MtnHigh

T, good to hear that J is going to be OK. I was tempted to join you guys, but I was already into my third beer and a last minute solo drive up at night didn't inspire me. Somehow I managed to stay on my feet over weekend.

Turn up the heat, stir the pot and see what happens. Monday T/R post reads....climbers stacked up at the base of Watusi like cord wood.

to Drew, Jen and the doctor for their efforts in helping stablize the injuried climber.

Life is aid. We all look for ways to make things a bit easier on us. My choice of aid when not climbing

That old school bucket trick doesn't work. I tried it last year. The bucket of water was completely frozen. I grabbed the bucket handle to move it and the handled broke off. 40 lbs of ice smashed my foot. It didn't tell me anything about Gorge ice.

Felt I had to chim in on my actions here. Sometimes the little voice inside is positive and instills confidence, excitement and focus, but sometimes it speaks another language. Oleg, Alex and I planned on climbing the Reid together, but as we approched I-saddle the little voice was speaking in forked tongue. At the saddle I told Oleg (he and I are friends, I just met Alex) that I was going to head up another route solo. Hence, I was down to the car and bar hours before they did. For me, operating solo on easy terrain, provides an oppertunity to sort things out that are traversing the synapses.

Zero crashes and no emergency room visits

Hey, I thought you were pulling down on the hard stuff in Colorado.

Spoke to my grand partents today. They live just above Crown Point. It's blowing up to 50 mph in the Gorge today. Sounds like a day of frozen fingers and getting pushed off the rock. Pucker fest. Like to hear if/what you got up anything.

Americans are over the top with protection. Insurance on every thing, lawyers, computerized maps in cars, guns in our homes, we go the doctor when we have a common cold. The American society is scared to do anything without first layering ourselves with a bunch of safety measures. Common sense and self reliance no longer prevail.

Well said Fern. Never thought I'd be glued to the Internet on a sunny Saturday anticipating good news.

Earlier today (Thursday 12/14) I had an insightful conversation with a PMR leader. I phoned him offering help in any why. The PMR representative knows me well and he has climbed with my climbing partners and me for many years. He knows that many of us are very intimate with Hood in the Winter, only climb Hood in Winter and have climbed all sides and faces of the mountain. I preface that statement with reason. Hood is my local hill for play and I feel very close and comfortable with what it has to offer. This is not a chest beat post. Please read on. The PMR rep has been on three different sides of Hood in the past six days. He has heard avalanches thundering down from the upper slopes while searching the lower glaciers. Winds gusts are none travelable and visibility at times is nil. The strong winds have loaded the 3+ feet of new snow in massive slabs. Conditions on Hood are at there worst for climbing. Although my heart has been telling me all week to pack up a week of food and supplies, enlist the help of couple of a couple of other competent local mountaineers and strike out on our own in a search effort, with the current conditions and the raging storm happening right now it is not a smart idea. Speaking as a climber this weekend would not be one to attempt an independent search effort on Hood. The recent big snow dump and the strong winds are not conditions worthy of a fun or safe climb. If any of you are thinking of heading up to Hood this weekend please reconsider. The weekend weather forecast calls for a break in the intensity of the storm. It might even be paradise up there on Sunday. My message to all of you who are sick of sitting behind your computer, watching from behind the scenes and are longing to help, please do not. The rescue teams are at full capacity and very rested. They have not been able to venture far above the command posts established at Tilly Jane and Timberline over the past week. Again, they are rested. They are stocked with climbers who live in Oregon and are intimate with all the routes, gulleys and lower drainages of the mountain. Please, allow the rescue teams to do their job, they have the experience and resources to accomplish the effort. Stay home with your family and loved ones. Wrap xmas presents and decorate the house. If you are compelled to venture out on Hood in the next few days, skin around on the lower slopes, keep an eye out for signs of recent climber travel, but especially focus on avi conditions and your own safety. Peace out

Hood NF on a beautiful Fall day. I hope that the lost climbers have a chance to enjoy it again some day.

Cranky and Russian. Some appreciation for funding your beer habit last night. Conditions on Hoody are excellent for tool swingin' in the steeps. The big snow from two weeks ago has is all but blown off of anything beyond 40 degrees. What's left is awesome alpine ice that probably formed from the big rains last month. NF, I-rock and Spidy deserve a close look before they get buried.

Did you guys party down Thursday after work? I went to the brew fest thingy at Pioneer.

John likes scrathing up the rocks with his tools, so the conditions are 'in' for him. Honestly, the climb is more interesting without a shit load of snow. John, with a bit more notice I'd would have joined ya.

So true, locals drive it like a Formula One track. There are never any police patroling Skyline, so drivers get the impression that they can drive as fast as they want. Mike demonstrated to me the art of pissing off Skyline drivers by maintaining the speed limit. Withing seconds there's a string of cars behind you.

Shortly after getting home last night my son Ryan and I heard a loud crack in a neighbors back yard. The noise was followed by about 5 seconds of intensely loud branch thrashing and ending with a loud crash. We ran to the neighbor's thinking a large tree fell on his house. I knocked on the door and neighbor George answers. I asked him, 'are you OK, we heard something crashing in your back yard'. He says calmly, 'come in and have a look at this'. The scene minutes after the crash The next morning The extraction A wonderful sunny day in Portland And the rest of the story. Intoxicated driver hits a light pole and guard rail on Skyline Bl above my house. Our back yards butt up to Skyline. Volvo crashes through the neighbor's yard and into his house. The driver was OK, just really freaked and He bolts after 5 minutes of conversation. Man hunt transpires. Word from the cops is he turned himself in this afternoon. Ryan is on a couple of evening news programs. Two news teams interview him and used the footage.

Fred has ascended my couch a couple of times. All of you are my witness. I now declare in honor of the man who set the stage for all climbers who followed in his foot steps that the beige leather couch in my living room is now named: Sack of Beckey

Mike's just sending you on a wild goose chase so he can pick the real plums.

The area is not nearly large enough for current use. On popular weekends it is a zoo. There are 5+ vehicles in some of the camps. If strict management is put in place which usually includes defined camp sites allowing only 1-2 vehicles each, it will be difficult to just 'pop in' and snag a camp site. And what impact will additional management have on the yearly cc party? Heaven forebid!

The updated guide would have been complete by now, but Fred is putting the finishing touches on a couple of new sections titled, Where are all the girls? and Road trip survival techniques: Living on saltines and decaf

Hello, my name is spud. I'll be in Squamish this summer. Look for the van with Jerry Garcia painted on the side and smoke seeping out the windows.

I'm heading north Friday night from Portland to meet friends in Squamish. Looking for converstion partners to share the ride. 7 hours solo in the car bites. I'm returning on Tuesday. PM me.

Were you the 3 going in as we left Saturday night? Sorry you didn't get the climb in. We thought you might fry Sunday afternoon up there. At least you didn't have to walk the extra mile+ of road that we did Probably was us (2 not 3). We drove up the road to the Green Giant trailhead around 9pm Saturday after eating burgers at Skidders in D'town. Their burgers are highly recomended. With my low clearance VW wagon, skirting the humongous cedar tree blocking the road was not an option. We car camped at the tree blockage and walked the remaining 1.3 miles of the road in the morning.