MtnHigh

...you've rappeled from a Beckey belay bush a time or two ...you know the true meaning of bush-wacking ...you post at cc asking a gazillion questions about a route before doing it ...you post at cc boasting about the route you just completed

Hi Iain, We bivvied low on the Yocum, around 7800', as you suggested in your email to me a couple of weeks ago. There's an excellent spot adjacent to a rock outcroping just below the wide saddle leading to the Sandy. The spot offers pretty good protection from the wind and elements. Regardless, we got our asses kicked by the weather. Now and then it's a good thing to be reminded of who's the boss on the mountain and to come away from the experience unscathed but a smarter man. Pete

Did anyone venture up Hood Sunday morning and run into the lenticular storm? The conditions above 8000' were about the worst I've ever been in. We climbed to the the south edge of the Sandy Glacier via Illumination Saddle Saturday evening and found a shelted spot to bivvy. Our plans were to climb the Sandy Glacier HW the following morning. About 2am the wind kicked up, keeping us awake the rest of the morning. The mountain above us looked like hell. We abandoned our plans and headed back to Illumination. Traversing from the Sandy Gl to Illunination was an adventure. Visability was zilch and the wind was knocking us over. Took us 3 hours to find our way back to Illumination. The abandoned snow cave we crawled into at the saddle was more welcome than any 5 star hotel room. Below Illumination on the south side the weather was fine. It was a very localized system. Did anyone else experience it?

Using a short rope on certain alpine climbs is the best way to go. I split a 60mm rope with a friend and have gotten much use out of it. Simul climbing moderate grade alpine rock is better on a shorter rope. Less drag, better communication, increased efficiency. I've also used it on climbs with short ice steps and also for winter climbs in iced up gulleys. The short rope is more efficient in meandering terrain. Using a short rope on a glacier makes no sense.

Thank you Iain for the posting Climbers of the PNW should stand together and fight the development hungry fucks at Meadows with their plan to expand the Cooper Spur area. They have gobbled up large tracks of land in the Cooper Spur area over the past two years through acquisitions and Gov't leases. And now they are ready to unlease their evil plan. The N side of Hood is the most remote and rugged area of the mountain. Developing Cooper Spur into some Club Med shit hole will taint the wilderness experience with the likes of traffic, parking lots, congestion, commercialism, shit, shit, shit. There's a reason why we leave town on the weekends and head for the hills, and it's not to find the same crap that city life offers. Access to the N side of the Hood in the Winter and Spring requires extra work because the Tilly Jane road above the ski is not maintained. Hikers, climbers and skiers must start at 3700'. For me the extra effort is worth it. It keeps out the Club Med crowd and the wanna-bees. We do not need another 'gateway' to Hood. Access is already easy enough.

TG/WS, Did you ascend the second step ice prior to exiting left? The second step in the left gulley is two very short sections of ice with a 75', 40% snow slope between them near 10,000'. Looking for beta on ice conditions. I'd like to take a crack at the NF E gulley this coming weekend if the ice on the N side remains in shape. Pete

rbw1966/Kevin, We are climbing the Sultana on Foraker. Foraker is primarily an acclimization climb. Our ultimate goal is a fast and light ascent of Denali's W Rib from the NE Kahiltna fork. The pre-acclimization will eliminate numerous days off the Rib climb and cut many pounds of food and fuel from the packs. Watch out for the Red Eyed White Boys Pete

Kevin, Perhaps I'll see ya on Foraker. Three Portland climbers are leaving on 5/31 for AK. First stop is to climb/acclimizing on Foraker. Then rest up and head for Denali's W Rib. Look for the Red Eyed White Boys Pete

I'm in on this as long as it's an E side establishment. I've been reading some of your threads and trash for some time now, so it will be interesting to meet some of you. Will man, you initiated the idea so take the pointy end of the rope and pick a place. Others will follow. Pete

wdietsch, Two reasons why I did not descending the Coop. 1) I've have not climbed it, so it's unknown terrain for me. After climbing it a time or two and becoming comfortable with it I might be more apt to use it as a north side descent route. 2) Due to the accidents and bad press on the Coop, I'm a bit freeked about walking down it's upper section. Pete

Iain, What is the 1937 Leuthold variation? What publication did you find this in? The route I did is documented in Jeff Thomas' "Oregon High", route #5 North Face Variation 5B. The north face has two prominent ribs, with a couloir to the left of each rib. Var 5B is the far left couloir. We descended the Sunshine route. Down Cathedral Ridge to ~10,000, then down the Elliot. Pete

DonnV, Winter/Spring access to Hood's north side is best done from the Cooper Spur Ski area. The ski area parking lot/trailhead is at 3700'. A well marked and used trail takes you up to 6000' were the trail begins to leave the forest for open terrain. At about 6800' descend the hideous morraine to gain access to the Elliot. The left margin of the Elliot is crevasse free up to about 8500'. Pete

Cracker, Soloed a few gulleys and couloirs on Hood, but not on this outing. The north face left couloir climb was a two man effort. Pete

Conditions on Hood north face routes has been excellent the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago the traditional route up the right hand couloir was climbed by a couple of friends. The majority of the route is frenchin' up 50-60% neve' with two steps of 60-90% ice. The second step is by far the most interesting, offering about 100' of near vertical water ice. Last weekend I climbed the left couloir variation. Even though 1-2' of snow had fallen in the past two days, there was little fresh snow in the couloir. The couloir was in excellent shape, rock hard 45-60% neve' from bottom to top with three short steps to negotiate. The steps were perhaps 15'-25' in length, consisting of 60-70% mixed neve' and ice. The most difficult part of the climb was the wind. While on the lower half of the route the wind gusts were us throwing off balance, forcing us to hug closely to the mountain as we climbed. Oh my achin' back. The bergschrund at the foot of both routes is easily passed on it's far left margin. On both climbs the descent was via the Sunshine route. We camped on the Elliot at 7800' in the middle of garden of toppled ice blocks that were shaped like the upper back fin of a fish. There were dozens of these around the camp, ice bouldering at it's finest. Pete

I too have fallen prey to the jaws of REI by spending hard earned $$$ on REI brand shitware. However, I'm going to redeem myself by spending my dividend on REI's latest line in hot apparel called REI-Secret. The perfect gift for the lady, REI-Secret offers a line of under garment delicacies that only the decadent mind can appreciate. I’m out of hear. Jantzen Beach here I come.

Climbed Leuthold's Sunday mornning.Snow conditions on the Palmer and Reid glaciers were very good. Firm snowpack with little post holing. The lower half of Leuthold's was similar, firm snow, lots of kick steping. The upper half of the coulior and the uppper Cathedral Ridge had an ice crusted surface. I saw no loading or drifted snow in the cliffs above the coulior.We summitted at noon to clear skies and no wind. The Hog's back and Devil's Kitchen both have deep but somewhat firm snow. If the weather holds Hood should remain in prime shape. Bottoms upPete

Climbed Leuthold's Sunday mornning.Snow conditions on the Palmer and Reid glaciers were very good. Firm snowpack with little post holing. The lower half of Leuthold's was similar, firm snow, lots of kick steping. The upper half of the coulior and the uppper Cathedral Ridge had an ice crusted surface. I saw no loading or drifted snow in the cliffs above the coulior.We summitted at noon to clear skies and no wind. The Hog's back and Devil's Kitchen both have deep but somewhat firm snow. If the weather holds Hood should remain in prime shape. Bottoms upPete

I took advantage of the great weather and headed for Rainier on Saturday the 22th. We hiked up the Muir trail to Camp Muir Sunday afternoon. Needed snowshoes the entire distance. Athough there was a faint trail, the fresh snow was 3-24" deep. We had the Muir shelter to ourselves. There was one other party of 2 climbers at Muir in a tent. Camping in the shelter was a blessing. It was cold as a witches tit that night. At 6am we left Muir for the Nisqually Ice Fall. Climbing the icefall was very straight forward. It was mostly buried in snow, we seldom got on ice. We did not even rope up for the ascent. We encountered deep snow on most of the route, slowing us to a crawl. At about 13,000' we decided not to summit. We had climbed the icefall, our objective, so heading down was an easy decision. It had taken us 7 hours just to get this far. We decended the Gib ledges route to Muir. Overall the climb was great, but the deep snow conditions hampered our efforts. I would image that conditions will continue to improve throughout the week with the high pressure system that has moved in. Rainier is prime for winter ascents.

epb, Sabertooths are perhaps the best crampons for all around mountaineering. The 'flatened' front points were designed to provide a larger bite surface area for hardened snow, glacial ice and rock. And for these reasons they are not suited for verticle water ice. You should do your research before plucking down $$$ on equipment. As for how to sharpen. Spend some more time with your Grandfather, great uncle or other elder craftsmen who know how to sharpen anything metalic that needs an edge.

Friday night I climbed onto a bar stool side by side with my climbing partner in an attempt to drown the pain of lost love. It didn't work very well, I'm still hurting. However, we stuck to our plans and climbed at Beacon on Saturday, hangovers included. It was a perfect day in the Gorge, sunny skies, warm rock, and clean routes.

Climb the W Ridge on 7/2. You can read my posting at: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000116.html

It's no bullschmidt about the ravens on Baker as fishstick mentions. We were serac bouldering on the Coleman about 1,000' above camp when the ravens moved in. The winged beasts opened one of the packs that was left at camp, scattering the contents across the glacier. By the time we descended to camp, they had already had their fun.

hakioawa, Here is some recent beta on Forbidden's West Rigde. I climbed it Monday 7/2. Due to the warm weather you'll want to start while the snow is hard. Ascending the couloir after 9am would be a slush swim. We ascended the couloir at 6am on hard snow. The berg at the bottom of the coulior is opening up, but easily passable to the left. Unless you place running picket belays, there is no need to carry a pickets, flukes, etc. The gully just above the couloir is broken/loose rock, but the climbing is easy. Rock on the ridge is solid. The first 2-3 pitches are class 3-4 scrambles, followed by 4-5 pitches of moderately difficult climbing. There are slings every 80-120' along the ridge providing good protection. Above the gully we roped up with a 100' spacing between me and my partner, simu-climbing all but two pitches. Unless you are scarded schmitless on alpine rock, leave the big rack at camp. We placed less than 5 pieces of pro and slung only a few horns the entire route. The rock is solid, the climbing is moderately difficult, and there are bomber sling anchors all along the route. We rapped from the top 3 pitches, using existing slings, then downclimbed the rest of the route. There are rap slings every 100-130' down the couloir. They are handy once the snow turns to mush. Bring two ropes. Leave one at the top of the couloir for the raps down it. The sharpness of the ridge provides great exposure, giving the feeling of high alpine adventure. Yet the abundance of ledges and holds, and the blockly features of the rock provide all the security necessary. Forbidden W ridge is a good one. Pete

Reply to jrwclimbs: You read my Liberty Ridge route condition dispatch under the user name: Peace Seeker Here are answers to your questions. Sorry about the confusion on the lower Lib ridge approach description. In haste of writing the report I got my east/west lower ridge description crosswired. Lower Liberty Ridge Correction: We started across the Carbon at the 7500' elevation heading directly for the WEST side of the lower ridge. At about 9000' WEST of the ridge we witnessed numerous rockfalls raining down the WEST side of the Lib. From there we headed SOUTH, opting for the lower ice fall instead of the traversing ascent of the lower ridge. The last 700' or so before Thumb Rock we exited the ice fall, traversing up the final slope. We spent Saturday afternoon at Thumb, watching and listening to rock and ice falls, mostly in Willis Wall. However, at 5pm the real show started. In the bright sunshine of the day a loud crack sounded, like near by lightning, startling the entire camp. The crack was slowly following by a thunderous roar to the west. A hugh block of the Liberty Cap Ice Cliff broke off, crashing down the Liberty Wall and onto the Carbon. It was like nothing I've ever seen in the mountains. The ridge above Thumb Rock was not subject to any slides or rock fall while we were on it (and it seldom is execpt for the unfortuate party we have all heard about since). The upper Emmons descent requires zig zagging through and around a few large obstacles. You'll need good visabily to make your way down to Schurman. You must traverse far to your right just after descending below the saddle between Russel Cliffs and the summit crater. After that try to pick up a track.

A few years ago I read about a group of four that climbed Hood, Adams, Rainier, Glacier and Baker in that order in 5 days. They had a driver who shuttled them from mountian to mountain in a large van. They were raising funds for some good cause.