JoshK

Yeah, I hear ya on the gas - we coasted into Lake Louise on fumes, just like last time. Next time I am taking an extra 20 liter gas canister. Where is this canyon of which you speak?

If you are in Idaho, I wouldn't waste your time going to Vantage. On the drive back last night it was raining (at times very hard) and foggy for the entire drive through WA including that area. I can't imagine it would be much good, but who the hell knows, it may be great.

lol, i wondered if somebody was going to catch that

but what about the parkway dru? They aren't close together as in within 50 feet, but they appear one after another for miles and miles in a row and most of them are big long climbs. staying in the rampart creek hostel and hitting a bunch day after day is the way to go.

sorry Mo, not you - was just givin glassgow shit for claiming the flu excuse I can't imagine climbing anything with a flu, a bad cold is hard enuf.

Oh, sorry to hear. I've done that climb twice and it makes a great solo ramble. Lots of nice short picthes with breaks in between. I think it's probably the last time I do it however, unless I go there when there is absolutely zero snow. It is a scary deadly terrain trap and instabilities lie in that snow pack for a looooong time.

The collection of books he has almost certainly not read is impressive too!

Why the hell is there practically zero snow at cascade pass???? That is erie...

Cool! I was just up there too. Did you top out on Lady Wilson's? If so did you notice the avy debris at the very top of the gully in the bowl beneath wilson major, etc? That was my buddy that set it off and it was scary as shit. I have never seen a less stable snowpack.

Bozenman has warmed up signifantly as has everything in the entire region. On the drive home from Banff yesterday it was warm everywhere. pretty gross. Hyalite canyon is really great climbing and I had a blast there however the road is definitely a struggle. You can plan on a couple of hours between going in and going out to deal with it. Honestly, with the differnece between the drives being only 2 or 3 hours I think the hyalite road struggle makes the total time about equal. The canadian rockies has an endless number of climbs in the range I think you are looking for right by the road or with a very minimal approach. The roads are taken very good care of so your van may be the cheapest way to go, but the hostels are also very nice. As John said, you are going to have a heck of a time drying out your gear without a seriously warm indoor room to spread it all out. PM me if you want since I was just up there and may be able to give a suggestion or two. Either way they are both great areas with fun climbing and in a very nice setting. -josh

Hardly. I could hasve come here as well. Sorry to get everybody's panties in a bunch, I really wasn't trying to "hate". I love it here and certainly wish we had more ice, it was just rather amusing to read the constant going ons about the once in ten years ice season. I'm sorry I came across as a dick. But sorry Alex, your comment about the stuff in the gorge (or anywhere in our state) being on par with the cdn rockies even when conditions are great are laughable at best. The place is a fucking mecca for ice climbing. It's amazing the shit that forms. It is not only the colde temps but the topography that lends itself to frozen waterfalls. Unfortunately it looks like any chance of ice around here is melting away with this fantastic weather I was lucky enough to catch.

John, where did I mention "Colorado" once in this thread? Last time I checked the Canadian rockies are IN CANADA. Please explain to me the relation I am missing. The Rockies extend into Mexico as well, so does this qualify as a "Mexico is ____" thread as well? Alex, I don't get out much? Please qualify your statement. Are you honestly going to tell me that ice climbing in the canadian roclies and ice climbing here are even in the same ballpark? Yeah, sure, I'd be more than happy to climb ice in WA when I can, but it just doesn't happen much, and it just ain't that great when it does.

And this is coming from a "guidbook author"? Dude, be realistic. The Canadian Rockies *ARE* ice climbing. Thanksgiving? Yeah, that is early season, but look at it now. It is incredible, just like it is 9 out of every 10 years, rather than the 1 out of 10 years it is good here. Hey, I live here and love WA, but it sure isn't an ice climbing venue to write home about! Man, it is easy to piss you guys off, but thanks for making my troll worth it!

Wow....toolis maximus in it's natural habitat!! He should have spent his "hard earned" money on a new chair and carpet rather than some plexiglass. Also, if you had the money to blow on something like this, and you were really into the outdoors, rather than being able to brag about your slog, why not just go slog around on some of the CO 14ers for a few weeks? He probably wouldn't enjoy getting dirty.

Boston an "easy walk off"??? Isn't it a crumble pile of fourth or low fifth shit in the summer? Winter conditions may hold it together better but I have walked right past that peak several times now and I don't think there is any walking either up or down the thing - but maybe I am blind. Buckner SW side can be skied straight off and down as far as I know (and can tell from looking at it). Just make sure you prescout a line down through horseshoe basin. It can be tricky in there due to lots of steep terrrain and the cliff bands down in the basin itself. Careful navigation is key. I have no idea about Magic or Booker...

Dude, for somebody that calls everybody else a pussy for no matter what they do, I am surprised you are being such a pussy and bitching about having the flu as a reason for not climbing.

Winter ascent vs. non-winter ascent - stupidest convo ever. nice way to get out there guys! FWIW, if you did manage to get up to the top you would be granted full rights to bitchslap the shit out of anybody that nit-picked the dates on you.

Climb: Cdn Rockies-Real Ice Date of Climb: 12/22/2005 Trip Report: Spent the past week in the cdn rockies climbing ice rather than fucking around and pretending ice climbing in WA isn't a complete waste of time. From all the time people are spending on here asking if crap is in (and hearing the reply include "thin", "manky", "wet", "not quite in", "falling down" or any number of other similar descriptions) you could instead just suck it up and drive to a location that actually has real ice. And if you are curious here are some words that I would describe the climbing we did with: "in", "fat", "blue", "solid", "thick", "well formed", "great conditions", "short approach". Gear Notes: Ice Climbing Stuff

Looks fun!

Wow, that is some pathetic looking ice for being the closest thing to in. The "ice" is about the only thing I don't miss about washington.

JayB, the Bush administration could use good men like you. It's good to see Clinton has sent a friendly fuck u to the bushco and spoke at the climate change meeting taking place in Montreal. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/12/09/climate.clinton.ap/index.html Good for him. Oh, and since somebody needs to point it out: climate treaties are MEANINGLESS without our fucking government getting in on it. As pointed out, we are responsible for 3/4 of the garbage so we need to get on board. It isn't easy to rally the world to change if we just sit there. We are the hegemon, we need to act like it. Quit letting our government get away with shirking our responsibility. People need to realize it is ***US***, as Americans, (or any first world citizen) that stand the most to lose, not the Chinese or Zambiens or whoever else we try to push the impetus on.

The 19 out of 20 figure is very interesting. It's why so many snowboarders (ok, ok, a few skiers to ) with zero backcountry experience never get hurt while out of bounds in a place they have no business being. The chances are it won't happen *most* of the time, but 95% odds are pretty shitty when we are talking about your life.

I go by two rules: 1.) Err on the side of caution. This one is pretty obvious and it seems you did that. 2.) Assume people giving you random beta are stupid. They may be, or they may not be, but that is why we have skills and brains - to figure out things for ourselves. I like to keep those decisions between me and my partner(s) unless I know that I am getting the information from a reliable source. -josh

I found this on climbingboulder.com and figured it might be of interest to some. Sorry if it has already been posted. "Mike Donahue, owner of the Colorado Mountain School, died on November 16 from a malignant brain tumor. He was 59. Donahue came from a long line of climbers, and was the author of the 1992 trail guide "The Longs Peak Experience." His maternal grandfather built the north Longs Peak trail in the 1920s and 30s. Donahue became an assistant guide and then later a full guide while in his teens. His clients included the first blind climbers to summit Longs Peak as well as the first paraplegic to summit the peak. One of his climbing partners was Beck Wethers, who gained fame as one of the American survivors of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. In 2003, when Donahue was diagnosed with the malignant brain cancer, he was said to have stood on the summit of Longs Peak 250 times. He is survived by his parents, his wife, his three children, his brothers, and two grandchildren. " http://www.denverpost.com/obituaries/ci_3255636

I went to Vail last week, now that snow has finnaly come. (unfortunately the negative temps have now come too. ) The snow was great, no doubt about it. Down low coverage was a little meager still. Tree skiing up in the evergreens was legit but once you got down in to the Aspens and whatnot I quickly managed to eat shit on a thinly covered horizontal branch. I quickly went back to the open terrain. The only "expert" terrain I got to ski was definitely not hard. Fun, yes, very, but the only challenge was avoiding the early season snowpack features. I agree that the bowls were overrated. I forget the names of the ones we hit because that place is so big. All and all it was a great day of skiing with awesome snow, but the few runs of real skiing (i.e. not lifts) I got in Paradise Valley on Rainer the other weekend still top that! Oh, and I got to enjoy my first true I-70+snowstorm experienced. Much like WA, 4 out of 4 of the vehicles that were spun out on the side of the highway along the drive were SUVs. Some things are universal I suppose.