mattp

It can take an amazing amount of work to pry off what seems to be a very loose flake sometimes. An extra long snow picket can be a useful tool here.

The reason you'd pay to camp in the Icicle is that the campgrounds are pretty nice. And the fee? You believe in user fees when it comes to just about everything else, don't you Greg? You know, freeloaders are bad and why should I benefit from your labor being userped by the overbearing Federal government? I don't think our campgrounds should be operated by Thousand Trails and I agree with most of the arguments against Fee Demo, but how much is it for a campsite? $8.00? You get a picnic table, potable water, and a clean toilet. You don't have to take a dump in the watershed and they even collect your trash. You may have to listen to the kids in the next campsite who get up at 6:00 am, but you don't have to screw around with Officer Larry. As far as I'm concerned, its fine to dirtbag it if you want to. You can find a more secluded spot for sure and you can spend your $8.00 on a couple of latte's instead. Whatever you do, don't argue with Officer Larry, don't make a mess, and do respect private property rights in the Canyon. We already have a fairly serious relations problem with the Leavenworth District and it won't serve us well to cause problems by being either selfish or righteous.

The Chutes are a summer trip. Here is a july 4 photo:

Isn't Cinnamon Slab another easy one?

Like I said: to each his own. The most fun I've had on the mountain were two four-day climbs. You don't have to do it that way, but your suggestion that anybody who "needs" that much time ought to go back to Kansas is a bit much. I don't know the physiology, but I know that I enjoy making an intermediate level camp at, say, 8,000 feet. While 11,000 feet may be a little high on most routes for good camping, I don't think it is nuts, irresponsible, stupid, or otherwise a bad idea to consider camping at Ingraham Flats or at the flats at a similar elevation on the Emmons. For most parties on Mount Rainier, altitude in itsself is not the biggest problem. Dehydration and exhaustion may be reduced if one doesn't climb 5,000 to 6,000 feet in the hot sun within several hours' prior to their starting on their summit climb. In addition, while you are more likely to experience high winds or wake up in a cloud cap if you camp higher on the mountain, you are also closer to your tent during your summit climb if you camp higher on the mountain. Yes, people HAVE died from altitude illness on Mount Rainier and I'm aware that soem advocate a speed ascent where the idea is to get up and down before you have a chance to get sick.

Fenderfour, Nobody is saying that you or anybody else "can't" make it in two days or even one. There can be advantages to doing it on a longer itinerary, though, and I bet there is a higher rate of success for parties who allow extra time. To each his own.

We need a NEW MOVIES FORUM!

When I climbed Yokum Ridge, we belayed something like 17 pitches. The only "solid" anchors we got were when we kicked/chopped holes in the snow and rime and sat down to belay. Or at least we told ourselves that these platforms were solid....(we KNEW that the screws and pickets in between were garbage). dmuja makes a good point about the mutual suicide pact and how it may be better to unrope if you don't have anchors, but so to does iain: the reality is that most of us spend a great deal of time roped to a partner with little or nothing in the way of secure belays on a general mountaineering outing.

I'm with Cascadeclimber on this one. I should say I've never made the climb as a day trip, but I've made the climb on two, three, and even four-day itineraries. By far the most enjoyable trips I've had on the mountain were on the three and four-day plan. Mount Rainier is cool. It's worth spending the time to get to know it a little bit, and it makes summitting LOTS more fun if you aren't so tired you have to crawl to the top. I can understand the draw of doing it as a day trip, and I have been told that it might even be a good way to avoid alititude illness because you aren't going to be at high elevation long enough to get sick. However, I enjoy camping, watching the sunset, and taking pictures. If you have the time and the weather is good, I think it's worth while to carry food and equipment sufficient to stay a day or two. I'd actually like to haul camping gear to the summit some time and spend an entire day up there.

The last pitch of "Local Boys Do Good" will pique your interest.

I've been in there at this time of year before, but I don't think this will be the year. Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie NF, November 14, 2003

Do not shorten them unless you really have to. Instead, do as Sobo suggested, and run them around your ankle once. This will probably do it, and it will mean that you won't lose the crampon if you are wearing them with flexible boots and the crampon somehow becomes unclamped from your boot because you flex too far, or if you kick it off while descending, or whatever. If the straps are not long enough to make a complete pass around your ankle, they are too short and you may one day want to wear them with a bulkier boot so if you shorten them so they are just long enough for your current boots, they will then be too short. If, after wrapping them around your ankles, you have short ends left over -- tie them around your boot laces or something.

Just for reference, here is a shot of a late June or early July ski down toward the hairpin from the col below S. Early Winter Spire (David Whitelaw on skis): For those so inclined, there will be plenty of snow.

OK, I was just checking. Yeah, he's being selfish. They ought to nail him with a big fine. But that's what we have traffic cops for. Don't let him ruin your day.

Scott- Are you one of those people who, when the highway backs up in advance of a merge, waits in line behind a half mile of cars and gets made when others zoom on past you in the lane that is wide open up to the merge point? Do you try not to let them in when you are at that merge point? These people who insist on an orderly merge and expect everybody else to do the same are merely moving the merge point back a half mile, doing nobody a favor in my opinion.

That is no picture of Mr. Vaughn, JZ. It's Chris Greyell.

Ashw- I don't mean to be discouraging. Yes, it has some of the biggest avalanches around during a big avalanche cycle, the rotten spring snowpack can suck, the bushes are terrible after the snow melts, the bugs can be as bad or worse in there than anywhere in the state, it rains 100" a year in the upper Nooksack, the rock is rotten, people have died .... But Mt. Shuksan is COOL! It is truly one of the easiest accessed alpine peaks in the State, very scenic, and the north side routes are well worth doing. Go for it - just assemble all available information and plan accordingly.

The only Beal rope I ever had was WAY soft and had a lousy sheath on it. I never bought another. For doubles, I've been liking the Edelweiss Stratos. They have a good solid sheath and are stiffer than most ropes their diameter. They also have a filament in them that means they are resistent to being cut over an edge, and they are pretty strong. Hell, I even lead on a single one some times though, properly speaking, they aren't rated for it. You don't often see deals on these, though (they actually cost way MORE than other similarly sized ropes). Yes, I know: this thread isn't about doubles. But Minx asked.

BEWARE OF MUSH OUT. When it starts staying warm enought that the snow doesn't refreeze for several days in a row, it turns "isothermal" and the whole snowpack is rotten for a couple of weeks. It seems to get worse below the North side of Shuksan than just about anywhere else I've been, and I've been in that basin a couple of times during this condition - in April and May. It sucks. Even snowshoes won't really help.

Right, Ramsey, but Catbird may not have understood what I wrote, either. And for Whirlwind, I would add that to me it makes no difference crag or alpine - I cannot think of a situation where I would find it advantageous to use that extra anchor as a directional rather than an additional piece of security for the sketchy belay I was worried about.

That's pretty much what I was trying to say there, Mr. Ramsey.

I've got one of those with the little "subloops" on it and I almost never use it because I find a regular one much easier to use. The separate loops would seem to help keep the gear organized, and I suppose that they do to some extent, but they make it harder to shove the whole mess out of the way for a move or pull it forward to rifle through the back stuff when you're looking for something. By the way, I liked one of those double slings when my partner had one, but then I bought one and I could never get it adjusted to work well for me. Mine had stiffeners that kept it in a wide arc, making it more difficult to move the gear backwards and forward the way I like. His was simpler.

I once saw a very strong sport climber, who regularly climbs 5.12, shoot sparks and back off a runout 5.8 slab in Leavenworth. Be careful out there!

I hear you, Minx. I've scared myself at Peshastin more than once. However, its not a bad thing to grapple with real runouts once in a while. Just be careful, stick with routes that are below your limit if you don't want to be scared, and it is a fun place to climb.