Bronco

Watched the end of this awesome movie last night. Rugged. [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U91iJZMz8M

Cascade River Road also closed: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Heavy-rains-strand-hikers-near-Cascade-Pass-trailhead-219311441.html

Nice!

That's a long way to haul rock gear, great photos!

Partner and I Climbed the TFT in Scarpa Charmoz, light mountaineering boots. If you're climbing hard enough to want rock shoes, you may be off route and I agree, you don't want to be changing shoes much. Aluminum crampons are fine, but you may be frontpointing on hard snow/ice this late in the season. Seen guys wearing the Sportiva Boulder X high top quite a bit recently and they look like a good boot for this type of route. http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/climbingapproach/boulder-x-mid-gtx

One of the more entertaining TR's I've read in a while

Trip: Eldorado Peak, NCNP - East Ridge Date: 7/28/2013 Trip Report: I failed to win the debate (as usual) over objectives so Juan and I took a hike up Eldorado to get some exercise. Sunday morning I was late to the rendezvous, we stopped at Starbucks, the Ranger Station and then part of the way to the trail head drove 10 minutes back toward Marble Mount to get a signal strong enough to call home one last time setting the apathetic pace for the rest of the day. Since Juan is old and lazy and I’m fat and mostly ignorant, we left helmets and our rope in the truck and departed the Trail head at the crack of 8:41 am, arthritic desk jockey disposition mitigated by judicious Advil and sunscreen. Juan had new boots to break in and I was excited to document the carnage that ensued. Unfortunately, nary a blister was observed and Juan retaliated by mercilessly mocking my compression shorts. We meandered up the trail, sweat mixing with the clouds of dust and picked our way through the talus, discussing the Mariners turn around, favorite Norman Maclean stories and the virtues of ear/nose hair. I was surprised by the healthy snowpack once in Roush basin considering the frequent sunny days this summer. 2013 may turn out to have a good Fall ice climbing season. John Styling the East Ridge Token Snow Arête photo The final ascent to the summit was uneventful and it was great to relax on the summit rocks while reminiscing about peaks we’ve climbed and yet to attempt. Some excitement on the descent, I was briefly detained in a slide alder thicket and discovered this small pile of shoes. We let them be in case they were some form of sacrificial alter to the snaffle or some such scheme. We briefly lost the trail just before crossing the river where the sudden swarm of mosquitoes compelled us to forge our own log crossing on less than desirable logs. After a short bush whack, we were greeted at the truck by yet another multitude of all manner of flying insects at 5:30 pm. We quickly changed and headed to the Buffalo Run for some much deserved nourishment. It was fun to see so many folks out enjoying the weather but I’m sure we had the most fun which makes us the best climbers. Gear Notes: Advil, sunscreen Approach Notes: It may be steep but at least it's hot and dusty!

Sounds terrible, great job!

I feel like there should be a Can-Euro Extreme Speed climbing disclaimer about the belay anchor in this photo!

Wow, that's a ton of amazing climbing. I'm kind of afraid to ask but what the heck did you guys carry for food?

Jake - this system isn't great for low angle raps (as you may encounter more frequently ski mountaineering) as it has a propensity to hang up on everything. However, here's some more info on how to rig it with a biner to prevent the knot pulling through the anchor: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1176066&tn=0

That is awesome!

I'm really glad you guys came away from the experience unscathed and appreciate your detailed and honest account. It's pretty valuable for future LR climbers as you were very lucky but did show a lot of perseverance. I'm sensing a lack of Cascade volcano experience, maybe overall mountaineering experience? I'm wondering if you can tell us how heavy your packs were as well? A max of 40lbs is preferred on this type of route. Some observations/suggestions: Most route descriptions I've read clearly state to access the Carbon Gl at 7,200' and trend to the West side of Liberty Ridge up to Thumb Rock. A lot of this type of information is valuable to have accessible (I keep mine in my thigh pocket) as the memory can become fuzzy when under stress. I'll usually copy a route map or topo onto the back of a hand typed route description including the pertinent info like key elevations, approach data, landmarks, etc. The term "rock" is used loosely in regards to Mt. Rainier. It's not really rock, more dried/frozen mud holding cobble's at best or just loose nasty scree more commonly. Climbers attempting this route should be comfortable on loose 3/4th class terrain with a full overnight pack at altitude. We spent maybe 2-3 hours climbing the ridge from the Carbon to Thumb rock. You really want to move fast here and reduce the amount of time exposed to the steady stream of rockfall. I can't imagine the stress you were under spending 20 hours in that zone. It's uncommon for fatigue to improve as you ascend, good job managing what could've developed into severe ALS symptoms. I continued up Rainier once with a partner displaying those symptoms and by the time we reached the summit, he was hallucinating. It was scary and we were lucky his symptoms improved significantly by descending. An extra fuel canister is always good insurance. Glad you guys survived.

I'm sure Mark would figure it out ahead of time but E. Wilmans has a couple of short pitches of mid-fifth, definitely not a "scramble" for normal folks.

'Shadow' home inventory could burden U.S. housing agencies, watchdogs say. WASHINGTON | Thu May 30, 2013 3:54pm EDT May 30 (Reuters) - Millions of U.S. homeowners are months behind on payments on government-backed mortgages, raising the risk federal housing agencies will end up facing the cost of managing a fresh flood of foreclosed homes, two government watchdogs said on Thursday. Some 2.7 million borrowers have missed several payments on mortgages backed by the U.S. government, the inspectors general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a joint report. These loan delinquencies represent a "shadow inventory" of homes that could hit the market if foreclosed on, which would need be managed by government-run Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or some other federal housing agency. Once seized, these so-called real estate owned properties, or REOs, present significant financial challenges to these government agencies, the report said. "Not only are current REO inventory levels elevated ... they may rise over the next several years depending on the number of shadow inventory properties that are ultimately foreclosed on," the report stated. Since the housing market boom and bust, the government has employed billions of dollars to help borrowers manage high-cost loans and stabilize neighborhoods hit by foreclosures. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD, which oversees the nation's mortgage insurer, the Federal Housing Administration, have been burdened with a glut of repossessed properties as a result of the housing market collapse. Not only does the government need to cover maintenance costs, it also needs to hire real estate agents and contractors to rehabilitate and sell the homes. Finding cost-effective ways to deal with the supply poses a challenge, the report said. "These networks require significant oversight to ensure that they perform effectively and that they mitigate both REO-related expenses and foreclosure's negative effects," the report stated. The report said the shadow inventory, which is made up of loans that have been delinquent for at least 90 days, is more than seven times the inventory of REOs that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD currently own. "Even a fraction of the shadow inventory falling into foreclosure could considerably swell ... inventories of REO properties," the report warned. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration are backing about nine out of every ten new home loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owned about 158,000 REO properties at the end of September 2012, while HUD had about 37,000. HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have all taken steps to shrink their REO inventories, the report noted. Fannie Mae has already launched a pilot program to mitigate the costs of foreclosures, auctioning off some of its properties in bulk to investors with the intention to convert them into rentals. Another good article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324682204578517731339959980.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Depends- Are you going solo or with a team? Is your team carrying a rope? Would you feel bad/stupid if you punched through a snow bridge, plummeted into a crevasse and the answer to the first two questions is "yes"? Other factors include weather, are you on skis, experience with glacier navigation, visibility, snow conditions etc. Personally I wouldn't even consider going on the Nisqually at this time of year without a rope and competent partner.

I've suspected this may be an attempt by the extremist Skagit/Whatcom ski mountaineering cell to initiate jihad on the tribes to the South and interfere with our traditional migration trails to the north just before the summer ski season starts. This "Septula" guy in particular is probably on the Homeland Security watch list. Why don't they just install a ramp on each end of the remaining span? [img:center]http://fwallpapers.com/files/images/dukes-hazzard-6.jpg[/img]

Great pics and TR!

Nice Tom, thanks for compiling these TR's into one massively inspiring list of climbs to dream about.

CAG is the Cascade Alpine Guide by Fred Becky. Volume 1 covers Hwy 2 south to the Columbia River. You can pick one up cheap on Amazon.com if you don't have one.

Hi Josh: This looks like a slight variation to the Anderson Creek Route (pg 204 and 205 of the CAG vol. 1.) If I were going up Index this weekend, I'd give heavy consideration of following the Peris-Index traverse to avoid potential cornice collapses and avalanches coming down the Anderson Creek drainage or the Hourglass drainage on the Lake Serene side. After this weekend, it looks like the snowpack should stabilize after it cools off a little. http://www.nwac.us/forecast/avalanche/current/zone/2/ Most of the easy routes have been done on Index due to it's proximity to HWY 2. There are probably some unclimbed couliors that I've seen from the summit of Persis but they are likely winter routes. Have fun and enjoy whatever route you decide to do! Look forward to your TR.

Several years ago I had a pair of those and found that they are finicky to adjust (too tight restricts circulation, too loose they fall off)and as a result, made me very slow in transition. I sold them after a couple of climbs.

Sounds like a Mid-May opening, thanks Woodcutter!

Pretty sure I saw these two guys cross the finish line just as the bombs detonated, think you have barriers to your fitness/training goals? http://www.teamhoyt.com/

Any updates on the status of the road opening to Mountaineers Creek Trailhead? Still a lot of snow?