Doug_Hutchinson

2/11/06 Mtn weather and avy forecast, shows what can happen to a forecaster when things get a little too stable up there: WEATHER SYNOPSIS FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY It's hard to believe, What the weather has done, From clouds, wind and snow, To the warmth of bright sun. Now on south facing slopes, You've got a nice crust, Breakable in places, Making skiing quite a bust. At least the danger is low, From settlement and rounding- Not much loose snow to move, Though pass winds have been pounding. But the real problem is, What may glitter on top- It's that little surface hoar, That clear nights like to drop. You'll know it right away, From each sparkling facet- That tinkles and fractures, As soon as you pass it. But winds and sun, Have made its development sporadic- Confined to sheltered locations, Where formation's more automatic. But imagine a load, Perched over this layer- It's a recipe that's doomed, From the start for failure. So as soon as the ridge, Flattens or moves- And we go back into, Some real stormy grooves. The stage is all set, For danger to be rising- With a crust and hoar frost, It's not all that surprising. And in places with no, Surface hoar to find- Watch temps with new snow, To see how it will bind. Models show that next week, Should get windy and cold- And if you throw in some snow, Sensitive slabs may not hold. The cold weather should allow, Temperature gradients to develop- And associated vapor transport, Upper layers will envelop. The resulting new crystals, Will be faceted and meek- Concentrating near crusts, Where bonds will be weak. So stay aware of the weather, And the changing snowpack- And make note of the layers, Before the slabs attack.

Now for the dumb question from the Oregon guy - which side of Lichtenberg are you guys aiming to ski? It was love at first site when I saw the south face for the first time and assumed the fastest way out is Nason Creek. Do you go in and out the Smith Brook Road way if shooting for the south side? Is the skiing good between the summit and the lake (east/southeast?)? Also, I will be up there 1/20-22 so if it is stable and anyone wants to ski it, let me know.

Thanks are mainly due to, as always, for the tireless work of Keith Daellenbach and Kellie Rice to keep Madrone moving ever forward to being saved/reopened. The amount of effort those two have put forth continues to amaze and inspire.

I'll be there. Since I helped the good folks of the Madrone Wall Preservation Committee send out 850 letters announcing the show yesterday, there probably could be a few others there (not quite Mazama-scale networking but growing all the time). Visit www.savemadrone.org for other important Madrone-related dates.

I have skied the Tele Daddies for over a year and pretty much like 'em. I am 175lbs and ski the 183cm which is about perfect, in no way too big (came from the 10EX in 191cm). Don't ask me what the difference between the Tele Daddies and the Sugar Daddies is but I assume the Sugars are stiffer. I have heard the only difference between the alpine and tele skis in Atomic's line is a larger mounting plate but I have owned both the 10EX and TMEX and found the TMEXs softer which made a nice improvement in the flex. I love stiff skis but do not really like the way the weird carbon channels in Atomic's flex, but I am being extremely gear techie critical here (more about that later). Regarding your question about are they bearable on ice, the answer is HELL YEAH. All other powder boards terrify me becuase how soft and wimpy they are (Pocket Rockets flex when you even look at them). The Daddies are stable and hold an edge really well. They are actually a pretty versatile ski (not bad at all in bumps and hold speed really well) and I predict they soon will be be the around Atomic board and EXs will become the 22s of the line (replace the old names with the new names). My only problem with Atomics (I have owned three pairs) is the flex is not very "round" (which is more important when I am skiing tele) and, because of the carbon channels (or that's what I attribute it to) they will deflect more off death cookies or crud, rather than absorbing them. I think a really wood core ski does better with both flex and smoothness, but with that said, I still have not found a better fat board, especially when it comes to hard conditions. I have never seen the conditions that I have not needed to hold an edge someone on a run. Yes, I'm talking Alta on a 30" day: there are still plently of groomers, cat tracks and bumps you need to cross to get back to the lift. Bottom line - if I had to buy a fat ski today, and I wanted a versatile ski, the Daddies would still be my first choice. If I were lighter, less aggressive, or wanted a true powder, quiver board, I might look elsewhere.

Posting again to change the title of the thread. Anyone notice that Nolse's Madrone Letter post has been on top of the Access Forum for months! Maybe no action is a good thing here. See ya all tomorrow. Turnout has been pathetic at past meetings so try to make it.

Please attend the meeting this Weds regarding the future of Madrone. Way more climbers need to attend these meetings! From Kellie Rice of the Access Fund: Public Meeting: Madrone Wall For Recreation & Conservation Groups Wednesday September 14, 2005 7:00 pm- 9:00pm at the Sunnybrook Service Center Auditorium 9101 SE Sunnybrook Blvd- exit 14 off I-205 towards Clackamas Promenade Parking is below building. Building lies on the north side of the road 1/4 mile west of I-205. ( mapquest link at bottom of e-mail) Recent meetings organized by County officials in August have been held with residents living near the Madrone Wall site, rock quarry businesses, and land agencies ( State Parks, Metro), to solicit input and provide feedback to the County in regards to the best use of this site. Feedback from two of the meetings concluded: From the residents living near the Madrone Wall on August 10th, there is unanimous support for preservation as an open/park space. A significant number requested immediate access to this site. From the agencies ( Metro/State Parks) held on August 16th, agencies were quoted as saying: You can't ignore the greater value of this site for the community. It would be a shame if it fell out of public ownership, being very short-sighted. There is value in this property for the surrounding habitat. Now it's our turn! This is our ONLY chance to provide feedback to Clackamas County. Never before in the last eight years has Clackamas County considered preservation an option! Come and show your support! These meetings are in an open discussion format to share your ideas and concerns. Questions? Contact Keith Daellenbach -503-691-4102 or Kellie Rice 971-235-6169 Thanks! Kellie Rice Access Fund Rep President, Madrone Wall Preservation Committee www.accessfund.org www.savemadrone.org http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?

I am down to only one partner confirmed but still wanna go. Here's my best suggestion - meet at 0700 Sunday AM at the Lewis and Clark Park/Sandy River (i.e, Broughton's) exit off I-84 in the gravel lot right (north) of the off ramp and south of I-84. I can fit up to five in my ride. Call me at 503.231.1984.

The activity on this thread recently appears to be less than inspirational. Anyone climbing at the Butt tomorrow (Thursday)? I need to up the time on the rock and will be ready to climb by 4:30 tomorrow.

That stuff that we just climbed/been cleaned is good but let's go somewhere else tomorrow. I do not know the Butte that well but may get there first and set something up. Look for my Ruby Mazda van with the Boognish sticker (whatever the hell that is). I am leaning towards "Emotional Rescue" and surrounding climbs on the Warrior Wall (last wall climber's left of the guard rail and guard rail descent) - maybe this link will work http://ors.alpineclub.org/AAC/rocky1.html#FW (climbs 70-73) but will be happy to follow the herd. Probably easier to take the guard rail descent than rapping but can follow a small ledge around to look down and see if anyone is there.

I am in, what time and area should I park? I can be there by 5:00.

I can do Thursday. I would prefer rock, but could be talked into dry tooling. I can be there there by 5:00. Let me know where, when, what gear...

Touched a tree frog in a crack on young warriors last week and Right Gull last weekend. What up with frogs this year? To echo Ivan, mad props to Jim, Joseph and Bill for all the work this year! The new slings and anchors on Dod's and Free for Some are sweet. Belaying on the ledge below the tree on Dod's is way better than the hanging tree belay use to be. Nice work!

Just was at the City a few days ago and went to Castle Rock for the first time. It was good, like any one single crag at the City, but not as good as expected from all the hype. Climbed all over Lone Rock and the Crack House -did I miss something?

It's issued by WA Fish and Wildlife but sold by all the stores listed earlier. This pass is a pain in the ass to find since most of the kids working at the stores that sell 'em always try to sell you a more expensive pass or license. Another great fee for no service that sucks to try to buy. While on this subject, anyone know any good free camping areas, other than the main dust bowl between the Feathers and Agatha Tower (which aint free anymore thanks to the newer pass), within a few miles of the Coulee? Thanks

No shit, the goats at the base were trundling rocks on us two weeks ago as we approached! Be careful. If you want to worry about something, watch out for the Snow Creek Wall tick infestation. Is it me, or are the ticks really bad this year? Three weeks ago, lots of ticks at Tieton and two weeks ago, Snow Creek was pretty ticky as well.

Please Bill, replace it! Bolt chopping at the Butt makes no sense.

Join in a special opportunity to tour the Madrone Wall this Saturday, April 23, and see first hand the bogs, wetlands, wildflowers, old growth Douglas fir, Pacific madrone, and inspiring naturally-created three million year old basalt cliff. This site visit is co hosted by the Madrone Wall Preservation Committee and the Three Rivers Land Conservancy (www.trlc.org) and will be first meeting at Still Meadow Community (16561 S.E. Marna Road, Clackamas, www.stillmeadowcommunity.com) at 10:00 a.m. and, from there, carpool to the site. Please RSVP to Keith Daellenbach (kdaellenbach@att.net) if you plan to attend this tour. Climbers - please remember that Madrone Wall is still closed to climbing. The Madrone Wall Preservation Committee, assisted by the Access Fund, has done some amazing work to reopen Madrone to climbing. Please respect the No Trespassing signs for the time being with the optimistic hope that the area may be open and legal for climbing in the not-too-distant future. Visit the www.savemadrone.org for more info. PS - the Jim Yoder fundraising slide show was awesome tonight. Thanks Jim!

Route du jour indeed – two parties on a Friday! I’ll add a few cents to the TR regarding the East Couloir on Cutthroat (the last three photos). It was snowing very hard on the approach and again after we climbed the ice pitches, so the spindrift avys were pretty surreal. Wzzumountaineer and Ckouba did not really get hit, but Travis and I got pretty showered on on pitch 2. Thus, you can climb this route in a storm, but the descent via the north ridge would be dangerous = sugar snow cornices. Under these conditions, the harder pitch was the first ice pitch – the ice steps above Wazzu in the third pic. With the way fat ice, the “crux” pitch (pic 4) was only about WI3 as has been reported previously. Granted, I doubt the ice typically gets this fat. The avy conditions continued to rise through the weekend but we stayed alive for an awesome ski descent of Spire Gully on Saturday which was in incredible shape (Spire Gully = the finest short descent in the PNW?). Avalanches were crossing Hwy 20 below Lib Bell that day which was cool. Great snow and phat ice, WA pass is where it’s at now.

Bringing it back...

Is that pic of Flute bowl? Was there last Friday and Saturday. Watching Shale Face (lower slope below Whistler Peak chair) get its first tracks on Saturday (due to the storm, the upper lifts were closed the previous days) while there was a simultaneous huck fest off the cliffs to the right was a truly awesome experience. For some of the locals on the first chairs, the whole shitty year was erased in one glorious run.

Rock and ice climber Jim Yoder will present a multi-media program on rock climbing in five northwest states on April 19 at the Old Market Pub at 7:00pm. The pub is located at 6959 Multnomah Blvd in SW Portland (about 15 minutes from downtown). Donation of $10.00 includes free pizza (while supplies last) and door prizes. This will be a Madrone Wall/rescue litter fundraiser sponsored by the Oregon American Alpine Club, Mazamas, and the Access Fund. Jim, with Marlene Ford, is the author of guide books to Frenchman's Couleee, Fossil Rock, and the just released "Tieton River Rocks." He will also discuss his Himalayan expedition climbs. Come early for an informal dinner at the pub restaurant with the Portland gang. Contact person, Bob McGown, bobmcgown@comcast.net

Anyone know if they are changing anything for next season? I need to replace mine but will wait if they got an improved version coming out.

Another vote for Sleese as the worst descent - did it in a long a day and that descent was as long and way harder than the climb. Moving a little north, coming out the Cirque of the Unclimbables in the Northwest Territories to get picked up by a float plane makes Sleese look easy! Everyone usually is carrying out two weeks of gear down a 3500' talus/bushwack getting ate alive by bugs and hoping the bears don't eat you while trying to follow a non-existent trail. By all means, pay the extra for the heli lift out!!