Rad

Agree

To keep your feet dry on snow go when it's hard. Approach shoes plus strap ons will be fine in these conditions. Guide Five Tennies have become my shoe of choice for most outings. They're comfortable enough for hiking, work great for up to 5.9 or so, and can take strap on crampons if needed (I don't choose those routes that often frankly). BUT if the experience is going to have a lot of soft steep snow or scree and dirt that would go into your shoes I may choose a boot with a shank and higher top. Mine are old Makalus, which are really too heavy and bulky to want to carry up anything where weight/bulk matter. I'm sure there are better options for these scenarios but I'm not inclined to spend $$$ for these rare occasions.

Wow! Worth the wait! thanks for posting

And volunteer to help keep it nice: DARRINGTON ADOPT A CRAG https://www.facebook.com/events/883142025148804/ When: Sat Jun 04, 2016 Where: Darrington, WA The Mountaineers, led by the Everett Lookout & Trail Maintenance Committee, is organizing a stewardship day on the Eight Mile trail and at Three O'Clock Rock in partnership with the US Forest Service and Washington Climbers Coalition. Space is limited so registration is highly encouraged at https://www.mountaineers.org/explore/activities/stewardship-darrington-area-1 (non-members will need to create a free, simple account log-in to register). Mountaineers members and the greater climbing community are invited to give back to this beautiful granite climbing area on National Trails Day. Contact Katherine with questions at katherineh@mountaineers.org.

You guys have Walmart?!? Road trip!

We've hired nannies through care.com. Sittercity is another good spot. Services like Annies Nannies are $$$. You might post on Craigslist and see what comes back. Oh, and you might not want that image on your profile for services, though it is cute. Good luck!

Oh that's sad. RIP. As a parent myself, I am disturbed by this. I agree with the Denali ranger. Most of us have been in situations where we would have died if we'd slipped or something had broken or fallen on us. We were lucky. Sooner or later luck catches up with everyone. That said, if you look at ANAM most accidents involve one or more human errors. Moreover, it tends to be the same patterns that kill people every year. It's great to learn from the mistakes of others. Everyone should read ANAM, but we all make mistakes. Establishing checking procedures to catch errors before they kill us and/or our partners is about the best we can do, unless we just stay home on the couch.

Time to shop for a used Kompressor on Craigslist naw, the work of putting in bolts ain't the issue, it's the rock quality - at the base it's like a 17 1/2 year old crack whore, at the top more like a 73 n' 3/4 year old one the top seems to be safer to jump off of then to climb up onto Hot glue that shite! Then drill pockets and paint "6b Puta Sucia" at the bottom. Euro stylez

Time to shop for a used Kompressor on Craigslist

I keep clicking hoping you'll have added a TR and photos! Maybe with Huber-like flowing long hair and hairy chests a-thumping.

Olympus was awesome. So beautiful. If you do it, go very light as it's a really long approach. Snow is melting fast. Temps are warm. Think of this as June, not May. So now is a good time to do many of the objectives you mention.

Ditto, with the add that you can carry a charger and cable to charge your phone every few days as needed. This is way smaller, lighter, and easier than carrying solar cells. Great TR btw. I like the way you just launch yourself into the unknown. That's the spirit!

You might have better luck on a hiking/scrambling/peak bagging site. Most folks here loathe the Cascadian Couloir descent and can't imagine wanting to go up it.

Was up in the shoulder of Chair Peak Friday. Tons of snow out there but it's very mushy, even in the morning (we were out 7am to 11am). Higher elevations, N aspects, and lower temps might help you. We were going to scramble up SnoQ Mtn but there is a raging river (OK that's a bit of an exageration but not much) coming down from the Cave Ridge valley. We didn't want to cross fast cold knee deep (guessing) water above a large waterfall coming and going so we went to Source Lake and Chair. BTW, the chimney route S of the main peak on Chair has a HUGE cornice at the top. Climbing under it would be really dumb.

Methow rappelling accident. Very sad indeed.

Strikes me as a passive aggressive unilateral way to reduce access/impact outside the permit timeframe. If they close it in late October before the snow falls that would clinch this as the reason in my book.

Seems pasting into comments kills them too. Anti-plagiarism plan?

Spray is dead. Long live spray!

Looks nice.

Looks nice.

When was he not steamed?

Thanks for posting. I would comment that any route in the mountains is likely to have some loose rock to navigate. On Sentinel Direct, when I followed the opening 5.10 sequence of p2 I pulled out on a crack that turned out to be part of a detached block. It flew off the wall with me attached to it and went crashing to the talus below when the rope caught my fall. The third pitch of Sentinel on the rightward traversing ramp/chimney was a jenga of giant stacked blocks that one had to climb quite delicately to avoid dislodging. The final moves on p4 involved a hand traverse below a giant detached block that looked dangerous. Then there was an expanding flake near the opening of p5. So I wouldn't call that route any more or less solid than typical mountain routes. On Faith, the first 80 feet of the first pitch did have some stacked blocks, but Brandon and I threw off what we could and subsequent parties will do the same. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary there, and almost the entire rest of the route, other than rubble on giant ledges, was very clean and free of loose rock. So my memory doesn't quite match your impression. That said, anyone who climbs in the mountains needs to be aware that loose rock is never far away and could be a hazard to you, your partner, or your rope. R or X ratings are typically for the distance between pieces of protection and the consequences of a fall in those spots. I didn't see anything that merits this kind of rating, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. Finally, why don't you post info/pics on the Grimface line you did? Was it worth repeating? Sounds interesting. Cheers, Rad

Sorry your day ended that way. Local protests and/or media coverage won't help as MNRP is the feds. My wife got a ticket in Seattle at a relatively new traffic camera on 24th S of Montlake. It's supposedly a school zone w speed limit to 20 during dropoff. Camera system says she was doing 26 in a 20 MPH zone. Ticket cost? $234!!! Crazy. Ticket says the camera trap is within 300 feet of a school or crosswalk. Google says the school (one long block away) is 430 feet. I plan to go and see if there are any crosswalks within the stated 300 feet. I suspect not. And if so, I'll challenge the ticket and the camera, hopefully forcing the city to remove it entirely and refund EVERYONE who got fined by it. I'm not convinced this speed trap is making kids safer until I see some evidence that supports that. The problem is one of overzealous optimization. Not everyone can afford such a ticket, and this can lead to a nasty spiral. Don't have $234? Wait a few weeks and the amount goes up. Then you're in default and a warrant goes out for your arrest. Then you get arrested. Can't afford bail? Spend time in jail. Lose job while in jail. Lose housing now that your don't have a job. And before you know it you're unemployed and homeless living on the street. Good luck finding a job with a criminal record. Why? So the city can increase its revenues. Don't think this is true? Go look at the patterns of law enforcement and citation revenue increase mandates in Ferguson....Michael Brown was only one victim.

Instead of replying to a TR why don't you post one?