genepires

this should be called exfoliation dome.

not sure of the extent of work needed but I have fixed small jobs with one of these https://www.rei.com/product/602118/speedy-stitcher-basic-sewing-awl-kit repaired snowboard boots and other leather things. a healthy dose of seam sealant after should keep everything water proof also.

the sahale glacier goes down from near summit west to boston basin. Doubtful lake is on the other side of sahale so you would be on that really small pocket glacier (maybe not glacier) that is just southwest of summit. while I am hesitant to ever recommend anyone be on a glacier unroped, sahale is pretty filled in during june. if you approach sahale from the arm and plan on descending the sahale glacier, be prepared for a short rappel from summit to get to the glacier. or a 5.4 downclimb.

while it does not include any technical climbing, labyrinth mountain up just east of stevens pass is a pretty good kid alpinism route. 5 mile 2500ft gain trail to a lake with plenty of camping could be day one. labyrinth mountain lays above the lake and is a little bit visually intimidating. But there is a climber goat trail going to the summit with a 8 ft scramble at top. views good with a couple hours from the lake. https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/washington/labyrinth-mountain--2

well that makes it a moral conundrum. bought with private funds but sits on public land. seems like it could go either way. would be cool if let unlocked and accessible when not occupied by the guide services. or of fee required, it would be fairly cheap like the Canadian BC hut systems, but I think the alpine club runs those so the motivation is different.

Conflicted on this. if the structure was completely paid for by the guide service then i can see that they have control over it. but then it is also on public land. But then if some jackass leaves the door open in the winter and the inside fill up with snow. in the description "provide temporary winter shelters for the recreating public (both commercially guided and unguided). Three of the shelters would provide reservable overnighting facilities operated by three private commercial entities. One of the shelters would provide a free warming shelter day-use for the general public. All of these shelters would provide safe locations for the recreating public during the winter season." it doesnt say who is paying for it.

you got too much time on your hands now that you are "retired"

the best GPS is the GPS having the most fun. sorry but I couldnt let this one go.

Cool. Thanks.

this question is not a criticism but honestly just curious. Why did you choose chain for the perma draws over the commercially available cable type permadraws? is there something about the standard permadraws? too short or too costly? thanks for making routes out there.

you are old and cranky but the real question is why are you up at 11:30pm? go to bed old guy.

surprised texas still does the daylight saving time.

https://www.climbing.com/news/new-5-14-crack-washington-alpine/ pretty damn cool doing such a hard line way back in there.

from your list, the gerber sink is prolly the closest in character, especially if you brought bivy gear up and bivy mid route for experience. training for cassin should probably be focused on extended time in crampons on different angles and getting on moderate rock carrying a cassin sized pack. maybe climb polar circus as a 2 day climb? like back in the old days? those rock routes on list are fun and may help with endurance. a couple of them could be done in mountain boots which would be helpful. routes up in the columbia icefields have been looking rather nasty. so much ice is gone compared to 20 years ago. skyladder had pretty bad rock fall back then and half of the ice is gone now. must be horrible now. routes on andromeda may be holding better. maybe start in afternoon (rock fall permitting) and bivy on summit? all the extra time front pointing with weight! good on ya for getting after it!

I have never been on the cassin ridge, well beyond my skill set so take my opinion for what it is worth but I would think that the best training for doing the cassin is to do lots of routes that are similar but smaller and progress closer to cassin in scale. that means doing a bunch of routes in the denali park. how about start in the the ruth gorge area. moose tooth ham and eggs japan couliour on barill, peak 11,300 sw ridge (probably the most similar but smaller in scale to cassin) then some west ridge hunter then up west butt or west ridge on denali to setup stash at the high camp for return and some acclimitize run down to cassin and send? of course this would require lots of free time but imagine how cool that would be.