chris

Glacier Creek Road is closed about a half-mile upstream of the bridge for the foreseeable future. The north side of Mt Baker (Heliotrope Ridge, Colman Glacier, the North Ridge) are now 5.5 miles further away from the car.

Hi all, Last week BCA announced a voluntary recall of the Tracker 4 in two production batches. Follow this link to read it straight from them: LINK. Cheers, Chris

I know it's not climbing-related, but I thought that those of you from Bellingham, Seattle, Tacoma or Portland might have use of it. It's an awesome commuter and urban riding helmet. I have a Bern Brentwood 1.0 bike helmet, size large, in excellent condition. Since I moved out to the Olympic Peninsula I don't use it any longer, but it has plenty of life left. Shoot me a message and I'll be happy to send photos. The 2.0 version of this helmet is available online for between $70-$110, so make an offer. Please consider how you'd like to have this shipped, or consider meeting me in Bellingham on 12 June. Cheers, Chris

The Edelrid Madillo Helmet is the perfect alpine tool: lightweight but solid, and folding up and flattens into the perfect packable package. Unfortunately, the geometry of the helmet makes it too tight from forehead to the back of my head. I wore it for a handful of days this spring. So I'd suggest that anyone who wears Large helmets not consider buying this. Rather, this helmet would be ideal for anyone with a small/medium sized head. Shoot me a message and I'll happily send you photos. Online, I see it for sale for $90-$120. Make an offer! I do ask that you include $10 for shipping or be prepared to meet me in Bellingham on 12 June for a hand-off (I live out on the Olympic Peninsula). Cheers, Chris *Its cool to come back to Cascade Climbers after years and see it still here!

Hi all, My first beacon in 1998 was a Pieps 457 Opti. Ironically, I'm pretty sure I sold it here on cc.com! I'm hoping someone may have one they're willing to part with, so I can have one to demo in my avalanche classes and have displayed in my office. I'm not concerned with the condition of the case, and while ideally its functioning even that isn't required - I'm pretty sure I now know people who can fix an old analog beacon. I can guarantee it won't be used in any life-saving application, just for demonstration and nostalgia purposes. If you do - feel free to email me directly: chris@simmonsmountain.works for the fastest reply.

The old growth trail that Gene refers to is the last third, when the trail leaves the old road bed and begins to ascend to the rock. It's time to stop thinking of the old logging road as a road - its not passible by any sort of wheeled conveyance, a single-track trail runs along it, and yes, there are stands of Himalayan blackberry in several spots where conditions are ripe (see what I got in there? ). The last few years we have been hacking them back. If anyone has a battery-powered hedge trimmer, I'd be stoked to borrow it for a few weeks instead of buying one just for this project. Email me at chris@simmonsmountain.works if you can help me out!

No, its way to overgrown for bikes. Plus, the culverts were also pulled, and the resulting gullies are the crux of the hike!

The 3/8" bolts were definitely the victim of mixed metals - the bolts weren't stainless steel but the hangers were. This actually accelerates corrosion. I had several actually shear off when I tried to back them out. Because of the amount of rain we get here, WARP issues full stainless to help get the longest life out of our hardware. Only Online was retro'ed, and I would still describe it as a heady-lead. The remainder of the routes were only rebolted, and there's no plans to do further retro work. It's a !@#$-ton of work to go back and forth, and I don't intend to do any more bolting than absolutely necessary!

Hi folks, its been ages since I posted here last. I want to share an update with y'all about Static Point. Thanks to the hard work started by Mark Hanna, and wrapped up by me, the Online Sector at Static Point is completely rebolted. And at the request of the FA team, Online in particular has been retrobolted to make it a little less R. Don't worry, it's still exciting! Also, a rappel line has been added from Tombstone Ledge to the ground, roughly following the line of Epitaph. So it's possible to climb to the top of the sector and rappel with a single 60m rope. All the beta and topos can be found on my website. I do ask if you copy the topos, please consider making a donation in the sidebar to help me pay for the tools, gas and time I've taken to head out there, almost weekly, this summer. And a special shout out should be made to thank the ASCA and WARP for providing the hardware and the training to get the job done right. I'll be moving on to The Pillar Sector next summer and the trail will always need work. It's a magical place - where battery-powered drills were first used (on lead!) in Washington state. Check it out! LINK to beta and topos: https://bit.ly/36ioSwQ

@JasonG no I hadn't thought of that, but I do know the folks at VW so I might take that chance. Thanks for the idea!

Looking for retired ropes for two separate projects: First, looking for retired ropes that aren't suitable for anything more than dog leashes. They'll actually be donated to a friend who has a farm over on the Kitsap, and having trouble with predator birds going after his chickens. He strings up ropes criss-crossing the area they're roaming in to discourage attacks dives, but doesn't have quit enough rope with what I've given him. Second, I'm looking for ropes that are retired from leading but still good enough for fixed line use. For projects of my own. I live in West Seattle and I'm self-employed, so I'm happy to drive around town to pick anything up. I'll make trips out of the city if someone has a large enough pile too, or we can try to meet up somewhere to do a hand-off if its not too much trouble for the both of us. You can reply below or message me, or email me at chris at simmonsmountain dot works. Thanks!

Brand new - still in the box, a pair of standard BD Sabretooth Crampons with the Pro toe and heel bails. Mistakenly ordered, I meant to get the "Clip" version. Thought it might be easier to simply re-sell them than to bother with a return. $84 + shipping. Hand-off in Seattle also possible, or pick-up in West Seattle.

Yes, I think 9kn/2000lbs is adequate for rock and alpine anchors, so I use 6mm as well. I'd buy some off of you, but I got a spool of my own last fall.

She died rappelling off of the end of a rope, somewhere on the West Ridge, and her body was found in a 30' deep "crevasse", which was likely a moat or glide crack. Here's the link: LINK

After a cannister is empty, I'll leave it on a stove with the valve opened up to a make sure, then puncture it with an ice axe (either in the field or at home). Then I can crush it down with a rock or hammer - when its obviously crushed like this it can be recycled as scrap metal, I was told. There are plenty of old stories from the 1980's of the rubber-sealed cannisters leaking in between uses and second-hand cannisters being sold with water injected instead of gas to bring up their weight.