JoshK

Well, I guess it's how you look at it. I'd consider everything in WA in the north cascades compared to the hillz of oregon. Traditionally, I've always thought of snoq pass north as the N cascades. That is where the abrupt change in terrain happens.

Nice Tom. Way to get out there in the sun and make the rest of us jealous.

Unless you like long drives, boring hills (aside from hood) stay away from oregon... one choice only... BELLINGHAM. Second would be Seattle if you want a big city. BELLINGHAM owns.

Peter, one of the things you'll find about the cascades in the winter is a lot of the terrain that you may want to get into requires loooooong approaches. Normally, I'd have 5 pages of things to recommend to you, but I'm assuming with only 4 days you don't want to spend one of them skinning 10 miles on a forest road. With that said, there are still plenty of amazing places you can get to. Your big factor is going to be the weather. That dictates everything here. Early indications are of fairly low freezing levels and snow early next week. Who knows if that'll hold, however. That may mean you'll be better off going somewhere east of the cascades crest. A tour/climb up in the Colchuck lake area would probably be very cool for somebody that hasn't been in the area. It's one of the more popular winter areas around here due to access, but that's for a reason...it's scenic and impressive. Send me a private message and I can give you some more suggestions based on your skill level and tolerance for suffering

girlclimber, check your PMs.

Get a radar detector for the major highway stretches. As long as there is some amount of other traffic you'll pick up the radar long before you hit it. It pays for itself with the tickets you'll save.

Great, another gun debate Greg, the argument that you shouldn't leave all the guns in the military's hands is ridiculous. No amount of firepower that the populous could amass would have any effect on the might of the military. Your arguments are weak and tired regurgitated NRA-talk. Your idea of freedom is rather whacked. If you want freedom go somewhere in central africa. Nobody will bother you about your guns and you can get away with pretty much anything you like. The problem is so can everybody else.

What rating would a low angle traverse threatened by an overhanging serac be??

I think the main issue here is there are plenty of "ugly" locations they could put this thing. It isn't worth ruining one of the most beautiful areas in the country. Science is good when it helps, not when it sacrifices the quality of life on the planet we've got.

More than anything, I think the value of undisturbed land is far greater than us knowning something else about neutrinos or whatnot. Understanding our universe is great and all, but I see a lot more benifit being able to walk through beautiful spots here on earth than to know how a black hole on the other side of the galaxy reacts when light enters it.

Irregardless, isn't the icicle valley pretty scenic to be thinking about ripping it up for a lab? There are plenty of places in the southwest that probably fit the same characteristics needed, right?

I think i"ll get it to wear to formal events around the greater seattle area. I figure if wearing TNF gear around town is fashionable, then wearing this puppy as protection against the brutal seattle weather will be very cool!

Call it stealing, call it protesting, call it what you want...if I have an opportunity, with little risk, to pay less to the company making money of ***MY*** land, I will take it. My favorite was the time I got harassed at 7:30 in the morning (long before opening time) by the Hyak ski patrol for skinning up adjascent to a groomed run. They told me I needed a lift ticket even if I was skinning up. I made some quick comments about it being my land and where they could shove some stuff. They went on about their lease and "it's the policy" and shit and I told them if they cared they could feel free to call the Sheriff and they could find me a few miles back in the backcountry.

Obviously you dont have to ski the whole thing...but judging from the topo, that thing gets LOOOOOONGGGG and flat for the last few thousand feet.

Go early June if you are intersted in doing it on skis (highly recommended!) otherwise I agree with Alex, wait until late July or August to get all the flowers in bloom and whatnot. We did it with a single 30 meter rope and an axe each. No harnesses (planned to use bowline on a coil) or any pro. We only broke out the rope once, for a snowbridge on the middle cascade glacier. Last year was a bad snow year so I think things were a little more broken for so early in the year. I guess it all depends on how comfortable you are on glaciers, etc. I'm glad we didn't bring any pro, it would have just weighed us down more.

Pfftt...he says you can't kayak Drury Falls. I beg to differ. Anybody want to give it a go with me?

I figured somebody would say that I think for skiing it's way more subjective however. I dunno, maybe others feel otherwise. Even with ice I think the rating gives a general idea of the difficult. With skiing, so many factors weigh in.

seems like rating a snowslope is next to impossible and kind of silly. Conditions dictate everything.

Ya know, I used to think one of the coolest things about climbing was people would play by their own rules, and others would shut up about how others play the game. Whether you're Will Gadd or some gaper, mind your own "style" and let others worry about theirs.

Hehe. Yah, Erik, I'll send ya a postcard when I'm skiing perfect corn in July

I dunno about pdx, but cable is the much better deal here in sea. Much faster for less money.

I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned it yet (I'm too lazy to read the thread), but some of the tatoosh coulior routes would be perfect beginner climbs...such as lane peak's the zipper or fly, etc.