Doug_Hutchinson

Nice job on NYG Kurt! Probably the best climb to do now. We got on Flow Reversal today but it was too thin, weak and there were big sloughs sliding off the top since it was very warm up high. I bailed to the right and finished on 100 feet of wet mixed to a tree. The conditions remain too cold to get much melt and not cold enough to fatten seeps. I was suprised to not see much change since last weekend.

Outdoor Research Igneo Jacket, Men's Large, Red, brand new with tags still on. $100 (firm) for jacket retailing for $280. Full description and pics: http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/or-gear/jackets/shells/igneo-jacket-m-s.html Lightly insulated hardshell, ideal for skiing. Or OR says: Moderate insulation and adjustable ventilation with a relaxed Sidecountry fit. The best days to cut fresh tracks: bluebird, cold, and still. The actual days you'll head out to cut fresh tracks: all and any. For those with an insatiable appetite for snow, the Igneo Jacket™ bridges the gap between crystal conditions and furious snowstorms. EnduraLoft™ insulation holds off the bitter temperatures that keep clouds at bay, while Pertex® Shield fabric seals out raging blizzards. And when you're on your third lap of the back bowl, the double-sliding pit zips are there to keep you from overheating. Avg. Weight (oz./g): 34.4 / 974 One Size Email hutchinson dot dj at gmail

I agree with ilookeddown, and the AT-only posters may need to do a little more homework (Tele - the horror! Does that mean, I would have to not be weak?). I ski mostly tele but also have the Scarpa F3 for use when I AT. The TX Pro feels a lot stiffer than the F3, which works great with crampons. For AT skiing and general mountaineering, I LOVE having a flexible bellow. For anything short of vertical ice, they work great. So much nicer to have your foot flex a little. Kinda why Koflach engineered some flex in their plastic mountaineering boots. I doubt I will ever ski (meaning tour) AT without a bellow again. They climb rock way better too. This Spring, I did the Stuart Glacier Couloir/West Ridge with F3s and they worked great. You DO need to get a shim (made by Scarpa or maybe Dynafit) which slots in the Dyanfit crampon slot to prevent the bellows from flexing when you switch to downhill mode. Actually, if those TX Pros are sized 26.5/27, forget everything I said, they really, really suck. What an incredibly dumb idea to combine the benefits of both boot systems! Since I'm a nice guy, I will be happy to get you out of your mistake at a minor loss. I am serious, PM me if you wanna sell them.

On longer rock sections (like a few moves of pure rock in a row), I have done so much "just let 'em dangle on the spring leash" that I got a little too comfortable with the dragging dangle that a tool finally unclipped itself (using the BD leashes with the micro wire gates). I have since switched to the security of the Grivel leashes with the minilockers. I know, I know... "attach some cord to your spike first to avoid metal on metal and your leashes will never unclip" and/or "lockers freeze." Flame on...

Can't judge a book by it's cover but those Evolvs look like they would climb like stale hot dog buns with the added bonus of Evolvs' signature stench; but I still can't wait to try them. Funny thing is the Anasazi high tops look like Evolvs and the Evolvs look very retro - both in a bad way. The Anasazi high top differ from the Anasazi VCS because they have C4 instead of Onyx and a leather forefoot instead of synthetic - both big positives for me. I hope they have less heel tension, because the heel tension in the current Anasazis would rule them out for multipitch routes for me. I can see this shoe landing in a different class than the others - like a high performance, single pitch crack shoe maybe.

I love high tops and am pysched they are making a comeback. I agree with the comments about the TC pros (so so rubber, weird tongue) although they are the best I have found to date. The Ballet Golds really held me back on face climbs - man that rubber sucked. I wanted to like the Grandstones but that weird bulbous toe made face and small cracks challenging. The TC Pros fit in relatively small cracks. Anyone see JBs in shops in the PNW? As a big 5.10 Anasazi fan, I can't wait to try the Anasazi high top, which is back in production after being pulled for some last minute tweaks by Dean Potter. It is at Mtn Gear now but I have yet to see it in other shops. Freakin' ugly shoe though IMHO. http://fiveten.com/products/footwear-detail/10094-anasazi-high-top Anyone try the Anasazi high top yet?

We just climbed the East Face of Main Gunsight a few weeks ago. The rock except the first and last pitches was definitely good; however, the face, which looks sheer from afar, is so broken that each reported splitter is less than 20 feet long before a ledge or good stance is encountered. The shortness of the sustained sections and pitches in general does not take away from the rock quality, but means that the East Face can't be considered as classic as other similar routes in the range on high quality granite. The quality on rock on the the descent (we rapped south and then down the gully to the east) and also on an accidental FA we did on the subpeak between Main and South Gunsight really, really sucked. I really enjoyed the East Face but doubt I will be back for round 2 in the Gunsights.

Just did the BeckeyChouinard last weekend and wanted to add my $0.02 to the descent beta since it definitely has some raps over 30M long (despite what the official beta pic below shows) and we still managed to screw it up in the dark; so here goes... At the parking lot, Kain Hut and Applebee; you'll run across this misleading topo: Misleading because several raps are longer than 30M and it describes things like "horizontal" rappels Below is a combo of Jared's beta, that on the pic, and some of my own: All rap anchors you want to use are newer two bolt, rap-style anchors with chains and steel rings. If you come across a slung block (on first rap), you should skip it and look for chains a little lower. 1) Scramble down and right about 20 feet W. of the summit block to find bolted anchor on a vertical cube. The anchor is on the side of the "cube" that faces Central Howser Tower. Rap 28M over lower angle terrain towards Central Howser. 2) Make a very short rappel (or scramble) over low angled terrain along the ridge crest in the same direction. (15-20M) 3) Rappel NW along a low angled, narrow ridge for 30M (still basically heading for Central Howser). Do not rappel on to the N. Face. This rappel was weird (especially since the ridge was covered with snow and ice) since it was like walking backward down a diving board. It was hard to not rap right or left of the ridge since it is so low-angled, but the trick is to stay on the ridge to a tent-sized ledge below a short vertical drop. If you get to this ledge/anchor, you are almost home free since the remaining anchors are pretty easy to find. 4) Rappel a steep W facing corner (more or less plumb line) to station just slightly climbers left of center of this corner system (25M) 5) Continue down the steep wall to an obvious large ledge (35m). This ledge is large enough that if you rap off the end of your 60M, you'll probably be OK. 6) Rappel down a diagonal ledge system climber's left to a gully. This rap is taking you away from Central Howser towards the East Ridge. (32M) (The remaining raps are basically plumb line down a steep face) 7) Rappel the steep NE facing buttress (slabby face) staying just climbers right of gully (32M) 8) Stay on buttress crest and rap only about 20M to a very small stance (semi-hanging) - note this is a little shorter. Although billed as "hard to find" - the anchor is directly below the one above (20M). 9) Make another shorter rap just like #8 (20M). 10) Rap 30M to anchor just above the 'schrund. Billed as "slightly climber's right, it felt plumb again. 11) Rap over 'schrund and keep going to the end of your rope onto the Vowell Glacier . 35M took us to lower angled snow (18" of powder last weekend!) which was easy to walk off in approach shoes. Bottom line is just use a light 70M single for both up (lots of 60M or longer pitches) and down. Taking two skinny 50M or 60M ropes would be a nightmare of stuck knots or arm fulls of rat's nests on the lower angle rap ridges. Like everyone else has said, the BC is really an awesome climb. Enjoy!

Love the ski in! The alpenlady and I are climbing on Saturday and then I will graciously invite myself along to the team with the best ski objective planned for Sunday - hopefully the bidding for my company will be orderly and peaceful, no pushing or shoving please. For those who have not attended yet, this ski in is all about a great, friendly crew hanging out on some incredible land drinking and trading stories... oh yeah, and skiing (or climbing) too. If you are wondering if you should attend - the answer is yes. Thanks in advance for putting this on!

We made the most of the soggy day by drinking and sleeping late. Bonus question - does anyone know the name of the three obvious chutes in the pic? We skied the middle one (slanting from left at top to right) which I guess would be called the Zipper. The climber's right (widest) is almost always in and is a good ski too. The left one is probably rarely a good ski. The large apron below the two right chutes is in awesome shape now where it is usually littered with debris and sucky. A little heat and rain sure can massage the avy junk.

Drew and Dan - so freaking rad! This is the year I expect to see many other climbing testpieces fall to your (and others) edges. Besides the ski, climb; later that same day/evening we assisted Drew closing down the bar in a North SEA taqueria for a triple crown. Bonus points for the division of labor - one posts on cc.com and one on TAY - that is teamwork. Thanks for the stoke.

Second the Android version begging! Dave- Can the app remove google racoon lines after sick days? Doug

I was up there the same week and got properly stuck (escaped with self rescue) trying to get into the Ghost even with 4wd. Got stopped in a huge drift 1-2 km before big hill. Man, that was a cold week! We stayed at the Hostel Bear first and then moved to Rocky Mtn Ski Lodge when space opened. $10 more for a kitchette, hot tub and non-shared rooms = no brainer. Nice TR.

Jens K and I were in Marble Canyon the day after the record high temps on Thurs and we found perfect ice. The ice was dry and super solid. Top pitch of Icy BC had a big hole in middle, but rest of the classics were fat. Can't say what happened lower down in Lillooet but Marble held up well through the warming. p1 of Icy BC: p3 of Icy: Jens starting the really fun mixed corner climb left of Icy's p3: Deeping, in WI4 conditions:

izzat mrazek in the background? Of course that izz steve in the background. Me thinks that this post confirms what I have said before = PNW climbers are way too serious. Chris (Winter) set the bar with his pic of his beautiful wife at La Posada. My submission shows the true expression of light and fast on our quick ascent of Prussik on the Snow Creek-Enchantments-Colchuck Lake-bike back to Snow Creek TH loop. A must do.

My early season wakeup happened the first ski tour of this year in late Oct. I was breaking trail up to Camp Muir and just got above Pan Point skinning out of a small gully when I fractured a wind slab layer and was amazed at the small localized avy I triggered. Five minutes later, I was concentrating on skinning out of the next gully in a fog out (this gully was bigger, but only 20 feet vertical from top to bottom)when I set off a bigger wind slab fracture. Although, only 18" deep max, the debris buried my skis and me up to my boot tops and twisted me in a awkward enough position that I needed my partner to release my bindings. In a few thousand days of skiing, I have never been trapped before and it seemed like such a mellow place/day... I feel that almost all ice in the PNW is "early season" and we never have the luxury of waiting for it to get fat or solid though. Some of the hardest climbs I have down are WI3 in "early season" in the PNW.

Here are some pics of Thrill, as was stated it is all ice and ice gear now, although I found a spot to place one cam so I could pretend I was mixed climbing. Mummy Cooler II was also fat The Scepter looks good in this photo but was hollow and running at the bottom so I TR'ed. Actually, except for 20 feet of runny, wet chandeliers at the bottom, it would have protected pretty well. It was nice to run into about 3/4s of the Seattle and Bellingham ice crew out there. The ratio was about 1 MT climber to 10 WA climbers. All the locals I know thought we were dumb to play on the ice since the skiing was better than anyone could remember at this time of year. Bridger's epic opening day on Friday was a perfect rest day in between two nice ice days.

No spraying about the goods in the Daks allowed here. Next thing you know, the PNW ice crew will be driving right by Bozeman straight to Keene Valley.

and the winner of the 2010 International PDX Ice Festival Invitational Dry Tool Comp = Michaeljosephnozel!!! Still not falling for passing trends like leashless tools, vehicles that get over 12 mpg, and LED headlamps; Michael stepped up and dry tooled his way into the history books. Way to go Michael! Now that you won leashless tools, what is next? Hopefully, you will not swap your 16lb, 5-layer North Face bibs for soft shells or, worse yet, start skiing. Time to hit the real thing real soon!

Chris, funny you should mention massages - seems like a new passion of yours. Weren't you the same guy that I was getting snowed on a few weeks on Les Cornes and instead of savaging the trip with some cragging, decided to crash girl's night at the spa? Your skin has had a more youthful glow lately...

Nice work Jimbo and Ben! I wouldn't want to run into you slab thugs like you on an after dark descent though - dudes look like you mean biznatch!

Strong work Nate but you suck for hurting Jaime (he aint that young anymore) and, in the process, effing up our climbing plans for this weekend. I thought Pyschopath was really stellar but felt kinda R-rated with the crux on the barn-doory nobs with the last piece in the crack well below you (says the seamstress...). I was way too chickenshit to do the Pressure Chamber so did the p5 variation out right trending towards Outer Space, intersecting the headwall crack below Library Ledge. Clmbing all those great pitches and then finishing on the best pitches of OS makes for an awesome linkup.

I'll draw you some pictures on the napkins at the Sushi place in Squamish this weekend. We should ditch the ladies and climb something up there together.

Trip: Mount Rainier - Ptarmigan Ridge Date: 7/5/2010 Trip Report: Climbed Ptarmigan Ridge with Keith Dallenbach and (like everyone else has reported) the conditions on the Big R are perfecto right now. Go climb Ptarmigan Ridge now! We did the west variation through the rock band and it was really fun. The coverage is so good currently that a few pickets are really all that is needed now (since the crux has fixed pro), but screws will be necessary shortly because some 50-degree ice will soon be revealed when the overlying snow melts off. I placed one of the world’s most bomber angle pins on the wall left and about 25 feet below the rock band which Keith could not budge and there is a fixed pin right below the crux. Given the wonderful, modern invention of mixed grades, I will throw the rarefied M3- grade at the crux until someone tackles it with fruit boots/leashless tools and downgrades. With those two pins, no other rock pro is needed. For pictures of the route, check out Veronica’s (spionin) Lib Ridge TR and pretend it is really Parmesian Ridge. I was really enjoying the walk out until I ran into a friend and his partners enroute to ski Lib Ridge and then became insanely jealous (why did I already put the skis away??). Go ski Liberty Ridge now! One noteworthy tidbit was we started the climb as a team of four: Scott Perkins from Altanta (uber experienced) and Scott Sampietro from Connecticut – who has never been on glacier before doing the Sulphide a few days earlier. They fell back about a half day behind us but still completed the climb in a casual three days. Nice work Scotty on your first Rainier summit! Gear Notes: Pickets and one pins. Bring screws. Approach Notes: White River TH. Encountered only a few skinny cracks crossing the Carbon.

Representing all 23 of the Dougs in attendance, I gotta report that this year's ski-in was a shit ton of fun! What a great crew and fantastic ski conditions. I have been grinning all day dreaming of the last two. Thanks to David and all for putting it on. We skied Hardy's Open Fly Couloir on Saturday. What an incredible new treat in our awesome playground. I posted some pics in this thread: Dans Open Fly TR Sunday toured over Cutthroat Pass from near Rainy Pass with Julie, Michael, Jimbo and Adrian. Nice, nice turns on wind buff powder. Didn't pull the camera out for the glory because the skiing was too good to wanna stop. Sadly, as I stared in disbelief at the horrible style of some of partners - dismounting for simple creek crossings - I was forced to snap a picture of some shameful behavior below Cutthroat lake: Shown here is Jimbo in good style with skis on while Michael wusses out as Julie and Adrian are about to do the same. Except for this minor transgression, the weekend was perfect. Lastly thanks to cc.com for the portopotty and beer. Ya'll rock!