Buckaroo

Met Potter briefly in '99 on the Salathe, we were on our 2nd day at El Cap Tower. Dean and Jose Perea blew by us on a speed record attempt. He seemed like a nice guy, we talked to him later in camp 4. I don't care what anybody says, he can be a tool all day long. He's a bad ass climber. Base jumping by itself is a deadly sport, it took Jose. To combine that with on-site(?) solo 5.12+ and live to tell about it, that takes big balls I don't care what anybody says.

42 Kong and Petzl Keylock Beaners good for bigwall medium use, (quickdraw slings replaced 1 time) 20 Kong Keylock 20 Petzl Keylock 4 Kong Keylock lockers 12 REI quickdraws 5 Blue Water spectra slings $160

30 Kong Helium Keylock Beaners light use, mostly alpine, no falls 12 blue 10 red 4 bent gate 1 purple 1 green 2 clear $160

BEAR WARNING. NO food in the car. Not even one night. Food goes in the provided bear boxes. NO food smells, this includes fruity perfume, like your shampoo scent gets on car headrests, they'll tear up headrests thinking there's food. Black bears there very smart. Smell cookies factory sealed in bag, in trunk. Bust out side window by leaning on it or peel down door from top. Climb into car, rip out back seat to get to cookies. Then they teach their cubs to do the same. There's always glass on the ground in the parking lots. At first I thought vandals. But it's animal vandals. You're sleeping in camp 4 late at night and you hear doooosssh. The sound of another car window breaking, another fool left food in his car. Friend of mine accidentally left food in his 4x4 van. Bear peeled the door down, he had to drive 150 miles with no door, to the nearest junkyard. After dark they'll come right up to your table while your eating to try to get food. We were there cooking and bear just walked right up and stood by the table, didn't even see him coming. Looked like he was thinking "hey where's the food?"

-40F during Jan on Blanca Peak CO. High desert plains. -40F during Arctic front in Banff, ice climbing. Slept in truck, ice on inside of windshield. Trans shifts like glue. Had to put cardboard over radiator to get engine warm enough so heater would work. Tried to sleep in heated bathroom at campground but ranger ran me out, back to the freezing truck. Winter climbing in Banff people take a Hibachi to the trailhead, put under the oil pan to warm the engine for starting. I've heard Siberia gets so cold that tires crack if you hit a hard bump. Anti-freeze doesn't work, you have to drain and fill the coolant every time you drive. Even metal gets cold enough to be brittle.

(without the stem) Looks like good training for the hollow flake on Salathe. It's fun to explore at Index

You weren't taking antibiotics lately were you? LINK US drug watchdog wants tendinitis warning on common antibiotic The US Food and Drug Administration has asked manufacturers of antibiotics in the fluoroquinolone family to beef up warnings that taking the anti-microbial medication increases the risk of tendinitis or tendon rupture.

Yeah, now if I can just get back up there and get something done.

I remember a couple of short 5.6 bits, definite route finding also, might be tricky if it got dark. You definitely have to drop off the ridge right and left to get around cliffs and near the end go way left(exposed), unless you want to go direct on the ridge and do some loose 5.7 near the glacier.

Has anyone done Vesper this spring/summer? Was wondering if the snow is clear to the trailhead, and if the N face slab is snow free yet?

Nice pics, brings back memories. Rainier is probably more serious weather wise than anything in CO having climbed both in the winter. Rainier is 14,400' and you start at sea level(acclimatization wise), CO you start at 7,000'. Ranier makes it's own weather, this winter in one week it snowed 4', 22" in one day. temps can get very low on the summit especially in winter. I've have metal freeze to the skin at 9,000' in winter, with overnight temps of 25 below at that alt. and calculated at 40 below on the summit, not counting any wind chill. Rainier sometimes has high winds, upwards of 70mph and this will be from 13K up. It also has the nasty habit of icing up. It will be nice and warm even in summer and a cold front will hit and the upper 1 to 2K ft will turn to boilerplate ice. Your crampons had better be sharp, even on the walk-ups skilled climbers have died from this cause. Another thing that happens is wind gusts, lost a tent like that. It will be clear blue sky and dead calm, and then above 10k or so a big gust up to about 50mph will abruptly hit for about 30sec. If your climbing up high you'll be forced to the arrest position. Then it will be dead calm again for like 10-15 min, then gust for another 30sec, this can go on for 1/2 the day. It's easy to lose gloves etc.

. . . . rope eating nano-bots?

If you want duct tape that will last several seasons, go to a builder supply and get "code graded" duct tape, it will last forever. But a ski pole may not be the best place to store it, some up and back routes you leave the poles at the base. I have a thin kids bag that comes up to mid chest, put the puff jacket over upper body. You can find bags at thrift/2nd hand gear stores if you don't want to cut something more expensive. When shaving weight look at the packs empty weight. Go-Lite is about 2 lbs lighter than most. When big walling sew a loop of thin webbing to everything you need to clip in, (stuff sacks, bivy sack). On drawstrings retie typical overhand knot with a figure 8 and clip that also. When really thrashing like glissades and bushwack it's nice to have the stuff on the outside of the pack, like axes, cramps, snowshoes, tied in 2 places on each piece. Like the regular pack tie-ins, and then an added strap that runs through everything for backup. On low angle rappels with twin ropes a rope bag is nice, especially if there's a lot of loose rock. After you've gone over the hill you need something to help you keep up. The best thing I've found is GU, it's got the highest nutrition to weight ratio. On hard hike/climb days eat ONLY GU and water until dinner. I get about 20% better performance this way. Olive oil with dinner is the best nutrition to weight ratio for recovery at night. It will also keep you warm at a forced bivy. McDonalds is not food, you might as well eat the container. Tree bark has more nutritional content.

Way to go... good training for winter alpine. seem to remember cam hooks being good on this route, also be aware of the mandatory, easy but runnout, free section on the last pitch. Y'all know why they call it Green Dragon don't ya? Cuz it's green and it drags on.

The last time I gassed up at the crossing in winter was in Jan, 12 years ago. ""If you're leaving one country your entering another. "" No, I'm saying that the US officials searched us as we were leaving the US. Not Canada as we were entering. AFAIK only communist countries (up to this point) search their citizens as they LEAVE the country. It wasn't like they were trying to deter terrorists. It was like a checkpoint within the country to round up "prisoners" for the burgeoning prison industry.

also the CBP (US Customs and Border Protection) is screening and searching as you LEAVE the US. They didn't have a building, just cones in the road and a bunch of SUV's Labled CBP and drug sniffing dogs. They were pretty rude, "pull up over there", "go stand over there", "hands out of your pockets" They brought in a dog and he got in the car and tramped all over our gear. He didn't find any drugs but he did find the food. "come on boy, come on", dog didn't want to get out of the car. Then we had to go through the Canada officials too, but they didn't search us this time. What's up with that? searched while leaving the country.

One little heads up. "The Crossing" at the Icefields Parkway and Davis Thompson Hiway junction is closed down. This is the only gas station for miles so gas up before you go on the parkway. Don't depend on this gas stop being there as it has been in the past.

Canada ice is still very good, only the stuff in the sun is starting to go. Climbed Weeping Wall right side and Louise falls in prime condition. Left and Center of Weeping Wall is getting sun bleached. Polar Circus is still in and they just Avi bombed it. Everything on Davis Thompson still very good. It was -17C(low) last Wed night. I've finally redeemed myself, back to leading grade 5. YEEEEE HAAAAA!!!!!!!! TR with pics when I get time. Get thee to Canada, there's still tons of good ice. _____________ If they call you crazy you might as well be crazy.

I will try to be more clear and succinct Most of this is from Will Gadd, I added about 10 percent I wrote level. Level could mean 50' apart. If you want specific then about 12" to 18" apart, of course this varies with conditions, I go 18" if the ice is brittle or bulging, at times you may not have any choice but to go closer but you better know what you're doing. in regards to angled 10deg downward, this is out and down, not in and down. And the angle is in relation to the ice surface not ground plane. the other big mistake I've seen in numerous trip reports is climbing ice when it's too warm. 30deg or so is usually too warm, people have died in the PNW when it's too warm.

This is a synopsis of the "leading" section in "Ice and Mixed Climbing" by Will Gadd. With some of my own insight also plan ahead. pick climbing areas and placement areas. Stem in a dihedral, or between opposing features to rest the arms. after finding a placement spot, climb until it's waist level and sink a tool at arms length above, Pick a place where you can get at least one heel down or chop a small ledge with an axe or with a crampon. Make a divot where you want to place the screw, with the other axe or using the screw with a hammering action. place the second tool level or just below the first, so you can change arms if pumped out it's important that the placement be at waist level and not above or off to the side. The hardest part is getting it started, and the most force can be generated at waist level. If you feel sketched clip a draw to the bottom hole on your best placed axe and clip the rope. start the screw by forcing with the palm. after it starts enough to stay in on it's own, wind it with the crank. The strongest screw is angled about 10deg downward. Screws hold more from the threads than any picket effect. If it's angled upwards it has more leverage to break the surface of the ice and become a weak placement. tied off screws are pretty weak, take different lengths especially if you anticipate shallow ice. place one screw about 10' above the belay and then after that to keep from hitting the ground or a ledge, typically ice is climbed with more run-out than rock. like no more than 8 screws per pitch. One thing I've never seen in print. It's a lot easier, when clipping with a draw at waist level with thick gloves, to clip the rope first then the screw. It's all about speed, so it really helps to practice. I once had an ice training wall and the best thing on it was simulated screw placements so you could dial your technique. steeper ice is a whole nother game. usually the steeper the thinner, scarcer, the placements. Don't kid yourself going leashless bumps it up a couple letter grades. You can fall safely on ice especially if it's vertical or steeper and there is technique to fall safely even on 80 degree but you have to be used to falling. One of the biggest mistakes a rookie can make is to place axes too close together, on brittle ice a dinner plate can shatter both axes out at once. From the description I think this is what happened to Joe Simpson in Touching the Void.

Has anyone been on the Mowich Lake road lately? Was wondering how far it's passable in a 2wd car. Past years at this time have been able to get to the gate at Paul Peak Trailhead, but we've had so much snow this year I'm doubting that.

At -22f a tent is cold and if it's windy, very noisy. You won't get much sleep. At any temp a snow cave is about 35-40f and very quiet, just takes longer to set up. But is sounds like you're doing it in a couple days so sleep deprivation may not matter. As regards acclimatization, not talking about your level of personal conditioning (although that makes a difference). Talking about the difference between A. Living at 5,000 and climbing quickly from 5,000 to 14,000. B. Living at sea level and driving to 5,000 then quickly climbing to 14,000. (say in 2 days) It's quicker elev gain than the body can normally adjust to. You DEF don't want to sleep on the summit going up that quick. The last 2,000 ft or so is the hardest, you will really feel it (like a 24mi marathon). Unless you take a couple of days to adjust, then it will be just like being in Colo. The other thing that makes winter hard is there's no trail on the regular routes like in summer. Be good with compass and alti, or take a GPS.

Yeah, Rainier is most likely safer than Iraq!! Not saying you shouldn't try it, just be aware of what you're up against. The statewide avy forecasts don't necessarily apply on Rainier, you have to be able to read the snow. Sometimes we get a clear spell in February. Remember for an official winter ascent you have until the vernal equinox which is Mar 20th this year. When you dig a cave placement is key. One time on Sunset ridge I mistakenly dug too close to the base of a face. It started snowing during the night and the sluffs coming off the face buried my breathing hole so deep had to dig the cave diagonally out and up about 10ft. In a big storm high up tents are out of the question. The wind will shred them or you get buried and may not even realize it, it's VERY quiet and you just never wake up. It's very hard to wake up every hour during the night to clear a breathing hole. You better have a reliable watch alarm. You are already very tired and the alarm goes off and you just sit there like FFF it. I put a watch under my cap so I can't ignore it. My last try got to 6,000' from the Mowich lake road approach. Bivied, (was going to dig a snow cave at 10,000 the next day). Had an umbrella over my bivy sack. It started snowing and in less than an hour I was totally buried. I had dozed off and woke up and freaked out. Dragged my bivy under a nearby overhanging rock. It snowed 18" that night. Retreated the next day and my car was buried. Luckily some 4x4 Toyota trucks happened by and towed me like a sled to where my tires would touch the road. Make sure you have something to cover your face to breath through and goggles and good mittens. And just in general about climbing Rainier. It's not like CO 14ers where you hang out and start at 5,000 and climb to 14. It's the equivalent of a 24mi marathon (in summer) if you climb it in 2 days from sea level because of altitude gain. If you hang out at 5 or 10 thousand for a couple or 3 days to acclimatize the effort decreases dramatically. Winter is harder for 2 main reasons, colder air is harder to breath (energy spent just to keep warm) and the snow is usually less consolidated.

Did a solo recon last sat. The approach is heinous due to the recent show, snowshoes are okay at first but the slope below the climbs is too steep for them, spent over an hour swimming uphill on what would be normally be a relatively short approach. The ice isn't all that great. Not sure what their named but the 2 lines I looked at are sort of thin and have a lot of snow on them. I soloed up about 20' but turned back because of too much unconsolidated snice between fair sections of ice. The other thing that sucks is the logistics of the gate, you can't get an early start or come back late. Got run out of the place around 6Pm and the ranger lady made me put on the chains even though I didn't need them. Lucky she didn't give me a ticket, several years ago a stater left me a ticket for no chains on my parked car at paradise, never even saw him face to face.