AlpinistAndrew

Awesome, thanks for the offer!

So I am headed to WA from Vermont for my annual pilgrimage to my homeland. I'm headed out Tuesday and am looking at climbing the NBC of Colchuck and was wondering if anyone has been in the area or up the route recently. I'm not really in tune with the snowpack in the Cascades this year, so I'm not sure what to expect right now. I realize that usually it is climbed a bit earlier in the season, but was hoping to get up it. Any beta would be appreciated, thank you!

I own the nomics and love them. I don't climb hard; I use them for easy/moderate ice (WI2/WI3). I've also used them following harder stuff (and they excelled). I used them today on a WI2 and they were awesome! I do grip them differently for lower angle stuff though. Thus far the lack of spike hasn't really been an issue for me.

I agree with Farrgo. If you are doing the West Ridge, then avy conditions shouldn't be a problem. I have climbed the W. Ridge in all conditions and during all times of the year (I think I'm at eight ascents now), I spent too much time in that area when I was going to WWU. Even if the gate is open, don't go past, because they will close it eventually and you'll be trapped. For South Sister, you can cut across from N. Twin's W. Ridge to S. Twin's west ridge (there may be some avy danger going ridge to ridge in the valley/bowl. S. Twin's West Ridge is longer than the North's, but easier. Bring some crampons for snow/ice on rock. The W. ridge is pretty fun in wintery conditions.

This is a great peak, highly recommend the Corkscrew Route. I climbed that route in October of '02, which was a wonderful time to be up there (maybe not so late this year with all the melt action). The approach was classically Cascades, the glacier travel was exciting (some fun jumps) and the rock section was easy. One of the most memorable climbs I have done in the Cascades. I haven't done many climbs in the Monte Cristo/Mountain Loop region, but everyone I've climbed has been awesome.

I second the Coleman seracs. Had some fun times up there. It's not the best, but you get to swing your tools. The hillside next to the Coleman has been known to freeze in October. Some of most fun ice climbing I have done. Though I'm not sure what the road condition getting to the TH is right now. North face of Observation Rock in Mt. Rainier NP. I've been up there before in late August/Early Sept. and it is a fun glacier ice climb.

Thanks for the recommendations. It basically reaffirms what I already knew internally. Though I must say the "cheater-stick" remark definitely sold me. Nomics it is!

It's 90 degrees out and I'm thinking about ice climbing, hmm..So, I've sold my old tools (Pre-07 vipers) and am looking for my next set. These will be my one and only set. I mostly do moderate ice and some "alpine" (however that can be defined in the East). The three tools I have been looking at are the Nomic, Viper, and Reactor. I've been leaning towards the nomic. I've used it on easy ice before (WI2/3) and it seemed to work well and I definitely like the feel. I like the big grip of the reactor, because usually when I'm climbing out here it is REALLY cold (but it seems that the nomic might be able to accommodate larger gloves). Don't really know much about the NEW vipers, but they seem decent. Every now and then I'll probably use it on harder single pitch climbs, so it won't be strictly used on easy/mod. stuff. I did quite a bit of research and after trying to extrapolate useful information from a multitude of reviews, I felt a bit more conflicted. So, I'm seeing what folks thought on here. I appreciate any feedback with regards to these tools, personal experience etc. Thanks.

That's actually a different Andrew (Andrew Keach) he worked at the gear shop, but he was a friend of mine, we actually were together on that whole Greybeard epic. But I did used to live in B'ham and go to WWU.

Hey Kurt, I live near Burlington, VT and I'm always looking for partners. I'm down for Smuggs, NH, the Daks. Send me a PM and we can plan to go climbing. I was up at Smuggs yesterday and things were looking good.

So today my wife was talking with someone who works at a publishing company in Middlebury, VT (near where we live). She (my wife) was explaining the whole snafu with Alpinist (though she hadn't mentioned the name of the magazine yet) Then this person said "Oh, it's not Alpinist that climbing magazine is it?" My wife was flabbergasted at this. This person told my wife what she had heard back in early September. Apparently Alpinist had called the publishing company in September and had told the company that issue 25 would be their last issue and they were going out of business. Here's the really good part. My wife went to buy the subscription to Alpinist in late Sept. (during which time Alpinist was offering a 30% off of SUBSCRIPTIONS) knowing full well that they were not going to produce any more. Another interesting fact is, as I mentioned in my previous post, my wife was charged for 5 subscriptions, which you would think would mean we would have received 5 copies of Alpinist 25, though we only got one, despite the fact that they said they had no record of us being charged 5. They have no problem charging us, yet we we receive the one magazine. (Not that I want fucking 5 copies)

For our first anniversary, my wife decided to buy me a subscription to Alpinist. She ordered it online, but when she did their was some snafu with the process and she ended up with 5 orders billed to our account. She immediately emailed Alpinist Magazine to remedy the problem. No response. She called a few days later and who ever she talked to gave her no help. She called again and was essentially brushed off...passed on to other departments who had no idea what was going on. In the middle of this whole thing I read on cc.com that Alpinist was going out of business, I told my wife this and so she called again the next day. My wife asked for the billing dept, which Alpinist proclaimed no longer existed because they were going out of business. Finally, my wife called our credit card company who refunded out money and said that they will "deal" with Alpinist, but that if they can't get money from them, then we have to foot the bill. Bull shit. Basically I understand that Alpinist is probably in a cluster fuck of sorts right now, but that is some pretty shitty customer service, especially considering they basically stiffed us on several hundred dollars.

I will agree that the climbing around Bellingham isn't great. Yes, its all single pitch on mediocre sandstone. And that the climbing at Mt. Erie is no J-Tree or Squamish. But I'd say you are a bit cynical. The climbing might not be amazing, but when you have a couple hours in an afternoon, its better than nothing. Obviously if you have a weekend to climb you're not going to go to Erie or Boat Launch. Don't be so pessimistic.

There's a fair bit of climbing scattered in and around B'ham. As far as sport climbing is concerned, Mt. Erie, is about 40min. away and has some sport (and trad too). In B'ham there are routes here and there. Such as Boat Launch Wall and Governor Lister Cliff. There are also several top roping areas, including the Railroad Tracks and Sehome. Check out the B'ham rock climbing guide (out of print, but they have a copy at the WWU OC).

If you know who I am, then you probably know how I feel about the Mountaineers. They are not all bad...If you are a real beginner, it can be a place to start. It all depends on the Branch When I was in high schoo I was a member of the Tacoma Branch and they were great. However, when I went to college I joined the Bellingham Branch and they were a bunch of cocky, rude mother f$%ckers. In general, I agree with what people have said already, look for a climbing partner on here. You can learn a lot more by climbing with some friends than with the moutaineers (in my opinion). This is all my opinion, from my own experiences and the mounties suck.