Rad

Nice work. I'm glad to see you're getting Jim out beyond X38 sport clipping. Remind me to bring my pocket weedwhacker when we head out together. Cheers, Rad

Definitely what I'd recommend too.

The Middle Wall topo suggests not. I have TRd the the 11a MW crack after leading Robin's ramp. It's an awesome, if short, finger and hand crack. It looks like you can TR several other steep, hard lines from the top anchor of RR. Enjoy!

Nope. 6'1" ish. Back-step plus stem w/hands allowed a high step that got us to the jugs w/o having to crank on the fingertip slot. I didn't lead it, but the pro seemed pretty reasonable. If you mean the last pitch of Lovin' Arms we didn't get there this time - we rapped off after p3 because Fred was waiting for us.

10a is harder than 10c (P2 vs p3 on Davis Holland).

Saw this and thought Index fans might be interested. I don't have more info than what's here. Happy hunting. auction web page with maps etc 155. MT. INDEX RIVERSITES (SNOHOMISH CO., WA) 0.21 Acre. Residing right on the South Fork of the Skykomish River, this lot is located a few miles from the town of Index. The surrounding territory is made up of the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest which offers some beautiful hiking and camping opportunities as well as stunning and picturesque landscape. The area is also known for its alpine lakes and exceptional recreational activities. The forest is one of the most frequently visited national forests in the entire country. The Skykomish River offers white water rafting adventures as well as many popular fishing areas. If you are searching for property that resides on a beautiful river, search no further! (APN 00526100506000) CASH OR TERMS – MINIMUM BID $2700

There is water running across rocks at various places, including 2/3 of the way up to Snow Dome from the lower glacier. That would still be 500 feet lower than the weather station. You may find something much closer. There is plenty of snow-free ground near the weather station now. We didn't go over there so I don't know if it is flat or if there is running water nearby. You can always melt snow. FYI, another way to melt snow is with solar power: bring large black garbage bags, lay them out, and place snow on them to melt in the sunshine. We know a group that spent the night up on the false summit as well 2 weeks ago. There is a flat spot that would be quite spectacular! Enjoy!

Climb: Olympus-standard route Date of Climb: 7/8/2006 Trip Report: Others have posted good reports lately so I'll be brief. 41 miles in 41 hours. The weather was perfect, the Hoh rainforest stunning, the trail conditions excellent (if long), the glacier soft but not sloppy, the crevasses mostly still closed, the rock on the 5.fun summit pyramid exposed and solid, and the rangers motherly. Details after photos... Friday 7/7 9:30pm Tell and I departed Hoh river trailhead. Rambled by headlamp on a clear night. We startled grazing elk several times - everyone jumped. Stopped around 12:30am (9.1 miles) near the ranger station and drifted into dreams under the stars. Started down the trail again at 7am. Arrived at Martin Creek (14.1 miles) at 10am to cache overnight gear on bear wires. Met the rangers at Glacier Meadows at 11am (17.4 miles). 'I'm very concerned about you guys starting up the glacier this late (the weather looks great and the days are long)... The snow is very soft, I hear (good because we don't have crampons)...I haven't been up there but...have you climbed before? (we rattle off a few alpine routes)... Do you have ropes? (we list our gear)...I'm not going to stop you but...I want to see you back here by sunset (sounds good to me). We left him standing there. The poor guy probably worried about us all day. We roped up on the glacier (probably not necessary as we never stepped over cracks over 2 feet wide). Climbed to Snow dome in blinding sunshine, stopping to refresh and rehydrate at water running water on rock halfway across the traverse toward snow dome. Crossed over Crystal pass, tramped up to the false summit, down 3rd class, up a short steep snow step with a clean run-out. Chose the 3rd class to 5.fun Western route up the summit pyramid. The 5.fun was on solid rock that will take whatever size gear you bring. Lounged on the summit in the sunshine from 5 to 6pm with no wind, unbelievable visibility, and no other parties on the entire upper mountain. We rapped back down off lovely gear left by parties from last weekend. The descent was like butter - boot skiing rocks! Checked in with the Glacier meadows rangers at 8:30pm (before sunset as promised). Twilight baptism in Martin Creek, dinner and bed. Frisky rodents jumped on my head at night, but otherwise we slept like the dead. Sunday we woke late and hiked out. Scored blueberries between the 12.4 mile site and the 10 mile mark. The snow was like soft-served icecream - crampons would be useless but self-arrest is still possible. Gear Notes: No stove, no fuel, no pot, no crampons, no tent. A few rock pieces in the 0.5 to 2 inch range to protect 40 feet of 5.6. 2 30m skinny ropes allow you to skip the poor intermediate anchor on the rap off the summit. Approach Notes: No need to ford any rivers. When the trail seems to end at a river crossing at mile 8 go left (North) 50 yeard to a tree crossing. Other crossings are obvious. We drove around via Olympia and Aberdeen to avoid ferries. It took less than 4 hours from trailhead back to Seattle.

I thought the gullies looked steep and ugly so I steered us up the buttress. Our route: Looking down the buttress: Upper slab:

Yes. I'll post the overlay later.

Excellent photos! I did it a few years ago and remember the lower/steeper part had enough protectable cracks and slingable horns and shrubs (at least the way we went - there are lots of ways to go). I seem to remember the upper part had some horizontal cracks up high but otherwise very little pro. However, there are nice ledges at the belays, and in that case YOU are the most secure part of the anchor. In this case you could hold a fall of a follower but not the leader. Also, it seems the slab angle is low enough that you could almost 'self-arrest' by lying flat on it. I almost dunked in the lake too, but not on purpose: I was walking near the edge and a huge piece of hard snow broke off (but remained intact), fell into the water, and rolled over with me on it. I did the log roller dance and jumped off fast without taking the plunge! I'd echo the suggestion to take crampons. We didn't have any and it made the glacier crossing the spiciest part of the day. Good job all around

or ...but you don't need to leave town to buy those, or so I'm told

Perhaps better than surfing the internet... Hire an AMGA-certified guide, preferably one who is a personable teacher and not just a ropegun. For this post, I'm talking about one guide taking one or two clients on a climb that does not involve an extended glacier hike on a cascade volcano. Reasons to hire a guide for a personal climb/lesson: 1 - They can teach you a ton, including many outdoor skills other than just climbing. 2 - They have trained for and probably seen all of the climbing accident scenarios you're ever likely to encounter, and they should be able to help you spot and avoid ugly situations. 3 - They can help save your ass in the unlikely event something does go wrong. 4 - They can take you to cool routes custom-tailored to your ability and desired climbing style. 5 - They probably have knowledge (climbing history, geology, ecology) that will enrich your climbing experience. 6 - They will bring all the climbing gear you will need. 7 - They may do a lot of the hard work on longer trips (carry heavy gear on the approach, plan and cook food etc). 8 - They may have been part of climbing history themselves (I understand you can go climb with Peter Croft!). 9 - You may find a new friend. . . . and reason number 10: They will be much safer and more knowledgable than that guy you met on the internet or in the climbing gym last week. I once hired Doug Robinson, a good friend of a good friend. He took me and my wife up the Sun Ribbon Arete in the Palisades, a route I'd always wanted to do but never had the right combination of time and partner. I already had 12 years of trad experience, and there was little climbing instruction in our case (guides are not just for newbies). It was probably the best money I've ever spent on climbing. So...cough it up for haireball (couldn't resist!) Full disclosure: I am not a guide, never was one, don't plan to be one, don't play one on TV, and have no financial interest in any guide or guide agency. I have never hired haireball or any other Northwest guide (yet) so I can't endorse any of them.

No one has mentioned hiring a guide as a way to east the transition. A good guide can teach you a lot. Friends can help too, but they are more likely to have bad habits that transfer along with the good ones. Take your brain and use it. The talk about what to do when you're losing focus is a bit disturbing. If you are losing focus then stop, eat, rest, do whatever it takes to get focus back because no good habits or fancy gear tricks will save you from that fatal moment of inattention.

Do they plan to rebuild the washed out road into the Dosewallips area? See the plan in Seattle and ask questions on August 24th, 5-8pm at the Seattle REI. From the site: Please note that in August, eight open houses will be held on the Olympic Peninsula and in Silverdale and Seattle. The schedule of open houses can be veiwed on this website under "Meeting Notices" and it is available under "Supplemental Information." Park staff will be available to discuss the plan and answer your questions and there will be poster displays, maps and information, along with opportunities for you to provide your input on the Draft GMP/EIS. There will be no formal presentation, so you are welcome any time during the meeting hours. For comments: Contact Information National Park Service Denver Service Center - Cliff Hawkes, DSC-P 12795 West Alameda Parkway PO Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225-9901 olym_gmp@nps.gov

Saavy climbers might be advised to keep an attorney clipped to their harness. (preferably between the grigri and the sporto-chalkbag) They could document any gross negligence, breach of oral agreements, assaults, or other crimes observed en route. Resulting lawsuits would be filed in real-time via satelite-linked crackberry.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to the fallen climber. ........................ Regarding all the other fluff: didn't we just do this on the Yellow Jacket Tower thread? I thought the mods decided (and I agree) that an accident announcement thread should have bare details and well wishes and no spray/extended discussion. Discussion is good, but start a separate via ferrata thread elsewhere and yank your wankers there. That way when the injured party, who seems to be on the mend, ends up dying in the hospital you don't look like even more of an ass than you already are. More generally, perhaps mods should establish a protocol or lock accident announcement threads soon after the relevant details are divulged. Perhaps these could go into a new forum for accident announcements, a place where family members could read well wishes and condolences without being exposed to everything else.

nikki, It's unclear from your message what you want - partners, beta, a date tired of missionary position? - If the weather is good and avalanche danger is low your climb should be a 30 degree snow hike on the largest glacier in the lower 48 states. You should be confident in crevasse rescue skills and be in excellent condition before attempting this route. Good luck. Others: I'm not the dream police, but we don't poop on noobs, right?

Comment period over.

I will have to miss the party today. I hope the weather holds for y'all. I was at X38 yesterday and despite the sunshine a lot of climbs were drippy from seepage from recent rains. Others were perfectly dry. I'd expect the same today. Cheers, Radrigo

The 'shit' needs to be divided into 3 classes: 1 - Acts of God/nature (totally unpredicable rock falls, landslides, lightning strikes, and perhaps some avalanches). We cannot control or predict these. 2 - Human error (rappelling off rope ends, tie-in errors, belayer errors resulting in dropped climbers, slipping on ropeless approaches/descents). These are preventable. 3 - Hybrid acts (slips on wet rock that was difficult to protect, avalanches that might have been predicted, leaderfalls due to broken rock/ice, rockfall in gullies). Most of the accidents we hear about are in categories 2 and 3, where experience and good decisions make a huge difference. Yes, shit does happen, but we should keep practicing, keep learning, and keep our minds focused in dangerous situations.

If we can learn something from the mishaps from our fallen comrades that's great, particularly if the discussion is reasoned and respectful (2 things that can be rare here). My hat's off to people like Genepires and Alpinistandrew who shared their own mistakes/bad luck stories, risking ridicule, so we can learn something.

Thanks Blake. I sent an email supporting rebuilding the road. We're off to Stehekin in a few weeks. Will you be at the bakery there this summer? yummm.... Hope you enjoy the remainder of your time in NZ. Rad

Nice post. CC needs more folks like yourself willing to post their moderate adventures here. As you've seen, lots of others will read and appreciate them. Your story also reminds me of the number one reason to wear a helmet: people above you might drop their expensive toys on your head! Cheers, Rad

Sorry to hear of your fall. Trust may take longer to heal than your injuries. At VW the belay test is with your own ATC and then they set you loose to belay with GriGris - with no training on them or test that you know how to use them. That seems like a screwy system. Perhaps they've improved it since I tested some years ago... I had used ATCs for years but never touched a grigri before I first went to VW. I figured it out, and still don't like lowering people, but I've never dropped anyone. ................ Dude, looks like you're the poet who can't spell it.