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Hey there I just put a little lipstick on this pig and moved a few things around. The site has some bigger issues, but I need @jon to help me with some of them...I just don't even have access/rights to a few things that need fixing. If you know him and love him like I do, I think it would help to reach out to him personally and let him know you still love this place . I know Jon still does too, but life is pretty crazy and can send you off different directions and cliffs...I know he has his hands full, but any psych we can send his direction will help I'm sure. But please send him some love, I know that dude loves attention! To me this place represents a lot of things, but most important to me is that it is a site/community that is not trying to suckle every last bit of personal information off you. It is free, and you are actually not the product. This place is like the early days of the internet, which has now become a weird and terrible place in my opinion (the internet, cc.com was always weird, and sometimes terrible, but in a lovable way.). This place is a throw back to the exciting times of possibility, before the corporations and criminals took it over. So as the arc of time passes, and social media sites rise and fall, I don't know what the future holds...but it has always been my goal to keep the lights on with this site. They are still on. And whilw there are less visitors than in the past (and i'm not counting the bots, nor Dru's or his 50 avatars), we still have high quality trip reports rolling in, people finding climbing partners, and great info being shared. So a huge thank you to those continuing to contribute to the site. We have had some big ballers roll through here, and we still do...and they definitely inspire. But also just the modest and "average" TRs are also awesome. The ones that make you think "I need to go check that out". I would love to get this site tuned up and upgraded and off of shit lists. I don't use Facebook myself, but if you want to share there you should be able to. Keep things simple and running and continue to be a safe place on the Internet way from the data gathering monsters. I think if we can do that, this site will thrive off that alone. I think at some point adding back to local shop advertising to help pay for the servers and forum software, but that is it. I hope you're missing this virus, and if you're not, that you recover quickly. Happy Holiday's and New year. /p.

Forecast is looking good for lowland forest ice! A PNW delicacy.

Trip: El Dorado - NW Couloir (Attempt) Trip Date: 11/21/2021 Trip Report: With the recent warming then cooling, Chris and I tried making a weekend attempt of the NW Couloir after getting inspired from a mountaineers trip posting. Intended to get to the toe of the east ridge on saturday, climb the couloir and get out sunday. We didn't realize how difficult a dumping of 10 inches of snow on Thursday would make that. Left the TH Saturday morning at 8am and took the standard approach up to El Dorado. The mountaineers left slightly before us and we took their path through the boulders, which had just enough snow to hide all the holes, but not enough to support a step (post hole leg breakers galor). Ran into the mountaineers at the end of the boulders and started breaking trail. It was difficult and slow plunge snow shoeing on 10-12 inches of powder. We were quite exhausted and running out of daylight, so we made camp at around 6,400 feet. We were naive and thought the jetboil would be a good stove choice, but it didn't work that well in the cold up there (maybe there is a trick to that?). Woke up the next day and started plunge snowshoeing up to the Inspiration Glacier, but we were smoked and it was slow progress. We discussed that we'd either have to stay for a 3rd day on limited food or be crossing the boulders late at night so decided to turn around after getting onto the Inspiration Glacier at 7,500 for some great views of forbidden et al. Ran into the mountaineers group on the way down, who also decided to turn around given the slow travel. The way down was perhaps more brutal than the way up. The boulders were slicker and trickier to go down trusting a higher force step would hold and you would break your leg. The trees after was a navigation of slick steep roots that chris fell 6 times and broke his poles. TLDR: my quads are burning today. Great views and sufferfest abound. If your eyeing to get it soon and snow holds off there is a nice track for you. Notes: we underestimated how much 10-12 inches of recent snow would slow us down in travel time and added gear weight (snow shoes and avy gear). Having extra food and a better stove system would have gotten us a third day up there. Maybe I need to hit the stairmaster hard for winter mountaineering. Avoiding the climb and doing a ski ascent would have been rad because there was hero pow up there. On the boulders Dropping into the basin with the mountaineers group Tent view El Dorado Glacier to the Inspiration Glacier Gear Notes: Light Rack, Ice Screws, Avy Gear, Picket Approach Notes: Standard approach.

Thanks @olyclimber ! I have ditched all anti-social media so this is it for me. Till death due us part. I've been here since the first few weeks and I will remain until the end (hopefully my demise and not the site's). I'll reach out to @jon And give him a nudge.... thanks again for all you guys do!

Hear, hear! Always appreciate having the site available for research, stoke, and more. Thanks @olyclimber and @jon! Dig the updated header / logo on the site too!

Anyone been in there this time of year? How about this year? Conditions on the N. Face. How's the approach gonna be right now? Thanks! Some old school goodness for the day Not my photo. North face of Mt Borah - January, 1977 (Photo by Frank Florence)

It's getting colder. 11/20/21

I mean, just for fun, you should post about least a sampling. Some of us need to live vicariously through other gear hoarders. What’s most interesting in your collection?

Dragontail, Triple Couloirs. I wanted to write something for this database, which would emphasize how conditions can affect the difficulty of some climbs. The first time I climbed this route conditions were ideal, and our time from Lake to summit was about 4 hours. Approx. 1 hour for the first couloir. Another hour for the connection into the second couloir, involved setting a few belays, and a short but relatively well-protected rock traverse into the second couloir. An hour for the second couloir, and an hour for the third. The connection between the second and third was thickly iced, straightforward, and really fun. A good time for our party of two, but slow compared to the 3 hours taken by the first ascent party of three in 1974. It’s also worth noting that we spent a day lounging at the lake, when the snow didn’t freeze overnight. Surprisingly, after a very warm day at the lake, the snow froze hard the following night. If you had asked us about the difficulty of the Triple Couloirs route then, we would have said it was easy. The second time conditions were also good, and we were able to climb directly into the second couloir on moderately steep ice, with a rock move or two. This direct variation does not always ice up, but was a real treat in the conditions we found it. The third time we climbed quickly to the top of the first couloir (aka Hidden Couloir) missing the traverse into the second couloir. Realizing our mistake, we should have descended back to the correct route but didn’t. Instead we continued up, and encountered harder climbing than we wanted on the snow covered Fin, arriving on the summit just before dark. The fourth time, the weather forecast was favorable, and the sky cloudless. The first couloir again was straight forward, and we chose the standard route into the second couloir. By the time we were established in the second couloir, the wind had picked up and powder snow was beginning to blow around. The wind blew the snow up the couloir into our faces, and during lulls the spindrift came from above. The spindrift was unpleasant, but didn’t really impede us until we reached the top of the second couloir. The sky was still clear, but the winds and spindrift increased as we continued up throughout the day. We had a really difficult time gaining the third couloir. There just didn’t seem to be any ice covering the rock this time. The volume of spindrift was really a problem too. Crampons scraping on rock, very poor pro, and I was unable to communicate with my partner Brian Nelson (no relation). My worst spindrift experience in 30 years of climbing. The third couloir was again straight forward step kicking, though cold and unpleasant with the wind and blowing snow. We reached the summit a little before dark, dehydrated and began the descent immediately. We were out of the strong winds for a while on the other side of the mountain. As we neared Asgard Pass the winds increased, until we were unable to stand up. We began to crawl, and fortunately had stayed roped together. With the blowing snow, and now darkness we became completely disoriented for maybe 15 or 20 minutes. Without a compass, we could not be sure which direction to crawl. Eventually we realized we were crawling down hill, and knew that must be the way towards Colchuck Lake. As we descended the wind decreased, and we made the lake and our camp shortly after. We were pretty dehydrated, and I consider it my closest call in the mountains. The skies stayed clear, and the following morning was calm and lovely. All 4 of these climbs were made at approximately the same time of year (April-May) over a 10 year period. Jim Nelson

I already took about 4" off. pup on the mountain starting up the first couloir The Hilary step crux. Craig in the background, Bala climbing. The second couloir conga line It was a great time climbing with all of you guys. I hope your beds were more restful than our post-climb bivy in the rest area by Quincy!

Wow really cold. Sharpen your tools. 14 degrees in Seattle?

Miscellaneous rock and ice gear. Misc. rock protection including vintage hard-stem Friends, camalots, Metolius TCUs, and stoppers. Lowe snargs, including two titanium snargs (not made by Lowe). Two sets of A5 aiders, pocket seat sling for hanging belays, pair of Petzl ascenders. Metolius rope bag. Lightly used BlueWater crash pad. Nut tools, Petzl Reverso.Pictures indicate what is available. Pricing and other inquiries to jeff at p s c s i dot o r g. F3BA8494-273A-41E0-9CD6-A11026BB729D.heic BC2E6FC9-141F-4C2A-B0B0-754A9F1EEFF6.heic 51312E6D-974A-4F93-9C39-84B084A6DF60.heic FB5A9E17-3CE5-4101-8426-4411174311DA.heic 42D6E303-0315-418A-8F96-4BFB751C52F6.heic EA763DE8-70AA-4B24-B65E-C3FAB01D7E7C.heic 9764CD94-A8BB-48AC-8F62-F3C963521F09.heic B2F20FC8-9CA9-49E2-8848-C3F07A2EDE20.heic 67BC1251-941E-43D6-AD75-6371F68A2239.heic 56A2405C-26A1-44E2-8106-59CCF1E1C51F.heic 334F71C8-42E2-4DB3-8250-B52541F7BF5E.heic A809C77E-AEC1-41A2-B7CC-AA48366B8174.heic

The Dragontail Madness Route The route. Green below bivvy, red above. Purple is a mistake in the Beckey guide photo. Signage Why do I always get a snot clearing photo? Eric traverses to the bivvy: the big tree/snow patch up and right. Ahh. All warm and comfy. You? Eric? Hello? Just beneath the bail point Fucking ice tool! On rappel…sort of.