natazoo

Very sad indeed. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. We met Grey at Glacier Meadows on Friday night. He struck me as an upbeat and friendly guy. He and his partner passed us at the upper reaches of snow dome in the early morning and were the first (and only) to attempt the summit that day. We watched them climb un-roped up the east side of the summit pinnacle. Climbing un-roped at that point did not seem unreasonable given the mostly class 4 route description. No snow or ice was visible on the summit pinnacle and given the condition of the false summit, it is probable that none was up there. Grey did not appear to be on a class 4 route and he obviously had some rock skills. He came off and fell a significant way. I don’t know what else to say. I ran over to him telling him that he’d be alright, but I think he was unconscious before he hit the ground. It was quick for him and sad for everyone. Including Grey and his partner, there were four teams up there on Saturday. I commend everyone for keeping their composure and springing into action. His partner safely down-climbed and the other teams helped get his partner and gear off the mountain. Take note: the summit pinnacle of Olympus looks like a choss pile at best, plan accordingly or climb and protect the 5.4 route on the north side. Brian

Way to take advantage of the open window and hit it! Looks like fun.

Way to go Ben. I had a feeling that you would go for it. I was thinking of you up on the hill as I changed diapers every 2 hours. Sounds like it proved to be a little more exciting than the usual southside run. Looking forward to reaping the benefits of the Family & Medical Leave Act with a winter climb soon.

I generally consider myself a minimalist poster, but since I can't sleep I will add my $.02 to this discussion. I had the priviledge of climbing the Kautz route with Ben a couple of weeks ago. We carried second tools for these reasons: A) Never climbed on that side of the mountain before and didn't know what obstacles we would encounter. B) The Cascade Alpine Guide describes an ice chute and our topo map clearly labels an ice chute on the route. ScaredSilly made it up with one axe and I'm sure others do also. Good job. I was glad to have a second tool as I was pounding into dinner-plating blue ice. The moon had set, and I've only seen it once, but there appeared to be sun cup jugs and other features on a line about 15+ feet to our right. We didn't go for that line. As for Camp Hazard...wtf? I know you need to use your own judgement on a mountain, but when researching the climb, it seems like a viable camp. Beckey says its, "the usual camp for climbers using this route." The Falcon Guide by Jeff Smoot describes it as named after Joseph Hazard, "and not because it is in a precarious position." As we kept climbing closer to the camp, I kept thinking, is it really that close to the ice cliff. While sitting at Camp Hazard, I continued trying to calculate the probability of getting crushed. If ice were to fall directly above the camp, it looks like it would glance off the ridge and fall down one of several gulleys. In the end we decided if a big enough chunck gave way, it could be game over. We obviously moved to a lower camp. There are several established bivy sites there. People must camp up there??? I've enjoyed reading more reports on Mike Gauthier's climbing blog. Looks like the route is close to done at this point. Look forward to another route next year.

Posting a few days late, but Ben and I went up Devil's Kitchen Headwall Saturday. Two gullies over from the Pearly Gates. Ice was thin and brittle over cinders and rock. Snow up through the gulley was a thin crust over powder. From the top of Wy'east chute to just below the summit was mostly unconsolidated powder up along the ridge. Traverses around the rocks seemed a little sketchy with axes mainly in frozen cinders beneath the snow. This was the first time we had seen this side of the mountain, so it made for some fun climbing. I don't think I'll head back until it firms up a little more. Which should be soon.

Thanks for the input. I went for the 85s on sale tonight. We'll see how it goes. Now it's time to hit the killer pow we've been getting down here on Hood.

This year, I've switched from snowshoes/board to tele. I have shaped skis (Rossi Big Bangs) and was thinking of buying 85mm skins and just trimming them a little in the middle. I will have extra (unskinned) space on the tip and tail. Is this a bad idea??? Does it really matter??? Thanks!

Thanks, that's a big help!

I'm planning on heading up the icefall tomorrow. I checked the reports but haven't seen much activity. Is there good reason for this? Any beta on recent conditions or words of wisdom would be great. Thanks! Planning on bringing: 2 tools each, 7 screws, 2 picketts, 1 partner, twin ropes... *Is screwing around on the Elliot a better option for this time of year???

We went up this past weekend 5/17. I'd estimate the approach is about 3 1/2 - 4 miles from Cold Springs Trailhead (patchy snow). The road is snowed in at 1800 ft. You can follow the snowmobile tracks and short-cut the road a bit too.

my partners are slowly turning into homebodys...i'd be up for getting out check your pm's

i have a week off work and my partner just bailed. looking to get up high anytime next week/weekends. i've got twin ropes, gear, tools, snowboard, etc. whatever it takes for the route of choice. i have rescue/emt training, have hit most all the volcanoes, lead castle crags route, shark fin tower, blah, blah. looking for single or multi day trip to hood (devils kitchen, lc, reid), jeff (jefferson park if its in), sisters or points north. contact me and we can sort out details. otherwise, i'm stuck to days of soloing dog routes with my discman.

Yeah, how was it?? I am planning a Devils Kitchen Headwall climb Sunday. Anybody have ideas on weather I'll need snowshoes for the approach or not? How about any beta on the far left variation? I am planning on taking about 1/2 dozen screws and a few picketts. Thanks!!!

Anybody been up the sunshine route lately? We wanted to head up Leutholds this weekend but figured rocks will be raining. Hoping to catch a board/ski descent on sunshine, any beta on that ride?