Sabertooth

Very cool. Great photos. It's too bad the rock quality isn't like it is at The Molar Tooth, for the entire ridge. Definately very alpine, and it avoids the hordes at the saddle.

Good point. I was comparing the overall task of managing gear and logistics for a wall climb versus a free climb. You are right that the actual art of leading the pitch is not more complex for aid. In certain instances yes. I know some cracks that are easier for their grade than a face climb. Classic Crack is a good example, it is easy. I find face climbs with 5.8 roofs harder. In general cracks are probably harder though. That's cool. I make fun of one dimensional climbers who only crag like those joksters on RC.com who say mountains are only for snowboarding. I prefer a variety, but I consider real climbing to be any form; bouldering, sport, trad, snow, ice, glacier, etc. Trad seems more important than sport or bouldering to me, becasue it lets me climb mountains. Peace.

So the more risky and complex a form of climbing is somehow makes it a "higher status" eh? Well, then everything would be low level campared to aid. It's funny how you make single pitch trag cragging out to be this complex art form. Plug some cams and nuts into the rock and clip them. I could teach someone very quickly to set up basic anchors, make a directional, and place gear. Sure it takes time to master, but a "higher status of climbing" it is not. I am far more impressed than Distel can send a V7 than another "trad elitist" who can lead Air Guitar. More dilusional mumbo jumbo that Trad is somehow so much more complex than other forms of climbing. By your definition, Aid Climbing would be the only true form of climbing then. This is based upon how people train not on inherent difficulties. How many gyms do you know that have good liebacks, off widths, fist jambs, hand jambs, and finger locks for beginner climbers to practice on? I know zero. How many beginners do you see toproping climbs outside that require these skills? I see very few. People tend to get good at face climbing skills first. That is why you might see someone toprope an 11 face, but struggle on a 9 crack. They need to practice those techniques. Actually, climbing techniques were developed to climb mountains. In the late 1400s the French developed some basic climbing techniques to climb Antoine de Ville which was thought to be impossible at the time. The 1700s brought lots of snow, ice, and glacier techniques. Trad techniques were also developed to summit peaks in Alps. If you want to be anal about real forms of climbing, then history says any bouldering, sport, or trag cragging that doesn't involve ascending a mountain is just practice. The true form of climbing is alpine snow, ice, glacier, rock, and mixed. So trad cragging is really just like a football player running the tire drill the day before the big game. Just because you clip nuts and cams instead of bolts or pulling hard boulder problems doesn't make it more legitimate. You are indeed dilusional.

Klenke, check out the book, Idaho, A Climbing Guide, by Tom Lopez. It has tons of info on the Seven Devil's Area. Here is the online link. http://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/

No way. Stormy Monday is completely snow covered except the central section where you cross over to the left. From the trip reports I've read, the rock is farily solid there not "scree". Mattp makes a good point. If you like climbing loose volcanic ridges, the North Ridge is easier technically than any of the three routes mentioned above.

Dude, the North Ridge is hideous right now. The snow is completely gone. Why would you climb a ridge of loose talus, when there are excellent climbing routes like the Lava Headwall, Stormy Monday, or the Adams Glacier right next to it?

Version 2A in Oregon High looked awful on June 1st. The regular version had lots of exposed rock on the approach. If you don't mind climbing talus and choss, go for it. The upper part is still probably is decent condition. Pick a cool day with high clouds, it will get soft over there in a hurry. I'd recommend going directly up to the top of the Steel Cliff, when you turn the corner on the east side of the mountain. There are several good pitches of around 55 degree slope. The line on page 26 of Oregon High looked boring to me. The finish is fun, very exposed. I enjoyed the route.

The North Face of Northwest Ridge was in really good condition this weekend. Nice firm snow and no rockfall from the Northwest Ridge. I love looking down on the Adams Glacier. Quite a beautiful sight. We heard a huge ice avalanche on the Adams Glacier at about 8:00PM on Saturday from high camp, just as we fell asleep. The 3.1 mile Killen Creek Trail is currently snow free for the first 1.3 miles.

Nice job with the climb and ski savaiusini. So I take it you can drive all the way to the Killen Creek Trailhead now? How did the Adams Glacier look? Pretty broken up? It looks like the central rock section on Stormy Monday is still covered with snow from that annotated photo.

The MH Highmountain 72 is an excellent pad. Lightweight and comfortable. Sure, it is more expensive than a Ridgerest, but with the open cell foam on top, you will sleep much more comfortably. I've cooked on top of it to, when it was stormy outside. Not a problem. Try doing that with a Thermarest.

Airmoss, congradulations on your climb. Nice talking to you on the summit. I was in the yellow shell. Nice TR.

That was Steve House doing the Beckey Route in crampons on Saturday.

http://www.atp.com.pk/expeditions/ Adventure Tours Pakistan and www.jasminetours.com/ Jasmine Tours (their site is currently down) both have good reputations and low prices. They provide services to base camp only, which saves a ton of money. I don't know if you want something fully guided to the summit or not, but a friend of mine in Chicago used Jasmine on a Mutztagh Ata Ski Mountaineering trip and was extremely happy. The standard route on Mutztagh Ata, the southwest slopes, is long and nontechnical, like the normal route on Aconcagua. Don't know anything about Khan Tengri or Pobeda. Why don't you try posting this on K2.net or Summitpost.com, you might get some better responses.

Self arresting, especially a crevasse fall, with 2 tools isn't a cake walk. I've practiced it several times. It requires good technique. If you have a curved shaft tool, the but always wants to catch on the snow turning the tool and driving the adze or hammer into your face. What works for me is to hold the buts up and pull my body up unto the shafts making my bodyweight drive the picks into the snow. Definately practice a lot before counting on it.

If you decide to go with the 6mm perlon, be careful is your primary rope is thin (ie. 9mm). The raps go super fast with a setup like this. I would definately recommend a 2 biner setup on your belay device for more friction.

Go for 60 meters of 6mm perlon. Very lightweight and still raps nicely. A double fisherman to connect them works well.

Excellent, thanks for the info. I'll be soloing it Sunday.

I've seen new ones with a tiny visual flaw for less than this. Good look selling them at this price.

It started April 1. A permit and a fee of $15 at Jack's.

They pegged me back in January. I chased them away. Not a big deal, but I wish the kiddies would play elsewhere. Minehaha is a great climbing place, see you at the event Steve.

What really needs to happen is to arrest those bastard paintballers pegging the climbers and trying to knock them off. It's a good thing they run fast.

The Central Rib on The North Face looks a lot more interesting this time of year with all that snow up there. I'd like to try one of those routes this spring as well. Hopefully it will all consolidate soon.

I was solo and wanted to try something hard. I thought there would be unconsolidated snow in there, but not 6' of it. The headwall was definately climbable, but the upper hourglass is completely impassable right now. Had a good time, and that looks like a fun route when it's iced over.

Just as a heads up to everyone: Don't even think about trying the Devil's Kitchen Headwall right now. Where it narrows at about 11,000 feet, I postholed today up to my shoulders. When I tried to chop a path through, then pull myself up by dry tooling on the choss at the side, I went in over my head. Downclimbing 300 feet of avy prone 60 - 70 degree snow was quite an interesting experience.

Jason, is this your picture of Stormy Monday from the cascadeclassics website? Nice photos on there if it is. Just answered my own question, the website in your profile is the same. Thanks for the beta. You guys have done a ton of ski mountaineering!