texplorer

Carpe Diem Layton, I'll think of you when I'm crimpin at Smith this weekend. PS. savor those chimneys on epinephrine!

wrecker, Dru is a guidebook if you really must know. Dru, I read the bivouac.com story but do you have any knowledge of how hard the climbing was in places?

dietsch, are you talking about the upper buttress of cathedral or yokum or something else? shred, I checked my watch and where it showed 8600ft I didn't see an obvious route over the ridge as it mentioned in the guidebook. I assume we descended another 300-400ft before crossing on several steps.

Greetings all, Sorry I haven't had a chance to post this sooner. And sorry there are no catchy pics as I am a poor person without a fancy digital camera. But. . .anyway had a classic day up on hood on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Saturday afternoon my partner redeemed his REI store credit for some Quark Ice tools and we headed up the mountain. After getting conditions beta from Crackman we decided on the Sandy Glacier headwall route. We made good time up to the saddle in cold weather since it was a clear night under a full moon. We dropped down onto the Reid and descended down next to the Yokum ridge. While downclimbing some crevasses on the Reid I saw an small avy on the opposite side of the glacier. We crossed the Yokum and had a nice spicy traversing downclimb through excellent alpine ice. Once on the glacier we headed up and leftward. As the gully narrowed spindrift blowing off the top of the mountain flowed down around us and off the rocks like crystal waterfalls. It seemed as if we climbed 50-55 degree slopes forever sometimes getting spindrift in the face. Finally we reached the summit ridge and found the usual Sunday morning crowds ascending the Bantam Death march route (aka south side). We could see from Rainier to the Three sisters. The most clear day I have ever had on hood. I was pretty tired we seemed to make it down rather fast. Back in the taco bell in Sandy I bit into a large 7-layer burrito only to have the roof of my mouth and throat feel on fire. I guess the UV was really high because I actually got sunburned on the roof of my mouth. Now, I'm recovered and eating jalapenos again and am ready for another spicy climb. Maybe I'll head up to smith for some spicy bolt clipping.

I guess in some way or another were all a little, "insane in the membrane" Here's to the sport where being insane is plus

Yea, quite preaching everybody Less spray, more chopping!

Mad Max -beyond the palindrome

Ruggedness, granite and of course alpine hookers

Nice to hear a report, Crack. No I can stay at home and leave my mind at rest knowing noone else will be having fun either.

By the time you are at the top and exhausted from carrying your heavy skis and wearing your special superstiff, blister-maker boots I'm already half way down. This doesn't really apply to me anyway cause I'm not really interested in doing "slog" routes which don't involve vertical,technical sections.

Here's to Eric8 of the Single Star club. It takes a special someone to earn the single star status. And here's to all the losers who depleted my star rating Oh, and FTF (Fuck the Freshies)

Hey, I'm a member of the two star crowd now! Yippee, lets see if I can piss anyone else off and go for the coveted "La Estrella Primero"

Yea, there are actually alot of mossed up crags in central and southern oregon with alot of untouched rock. I mean you can clean lines or even bolt them but besides the other 12 people who care about finding and climbing in such areas there's not much traffic.

A secret spot that rhymes with Tupac. It's located in the forest about half between my abode and the mega-lycra-sporto-heaven of central Oregon. It's developed as a totally a "no-bolt" haven. Not even anchors! I saw alot of good sport lines there but I have to respect the "finder's" wish that it remain as an untainted sort of wilderness climbing spot.

sehr shon herrik

Does this count?

I prefer the ski-less approach, I have been miles into the backcountry and never had a "cable" break on me. As an added bonus I don't have as much problem on snowless approaches.

Nice work Crackman. Hope I can join you on your next Hood adventure.

Nice pics guys, makes me think maybe I should head up there this weekend.

Horsecock, snafflehounds, alpine hand jams, great beer, and Fred- Some things are meant to be savored in life. I hope Fred is around for another 80 for us to savor! The Texplorer

Holy Sporto, When was the last time three women posted on the same thread on cc.com? Maybe there is a God.

I don't know what they were talking about. It was a great weekend for ice climbing at Smith.

S N A F F L E H O U N D = 19 14 1 6 6 12 5 8 15 21 14 4 = 125

Maybe you could go on TV and sell the RONCO Neutrino, the next wave in painless home acupunture. Maybe we could even put some of the out of work climbers here to work on the infomercial or answering phones.

Can you find this mag at the major bookstores or should I head to a local gear shop?