goatboy

From NPS Morning Report: Latest Narrative: An NPS volunteer on Diablo Lake reported the Davis Fire about 1:30 on the afternoon of August 3rd burning under powerlines just off the North Cascades Highway and moving up the steep slope of Davis Peak. National Park Service firefighters went to the scene and were joined by 7 smokejumpers from the base near Winthrop, WA. Seattle City Light de-energized the powerline. Two helicopters were borrowed from the Shady Fire in adjacent North delivered by a plane from the base in Moses Lake, WA.

I agree with TLG -- I'd take more than three screws... Click Here for Gallery

Great info - but how do you prove in a court that your word as a drunk underage punk is more valued than that of the esteemed LEO?

Are you planning on camping at the col? I camped at the nunatak a few hundred feet down on the glacier -- nice little perch, very scenic views of the Pickets, and more water available I would expect this time of year . . .

Furthermore, he was underage at the time, so his credibility in the situation was quite compromised to begin with . . .

My friend crawled into his back seat once to sleep off too much to drink -- a cop came and FORCED HIM to drive off, and busted him for DUI as soon as he turned the key in the ignition.

Robert M, Did you climb the South Ridge Route on Torment as described in Nelson's guide?

I actually really liked the steep snow traverse -- added a lot of spice and variety to a classic route -- but I had two tools, which added a lot of security and made it more like exposed "fun" rather than scary. Sounds like the fellow (in the TR) who slipped and managed to self-arrest here was very, very lucky, in my opinion! Great TR that does justice to an excellent route.

There are routes that we KNOW are bad in advance, which for some reason we choose to climb anyway -- and there are routes we expect to be good, which we are disappointed in. I have climbed a few routes which had been represented as "classic" or popular, and been disappointed in the rock quality, lack of real climbing, or general inconsistent nature of the routes: 1) S Buttress Cutthroat -- loose and kinda dumb. "Frankly flawed," Nelson advises. I should have listened. 2) Cascadian Couloir on Stuart ( without any snow ) -- tedious, never-ending slog of despair 3) S Ridge, Torment -- Very loose and generally unpleasant climbing, either traversing or sidehilling much of the time, few sections that consitute "quality" climbing on solid rock 4) Not a climbing route per se, but I really disliked the Sibley Ridge Approach to Eldorado -- very long, circuitous and unnecessary given how direct and straightforward the Eldorado Creek Approach is. The views, admittedly, are great -- but its not the best way to get to Eldorado, in my opinion. 5) NW Face, Libert Bell (Kraus/Rupley Route) -- some pretty mediocre or dangerously loose pitches there ("oatmeal flakes," Burdo calls them) that lead to one really great 5.8/5.9 dihedral at the end. Additional Comments: Sahale from either the Arm or the Quien Sabe is a very good climb for what it is, with spectacular views and very high, great campsites... As mentioned above, Torment itself sucks, but the T-F Traverse is outstanding... I liked Princely Ambitions . . . . I also liked the Remorse Start to Outer Space . . . . though I have no real interest in continuing up Remorse as a route, for reasons stated previously by others.

Thanks for the light-hearted responses to my boneheaded lack of an attachment. Sorry about that. Hereby, I try again...(see original post, now edited.)

Took the attached photo of Stuart from a Cessna on Saturday - anyone care to name any of the other peaks in the photo? VERY LARGE IMAGE HERE

No, a few local folks from Mazama. They can post details about it if they want to...

Just bomb straight up the well-marked trail - cross the river, up the forested area, through the talus field, and into the high open slopes until you reach the Eldorado Glacier -- then, your route will depend on conditions and judgment...

The story with LaFaille was that it was a single small cam placed in bad rock -- when he stopped on a ledge, as described in the previous post, the cam shifted and ultimately failed when he weighted it again, leaving LaFaille stranded on the big wall . . . . This could happen as well with any micro-placement in bad rock -- I believe that cams, however, used as components in a larger anchor system, can be ultimately very safe, reliable, and assess-able.

Wow -- having done the Upper N Ridge car-to-car in a long day, I am really impressed by how quickly you guys did the Complete N Ridge so fast -- despite the navigational errors on the approach trail! By the way, we also were clueless about which way to turn when we hit the Ingall trail Junction at the bottom of the Cascadian -- we debated and guessed, and were delighted to have guessed correctly! That slog back up Long's Pass trail is demoralizing after you've just slogged DOWN the Cascadian . . . Nice work

I like that Colonial area idea for a solo trip! Blake, the NEB of Goode has definitely been soloed before. I know two guys who did it car-to-car (not soloing) last summer too, in what was a 24-hour effort.

goatboy, this time of year? was reading the recent TR here and it looks a little involved on the gl for solo central Yeah, good point Alex. I was assuming that if the author was comfortably heading deep into the Pickets and taking on the N Buttress of Fury alone, he'd be willing to undergo the glacier travel to get to Buckner . . . When I climbed Buckner, it was in September, and the glacier was an (unroped) piece of cake...so perhaps that is coloring my perception as well. Never know til you go look for yourself! Some people might rope up on stuff that others choose not too...

Hi Gary -- Could you elaborate on what point you're trying to make here? I would say that most anyone who uses and relies on cams regularly to protect lead falls (with a high impact force) should be more than capable of incorporating cams into a very safe, redundant equalized anchor system while visually assessing their placements. I do understand the point that a well-placed nut or chock in a constriction may potentially be more reliable or easy to assess than a cam overall -- but your post makes it sound like cams are hard to assess and ultimately not trustworthy as anchors -- which is not true. Care to elaborate more on your cautionary point?

Not in Oregon, but not far either: Narada Falls at Mt Rainier N.P. has a crude user trail that goes behind the falls -- very cool place!

And I personally would prefer a partner for the N Buttress of Fury -- exposed rock pitches around 5.6, steep(er) sections of snow and alpine ice, possible schrund or glacier technical sections...lots of exposure throughout... North Face of Buckner could be good as a solo trip, from a high camp on Sahale. Perhaps a Colchuck Lake to Snow Creek Traverse, climbing the easier routes on Colchuck and Dragontail along the way might be good too...

Was the marten on the NE Ridge, or at the notch, or where was he???

WORD! That's why I said initially that I think it's a bad call to rope up there -- the climbing is easy (though super-exposed) and the protection so limited that it would probably greatly amplify the risk to be roped up there..just wanted to hear if others commonly did simul-climb here, since I've spoken with two parties in the past that personally did manage it this way.

Picture of the NE Face and description of "NE Ledges" More Descent Info: First time I descended this way, we screwed it up by traversing too high across the NE Face - this lead to forced rappels to avoid very loose, steep downclimbing with wicked exposure. Last time, we did 5 80-100 foot rappels, traversed East 100 feet or so, then another short rappel down to grassy ledges. Then it was pretty much straight across, with minor ups and downs linking the easiest ramps and ledge systems. If done this way, it was mostly 3rd class with a few exciting 4th class, exposed spots. It's never HARD climbing, but constantly exposed and on sections of loose rock. If you do it, look for cairns which mark the way, and stay low, heading for the big obvious gendarme on the ridge crest. We also found that by avoiding the big loose gully at the end of the traverse, we were able to regain the ridge on very solid, reasonable 4th class moves just to the climber's right (or West) of the gully. It can be really stressful and time-consuming if you do it wrong, as I did in July of 2003. Either way, it goes. I have heard of folks simul-climbing across the NE Ledges, but it honestly sounds like a bad idea to me, as protection points would be marginal and far between . . . Anyone ever manage it that way?

This is a great TR, very helpful information and well-chosen photos! Nice work! Thanks!

Getting back to the original post and its intent, I agree with many of the points here about courtesy, safety, communication and common sense -- but wouldn't say that these principles are more important or relevant on Rainier than on many other peaks -- others than the way Rainier tends to draw lots of over-eager, under-prepared climbers or guided parties. I have worked with large groups outdoors in various capacities, and find that the attitude or tone-setting done by the leader(s) can directly trickle down into the tone or attitude of the groups members, by the way...which is not to imply that its a guide's fault if his/her clients are rude.