kurthicks

It's called a dynamic belay.

That's a great way to get AMS, at the very least.

he's out of the country for a bit. might take a while for him to get to you.

the best dry treatment is on a rope that has never touched rock. use two separate, dedicated ropes for rock and ice routes. Alpine routes get the rock rope usually, because in my experience ropes get positively trashed in the alpine because of all the terrain belays and such.

They come too tight from the factory. loosen them at home and be sure to re-tighten your picks as necessary in the field.

hit it harder. it'll close.

Death Picnic on Dec 11. click for full-size. It wasn't that warm up there over the weekend, so it's still probably fine and growing in the cooling temps

the best way to save rope weight in the alpine is to carry the shortest rope you can get away with. half ropes, when used as a single, are suitable if the leader isn't going to fall and the rock isn't sharp enough to cut the rope.

All of the ice near Pan Dome is climbable and top ropeable off trees. The WI3 on East Table is also in.

Today, I walked to the top of the Rap Wall (up the left gully and across the top) and dug out the anchor on Chuck D. It took me about 15 minutes plus chopping. I'd hate to do it after a big snowfall. The anchor to the right of Chuck D is still exposed, though you'll have to chip ice off the chains. There are a couple tree rap anchors on top, including 2 next to the huge broken snag...those will get you to the main portion of the wall.

nice work guys.

Yeah, it would be nice to be able to do a bulk photo deleting...

A couple more photos for fun: Pitch 2 traverse Forest following P3 in the box gully. The last steep bit

It's pretty scratchy with some icy bits in the dihedral, but nowhere enough ice for screws (rarely more than 1/2"). Most of it was drytooling, with some verglass, and firm snow on lower angle terrain. The moss is frozen and provided the best sticks. Probably typical conditions on the route, but it's the first time I've done it. Take a solid rock rack from tiny tcus to #3 camalot. Knifeblades and Lost Arrows useful.

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.

Still have the shoes Alexis. PM me an email address for photos. I'll post an updated thread on Monday with what's still available and some new stuff. PS: BD microhammer is gone.

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

where are you located?

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.