genepires

TR of the future. way to raise the bar.

a cheap way to keep the floor safe is to use the round metal reflector that came with the stove ontop of some sleeping foam pad. Wouldn't do it on top of a pricey thermarest. cooking in a tent is a desperate situation though. Too much CO and you will be back in walmart, acting like the RV owners, mental patients and elderly needing assistance. wouldn't it be cool if tents came with a little flap (2ft by 2ft) that one could pull back and cook on the ground?

spending money and gear is SO west coast. Everyone should sleep in a walmart pup tent and have a little fire from twigs burning inside. I use a target black iron skillet as a stove board which doubles as protection from bears. Why doesn't everyone agree with me?

right "forgot the camera up there so I gotta go back up honey" nice planning

work on a rainy weekend is a ok thang.

If you can find "mirkwood", walk down the moraine on a small climbers trail that eventually cuts back onto the glacier area. mirkwood is the heavily wooded area on the moraine that is next to the lower coleman and below some prominent rock butte called photographic spot or something like it. If you stay left at all intersections, you should hit mirkwood. The forest service calls it something else but AAI guides call it mirkwood for obvious reasons if you are there in a drizzly day. Call the american alpine institute for exact directions as they go there weekly.

have a backup plan. seasonal forcast and general feel in the air is for a early winter.

interesting that you are primarily a ice/mixed climber and not interested in warm weather rock climbing. Rock climbing is a valuable skill for ice and mixed climbing. While I don't know anything other than what is written above, My rec is to get some serious warm weather rock climbing in before any motions are taken with ice tools. I have met some people who jumped straight to ice and they never got the "feel" for how to move well on the steep terrain. As for ropes, I would have to ask how you are getting off most climbs. Raps longer than 30m? Then get doubles. If they are all 30m or less or walk offs, then you can find thin single lines that have a low impact force. The single would be good for non wandering ice and mixed climbing. Doubles rule in the canadian rockies but I am not sure about your area. Ideally, your ice rope and mixed rope will be different as you should not be falling while on ice but defiantely will on the mixed ground.

another fallen brother. sad indeed.

thanks for all your hard work Kelly.

send the shark shot to a climbing mag. fishing for ice tools is too funny. maybe the shark could have got it or maybe caught the shark with the tool hook. I don't want summer to be over. nice tr.

nice photo D! (as usual)

That is what the internet was made for! great stuff.

the alpine ice course was one of my favorite trips with AAI. Great location, skill area and summit climb. Living in mirkwood is evil but in a good evil way.

sorry. I did not know his history or background. I took the ALL CAPS is a sign of getting all wound up. If this guy can't handle going up buckner walk up route, then there is not much for him to do other than mt si or sauk mt. Maybe steelfrog should invest time in an instructional course instead?

that log crossing is bad ass. purdy pictures too. the bd axe shot is interesting.

this guy was asking how to get to buckner via a scramble. I answered his question without getting my panties in a wad. If you have some insight into this guys abilities or lack thereof, why not bring it up with him/her personally. the sw face of buckner is a easy route. It may take a two day trip but is involves walking and think most people have mastered it. crampons and axe are needed for sahale. does that make sahale a hard peak?

the sw side of buckner is a easy class 3. It would be a long day from cascade pass TH but doable. You would need to know navigation skills as you would need to traverse below the sahale glacier, cross over a ridge to get to the horseshoe basin, traverse under the ripsaw ridge and finally up buckner. some snow, some scree some meadow stomping. after the sahale arm, there would be no real trail to follow.

Daddy Darin does it again! nice.

purdy pictures.

looks like ulrichs. I would be impressed if people actually get in cascadian without coming up it once. the top is confusing even in good weather.

amazingly successful trip.

there is a new hospital being built in everett that is due to be finished next summer. It is a 10 story building so they are going to need lots of RN's for that. try contacting the providence medical center HR. Everett, while being a less than desirable town when compared to seattle, is a much better climbing town IMO. It is closer to the climbing areas north of seattle and you don't have to drive through lots of BS to get out of town. It has a decent rock gym too. Stevens pass is about 1 hr drive from everett for skiing. Maybe you should invest in a collection of guidebooks, find what interests you and then pick for home base. just my opinion, but if job wasn't an issue, I would live in leavenworth even with the crazy bavarian attitude.

lots of whisperlight in the vestibule cooking but mostly non winter camping. Winters usually same device on a platform in a mid.

the snow fields will probably be very hard and icy. that is pretty late season. If their is a question, then you will probably need them. I did some late season snowboarding that was very desperate. If money is not a problem, I would say get a pair of those lightweight AL crampons so the weight won't be an issue of wether to bring them or not. Would be good for your summit days too.