Walter_Burt

I think MattP put up the last pitch that goes left. I agree it is a very nice pitch - much nicer than the dirty corner to the right on the old route

Sisu, It's a natural gas-fired plant. And, even though it's a "closed" system, the makeup water demands for plants like that are v. large - on the order of 2 to 4,000 gallons per minute or so, depending on the size of the plant and how much power they are generating. Most plants eventually discharge the water because eventually it becomes uneconomic to recycle it because of dissolved solids buildup. I don't have the particulars of this plant, but I recall it's a large one, and I do know something about their efforts to obtain water. Cogentrix has been trying to obtain a groundwater source. When you consider the Deschutes Basin is essentially closed to groundwater appropriation unless the potential impacts to surface water are mitigated for (see the Oregon Water Resources Department Deschutes Basin rules), the impact of the plant could be very significant. I guess it comes down to folks deciding whether or not (1) the water is available, and (2) power generation is where they want the water to go, rather than for some other purpose. I suspect the water issue will make or break the plant.

What kind of truck? I had my 1986 Toyota Xcab longbed w/ 218K miles on it (known fondly by my friends/climbing partners as the "mobile compost heap) with some miscellaneous gear in it stolen from outside my front door this last winter. My wife and I had an argument the next morning when we noticed it gone about who drove it last and parked it where as neither of us could fathom it being stolen. It turned up three weeks later a few miles north of us - the cops think someone "borrowed" it for a drug run. Evidently, older Toyotas and Nissans are popular for that as the manufacturer only used all of four key patterns for their trucks for a number of years. By the way, nothing was missing except the ashtray, which had some pennies in it. I don't smoke, so no big deal.

Jarred, See the attached CC.com link. She's 77! W http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002901

I vaguely remember that Croft finished the enchainment with Prussik Pk. I know he did Stuart N. Ridge, Sherpa, Colchuck, Dragontail, Prussik. Anything else?

Classic Crack at Broughton - 10a/10b and getting harder as it gets greasier. Gandalfs Grip at Broughton - 10a/10b. There used to be a pedestal on the face traverse to the corner that made it a lot easier - you can see the scar if you look for it. There are several other "10a" cracks at Broughton and Beacon that are Index "stiff" Free for All - Beacon. An Index 5.8.

The wind situation was bad in S. Washington and Oregon also. We headed up Mt Adams on Sunday to ski the SW chutes - the winds were est. 30 to 40 mph w/ 50-60 mph gusts just below the Lunch Counter. There was a big lenticular over the summit and Mt Hood too. A couple of people who came off the summit ridge said that they were crawling. Saw a number of tents either flying and shredding.

P.S. Peter Croft soloed it as part of his enchainment - but he did the Gendarme, which was probably a lot safer soloing for him than the couloir.

Another dolt and I soloed from below the notch to the base of the Gendarme 12 years ago while doing the complete ridge. It's all there for soloing though the others are right in that it would be good to get familiar with it first and the exposure is big and constant. However, crossing the couloir was v. insecure (wet, slippery...) - probably the crux of the route for us and we were roped for that section. That section would make an interesting roped solo even. It's not uncommon to find it verglassed. By the way, I probably wouldn't solo it again - but I'm old and the consequences part of the risk equation far outweighs the probability part given increased responsibilities, fear and all that other stuff that comes with age and family. Next time up there we'll probably simulclimb with a shortened rope.

Thanks! That's what I wanted to see. We'll probably head up there. How are the bugs down around Cold Springs. Trying to decide whether or not to haul gear up high for the night or to stay low. W

Anyone been on the south ridge or SW chutes in the last week or so - have they been done in by the hot weather recently? We're looking for a casual boys trip this weekend.

I suspect that the conditions will be good. They were excellent 3 weeks back. Just get an early start or the lower part could be pretty slushy. I've skied it several times in temperatures this warm in late July and early August and the conditions were great. It's a nice break from the heat in the valley too. Scout the slots carefully on the way up - there have been more appearing every year over the last 4 years or so. I went into one up to my hip last year on my way up. It was to climbers left, which is unusual. In the past they've been more concentrated to the center and climbers right. In retrospect, the signs were there, but I wasn't looking for them on that side because of my experience in the past. Have fun

I spoke to Matt Firth on his way out while on the boat from Lucerne to Chelan. He offhandedly mentioned the route when I asked. It wasn't until I pulled the map out that the magnitude of the accomplishment sunk home. He seemed to have a certain serenity about him that comes with both the fatigue and satisfaction of such an accomplishment, not to mention that look of trying to adjust to the flatlands and flatlanders on the boat! Nice work!

Cragging and some alpine stuff in the North Cascades are definitely possible for weekend trips from PDX, especially w/ a 3-day weekend. In the pre-sprout days we did a number of Squamish, Index and Leavenworth trips, as well as a number of alpine jaunts such as Slesse (21/2 day), Bear Mtn(3-day), Dragontail (2-day) including driving from here. It's a grind, but worth it as this is a great place to live. The trick is to not be too tired on Friday to leave in the afternoon so you can either be at, or near your destination for an early approach on Saturday, or for that matter, Friday night. Monday at work is for sleeping anyway. Besides, this place is more liveable and has better beer than any other large city in the US.

That is every parent's nightmare - and on a trip that was probably a dream adventure for them when they started out. Alisdair, were they on the SE Ridge? That route has seen a lot of avalanche-related accidents including several acquaintances of mine.

CNN is reporting an ANG Black Hawk participating in the rescue just crashed. It's been a crappy few days on the volcanos. The climbers were in two rope teams - wouldn't surprise me if the snowbridge collapsed given how warm it likely is in the bowl.

I did it with a partner a couple of years ago in early July. We got an early start from Portland, drove to the trailhead and started walking in the late morning. I think it's something like 6 to 8 miles to the basin below the ridge. The terrain getting in there is kind of complicated with a lot of rim rock to skirt and several drainages to cross. Take a good topo. The book "Oregon Descents" has a serviceable description in it. The approach might be easier with the snowpack we have above 5,000 feet this year. I think we got to the basin below the saddle between Middle and South Sister around 3 or 4 - in time to relax and do a little touring in the late afternoon before dinner and bed. We skied/climbed the next morning and came out in the afternoon including probably an hour or two lost bushwacking on the way out - we descended the main drainage to the east from the saddle way too far and got cliffed out. We were eating burgers in Sisters at around 5:00 after a couple of bouldering moves with skis on our packs and a lot of walking. It's a nice ski down with several short steeper pitches and some mellower stuff. There are a couple of places above 9,000' that a fall is not advisable. Have fun W

Madrone Wall has good trad routes in the 5.9 to 5.11 range with some really sweet 10a to 10c routes. There is usually climbable weather there at least a few days in the winter too. The problem is that it's currently closed due to access issues with the County - they wanted to quarry it. Check the board at PRG or get involved in the process.

A mountain bike is a nice addition to the tool kit on that approach for covering those foot miles. I have several friends who have climbed the route in March and April who used bikes. May not be an option for you guys if you're coming from SLC though... Travel as light as possible/comfortable. You won't have much company with White River closed until/unless you traverse over to the Winthrop/Emmons zoo. Have fun - it's a good time.

TG Try the Hood River ranger station. Dollars to dimes it's not even close yet though. There is still substantial snow around Gov't Camp (4,000') and the snow levels were down to around 2,500' yesterday. The hairpins on the road hold drifts into late May and June sometimes.

A point of clarification regarding Mugs' demise: Mugs fell into a crevasse at the top of the "Ramp" on the South Buttress of Denali while descending with two clients. They had been denied just short of the summit by very high winds and low visibility. The Ramp is a very broken up steep glacier that drops about 3,000 feet or more off the north side of the South Buttress. Mugs was at the back of the rope when they reached the top of the Ramp prior to descending. The clients couldn't pick out the route down so Mugs came up to take a look. He stepped on the overhanging lip of a crevasse, which broke, and went in quite a ways. The kicker was a good chunk of the lip went in after him. The clients rapped into the crevasse to try a rescue but all they could see was the rope leading into a huge amount of snow debris and they couldn't hear any response from Mugs. The clients descended the Ramp later and called a rescue/recovery. After a reconnaissance, the NPS decided that a recovery was not feasible given the location and conditions. By the way, this was after something like 5 to 10 feet of snow fell on the mountain. The bunkers climbers put in at the 14,200' camp were amazing and the Kahiltna was a paved highway for a week or so. Several huge slides hammered the entire Ramp later. Mugs' accident and the snow conditions convinced us that the South Buttress as our original objective was a bad idea when we arrived about 10 days later.

Mic, Snow stability as of today should be solid. Rain/snow is forecast for today and tomorrow - a good dump could change that, especially if it gets warm on Sunday. Plan on windslab over crust at least - nice edge-grabbing stuff.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a boot that fits wide feet? Seems like most of the boots in this class fit medium to narrow-profile feet. We duckfoots are stuck with painful or poor fitting boots. How about the Saloman? Thanks

My two partners and I used the 1/2 pint (1.00 cup) per person per day rule for a 17-day trip on Denali in 1991. We planned for up to 28 days on the South Buttress, but ended up on the West Buttress (Mugs bit it on the Ramp right before we arrived). We consumed a little over 2 gallons, or something like 0.7 cups per person per day using two MSR XGK stoves. We had very nice weather for most of the trip though, which I suspect kept our fuel consumption down. Good luck and have fun Walt

I spent some time in the AK bush in the 1980s: a headnet is nice for bugs in the lowlands and if you are serious about bear protection, forget the .44. You'll just piss off the browns, and you have to be a good shot to deal with the blacks. Either forget the gun or get something with stopping power - a shotgun (plug removed)with slugs and buckshot is minimum. 30.06 or bigger is preferred. There is a USFS publication from the 1980s that summarizes a study on the stopping power of firearms for bear protection - very illuminating. Besides the bear spray option (debatable effectiveness - don't spray into the wind!), there is a little "pen" with a spring-loaded firing pin that shoots flares or an explosive cartridge that we used to use to scare bears we'd encounter on traverses. I think you can probably get them from one of the geologic supply stores like Miners in Spokane. They don't always work, but are a nice, light option. The important thing is to keep a clean camp - burn your garbage to keep the food attraction at a minimum, etc. Should be a great trip - have fun!