mattp

Consider Washington Pass. The Beckey Route on Liberty Bell and the South Arete on South Early Winter Spire are both easy and excellent rock routes and, although a little east of your target area, they are more like traditional rock climbs than anything around Eldo and in an area that can be slightly drier. Nearby, Silver Star and Burgundy Spire offer two climbs for one approach, and a little more of an alpine feel. Although it is out of the glaciated heart of the range, Washington Pass would be my recommendation especially if the weather forecast is unstable because you'd have the option of climbing up on the peaks if the weather is favorable or heading down to the drier Methow Valley for cragging if it is not. Gene's suggestion of Boston Basin is a good one. That is a great little concentration of moderate climbs. However, I bet it is looking pretty snowy up there right now and the rock ridges may be all loaded up with cornices and such so that they are not really "moderate" climbs. Any place where you look on the map and see a cluster of glaciers you can bet it probably rains over 70 inches a year and if the weather is bad, it'll be wet there for sure.

You are looking at an extra three miles or so to Witch Doctor. Wetness? I bet the snow on the top of the dome doesn't much drain that way.

Agreed. I have never fallen into a crevasse. However, I think you and I have done most of our climbing in BC and Washington, no? I think climbers in such places as New Zealand and Alaska fall into crevasses more often.

I'm going to stand next to my boys, John Frieh, JayB and Fairweather. We should be looking at how to increase funding and general support for public lands and our management priorities are not necessarily adverse to the snowmobile crowd. I'm for human powered over gasoline powered recreation, for sure, and I have had my share of conflicts with rev-heads, but we all want access and I'm pretty sure that most of us will agree that different places will be appropriate for different activities and that those pesky snowmobilers or climbers or fisherman are not likely to disappear. Most probably even agree that there may be some areas where it would be cool to run natural or game preserves not for recreational use or minimally so. But we disagree when it comes to how much and where, for sure. There is a lot of common ground and we should be looking to build broader coalitions, not fighting with other interest groups.

Wrong. If you go to Everest or any other super high mountain you will lose virtually all muscle bulk. The thing is to bulk up before you go, for sure, and big guys tend to do better than little guys, but you'll come home looking like the 98 pound weakling. You're right, though: this was more of an anchor upgrade than anything else and it is not like adding bolts to the Bachar-Yerian. The thread is a troll and not a bad one at that but Mr. Dawg has, in my opinion, responded well. I'd like to see more of those pictures Mr. B tried to link. I tried to find them on the web, but was unsuccessful. Who is the poor schmoe who carried the drill motor up there? A guide or a Sherpa?

I like my Grivel Airtec. It is not the lightest option out there but it is a good compromise. I also have a Camp something or other all aluuminum shortie (50 cm) that I sometimes carry when I really don't plan to use it at all but the short length is not good and maybe even unsafe for self arrest (I'm afraid I could hurt my self with the pick being right under my abdomen and it is harder to control when plowing through chunky snow) while the super lightness means it just bounces off whenever I try to swing it at ice. I wouldn't opt for a smaller than standard head.

I may anger somebody by saying this but I have one piece of advice for anybody who doesn't want to share the mountain with snowmobiles: avoid the south side of Mount Baker in the snow months -- especially I think March through May or maybe June. This is the ONLY alpine (glaciated) place in the State where they are allowed and although the original post here complained that they violated their boundaries at Mount Adams (I'm not surprised) and they have been known to head into the designated wilderness near Mount Stuart, they generally stay out of designated wilderness. I've seen good and bad, but if you don't want to see them, try the Boulder - Park. I think they sometimes violate their boundaries and head up to the summit or over onto the Coleman, but I don't think they ever get over to the Boulder. I'm pretty sure they never get onto the North Ridge or the Cockscomb route.

True, Roll, but then it is not difficult to redistribute other items so everyone is carrying equally. Its all a matter of what you want, I suppose, and I'm just saying that big tents have their positives.

That Eureka looks like a fairly good tent. I had a huge Walrus tent that was not really made for mountain storms but I got away with using it in the Coast Range a couple of times before, on the third trip there, it blew up in a storm. Fortunately we had been flown in for that trip and had other tents to cram into for the rest of the time. It was nice to have a big tent so five or six guys could fit in one, and if you divide the weight by the number of people who fit inside, these big heavy tents don't end up weighing more per person than many of the two man tents people use in the mountains.

You walk fast. That 45 minute walk took us an hour and ten minutes yesterday. It was nice up there, though. mountainmandoug reaches for the crack that he finds disappointing a snowy Exfoliation Dome in the background The good news is that the roadbed doesn't look as if it has been damaged. When the avvy debris melts, we may be able to drive right in (assuming that somebody has by then picked up the unclaimed firwood).

Mankato has good advice but the extra walking may not be all that bad. I have been up there for a July 4th climb when we had to walk for Morrison Creek campground (I think that was the one - about 3-4 miles short of the end of the road) and with a little off-trail shortcut through the woods it didn't add much to our trip.

What? Where were you when I needed a friend, Off White? In the early season I once found the Cascadian Couloir to be OK. I don't know, but I bet the road will be open to the Beverly trailhead, at least. 2004 TR

I just want to say it is a great day when we have newbies getting good advice about how to learn to climb, a discussion run amok in the gear forum turns to crap and straightens itself out without moderator participation, we have new route photo's from Nepal, and there's a new recipe for French bread! And I had a good timat at last week's climber's picnic and ski fests, too!

Nice. Don't let a small number of the natives scare you away. We like trip reports around here.

Nice!!! I suppose you think slugs are your friend, too.

That anchor may not be quite as bad as you think. The 1/4" with the square nut on it will probably come out pretty easy but that buttonhead maybe not - I can't tell from the picture but it looks like one of those 5/16 buttonheads that are surprisingly good 25 years later and a real pain in the neck when it comes time to pull them for replacement or simple removal. Few would complain if you took a flintstone rig up there and replaced one or added a fattie, though.

Can't we talk both? Off White leading Ingenue

Sorry about the mess in this thread. The mods for this forum took a vacation. We can't watch every discussion, though, and this seems to be sorting itself out. Now that it is heading back on track, I have a couple of my own brilliant points to add: 1. A serious DISADVANTAGE of free standing tents is their proclivity to blow away, carrying their contents with them. On more than one occasion I've seen windstorms at high camps carry the free standing tents off the mountain or into a crevasse whereas those that were not freestanding were simply flattened or shredded so that the returning climbers at least had some of the gear left when they returned to camp. 2. I agree with JohnDavid's premise that just about anything will work for most of us most of the time. A piece of tyvek and eight pieces of cord is perfectly good for keeping the rain off when camping below timberline and a cheapo tent will keep the mosquitos out (for weekend trips, that is often the main reason I even bring a tent). I use a simple REI brand tarp when snow camping on ski trips and without fail those who have not been camping with me before balk at it but, by the end of the trip, everybody is hanging out in my tarp and envious of the fact that I can sit on snow benches and cook in my sleeping bag - and this is especially true if it gets really nasty outside. Generally, however, when a storm hits and you cannot simply bail out and go home, you are probably going to want a little more than that - and a real mountain tent is a good idea when camping above timberline unless maybe you have only one or two nights and a good forecast.

Damn nice rock.

Damn nice cragging over there! Thes shots were taken yesterday at Prospector Wall: 112 following Ingenue OffWhite leading PointMan 112 leading Borrowed Time

Interesting. I climbed the Bertulis/Davis route, and I thought the rock was good but there was an opportunity to kill your belayer on damn near every pitch. It wasn't Canadian Rockies or anything, but clearly not MOUNT STUART. And the descent? I don't remember having a lot of problem with bad rock on the standard route, but it was far from trivial and then mandatory downclimbing ice above the bergschrund in the dark was certainly interesting! Nooksak is full value, from start to finish. And fun.

Good one! The thing IS a piece of junk as far as rock climbing goes although in fact I thought there were quite a few very enjoyable pitches. Where Nooksack stomps, though, is in the location, the summit, and the whole package. Above, Girth Pillar is praised for the coolness of that awesome cirque and the fact that it involves a glacier and a variety of alpine skills. The Price Glacier cirque is at least as cool, the mix of alpine skills is at least as broad, and the top of the tower as compared to the top-out of the Girth Pillar route? A different league. You get to the top of the GP route and you can walk down. You get to the top of Nooksack Tower and you have a long way to go to get down. After this discussion, Girth Pillar got a few more points in the plus column on my checklist, though.

Probably even more critical (or at least equal) is the need for superlight gear when long-distance through-hiking.

Those Cilogear packs sound pretty good and maybe it is time for me to investigate but I wonder: does a pound or two of sack weight really make it or break it for anybody? When I carry a heavy load I use my heavier pack (a McHale) that has the most comfortable straps on it I have ever carried while still being a simple and tough pack (though I'm sure it is at least a pound more than the Cilogear pack). When I'm out with a light load I don't worry about the carry so much and I often use a lighter pack that is in fact too short for optimum weight distribution but which is more compatible with a harness and helmet.

Thanks all. Once again I got to meet a few folks I've previously only met on line and maybe some climbing plans will come of it. A tip of the hat to our slideshow presenters, the grillmaster, and those who helped clean up. I stopped by this morning and didn't find where anybody had left their wallet or a stray piece of clothing behind but there were a few homeless guys in there asking what the He## was I doing in THEIR shelter.