skykilo

Re: guns vs. dogs. Every analogy has its flaws. They're all limited. That doesn't necessarily make their users idiots. Also, fine, excellent demonstration of google skillz to dogpile the thread with nasty pit stories. I just found an equal number of stories in two seconds for Rottweilers, but I don't hear as much about them. But what's the normalized rate of attacks for pit bulls vs. other dogs? Does anyone have any reliable statistics?

There's lots of interesting terrain up Gold Creek, eh? Me gusta.

Pitbulls are a lot of responsibility. But they are also the most loyal and affectionate dogs. My dog is aggressive toward other animals; it's just a fact. But he's never left the backyard and I keep him on a leash at all times when I walk him. Recently, coming home with my dog after a walk, the neighbor's Chocolate Lab (which had pretty much always been off the leash) runs into our driveway and starts viciously attacking Panama. I held Panama away and kicked the shit outta that Lab. The net result was a laceration to my leg through my jeans from my dog. But I don't blame him. He was just trying to defend himself. Anway, don't blame the cars (guns, dogs, et c.); blame the idiots.

Corn has a remarkable diurnal variation. Morning's perfect crampon surface often leads to afternoon's velvet corn. What time of day was it? I'd be willing to bet there's fat corn to be skied there THIS VERY MOMENT.

Speak for yourself; I belong.

CORN, suckaz! Learn to ski. Where's the rooster? All right, I just looked at the forecast; I'll admit that corn doesn't seem likely for next week. Oh well. They can't take this from us:

A supernova near my nebula on the outskirts of Andromeda Made me mutate from gaseous haze to peak-skiing craze. Here is one report of the phenomenon you seek: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71192

Thanks for the laugh, DH.

Beautiful shot, John. Airplanes are aid!

Cool pictures of nice Washington ice. Any good pillows below those lines?

Thanks for all your kind comments. I'm sure Jason's photos will give me humility about my point-and-shoot photography. Still twitching with excitement and electricity today... MORE!

Trip: West McMillan Spire - West Ridge Date: 1/28/2007 Trip Report: During an exploratory day-trip descent of Lost Marbles Couloir last Wednesday, it was hard not to notice that the Southern Picket Range was holding a lot of snow on the south side. Skiing a southern aspect near Hidden Lake Peaks later that same day, the snowpack was already in decent spring condition. The universe was coming into alignment for a weekend trip to the Pickets. Jason and Phil had another objective, but I convinced them to come with me. The prospect of a summit ski descent in the Southern Picket Range is hard to resist. We left Seattle at 3:30 am Saturday morning. Jason skis the trail so early in the morning. This part of the approach is much more pleasant without the all the greenery. We were delighted to be on skis from the gravel pit near Newhalem . The road to Goodell Campground, like so many others in the North Cascades, has a new washout from the November rains. It was lovely to ski the Goodell Creek Trail, which minimized our battles with blowdown and brush. The upper portion of the approach, making a rising traverse below the ridge, was much easier with the large snowpack. Dazzling views of T-Bone Ridge during our ascending traverse and comments from Phil had us contemplating the overwhelming sickness of a 6500 vf, 6-mile tram from Newhalem to the top of Big Devil Peak. It would be like a Washington version of Chamonix, with haute route access to Backbone Ridge and Marble Creek Cirque. Actually, I think I prefer the difficult access and its corresponding isolation and tranquility. Jason skins toward the notch with T-Bone Ridge in the background. Jim has been whispering in my ear about this 19 oz. bivy/down sleeping bag combo for a few months. This trip gave me the impetus to try it. I managed to squeeze everything in a tiny day pack. Somehow I didn't freeze at night, even with a breeze at 5,800'. The whiskey probably helped. Sure that the snow would need time to soften, we started after sunrise. It felt incredible to ski up a glacier in a t-shirt, wearing neither hat nor gloves. What a wonderful dose of spring in January! Jason was so happy that he even broke some trail. Jason skins Terror Glacier. The exposure increased exponentially as we climbed the ridge above the 7,400' col. The snow was alternating between soft and icy, depending on aspects and rockbands. We were able to link soft sections most of the way. A small rock step posed an obstacle to the summit ridge. Phil boots along the exposed summit ridge of West McMillan Spire. Jason on the summit in his t-shirt. This is where we started our ski descent. I wanted to check a possible alternate descent route. It looked like it might be easier, but it featured a much longer section of drastic exposure to the north face. Booting down it in my crampons, I found it much too rocky. The way I'd climbed would be best. I climbed my original line again. I removed my backpack to see how wide the snow was between the rocks. It was about a foot narrower than the length of my skis. Phil told me that Jason was snapping into his skis, so I returned to the summit. Phil downclimbed to just below the bulge, where the slope turned into nice corn. Jason was ready to go and he'd had enough of the exposure, so I told him to be careful and snapped a photo. Jason skis on the summit ridge of West McMillan Spire. Fall: 1,000' cliff on the left or 2,500' cliff on the right? Jason's skis were just short enough for him to sidestep through the bulge on snow until he could point them into the corn. Hooray for Jason. I kept my ice ax in my upper (left) hand and sidestepped down a few rocks. Below the bulge, I stowed the ax and enjoyed the exposure. Inspiration, Pyramid, Degenhardt, Baker, Terror, Shuksan! Jason tele-attacks The Mt Fury. Jason skis near the col. The south-facing slopes down to the 5,400' outlet of the deeply-gorged lake were a sticky, creamy corn. Somehow, the snow didn't get too mushy for the skin to camp. We took a long break to ogle, hoot, holler, eat, and pack camp. How could it be so good? I'm very happy and high on coffee and adrenaline and I can't wait to see Jason's photos. Thanks for the great times, Lefty and Fatboy. Enjoy! Gear Notes: Try not to take any; it helps. Approach Notes: Thank you maritime snow gods!

The maps must be wrong. My memory is bomber. Ha ha ha I'm heading to your office to make this fight personal RIGHT NOW.

Lunger is correct on distance up CCR, but that would be ~500' elevation, much lower than his estimate. Also, I doubt it's melting much at all, with an inversion and cold air in the valley.

Beautiful, thanks for sharing.

There's a pretty sweet washout two miles up Sibley Creek Road, too.

Nope, the crust is on top. It won't hold your body weight and the snow is deep beneath it. Find a runnel. [This goes for west-side north faces up to 7k.]

The onMouseOver preview of the thread's first line that they have on TGR kicks ass. I really like it.

He must be on Atomic REXs, right?

I want my Goodie Mob, Oly! "Touch what I never touched before, see what I'd never seen before, woke up and felt the sun. Sky high!"

I loved the challenge of the bumps as a resort skier, all the way through high school. Now, I don't ski resorts. Somehow I manage to find other ways to challenge myself on skis.

Here's the one to which Ross was referring:

Jason Ivanic skied those mountains in much less time, albeit with less stringent tick criteria. And he was a grad student taking leave from school and maxing his credit cards. That theme kinda strikes a chord with me. http://www.denverpost.com/extremes/ci_3773825

He's doing the best he can. That's all any of us can do. It is interesting and different when people publicize their goals before the fact, perhaps for marketing money, but I'd be a hypocrite to pretend that my goals don't get adjusted by the minute and hour every day. I also envied his springtime trailhead-cruising mobile-home digs. Wait, what am I saying? Let's mock to spancered skier boi from Colorado. You FAILED, ha Ha HA! He definitely skied some very cool lines.

And Alex adds insult to injury...