Bronco

I may be in the minority but your husband sounds like he's got the fitness and a reasonable parter who's been smart enough to turn around in the past when encountering bad weather. I feel bad for the guy that you're here trying to construct an argument against him making the attempt and these jackals are spoon feeding your insecurities. If your husband needs more info, have him call the climbing rangers at Paradise. I climbed with inexperienced climbers on a 16 hour climb of Rainier once. They worked a 40 hour week on some steep roof in Seattle, got off work and drove to Paradise with me. We climbed the mountain, picked up a solo hitch hiker on route, took some pictures with Japanese tourists and went home. Congrats on the expected arrival of your baby. Sounds like they'll have an adventurous father.

Goat Wall's Prime Rib is reputedly the longest easy sport climb in the nation and worth doing if you are in the area. 11 pitches up to 5.9, a single 60m rope will get you down. We took about 15 draws and that was plenty.

I was up on Beckler Peak (about 5 miles East of Baring) two weeks ago and found 3-4' of snow at 3,500'. The advantage to doing Baring right now is a lot of the jungle will still be covered in the spring snow pack. The snowpack seemed pretty well consolidated but having been on Baring at this time of year, I would consider bringing snowshoes. Be careful of the potential for hidden moats in the gullies leading up to the intial ridge, I glissaded down and accidentally jumped a big one.

Sounds like your feet are healed up from the ultra -

10 hours car to car? :tup:

Managed to toss it in the recylce bin before my wife read it.

Wear a hockey goalie's mask and scare everone who sees you in wandering around in your coveralls.

Nah, you're too much fun to watch descending on your board. Thanks for sharing about the history of the traverse, pretty interesting.

Awesome - Thanks for sharing the stoke!

Although I'm sure none of us have any weight to lose I found this series of "Killing the Fat Man" video clips interesting and can't help but get motivated by this guy's attitude. Pretty cool http://journal.crossfit.com/2012/04/killingthefatmanep1.tpl

Diedre? http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Main/14107/Number/204189

Detailed Avalanche Forecast Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center Seattle Washington 1308 PM PDT Fri May 04 2012 This forecast applies to back country avalanche terrain below 7000 feet and does not apply to developed ski areas or highways. Please note that regular forecasts for this season have ended. Special forecasts will be issued this spring only if unusually severe avalanche conditions develop. This special forecast applies from Friday May 4th through Tuesday May 8th and will be updated as conditions warrant. Zone Avalanche Forecasts Olympics, Stevens Pass, Snoqualmie Pass, White Pass, WA Cascades near and west of crest - north of Stevens Pass, WA Cascades near and west of crest - between Stevens and Snoqualmie Pass, WA Cascades near and west of crest - between Snoqualmie and White Pass, WA Cascades near and west of crest - south of White Pass, East slopes WA Cascades - north of Stevens Pass, East slopes WA Cascades - between Stevens and Snoqualmie Pass, East slopes WA Cascades - between Snoqualmie and White Pass, East slopes WA Cascades - south of White Pass, Mt Hood area Forecast Friday Through Tuesday: Strong spring storms this week have deposited significant new snow amounts above about 5 to 6000 feet. This snow should become increasingly unstable through the weekend with gradually increasing sunshine and warming expected. Expect locally high avalanche danger developing above about 5 to 6000 feet, especially on sun exposed terrain and higher elevations and on the volcanoes. Snowpack Analysis Recent Weather: Several strong fronts and associated upper level troughs have moved across the Pacific Northwest since Sunday. Snow levels have remained relatively low throughout the week mainly near 3-4000 feet in the north Cascades and 4 to 5000 feet in south Cascades and Mt Hood area. Total precipitation amounts over the past four days (Monday through early Friday morning) along most west slope areas and volcanoes range from about 2 to 3 inches of water equivalent with Timberline on Mt Hood receiving the greatest amount of 4.5 inches in four days and 5.2 inches in 5 days! Less water was received along the east slopes, mostly between .5 to 1 inch. This precipitation has mainly been in the form of snow above 4000 feet in the north and 5000 feet in the south. Recent snowfall totals during the week range from 1 to 2 feet of snow at study plots from 4-6000 feet. Significantly greater new snow is likely above 6-7000 feet, especially on the volcanic peaks. Snow Pack and Avalanche Activity: There have been numerous field observations over the past several days, especially from WSDOT crews working above Chinook Pass in the central WA Cascades and from patrol at Alpental and Mt Hood Meadows ski areas. Crews on Chinook Pass reported by early afternoon, they had already received about 15 inches of new snow through the day. This new snow became increasingly wet and unstable through the afternoon with natural slides releasing on most slopes even with mostly cloudy and cool conditions. Slides were also releasing on relatively low angled slopes of about 30 degrees, with most slides remained above a thin crust layer. However of potentially greater concern is the snowpack below the recent snow and thin crust layer. Below the new recent snow and any remaining thin crust, about 1 to 2 meters of large grain wet to saturated snow remains above the older finer grained winter snowpack. Control results and cornice drops earlier in the week did produce some larger wet slab releases involving these deep layers of wet snow. Other field observations from both Alpental and Mt Hood Thursday as well as back country skier reports this week confirm the deep layer of wet unconsolidated snow ranging from 1 to 2 meters. Just received snowpack conditions from Alpental pro patrol Friday morning. New recent snow becoming wet with ski cuts easily triggering wet avalanches. These slides are running far and fast and entraining wet snow underneath as well as carrying over shallow angled terrain and benches. What does this mean? It means we do not have a stable spring snowpack as yet. It also means that slides releasing easily in the new snow from this week, up to 1 to 2 feet or more, may break down and involve the deeper 3 to 6 feet of wet snow layers. These slides would become very large very quickly, travel fast and far and be potentially destructive! Cornice failures also remain a major concern, as these may trigger large wet slab releases on slopes below. Detailed Forecasts Friday and Saturday The coolest air mass of the week is over us Friday and into early Saturday as an upper level low pressure system moves through the area. This should maintain light snow showers and moderate onshore westerly flow through early Saturday with a diminishing trend in showers overnight and early Saturday. High pressure should begin building Saturday with modest rises in freezing levels. However, sun breaks should allow for daytime temperatures to respond quickly. This weather should continue to wet and weaken the recent snow received this week resulting in continued unstable conditions. Both natural and triggered slides should remain likely, especially during the warmer part of the day and on slopes receiving direct sunshine. Such slides could entrain deeper wet snow as they descend especially in chutes, gullies and canyons that may funnel larger avalanches from higher terrain. Concern #1: Wet loose or isolated wet slab avalanches especially mid and lower elevations and sun exposed terrain. Concern #2: Cornice failures. Concern #3: Glide cracks where full snow pack releases to smooth underlying surface such as rock faces are possible. Sunday through TuesdayMonday High pressure should become strong over the region Sunday through Tuesday. This should cause significant warming with freezing levels climbing to 9-10,000 feet late Sunday and 10-11,000 feet by Monday into Tuesday. Mostly sunny warm weather with light winds are expected Sunday through Tuesday with high clouds spreading over the area Tuesday. This should cause deep wet surface conditions in most areas. As a result, natural wet loose or wet slab avalanches should remain likely during this period, especially from late morning through the afternoon hours each day. Cornice failure remains likely as well. Some wet slides may become large and become potentially destructive, running to the valley floors. Even travel on relatively flat terrain at lower elevations may be dangerous as slides beginning at higher elevations could easily become very large and quickly reach lower elevation areas. As a result of this potentially large spring avalanche cycle, back country travel is not recommended late this weekend into early next week. As freezing levels rise, the avalanche danger should quickly spread to higher elevations, especially on the volcanoes where more recent snow this week as accumulated. Concern #1: Wet loose or isolated wet slab avalanches especially mid and lower elevations and sun exposed terrain. Concern #2: Cornice failures. Concern #3: Glide cracks where full snow pack releases to smooth underlying surface such as rock faces are possible.

Thanks for the reminder Jason, sent an email in support of the repairs.

Probably some melted out, rocky skiing or snow covered, wet rock climbing up some brushy, loose mud pile that was "in" the previous weekend.

I've also used the Raven Pro with a small Charlet Moser third tool hammer for years on a lot of different routes. I really like how comfortable the Raven is to carry in cane position. I can think of several times where a slight bend in the shaft would've been preferable. This axe looks pretty sweet but I'm a little skeptical about the riveted pick tip. Anyone use one? http://promountainsports.com/index.php/climbing/ice-axes/camp-corsa-nanotech.html

Hi Sig: I'm curious as to why you chose the Titanium version. Care to share what steered you to that decision?

Those Mont Blanc look like a newer version the Scparpa Matterhorn and probably a great general mountaineering boot. If you do go with a full leather boot, don't forget to start breaking them in as soon as you get them. I beleive the only downside to the full leather and stiffer shank is the prolonged break-in as compared to a synthetic boot.

Hi Greg: I have a pair of Charmoz that I really like for everything except snow climbs and would suggest you consider a full leather Scarpa for snow/glacier routes. They will outlast the Charmoz which have had some durability issues. I also have a pair of old Scarpa Matterhorn (full leather) boots that were my first pair of real mountaineering boots. They are bomber and still going strong after many glacier and snow climbs. Good luck!

Sounds like a pretty good training regiment. If you can find a long snow slope that's convenient, hauling a heavy pack up and down will best prepare your nervous sytem for the strain of the aproach and climb. FWIW I used a shovel at Camp Muir once to keep our tent from collapsing in an unforcasted heavy snow event. Not a bad idea to bring to base camp.

Isn't that acess road typically covered in snow until June?

Gear looks pretty well dialed in to me. I'd be more interested in your training program with three months to go before your climb. If you don't get stormed out the next most likely cause of failure is lack of fitness. Gear is somewhere down the line after that. Tenacity and fitness will get you a lot farther than the latest and greatest gear. I've climbed with guys on Rainier who wore army surplus wool pants on a 16 hour car to car climb. I think I hauled a 4 pound Eddie Bauer parka to the top and back that day, along with 3 cans of Rainier Beer that we were too nautious to drink on the summit. Anyway, what's your training program look like?

Yes, take a course in Bozeman. Continental vs Coastal snow packs behave differently.

Good Article on Heuristic Traps: http://avalancheinfo.net/Newsletters%20and%20Articles/Articles/McCammonHTraps.pdf

Nice job on the winter ascent, the photos are great! Just curious, did you forget your rope at Muir or just happen to not be roped up in the photos? edited to add that I understand it is customary to cross the ledges unroped, just a little unconventional to continue unroped for the glacier portion between the top of Gib rock and the crater.

Do the Mansalus match your pants/jacket/pack? I can't beleive this was overlooked in this important thread!