Thursday, June 07, 2007

Dead Dog Couloir by Beth Bershader

Saturday June 2, 2007
Torreys Peak 14,267 ft.
Dead Dog Couloir

BMS Hard Snow Day
Senior Instructor: Brian Murphy & Darrell Johnson
Assistant Instructors: Steve Cassin, Beth Bershader
Students: Sharon Adams, Katie Goodwin, Kevin Linebarger, Stuart Paul, Chris Bartle, David Young, Mollie Young
Others: Greg Olson & Lisa ?

I've always wanted to climb the "classic" Dead Dog but every year we seem to wait too long & it's melted out. So when it was decided we would climb it for our BMS Hard Snow Day I was pretty excited.

We drove up Friday evening & parked within 3/4 mile from the Stevens Gulch trailhead. There are still some snow drifts past that that will probably be melted out in a few weeks before the true TH can be accessed. We backpacked in the rain, then sleet, then hail, then grapple, then snow to 12,800 ft. near the base of the coulior in a little inlet out of any avy danger if any should occur. Snowshoes weren't really necessary. There were spots of dry ground & spots of snow with minimal postholing. Although once I put my snowshoes on I was too lazy to take them off & kept them on the whole way in with much ribbing from Brian. We camped at the base since we knew we'd need an early start since the couloir gets an early sunhit & warms quickly. We set up camp as it got dark in the windy conditions. Boiled water & prepped our packs for the next day then ate dinner. To bed between 10-11pm.

I wouldn't say we really slept since it was so windy causing much noise in the tent. It was colder than I was expecting. Isn't it summer YET?!* But we did at least rest our bones & gave our bodies the needed amount of horizontal positioning for the next day. The alarms were set for 4am but about 10 minutes till we hear "Housekeeping" as Darrell our usual senior & Kevin a student hiked into camp. Darrell was stuck in an airport with a delayed flight most of the night & Kevin had family in town so they started out around 2am to meet up with us. Now that's dedication! Freakin nutballs!!

Anywho, we lazily woke up & got ready. We left camp around 5:15a.m. & headed towards our couloir. We began ascending in towards the base as the sunrise lit up Grays & Torreys in orange & pink lighting. The golden sun slowly rose. It was incredibly beautiful & peaceful. Once we reached the base of the couloir we took a quick snack break & stripped some layers by a rock outcropping since it was warming in the sun & we were blocked any breeze.

We started from the base at 6am. Steve led the group as Brian sat in back giving advice then moving up beside the group helping the students. I took up the rear to keep the group together. We ascended slowly but surely.
The slope felt between 35-40 degrees for most of the climb with a section of 45 degrees. My calves were a burnin! The snow was warming quickly & small rocks that were frozen in the snow from the cold night were now shooting down the gully like missiles. There were 2 people approaching the bottom of the couloir & we yelled "rock rock" many times for them as they wizzed down. One hit a student in the leg giving her a pretty impressive gash.

Onward & upward we went. As the coulior doglegged right, we ascended the last section over a short 50 degree baby cornice. Brian chose to top out to the right of the white tower on Kelso's ridge since the snow to the left was unconsolidated. Although this did give us a short challenging exposed traverse at the base of the white tower to get back to the ridge proper. From there it was an 100 yard ascent to the summit. Many high fives & hugs were given. We donned more layers as the wind kicked up & we ate snacks. Took the crampons off for the downclimb, radioed the camp to let them know were on top, then headed off. Down we went through the rock & snow. We passed many skiers on their way up to the summit. I've actually never seen so many backcountry skiers anywhere in CO.

At the saddle we headed on the regular route descending about 100 ft. to where we had our 1,000 ft. glissade. Wahoo! After a small flat section, we had another short glissade then a 5 minute walk to camp! More hugs & smiles all around. We quickly packed up camp & headed out before the snow got too mushy to avoid postholing. The snow was pretty warm though & a few postholes were had by all but not enough to earn a PHD! We finally reached the cars. Cold Schlitz & Pringles from Greg & Strawberry Shortcake from Mollie for Katie's bday were enjoyed by all. I never thought a Schlitz could taste that good!

Another awesome trip with our awesome team!!

Escalante Canyoning by AJ

May 24th thru May 27th

Pics: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=174454511/a=38054161/t_=38054161


Wednesday 5/23:

A group of us went down to the Escalante over the long weekend, which we made longer by a taking a few more days off. The plan was to have one group that would break into two canyon groups. Mine would tackle the bigger and more challenging
canyons; and there would be a less aggressive canyon group as well. We headed out on Wednesday after work, and drove down
to the Egypt Bench road. We set up a meeting spot on Egypt Bench, and saw a car and tent there already. Turns out that
they weren't with our group, so we apologized if we woke them (it was late.) It was a nice night out so we just threw down
our sleeping bags and bivvied for the night.


Thursday 5/24:

We woke up around 6:00am, and met up with a few more from our group. Marty was down with his family, and he and his son
Derek would join the less aggressive group. We packed up our bivvy gear, grabbed a quick cold breakfast, and headed toward
the E3/E4 start. Everyone met there, and we divided into two groups. Five of us would do the more aggressive Egypt 4.
Brian, Ben, Rom, Richard and I set out to the head of Egypt 4, and got there around 9:30am. It was already quite warm.
Egypt 4 was quite the warmup canyon for the weekend. A very fun, but strenuous, canyon with lots of off the deck stuff;
some quite high, up to around 100 feet off the deck. The canyon is quite sustained, with a few silo crossings; you aren't on
the ground for very long at all for most of the first section of canyon. The footing seemed a little loose in the
beginning, with some sand on the walls; but felt comfortable the rest of the way. Most of the silos had decent footing, but
a slip would definitely mean serious injury or death.

All the Egypts seemed to have decent water. Egypt 4 certainly didn't require a wetsuit though; you would be insanely warm
with all the climbing - and most of the time you were at least 30 feet above the water anyway. Although, the additional
padding from a wetsuit on the lower back would be nice; we were all quite sore there. There was a spot where the canyon
finally opened enough to get to the ground around 11:30am, but shortly afterwards had around a fifty foot upclimb. Fun!

A bit over halfway through the canyon, Brian, Rom and Richard had enough. They weren't enjoying all the effort and they
were sore from all the stemming and chimney work. We all had sore red spots on our lower backs. We found a spot where they
could exit around 1:30pm. Ben and I decided to continue, as we were still enjoying the scenery and the challenge. I gave
them my backpack though so Ben and I could travel light, and we kept just an emergency cord and a few other emergency items.
Unfortunately, we were low on water as it was pretty hot out in the mid-80's, and all the climbing was definitely making us
thirsty.

The second half of the canyon was more of the same. Lots of off the deck, high stemming, with some intermittent up and down
climbs. We ran out of water just before hitting the end of the canyon; thanks to Ben for sharing his. The last section was
a cool little chained pothole section. We scooped some decent water from a pothole, but my water purification tablets were
in my backpack. Crap. We'd drink it if we had to, but started the hike up to meet the others around 3:30pm. Thankfully,
they waited for us where the E3 and E4 exit routes meet up. There were a few from the Egypt 3 group there too. We got some
water from them, and all hiked back up to the trailhead. There were a few cool rock pedestals on the way out. We made it
back to the trailhead around 5:30pm.

Note that Egypt 4 is NOT a beginner canyon; be careful if you head there. However, it would be possible to start upclimbing
from the bottom (though even more strenuous), and head up as far as you felt comfortable. Otherwise, we saw three
different exits on the way down. One prior to the one Kelsey mentions; it was a ramp on the right LDC, then Kelsey's exit
when the canyon opens with ramps on both sides, and the lowest section has many exits as it's much more open with potholes.
Although, if you go from the top, and made it to the bottom section, no need to exit as the final section is comparatively
easy.

The Egypt 3 group said the lower section had a long swim in cold water. The water was clean and refreshing on the warm day.
No wetsuit needed, as the long hike back is just afterwards.

We then drove to the Egypt Bench trailhead, packed up, and then hiked down into Fence canyon that same day. Jen was feeling
a little tired, so I first took her pack as well. After a bit, I gave her pack back and then hiked quickly ahead to camp
while she hiked with Brian and Richard. I arrived at camp just as the sun was going down, dropped my pack, and hiked back
up to her and took her pack for the rest of the way down. We made some dinner with the group, talked about the next days
canyon, and visited. It was great to visit with everyone; it had been a while since I saw some of them, including Sharon
from SLC.


Friday 5/25:

We woke up at 6:30am, and started to get everyone else up. The entire group would be doing Neon today:
http://www.climb-utah.com/Escalante/neon.htm

We hiked up to the standard entrance, and Jen and Misty wanted to start here. Tim and I downclimbed with them, and took
them to the confluence with the main Neon canyon. We gave them instructions on "what if" scenarios, and then upclimbed back
to the rest of the group. The rest of us then went past the normal long route (passed at 10:45am) mentioned by Shane and
Tom. We went up to the next side drainage. It's still not at the canyon head, but it adds about 3-4 hours round trip to
the normal Neon route. We dropped in around 12:15pm.

To get to the confluence with the main Neon canyon, there was a few downclimbs, a wade through a corridor, and then a
handline down into a swim. We hit the upper main Neon canyon around 12:45pm. At the confluence, there was a really cool
sculpted pothole section.

The canyon section above the long route is quite fun with a variety of downclimbs, swims through narrow tunnels (many can be
bypassed, but why?), some tight squeezes, fun jumps, and some open canyon walking. We met up with Jen and Misty around 3pm,
and continued down into the normal Neon canyon. Neon was better than I had remembered it from the last time. Great canyon
with lots of variety and lots of beauty. We also came across a few young ravens that were trapped in the canyon. I carried
a few to an open spot in the canyon.

We dropped into the first deep keeper pothole around 4pm (near the bolt bypass on the left LDC) by sequencing/partner
assists and got out using 2 potshots with rocks from the pothole and one pack toss. Threw the rocks back into the pothole
after we were all out. Fun! Some decided to do the rappel bypass. We took a snack break in the nice warm sun around
4:45pm. Did a few more downclimbs, wades and a swim to get to the second keeper pothole (around 5:30pm.) We used a macrame
knot around the window for a handline or rap into a pool. The second keeper was a climb out on a slick large branch/small
log. The final rappel was awesome as usual. Rappeling through the window into the Golden Cathedral pool is just
spectacular. Glad Jen and the others were able to experience it. Fun stuff. Most people wore 3/2 full wetsuits and were
fine. The warmer blooded went without a wetsuit as it was in the upper 80's during the day. We finished the rappel around
7:30pm.

We hiked back to the confluence of Neon and the Escalante. We again broke into two groups. Six of us (Rom, Stuart, Ben,
Jonas, Tim and I) hiked down the Escalante and did a bivvy to be closer to the Bakers. The flies on the hike were horrible;
and seemed to favor me more than the others. At our bivvy spot, we spread our wet gear out in the tamarisk trees to dry out
overnight. The rest headed back to the Fence canyon camp and would do something less aggressive the next day.


Saturday 5/26:

We woke up at 5:30am, and made breakfast. We finished the hike over to the Bakers, seeing some amazing destruction from the
awesome power of the October 2006 floods: http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3719 We started up the slickrock and
debated whether to do West, East or both Bakers; and which one to do first if we were to do both (like I wanted to.) We
decided to do West Baker: http://www.climb-utah.com/Escalante/baker.htm

We would then see what time it was when we finished. We would then drop in to East if we had time. West Baker was awesome.
We dropped in around 9am, and shortly came to a murky pool. A few of us (including me) wanted to jump it if it was safe,
but people were taking longer to get ready, so I did a handline into the pool to check it out. It was a little shallow at
just over 4 feet, but still able to jump if careful. Some jumped and others rapped.

The canyon was very fun with lots of variety. Some swims, a jump or two, fun downclimbing, a very tight squeeze, some mossy
sections, and beautiful sculpting. Most wore 3/2 full wetsuits, the warmer blooded wore 3/2 farmer johns, and were fine;
but it was in the upper 80's during the day. The canyon had raps to 55 feet, some from natural anchors, some from a single
bolt. Some natural anchors could be built near the bolts, but the bolts were in decent shape and were pretty clean so we
used them. We hit the confluence with East around 11:15am. So far, we were making decent time. We hiked up East for a
bit, and it looked pretty awesome.

We continued back and down, and saw a possible exit on the East side of the canyon around Noon. We discussed our options.
We could try to upclimb here, and it might be a shortcut to hit East Baker. Or it might burn enough time where we would no
longer have enough time to do East. We could skip the possible exit and hike out and go around; but the entrance to East is
not supposed to be very straightforward. Or we could just head back to camp. Several people (including me) wanted to give
the possible exit a shot; it would be awesome if it went. Would be quite a shortcut. The first upclimb into a subway was
challenging, but not too bad. The next section was long and pretty exposed. With some rock gear, it might be decent, but
we didn't have enough to protect a climb. We also didn't know if there was more obstacles after the climb. We decided to
play it safe and not risk a possible serious injury. We downclimbed back into main Baker, and headed downcanyon.

The lower section (after the confluence of West and East Baker) was still a great canyon. Still some downclimbs, swimming
and awesome scenery. We hit the final rappel around 1:30pm. It was early enough that we still had a chance to do East.
However, we would likely be hiking back to camp in the dark if we did. We then had a big and early day as we were planning
to do Choprock tomorrow. We decided to play it on the conservative side and save East Baker for another time, and hiked
back to camp. We got back to camp around 4:30pm, and relaxed and chatted with the group.

We found out that another group who camped near us had gone into Choprock today, from one person that was with that group
that didn't go in. They weren't back when it started to get dark and he was starting to get concerned; and was debating
hiking out to get help for a rescue. I let him know that we were heading into Choprock the next day, so we would get there
before any rescue team would. I told him to just wait, and hopefully the group would be out tonight. If not, they likely
would have gotten held up from difficult conditions or possibly an injury (sprained ankle, etc) as the weather had been
great all weekend. If it was from difficult conditions, they would likely be out early the next day. If it was an injury,
when we went through the next day, we could help them if they needed it. I let our group know the situation, that we might
be in for some difficult conditions in Choprock and/or a possible situation where we would need to help other canyoneers.
It turned out that we heard the other team get back around 10:30pm, after we were already in our tents. Glad they made it
back, but I figured this meant we were in for some difficult conditions the next day and was glad that we skipped East
Baker.


Sunday 5/27:

Sunday was Choprock: http://www.climb-utah.com/Escalante/chop.htm One of my favorite canyons. Long, beautiful, and not to
be taken lightly: http://www.climb-utah.com/Escalante/chop1.htm Seven of us would drop in; Rom, Brian, Ben, Diane, Stuart,
Tim, and I.

We woke up early, just after 4am, because we were expecting issues from what we heard from the field and since we knew it
took the other group of canyoneers a long time to complete it the day before. We had breakfast, prepped, and started the
long approach hike around 5:30am, and were dropping into the canyon around 7:30am. We suited up prior to a few downclimbs
into pools; still above the Riparian section. We did the rappel into the Riparian section around 9am.

The Riparian section seemed to be even more lush than last time, with a LOT of poison ivy plants. Some were like trees,
towering around 15 feet high. Incredible. We then hit the Happy section around 10:15am. The Happy section is wonderful.
Beautiful and clear flowing water through sculpted canyon and subway sections. We played around a bit, climbing up and
jumping into some awesome pools. Not too long though, as we were anticipating difficulties in the Grim section.

We hit the Grim section around 11:15am. There was a large log jam in the first tight section. I first climbed over, and it
was easy to go around; but it's a really cool section. I climbed back around and dropped in. Pulled a few of the logs out
and the rest of the jam came crashing down. Cool. Now the whole group could experience this cool, dark, tight and twisty
section.

The Grim section seemed to have more log jams than previous years, but all the upclimbs were from dry spots, with the walls
near the upclimbs were quite condusive to easy climbing. There were many swims, including two longer swims in the canyon.
The first long one is an awesome swim through tight twisty narrows for a hundred yards or so. All of us were in full
wetsuits; minimum of 4/3mm and were fine. I was a little chilly because of a cheap wetsuit, but not too bad.
Unfortunately, my waterproof camera case opened on one of the upclimbs, and my camera plunged into a pool of water. Got it
back, and hoped it would work again when it dried out. Didn't get any more pics after that happened though.

We hit the end of the canyon around 1pm and were pretty surprised. I thought Choprock was a lot easier than previous years,
and others agreed. Since we still had plenty of time left in the day, Ben and Tim wanted to see how far they could upclimb
the canyon. I was kind of bummed, and didn't really feel like doing the upclimb. They headed up, and the rest of us rapped
down, and lounged around in the sun, drying our gear. We then leisurely strolled the river floating our packs behind us
back to camp. I wish we knew we could have made it through that quick (less than 10 hours tent to tent, including LOTS of
leisure time on the return) as we could have added East Baker the previous day. Oh well, better safe than sorry. East will
be there next time.

We got back to camp just before 3pm. We talked with the rest of the group; and lounged around by the river. Everyone got
together for dinner, and we spent the rest of the night visiting around camp. We discussed the plans for the next day. We
would try to hike out early, and possibly fit in one of the shorter Spooky/Peekaboo/Brimstone canyons. I'd love to do the
Spooky/Peekaboo loop, but don't know if we would have time; since we still had the long drive home as well.


Monday 5/28:

I woke up around 6am, and started packing up camp. Others were moving pretty slow. Jonas and I had taken some of the load
from Jen and Misty (who had hiked out the day before) and hiked up to the vehicles. Made it in less than 1:45. Pretty good
timing. We then waited for the others. They were taking a LONG time. We decided to leave a note on the car for them;
saying to meet us at the Kiva Coffeehouse. Just before leaving, Amber (from the other Choprock group) came up asking if we
had seen two of their group. They hadn't shown up for an Egypt canyon that morning. Unfortunately we hadn't. Bummer, they
were having a rough time this weekend. We told her that we would check with the others. We then headed off to the Kiva
Coffeehouse for breakfast; hoping the others would get there early enough to do another canyon; maybe a rap down Calf Creek.

Unfortunately, they didn't get there until around noon, seems like people just wanted a leisure return day. Thus, we just
enjoyed the company and the awesome food at the Kiva. It was still an awesome weekend with some really great canyon
experiences and great friends. I'm looking forward to getting back there soon...

We did hear back from the other group, and all of them made it out safe as well. That's the most important thing, followed
by people having a good time...


Movie:

20070524D1-31 Egypt 4 - Chimney and Long Way Down.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rdp35py3sg


Pics: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=174454511/a=38054161/t_=38054161
Group Room (multiple albums): http://ajoutdoors.snapfish.com/snapfish

Mt Bancroft Trip Report by Beth Bershader

Saturday 5/19/07
Mount Bancroft 13,250 ft.
Arapahoe National Forest, Clear Creek Co.
TH: Loch Lomond
Route: Ascent-East Ridge, Descent- SE Bowl
Start: 6am
Summit: 2pm
Finish: 5pm
Total Mileage: 6 miles
Total Elevation Gain: 2,850 ft.
Total Fun: 100%
Gear: ice ax, harness w/ belay device, prussik, personal anchor system, helmet, slings, 4 rap rings, 2 60 meter 10mm ropes, small rack of gear, snowshoes

CMC BMS Routefinding Day
Senior Instructor: Darrell Johnson
Assistant Instructors: Beth Bershader, Steve Cassin, Rob Nevitt
Students: Sharon Adams, Chris Bartle, Katie Goodwin, Sarah MacDonald, Stuart Paul, Dave Young, Mollie Young

Everyone was half asleep but wide eyed with anticipation. We knew it was gonna be a good day. You know how you just get that feeling. The sky was clear with no hint of a breeze & it was already warm. We started off parked about 1.5 miles from Loch Lomond (10,400 ft.elevation) due to a gate closure on Stewart Rd. The road was dry to the 2nd gate which funny enough was open. The road was covered with hardpacked snow from here. A few of us carried snowshoes on our packs as we walked across the hard snow to Loch Lomond where Darrell insisted we stop for a quick break & reconnoiter the route since that was where the view is. "I'm all about the view" he kept saying. Alright alright, calm down!

We stashed our snowshoes here & headed for the SE ramp covered in snow that the students kicked steps up that led to a small saddle off the eastern ridge where Lake Caroline lay in front of us. Another quick break here for snacks, pictures, a scan of the route. In the SE bowl you could see gigantic cracks that had produced slab avalanches. I mean GIGANTIC! We could see a runout from a mid sized avy leading to Lake Caroline.



We started up the eastern ridge. We could see James Peak & Jamaica from the ridge, I never realized how flat they both are, especially the summit of James. We had some 2nd class & low 3rd class scrambilng with a sprinkling of good ole fun 3rd class with a few short snow ridged sections to walk across. It all had a great alpine feel from the get go. I love ridges & I love scrambling! I hadn't scrambled since last fall so it took a little to shake the dust off. We reached the rappell notch around 10am & set up the anchor. There is a bomber rock to sling here. It looks downclimbable to the climbers left if you're comfortable with exposed 4th class. I went first down the approx. 80 ft. rappell setting up a piece of webbing on a wimpy flake for students to clip into when they got off rappell. There was quite the knife edged snow traverse across the notch & a slip into the coliour below looked unentertaining! Stuart came down next & stomped out a good path across the snow.

When Rob came down I headed over to Stuart to scout the route while Rob helped others rappell down. In retrospect, it would've made much more sense for Rob to go with Stuart. I followed Stuart up the left of the notch forgetting what an experienced climber he is & an unexperiened climber I am. Needless to say he upclimbed the 5.2 crack unroped while I hung out on a ledge trying to figure out what to do with myself. So I sat down & ate a snack & cheered the students on while they rappelled feeling like an idiot getting myself stuck. After a while Chris replaced Rob & Rob met Stuart to prep a belay station for students to upclimb the right side of the notch which is exposed 4th class with 1 low 5th class move in the very beginning. As Katie reached the other side of the notch, she looked slightly worried. After some friendly harrassing from Darrell & worrying about Katie, this motivated me to downclimb to help her out. Down I went, wow that was easy, why did I wait so long to do that! I helped the students tie into their harnesses & prepare to climb as they each came & went. Finally my turn & up I went, not bad at all. When we were all gathered back together almost 3 hours later we began moving along the ridge again.



After some more fun scrambling we reached an interesting rock tower where the only option was downclimbing then traversing a snowfield facing into the snow with our ice axes in center front of us to reach a 4th class gulley. One at a time slowly & carefully we made it. Now for more fun scrambling some of the rock being bomber & some of the rock being pretty dang lose. It was mostly 3rd class with some 4th class here & there with a little exposure now & then. There was even a short minor knife ridge like before the white tower on Kelso Ridge.

We finally reached grassy rocky ledges that turned into grassy ledges, the going was getting easier. The clouds were starting to build & people were starting to slow. I think we were all getting tired now. It was feeling like a long time. We had some people pop gu's, the miracle of quick energy. We just kept slowly moving now hoping no one would stop & just keep moving even if slowly. We finally reached the false summit as the snow started. We added some layers & had another quick bite. We were hoping we'd reach the summit but weren't sure due to the dark clouds, but we were soooo close! As we reached the saddle, the snow squall passed us rumbling some minor thunder as the sun came back out. A quick 5 minute kick stepping up the snow to the summit & we were on top. Hugs & smiles & high fives all around. Excellent views into Winter Park, to Gray & Torreys, etc. We took some quick pics, had some quick bites, & donned the glissade pants getting ready for our descent. We figured we shouldn't hang on top too long since it was already 2pm & there were more clouds coming.

We retreated to the saddle & did some alternating fun glissades & traversing plunge stepping. Down down down we went. We quickly reached the minor saddle on the east ridge for some final glissading. A few postholes & falling into creeks & we reached Loch Lomond. Those that didn't have snowshoes carried on & those that did donned them as the rain started & the thunder/lightening storm began. We moved quickly into the trees. I emphasis quickly! As we reached the road, the storm was over & the sun was out to warm us up & dry us off for the final 1.5 miles. Excellent! We reached the cars at 5pm. A change into dry clothes, a cold beer, & more hugs. Dinner in Idaho Springs at Buffalo Restaurant. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Afterthougts: We were very lucky with the weather. This route takes much longer than you'd think especially with such a large group. I had never been to this basin & was suprised at the beauty of it, absolutely stunning. The students did AWESOME, for most of them it was their 1st technical alpine climb of a peak. It is a great feeling seeing the smiles on their faces when they reached the top. We even had a student from another group, Sarah, and she fit right in. My fellow instructors, like usual, rocked. This peak was just too much fun & I will definitely do it again & again!!