Alasdair

If you go in the next few weeks you will have no issues with water, and i cant see you needing a rope either. Aluminum crampons would also be fine if any at all. Also if you really want to minimize your impact you can do this route as a car to car fairly easily (if you are in shape) since the trail in there is not too bad. Here is my favorite photo from a few years ago.

From Komo: SEATTLE - We now know what triggered the rock fall that killed three climbers in the North Cascades. One of three survivors says the climbers used a boulder as an anchor, but that boulder gave way. Climb leader 61-year-old Jo Backus was hit by falling rock and badly injured and needed to be belayed down the mountain (anchored in) so she wouldn't fall. Survivor Janel Fox told her family and boyfriend that the climbers set up a belay - using a boulder for an anchor. They were helping to move injured climber leader Jo Backus down a steep gulley. But once weight was put on the rock anchor, it gave way. Survivor Janel Fox's boyfriend said Janel described the boulder as crumbling and crashing down. It released the anchor and the crumbled rocks headed straight for the climbers -- one boulder as big as a refrigerator.

Yea its still that way.

I just sent one letter in response. The more the better...

Although I have no current info. I will tell you that there was still snow on the route last year at this time. Just patches though. They were steep and exposed, and if icy crampons would have been nessasary. Have a look on the web and see if you can find a rogers pass web cam. Sorry no real usefull info.

All is good and great, until it gets cold and you have to melt a lot of snow at which point what forrest said is correct. I have heard that MSR once made a hanging set up for the XGK but for some reason it did not make it to the market.

Our very own Stuart O'Grady! Bullshit. If someone else endangers you by hooking bars or crossing wheels then you should protect yourself. The best way to do that is to make sure you dont crash with them. In most cases that involves speeding up the inevitable, which is having them crash.

Actually if there is someone drafting you dont worry too much about it. If they touch your wheel lean slightly in to them and they will crash. You will be fine. Dido if someone locks bars with you. Just push their bars out of your way. They will crash you wont.

You are probably correct in this change in temperature, and although I do not know for sure I would guess that this is because as you are hiking toward vesper headley pass is the highest point of the valley therefore not getting any colder alpine air moving down from above. And quite likely getting warmer air from lower in the valley moving up toward the pass. ONce you get to the other side of headley pass you have a large alpine area with a considerable amount of elevation above you. Any cold air will be funneled down from that alpine area toward headley pass. Does that make sense?

Yea I thought about Ingalls lake, but I strictly avoid the S. Face since the last time I got yelled at for cutting the death triangle off of two metolius rap bolts that the guy before me had just put on them.

Well my girlfreind will be comming with us, and yes all men are always trying to get laid, but no my need to find the perfect spot stems more on my need to climb something than my need to get laid.

Ok so I have a non climbing freind in town this weekend who wants go go camping. I need something that fits the following conditions... -Not too hard of a hike in. For example to Colchuck Lake would be fine. Up Asgard not fine. -Must have something to climb close by for me on Sunday. No harder than about 5.4 Do I have any chance of getting a permit for Sahalee Arm? -Should be fairly scenic since I am trying to get said freind to move out here. My thoughts are, Mt. Daniel, Basin below S. side of stuart, Something in N cascades??

Note that most of the major mapping sites use the same raw data. Microsoft, Google, mapquest etc. So it is not suprising that they both have snowcreek wall. As far as mapping for the northwest mountaineer goes I can assure you that MS streets and trips is likely to have the more peaks listed than any of the other programs. And while you may not be able to find some of the i-90 peaks using search, I can assure you they are there.

As far as the traverse over the snow goes. If you rap directly down 3 double rope rapels from the chimney on the W Ridge route you will reach a ledge system that will take you to the col at the base of the west ridge therefore missing all but 10 feet of snow which is probably now gone. Bummed you could not get your partners to go for it, it would have been fun (cold). That was me you met a Lake vivian. Did you get your injured partner out ok?

Same deal. On the upper west rib you climb the west butt for all but two days of your climb. If you are not back on the west butt after two days then the rangers will probably start questioning.

Ok I see your point, but its still the west butt, so you could call the ranger station in Talkeetna and the could tell you that the person you are worried about is fine. However if I was asked to contact my signifcant other during a climbing trip I would tell her no can do.

As I said above. Why bring the phone to the West Butt. You dont need one. It does not add any more safety to your climb. If the batteries run out go talk to one of the masses of people with a radio and tell kahiltna base what is up after the 8:00 weather report.

When the day comes that one of the reasons i bail on an expedition climb is that i can't call my fucking wife on the sat phone is the day someone needs to take me out back and shoot me in the fucking head. Anyone else out there do this kind of lame shit? If my climbing partner gave me that as a reason to bail I'd put my boot up his ass(w/ crampons on). I agree completly. If my fucking partner sudenly bailed on me on the west butt. because the phone was running out of bateries I would send them down with the fucking phone on their own and find someone else to climb with. What the fuck do you need a phone on the west buttress for anyway?

You guys should have gone up the W. Ridge anyway. Weather was a little cold, but would have been a fun "adventure" climb.

Climbed the S. Face of Prusik on Sat. Damn there was a lot of booty on that climb. Cam, nut, biners

I addition if you place your camp at the base of the sherpa glacier (the west approach) you will have a much easier descent. Traversing under Sherpa peak to get to sherpa arganaut col is very long and kind of a nightmare. If you are camped on the west side all you have to do is head down the sherpa glacier which is very easy.

There are two possible ways on to the ridge one from the East and one from the west. I think the east is described in the book. The approach to the west is easier, and getting on to the ridge is about the same, so I would say skip all the bushwhacking and go from the west. If you do go for the east approach (which puts you in the basin below the NE face of Sherpa) Make sure you stay in the forest and do not be tempted to head out to the open areas, as they are all slide alder and very slow going.

Sounds good to me. Obviously it will need some sort of oversite so they dont overstep their bounds, but I am tired of paying the same high rate for health insurance for the fat fuck smoker who drinks a 120 oz of soda a day. Of course they are going to have more health problems than someone who has a healthy lifestyle and the person with a heathy lifestyle has to pay their medical bills. I am all for it.

I am heading out to the black hills for a week next week. Any must do climbs? I will also be at devils tower for a day or two. What are the best moderates? What are some must do one pitch not so moderates?

I have attached a photo with the original intended route. Go get it folks its unclimbed, but you might want to get on it in april. We were in AK for less than a week. We did some hiking outside Anchorage after the climb, but there was not enough time to get anything else done given that the weather bailed the day we flew back to seattle. I now beleive it is very possible to climb biggish stuff in AK in one week from seattle. The key is to watch the weather in Seattle and head up when you see one of the May high pressures building. Fly in get it done and get the hell out before the weather bails. This route could be done in 3 days from seattle if you get the weather right. Fly up Friday all the way to the glacier, Climb Saturday camp to camp, fly out sunday morning and back to seattle. An expensive three days but doable.