Rad

If you want to find partners and go with them, you'll want to build up a lot of experience along the path. Do some reading, take a course, get out on snow and ice where you are and start learning. You can practice crevasse rescue techniques without being on a mountain with actual crevasses. You could find some equally passionate people willing to spend time w you to learn and practice the skills you all will need. In that scenario, Rainier will be a later objective in a long progression that may take several seasons. Or you could hire a guide and skip a lot of that progression ramp and get instruction, practice, safety, and a lot of friendly service at the same time.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing the story and pics.

The entire world is coming to Index on Sept 7th for the climbing festival (not me, I have a wedding to attend). If you're around consider putting stuff out that weekend as well.

A good rule of thumb is not to push too many envelopes at once. Really, try to just push one. Get some glacier time on the Quien Sabe and go up Sahale, which has a very short, easy rock section. Up your number of pitches and rappelling skills by climbing Mile High Club or part of Infinite Bliss or some routes in Darrington (Total Soul is a great one). Up your choss management skills on a route like the West Ridge of Mt Thompson or Pinnacle Peak in the Tatoosh. Up your approach skills and mountain sense by going up the West Ridge of West Macmillan in the Pickets or scrambling up Del Campo. Up your vertical by hiking and scrambling up the Cascadian Coulour on Stuart or the backside of Dragontail via Asgard Pass. Up your crack and trad skills by climbing all four pitches of Aries at Index (or Davis Holland to Lovin Arms if you can climb 5.10 trad). You get the idea. Over time you can start combining these elements, and before you know it you'll be climbing the Beckey Chouinard in the Bugaboos! Even though they really are geared toward hard core alpinists, I think Steve House's videos on alpine principles have a lot of great philosophy you should embrace. The most relevant one for you might be "Pay attention":

A nicely written obituary is here.

That wall is taller and steeper than you might expect. I would def not recommend descending this side of the feature. I still think the best descent will be the way we went, S/SE to the gully, or just next to it, that leads North. It seems much safer, has way fewer raps, and would be far less exposed than the lines you suggest in the pic above. This climb falls in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area. We didn't place any bolts and do not have plans to add any. Power drills are not allowed in any case. If you want bolts, go climb Infinite Bliss or Training Day or Mile High Club. If you want a more committing mountain adventure and are willing to embrace some risk, uncertainty, and discomfort give this route a shot. Rapping in the dark may just be part of the package unless you're super fast. You could bring a light kit and sleep on top. Be safe and have fun!

When I first heard about the Sea to Sky gondola proposal here, I thought it was an April fool's joke. Rumors then were that it would go to the top of the Chief (I'll admit to not following it closely). Last year, our family went up to check it out. I have to say I'm a convert. It's not on the Chief but to the East, so it doesn't affect parking or views at the Chief. More importantly, from the top of the gondola you can access a host of trails, a suspension bridge, a restaurant and shop, a deck with great views, and perhaps some other things that I missed. I used it as part of our approach to Skypilot, which is now a casual day trip. Views for the Insta-selfie-masses. Hikes and/or climbs for a wide range of people. Plenty of space for everyone to spread out. I've come around to think this was a good idea after all. Squamish was getting developed and crowded long before the gondola was installed, so I don't really understand why someone would want to destroy it.

Thanks for the TR and note. Sounds like a fun day. As we discussed via PM, the intermediate anchor is fine. The bolt hanging out is not an anchor but one on the 3rd pitch. It was botched and a new one was placed nearby, and we haven't had the tools in hand to remove the botched one and patch the hole. Hopefully we will get to that this fall. FWIW, you can now get up and down w a single 60m rope. From the summit, rap to the LOWER anchor at the top of p6. Then rap to the UPPER anchor above the dihedral. The rest is the same, with separate anchors to reduce congestion. Warning, if you use the dedicated rap anchor skier's left of the p1 anchor, be careful not to let your rope run into a constriction. I got a rope stuck there once at night by myself. Escaped by moving back to the original p1 anchor and flipping rope. Last week I was careful not to let the rope run in the constriction, but it was still really hard to pull. Not sure why. So maybe just stick with the original p1 anchor. You can get down to the starting ledge from there w a single 60, but it's close so tie knots and be careful.

Impressive!

There were a lot on the glaciers around Eldorado last August. if you set up camp there you can examine a lot of glaciers and snowfields within an hour of camp. The approach is is steep but there is a good trail. You can see some in the photos in our TR from a trip last year:

Yep, plus if you repeatedly bang your big toe on the end of the boot you'll end up bruising the nail bed, which is painful, and you will likely lose your toenail(s) weeks or months afterward. Been there done that.

Thanks for the TR. I've got to put this on my list as I love that area but might have outgrown the type 2+ fun of J'berg...

Thanks for the additional info @Lowell_Skoog I've talked to two other parties that had epic experiences getting off the mountain. I'm glad you and they all came out OK.

Yikes! Sounds like he was lucky to come out OK. Look forward to hearing about your next adventure!

I was up on Pinnacle peak last weekend with my son when a friendly S WA dude said there was this AMAZING thing called Tower rock near Randle that just saw it's first ascent a few years ago, and he heard it had amazing potential for more routes. I looked at Google earth and images online and got interested. Then I went to Mtn Project and found Rapunzel, and that brought me back here to all of your Beowulfian tales @ivan @billcoe. Your immortality is now complete. Any new lines or projects down yonder? Has Adam Ondra done the FFA yet?

Sounds like you had a classic trip on a classic route. Thanks for the report! You can add photos easily too if you want.

Thanks for such a detailed account. You gave a very intimate account of an adventure that was powerful in many ways. You also showed the kind of perseverance needed on trips like this. Personally, I've never aspired to do big mountain, high altitude trips, and that doesn't change after reading your report. Too much objective danger for my taste. Years ago I trekked in the Kangchenjunga region, so your story brings back memories of mountain villages, friendly Nepalis, and our own stories of crappy logistics.

Yes, it would be interesting to have a chart on the number of climbers who boulder outdoors, rope climb, alpine climb, ice climb, etc and to see how those have changed over time.

The State of Climbing Report is out and some of the numbers and trends are interesting. Download the report here Not surprisingly, the number of climbers is growing. I wish there were a lot more data on this and trends over time. How much is climbing growing? How many people climb outside? Climb in gyms? Some of this is in Outdoor Industry Associaion reports, and I'm not sure where to access the right reports. Interestingly, the amount spent on gear has risen and this was largely due to increasing unit prices. Also interestingly, prices have changed unevenly. Rope prices have dropped substantially whereas prices for belay devices, shoes, and other gear have risen. A majority of climbers are white and male, so the diversity doesn't reflect the US population. Accident and fatality rates have mostly stayed flat over the past 40 years even though the number of climbers has been rising. I find this to be an interesting and perhaps encouraging trend. There are plenty of questions. For example, what is the definition of a climber for the purposes of these surveys? Who was surveyed? What response rate did they get? There are lots of unanswered questions. Still interesting. Climbing is growing and changing. Personally, I think this is a good thing because some new climbers will become passionate enough to work on conservation, access, and other issues that help protect and improve climbing resources for all of us.

If you mean the W Ridge of Stuart, WTA Ingalls lake TRs show snow below Long John Tower, which probably means there will be more in the slot as you pass the tower. You'd probably also encounter some at the entry to the Cascadian Coulour, though sometimes you can skirt that by staying high and left for a bit. Maybe someone w first hand knowledge will chime in here. If I were going I'd bring a lightweight ax. Have fun!

Congratulations on your summit and surviving those other falls and risky bits. Watch these excellent Steve House videos on alpine climbing when you get a chance. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOYnpuacr0hmFlciAgGvMYw Here's the first one of five:

Wow! Looks wild Fred Beckey country.

Safety aside, this is an inconic summit worth doing when you have views and can appreciate the ambience of the summit snow arete. Slogging up there in drizzly, mushy conditions to a summit socked in the clouds won't give you the "special finish" you'd like for this outing. For that reason alone, I'd suggest waiting for a better weather window.

Newsflash: it rains in the PNW. You can mope about it or just go anyway. But where to go? Good knowledge of the local crags can be the key to finding dry rock. With that in mind, I thought I'd start a thread so people with knowledge of the wet/dry patterns of local routes can help create a resource that will be useful for both local and visiting climbers. Here's a start: Concept: there's a difference between routes that are wet from seepage and routes that are wet from rain. When the ground is saturated after a wet winter or spring, it can be a while before routes subject to seepage become dry enough to climb. On the flip side, a day or two of rain after a prolonged dry spell in the summer is unlikely to lead to seepage. Concept: water evaporates faster at warmer temperatures. Consequently, one sunny day can dry a lot more crags in the summer than in the winter. Concept: wind can be an issue for some areas. If the wind is out of the East on the I90 corridor, Winter Block, Headlight Point, and the higher parts of Shangri La can be unbearably windy due to a valley constriction between McClellan's Butte and the X38 Far Side buttresses. East winds above 10 MPH can be a show stopper. If you didn't look at the forecast, look at the tree tops as you cross the Far Side bridge. If they're rocking choose another crag. Some observations (feel free to correct and/or add your own) Index - On David Holland / Lovin Arms, the first 5.9 pitch can be wet when the rest of the climb above is dry. Hopefully others with more experience can give a more nuanced analysis of the many crags and routes at Index. X32 - Blackstone wall gets wet at the top and can seep in places, but the rock is high friction and can generally be climbed even when it is damp. WW1 stays mostly dry in most conditions. Seepage can affect routes in the winter. Erie - Climbs with southern exposure dry quickly, and this area is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, so this can be a good choice when other areas are wet. Crags under deep cover, such as the one at Rosario, are more subject to seepage and humidity. Mazama and Vantage - Can be sunny and nice in the spring when the West side is wet and nasty. In summer they can be hot. X38 - Here is a more detailed breakdown as that's the area I know best. Amazonia is quite protected and will generally stay dry in light rain from about June to October. In spring and winter, seepage from saturated ground above the cliff will make a number of routes wet. If you go on a sunny day in winter you're likely to find this cliff still quite wet. Nevermind is also protected and stays dry in a light rain. Like Amazonia, it is subject to seepage from above, but fewer routes are affected. Bob's Wall and Valley View West dry pretty quickly. The Actual Cave is subject to seepage. The routes right of it are often wet until mid-summer. The Trestle and deception areas of X38 can be slick when damp and can get wet quickly. Seepage can be an issue. Routes with sun exposure, which changes by season, can dry quickly. There are so many routes along this stretch that unless it's actively raining or has rained continuously for days you should be able to find something to climb. Neverland routes vary in how quickly they dry. Seepage is an issue for the lower crags. Gun Show is only modestly affected by seepage and dries pretty quickly. It also gets wet quickly when it rains because it is not protected. Endless Bliss may have a wet patch around the first bolt even when the rest of the route is dry. Trucktown cave stays dry most of the time. Eastern Block and Headlight Point are East-facing and dry pretty quickly after it rains. There are a few routes where seepage is an issue, but the rock is high friction and can be climbed when it is damp. The first 20 feet of Displacement can look quite wet, but the holds you need are generally fine and the upper part of the route is generally dry unless everything is wet. Mirror wall is protected from light rain. It is only modestly affected by seepage. Most of Shangri-La stays pretty dry in light rain. Seepage is less of an issue here than at many other crags. Winter Block generally dries quickly because of its exposure to wind and sun. Hopefully others can add more. Cheers, Rad

Or just jump across it like this