Duchess

i don't personally think that a ranger can be faulted for providing a "wrong" weather forecast. the weather forecast is wrong 75% of the time up at rainier! it's every climbers responsibility to check around at multiple forecasts, and then make their own decisions based on their best judgement. i think these climbers' main problem was that they used their cell phone as a preventative tool--claiming to need a rescue when what they meant was, we MIGHT need a rescue. as soon as climbers claim to need a rescue, all sorts of complex tools (people and resources) are mobilized for the effort. i doubt these guys had the faintest idea what they were starting down at white river ranger station...

White River road is open, campground expected to open the 27th.

YAY CORY!!!

ahh... that was a great story... i'm stuck in town this weekend moving and catsitting... anyone else got stories of how the weather foiled their plans this weekend? it would make me feel better...

i'm selling my denali pro on ebay, reserve price $300. visit: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3607965913

no summit! said climbing partners ended their two year relationship at 14,000' and immediately high-tailed it back to talkeetna. my other partner and i hemmed and hawed for awhile, finally decided to also retreat because our stove wasn't working reliably. we'd spent five weeks in the range as well, and frankly, i was ready for a beer and a shower. prior to denali, we had spent three weeks in the ruth ampitheatre climbing mt. dickey, barille, dan beard, and the mooses tooth (but that's another story) we were the first party up the kahiltna for the season, and the masses were moving in as we flew out of base camp. it was amazing to see what a different world it became, as we had spent three nights along at base camp before setting out. since we were so early, the route was incredibly straight forward. we were able to skirt underneith mt. francis with only a couple of sketchy crevasse crossings; now the route runs WAY out onto the kahiltna before heading north. the only other route conditions worth reporting are that there were already some tricky crevasse crossings around 14,000. a couple of parties we talked to reported falling in. anyhow, by the time you guys get there, you'll be able to follow the boot path up. and actually, we were able to follow last year's boot path up. i guess that the trail was so compacted, the winter's winds blew away everything BUT the path, which remained snaking up the mtn. anyhow, denali had a pretty mild winter this year, and it wasn't near as cold as we had anticipated. cold, yes, but not life-threatening. we sat through a two-day wind-storm at 14, getting out of the tent every couple of hours to dig out. during this time, three of us went down to pick up a cache at 13,500. the winds were far worse for this event than they were either of the times we carried around windy corner. so, go figure. conditions looked great on the upper west rib, which is what we had really hoped to do. maybe next year? anyhow, good luck on your trip. feel free to pm me if you have any other questions...

okay, thanks for the info alex... um, yeah... i've been gone for the last month, just wasn't sure what the snowpack had been doing, and many of the tr's were from over a week ago...

south face prusik, anything on stuart, anything more recent on triple couloirs... just wanting to know if anyone had been up there in the last week or so. that's all. thx.

i just got back from denali--the crowds were just starting to arrive and when we left 14 there were only two other parties there. they were climbing the standard wb. we talked to many of the parties heading up, most were doing the wb, a couple were talking about the upper west rib, and one party seemed dead set on climbing the messner (i don't know why...). that was all that we heard or saw... conditions looked really good though for any of the direct routes.

didn't find other thread particularly helpful, as i am not interested in w ridge of prusik. wondered if anyone had conditions on other routes. thx.

need to get out this weekend...anyone know what snow conditions are like in the enchantments right now (prussik, stuart, etc?) thanks

just returned from denali, etc. least favorite thing brought were two of my climbing partners (a couple!!!) never again! they broke up FIVE times in FIVE weeks. dear god. luckily the favorite thing i brought was my third climbing partner. second least favorite thing brought was my sled. no more sleds for this girl. mark twight may have it right after all... cheers!

don't climb little t in june, climb in may! no yucky rock, it's all stuck together with ice!!! then little t is fun not scary!

read the thread called Gib Ledges TR 2/24-2/25. please, please tell me you're kidding about W in 2004....

hey tomcat, why's your squirrel got a big hole in his chest? my squirrel doesn't like the looks of that...

Geez, you guys...Justin just asked a couple of questions and you've dragged him into gang warfare. Justin, at this moment, avalanche conditions are moderate to high above 7000'. That changes every day as the weather and winds change. The Ingraham Direct is the preferred route in the winter, people tend to avoid the DC until early to mid summer. I think something like 18 people have successfully summited the Ingraham this winter? Route finding should be pretty straightforward for the whole route, but pay very careful attention to snow and weather forecasts. As pointed out elsewhere in this forum, the Ingraham icefall has been the scene of several of North America's worst mountaineering accidents, caused by avalanches. Just play it conservative. In teh off-season, there's not a whole lot of people (other climbers or rescuers) around if something were to happen. And ignore these guys squabbling about whether or not Rainier is a hike or climb. All that matters is that it is a serious, beautiful mountain, and it's not an easy climb/hike/whatever. Also, the NPS does not have current route information right now; i don't think that anyone has been much above muir in quite awhile on account of storms, snow, and weather. Read other trip reports and send some PMs to people who wrote them. Good luck!

Paradise has officially reached an "average" snowpack!!! yay!!!

it's great! let's go!

heehee.

AlpenTom, my squirrel rides a surfboard. oh yeah. and back to Fairweather, not to butt heads again, but mt. rainier has no plans whatsoever to decommission carbon river road. yes, the road washed out AGAIN. and no, now is not the time for road repairs. but, last i heard, they expected that the road would be able to be repaired once again.

fairweather, wouldn't be much of a story because mountain rainier national park DID decide to open the west side road to shuttle access, for proof you may consult the new general management plan. BUT the park isn't going to operate such a shuttle itself, it will go to a concession service, but the park hasn't yet found one, and i can't see how it is going to be exactly a...a-hem... lucrative, shall i say, enterprise. so, it may be awhile. but, you won the battle, the park agreed to a shuttle. in the meanwhile, you may have to tolerate a little wilderness walking and biking in the meanwhile... okay, spray on...

i must be forgiven. i was learning the Way from Jack Tackle at ff. good time. perhaps next week...? i know you missed me.

I have had some recurrent problems with MH zippers on their jackets, tents, etc. This may be just some bad luck on my part, maybe more?

Touch of "class?" More like touch of "gas!" Thanks, gents, for putting up with it...

oh yes, it must also be noted that this was catbirdseat's SECOND winter ascent in two weeks. amazing! and we took his rappel off of the top of gib rock down onto the ingraham glacier; that was something new and pretty fun!