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Rad

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    [TR] Pickets - Northern Pickets Traverse 8/7/2017

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    Thanks! That took just about everything I had to give.

     

    Indeed. For me, the physical and mental challenges of the Pickets have induced a zen-like mind-set where we embrace uncertainty, focus on the present, not the past or future, and grind through epic suffering to reach the highest heights.

     

    More than any area in the US I've visited, the Pickets embodies the spirit of Wilderness that was defined in the 1964 Wilderness Act as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

     

    Cascade high routes

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Ive never done the full enchantments loop but I've done all the peaks enough times that it wouldn't be the first choice.

     

    would love to hear more thoughts on ptarmigan as a solo if anybody has done it. I haven't been anywhere south of cascade pass so I have no idea how broken up those glaciers are.

     

    Falling in a crevasse is only one hazard in the mtns. Loose rock is another big one. Moats is another. And vicious attack goats!

     

    Questions about N Cascades Permits

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    If you can't get a permit, do Forbidden E Ridge Direct car to car. No glaciers or nasty gully to navigate, fewer crowds (though an early start is advised). You can simul-climb most of it so it goes pretty quickly and the descent off the backside is not as bad as people make out. The position is unparalleled.

     

    E Ridge Direct TR

     

    Sahale via Sahale Arm is pretty casual and can also be done in a day. Ditto Eldorado.

     

    Yes, it's wonderful to camp in the alpine, but when you get old like me you realize life is better if you don't have to carry a heavy pack up thousands of feet. Free your mind and your ass will follow.

     

    Oh, and the chances of getting a last minute Enchantment permit are even lower than N Cascades, so forget driving extra hours for that. The Full N Ridge of Stuart, however, needs to be on your list. It's a bigger day car to car than Forbidden.

     

    Or go do Slesse, but fires and smoke and 4x4 vehicle...

    Ah, youth.

    Emmons Cravasse death

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Gene, MRNP doesn't have rules about being on a rope. The "solo" thing is about going up the mountain by yourself rather than with partners. If you look at the forms, there is very little by way of rules. ....

     

    I knew about fact that if you were with another but not roped, you were ok in NPS eyes. My question is why is OK to be unroped in a team but not unroped solo?

     

    I suspect that they left this unroped teams as an option for their climbing rangers operations.

     

    Any safety requirements would be impossible to enforce. People need to use their own judgment. Should you be unroped on the Inter- Glacier? It has a few crevasses, but few rope up there. What about around Camp Muir? Below Muir? On the crater rim? On the Emmons early season? Depends, depends, depends. The last thing the NPS, or any other agency, wants to do is mandate safety practices and try to enforce them, because this implies if you follow them you'll be safe. And that's just not the case. The best they can do is encourage you to bring standard safety equipment and use it. That's very different from mandating certain practices.

     

    Emmons Cravasse death

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Gene, MRNP doesn't have rules about being on a rope. The "solo" thing is about going up the mountain by yourself rather than with partners. If you look at the forms, there is very little by way of rules.

     

    Sad about these deaths. Mountains are dangerous for many reasons.

    Be safe out there and have fun.

    Vesper conditions

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    I haven't been up there this year, but the N face of Vesper melts out suprisingly early in the season. You may still find some snow on the ledges approaching RE, however. Bring an ax along and call it alpine climbing.

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