ryland_moore

I did the Emmons in 2005 in mid August and the decent onto the Glacier from Curtis was horednous. When we went back, the rangers asked us to go up and over the little rock formation right out of camp (can't remember what that point is - Prouty?)Which is a choss climb in itself. The gl;acier will likely be in great shape. Also, due to low snow the rangers asked us not to ascend the Inter Glacier but to hike up the ridge to the left and traverse to Curtis. We were the only one's on route and it was very straightforward once on the Emmons. Rangers may be gone by then as well.

The deaths of these climbers is a sad tragedy in the sense that it appears from my couch that these deaths were preventable. Blaming equipment or fixed ropes for placing ones self in harms way is nothing more than not taking responsibility for your own actions and placing blame on other people or objects to make yourself feel better. The reason so many climbers died, in my opinion, was not due to equipment failuer or fixed lines in the wrong place but simply was the "heard mentality" and if other people are climbing these fixed ropes then it must be o.k. If the climbers speaking out now and placing blame on others (porters, equipment, etc.)were so concerned about the placement of the fixed lines and shoddy equipment, as they seem to be voicing, then they have two options. They can fix their own damn lines in a safer spot or they can turn around and live to climb another day. They chose neither of these options, so anyone involved in this tragedy is responsible for their own deaths or their own need for a rescue. Some may write this off as dumb luck or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but these climbers knew the issues and risks. If a climber didn't know that standing under an icefall for 1 1/2 hours was a risky objective danger, then they shouldn't have been on the mountain in the first place or are just plain crazy. Again, my opinion.

I tore my meniscus up on the saddle overlooking Spray Park on Rainier a few years ago. Turns out the reason it partially tore was becasue I had a complete tear of my ACL from Denali but did not know it (another story). Anyway, I hopped out to the car, went to the doc on Monday, had it scoped on Tuesday and a week later was dancing in celebration for St. Patrick's day. I climbed on it that summer (still without the ACL) and have not had any problems with it since. Never had any pain after the initial tear. I do get pain from where the ACL was replaced in the front of my knee when I sit on my knees, but the meniscus surgery was incredibly easy compared to the ACL surgery. My two cents.

Lisa D, those are not for bears, those are to prevent marmots from getting into your bags. Bears could easily reach those food bags if they wanted it.

Plark, There are some great easy sport routes in the 5.6 and 5.7 range at Foster Falls and around Sewanee. Just practice clipping on the ground so that you are efficient and go out and do it. Make sure you have someone who has led alot with you to help you out and give you pointers.

If conditions are bad, an alternative climb that is doable in a day is to head off to the meadows (SE)from the trail instead of heading up to the lower Saddle. From the medows you climb up to the saddle between Lower and Middle Teton. There are nice gullies that head up both right from the saddle and you can summit both in a day as long as there is snow in them. It is a great back-up if the weather craps out or the rock is iced up.

I second others opinions. Very tough time to climb. There is a wet period in Jackson in the fall before the snows fly in the valley but plasters the upper elevations. I was never able to summit the Grand past Labor Day when I lived there and only once made it up that late. July and August are best for sure. At least you won't have a problem with permitsfor the lower saddle, but the rangers may have already packed up and headed out that late as well. Good luck.

Try tracking down Barry Blanchard. He put up a lot of ice line first ascents and has spent a ton of time down there climbing and guiding.

I tried just using my Koflachs with randonee for Denali. After experimenting with it and trying to ski low-angle stuff (I even drilled holes in my skis to run a support rope from the front of my skis to behind my calves) I just boaught a pair of randonee boots. I find I can climb anything in randonee on the vlocanoe slogs and easily approach ice climbs. When I need a technical boot I will just carry the boot and pack lighter! Even if you are using the skis for approach it is still nice to be able to rip it up on the way out. Koflach used to make a mountaineering boot that had more ankle support or you could try to stiffen up your boot as well. I am sure there was a discussion thread on this regarding my trip to Denali back in 2003.....Search previous posts and see what others' ideas were. My two cents....

Bone, We held a great fundraiser that your wife and father-in-law attended at the EcoTrust Building a few years back (got TG to donate a keg as well). Could get Hot Lips pizza to cater as well since their HQ is on the ground floor. Patagonia is in the building as well, no?

I would say extremely lucky. If I remember correctly, the whole side of that slope from the rdge between 16,200' and 17,200' is filled with rock outcroppings. The fact that he didn't hit one that causedserious injury before he stopped below on the Peters glacier is extremely lucky. It would be interesting to know where he fell. I assume it was not right at the 16,200 where you start to head down the fixed lines to 14 camp, so they may have had to raise him on an angled traverse as well. Kudos to the Denali rangers. Those guys are amazing....

We saw that corona yesterday afternoon while floating the Deschutes! By the time we got back along 216 from Maupin heading to 26, there was a lenticular atop Hood around 8pm. Looks like you got it while it was good!

Congrats on the engagement! As a past resident of Colorado and a current resident of Oregon, I would say that the mountain weather in the Cascades is much harsher in general than that of the high 14'ers and even the Tetons. Although temps in the winter are colder, the air is much drier due to location. 20 degree weather in the Cascades feels like 0 degree weather in the Rockies. Temps are the same but the relative humidity makes you feel much colder. Winters are definitely colder in Colorado and drier, which leads to great pow, but we had almost 800inches on Hood this year but more water content in the snow. The spring and summer in CO is like being on a beach compared to weather in the Cascade volcanoes. I would say the engagement def. pulled a few karma points because the weather out here has been miserable almost all spring. Rainier is an awesome mountain. I am glad that y'all were able to experience our back yard. Please come back. Next time head up to the North Cascades for some classic alpine routes! As for wind speeds, we had several storms this past season that brought 100+ mph winds at sea level. The high mountain measuring devices broke in Oregon at 108mph. That is a pretty regular thing out here. http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blogs.asp?blog=weathermatrix&partner=accuweather&pgUrl=/mtweb/content/weathermatrix/archives/2006/11/pacnw_100_mph_3.asp

It is all relative. I lived in Eugene for 4 years, and while I spent a lot of time at Smith on the weekends, I still never had problems driving up the the North Cascades and Leavenworth in WA almost every weekend during the summers to get my fix of alpine trad. Supplement that with sport climbing and exploratory climbing to the south and you will find plenty to keep you busy. Granted I'd leave Eugene at 5 on Friday, get to the TH at midnight and climb for two days before heading back and getting back to Eugene late on Sunday night, but it was well worth it. With gas prices being so high now, my opinion may change, but it beats a lot of other places I have lived. You could always move to Bend if the girl thing didn't wrk out and be that much closer......

Had two buddies up there on Sunday attempting Wy East, but a ski patroller from Meadows turned them around and threatened to have the Sheriff arrest them if they did not turn around and go down. The patroller, named Brad, said that Meadows will not allow anyone to cross their property to access the upper mountain and that going out of bounds puts anyone subject to arrest. He called "Meadows security" and had them escorted to the parking lot. Is this true? If so, how does everyone access the Wy East while staying off of Meadows territory? If it is true, I think it is complete BS. It is national forest service out of bounds. They did not use lift service and skinned up to get there. Also, does anyone have the regs to show me the rules of Meadows?

Great climb! Haven't done that route since 1997. We didn't start up until a little after 2:30pm due to rain but since we drove so far to get there, we didn't want to turn around and head back. Two parties a head of us so slow going. We ended up climbing the upper third, beginning with the traverse using headlamps. Hung out on the summit under a full moon - only ones on the tower - and smoked some blessed tobacco an Indian gave us and rapped off. Only to get our ropes stuck at the last belay station. Thought we were going to spend the night on the ledge! Finally got down at midnight and drove back 8 hours to start work Sunday morning. Cool place for sure.

Pacific Northwest is only in the U.S. Canada doesn't count anyways Dru! Just out of curiosity, what would you say has more than 30 multi-pitch ice routes on a single cliff line in the Pacific Northwest? Eastern BC does not count as PNW nor does MT or WY or UT. Lillooet is too spread out. Banks has more climbs in total but again, more spread out. So......do tell.....

I didn't realize there was a name approval board in Washington either. To my knowledge, there still isn't. Josh, all I was saying is that Alex and Jason, who wrote the guidebook, are tracking FAs in all areas of Washington. If you get the FA, just like any other FA, you can name it. I think that Alex is only naming things so he doesn't have to keep describing them in the guide with long, directional names. As for Strobach being small, name another reliable ice climbing area that has over 30 routes in Oregon, WA, or ID that is larger besides Banks. At Banks the climbs are pretty spread out. Same as Lillloet. Largets concentration of known ice in the pacific Northwest on one cliff face. Ever been there Josh?

In partial defense for Alex, Second on Left, which is now referred to as Unholy Baptism was offered up to us for naming after we did the first pitch FA last year. Since we did not do the Second pitch, we declined to name it. Alex always seems open to name changes out at Strobach when you get the FA. The guidebook clearly states which routes have not been sent and if you want up to date info on which routes have been sent since the guidebook was produced, you can just PM Alex and he will ghladly provide you with that info. As it stands today only two or three of the routes since publication have seen FAs, although that may change this weekend with the number of climbers heading in there!

Glad you guys had such a good time! Great TR and and least you were out there! Yeah, the olks in Lostine are mighty different from Enterprise and Joseph too. Salt of the Earth for sure.....

Oregon. there is more climbing up the McKenzie, may be a little closer to Smith, S. Sisters access and climbs in southern oregon. OSU may be slightly closer to the North Cascades by about 20 mins. but that is it. The Crux Climbing gym is nicer than U of O's wall anyway....Plus Eugene is better than Corvallis as a town.....

I heard the drive down from Lewiston to Lostine is pretty quick, at least in the summer. Did they open 195? Last week when I was there is was shut down because of all of the snow drifts from Colton down to lewiston....

I love the Lostine River Canyon! I did a ton of work out there for the last three years. Really a beautiful place. I would be surprised however that the area looks anything like the pictures posted. For one, once you hit the Nation Forest Service/ wilderness boundary i am almost positive that the roads are not maintained (ie. Like Hurricane Creek)Once you get past the Lostine River Ranch and cross over the river for the first time there are a few houses, but beyonde that it is just FS/Wilderness. I know where that rock face is those guys were on and think that Steve and Steve House have done some firs rock ascents there. The good thing is it is not too far up the hill from where the road is likely not plowed, so you could bring skis or snowshoes and probably get in there with an hour or 2 approach. Avi danger is always going to be tihe main concern as the rock is not vertical/almost grantic dome face like so would be below some high avi prone slopes. be smart, check it out. it is a looong drive in winter! From PDX it is about 7 hours in winter mainly taking a lot of time between laGrande down through the Minam canyon to Wallowa. if you are coming from Eastern WA, Walla Walla, there is a short cut that takes you over Hwy 204. it starts just outside of Milton-Freewater and drops you down into Elgin. There is a ski resort there at the top, but that road can be dicey. At the very least, bring skis and go off to the backcountry, get drunk at TG or hang with the locals in Lostine. There is a cool coffee shop right at thse junction of Lostine River Rd. called the Blue banana and for a real american experience, go have coffee at the Lostine Tavern (it is where all the farm trucks are parked). Say hellow to Soony for me while in there. Your clothes will smell like "braosted chicken" for months........

nEVERMIND........

Kev, Although I do recall Gavin pming me a few years ago telling me that he was putting up a ton of routes up there bnt that I shouldn't tell anyone about TC.....Anytway, word is def. out!