Nah but furreal, I'm trying to climb as much steep winter stuff as possible before it goes bye bye, which I reckon will be mid-March to early April. A little nugget of wisdom for y'all is that the good north facing stuff tends to be in excellent shape on cold days when most of the snow visible from the south side (as in LA and surrounding infect- I MEAN communities) has melted.
We climbed Baldy Bowl a little while ago, which melts out first since it's east facing and gets the morning and early afternoon sun. It's the local Mt Everest conga line sorta place, so I like doing it with friends but it kinda eats away at my heart a bit. I saw 30 dudes in one single line last time going up the right side. I don't want to deter people from getting into mountaineering and climbing, but I also live in one of the largest human population centers on Earth, so it's inevitable that you'll see a lot of people in the same places. I was more into sharing information and getting people out when I was younger and getting into this stuff, but as I've been here longer and grown older I've seen the light in the thought of not increasing accessibility to places such as this. Accessibility is also a big buzzword now, and people of typically a more leftward/social justice leaning will often use the word with regards to activities such as this, and the outcome is often individuals who may not have malicious intent, but still end up damaging the places they go through larger numbers and improper training and education. One can go on and on about this subject for eons, with some agreeing and others complaining that I'm a republican (I'm not, fuck off), or whatever, but that's not what I'm here to shit words out of my mouth about. Let's barf out crap about Telegraph! Everyone loves fun!
Our goal for the day was the NW Face of Telegraph. I like to sum this face up as being like Baldy Bowl with less rockfall danger, more stable conditions, a bit steeper, pretty much zero people, better climbing (yes, the rock is very loose), sometimes some ice here and there, a great summit, and a short approach/descent. If I like you and you are cool, you should go do it. If you don't pass the test based on whatever I feel like, you should probably stick to the bowl with your microspikes and trekking poles on 50 degree snow that's hardening rapidly as you climb a steep chute at 4pm, about to set the fastest time down the bowl on Strava.
Dima brought binoculars, so we eyeballed the face a bit just for fun. It looked the same as it always has, and was in good shape. Couple minor avalanches had fallen down it after the big snowfalls, a couple rockfalls, the usual. I decided we would chute for the central section of the face (see what I did there?), as you can top out right on the summit, which is cool. I have climbed this face many times and have possibly done each of the lines you see at least once, and they all share similar character. My favorite ones narrow down a bit and often have short sections of ice connecting steep snow gullies. The rock is poor, a rope is a liability and not something sensible on such a route anyway, in case anyone asks. Speed is vital on steep San Gabe winter stuff, since rockfall is the major threat. Again, this face tends to have very little rockfall, so it's not a huge worry on this particular face.
We sped up the face, hearts pounding, and due to a minor mistake on my part topped out on the ridge to the right of the summit instead of directly on it. I zigged when I shoulda zagged. I got the screaming barfies for the first time in years and sat in the sunlight warming my hands up and keeping the puke at bay. We made our way to the top where we took a break and some photos before hiking down.
To our surprise there was very little wind at the summit, making chilling quite easy. We hiked down the slope to the south of the face down to the saddle, then back up Thunder, then down the west side to the road back to the ski lift lot. Dima had to keep waiting for me as I was so slow fighting my micro-flu. Numbers are 7.6 miles with 3,500ft of gain.
Dima used a standard mountaineering axe and I had two old school ice tools. I think the ideal setup for steep stuff in SoCal would be two technical ice axes, a blend of axe and tool design, with a 60-65cm length, replaceable pick and hammer/adze, functional adze you can cut steps/ledges with, a real spike made of steel, tough mixed climbing type picks, T rated shaft, and some other important points. Something where you can carry the adze one in your hand and keep the hammer strapped to your pack until you hit steep enough terrain to warrant its' use. The Petzl Sum'tec is close to what I want, but a tad short for me as I am pretty tall and need a longer shaft. Ice tools are usually 50-55cm, which is great for ice climbing, but we have very little ice here and the rock usually sucks so a longer shaft is much more useful. As for crampons, a fully steel semi auto design with replaceable front points presents the longest lasting, toughest design overall, mated to a light mountaineering boot such as the common La Sportiva Trango (I use the Cube). Steel strap crampons work just dandy as well, but I prefer something a bit stiffer for the rare occasions I get on steep stuff. I'm getting slightly older so I like more comfort and security cause I'm still alive despite my 20's.
One important thing to note in this trying time of pre-whatever-happens-next-post-2020-stuff is there appears to be a great shortage of Chili Cheese Fritos in this great nation of ours. I have had to resort to filling ziploc bags of regular peasant-grade Fritos with Paprikas of various varieties, garlic salt, and other spices. The hardship is crushing and I am thinking of making a new hashtag to bring 'awareness' to this. It is probably the opposition's fault. You should be on the right side of history and agree with me or you will be shadowbanned and nobody will believe your science. Ok thank you #sponsored by some sunglasses company that sends countless annoying emails cause they think you'll buy $300 sunglasses.
I must also add I am basking in the warm glow of the qualities of Sweet Paprika after my relationship with both Hot Paprika and the glorious Smoked Paprika. Truly I have lost my edge and am even less worthy of admiration by fiery youths with fast keyboards and odd thin-lined tattoos and expensive bicycles. I'm sorry, everyone.
Dima might add some stuff with cool pics of me once he's back from doing more mountain stuff.
FTW!!!
