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This is one of the better surveys I have seen posted on this site. I still think it misses some key points... Hypoxic training systems frequently rely on pumping out O2 but leave the other gases. At altitude the overall pressure is less, which creates the hypoxia. My understanding is that the pressure is more important than the amount of O2 available for adapting to altitude. Last I read from people who know more than me, was that pumping out O2 was not very effective, thus I don't put much stock in this. Makes me curious to go scroll through pubmed etc. and see what the latest thinking is.

paging @Eric Gilbertson!

We are conducting a research project to investigate how people prepare for climbs of mountains above 6,000 m and, in particular, whether or not they use hypoxic training systems -- which allow climbers to sleep and/or exercise in low oxygen (i.e., hypoxic) conditions -- as part of their trip preparation. If you are 18 years or older and have attempted or successfully climbed a peak over 6,000 m, you can provide valuable information for our study which is being run through the University of Washington. The anonymous, on-line survey will take 15 to 20 minutes to complete and does not require any personal information. Prior use of hypoxic training systems is not required to participate; however, eligible participants should have experience attempting to climb at least one peak over 6,000 m. Click here to be directed to the survey. Please remember to click "submit" at the end of the survey to ensure that all answers are saved correctly. If you have any questions prior to or after completion of the survey, feel free to contact us at aluks@uw.edu, Scott.McIntosh@hsc.utah.edu, Colin.Grissom@imail.org or Cormac.Zachar@gmail.com. Please know that the confidentiality of emails cannot be guaranteed. We appreciate your time and effort completing this survey and look forward to reporting our findings upon completion.

Hello! For my entrepreneurship class I am working on an idea revolving around climbing, if some people would take the following survey it would be greatly appreciated: https://forms.gle/RK9nH1u2soFRea5z7

Cool route! Great photos. Thanks for sharing!

No, but it may have had "certain features" that rendered it really scary to REI shoppers.

Another fun Spring route you could look at if you're looking to get some more mileage on steep snow on Hood could be the Cooper Spur. I climbed the route two years ago in June (would recommend earlier in the Spring), and found it to be an enjoyable step up from the standard south side route at the time. The route follows a very obvious line, and has ~2000ft of snow increasing in steepness to ~45 degrees, until you get to the "chimneys" section near the summit which can be a little steeper. There is some rockfall potential on the route, so it's worth thinking through start time, if you're comfortable soloing the route (as mentioned in above post, unchecked fall very dangerous, but attempting a running belay on snow for such a duration is often impractical), route of descent, ... Otherwise, looks like a reasonable progression of routes, especially if you're working on your ice climbing in the meantime.

I am not a local to the Hood scene to I can't comment too much on your progression. But I can help compare to some other routes in the Cascades that you listed. First off I want to say that many of these routes can be in a wide variety of conditions based on the year so take that into consideration. I have climbed S Side Old Chute/Pearly Gates as well as the Reid Headwall on Hood. I have also done NE Couloir on Colchuck, Triple Couloirs on Dragontail, Kautz on Rainier, N Ridge of Baker and NW Ice Couloir on Eldorado. Obviously you are familiar with the Old Chute on Hood so I will base things off that and go through them in order of difficulty. The Reid Headwall I solod in good condition and felt very comfortable. We roped up for the glacier down low then solod the actual route and skied off the summit (down the south chute). I felt like the actual route was similar to the steep section of Pearly Gates route just for a lot longer. It felt very secure soloing with 2 tools. NE Couloir on Colchuck was similar to the Reid Headwall in terms of difficulty. I did it in May when it was in good fat condition. I took my wife who wasn't comfortable soloing and we did a simul with a couple points of running pro in places. Just good steep snow climbing. NW Ice Couloir on Eldorado I did in April of a fat snow year. As such it was all snow and zero ice. I would not recommend. We simul-climbed the couloir in 1 block and found the crux to be at the top where it was vertical snow the consistency of cotton candy. Not hard enough to climb well but not really easy to clear either. Very challenging conditions for 20ft with marginal gear. Most of it was similar to the 2 above routes but with a much steeper/scary exit. Kautz Glacier was done in June. We had great condition and a fair bit of steep snow and less ice. I think it would actually be a fun ice climb later in July but by then the other parts of the mountain are typically so baked. We simul-climbed as two parties of 3. The leader on the first rope put in screws and the last person on the 2nd rope pulled them out. It was only a couple rope lengths and it felt pretty casual. That said I am very comfortable on vertical ice so this was chill in comparison. It might approach a WI2 pitch in thin years in July/August but in June it wasn't even close to that. Triple Couloirs on Dragontail I climbed in March of a fat year. We solod all the steep snow couloirs. They are steep but the snow was great and felt very comfortable with 2 tools. As I remember, the 1st couloir had the steepest snow sections particularly getting into the entrance and 1 point halfway up where it narrows had a steep section. We pitched out the ice between the 1st and 2nd couloir. This ice felt very much like WI3 climbing. Plenty of good ice for gear or nearby rock. Lots of places to rest but terrain I would not want to solo. We did solo the mixed step between the 2nd and 3rd couloirs. We probably shouldn't have but we weren't really paying too much attention (just going up) and didn't realize that we should have pulled out the rope until we were in the middle of it. At that point it felt easier to just keep going then try and reverse course and pull out the rope. North Ridge on Baker I climbed in July. I feel like this route changes from year to year as the ice cliff changes. We found lots of steep snow climbing below the cliff (similar to above mentioned climbs) that we solod. Then we had the actual proper cliff and terrain above and below. We did 4 pitches of pitched out climbing. We could have done it in fewer pitches but we didn't have enough screws. We had assumed it would be a short steep step but it was much longer. Here are a few notes from my journal I wrote 10 years ago. "Made it up to the crux ice step and had to take a 2nd look. The easier left hand variation is supposed to be a 60-70 degree ice ramp. What we found resembled rock. There were cracks and corners, ledges and ribs and all of it on 100 feet of 80° ice! He [my partner] led a short pitch of 60-70 degree ice up to the steep part. We only had a 30 meter rope and 6 ice screws because we thought it would be easier. This meant we could only place 2 or 3 screws in between belays. I tried to run things out and led two pitches of ice. Then he led a little more to the crest and onto the steep slopes above." Anyway hopefully that helps compare them a little. Good luck with your climbing progression!! Just remember that a lot of people (myself included) solo a lot of steep snow on these types of routes. But everyone needs to evaluate the pros and cons of such a move. There are lots of places were a fall would be very painful if not deadly. However if you have to move through 2000 vertical ft of terrain pitching out that much will take a LONG time. There are pros and cons to everything and just because somebody does it one way doesn't mean that everybody else should follow suit.

I've done around 20 grade II & III alpine climbs in the PNW (including Hood old chute twice) and want to build my steep snow / easy ice skills this winter and spring. A friend lent me his Hood climber's guidebook recently and it seems like there's a wide variety of routes that naturally lend themselves to a progression. I'm wondering how sensible this progression seems to you all and if the grades seem accurate (esp since the guidebook is around 10 years old now and things change). I will list the guidebook grades follow by the MP grades in this format (Guidebook rating / MP rating) 1) S Side Old Chute (grade II / AI1 easy snow) 2) S Side Pearly Gates (same as above) 3) Steel Cliff S Face (Grade II+ / AI2 steep snow) 4) Leuthold Couloir (Grade II / moderate snow) 5) Devil's Kitchen Headwall (Grade II, WI3 / AI2-3 Steep Snow) 6) North Face Right Gully (Grade III WI3 / WI3 Mod Snow) ... 7) Yocum Ridge (Grade IV AI3, AI3 Steep Snow) Note: I know this progression has to be complemented by other WI climbing especially before doing any WI3 leading. I'm also curious how some of these routes compare to similar mixed routes in WA like Colchuck NEB Couloir, Triple Couloirs, Kautz, Baker N Ridge, etc.

Did it have a bump stock?

It has all the elements of a Seattle Tragedy.

My parents have a couple of those ones with the rubber. in all seriousness, that is a terrible story.

Just a rumor--totally unconfirmed. Sources are saying it was an older model MSR Sumner with an illegal rubber-coated shaft. Again, no confirmation on this. Early reports incorrectly claimed it was an orange fiberglass Stubai with a glide ring and a "snap link" still attached.

Damn.

Historically, there seems to be a correlation between politically-motivated murders and ice axes.

And, if you haven't yet, go leashless.

Lock up your tools, old guys! Sheesh. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/say-what-now-woman-pleads-not-guilty-of-fathers-ice-axe-murder-over-leaving-lights-on-election-results-video/ar-AA1uG8WC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

You know he looked pretty familiar! But there were a number of people I met but forgot because it was Ropeup and we were all having a good time.

The first time I met him was at one of the cc.com events up icicle creek, you might have met him! Kelly did a great job with the article. Rest easy Johnny ❤️

https://www.climbing.com/people/remembering-johnny-goicoechea/ I don’t think I ever met this guy, maybe some of you did…

Wow, I missed this. Was cool to share a beer the day before you left. Too bad you're getting soft and lazy in your old age

Hey all, I’m looking to start or join a group of 3-5+ skiers for a Denali West Butt climb, preferably in late May, 2025, but can be open to a later trip if that's my only option. I’d hope the trip won’t take longer than 10-12 days, but willing to be flexible. I’m in Seattle and interested in meeting/doing some climbs with potential partners before making the trip. I’ve been climbing and skiing a number of years and have taken formal mountaineering courses as well as a Denali specific training course. Also, AIARE 1 and WFR certifications. I’m safety focused and like being well prepared. I have all the gear already required for the climb, and always training so I should be ready to go. I’m easy going, self-sufficient, drama free, like to work as a team and would prefer the same out of partners. All of my climbing has been in Washington/Oregon and some recent noteworthy climbs have been: Mt Rainier 4+ summits (DC, Kautz, Emmons, plus one ski decent of Emmons) Mt Baker 10+ summits (many ski descent of CD and Easton, North ridge) Mt Adams, Mt Hood, St Helens, Glacier peak (climbs and ski descent) Hit me up if you would like to chat! Thanks! David

Great song!

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