Charl learned a ton on this trip. He was very happy to have the one-on-one experience, and came away with solid skills for rock and glacier climbing, which he plans to use a lot in the future."

AAI administrative employee Shawn Olson recently took a break from the office and joined the first seven days of an Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership course. Shawn returned to the office on Tuesday (Sept 27), while the rest of the course participants returned Friday (Sept. 30). Here is an account from her seven days of climbing:

A drizzly Monday morning greeted me as I stepped out the door of my apartment and began the ten-minute walk to work at the headquarters of the American Alpine Institute. This Monday morning was different than others. Instead of my normal streetwear, I was outfitted in schoeller and Gore-tex and was burdened with a heavy mountaineering backpack bulging with a week's worth of climbing gear. My appearance drew a few inquisitive looks from pedestrians and bikers, but soon enough I had arrived at AAI and felt relieved to be among other Gore-tex-toting climbers.

When the two other climbers scheduled for the course arrived, we greeted each other with blurry-eyes before turning to explode our packs under the careful eye of our guide and instructor, Dylan Taylor. I was excited to see that both climbers appeared fit and well-prepared. Yoshiko Miyazaki (Santa Monica, CA) was a 23 year-old Japanese woman with an unmistakable British accent and a backpack almost as big as she was. Her accent threw us all off until we learned that she had attended boarding school and university in Britain. Matthew Jenkins was a wiry, 22 year-old percussions student from Oberlin College (Ohio). I knew that the combination of our small group and our guide, Dylan, now in his sixth year of guiding for AAI, would make for a fun and highly instructional trip.

Typically, Part 1 of the Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership course travels to Mt. Baker for the first five days of the course to practice glacier skills. However, being as late in the season as it was, Dylan was worried that there wouldn't be enough snow on Baker to practice snow skills like self-arrest, so we instead drove to Mt. Shuksan (9127'). The sky was gray when we parked the van at the trailhead (at 3,000') and began our four-mile hike to the base of the Sulphide Glacier. Though it had stopped drizzling it was still a drenching climb, gaining 3,000 vertical feet over a relatively short period of time. We kept our Gore-tex on for the first hour or so to avoid getting soaked by the water-laden alder branches and other bushes that crowded the trail. Staying dry, however, soon proved futile as we founded ourselves sweating like crazy with the climbing effort. Even Yoshiko was sweating, much to her own surprise. She commented, "I never sweat. I must be working hard!" This was an understatement; I would have put money on a bet that her pack was at least two-thirds of her total body weight.

When the trail petered out above tree line, we grew somewhat baffled by thick fog and very low visibility. It took us an hour or so of consulting Dylan's GPS before we reached the established campsite at the edge of the glacier. Ah, home! We gladly unpacked and set up camp, appreciating elusive glimpses of the icefalls and summit pyramid that appeared in pockets between churning clouds.

I was grateful the next morning when no early alarms broke the quietude of waking up in the mountains. One by one we rustled out of our tents, boiled water for tea and cereal, and made use of the composting toilet a hundred yards down the slope. Around 9am, we strapped on our crampons and headed out to the glacier. Once on the ice, Dylan showed us the specifics of French technique - I had no idea there were so many different ways to walk on a glacier!

After an hour or so of tromping up and down the ice, we ascended higher on the glacier in search of any remaining snow that somehow survived this late in the season. We found a patch surprisingly easily, then learned how to build several different kinds of snow anchors, including placing pickets and flukes and building bollards and "dead-men" (using anything from a buried ice axe, to a rock, to a stuff sack filled with snow!). We then practiced the three forms of self-arrest: feet first, headfirst on stomach, and headfirst on back. It was fun to continually slide down the "ramp" we had made, each time getting slicker and slicker, and though I had practiced self-arrest before it was nice to get a chance to refine my skill. It was a good thing we saved this one for last because it was certainly a wet endeavor - even Gore-tex couldn't completely protect us from getting snow down our pants or in our faces! Damp but happy, we packed up and headed back to camp where we enjoyed ditching our wet clothes and fixing a hot meal.

The next day was scheduled for ice skills. With ice screws, v-threader, and axes in hand, Dylan led us across a moat and onto a steeper part of the glacier where seracs and fins towered above us. This was intimidating for me, and I found myself asking more than once, "So, Dylan, we're safe here, right? I mean, these towering blocks of ice that are melting around us aren't going to just break off and take us out, right?" He reassured me that yes, we were very safe, and weren't going to get squashed. Still, my heart lept each time I heard a moan, creak, or thump in the distance.

As the day progressed and the sun beat down upon the glacier, the top three or four inches of ice turned to slush and little trickles of melt water. Dylan said it was good practice to have to climb in such conditions. Throughout the day, we practiced skills for steep glacier travel, including additional crampon and ice axe techniques, front-pointing, ice-screw placement, and building v-threads. Instead of taking the same path back over the moat to get to camp, we opted to climb up and over the steep glacier above us. Dylan led us three short pitches over seracs, up and down nearly vertical fins, across crevasses, past moulins, and finally to lower-angle ice where we could unrope and walk back to our camp. It was a fun and highly instructional day, though I must admit I was glad to leave the melt-fest behind.

Thursday was summit day. We woke at 5:30am to a perfectly clear sky, ate, dressed, and packed our backpacks. An hour later, we were ready to climb and we walked across the non-crevassed lower glacier unroped until it steepened and became heavily crevassed. The dawn made our headlamps unnecessary as we laid out the rope and tied in at fairly short intervals between each other. Dylan said that traveling closer together, without tons of slack in the rope between each climber, would allow us to move much faster. After double and triple checks of harnesses, prussiks, and locking carabiners we were ready to and began climbing.

It was a short two hours and thirty minutes of steady climbing before we reached the base of the summit pyramid. We were lucky not to have to do too much weaving in and out of crevasses. Along the way we had spectacular views of Mt. Baker, her bare glaciers lying like gargantuan dusty gems in between spiny ridges. It was a gorgeous day and the sun was brilliant on the snow - almost cruelly so. At the summit pyramid we crossed over from steep snow to loose talus and ditched our ice axes, pickets, and crampons.

To reach the summit, we had about 500 feet of 3rd, 4th, and some 5th class rock climbing to do. Dylan suggested we climb on the ridge instead of up the main gully as it was "much more interesting." (Upon probing I learned that this meant more exposure, harder and more fun climbing, and waay less loose rock.) It was pretty challenging to execute some of the rock moves in our clunky plastic boots and rather large packs, but we managed and reached the summit around noon. It was sweet to stand on top of a mountain I'd been looking at since I was a kid (I grew up in Bellingham). The summit had a pretty wide place for us all to move around on, take pictures, and have a snack. Dylan pointed out the Fischer Chimneys, the next most common climbing route on Shuksan after the Sulphide Glacier which we had just ascended. I peered over the northern edge of the summit platform and was surprised to see the entire north side of the mountain covered in several inches of rime ice. It looked like white, fluffy cotton candy.

Clouds were building in the sky, and we soon decided it was time to head down. This time we used the gully. After a couple hours of down-climbing and dodging flying rock (thank you helmets!) we were back on the glacier. It was an easy descent to camp, and we returned around 5:30pm.

We spent all of Friday morning practicing crevasse rescue. Matt, Yoshiko, and I were each lowered into an enormous gaping crevasse and then "rescued". It was totally beautiful in the crevasse - still, bright, and pristine. I took lots of pictures and ate a chocolate bar while hanging from my harness in midair. I was almost sad when I was rescued and hauled up. I could have stayed a lot longer down there; it was fun to hang out in a place usually so forbidden to humans.

Around noon we headed back to camp to eat lunch and pack our gear. An hour later we were on our way back down to the trailhead and the van, where the luxury of clean cotton clothes awaited us. That evening, we ate pizza in town and enjoyed short but hot showers. We then drove to Washington Pass where we found a campsite and promptly crashed in our tents.

Next on the schedule was rock climbing. First, we spent a day at Fun Rock, a roadside crag located right outside of Mazama. It was so nice to wear a t-shirt in the sun, and we all lapped up the reliably clear and windless eastern Washington weather. Dylan spent a few hours teaching us how to build all sorts of rock anchors, and then he showed us the basics of placing cams and nuts and let us experiment with the variety of pro on our team's rack while he put up a couple top ropes for us so we could do some climbing.

The rest of the day was super laid back and fun - we took turns belaying each other and climbing. I climbed my first 5.10, which was definitely exciting. Both Yoshiko and Matt had a lot more experience on rock than most people do who join this course. Matt and I enjoyed watching Yoshiko as she gracefully led a long 5.10c pitch on the Sun Slabs. Matt done quite a bit of top roping in Michigan, so he enjoyed a few harder 5.10 crack climbs. He was especially psyched about learning to lead (he had done tons of top roping), and so Dylan showed him how to clip in quick draws and then switch the top anchor into a rappel to get down. I was definitely the least experienced rock climber, and was content to just climb and learn through experiencing what the most effective ways to use my body on the rock were. That night we camped at a car-campground just minutes from the pass, where we planned to climb the next day.

On Sunday we drove to Washington Pass and began hiking towards the Liberty Bell via the Blue Lake Trail. Again we were blessed with perfect weather. We eventually broke off the main trail and started up a steep climbers' trail towards the beginning of the Becky Route. The last quarter mile was up a super narrow and steep gully, and all of us occasionally slipped and had to flail about to regain our footing on the loose 3rd class terrain. We reached the beginning of the route and donned on our helmets, harnesses, and rock shoes. Even though it was sunny we were in the shade and I had to wear my down coat for the first pitch to ensure that I wouldn't shiver myself off the rock. We met two other climbers on the route and one of them remarked, "You know it's autumn when you're freezing one minute and roasting the next!" He was right, and once we were in the sun I was plenty warm.

The route called for three pitches of 5.6, and Dylan led. The pitches went by pretty quick despite the fact that we had two ropes to deal with. The last portion was a combination of scrambling and a couple 5.6 and 5.7 boulder problems, and instead of placing protection we moved together as a group on one rope and belayed each other off the horns and flakes in the rock. This system was a cool method to use and learn, and was much faster that actually setting up an anchor system and belaying each individual climber up separately. We reached the summit around noon and gawked at the views. Concord Tower, Lexington, and South and North Early Winter Spires were adjacent to the Liberty Bell, and it was awesome to look across to each successive summit and see other climbers standing on a few of them.

Soon enough, it was time to head down again. A short section of down-climbing led us to our rappel, and each of us took turns rapping down the double rope and landing safely in the gully where we began. I was psyched to have done the climb, especially in such perfect conditions.

Sadly, that night my ride arrived at the pass and I had to bid Dylan, Matt, and Yoshiko farewell. It was a fun time with a great group, and I received a multitude of take-home skills I know I'll use in the future!

Dylan, Matt, and Yoshiko returned on Friday, September 30, after spending the last four days of their course on Mt. Baker's north side. The group hiked in on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday Yoshiko and Matt led Dylan up the Coleman-Demming route to the summit as a way of practicing and demonstrating their newly acquired glacier leadership skills. After returning from the summit, the three spent Thursday waiting out a storm in their tents, and then on Friday they utilized the day to practice two-tool ice climbing technique on vertical seracs. They hiked out Friday afternoon and returned to the Institute around 4:30pm.