kurthicks

climbed ny gully today. fast approach in the AM on quite firm snow. post-holey (calf to crotch deep) in the mid-afternoon when coming down. flotation not needed. Route is in fine shape.

black doesn't look as good in photos.

How filled in was the approach via the WS lodge/clear cut?

it's been years since I've been on the north side. how long is the road walk up to the Tilly Jane TH?

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1045177

Thin suncrust on southern aspects, but did not affect ski-ability. The crust 12cm down was supportable. Decent skiing in spots on northern aspects. go as high as you can. I bet the north slopes of Chair are the best bet for decent snow at the pass right now. The return track is icy and less-than-fun right now. And a beta photo for those interested (click for full size):

Alpental--hence the discussion of conditions near-ish the Washington Dihedrals...

studying for my level 3 avalanche course and getting in some marginal turns. And looking to see how stuff is shaping up for the coming high pressure...

not bad at all on skis. Snow quality was, however, a bit less than stellar.

Was up doing a recon and some skiing at the Pass today. Overall it looks like it stayed colder up there than I expected over the past week. ----- Snow depth at Source Lake was 160cm. 200cm up on Snow Lake Divide. Travel on foot probably sucks as penetration was 30-40cm (think knee-deep) most of the time with the occasional waist deep drop (as we found when we popped our skis off). Ice forming up there, though these do not appear to be in climbable shape quite yet: Bryan Buttress routes Source Lake Line Kiddie Cliff Rap Wall has enough ice on it to maybe call it mixed climbing. No ice on the Alpental I-IV routes. Chair is starting to look good and perhaps the NF is in better condition than the NE Buttress, whose waterfall pitch doesn't look quite formed yet. We didn't venture up to have a look. NF of Snoqualmie Mtn has white on it, but we couldn't tell if it was ice or snow from our vantage point. Kent had visible ice-ish flows at the base as we cruised past on the freeway; doubt it's climbable really. One party today on the S. Face of Das Toof, but no report from them at the end of the day.

Boot penetration today at Snow Lake Divide was 30cm to waist.

I'd wait until after the rain subsides in a couple days!

Spend money on gas or airfare and instruction if you feel like you need it. Take a roadtrip to Red Rock and get psyched on easy multi-pitch climbing! I'd augment the gear pile with an autoblocking belay device like the ATC-Guide.

here's my blog post from summer 2011. http://kurthicks.com/2011/08/14/glacier-peak-washingtons-remote-volcano/

I have the BD Speed, Axis 33l, Cilo 30, and a bunch of others in my gear room. The pack I am using on all of my alpine trips, however, is the Cilogear 30:30. Light, big enough for a big rack (or the rope inside or bivy gear), carries well on me, and climbs great due to it's narrow profile. http://www.cilogear.com/3030.html

We went to the Rap wall on Friday. 4 or so inches in the Source Lake basin. terrible travel on snowy talus. There are some icicles forming up in those parts already, but they're far from climbable. No idea on the Snoq itself Wayne.

went up the NF Sauk road this summer to Gerdine Ridge. 7 miles of biking then up the closed road--sounds open now. try this (gotta love Google...): USFS Suiattle River Rd conditions USFS Road conditions!

you can thank smassey for those I believe.

how'd it go on Colfax?

sounds like it includes the land Frenchman Falls is on. access issue indeed.

I uploaded a picture from yesterday to the original tr post. Gene -- the other line is the Skagit/Chelan county boundary that google earth overlaid. Alex -- I'd done Doug's Direct years ago after climbing J'Berg and we hoped it went with snow on it. It did, fortunately.

nope, no sending this time. But the gear went for a really nice walk.

Just came out of the Cascade Pass area today. The NPS has closed the last couple miles of the road for the season...so as of Nov 2, the road is gated at the highest gate (near the steep S-curve switchbacks); the closure may go down to Eldorado when the snow line gets that low. Plan on adding another hour or more to your approaches.

I'm looking for a place to park my Toyota RV in the Bellingham area for the winter season from early December to mid-March. Ideally, this would be a covered spot (10' tall by 20' deep by 10' wide) that has access to an electrical hookup that I could plug into (within extension cord distance is fine). A tall garage or barn would perfect. I could also do a non-covered spot if it was off-street, though it's not my preference. I'm not interested in parking on a city street in front of someone's house. I will only be around in the evenings on Fridays-Sundays. I'm willing to pay up to $150/month if it's a covered space. I may be willing to do a trade for guiding or climbing instruction. Anyone got something?

?? http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1039459/gonew/1/found_shoes_at_vantage#UNREAD