Alasdair

If you are setting up your camp in that kind of weather you are doing something wrong. Prepare for bad weather by building your camp first, and dont move in bad weather.

Just got back from a trip up Denali. Thought some of you guys might enjoy the photos and a couple of the videos. Its been a hard year on Denali this year, with very cold temps and almost constant high winds. Until two days ago there were only six people who had made it to the summit. Denali trip blog

Thanks everyone, and especially Matt for his continued work to help out the climbing community of WA. These guys appreciate your cooperation. P.S.- No peregrines or eagles were harmed shooting these photo, and no laws were broken (I have been called on this before).

The closure is of Deception wall. The closure does not include Nevermind wall. I have not been able to head out there myself so I am only relaying info gained over the phone. There will be signs up in the next week or so. The biologist will be putting them up so if the nest is infact on the write off wall then it will be posted on the signs. Please respect the closure. FF-Its not like write off or deception are really classic crags so im not sure how this is really that big of a deal.

I just spoke with a WDFW person who confirmed a nesting peregrine falcon near the top of Deception wall at exit 38. State parks and WDFW would like a voluntary closure of this wall until the end of June. The birds are currently sitting on eggs. There will be signs posted in the next week or as soon as wdfw can get back to the area to post the signs. It is in the best interest of climbers and the birds to avoid this wall while nesting is taking place. Thanks everyone.

Updated first post to include the following information... Exit 38. There is a voluntary closure of Deception wall through June due to nesting peregrine falcons.

Now your making me feel really bad.

Updated China Bend info.

Updated bird info since the last thread had to be locked. Hoping to use this thread in the same way as last years with bird closure info for 2012. There are two notable closures already this year. Both for Golden eagle nesting. China bend main cliff is closed Starting Feb 15th thru July 31st. There is an active nest in the middle of the main cliff. At last look the bird was on the nest. Fish and wildlife is very excited about seeing a bird on a nest here, and it has been great for the climbing communities public relations to allow this to happen. Thanks to all those who have helped make this happen. Trout creek is closed as of Feb 1 until further notice. Likely mid July. Exit 38. There is a voluntary closure of Deception wall through June due to nesting peregrine falcons. Beacon Rock, South Face Closed as of Feb 1 Info http://beaconrockclimbingassociation.blo...w-climbing.html here Smith Rock Monument area closed from Feb 15- Aug 1 for golden eagles. Link for more info http://smithrock.com/b2evolution/blog4.php/2012/02/06/monument-area-to-close-february-15th Smith Rock. It looks like the closure for the Prairie Falcons is also going into effect in the First Kiss area. It will be the same closure as the last 2 years. Tieton At present, the closure at Tieton is just downstream of The Bend but it may be moved if the birds do not nest in the same spot as last year. The Bend and other Tieton crags remain open. The following locations are likely closures that I dont have info on yet this year. Midnight Rock, Leavenworth Snow Creek Wall, Leavenworth Mt. Erie I will edit this post as I get more info on nesting closures. If you hear of any please feel free to update this thread and send me an email with the info at alasdairturner@gmail.com. Due to two back to back Denali trips this year it will be difficult for me to update openings in a timely manor so feel free to add those also.

Toothed works great going up, but gives no protection on the way down, which is why the OP is looking for other options. Ushba acsenders work fine on icy ropes BTW. The Denali fixed lines do count as stiff ropes. Has anyone tried the Trango cinch?

Nope not the cannon person. I was the guy who talked to you the following morning when you were looking for your cams and suggested you post here to find them. Good luck, I hope you get them back.

I have some photos of the rescue on my blog. I also have some photos of the gear that broke and the climb with the gear hanging on it after the fall which I have not posted. If the family of the victim would like those photos they can email me directly. As far as the sling that broke goes... It was not tied, and did not fail because it became untied.

If you know for a fact that you will need a chopper rescue and it is life threatening I suggest telling the 911 operator that you need a chopper from Whidbey or the coast guard. Thats what I said to them several years ago on a Mt. Baker rescue and the Navy guys were above us 45 mins later. Life threatening head injury? Skip the sherrif.

yea, pretty much.

I was part of a different rescue at Cascade Pass several years ago, and the same crew picked the guy. It was a pretty quick and efficient rescue. Here are the photos of those guys in action... North Cascades rescue.

As far as radios go they do tend to be the communication of choice for a lot of the guiding community in the NW and elsewhere. They are very complicated to learn to use, and also require a ham radio license. Radios will work in an emergency pretty much anywhere in the north cascades, but if you dont know the frequencies, or how to use the device it is as good to you as a brick. The small hand held ham radios have the ability to transmit on many different bands so you may not need repeaters in range if there are other people who use radios nearby. In alaska these give you the ability to communicate with your pilot if he is flying by for example. That said, for most people the best option is a spot.

Maybe there are some golden eagles that use the same nest year over year, but none that I have seen. I have been to a lot of nests in the pacific northwest and not one of them has used a single nest.

DPS, I had one of those once at the same elevation on the emmons. There is a big shrund up there that everyone seems to forget about. Photos... http://alasdairturner.blogspot.com/2009/05/rainer-crevase-fall-few-years-ago.html

? I dont really have enough info here to answer your question. Can you add some detail to your question?

What Gene said. Believe it or not it is hard to know if some areas are closed until the land manager has decided they will be closed, but I updated the OP to make it more obvious. I am just starting to gather the info for this season and these two go into effect now so I added them. The peregrine closures are usually quite a bit later than the eagle closures.

Hoping to use this thread in the same way as last years with bird closure info for 2012. There are two notable closures already this year. Both for Golden eagle nesting. China bend main cliff is closed Starting Feb 15th thru April 15th. Trout creek is closed as of Feb 1 until further notice. Likely mid July. Beacon Rock, South Face Closed as of Feb 1 Info http://beaconrockclimbingassociation.blogspot.com/2012/01/february-1st-closures-and-new-climbing.html here Smith Rock Monument area closed from Feb 15- Aug 1 for golden eagles. Link for more info http://smithrock.com/b2evolution/blog4.php/2012/02/06/monument-area-to-close-february-15th Smith Rock. It looks like the closure for the Prairie Falcons is also going into effect in the First Kiss area. It will be the same closure as the last 2 years. Tieton At present, the closure at Tieton is just downstream of The Bend but it may be moved if the birds do not nest in the same spot as last year. The Bend and other Tieton crags remain open. The following locations are likely closures that I dont have info on yet this year. Midnight Rock, Leavenworth Snow Creek Wall, Leavenworth Mt. Erie I will edit this post as I get more info on nesting closures. If you hear of any please feel free to update this thread and send me an email with the info at alasdairturner@gmail.com. Due to two back to back Denali trips this year it will be difficult for me to update openings in a timely manor so feel free to add those also. Mods - can we make this a sticky?

Unfortunately right now is when the crag needs to be closed for golden eagles. Waiting for a long drawn out review process could potentially cause the nest to fail again this year. Just keep in mind that they may not have had a choice on this one. The vast majority of people who work for these agencies started working for them because they love outdoor recreation just like you. They get lots of nasty letters from people on both sides of every issue and that is kind of sad. Keep in mind that as much as you may think that climbing is the most important activity in this area, there are a whole lot more people who think that birds are more important. In the United States the second most common hobby listed among the population is birding, just after photography which is number one. It would be good for climbers to remember this.

I don't have any link, but I have worked around active nests for the last two years and have been to a whole lot of nests including ones that have chicks in them. The information I posted is from talking to the biologists that work directly with the birds, and is what I have personally observed also. I am sure this info is out there, but it is likely a doctorate thesis buried in the science library of some university.

Dormant golden eagle nests are not a fact of life. Golden eagles have several nests in which the alternate the use of year over year. If they decided to use one of the nests that is near the climbing then it is likely no one would know it until the nest has already failed. A golden eagle (unlike a peregrine) will flush from its nest before most climbers ever saw it. In the case of trout creek a female would very likely leave the nest as a group of climbers got to the base of the uphill trail. The eagle will not come back until the climbers have left. If they climb for more than a couple of hours the nest could easily fail. This has happened at China Bend for several years now, and likely has been happening at Trout Creek. This is why golden eagles need a much larger closure area than peregrines. The closure does appear warranted, but is maybe a bit excessive since the birds would almost certainly fledge by early July. I found a dead eagle at the base of the crag several years ago but I dont know what the circumstances of that was. I think the climbing community should be a little careful about an outright battle against any type of closure since it is not really constructive.