Another reason WA sucks

[TOGIE]

Don't try to turn this positive! This is a internet battle royal (with cheese)

actually, i think we gotta hand it to Colorado on mountains (i'm not busy enough at work today)

i think it's hardly a contest on what state to choose if you had to choose one state and one state only for mountains, peak bagging, and technical climbing

now if you had to choose it for "mountaineering" in totality, it might have to be washington.

granted these are RANKED only (washington does have a 13er, but i'ts apparently unranked), though i'm not convinced filtering for unraked would change the results IMO



source: https://listsofjohn.com/

 

[Irrelevant]

actually, i think we gotta hand it to Colorado on mountains (i'm not busy enough at work today)

i think it's hardly a contest on what state to choose if you had to choose one state and one state only for mountains, peak bagging, and technical climbing

now if you had to choose it for "mountaineering" in totality, it might have to be washington.

granted these are RANKED only, though i'm not convinced filtering for unraked would change it

View attachment 196203 View attachment 196204

source: https://listsofjohn.com/

If peak bagging is walking up a hill, a hill you can damn near drive to, then yes, CO wins. LOL

So why did you stop at 7k? WA has plenty of peaks below 7k that are both technical and with more prominence than many 14kers. I mean shit man only a couple of peaks in the entire Olympics break the 7k mark and those are almost all multi-day approaches, some class 4&5, and you have to deal with 200+ inches of precip on top of all that.

Maybe we should ask @SnowyMountaineer he's a neutral 3rd party.

 

[TOGIE]

If peak bagging is walking up a hill, a hill you can damn near drive to, then yes, CO wins. LOL

i dunno, i think the numbers show that we have more peaks in total that aren't walking up a hill based on standard route classification (which standard route basically means that's the easiest route up and is the route by w hich these tables present it). i think all agree any route classified as 3 or above is no longer a walk up. if you could find out how many peak's standard route is <3 but have 4th or 5th class options, the numbers would get gnarly, considering the 4000+ peaks above 7K in colorado.

i only stopped at 7K out of laziness, i can add in every elevation range to make it even more of a blow out

 

[TOGIE]

but yes, elevation dynamics and treeline in washington are very different, adding in everything else could make it interesting.

i'll work on it

 

[thomas89]

Also agreed, the beers are phenomenal here. 15 pounds added in quarantine thanks mostly to the ol' micro brews plus a lack of self discipline.

The lack of state income tax doesn't excite me as much as it does some as everything else is expensive enough to make up the difference.

 

[thomas89]

There used to be another guy on here moved over this way, we chatted about duck hunting a time or two. Haven't seen him around lately, probably so miserable here he can barely crawl out of bed to the computer anymore.

 

[Irrelevant]

OnX Roadless layer
co:

A couple of smallish white spots.

WA:


Look at those massive white areas! And that with them calling both Lake Chelan and Ross Lake "roads". There's not even a boat ramp on Ross lake in the US! Plus those holes in the Olympics and Pasayten should be filled, those are also errors in their algorithms.

 

[Bgriffith]

As I sit here in Colorado for work reading this thread the thing that comes to mind i guess really is the prominence of our mountains in WA… from Rainer, Adams, dropping into the kittitas valley looking at the Stuart range. I don’t quite remember being that much in awe here in Colorado. And the bar tender didn’t even know what an “Oly” was even though it was advertised on the sign out side.

 

[Irrelevant]

As I sit here in Colorado for work reading this thread the thing that comes to mind i guess really is the prominence of our mountains in WA… from Rainer, Adams, dropping into the kittitas valley looking at the Stuart range. I don’t quite remember being that much in awe here in Colorado. And the bar tender didn’t even know what an “Oly” was even though it was advertised on the sign out side.

@TOGIE I rest my case

 

[Deleted member 16014]

If peak bagging is walking up a hill, a hill you can damn near drive to, then yes, CO wins. LOL

So why did you stop at 7k? WA has plenty of peaks below 7k that are both technical and with more prominence than many 14kers. I mean shit man only a couple of peaks in the entire Olympics break the 7k mark and those are almost all multi-day approaches, some class 4&5, and you have to deal with 200+ inches of precip on top of all that.

Maybe we should ask @SnowyMountaineer he's a neutral 3rd party.

Well I got @ so I had to go back and read through all this pontificating. Forget numbers I'm just gonna pull up GE real quick, blur my eyes a little, take mental note and report back...

 

[TOGIE]

As I sit here in Colorado for work reading this thread the thing that comes to mind i guess really is the prominence of our mountains in WA… from Rainer, Adams, dropping into the kittitas valley looking at the Stuart range. I don’t quite remember being that much in awe here in Colorado. And the bar tender didn’t even know what an “Oly” was even though it was advertised on the sign out side.

objection your honor:

88% chance the bar tender grew up in Texas

 

[Bgriffith]

Now don’t get me wrong, the amount of deer in this valley here is amazing, can’t only think of maybe one area in Washington where I’ve seen the quantity of deer.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

As you gents know, it's a little bit apples to oranges. That and you zoom out a few more x's on GE and Jasper/Banff blows the whole thing out of the water. I'd say CO likely wins pure alpine route quality and quantity. WA wins committed big mountain mountaineering. CO is going to have more and better quality WI and rock grades up high, WA is going to have more legit Alpine Grade IV/V/VI that represent a serious commitment level.
If WA and CO alpineering had a baby it would probably be called the Wind River Range and be the envy of both.

 

[TOGIE]

it's true. it's far from apples to apples.

i think this table shows a tie on a purely standard route technicality standpoint (there is no elevation point in colorado below 3k that's why it's empty).

ther's a slight issue with most of washintons lists below the 7ers being empty on YDS rankings...

and i wholeheartedly agree, washington is the mountaineering paradise.

my summarized opinion:
- If you're a rock climber and/or simply love technical pure rock high alpine summits and link ups, there is almost undoubtedly no better state in the lower 48 than colorado.
- If you're a mountaineer and skier, there is undoubtedly no better state in the lower 48 than washington.

There's a reason Tony Krupicka lives in Boulder

 

[Irrelevant]

There's a reason Tony Krupicka lives in Boulder

And Fred Beckey lived in WA.

 

[DouglasR]

Is crystal mountain something that can be enjoyed in January or would you wait till the first week of March?

 

[Irrelevant]

I will politely disagree with the judge on all accounts short of pure rock climbing, to that I must give the nod to CO. I would also like to retract my statement on wildness and move to award to WA, with the roadless layer as evidence.

 

[Irrelevant]

Is crystal mountain something that can be enjoyed in January or would you wait till the first week of March?

Yes, but with a La Nina year March will be better.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

If you want to get hit by a falling boulder displaced by a human, CO.
If you want to get hit by a falling boulder because the mountains are falling apart, WA.

 

[TOGIE]

i would never in my life have tried to argue colorado can compete with washingtons prominence. i've know that all along. but again, it ain't no slouch

WA


CO