gslater

jonmf76 - Interesting little thread here. Rereading your original post, I can read it in a way that seems harmless enough, and think that you were probably asking a legitimate question. Due to the fabulous nature of anonymous online forums, unfortunately, the question touched a nerve, and then most hope for a legitimate discussion went right in the toilet. Sitting here in my office in Portland, I too initially wondered why it's so hard to go up higher. And then I thought about it a bit, and realized that it's sort a problem of topography. If you had experience with Hood, you'd probably see the issue immediately. There's really only a couple of areas where the searches need to focus: between the Eliot Glacier and the summit, and from the summit down the south side. The original intended ascent route up the north face is probably pretty much a river of flowing snow at this point, continuously sloughing off massive quantities. There's simply no way to go up that in these conditions. The other way to the top, the standard south side route, is fully exposed to the worst of the wind, and eventually funnels down through another highly loaded (and probably constantly sloughing) gully kind of thing. There aren't really any alternative routes to consider at this point. It's not just that there's a lot of snow and everyone is running around saying "the avy danger is high, let's not go". It's that the only legit "moderate" route to the top is probably completely unpassable at this point.

Good thing Timmay got the site all spruced up and refreshed just in time for its big 15 minutes of national fame...

Kinda trippy seeing CC.com posts splashed across my TV screen...

HR County Sheriff said in the 1PM news conference today that they had indeed topped out. Not sure what the basis was for that claim, unless it was mentioned in the cell phone call.

Seems a reasonable place to search, since these guys had never been on Hood, and visibility sucked. If they DID go over the top, it's easy to imagine them following the fall line down...

Indeed. "They had purchased a great deal of equipment at REI before going up to Mount Hood." Bizarre.

Looked at fuggedaboudit's profile and old posts, and saw that he was the guy who posted a TR about doing Lib. Ridge back in June of this year. So he probably has some skills.

Looking at fuggedaboudit's post from a while back, it sure does look like it could be them. One of his comments included the following: "I will definetely post pics and a TR with approach conditions. Also will be trying out a half sleeping bag/DAS parka bivy system, will let you all know exactly how much that sucks if I have to use it-yes I know, "if you bring bivy gear you will bivy"."

Spent a few solo days hanging out in Jeff Park in mid-October a few years ago. Sunny, crystal clear, dry, cold at night, a few patches of early snow on the ground and on Jeff, great color, and a grand total of only one other person seen over the whole weekend. Excellent. And gorgeous.

Oh sure, but that was way back in late August, when conditions were still prime...

My wife and I were up at the top of the Cooper Spur hike yesterday when we noticed the KOIN news chopper circling around for a long time. Thought maybe they were just taking pretty pictures on a nice day; didn't think it was too likely that there was a climbing incident. I guess I continue to underestimate the cluelessness of the populace...

And I'm thinking this is a joke, right? If you're serious, I apologize, but pretty much nobody would want to try to do a southside Hood route at this time of year.

On the KATU site it was buried in one of the stories about the recent fires. Only about one sentence.

When I was up there around Aug. 15 a couple of years ago, I had my super-duper lightweight Camp XLA axe, and did use it along the edge of that snowfield. Was very glad to have it at the time. Since it's short and weighs a pound or less, it wasn't too bad to carry. I'd think you could certainly get by without it, but I personally preferred going down the snowfield to going down some of the horribly loose rock around it...

Wow, that looks a lot different than when I was up there in early/mid July. I'm a bit surprised that the big snowfield on the way up to the scramble gully thingy melted out so much, but I guess that's what snow does in the summer... We also didn't have those kinds of views; had lots of fog/clouds swirling around.

Sent you a PM...

From KATU's web site: "Over the weekend, officials feared for the safety of former Salem Mayor Bob Lindsey, who had climbed the 10,495-foot Mount Jefferson to celebrate his impending 79th birthday, so they sent a helicopter to get him and his wife, Pat, off the mountain." What the hell is that all about? "Officials feared for the safety"?

No yellowjackets? The little f'ers were out in force last August...

The Audi pic that bwrts posted above looks like an A4. If you want to be able to get through more serious snow, get a used Audi allroad. Much more room inside than an A4 (bigger car and a wagon configuration), more power, and much, much more ground clearance with the height-adjustable suspension. Up to something like 8.1 inches, if I recall. Of course, you've gotta be able to afford the car, and any maintenance issues that might pop up.

Or, even cheaper than the table, is one of those nifty exercise balls (big size). I've got one that I occasionally flop over (belly down) to stretch out the lower back. I can happily read a magazine in that position for a long time.

It's pretty much just melt cycles at this time of year. Nasty, nasty. If you hike up Cooper Spur or Barrett Spur, you can hang out and witness just how nasty it is. Pretty constant crap falling down; sometimes spectacular.

Nice pics Gary. Great colors. Any post-processing we should know about? Camera selection? Enquiring photogeeks wanna know!

Whenever I feel mine start to ache a bit, I can usually correlate it with a break in the regular stretching routine. That's the main connection to hiking/climbing for me; if those things cause me to get sore or tight, and then afterwards I don't stretch, I'll start to feel my back getting sore in a day or two. Fortunately, the sciatic nerve pain has been almost completely gone for a couple of years. The only time I feel nerve pain now is if I take a misstep or do something that causes a jolt to the spine. Then it's momentary and very sharp. The trip out after climbing Sloan last summer just about killed me, because there are about 400 trees across the trail, and after a while, every single drop back onto the trail started to hurt. I don't know if the disc will really "dry up", although I can't imagine that's a good thing, since you'll then have no cushioning whatsoever. I read plenty of stuff that says the disc protrusion, if not disturbed too badly, will eventually recede back into where it belongs, and I kind of think that's what happened with mine. Which means I'm constantly aware of the risk of it getting forced out again. If/when that happens, I'm sure I'll know it from the nerve pain.

I probably had some of the posts in the other threads you found. Same basic issue here, although it hasn't been as bad lately as it was 5 years ago. Still something I worry about all the time. I wonder when I'm going to be out in the middle of nowhere on a 3 or 4 day trip, and then have some major, excruciating damage occur to my disk. What was your rehab methodology in the past? What helped/hurt the most? I'm always curious to find what works for other people. For me, it's mostly about stretching (ESPECIALLY hamstrings), keeping abs strong, and managing weight. Couldn't get into the chiro thing. Really would like to avoid surgery.

Sorry, but from the racing tactics standpoint, Choada's got it right. My wife seems to like Pereiro for some reason, and she kept getting offended whenever the announcers made comments about him "getting lucky" and getting that big break. I tried to explain to her that the peloton screwed up, and she wouldn't hear it. Sure, he rode a fabulous race once he got into that position, but still, he never really should have had the opportunity in the first place. And as for Floyd, yeah, he definitely rode hard and looked like a beast on his big comeback day, but he too was basically let go.