Buckaroo

That's 5.6, it will get your attention, especially in mountain boots. Soloing is a mind game more than anything... "fear is the mind killer"

Looking at a rap system like Colin suggests. Using a 50M dynamic twin and a 5mm x 50M Maxim Tech Cord for a double rope rap. Was wondering if the stretch of the dynamic rope is going to mean the static tech cord needs to be longer than 50M?

One 60m for ascent and descent works fine

MY GOD!? This is for real? I thought it was a really good photoshop. damn

"going up Mt Index from the south and avoiding the long traverse from Persis" It's most likely harder from the south although it may be a little shorter as the crow flies. Depending on snow cover though the south might be easier when all the slide alder is snow covered. Did Main peak from the south in summer as a day climb, 45deg slide alder bushwack for about 1,500 ft. It was a LONG day.(about 22 hrs.) False summits go on forever. came down the mountaineer east route.(tricky route finding) Think there's a TR somewhere buried.

interesting story about a nuclear powered surveillance device on Nanda Devi, the CIA and a local climber who claims the first solo ascent. CLICKY

""They needed 12 feet of snow to cause this display"" Yeah but 18" in 24 hrs aint nothing to sneeze at. Here's what my Civic wagon looked like on the Mowich Lake Road after getting back from 2 days at the base of Rainier (2-27,28-07). On the drive in couldn't make the last 2 miles to the Paul Peak Trailhead because the snow was a foot deep. Traffic had packed the snow down so I could make it that far. But driving out the additional 18" of new meant I had to get lucky with 2 Toyota 4x pickups coming up to retrieve one of their buddies. They dragged me back down about 4 miles.

Ice Climb Vid animation

I've soloed this one twice (in summer), and downclimbed it once, W/Trango S's. The red gully on the right isn't that loose and you can bypass the 5.7 if you want. I didn't think it was that long until I tried to rap it with a 50M. It's about 6 full 50M pitches. The approach is fun too in early season. Hedlee pass is really steep snow and so is the drop down to the base. Foot ski all the way down to the trail on descent!

I don't think it was staged. The rock/hold that broke loose fell to the ground and there were people down there.

multiple lentics on Rainier (from Lacey)

I like the Pentax Optio line. The first one I had was the Optio S. It weighs 4oz. with a battery and fits inside an Altoids tin. Now I have the Optio S4I. Takes good pics but it's a little fragile. Goes forever too, 150 full res shots on one battery. My buddy has a generic 4MP Canon, one nice feature it has is that if the pic you take is blurry it will tell you it is and you can delete it right away. A good camera salesman will show you what's available if you tell him what you want like light weight, durable. I wanted good quality pics and light weight. When pricing keep in mind that most digital cameras don't come with enough memory to drain the battery one time. Like many only have enough memory to take 16 full res pics. You have to get more memory when you purchase.

Don't know what roads you could plow that go up high enough for consistent freezing? But you could farm at some place like above Paradise at 7,000 ft or so and then hike up to it?

Those guys have an extra heart type thing, and all it does is pump the adrenaline while their doing that. I wonder what the GPM is of that adrenaline pump. Reminds me of Sandia Crest in Albuquerque NM. On the steep side it's 10,000 ft at the top and goes down about 45 to 50deg to the valley at 5,000'. We used to go to the top and watch the hang gliders jump off the edge. You would get a huge adrenaline rush just watching them do it.

I ended up with the "Mammut Stratus Hoody" from you guys. Same weight as the down jacket I was looking at, maybe not quite as much fluff and doesn't pack as small. But it's not pleated either which seems to be a place where down can loose warmth. So far so good in the icy icycle, we'll see how it does on Rainier.

""...we decided to avoid getting killed to climb another day."" Good call, it was too warm Ice climbing when it's this warm is like going up when avi hazard is extreme 2 2 1100 34 2 2 2200 45 MM/DD Hour Temp Wind Wind Wind Wind Hour Total Total ------------------------------------------------------------ 2 2 500 21 -0 1 4 37 0 0 42 2 2 600 21 -0 4 7 12 0 0 41 2 2 700 24 0 4 7 15 0 0 41 2 2 800 28 -0 3 5 333 0 0 41 2 2 900 29 0 2 4 185 0 0 41 2 2 1000 33 -0 2 6 155 0 0 40 2 2 1100 34 0 1 4 157 0 0 39 2 2 1200 32 -0 0 3 359 0 0 40 2 2 1300 33 -0 0 3 317 0 0 39 2 2 1400 33 0 1 3 53 0 0 40 2 2 1500 28 0 1 3 352 0 0 40 2 2 1600 30 0 3 9 81 0 0 41 2 2 1700 36 2 7 13 42 0 0 42 2 2 1800 39 0 6 12 64 0 0 42 2 2 1900 40 -0 2 6 282 0 0 41 2 2 2000 42 0 6 11 291 0 0 41 2 2 2100 44 1 7 13 289 0 0 42 2 2 2200 45 3 11 24 297 0 0 41

"I was getting over a cold, and I think the cold just came back for an encore. But the climb was worth it." exact same thing happened to me. and yes it was worth it. Nice report description, thanks.

What Leavenworth would look like if it was covered in dam water. BIG ICE!!!! on snow creek wall 1/2 way up the crux 2nd pitch, puttin' in screws that won't hold a fall. At the belay, top of 2nd pitch. "Let's not test this belay OK?" 4th pitch, phat ice and exposure. summit ridge scenery Moon River on the return.

NICE! NICE! So what kind of grade do you give the pitches?

"thats mark with the beard." dohhh! I knew Colin had an HB at one time, those are kind of rare. and he's usually the one mugging for the camera...

Are those Petzl axes and crampons? Plastic boots? Bivy sack? puff jackets? puff pants? Foam pad? Or did you guys just go ultra lite? GU, cytomax, stove? Day packs or something heavier? Can't recognize Colin with the beard. To get that kind of time do you run on the trail?

Hey Colin, nice climb! Bet the full moon assisted the descent, sweet. That's a double bonus for Index, to get conditions and a clear full moon. Do us a big favor. Give us a gear list sort of like the gear vids House did on the Rupal face. Doesn't have to be a vid, just a written list, just like what you took and maybe why you picked what you did. That would be way cool. Next linkup on the Index peaks would be the EDM and then finish with the traverse. Or hey, what about the Southern Pickets traverse in winter? I guess the Northern ones would be first, a little easier? Sometimes maybe a winter climb is easier if the conditions are right, but just in some ways. Like Alberta, the line they took is very direct unlike in the summer when it's very circuitous.

I thought one of the local network TV channels had weather history on their website?

Looks like a really good time on some really phat ice!! Nice exposure too. Guess we missed that, it was dark when we went by there towards snowcreek wall and dark on the return.

""Nice work finding their report! Thanks."" Home sick from work with the cold/flu just swimming in the web sea. Started in some thread in the ice climb forum and after about 5 clicks came to this thread, the link I posted was about 4 clicks later. ""That guy probably works in the nylon industry"" It's the Mammut factory. ""Sabotage?"" Sherman said his dog was hanging around at the top, maybe someone came during the night. Or maybe he just had a worn sharp piece of gear and it brushed up against.