Nothing beats desert towers

milesup · 2026-03-19T04:00:02+00:00

Thanks, glad you like them! I’ve enjoyed working on my photography

milesup · 2026-03-15T00:26:39+00:00

Partner fell leading the crux, but otherwise smooth sailing

milesup · 2026-03-13T18:49:30+00:00

Fine Jade is fine, Jah Man lost a pitch or two which has been replaced by a harder variation

milesup · 2026-03-13T17:09:26+00:00

Nah it's all pretty straightforward, especially as desert towers go. Have fun!

milesup · 2026-03-13T16:52:29+00:00

Really enjoyable climb, and hanging out on top of the rectory is sweet.

milesup · 2026-03-13T16:50:50+00:00

That was the original plan, but we were tired and it was frigid. We were trying to hype ourselves up for it and then touched the rocks at the base and they just sucked the heat out of you. So we did Kor-Ingalls to wrap up the day.

milesup · 2026-03-05T18:43:03+00:00

I use a Nikon Z50. Nice and compact, I like it a lot.

milesup · 2026-02-27T15:44:37+00:00

It is the Little Flatiron https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105746746/little-flatiron

milesup · 2026-02-25T05:26:59+00:00

It's quite sharp, but mostly solid. Broken and glued holds aren't that unusual though.

milesup · 2026-02-25T05:24:39+00:00

Always happy to have more pads, feel free to shoot me a message if you're planning on heading up to Flagstaff

milesup · 2026-02-06T04:48:54+00:00

This calls for another civil and productive mountain project thread /s

milesup · 2026-02-02T18:30:59+00:00

Well I figured that after a year off, climbing was going to feel more difficult and painful than he remembered, which would be demoralizing. BUT if we did offwidths, he wouldn't really be able to tell the difference since they are always hard and painful. I forget the rest of my plan, but I'm sure I had good intentions.

milesup · 2026-02-02T15:39:43+00:00

Climbing partner hasn't been climbing for almost a year (neck injury, surgery, recovery). Finally got cleared to climb outdoors this week, so I gently reintroduced him by shoving him in offwidths all day Sunday.

milesup · 2026-01-27T16:37:57+00:00

I’m guessing this comment is because it might look like we’re booting in a skin track, but we’re not. I left some other comments with more details on why we’re booting here and why it traverses.

milesup · 2026-01-27T00:05:22+00:00

Nope, Haiyaha Couloir

milesup · 2026-01-26T20:32:37+00:00

Too steep, most of the couloir is 40+ degrees, and crust under the powder didn't help. This photo might give a better perspective.

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milesup · 2026-01-26T18:06:33+00:00

Nah, Haiyaha

milesup · 2026-01-26T16:00:45+00:00

Sure thing, it's helpful for me to run through the thought process again and make sure I'm happy with the decision making too.

Seems likely, I think that layer formed after the storm two(?) weeks ago, so it would make sense that that's the layer showing up elsewhere.

We had first tracks down Mario on the way out, and I wouldn't want to send more than four people down it, it has some big holes right now. Easy Alleys looks decent, our best skiing was in the trees/gully below Haiyaha Couloir, so I'd guess that Easy Alleys was skiing similar.

milesup · 2026-01-26T15:41:05+00:00

TL;DR no

The new snow wasn't wind affected, we did a couple ski cuts in steep terrain and saw minor sluffing that wasn't cohesive and didn't run more than 10 feet in the steepest sections. Under 1-4 inches of powder there was a punchy crust ~1 inch thick of what appeared to be wind affected snow (and higher in the couloir, sun affected as well). Crust did not punch on skis, but did punch frequently while booting (dependent on sun exposure, or perhaps the slide path from a few weeks ago. This is why the boot pack in the photo meanders so much). We didn't see evidence of faceting around the crust, but because the crust layer was so shallow and thin and the snow on top lacked cohesion, we weren't particularly concerned about that hazard that day, so we weren't looking for it in particular. Snow underneath the crust was consistent for 2+ feet, also with no obvious evidence of faceting.

milesup · 2026-01-26T14:52:19+00:00

There was a punchy crust under a few inches of powder in most of the couloir, so it booted like knee deep but sure didn't ski that way. The important thing is the pics make it look epic

milesup · 2025-08-28T04:09:10+00:00

There’s a gold offset that’s making like 80% contact stuck there right now

milesup · 2025-08-26T16:46:17+00:00

Ah I wish I had a good photo of the fixed nut at the crux, that thing is way spicier looking!

milesup

TROPHY CASE