2011 turned out to be a pretty good year for me in terms of time spent in the great outdoors. The beginning of the year didn’t offer much in the way of overnighters—some recent staffing changes left me swamped at work and the paltry snowfall didn’t compel me to get out there like it otherwise would in winter. Things really …
Mount Baker via the North Ridge
I’m back in Washington State for work during the Congressional recess, and the weekend before last I managed to work in a quick, two-day climb of Mount Baker’s North Ridge. Two months ago I was out here for a week-long ice climbing course that was to include an ascent of Baker’s North Ridge, but unfortunately we didn’t have a weather …
Mount Rainier Attempt via the Kautz
Just got back to DC after an attempt on Rainier via the Kautz Glacier route with IMG. No summit this time, unfortunately. We got socked in by 40+ mph winds on our intended summit day. If our schedule was +/- one day we would have had it… The Kautz is a more challenging route than the standard Camp Muir / …
Six-Day Alpine Ice Course on Mount Baker
I just got a back from a six-day Alpine Ice course with the American Alpine Institute (AAI) out of Bellingham, WA. The trip was intended as a warm up run for my Mount Rainier climb next month, and going into it I didn’t really have high expectations for our weather chances in early June. I’m glad my expectations for the weather …