Author on Icy BC

So, after several weeks of knee recovery and a quick snowshoe trip to test out the stability and equate the distance to pain ratio it was time to start winter. After a bout of increasingly common sea-level snowfall and then record rains and floods hear in Western Washington, it was about time to get out to cold climates where precipitation came in the form of light and dry powder snow. Maybe all this global warming with it's extreme weather events isn't so bad after all, especially if this climber friendly cycle of warming, raining, and then extreme cold never lets up.

With the growing number of climbers around the state of Washington along with all the other user groups, such as off-road vehicle users, mountain bikers, etc it's important that climbers have a unified voice. After attending a great informational meeting put on by the local Washington Climbers Coalition heads, Andy Fitz and Matt Perkins, it was excellent to see such a great turn out. With representatives from several different user groups that have already done what the WCC envisioned present at the meeting, it provided a rich environment for discussing what individuals can do to help out.

Wine Spires

All week long, as I watched the weather forecast go from good to bad and back to good, then bad again our plans kept fluctuating. Once Eric and Mike showed up at my house a little after 7pm on Friday we finally decided to head up to Washington Pass and Bivy in the basin below Burgundy Col. So, after a few packing adjustments and picking another Mike downtown, we were on our way to Mazama to crash at one of the Mike's friend's cabin. I was surely in store for a adventure with these new acquaintances, far more than I would realize yet.

Liberty Bell Group

After an long evening hanging out at the camp fire on Sunday night, we woke up later than we had planned on the night before. I arose from my sleeping quarters in the back of my 4runner when Michael opened the back hatch to get some of his food for breakfast. I immediately sat up and shook off the sense of lethargy that was beckoning me to go back to sleep and started to pack my gear for the day. I grabbed the box of oatmeal I had brought for breakfast and walked over to the picnic tables in front of the cabin. My water bottles were devoid of liquid, so I took several minutes to walk down to the river to pump water. By the time I came back to start boiling water, the sun's rays had finally washed away any doubts about our objective for the day. I greeted that though with a smile.