Building from the momentum I had gained in 2009 for hiking, I did a little hike at Red Rock, a park near Las Vegas on New Years day. When I got back to Seattle, the momentum started to fade so I did a relaxed mix of skiing at Snoqualmie Pass and hiking along I-90. Work was really busy so I frequently was working on Saturdays and not getting out to the mountains as much as I would have liked. In February, that all changed. I had been considering the basic climbing class (BCC) offered through Boeing’s alpine club, Boealps. Due to upcoming work and possible travel I talked to my manager but she encouraged me to take the class still. After text conferring with Aaron N, about 2 hours before the first class, I decided to do it. The next three and a half months of my life would be devoted to mountaineering, whether or not I was ready. The BCC consisted of classes every Wednesday, complete with reading and homework – although I can’t really complain when my homework is reading about mountains. Every weekend was off to the mountains for learning skills and practicing. Despite not having an emphasis on hiking this year with specific goals in mind, I still ended up hiking over 150 miles and almost 11.5 miles up. I surpassed my elevation goal from last year in 3/4 the distance, not too bad. That definitely reflects the change from casual hiking to mountain climbing though.
At the first BCC class the lead instructor talked about Mt Si and said if students can hike to the top in 2 – 2.5 hours, they would be fine for the class. That next weekend I headed for Mt Si and made it to the top just a few minutes passed 2 hours, I was excited. The first weekend in March was our first outing which introduced us to the harness, tying knots, clipping in to a fixed rope, belaying, rappelling, and navigating at St Edwards. The next weekend we were off to Mt Erie to find some more vertical rock to actually test our newly learned skills. I couldn’t wait for my first rappel and was excited to get my first real rock climbs in, even if it was in my mountaineering boots. For our third outing we were finally assigned to our teams and we headed for Stevens Pass to climb Big Chief. It was pouring but luckily that quickly turned into snow, and we learned to kick steps, use an ice ax, self arrest, travel in rope teams, and build snow anchors. I never knew snow could create such solid anchors! The next weekend we were in the Snoqualmie Pass area with our sights set on Silver Peak. This was our navigation climb so we got some map work in, although most of the climb followed the trail to Annette Lake.
The first weekend in April we got a break so a group of us headed north to Mt Baker for a weekend of skiing with Emily before she would have to travel back east for school. The first day dumped snow, followed by a gorgeous, clear, sunny day surrounded by snow capped mountains – I couldn’t ask for more! After that it was time for our overnight trip, my first camping trip in the snow. We were supposed to go to Del Campo, but due to late season snow, we changed to Mt Ellinor in the Olympics. After our introduction to the Warrior, we arrived in style on Mt Ellinor. I had climbed that mountain the previous summer so I was interested to see it covered with snow. After digging many cars out of the snow and fighting a stomach bug throughout the weekend, I successfully camped in the snow and made the summit. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed camping in the snow, and how wonderful water bottles filled with hot water can be to sleep with at your feet! Finally Team Blue Steel caught a break and we landed a gorgeous day back in the Snoqualmie Pass area with a climb up Guye Peak the following weekend. We did well and managed all three summits with some excellent summit treats! The last weekend in April was our rock climbing weekend in Leavenworth, also in conjunction with the spring Boealps club campout. The Warrior left that Friday night to join in the festivities, and on our free day on Saturday I got my first taste of real rock climbing. After talking to some instructors, I was easily convinced to stop by Second Ascent and get my first pair of rock climbing shoes. We spent Saturday climbing slab and I made it up my first 2 routes with an almost third. Sunday was our class day and we learned about building anchors, getting out of a belay to check on an injured climber, rappelling past a knot, and free rappelling.
May arrived and along with it, our last four weekend outings. The first outing was to the Tatoosh range just south of Mt Rainier. Our team was assigned Eagle to climb, with the possibility of bagging Chutla as well. The weather was pretty crummy when we arrived at the trailhead at 6:30 AM. The peaks were all clouded in but we started up the trail anyways. When we finally got out into the basin, we started kicking steps up what we though was a clouded in Eagle – close to the top we realized it was Chutla! After a team member progressively got sicker, we decided it best to head back to the cars and leave our summit dreams for the day. The following weekend we were back at Mt Rainier, only this time with beautiful weather – sunshine and mostly clear skies. We could finally see the mountains we were suppose to climb the previous weekend. After getting some practice with our crampons, we roped up and started up the glacier to our assigned crevasse for crevasse rescue training. The rescue work was hard, even with the help of the Z-Pulley. It was a great day and everyone had fun. It was also the highest I had ever climbed, right around 8,000’.
The next weekend was the big one – our graduation climb. Originally we were hoping to climb Little Tahoma, the peak on the east side of Mt Rainier, but the areas weren’t open so we changed to Mt Baker instead, the Easton Glacier route. Despite the annoying snowmobilers everywhere, it was a good weekend. The weather was good and we plodded our way up the mountain. We set up camp about 6500’ and woke up at midnight to continue our ascent to the summit, 10,778’. As dawn was starting I decided to head back around 9300’, I wasn’t doing very well with the altitude. By time I woke up from my nap, the rest of the team was back to camp and it was time to pack up and head home. Everyone was really excited to bag Mt Baker and I put it on my to-do list. Our final outing for the class was trail maintenance with WTA, the Washington Trails Association. We went to the Iron Goat Trail to help widen the path and clean it up a bit. I know why I don’t have my own yard now – after hiking a couple miles with a hoe in one hand and shovel in the other, I was ready to call it a day.
Unfortunately once class ended, I was away on travel for the better part of a month. I did manage to hike Mt Si, including the scramble up the Haystack, with Aaron P over Memorial Day, and went white water rafting with BEWET at the beginning of June in Leavenworth – complete with a little rock climbing of course. I didn’t really get the opportunity to climb again until mid July when a group of friends had decided to have margarita madness on Mt Adams. It was a great weekend and the mountain was packed. There weren’t any permits left at the ranger station so we took a picture of us putting money in a makeshift envelope to show in case we were questioned. We camped with everyone else at lunch counter, right around 9000’. Mt Adams is 12,276’, a bigger challenge than Mt Baker even. We woke up at a leisurely 7:00 AM and put crampons on. After an hour or so, we took them off since there was such a well established set of steps. I was doing fairly well, climbing a bit slow though. I made it to the false summit, Pikers Peak, at 11,500’. Due to the time it took me, I hung out there for about an hour and half to wait for everyone to come back down and head to camp with them. The way down to lunch counter involved a 2000’ glissade – awesome! We packed up camp, had another margarita, and started glissading our way down the mountain led by Shadle.
After Mt Adams I turned my focus to rock climbing. The next weekend the Boealps Basic Rock Climbing class (BRC) was going to be up at Squamish for an outing and Aaron P and Matt were instructing. Sara and I along with a couple of Sara’s friends decided to go up and do some rock climbing ourselves while the guys taught. Despite have a horrendous head cold, it was a great weekend for team Be-Lay Off. The first day we spent climbing cracks at Neat and Cool at Smoke Bluffs. The following day we decided to hike to the top of Stawamus Chief, the mountain we were camping at the base of. After an interesting hike up ladders of rebar and using chain handrails, we arrived at the summit to the wonderment of all the other hikers as we donned our climbing gear. I had a lot of fun climbing with everyone that weekend and I was sucked into climbing – it definitely became my new passion.
Emily was back to visit the second week in August so we finally made it over to the Olympic Peninsula for an epic camping trip. After camping in a hotel room in Port Angeles Friday, we headed to Second Beach near Forks. It was a short hike to a beautiful beach and we got a prime corner spot. After napping on the beach and playing some softball, we cooked dinner and checked out the tide pools. The night we ended by star gazing on the beach and actually decided to sleep out under the stars. Sunday we went to the Hoh rain forest and took a dip in the river. The next weekend was back to rock climbing with a day spent at Exit 38 along I-90, grilling, drinking, and climbing with friends.
Unfortunately the weather decided to stop cooperating so well so I started climbing in the gym a lot more, Vertical World. I finally broke down in September and got a membership. We did make it out for one more weekend of climbing in Leavenworth for the Boealps fall campout the first week in October. Aaron took Alyssa and I for our first sport lead climbs! We lead a 5.6, followed by a 5.4 and then some normal top-roping crack climbing. It was a great weekend! The third weekend in October I finally got back into the mountains for the Boealps ice climbing seminar at Mt Baker. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I got much more comfortable using crampons and I learned how to use ice tools. We spent the afternoon climbing out of a crevasse, so much fun! The weekend was gorgeous so I took advantage of it and hiked up Mt Pilchuck the next day. I had heard great things about the mountain and it did not disappoint with great views of all the surrounding mountains.
November was a month of indoor climbing, at least once a week if not more. I’m definitely improving though and climb a solid 5.9/5.10A, and I’m working my way into the 5.10B’s now. At the end of the month, I officially started my ski season with a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Whistler. It was my first time there and I was impressed – there is so much mountain to ski! Of course we had a great time hanging out and took full advantage of the hot tub. December has been full of more indoor rock climbing during the week, and skiing on the weekend. This time it’s been local for OFA (Outdoors for All) training, the first weekend at Snoqualmie and the second weekend at Steven’s Pass, where I’ll be volunteering. I’m still not a great skier but I think I’m improving and I’m excited to work with the stand up skiers and maybe do a little tether skiing. Looking forward to 2011 I see lots of skiing in January and February, followed by lots of mountain climbing in the spring, and rock climbing. I can’t wait for the new year and the mountain adventures it will bring!