This was a big year for me! I’ve been trying to get through a backlog of old trip reports, but let’s be honest – it’s not going to happen. For every post I write, I’ve been doing two more trips.
I’d rather go out and do something than write about it anyway, so I thought maybe I’d write a round-up of what I’m happy I was able to do, what I learned, and who I did it with for the year of 2016.
The big skills I learned this year were basic glacier travel, crevasse rescue, AIARE Level I Avalanche Safety training, trad climbing/leading, multipitch climbing, and backcountry skiing. In addition to taking a couple formal courses through BC Adventure Guides, I had great mentors like Eric and Vlad who led a structured short-course on glacier travel and crevasse rescue, experienced friends like Todd, Pete, Luke, and Jacob, who were willing to teach me new techniques for climbing and skiing, a good crew who were always up for something fun – David, Hanna, Jessie, Cory, Kimber, Gina – among many others, awesome friends and roommates who put up with me leaving my shit out to dry, and my amazing girlfriend Michelle, who loves me even though I smell bad and have a weird schedule sometimes!
I do realize the silliness of putting this on the internet, but it’s more for me than it is for you, dear reader…hopefully this will serve as a source of motivation for me in the coming year, and a record of why I like doing what I do. So here’s a select list of my favorite outings from the year, with short notes about why they were meaningful to me (order is roughly chronological):
Summit and ski descent of Mt. St. Helens Worm Flow (February): This was the first volcano I summited (picked the halfsie one…), and it was the first time Pete and I ever hung out one-on-one. The start of a great friendship, a great climbing/skiing partnership, and a fun goal for the year!
Swinging leads on Wherever I May Roam (5.9) at Smith Rock (March): This was the first time I ever led pitches on a multipitch climb, and although the climbing wasn’t challenging, the exposure was heady and it was a super fun learning experience! Thanks to Cory for being a rad partner on this one!
Skiing Lane Peaks’ Zipper Couloir (April): My friend Todd invited me to join Brendan and Suz for my first couloir ski ever. This happened to also be the day of my second date with Michelle, and the start of me realizing how gracious and supportive she is of me doing the things I love! I will admit that I sideslipped nearly the whole thing, and fell on my first turn. But I got down it unscathed and gained a lot of confidence, if not actual skill.
Attempting to ski Glacier Peak (May): This trip with Pete, Luke, and Scott was ultimately unsuccessful, but I still felt proud of our resolve in carrying those damn heavy skis into the backcountry. It was my first real cold camping on snow, but I felt like I did a great job of preparing mentally and gear-wise for the trip!
Summit and ski descent of Adams (May): This trip with Pete, Luke, and Jay was the biggest elevation I’d done in a single day, and the highest elevation I’d ever been at at the same time. I was exhausted! But I pushed myself to finish, and Jay especially offered a lot of encouragement up to the summit.
Summit Mt Baker via Easton (June): The informal climbing team that we formed under the leadership of Eric and Vlad attempted Baker as our first test of glacier travel and crevasse rescue. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the team was super fun. Bonus was that I got to meet Todd on the summit, which was one of the coolest meaningful climbing experiences I could have, since he’s been a great friend for so long, and has really played a huge role in getting me into the mountains.
Skiing Nisqually Chutes (June): In 2015, on my very first ski tour with Todd, Jeremy, and Travis Larson to Camp Muir (almost), Todd pointed out the Nisqually Chutes during our descent. They seemed impossibly intimidating to me, and I doubted I’d ever be skiing at that level. Little did I know, less than a year later, they’d feel like a cake-walk to me! I skied them in great conditions (I’ll have to test myself on ice sometime) with Luke, Pete, and Al. (This was part of our descent from Muir where we met our friends Rachel and Nathanael, who were in the middle of Rachel’s 30th birthday celebration – biking from the sound to Paradise, and then climbing Rainier. We just met them at Muir for a while, but they would later go on to the summit where Nathanael proposed to Rachel. Congrats to them!)
Attempt of Rainier Emmons route (July): This attempt was unsuccessful as well, but it was an awesome experience nonetheless, the route was beautiful, the company was great, and it topped Adams as my highest elevation (turned back around 13.4K feet).
Summit Glacier Peak (July): Pete and Luke and I had the itch to go back and summit this remote volcano. Pete’s friend Dustin was visiting from New England, and he joined us for what would prove to be my favorite mountain climb of the year. The weather was absolutely perfect, got the summit monkey off my back, and went to some of the coolest remote terrain I’ve ever seen in Washington – rivaled only by the Enchantments and the Cascade Pass region.
Summit Rainier via DC route (July): We did it! This was the 5th and final Washington volcano I summited this year with Pete, and did all but MSH with Luke. What a cool experience! David and Vlad also made it to the top with us in high winds and extremely cold temperatures. The sunrise was beautiful and although I did more climbing this year, it felt like the capstone project of 2016. Funny to look back a couple years ago and remember me loudly saying at parties that climbing Rainier didn’t sound like something I’d ever want to do.
Lead first trad pitch on Beckey route, Liberty Bell (5.6) (September): Ever since following Outer Space with Cory and Jessie last year, I’ve wanted to experience leading on my own gear. I cobbled together a meager single rack with help from Todd, and my buddy Jacob brought me out to Washington Pass to climb the easy classic Beckey Route on the Liberty Bell formation. It was a blast! Other than almost passing out on the 2nd pitch, that is. I led the first pitch and Jacob evaluated my gear as he followed. This helped me feel more confident in my gear placements, as well as more confident in my ability to climb easy routes whilst fiddling with gear.
Lead entirety of Prusik W. Ridge (5.7) (September): This classic alpine climb has been on my to-do list since before I even knew what it entailed. I pitched it out into 7 pitches, and brought Pete and Luke up as followers. I felt confident in my climbing, my gear, and my belay anchors. It was a perfect weather day, cold enough to keep from getting sweaty, but warm enough to avoid shivering. To me, this was the single biggest accomplishment of my year, since I love the aesthetic of Prusik Peak, spent a long time learning skills, and got to do it smoothly with two great friends.
Enchantments scramble day – Little Annapurna, Dragontail, Witches Tower (September): On the same trip as Prusik, which was made possible by Luke obtaining a core zone camping permit, we were able to do a series of scrambles with the whole group – Hanna, David, Luke, Gina, Pete, Kimber, Tom, and me. We summited Little Annapurna, Dragontail (via the long ridge route), and Witches Tower. All super fun, and great dramatic weather!
Sahale Glacier ski (September): After a horrible ski in July, and a long hike into snow in August, this was just what I needed to restore the stoke. I went with Luke, Gina, and some new friends – Mitch, Mitch, Allison, Bryan, Tay, and Megan, and we hiked up Cascade Pass and then to just below the summit of Sahale Peak. We didn’t summit because we were in ski boots, but we went to a little subpeak and hung out enjoying the views. The skiing was smooth but short, however the beauty of the hike made everything worth it.
An entire year of skiing consecutive months (at 14 now!): Did my 12th consecutive month at Mt Bachelor by skinning up The Cone. Nothing special about the skiing, but thanks Luke for sticking by my side throughout this weird quest! Not sure if I’ll do it through next summer, but it was awesome to do it this year, and I’m excited to keep skiing on real snow through the winter!
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