Rad

This is a good question, and one that I recently wrestled with on an alpine outing. On snow and on loose scree/talus, you'll be more comfortable in stiffer shoes/boots. Tennis shoes or approach shoes plus aluminum crampons will exhaust your feet and get wet. My old Makalus are great on snow, ice, scree, and talus. But they are very heavy and large to put in a pack and carry over for an alpine rock route. Stiff boots are uncomfortable for longer hikes because the steel shank that makes them great on snow prevents them from flexing as you walk. The result for me is a sore foot if I have to cover more then 6+ miles on non-steep trail. Tennis shoes or approach shoes, are very light and confortable but don't fare as well on snow, ice, scree, talus. I've found a good, light compromise is Five Tennies (insert your favorite approach shoe w climbing rubber) with Super Feet in them to make them slightly stiffer. They are fine for hiking on the trail, fare OK on snow (though they will get wet in sloppy snow, gators help), and have climbing rubber that works fine for climbing up to about 5.9, assuming there are some actual holds and you're not just climbing a pure friction slab. When you figure out a better solution please let me know!

Gorgeous! Thanks for posting.

Lovely. Great vision and execution. I need to get back in there again. It's been too long.

Is this the accident you're thinking of @Bronco Buck Mountain accident

I agree this type of terrain can be very dangerous and it's very hard to avoid it on alpine approaches and descents. I try to see the failure scenarios and evaluate probabilities and consequences just as you would for the "real" climbing on your trip. That and stay focused, present, not distracted. As Jason said, I don't see the rope being helpful in very many cases.

Smoke forecasts can be powerful, but there can be local effects in valleys and mountains that push things around quite a bit on a daily basis. On the down side you might not get the best distance photos. On the plus side, you might see some great sunsets!

Learn as much as you can about glaciers. They're fascinating, but they command respect. Do your homework, try to objectively evaluate conditions, discuss both with your partners, come to your own decisions and don't worry too much about what other people think. They weren't there. Most importantly, don't let what other people do or don't do drive your decisions in the mountains. If you climb for any length of time you'll meet people with higher risk tolerance than you and others with lower risk tolerance. This is an important thing to discuss with potential partners. Just because some people got away with something doesn't mean you will, or that they will next time. That said, in the mountains speed is often closely linked to safety, so there are non-trivial trade-offs to make. If you rope up for everything you'll never get far.

Google translate. If you use Chrome it will recognize other languages and ask if you want the page translated. Not perfect, and will probably botch climbing terms, but these things are getting pretty good.

Slipped on a banana peel. You can see it at 1:20 That hair!!!

A wonderful Pickets adventure. Thanks for sharing and for not getting beaned in the RCOD!

Best climbing film I've seen in a while. You might want to wear a diaper while watching the sequence starting around 28:00. Lama is the real deal and it seems like he's maturing well while still pushing the limits.

Perfect. Thx!

Heading North for a few days and thinking about taking one or more of our teen kids up W Ridge of Sky Pilot. Can anyone comment on the conditions of the Stadium glacier? Crampons and ax essential? Rope? Moat issues? Seriously crevassed? Can these be easily skirted? Any info would be helpful. Thinking of approach and deproach via gondola. Thx much

You were well ahead of us. We didn't start hiking from High Bridge until about 3:30, arrived at North Fork around 6. We both had absolutely perfect weather. Not a cloud in the sky for days on end, no smoke, not too hot. Truly magnificient. On our trip, I snapped photos of 31 different types of wildflowers in bloom.

Sweet! We were camped at the N Fork campground on a fam backpacking trip on the 20th, so maybe you passed right by us. It seems that timing is key on this route. Too early and you're in for a dangerous creek crossing. Too late and the glacier/moat issues are sketchy. And then there is the 8000 foot descent in the sun... Hopefully I'll get this done at some point. Thanks for the inspiration!

Wow. I'd also read the accounts from this past weekend and guessed that he was toast. So great to hear a happy ending in the mountains. Sounds like he could have been torn apart like a medieval tortue rack victim if the anchor had been any stronger. Phew! Maybe the mountain spirits are telling him to take up golf...

Sweet and sloppy. "...complete with a horsefly - where do these things come from?" - I'm sure it was thinking the same about you.

Love it! I'm glad you and your small hands could make it to the top. I think there must be a nuclear reactor on the N Face of Vesper because that aspect melts out faster than the E slopes of the mtn, as evidenced by your photos and my experience and the fact that climate change is a liberal hoax perpetrated by fake media.

Once the fire closure is cleared, I would think you can get by without an ax. I did this route in early August a few years ago and we didn't have to touch snow. We stashed bikes below Burgundy and biked back around to our car to save some miles.

Lovely. We were on a family backpacking trip that weekend around Stehekin and the weather was perfect. Thimbleberries are the bestest!

Thanks for the enthusiasm. Most folks here are just as stoked to see pics and read about your (mis)adventures on 5.8 trade routes as read about 5.12R FAs. So please share your via TRs. They're a way of transporting us from our desks/couches into the mountains. Climb on!

@JasonG that's a powerful tale that says a lot about you and Tim as well as TJ. RIP.

My view is that there are different kinds of protected areas, and that all of these have value: 1 - High use areas concentrate impact, are carefully managed, may be crowded, likely have limitations on spontaneous access. Examples are overnight permits in the Enchantments. Some have tons of facilities, like Yosemite, some are in the back country, like Enchantments or Grand Canyon. 2 - Medium use. Trails, trailheads, parking, forest service roads, and a variety of parks. See medium use, have some facilities, often have areas of high use within them and areas of less use. Examples, Blue Lake Trail and climbing around WA Pass, Mt Rainier climbing and hiking. Trails along the I90 corridor. 3 - Wilderness. This is the most protected, where people are visitors who are not to remain, protection is more important than human use. Examples: designated wilderness areas. There are climbing and other adventures available in all three of these. Some need more advance planning than others. Learn the rules, follow the rules, and let's behave like a civil society rather than a bunch of selfish idiots. This will improve/maintain good relationships with land managers who have the power to limit/increase our access to the natural places we love.

Wow @JasonG, it looks like instead of rolling the dice you were climbing them.

Nice Scott. I was gassed when we did that track in 19 hours C2C. Ropes and trad gear slow things down apparently, but I'm not willing to go without them. Jornet fans should check out this piece in UKC from his recent record there: Peak running record by Jornet in the UK