Enchantments: Cannon Mountain (8,638ft), McClellan Peak (8,364ft) 20 miles, 10,000ft gain 2:15am to 5:30pm, Eric Gilbertson (solo) Probable first winter ascent of Cannon My favorite time of year to visit the Enchantments region is the winter, when the views are great but the summer crowds are gone. On one trip… Continue reading
Windy Peak (8,333ft), Horseshoe Mountain (7,956ft), Armstrong Mountain (8,117ft), Arnold Mountain (8,091ft) Probable second winter ascent of Windy Peak, First winter ascents of Horseshoe, Armstrong, Arnold Sat Jan 25 12:45am to Sun Jan 26 8:15am (31.5 hours continuous moving) Eric and Fred, 53 miles, 10,000ft gain Back in October I’d… Continue reading
Mount Bigelow (8,440ft), Switchback Mountain (8,321ft), Martin Peak (8,375ft) Possible First Winter Ascents Fred and Eric, Jan 19-20, 2020 32 miles, 9,000ft gain I’m working on climbing Bulgers in the winter and it looked like a weather window in the Sawtooth area of eastern washington for the weekend. Interestingly, as… Continue reading
Mt McCausland (5,747ft) Backcountry Skiing Eric, Tyler, Colie, Kayla, Birkan, Kurt Jan 11, 2020, ~10 miles, 2,600ft We left the Smith Brook pullout Saturday morning 8:30am on skis and splitboards. Luckily it is permitted to park in this pullout even when plowing is going on, though cars might get buried… Continue reading
Northern Lights in Yukon Dec 31, 2019 – Jan 5, 2020, Eric and Katie 2700 miles driving Dec 31 – Seattle to Prince George, BC Jan 1 – Prince George to Muncho Lake, BC Jan 2 – Muncho Lake BC to Watson Lake, YT Jan 3 – Watson Lake to… Continue reading
Cotopaxi (19,374ft) December 29, 2019 Eric I was in Ecuador to climb Chimborazo, the country highpoint, and found myself with a few extra days after my chimborazo climb went as planned with no delays. I had planned ahead in case this happened, and had arranged to climb Cotopaxi, another tall… Continue reading
Chimborazo (20,561 ft/6267m) – Highpoint of Ecuador Farthest point from center of Earth December 27, 2019 Eric I was in South America climbing mountains and had just finished climbing Volcan Sajama, the Bolivia highpoint, with Matthew. After a few rest days at sea level in Arica, Chile I flew to… Continue reading
Sajama (21,463ft/6542m) – Highpoint of Bolivia via NW ridge (5.4 M1 WI2 in conditions we encountered) Dec 14 – 20, 2019 Eric and Matthew Dec 14 Matthew arrives Arica, Chile (0ft), bus to Sajama village, Bolivia (13,900ft) Dec 15 Eric arrives Arica, climbs 15,000ft peak, returns to Arica, Matthew in… Continue reading
Mount Adams (12,267ft) Summit Bivy Dec 7-8, 2019, Eric I needed to preacclimate for an upcoming high altitude mountaineering trip to the Andes, so wanted to get as high as possible for as long as possible over the weekend. I considered climbing Rainier, but with bad weather forecast Saturday it… Continue reading
Mount Defiance (5,584ft) Dec 1, 2019, Eric My flight landed mid morning Sunday coming back from Thanksgiving in KY, and I had a few hours of daylight in the afternoon to squeeze in a hike. I was meaning to test out two pairs of 8,000m boots for an upcoming high-altitude… Continue reading