Don't sweat it Steve. That very thing happened to me and my partner Roger Hayashi too. Except we got a late start and managed only to finish the first 2 pitches of the direct start . The weather then got ugly and we bailed. We ended up giving it a try the very next year and walked away successful. I know the feeling.

BTW, I think Deb and I are going to wrap up the technical climbing season and do some 3rd/4th class scrambling until it snows. Her arm has been jacked up for over a month and needs some rest. Think we'll head to TM to do the Cathedral "loop" over Columbus Day weekend (if it doesn't snow by then).....

Dave, sorry to hear about Deb's arm!

Busy
Got out of Portland 4pm Friday after work.
Got to trailhead Saturday at noon.
Got to Cirque of Towers at 4pm.
Got up at 8am Sunday and climbed NE Face on Pingora.
Got up 7am Monday.
Got to trailhead at noon.
Got to Portland 13 hrs later ~2am.
Got to work (to post on SP) 9am Monday.

Radek, way to go man! Did you by any chance run into my friend Jason in the Cirque? He was there this weekend and Pingora was on his agenda.

Martin & Mishell Cash came through Vancouver on Saturday, and we had a wonderful afternoon of sightseeing, eating, drinking, and socializing. Had a really great time. SummitPost rocks!

Went mountain biking Sun & Mon.

Heck yeah! We had a great time as well. It was great to meet you Eileen, and thanks again for the tour and accomodations. Ever climbed Tantalus or one of those big peaks on the west side of highway 99? Damn! Let's go hit a couple next year!

I've been to Lake Lovely water, but not up the peaks there. I have climbed Garibaldi.

I'm totally in for next year. June is probably the best month. (unless we have no snow again this winter, in which case, April or May)

We'll definitely make some plans.

EB

Radek and Shirley -

You guys are awesome! Way to go on "The Circus"! How was the rock quality?

<i> Where you guys are positioned in the photo, did you guys start there and go straight up?</i>

Dave, I think that you can only see me on this photo, belaying Pavel. Pavel is in the dark chimney above the crux, probably about 100' up.

Dave,
Thank you very much The rock quality is very good. The climbing on that route is good I'd say. Personally, I thought that East Ridge on Wolfs Head (even though it's easier technically) is a more fun/spectacular climb. But this one wasn't bad either (a little monotonous on the lower half). I find the climbing there a bit stressful as the weather keeps rolling by (and rolling in) - backing off that route above P2 = much gear for raps.

Misha,
<i>Did you by any chance run into my friend Jason in the Cirque? </i>
hmmmmm....ran into 2 guys on Sunday doing NE Face. They were from So. Cali. Nice and friendly. We b.s.'ed around at belays but I unfortunately don't recall their names anymore?? They were on a 18 month road trip. Would these be the guys you're talking about?

Misha and Steve -

Here's the 5th pitch section we did (in yellow)....

My apologies to Dave K. I borrowed this just to show where we went. Is this what you guys did? Steve.....do you think this is the 5.10 variation?? Misha....I see two people close together in the photo (about 10 feet apart). I tried magnifying it and it did appear like two people near each other. Anyone else see two people close together or is my eyesight gone?


<IMG SRC="http://www.summitpost.org/images/180926.jpg">

We stayed to the left of your line, following the obvious weakness on the arete. I think that you may have done that 5.10 variation. Good job!

Thanks M! It sure felt like all of "5.8"......

I'm not sure if it's "the" 5.10 variation, but it's not the standard route! BTW, I saw on another thread some mention of your descending in the dark. Sounds ugly!

Yep, we hit the "Wall of Exhaustion" after we descended off the route! We made a slow descent off onto Cox Col and ended up on some 3rd/4th class rock and a section of hard snow (in Exum Ridge Approach shoes.....SCARY!!). I lost our other headlamp (nice that we didn't have ANY moonlight!) and we ended up moving slower then normal back to base camp at Dade Lake. We stumbled into camp at "Zero Dark Thirty". Our one saving grace for the weekend.....we had Dade Lake to ourselves!! Surprised?

BTW, I did see dried blood on that section of the route (5th pitch); clearly not mine (or that would have been some "quick drying" blood).

Dave, that's the line we took also - but we were going by Roper's guidebook with a written description. I thought it was stiff for 5.8 at the time, but credited the altitude and off-width with how it felt.

Still, it was a beautiful crack.