genepires

that is some good looking cooking! Peppers and fish with noodles? Damn I am getting hungry but I can't cook that good at home. Even if you are a small crew, you really might want to reconsider bringing a mid, at least carry it to the 14K camp which you will be using a sled for most of the time anyway. (except for the last carry) If you don't bring it, you might want to consider getting REAL friendly with a team that has one and is about on your schedule, cause you will be begging to use it many times. Chances are you will bring too much food. Cut back on your food enough to carry the mid. You can usually score some free food from people coming down. (This is of course assuming you are on the west butt route)

We did a lot of cooking with whisperlights in a megamid and still ran into ventilation problems in AK. (we buttoned then down pretty good)

I would recommend starting the white gas stove outside the tent, then bring it in. I am sure you understand why. Ensure enough ventilation. I don't know which has a greater CO output but they will both kill ya. If you are warm inside while the stove is going, then you need more ventilation. If it is warm outside you should be cooking outside. I would think that you would need a fair bit of vertical and horizontal space from the stove to any tent fabric. I think white gas puts out more heat and the whisperlight doesn't simmer very well so it will proly be cranking out the btu. What are you doing in AK where you need to cook inside? Doing that at altitude is a good way to aggrevate and accelerate any altitude illness problems. (reducing the already low oxygen content) good luck!

glue it as per your photo shows. Just goop it into the small cracks and the toe area delam. And if the worn areas of the toe leak, then plaster the glue all over the worn areas. Or glue on a pair of supergaiters. does the boot leak water? if not, then why do anything till it becomes a more serious problem? It doesn't look that bad. (I know. I get attached to gear too) good luck!

I want some 1.8 mm rap lines! or is that shoestrings?

The only pro for snice is a solidly placed self belay and a prayer to not fall. I can't imagine anything smaller than a 10 ft pole being useful in snice, whatever snice really is.

leavenworth is usually a good bad weather alternative to the west side.

long, made of metal and pointy end? Lost near "a" ice climb.

sounds like you want a climb in may for prep for rainier. If so, then Baker would be the best choice. You will need a glaciated peak for the instruction and none locally is better than the south side of baker. Eldo and forbidden while being fine routes, would not be good training for rainier. Usually May would require lots of snowshoe time for baker, but this year you may need crampons. Rainier should be good for July due to the altitude of rainier. If your desires for May are other than prep, then you need to describe your goals like Dan states above.

crazy that we are asking about darrington in february! And the answer me be a good one. 1st winter ascent of total soul or silent running?

two of your boots are full on winter ice climbing boots and would work for your summer pursuits but it is a bit overkill and prolly a bit too heavy. The trango should do fine for your summer (as well as winter) goals. But the problem is, does that boot fit you? Maybe not. You will need to go try different models but luckily, most brands have a model that will fit your needs, like the garmont towers. or scarpa something other. The big guide outfits on rainier are RMI and Alpine Ascents. There is one more that I forget. I would recommend Alpine Ascents. (I used to work for them before they got the major rainier permit so maybe I am biased) I don't know how much it costs but you get what you pay for. RMI is cheaper but from what other climbers have told me, the experience wasn't that good. Hopefully things have changed since they got real competition now on the hill. Good luck with your boot purchases and your alpine romps in our hills.

My point is that the axe is a hazard if not under control, leash or not. If it is not in control, it is best to be farther away from your valuable body parts. Yeah a lost axe may or may not end your trip but having one stuck into your belly sure will. all that I am trying to say is that you need good reasons to use a leash of any kind. (or axe for that matter) Wrist leash for technical and steep climbing come to mind. (leashless masters please understand I am talking about using leashes on straight shaft mtn axes) I would use a leash for chopping steps too. But blindly using a leash all the time when it is not needed is increasing your odds of a bad accident without the benefit. this is not good risk management. It is all a personal choice. I don't think that the risk of losing my axe worth the hazard. Maybe you think the hazard is not that much. therefore your risk analysis is different. for what it is worth, I don't know of any accidents that a falling climber impaled themselves. (other than the solo hiker in the woods) Plenty of people sliding into a crevasse though. Sliding out of control is something that more snow climbers need to prepare for and prevent.

this has got to be the smartest thing ever posted on cc.com. thanks rad!

yeah it is crazy that you can drive to the TH and still walk about 1/3 of the way up before getting onto snow, in january. Yeah, I bagged a "winter" ascent of pilchuck. I think the entire mtn loop hwy is still open too. crazy!

I was up there on friday. Much snow has fallen since then. Where was the snow turning to rain? (elevation wise)

I know a guy who came across a dead man on the trail as he tripped and fell onto his axe while just in his hand. Just because you know of cases where it would have been nice to have the leash doesn't mean that it is a good idea. In your examples, they were able to walk away. Impaling oneself is much different than inconvience.

"fat" is relative. "fat" for washington means it is still there after a week, thick or thin.

Not index, but I knew a guy who took the bus from seattle and got off at a bus stop near the base of whitehorse and climbed it. (the whitehorse glacier route)

it is crazy that you can see the ham n eggs as the plane turns around on the glacier. my kinda approach.

darrington. how often will you get to climb there in january?

Thanks John. very helpful.

Any decent pulley is fine. The brand doesn't matter so much. You can use two oscillante pulleys (which is a petzl pulley). I would suggest using a prussik instead of ascenders as that is what you will be carrying. You can use a tibloc in lieu of a ascender if you want but a large ascender is too much weight for the unprobablility of actually using it. What is more important than having the gear is actually being able to set it up. I hope that you get the chance to set up the z pulley system and also run through realistic scenerios many many times before you have to do the real deal. It is not as easy as it appears. And lots of things can complicate matters. So if you are solid with the standard setup, you will be able to deal with the complications as they present themselves. If you are not solid, you may flounder and make matters worse. If you have difficulty with this, then you need to either get a experienced friend or a professional to instruct you.

While not gnar gnar, you could run up pilchuck. road is open all the way to the TH. You could get off the trail and do a little mixed gnar for the final the couple hundred feet of vertical though. There is a TR here from Hanna (hanman) doing that in december.

between 1973 and 1977 must have been hard years for Fred.

rainier