kurthicks

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.

More stuff added above. Considering reasonable offers!

I saw them last winter at True Value on Greenwood in Seattle. are you saying they've stopped carrying them just this year?

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

updated. Headed to the post office now for those who bought stuff already. more stuff to come soon including (no pictures quite yet as the stuff is in Leavenworth at the moment): La Sportiva Nuptses size 44.5. been up Denali, good juju in these! $125 Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero puffy. Mens medium. black. uber warm, great condition. $275

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.

Closet cleaning time! Buyer pays shipping or we can meet in the Seattle area (Eastlake). I'll be traveling to Bham/L-worth/Snoq Pass often this winter and could possibly drop stuff off. PM me or email kurthicksATgmailDOTcom. UPDATED Nov27: Make me a reasonable offer! Stuff w/o photos (coming soon!): Sportiva Nuptses size 44.5 $125 BD Verdict 170cm skis. 2009. drilled once for Dynafits (317mm bsl). light use. $200 MH Absolute Zero Parka. medium. black. been up Denali! $275 Red Alien. needs new trigger wire. pre-recall. $30 .3 Camalot. has new trigger wires! $25 Cascade Designs NeoAir. Regular size. $150 new. $125 Eider Belledonne down jacket. medium. used a couple days. $250 new. $125 Westcomb Mirage jacket. Medium. eVent fabric. moderate use. $400 new. $100 Omega Pacific funkness. new. $10 BD Android leashes. (one is android, one is viper/cobra android). $100 new. $50/pair BD Alaska pick. new, but filed. $25 $20 BD classic pick. new. $20 BD wrenches. --sold BD mini hammer. $25 new. $15 Lockers $6 $5/each. buy 'em all for $60 $50. Petzl Attaches (7) BD Mini Pearabiners (2). one is new--$8 for it. Misc large lockers (5). Triac is gone. New BD #1 C4 camalot. $60 new. $45 New BD .4 C4 Camalot. $60 new. $45 Scarpa Veloce rock shoes. size 41.5 & 39. used one day in the gym. $100 new . $35/pair petzl oscillante pulleys. $5/pair Grivel slider. lost the bungee, but a hair tie works. $5. Purple Alien. comes with biner. $25. Orange TCU. needs a new sling. $20. misc stoppers. $5 for all! SOLD Stuff: Petzl Darts w/heelspur. sidelock binding. -- SOLD Petzl Irvis strap 10 point crampons. been around the block. --SOLD bd ice clippers. new. --SOLD BD 16cm express screw. new. -- SOLD BD lockdown leash $8 & BD ice axe leash. $5 --SOLD orange 4cu, tricams, rigid friend, C4 #2. Reverso 3. $15 -- SOLD Metolius cam, bd #3, black quadcam - sold yellow c3 - sold

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

where are you located? got a rope...

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.

where are you located? Hoping to try the boots on the lady.

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.

check your PMs

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

It should be good if the FL goes up, then down again--and will help build up the thin ice on the first and fifth pitches. The FL was around 4000' when we did it, after having gone up (and rained) to about 8k. It took us a mellow 2.5 hours to the base from the car and most of that is on the Cascade Pass trail. From the top of the face, it was about 1.5 hours to the Cache Glacier. Initially, this was super loose traversing along the crest (right at dusk), then downclimbing into the (relative) unknown of the East Face in the dark...then about two hours of easy walking from the Cache back to the car. give me a ring or email if you need more beta.

Thanks everyone. It was/is a great line and I'm bummed that it's probably getting buried in snow right now! I haven't found an overview photo yet, but here's a Google Earth image that shows the line (thin green line in the center is the route, red is down). Cascade Pass is in the lower right corner.