Stefan

#1 Italian Dolomites (greenery,easy access,great cheese, beautiful women) #2 Karakorum (fricken intimidating peaks and routes everywhere, but a pain in the ass to get to)

The only thing that I think I would want out of the guiding side of Mt. Rainier is to make the contracts publicly available for viewing. I have heard rumors that people can't see the contracts--which does not make sense to me. I thought that all federal contracts are publicly available--except of course those contracts that are needed for national security.

On my way back to Highway 20 after climbing the NE Buttress of Goode here is what my partner and I saw on the trail about 7 miles from the road. It was about 85 degrees out. A 35 year old man wearing a full on Scottish sweater and jeans. He is hauling 2 suitcases. He drops them next to two other suitcases. All the suitcases have rollers on them. In his stash of gear he has a full navy sized duffle bag, several garbage bags full of something I don’t know, a footlocker, and a 5 gallon water jug full of water. No backpack. No horse. The guy has nobody with him. We get to talking to him and he says he is walking to Leavenworth. It has taken him 3-4 days to walk the 7 miles he has gone from Highway 20. It takes him 5 trips back and forth to bring all his gear forward along the trail, and he does it in increments of one mile. I found out the NPS interviewed him when he got to the Stehekin road. They were very suspicious of him and looked through his stuff. He had no drugs and all the stuff he was carrying was his worldly possessions and he was just on a summer romp through the woods.

Road has snow blocking all vehicles 50 yards from the highway. You can take your snowmobile up it though.

I know someone who is climbing Mt. Pissis right now as we speak.....

Did you guys know that the average human head weighs 8 and half pounds?

Here is a picture I took of vegetablebelay and his climbing buddy before they did the north face of Stuart last year. http://www.prinnt.com/godspeed/best_picture_ever.jpg

Found out the man's name is Jim White. Done quite a bit of first ascents in the Olympics. He has done quite a bit too with John Roper. I don't know if he has been out much recently though.....

I would like to talk to this man. I hope somebody knows him.....

If you do access that road via snowmobile--then let me know. I would be interested in using that road too for snowmobiling....

No one lives up that way. I think the forest service says “restricted” because they don’t want motorcyclists using the road—those roads are soft in spring and could suffer a lot of damage from use. No one will be patrolling for illegal snowmobilers. I have heard of people snowmobiling that road to get to the top of Cashmere and they went that way. But when did they go? I don’t know. Could be several years ago. Could be that the roads have been decommissioned. Best bet is to contact some snowmobile club in Wenatchee and see what they have to say about it.

When I was climbing G2 a couple years ago, somebody placed wands. But they put REFLECTIVE TAPE on the wands. I thought that was awesome becuase then you could see the wands WITH YOUR HEADLAMP. You can't see any type of damned wand in the dark unless it reflects.

I recommend going up Kautz creek to Pyramid. I was up the trail two weeks ago. Snow was packed down to about 5000 feet from previous people.

I am thinking of being in the western Austrian and Switzerland area. I know that still covers a lot of area and I will be there during the peak time, but I will be attending a wedding which I have no control over the date, and I do have to work, which I have no control over the time!

It looks like I might be going to the Europe this summer for a family wedding and I will be looking at climbing some stuff. Can anybody recommend an Alps guidebook in English?

Looking for anybody that might be interested in doing an overnighter doing Lindeman/Middle Peak via the Centre creek road in BC on Thursday and Friday December 27/28. No ice. Only mountaineering. I will be using snowshoes. Skiers welcome. Looks like 3-4 miles of road before you go cross country. I would leave very early Thursday morning and return very late on Friday from the Seattle area. This is not a definite plan but I am very interested in doing this.

4hrs to Lindeman?. Now you got me thinking. Thanks for the Beta on times for Cheam too!

Yeah, I know the Centre road does show a faster approach--however, in the winter I know the road is blocked by snow. At least the Chilliwack Lake road would get me closer to the base of the peaks. But I have decided to look elsewhere based on your beta about plowing the road..... What about the Cheam range? Are those good peaks to do in the winter?

No winter ascent of Bear for me. I was just thinking of an overnight jaunt up Lindeman or Middle Peak sometime in the winter......

Dru, or Anybody: Do you know if the Canucks up there try to keep the road open to the end of Chilliwack lake to the Little Chilliwack trailhead during the winter or do they just forget about that road when it turns to gravel?

Dru, or Anybody: Do you know if the Canucks up there try to keep the road open to the end of Chilliwack lake to the Little Chilliwack trailhead during the winter or do they just forget about that road when it turns to gravel?

Here are some other ideas too for winter climbing by the Staircase Ranger station: Mt. LincolnCopper Mountain

You wanted some other ideas for winter climbs in the Olympics. Here are some other ideas. Don't limit yourself to named features on a map. Peak 5045 and Peak 5301. These peaks are north of the Dosewallips River and directly east of Harrison Lake. Peak 5365 and Peak 5689. The peaks are directly south of the Dosewallips Campground but north of the Duckabush River. One peak is directly above Wildcat Lake. Maynard Peak this peak is on Three Oclock Ridge between Gray Wolf River and Dungeness River.

Yeah, I meant Thorson peak. Sorry about that. How bad is the road up the Hamma Hamma for a vehicle?

Here's one I forgot about. Mt. Jefferson/Thornton peaks. The north side. I know a couple of people who did them and thought they were great. I do not know about current road conditions.