Only $3900 to go!!!

A huge thanks to Debby Bronson for donating $100 to help Big City Mountaineers inspire our youth! Yup, she's my mom. THANKS MOM!

Donate here

Summit For Someone!

I am officially committed to raise $4000! OUCH! I sent the fax in last night and received my confirmation today! Summit for Someone is BackPacker Magazine's annual charity fund raising event to help benefit the at-risk teens of Big City Mountaineers. I have wanted to do this for years but have never really had the time or means to commit to it.
Big City Mountaineers provides urban teenage youth in need of positive adult mentoring with challenging, safe outdoor experiences designed to build self-esteem and positively impact their beliefs about themselves and others. Using the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets model, BCM's program has been shown to improve our teens' beliefs with regard to positive values, social competences, positive identity, and support.
For every dollar that is raised $0.77 is used in Big City Mountaineers mentoring program, $0.23 is used for the Summit for Someone program costs. My pledge of $4000 will fully underwrite a one week recreational mentoring trip during summer 2008 for 4 at-risk, urban teens.
I have until June 1st to raise the money and on June 29th I will pack the Subaru and start the drive from Seattle to Jackson Hole Wyoming. From there me and 5 other "Summit for Someone" climbers will attempt to climb to the summit of Gannett Peak, the highest peak in Wyoming. We will spend 5 days total in the beautiful Wind River Wilderness.
Please donate and help me and Big City Mountaineers change the lives of inner city youth!
Donate

The snow is on it's way!

I have been trying my hardest to keep the climbing shoes on but it is difficult this time of the year in Washington. It seems every trip is thwarted by rain and/or snow. I guess it is time to put away the summer rock shoes and break out the snowboard boots. Mt. Baker opens on thursday, Whistler and Blackcomb are already open with a 40 inch base! Hopefully Stevens Pass will soon follow with cold temps. and big storms on the way.
I have heard that some ice is forming in Icicle Creek Canyon and with these cold temps I am sure it is only getting better. I'm pretty excited to swing my tools and strap on my board! Cheers to a new season and pray for cold and lots of snow!

The all new Alpinerack Widget!

So this isn't exactly about climbing. But I am pretty excited to announce the first version of the Alpinerack Widget for my website! If you are running a apple machine with osx than you can download this widget and get all of my trip report updates delivered to the widget. It reads off of an RSS feed that I will update every time I go on a new climbing trip. You can download it from my home page or from the blog page. Check it out and tell me what you think!

Forbidden Peak

On monday a friend and I climbed the East Ridge Direct route on Forbidden Peak. It was great to get out with another climber that I don't have to teach how to tie a figure eight. The road to the trail head isn't open yet (as of July 30) so It added an additional 2.75 miles each way. We woke up at about 3:30 am and made it back to the car about 16 hours later. Yea, we could of done better but I thought it was pretty good considering we climbed about 6,500 feet from the car, couldn't even find the peak because of a white out and had a pretty sketchy descent down the north east face of the mountain. Read more about the climb here.

It's been awhile...

I have been slacking on the blog updates. I graduated from school about a month ago and have been to busy playing and climbing to pay to much attention to my web site. I spent the last couple of days updating from my last few trips and as of now I am all caught up. My good friend and climbing partner just got back from an 8 month stay in Hawaii so I am glad to have him back in the north west, if I could only get him to move to Seattle from Portland. We tried to climb Mt. Adams via the Adams Glacier route about a month ago and ended spending about 11 hours driving! It really sucked, we ended up get his car stuck twice. This was one time when red necks were actually use full as they helped us push his car out of the washout. We were about 500 yards from the trail head at this point but it was 5pm and we decided to not even try so we just turned around and drove home.
I attempted to climb Mt. Shuksan 2 weeks ago in the middle of a north west heat wave. It touched in the hundreds in Seattle during that weekend. I know, were all pussies here and can't handle 100 degree weather. During our approach and during the climb it was about 80-85 degrees! We climbed the glacier with no problem but once we reached the summit pyramid it looked wet with loose snow. We turned around and struggled through the heat back to the car. Here us the trip report.

I have also taken a couple trips to Index to climb the Great Northern Slab. This is an easy climb but the upper Libra crack is freaking amazing. It's one of those cracks that you just wish would not end!
In June I spent 4 days in the Lake Tahoe area. We had a great time jet skiing and hanging out at the beach. Travis and I were hoping to climb Lovers Leap but we could not get over there because of the South Lake Tahoe fires. We ended up driving up to Donner Summit and climbing easy dome routes. It was fun but not exactly what I wanted at the time. Lovers Leap would have been awesome. Hopefully I will be able to get down there again soon.
A group of us are heading up to Mt. Baker tomorrow to climb the Coleman/Deming route. We are training for a Mt. Rainier climb during Aug. 13-14. I need to make sure that everyone is on the same page with glacier travel and crevasse rescue. Weather is barely agreeing with us though as it has been raining in Seattle all week. You can expect a trip report in a few days.
On July 30-31, Dylan and I are planning to climb Sahalee Peak in the cascade pass area. It will be great to get up in the Boston Basin area again. This is probably one of the most beautiful places that I have been!
August 5-7 a group of us are doing the enchantments loop with a climb of Prusik Peak. Another climb that I just can't wait for!
August 13-14 we will attempt Mt. Rainier. I have climbed Rainier 8 times in the past but have not made it up there in the last 5 years or so. It will be good to attempt again and fun as we will have a group of 6 or 7.
August 19-21 I am hoping to climb the North Ridge of Mt. Stuart. I have wanted this route for ever! Eric contacted me over email about climbing together and we haven't actually met yet but I am hoping he will be the one to help me get to the top of this amazing 20+ pitch ridge climb. Eric, email me if those dates work for you!
I think that is about it for now.
Climb Safe

Heroes

Let me tell you up front that this has nothing to do with climbing but I think that it needs to be heard. An old friend of mine is trying to reach out to people over the internet to help with his children. He has two kids, a boy (Isis) and a girl (Phoenix), who both have a rare disease called Rigid Spine Muscular Dystrophy. It is a dangerous congenital disease with a high mortality rate, due to respiratory failure. Respiratory failure comes as a result of an inability to cough and remove mucus and fluid from the lungs. By the time Isis was three, he caught a virus that would give any adult a head ache and runny nose. Isis suffered a massive respiratory failure from this virus and had to be resuscitated. He spent the next two and a half weeks in intensive care with a machine breathing for him, all because he could’nt cough.

There is hope however. There is a device that they can get that will help simulate a cough for the children. As of now they do not have one in Western Australia, so my friend Nick and his wife Jasmin are trying to save up $10,000 to by one for Isis and Phoenix. For more info please visit these sites that Nick has set up.

nickbarfuss.com
ridgespine.blogspot

I spent a lot of time with Nick in high school but haven't really heard much about him since he moved to Australia. It's heart breaking to find out this news about his kids. Just thought I would try and spread the word. Thanks for reading.
Danny Darby (AKA alpinerack)

Road to Paradise!

I think this photo was taken by Mike Gauthier
Check out his photography

Finally, after 6 months of expensive road repairs the Longmire to Paradise road has opened! The floods of last November have left us stranded with no way into the Mt. Rainier National Park. Check out Mike Gauthier's blog for more info on the road and some of his great flood damage photos. I am sure the mountain is getting all tracked out as we speak as the backcountry skiers and boarders finally have access to the awesome snow that the higher elevations of Washingotn provide. Maybe I could get up there this Sunday for some Tatoosh climbing!
According to Mike Gauthier's blog, most the other roads around the park will be opening in mid May. With the exception of HWY 123 which provides access from Ohanapecosh/Packwood area to Sunrise/Whiteriver/Enumclaw. HWY 123 may be closed all summer do to the extensive washouts :(
It's time to dig your ice axe out of the closet and sharpen those crampons and head out to the icon of Washington!

South Early Winter Spire

I finally made it into the mountains for some awesome alpine climbing. Check out my trip report here


The North Cascade highway opened last weekend and it looks like the place has just been packed with skiers and climbers. During our climb of the Southwest Couloir we counted at least 25 skiers and plenty of dogs skinning up to the Blue Peak saddle for an awesome ride down. We were wishing for our snowboards the whole time.
The Southwest Couloir route was great! It was mostly steep snow with sections of mixed ice/rock. Really fun and great for aspiring alpinist! I climbed with my friends Dylan and Mark who are recent Washington transplants and new to alpine climbing and this route was a great way to scare them shitless!

Tieton River Rock

Reka and I went to Tieton River on sunday to do some moderate crack climbs. Check out the full trip report! I have always enjoyed the easy cracks here and it is a great place for the aspiring trad climber to test there skills. This was the first place I ever led a trad route. It was Western Front, 5.3***. I remember on my lead I placed so much gear I was starting to pump my self out! Eight years later I have learned that the route only requires 3 or maybe 4 pieces to protect it well. Not saying there is anything wrong with over protecting a route ( I still do it quite often).
The first climbing area you will see at Tieton River is the Royal Columns. This is a moderate meca for crack routes. You can find anything from 5.0 - 5.10 trad routes and harder if you want to clip bolts. Another thing that you can find here are lots of snakes! Be careful and bring a snake bite kit. I spent my whole life in the Utah desert and only saw one rattlesnake. I go to the TIeton and I will see at least four.
Tieton River is also home to Goose Egg Mountain. I haven't climbed here yet but am excited to do so before the summer is over. Dirty Sanchez, Grade III 5.8 it's about 7 pitches of climbing. Ride the Lightning, Grade III 5.9 another 7 pitch climb. These routes look great with quality climbing.

Check out
Tieton River Rocks by: Marlene Ford and Jim Yoder
A great climbing guide book for the area.

Ride the Lightning

North Cascades Highway

Well, I wait all winter for this day! Usually it doesn't happen until mid May but we finally have some luck this winter! HWY 20 opens today! April 26th! I can only imagine how packed with mountaineers and skiers the North Casacades will be this weekend. You can check out the status of the road here and check out the pictures of the snow blowers they use to clear the highway. With the amount of snowfall that we had this winter and the huge wind storms we had in November and December I am suprised that they were able to open the road so quickly. Not only does this give us access to the Liberty Bell group and the Wine Spires but it also gives us easier access to the Mazama area and Goat Wall which has a 5 pitch 5.9 sport climb! Hopefully I will be able to make it up there soon to get some routes done. To all that are going to be up at the pass this weekend, have a great time and be safe in those mountains. :)






more pictures here!

Oh, what a beautiful wife I have!

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Am I bored?

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Google Earth

I recently read an article at summitpost.org about using GPS units and Google Earth. I have played around with google earth a little bit but always got annoyed with bad resolution of the pictures. After reading this article by Travis_ from SummitPost I have a completely new found affection for the possibilities of this free program. What a great addition this could be for my web site! Now if only I had a GPS!
I have been drawing routes in manaully on National Geographics Topo software but have always thought that it is far from correct as I tend to have a shaky hand, especially with a mouse. Plus, the Topo edition that I have is not in 3D. Google Earth allows for you to tilt the image for the best effect and gives you great 3D images of your route and the surrounding peaks. Some areas are still bad resolution but hey, it's free!
If anybody else has more information on the uses of Google Earth and GPS please share. For instance, if you are familiar with GPS systems what are the good brands and what features should buyers look for? Does Google Earth track miles and altitude traveled? Share your knowledge! What do you use your GPS for?
Here is a more basic Google Earth article as well.

School is such a drag!

Well, I am back in school and hating it! The memories of being 1500 vertical feet on an awesome face in Red Rocks is killing me. I like living in Seattle but it is so hard to get out and do some good climbing. Right now I don't have any days off in between school and work. I am working on getting Sundays off which will allow me one day for climbing or whatever else I feel like doing. I guess we will see.
This is my last quarter of school and it is going to be a tough one. By the end of the quarter I have to have a portfolio done and I have hardly even thought about what I want to do with it. Hopefully everything will work out.
I took some newbies up to Frenchman Coulee on Thursday. We had a good time climbing sport routes and relaxing in the sun. We met some cool people and got completely pumped off of 5.9s. Yes, that does mean that I am out of shape. Hopefully I will find time to start climbing at least once a week so I can accomplish some good climbs this summer. I might have a partner for the North Ridge of Stuart which would be amazing. The goal is to be able to lead 5.10 trad this summer. Hmmmm, will it happen? We will just have to wait and see.

Red Rocks!

So far my trip to the desert has been great. James and I just finished climbing Solar Slab. Solar Slab is an amazing 1200 vertical foot 5.6. It took us about 7 hours to do the 11 pitches of climbing, add the approach and descent and it was a little over 12 hours of being on the move. As you can guess I am pretty exausted!
We also climbed Geronimo on Monday the 26th, a 4 pitch 5.7. This was a great climb with really fun climbing!
Weather was pretty bad on Tuesday the 27th so we stuck to single pitch routes and climbed Straight Shooter 5.9 and a couple routes on Brass Wall. It was pretty amazing weather as it would snow for about 15 minutes then the sun would come out for a half hour and then it would snow again. Really weird!
I will update my trip reports as soon as I have time!




Here is James climbing on the 10th pitch of Solar Slab.

An end in sight!

School is finally over! Well, for a week anyways. It was a pretty tough quarter for me. A lot of time consuming projects. Not to mention that I had to find time for Snowboarding! C'mon, I have my priorities straight!
I'm sitting at the airport right now waiting for my flight to Vegas. This is going to be a good trip! A couple day's of relaxation, a couple day's of stress with the fam and then a couple of day's of rock climbing in the desert! And it all start's today. The only thing that is missing is Reka (She's in Japan). I wont see her for about 11 day's from now :( Hopefully I can keep occupied enough to keep my sanity.




My final for my computer drawing class.
Spent about 25 hours on this!

Spring Break!

Spring Break is right around the corner! I have a flight that leaves Seattle Wed. the 21 to Las Vegas. The original plan was to spend a whole week climbing at Red Rocks. A lot has changed since I bought my tickets though. First off this is the same weekend that the Red Rock Rendezvous happens. At first I thought that it would be fun but the more I thought about it the less I wanted to go. I don't think I want to be a part of the huge crowds stomping all over the vegetation and creating lines and a mess of ropes at every classic climb. I also have a snowboarding injury that doesn't seem to be going away. This sucks because I was hoping to get on some really good climbs while I was in the desert but I have not been able to train with my injury.
Because of this mess I have decided to fly to Vegas on the 21st. I will stay in Vegas for 2 nights and then drive to St. George, UT. My family will meet me there and we will probably go hang out in Zion NP or something. Maybe I could get my brother to belay me at Black Rocks or Prophecy Wall?! We will stay in our Trendwest timeshare until Monday and then I will meet up with an old friend and climbing partner James back in Red Rocks. This is when I will decided if my collar bone allows me to climb. We will spend the rest of my trip climbing (hopefully) and I fly back to Seattle on the 29th.
I'm disappointed that I can't climb much but am looking forward to seeing my fam. It should me a fun trip. If I get to climb (or at least do some good hikes) expect some trip reports in 2-3 weeks.

My tiny friend!

I just wanted to write about a new little friend I have. Actually I have had it for quit awhile. Back in Oct. Reka and I had our apartment robbed and they basically took everything of value; including 2 iPod's, Powerbook, digital rebel, and just about everything else that we worked hard for. We have slowly started to replace everything that was taken like our new Macbook Pro. While not having enough money for a new iPod I was happy to find the iPod Shuffle. This mp3 player is smaller than a matchbook! You can easily fit up to 250 songs on it and then you just clip it to your clothes or in my case, backpack strap. The best thing about it is when you are hiking or ridding and you want to adjust volume or change songs you don't have to dig it out of your pocket or backpack! I used to hike up with a 60GB 3rd Generation iPod and although smaller than the walkman I always had issues with it skipping from body movement and it felt a bit cumbersome in my pocket. With the new iPod Shuffle I find myself forgetting where it is! This is a hiker and riders new best friend! Oh yeah, if your an alpine climber and worry about every ounce that you take with you the iPod Shuffle is only 0.55 ounces! Now you don't have to cut your toothbrush in half just trade in you music player for the iPod Shuffle. Did I mention the 12 hour battery life!

Specs
Height: 1.07 inches
Width: 1.62 inches
Weight: 0.55 ounces
Capacity: 1 GB (about 240-250 songs)
Battery Life: 12 hours
www.apple.com

Weekend in Leavenworth

Saundra, Ann, Jason and I all drove up to Stevens Pass on Monday (Feb. 26) hoping for some more fresh powder. The day ended up being amazing! It snowed about 4-5 inches Sunday night but their was a hard crust under the dry powder. We went straight to the backside and found good snow but it was really hard to control yourself with the random hidden ice chunks under the powder. We ended up going back to the front side and had a great run down Double Diamond where Jason and I found waist deep snow! We did a few runs in the tree's off of Big Chief with excellent snow. Later that day we did a couple great runs off of Seventh Heaven that all though pretty tracked up was great! I decided to head back to the car early because of my injured Collar Bone from last Thursday while everyone else did a few more runs. That night we drove down to Leavenworth where we enjoyed a nice hot tub and Ann's great enchiladas.
We made it back to the pass at about 9 in the morning and were disappointed to not find any new snow. It maybe snowed about an inch overnight. We ended up being pretty satisfied with the conditions as it ended up being a little bit better than yesterday. We were still able to find great snow off the beaten path. I did a great run down Big Chief Bowl and through the tree's into the parking lot. Jason and I rode the Seventh Heaven lift and hiked up to the top of Cowboy Mountain and had a great 15 seconds of untouched deep powder down the north face of the peak. Tuesday was only a half day as some of us had to go to school and work that evening. What a great couple of days! What a great year we are having here in Washington, I have had more good day's than bad!

Monday: 18,610 vertical in 4h. 51min.
Tuesday: 8,870 vertical in 1hr. 47min.

The snow just keeps on coming!

This week in Washington we recieved a ton of snow! For awhile I thought that winter was over and I was starting to prepare for spring climbing. Over Monday and Tuesday (Feb. 19-20) Stevens Pass received 20 inches in a 24 hour period! Unfortunatly I missed all that great snow but was able to ride on Thursday (Feb. 22). They received about 5-6 inches over night and we had some great powder turns all day. It was very crowded due to Mid-Winter break but we were still able to find untracked powder hidden in the trees. our favorite run of the day was a tree run inbetween I-5 and Lower Diamond. The snow was so steep and dry that heel edge turns would sometimes blind you from the spray. Later in the afternoon we started hitting the terrain park which ended up being a mistake as I enjured myself on a rail slide. I face planted into the rail and hurt my Coller Bone pretty bad. I thought I broke it at first but I can still use my arm so it must be OK, right?


Hiking for FRESH!!!

15,960 vertical in 5h 10min.

Riding Oregon

We've been planning this for months and finally it happened. Ann, Saundra, Jason, Kazu, Travis, Jodie, Lee and I all drove to Oregon for our annual ski/snowboard trip. This year we decided to go to Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. We left on Sunday (02-04-07) and rode at Mt. Hood Meadows for the afternoon. We had bluebird skies and soft (sometimes really wet) spring riding. It was our first time to ride at Hood and we all loved it!




We rode about 11,720 feet in 3 hours and 18 mintues. Not bad for a half day of riding. We all piled back into the cars and continued the drive to Redmond.







After a long night and very little sleep we drove to Mt. Bachelor for another day of snow. Mt. Bachelor is an amazing mountain and we had a complete blast. The snow was great considering that we have not had any fresh for 3 weeks in the northwest. The sun was out and the snow was soft! They didn't open the summit chair until in the afternoon and Jason and I were the first to be on it. We made a quick hike up to the summit and dropped down the steep bowl. It was a great ride down awesome spring corn!

At the end of the day we rode 17,860 vertical in 5 hours and 24 minutes. What a great day!

On Tuesday Ann, Travis and Kazu had to leave and get back to real life. They weren't going to leave until about 1 so we thought we would drive to Smith Rocks for some hiking and maybe even some rock climbing. Well, Travis and I were only able to climb Cinnamon Slab before we had to pack up and send them on the way.

While they were driving back to Seattle; Saundra, Jason and I drove back to Mt. Bachelor to meet Jodie and Lee for an afternoon of snowboarding. After about an hour we were strapped into our bindings and riding again. The snow was more like ice though and not very enjoyable. But we continued on until the lift lines closed. We were still able to log 9,680 vertical in 1 hour and 39 minutes.

The next morning we decided not to ride Bachelor because of the icy conditions. We instead decided to drive to Hood Meadows again to see if we could get some runs in. When we arrived it was kind of rainy so we just got back in the car and headed for home. It was a great trip with great friends and we can't wait to go back to such a great mountain!

Love Handles

Well, I came to the conclusion that I need to get off my lazy ass and do something! I went rock climbing at Exit 38 yesterday and today, well, I can hardly move. My legs hurt, my back hurts, I feel like I have Carpal Tunnel! It is ridiculous! I guess the pull-ups that I do ever day aren't enough. So, do I join a climbing gym and pay $35-$40 bucks a month? Should I join a regular gym and pay $20-$30 bucks a month? Obviously the climbing gym makes more since but then I have to worry about driving and parking which is a pain in the ass in the Lower Queen Anne area. I always hated pulling-plastic but I guess maybe it would be worth it. It is so hard for me to find climbing partners that have the same days off that I do for outdoor climbing. If i'm lucky I will probably climb real rock about 2X a month. That really sucks! Cascade Climbers has helped with climbing partners quite a bit but it is hard to climb with someone new all the time. Especially when you suck and they are so much better. All my regular partners are gone.

Reka: full time student and works full time.
Travis: The bastard moved to Hawaii.
Jodie: She's pregnant.

Reka is almost done with school though. Hopefully she will be more willing to climb.
Thanks for listening to my bitching.

Please bring the cold back!

Well, I went snowboarding on Monday Jan. 15th, it was sunny and icy and 7 degrees outside. I went snowboarding on Thursday Jan. 18th, it was OK. Snowed all day but it was a little heavy, we still had a good time! Monday Jan. 22nd, it rained! and it sucked! We rode for about an hour in a half and gave up. Could this be the end of the great season that we have had? Everyone do the snow dance to bring back the powder!!!!!!
Or maybe we should do the sun dance so we can focus on rock climbing!? hmmmm, thats a tough decision.

Keep the snow coming!

Saundra, Ann, Jason and I all drove up to Stevens Pass on Jan. 8 for some more snow. Even though it rained the day before the powder (if you could find it) was great. The last storm that passed through knocked down power lines and trees which left the pass without power. They were running off of generators the whole day. At least they were open! We were going to ride on Tuesday the 9th as well but they had to close cause they couldn't keep running on the generator. After a full day of riding we drove down to Leavenworth to stay the night. Driving through Tumwater Canyon I noticed that Drury Falls looked HUGE! The temp. was pretty warm though. We stayed at our TrendWest timeshare for only $40 a night! We had a good time relaxing in the hot tub, playing pictionary/cherades and stuffing our self with Ann's pasta.

Since the mountain was closed on Tuesday we slept in headed back to Seattle at about noon. Another great time with great friends.

12 inches of FRESH!

I rode 12 inches of fresh today! I actually couldn't believe it! This has by far been the best snow season in Washington that I have ever had. I guess that is probably because I have been able to ride much more this season than usual. So far every day that I have gone to Stevens Pass has been a powder day this year! So many people told me that it would be a mistake to get a season pass but it has already paid for itself. El Nino my ass!

I rode with Saundra today who has been my main riding partner this season. Hopefully I will be able to get up there with Reka but with her school schedule it is not likely :( O-Well. She is going up on Sunday but I have to work. If this snow keeps falling she'll have a great time!