mike1

Good read..........

Be awesome if you could use the same fabric BD Superlight tents are made from: "EPIC by Nextec® fabrics are highly water resistant. This means they resist penetration by water under all but the most extreme conditions." (text from BD web page)

I just picked up a Sierra Designs Convertible bag. I was looking pretty hard at Marmot too and decided they were comparable. The fact that you can go from a 15 degree bag to a 0 by zipping on the top was the selling point for me. Not to mention you can use the top for a summer bag. Might be worth a look...

Toprope shmoprope, looks like fun to me! Question: Is it from a small drainage or just freeze - melt? I'm thinking freeze melt...

IMHO: You should learn about avalanches before climbing or traveling in the back country where any avalanche possibility might exist. If you don't know whether or not the avy conditions are safe you should learn what you need to know to make those calls on your own. This means you are continually assessing the snow pack as you travel. You know what slope degree is most likely to be dangerous. You know the snow pack and previous weather events etc. The ranger might be right, but I sure wouldn't put my life in their hands. Take an Avy class, read the books, buy the gear, don't go alone. Avalanche and snow pack knowledge is scary. It seems like the more you know you realize the more you need to know. Mike

I've looked at that route many times thinking how incredibly dangerous it could be. I heard ice fall 3 times through the night while bivy’en at Sunrise. Each time it sounded like a freakin train wreck. Massive! I think years could go by without a line on that route... I'd plan a climb up the Mazama or Battlement the week before so you could recon the face. Do your homework and I'm sure it's doable. Becky did it in July I think. I have some some shots of the route from a July climb in ('97 I think), I've attached one... (same climb we heard all the ice fall) Good Luck! Looking forward to hearing about the climb... Mike

Yes, very sad... I've been spending a lot of time skiing up there the last few years. Kind of "blows" this winters ski plans.

Never seen water pouring over chimney rocks, but does look like 'em. If you catch the freeze perfectly there is this spot up one of the Oregon side creeks that drains into the Columbia. The trail head is right at Bonneville Dam and is about 2.5 miles up to a substantial waterfall. That's not the spot. Look across the canyon... there's this constant mist coming off the South canyon wall. I've seen this thing get huge. Unfortunately for me it was too warm and consequently couch sized blocks were dropping off at random. I think it's Tanner Creek drainage, a couple creeks West of Eagle. Anyone ever???

The Ptarmigan is awesome. We tried for Easy ridge the first day on the Pickets a few years back, but I strained my ankle in a rotten exposed gully traversing from Hannegen pass Southeasterly towards Ruth right off the bat, fortunately I’d just pulled my axe out for stability… I ended up pulling off my first ever self arrest on rocks. I fall into the crappy climber category, what a pain. We stayed in the trees with all the insects for a couple days to see if I felt like I could climb on it. No dice. Was anyone able to traverse the Imperfect Pass? also, I’ve heard it’s difficult to make the connection from Luna to Terror.

Has anyone completed the Pickets, Pyramid inspiration or the Ptarmigan traverses?

I can't speak for the other two groups up there, but when we woke up to start all we saw was white. We gave it another hour and after seeing no change assumed the weather was early and we would be packing it in. After sleeping in a bit we saw it had cleared but we were running late so we bailed. Of course in hind sight I think we could have climbed. ‘tis still early…

Iain, Awesome! It must have been awesome. Great job! I was that guy standing on the saddle when you two dropped onto the Reid. (MRA?). We woke up at 0300 to start only to find we were completely socked in. Had we known it would open up for the rest of the day we probably could have climbed. As it was we thought the storm had come early and decided probably like the other two groups up there to sleep in. In hind sight, I think we still could have bagged it with a late start… I think it stayed frozen up there all day? How was the snow on the Reid? Were you concerned about the Avy conditions on the Wy’East at all? We saw some climbers heading up there at around 1000.