genepires

thanks again y'all. see there is useful stuff on this site! it seemed like that approach could be used to base out of for a good long weekend. hint hint.

So nelson's guide shows a approach for early winter spire via eldo pk e ridge and deans spire. His SW buttress dorado needle approach shows coming over by the triad and traversing under eldo pk. Why not get to dorado needle via deans spire area? Is there something horrible about getting down near deans spire? Anyone here been on sw buttress of dorado needle? I met one guy who was on it and said it was ok but looking for another opinion. Always a little wary of the vol 2 routes. thanks again, gene

thanks y'all. will have to wait till next year. Those july photos look real sweet.

how much would 50m of tech cord cost? isn't it around $1.25/ft? Over $200? I would figure you would need enough extra to cover 3% stretch. so an extra 5 feet sounds good. Maybe the mountain gods will release colin long enough to answer the question personally.

So nelson's guidebook has suggested seasons as up to september. Has anyone actually been on this route that late and what is it like? plus, any overall opinions on the quality of said route. One more question- is the road repaired to get to that trailhead? thanks in advance gene pires

was wondering if intuition liners (or garmont thermo liners) would make better ice climbing boots out of my plastics. I have always used leathers for ice climbing because they kept my heal locked in better than plastics. No matter how tight I lace them, plastics just don't work for me. I suspect that I have low foot volume which makes it hard for plastics to mold down far enough onto the foot. Anyone have positive or negative experience with these intuition liners for ice climbing instead of just mountaineering or BC skiing? any other ideas? thanks in advance for reasonable responces. gene

asolo fugative goretex boots is a great hiking boot that does well in summer snow. strap on some AL poons and you are good to go. $170. Had mine for a couple of years and has held up very good. check it out at http://www.rei.com/product/706762

big old pickup with a snow mobile in back?

since you are getting the permit midweek, there should be no problem getting the permit the day you hike in. that would make your 1st day at wa pass better without waiting for the office to open. i suppose you can self register anyway early. there is another gulley you can use to get above the lower cliff band that is way right of regular approach. expect steep hardpack dirt but seems easier except for the long side hill traverse to get to sharkfin. forbidden- see last tr on this topic w face of sews is good and sounds like within your abilities. enchantment permits are also easier to get midweek. (prussik pk do the w ridge) call the wenatchee ranger station for availability. get better guidebooks like nelson or whitelaw's guidebooks.

exit 38 area great northern slab at index (very close but hard to set up your own topropes) lots of good places in the icicle in leavenworth to top rope, (fall is good)

9 years ago there was no gaping shrund there. damn global warming.

small bobili pizza crust with sauce, cheese sticks, whatever floats your boat. simmer with lid on.

a porcupine broke our wall once and chewed a lot of insulation under the car. we got away lucky.

if the ice routes don't work out for you, there are plenty of sweet alpine rock routes. There are also some scary rock routes. The 5.6 ish route on china mans hat is good. brewers buttress on castle is good too. If you manage to hike in with a bunch of tourists, then the grand sentinal is very good. (there is a large group minimum size due to local grizzly)

north side of baker can be filthy with poop also. Only place that I ever got sick drinking water without treatment.

also, how cold was it in the shady corner?

My 50 lb black lab has done very well in snow and red rock canyons. very versatile. My golden retriever doesn't do well in snow (balling under belly in inside toes) My boston terrier has a limited range of temperature tolerance. The latter two would not be good dogs for you. I have too many dogs.

Like mentioned above, all belay devices offer some kind of dynamic element at a certain force. In those cases where there is enough force to make a device slip, you had better be rock climbing with solid gear. Your request about a dynamic belay sounds more like a belay while on snow, where forces like 1 KN will rip out pro. In cases like that only a hip belay will give you any chance for a dynamic belay worthy of crappy snow pro. The classic seated hip belay is a wonderful thing. While your request asked for actual experience, I have only practiced it under fairly hard conditions. We sat on glacier ice with whatever we could get with our heals in. (nothing) Then a victim would jump in a crevasse and we had to hold the fall with a dynamic belay. (there was a very very loose backup) Turned out that letting 20 feet of rope slide through on the brake hand, as we tightened down, held the fall without any anchor. Very dynamic! Definately would work for sketchy snow pro.

I think it depends on the circumstance to use a biner or girth hitch. If the biner will be loaded improperly (like joining slings around a tree) then a girth hitch is better. Using the slings as part of your leading a pitch protection (which can result in high forces) needs the full strength of your webbing and girth hitching may weaken it too much. So then a biner would be needed.

you must be asking about the north slesse glacier as the slesse glacier is farther to the left. When Darin dragged my ass up n rib a couple years back we approached from the valley directly below the n rib. At the memorial we descended down brush hell into the basin and travelled across the basin to a wooded hillside to get above the cliffs and brush. above it opens out to easy going to the n rib. I don't remember any snow but it was august. I would think that this was the best approach to the rib any time of year, short of a helicopter.

um. that is why you have one of each? a hammer and a adze?

think twice about discounting adzes. try digging a t slot with a hammer or pick only. grivel alp wing is a good all purpose tool. I got these and really like them for alpine ice as they are a little longer than the other 50 cm ice tools. And they are good for steep water ice too.

There are several culverts on the side of the trail till you get to the real ones. The fake ones are off the trail a little bit. Ignore those and small trails that seem to break off. these belong to lost spirits bent on dragin you to same demise as the spirit previously. If you trip over a big culvert on the trail, then you are one the right one. It seems farther on the trail than you would think. Look for a nice "climbers trail". Follow steeply to the crags. I think the guidebook has a good description.

I would bet the route dryes out within a day of a rain storm. a little wetness may exist but only add to the required alpine feel. make sure it didn't snow up high which persist longer. Feel good at simu climbing or else be ready to pitch out some 13 odd pitches.

icicle canyon - icicle buttress - r&d? 5.6 multi pitch might be good and near the road.