cuz

I was at Flagstone this past Sunday. The last 0.2 miles of road (starting at the intersection with Rd 350) had snow on it and we walked it. If we had a car with high ground clearance we could driven thru it. Aside from that we had no problems on the drive up. There was a bit of snow at the base of some of the climbs, but the worst part was that some of the routes had turned into waterfalls (snow melting at the top of the crag, I guess). Others were pretty wet. We had to look for routes that were dry. We ended up climbing Paradicey and Acne Problem. By the time we left Hydrotube was dry enough to climb, but it was starting to drizzle. My guess is that if it stays warm all the snow will be gone by this coming weekend. Happy climbing!

Anyone know how much snow is present on the road to Pole Creek TH? How close to the TH can you drive in? Thanks

Nice report Chris! Some friends and I completed this route over the week of July 4th. It's the most fun alpine climb I've been on to date. We stayed to the left on the way up after seeing another party struggling up the middle. It turned out this was the way to go, at least when we were there. We then traversed right under rock towers towards the left end of the shrund. A short pitch of vertical ice on the uphill side of the shrund, then up the headwall and we were on the ridge. We traversed the knife edge ridge on the north side instead of staying on top. This turned out to be rather long (4 pitches) and time consuming. Once you finish the ridge it's relatively easy going to the base of the pinnacle. We came back via the Whitewater glacier route, which, aside from a traverse under the NW side of the pinnacle, is a pretty straightforward but rather long route. Another buddy (who's never been on this route) and I are thinking of heading back over the coming holidays. Two questions: 1) Did you need any rock pro for the ridge? I'd like to try going over the ridge instead of traversing it. 2) What was the headwall downclimb (above the shrund) like? I'm thinking that descending via JPG would be faster than Whitewater. Thanks!

1) Mt Jefferson via Jeff Park glacier. Funnest alpine route I've ever done. 2) Monkey Face @ Smith, another fun climb and I got to lead most of it. 3) Annual So Side of Hood trip with da boyz in a blizzard from the top of Palmer all the way to the summit. Most other parties turned around but we kept going. Stupid, yes, but the images of everyone with a thick coating of rime ice on their facial hair made it worthwhile. It was a perfect day at the parking lot. 4) Ice climbing in Lilooet. This would probably be higher on my list if it hadn't been for a warming trend just before our trip. 5) First 5.9 lead Biggest disappointments: 1) Didn't climb as much as I had wanted to 2) Turned around on a one day solo trip to Adams because I forgot my cramp-ons.

Hiking up a very long and steep 4th class rock pile somewhere near Lilooet in plastic boots with a heavy pack one of my partners freaked and asked for a belay. Every rock moved, so that didn't seem like a good idea. I found a bush who's trunk was about the diameter of a pencil, wrapped a sling around it, and called it good. I figured he just needed a "psychological" belay anyway. I was surprised when he got to the bush and clipped into it. [ 10-29-2002, 08:44 PM: Message edited by: cuz ]

Dick, we also noticed the cornice on the north ridge from the knife edge ridge and made a concious effort to stay towards the downslope side as a result. BTW, I made a mistake on my post. We actually climbed on the 2nd, not the 3rd. We packed out on the 3rd and ran across two climbers on the trail who were heading in. Maybe that was you? There were three of us. I agree with the two of you, Jeff doesn't seem like a very popular mountain, which is great. We only saw another party of two the whole time we were on the mountain. I've experienced similar solitude on the west side of North and Middle Sisters, but IMHO Jeff Park is a better route than what the Sisters have to offer. Cuz

Climbed Mt. Jefferson on 7/3. Ascended via Jeff Park and descended via Whitewater glacier. The road is completely snow free and the Whitewater trail has snow on it starting about halfway between the parking area and the PCT intersection. We camped on snow near the PCT / Whitewater trail junction. Jeff Park glacier is in good shape. All crevasses can be easily avoided or are small enough to be stepped over with the exception of the Bergshrund. After watching a party struggle up the right side of the glacier to avoid a large crevasse below the shrund we decided to stay to the extreme left, then traversed under the north ridge / Mohler tooth towards the shrund. This proved to be a relatively easy line. The shrund extends across the entire width of the glacier, except for a narrow, steep snowfield on the right end. We crossed by going up a ~15 ft section of the upper wall near the left end of the shrund. Although vertical, it proved to be easy even with just a single ice axe. The knife edge ridge was mostly snow free. We traversed on the south side of the ridge (3 pitches). It's less than obvious what is holding this ridge together. It's composed of blocks of rock that are haphazardly stacked on top of each other. Although there are plenty of places for pro it's not clear that a tug on this stuff wouldn't take down part of the ridge. Best not to fall. The main north-south ridge and the pinacle itself still had a healthy covering of snow. We traversed a steep snowfield under the southwest side of the pinacle on the way down. By this time it was early afternoon and the snow was pretty soft, plus the pinacle was periodically unloading itself of snow and ice, making the traverse interesting. It was now that I realized we should have started the climb earlier, but hey, hindsight is 20-20. Headed down from the saddle just south of the pinacle, mostly on snow (fun glissading!) all the way back to camp. Whitewater glacier is mostly crevasse free aside from one large crevasse which was bridged. Total time from camp and back was 14 hours. Good trip overall. This is an excellent route, combining rock climbing, ice climbing, steep snow, scary traverses, glacier travel, and a good bit of exposure. Cuz

I went up this past Sunday the 2nd. The road is completely clear of snow. I can really only speak to the left side of the crag since I didn't go over the Hydrotube side, although I saw a couple of parties heading in that direction. There's a little bit of snow on the trails and the bottom of some of the routes, which made getting started a bit tricky. (Get on the rock, smear your shoes against the rock and your hands to get the muck off the bottom.) The rock itself is completely devoid of snow. Many of the routes were dirty with foliage and we had to do some cleaning. I'd guess we were the first people up some of these routes this season. Overall, however, it was a very worthwhile trip despite the snow and route cleaning. Plus, it's only going to get better. I wouldn't be surprised if the snow is gone by this coming weekend.

A couple of friends and I went up Hood Saturday morning. The weather above the lifts was crap, but when we got to the summit we noticed a pack which didn't appear to have an owner. We assummed it belonged to Munoz. I don't recall seeing an ice axe or cramp-ons on the outside of the pack, so I'd have to assume he either took his gear with him or didn't bring it in the first place. We left the pack there. You'd have to be an accomplished extreme skiier or snowboarder to descend the entire Cooper Spur route. I can't say how accomplished a boarder Munoz was, but it does seem like a bad idea to descend a route like that without having first ascended it. Cuz

I'm looking for a cheap ascender to bring up a second on a free-hanging aid route. I've used prusiks before in these circumstances. They work but they tend to tighten up a lot after they've been weighted which makes them a pain to move up. Some other thoughts were a Bachmann or Klemheist knot around a biner, neither of which I've tried before. My last thought was (gasp!) purchasing a Petzl Tribloc. Anyone care to comment on these and other ascension "devices" and how they compare with each other? (Yes, I know, I'm a cheap bastard and I should get a real ascender, but, well, I'm a cheap bastard.) Cuz

I picked up my copy at The Mountain Shop, on Broadway in Portland, a couple of months ago. Cuzz

My climbing buds and I are planning our annual week long ice climbing trip. This year we're heading to BC the week of President's day. None of us have ever climbed in BC, so I've started doing some research on the web to figure out what we're going to do before we actualy get there. As near as I can tell, Lillooet sounds like the place to go. I've seen a couple of guide books (West Coast Ice and Waterfall Ice) mentioned but I can't seem to find a place that sells them. Anyone know where I could get ahold of either of these guide books (or some other guide book that covers Lillooet)? Any good on-line resources or recommended climbs? Thanks, Cuz

Any quality waterfall ice in western / central OR? I'm looking for something reliable that is fairly accessible, (even in winter), preferably at least WI 3. Multi pitch would be cool too. (Maybe I'm asking for too much?) Before you reply I already know about the following: - Columbia gorge. Freezes once every five years for two weeks. I wouldn't call this reliable. - Elliot glacier on Hood. Been there, done that. It's not waterfall ice, but if you're there at the right time it can be sweet. On the other hand, it's not very accessible in the winter / spring, and quality varies substantially depending on weather conditions. I know there are some waterfalls in the Bend area (Tumalo and a couple of others on the Deschutes river just upstream of town). Do these ever freeze? Any other places folks could recommend? Thanks, Cuz