Jonn-E

Just summitted Rainier via the Disappointment Cleaver route yesterday. Started w/ a 4 man team but had to drop one at Muir. Left Muir at 2:15am, last group out. Passed several groups (including an RMI one, who said they went fast?) and summitted about 8:30. The weather was gorgeous and is supposed to remain so for several days. Only problem with this is the heat made the snow too soft on the descent, and crevasses are an issue above Ingram flats and in the Beehive. I plunged up to my knee in a hole of some sort in the beehive and a Bergschrund saved us by swallow a rockslide headed our direction. So start earlier on the hot days. One thing to note: I was reminded of how important it is to be in excellent aerobic shape for climbing a mountain like this. I hit a ceiling of about 12,000ft, and everything above that I was sucking wind hard and getting weaker with every vertical foot. I didn't get sick or anything, I just wasn't acclimatized to those altitudes and didn't do enough running before hand to counteract that. Anyways, just a reminder to put in the roadwork before attacking a big one.

Just thought I'd spread the word on this one. This winter I bought a pair of Mountain Hardware Chugach Pants rather than a pair of fleece pants. They have Polarguard 3D as the insulation. It was perhaps the smartest purchase I have ever made. They are lighter, warmer, cheaper and pack smaller than fleece pants, and stay very warm when wet. They are also windproof. Get them instead of fleece. That is all.

There weren't that many people when we climbed, however we heard that 2 days before (Memorial Day Weekend) one guy counted 75 tents at Lake Helen.....we counted only 3. Anyways, if you need to acclimmate, you can stay at Horse Camp ($5), which is nice, has a solar toilet. Other things of note: there is a $15 summit fee (don't get me started), and the snowpack is 5 weeks ahead of schedule. Definitely alpine start or pay the consequences. We took off from Horse Camp at 1:30am, which worked out nicely. Took us 9 hours up, 3 down. (I was slow because I got weak w/ altitude). Clear Creek is in good condition too. Check out Jeff Smoot's "Climbing the Cascade Volcanoes" for other routes.....or just get it because it is a great book. Bring a camera and have fun!

Since no one has posted anything in this area I guess I will. I just summited Mt. Shasta yesterday. Conditions are great this time of year. Weather is nice, but snow still extends to Horse Camp. Took Avalanche Gulch route, because fun ridge routes are done for season. Easy, but spiced it up by taking class III gully through Red Banks (right side). Puget Sounders beware, I didn't acclimate properly and paid for it at 14,000ft.

Climbed Broken Top March 22 in perfect weather. Doesn't change the exposure on the NW ridge any though. Wow. Pretty solid footing though. Couloir at top pretty heinous w/ low snow. I blayed lead climber, ultra sketchy. Felt good to top that rock though! Also, don't try South Sister false summit route, the descent off the top has been melted away already, we had to turn back Nice thing about winter climbing, we were in the area for a week, never saw anyone.

To answer earlier questions, I guess I got the name wrong. It is a ridge that ends in a flat spot on the East side of the Southern face, barely above Illumination Rock in elevation. Go to my website to see pictures of it if you are that curious.

So this is a little out of date, but from the sounds of it, it is still somewhat applicable. I climbed Mt. Hood between Christmas and New Years for the first time, and it was just peachy. I randoneed up to Pinnacle point to camp, hiked up then skied down. It's not supposed to be that warm at 9,800ft in Dec. was the prevaling thought. snow soft but firm, great for climbing, highly recommend the one day trip. However skiing down was horrendous due to poor windblown snowpack, so don't try it.