Katie and Eric April 23-24 The Royal Columns climbing area on the Tieton River has an excellent collection of cracks to climb right next to the road. We spent a few days climbing here, and found an amazing campsite Saturday night up some rough dirt roads on the top of… Continue reading
Mt Baker Ski Attempt Eric and Greg April 16, 2016 It’s the right time of year for big ski descents with snow all the way from summits to trailheads, long days, and generally low avy danger. Greg and I hoped to get a 7,500ft+ ski descent from the summit of… Continue reading
Little Tahoma (11,138ft) April 9-10, 2016 Eric, Aaron, Tyler, Ana The weather was forecast to be sunny all weekend so I abandoned plans to go rock climbing east of the crest in favor of getting high in the mountains for good views. The highest mountain in Washington that I’d not… Continue reading
Glacier Peak (10,520ft) April 1-2, 2016 Eric and Duncan Glacier Peak is the most remote volcano in the cascades and is at least a 15-mile hike from the nearest road. With a long stretch of high pressure forecast Duncan and I decided to give it a try, and see if… Continue reading
Sawtooth Slam – Mount Bigelow (8,440ft), Martin Peak (8,375ft), Switchback Peak (8,321ft) March 27-29 Eric Gilbertson I couldn’t find a mountaineering partner for the first half of spring break, so set off to climb some mountains solo. The weather was supposed to be dry and sunny east of the cascade… Continue reading
March 25-27 Matthew Gilbertson, with John Romanishin, Ye Yao, Maike Sonnewald I did a quasi-Presi Traverse this weekend with three other MITOCers: John Romanishin, Ye Yao, and Maike Sonnewald. Friday night, we drove up to NH, dropping off four bikes in the woods near Pinkham Notch along the way. Then we… Continue reading
Strobach Mountain (6,397 ft) Eric and Katie Our goal over Katie’s spring break was to find some late-season ice climbing to train for upcoming alpine climbs. Hyalite Canyon in Montana was our first choice, but with temperatures forecast to be in the 50s F that week it looked like there… Continue reading
Cashmere Mountain 20 miles, 15 hours Eric Gilbertson and Aaron Yahr March 19, 2016 A rare winter confluence of sunny weather and moderate avy danger was forecast for the cascades saturday. This was the last weekend of winter, so I was excited to hit a final winter 100 highest mountain… Continue reading
March 12, 2016 Eric Gilbertson This was a good training trip for bike touring between country highpoints. I took the ferry out to San Juan Island in Puget Sound with Katie and did a big bike loop around the island, covering around 60 miles and hiking up Mt Young and… Continue reading
Bandera Mountain (5,241 ft) and Mount Defiance (5,584 ft) Eric Gilbertson March 5, 2016 I originally planned to work today grading papers given that the forecast was for rain, but when I sat down to start grading at 9:45am I looked outside my window and it was somehow sunny with blue… Continue reading