OlympicMtnBoy

We were up there Sunday too. I untied the knot from your rope and freed it from the top frozen section as i climbed up. There was a tiny bit lower down still frozen in but I tossed the rope down and it looked like a good yank from below (easily grabbed from below the bergschrund) would free it. I wasn't sure as we walked by on the way out, but it kind of looked like maybe the party ahead of us may have grabbed it when they went back to near the base to retrieve their trekking poles. So it might have made it out? Hope your partner heals fast and you get back on the route, it's in good shape.

Hahaha, thank for that. I'm turning 35 so it's pretty close to the downhill slide anyways. :-p

Hmm, yeah, that sorta sounds like me. I guess I gotta get old some day. Thanks for the links! Anyone had any success with any treatments to slow it down?

How about a little medical advice from the internets? I can't recall any particular incident or any painful moments, but I have been bouldering a couple times a week in the crappy weather and I noticed a new swelling in my palm a few weeks ago. It's below my ring finger and is sort of a lump roughly between the two crease lines in my palm. It doesn't really hurt much or affect my climbing, but it has started to feel a bit odd when trying to press my palm flat to the floor in yoga, or doing a pullup from a bar. I also notice it sometimes in my commute holding on to the steering wheel. I took ~10 days off climbing and didn't notice much change. FWIW, 19 years of climbing and I haven't really had any of the usual tendon/pulley injuries, but maybe I do now? Ideas? Worry, don't worry? I should probably find a real doctor, but that means finding a real doctor which I haven't had for some time.

Sweet, it's a good day out either way!

Now that you mention it, it looks a lot like the conditions I had on an early May climb of route 1A several years ago. Perfect neve!

What a great looking climb, adding another area to the tick list for sure!

Great work! I've done that hike out in the dark too and it kinda sucks. It's fun when you hit the mountain in conditions though! I need to get back in there.

That's awesome. Yes, we've thought about it, haven't done it yet although I've been to the top of 6 or 7 various points along the way.

My fiancee made the same choice a bit ago after going out with skiing friends and trying to keep up on a splitboard, and not enjoying the splitboarding as much. She still boards on good powder days but enjoys touring with the rest of us now, although her skiing is still improving. She's skied a couple of volcanoes and done some other good stuff. She's been pretty happy with her K2 Talkbalk/Waybacks and I have a pair as well that I use for spring ski mountaineering, fairly cheap and versatile. Fora quiver of one I might got a bit wider though, around 100mm underfoot maybe? I have a pair of K2 sidestashes that are decent but a bit heavier than I would like. There are more wide stiff boards on the market if you have the dough. I think for versatility you want just a bit of tip and tail rocker and some normal camber, but I'm not an expert. Check out www.wildsnow.com for some good reviews too. Have fun!

Thanks for the tips, ended up being kind of crappy conditions for touring, next time I'd leave the gear at home down there without a snomobile for approaches. Good XC skiing though!

I put this on TAY but figured there is some good community knowledge here too! I thought I would draw on the collective knowledge since most of my ski experience is in WA, aside from skiing Hood and Jefferson in Oregon I don't know the area well in winter. I'm heading down from Seattle tomorrow with my fiancee to be at Mt. Bachelor by Saturday for a dog sled ride (her x-mas gift). I was thinking of a good backcountry tour somewhere down that way for Friday but I'm not sure where the good snow will be at. I got the Backcountry Skiing OR guidebook from the library here but any personal recommendations for the current snow pack? I love getting to high peaks and skiing down but she is a more moderate backcountry skier so maybe something with some nice mellow (but not flat) hippie pow and good views? A summit is nice but not required. We'll have a full day since I'm bringing my camper down and we may just sleep in the sno park lot. Cheers everyone and thanks!

Wait, what, a climbing report in mid-december, with a crappy snow year too. Nice work!

Cool!

Looks like fun, I need to get back to that place! Did you get up Ivins?

Hey, for nine bucks why not give them a shot. I used to use something similar on ice cragging days when I knew I'd be standing around belaying a lot. Then I got a pair of mill surplus primaloft pants off eBay that were actually made by wildthings with epic shell, $50. Those things were super puffy though and actually to warm. Now I more frequently use a pair of full zip nylon shelled fleece lined pants from patagonia that I got at goodwill. Why spend a ton you don't have, you are gonna tear www.Up with your crampons at some point anyways!

Damn, I missed my Olympics trip this year. Thanks for sharing!

Jefferson was a fun ski/climb over Memorial Day this year. One of these days I'll put up an overdue TR.

Hahaha, I wouldn't have thought the 10b would be stymieing anyone who just did the 11c bit. I think it's been beta'd to death above, I really didn't think it was that bad, just stem/slab climb the corner till you get to the ledge, then enjoy hand jams and knobs the rest of the way. Once you hit that little roof at the top (above my head in the pic) it's also bomber hands in the horizontal unlike the roof on the West Face route. Now go back and finish it! :-)

Sentcha a PM.

Nice work, fun to see someone getting out on it! Check out 5 and 6 next time you are up there as they are both fun and only thin right at the beginning of 5. The Scoop is THE PITCH though so nice job sending!

That's a major bummer, sorry you had stuff stolen. I try to avoid Index on weekends but that's not always easy, especially when travelling. This post hits home sometimes (maybe even the same people): http://nwgranite.blogspot.com/2014/05/climbers-and-assholes-who-rock-climb.html I've had some awesome times out there, even on crowded days. Once I forgot my shoes and borrowed a spare pair that fit from a perfect stranger for the day, so there are cool folks too. Don't let your one bad experience keep you away! I'll keep a closer eye on my pack out there though. There is a long history of car prowling/break-ins out there so maybe one of the meth heads is cruising the base now too?

Sweet, nice job pushing past the doubts. I sure know that feeling!

Thanks for posting, I got mine just in time to wear them on the Grand Wall in Squamish this week. I tried on the Hand Jammies once and didn't like them but I borrowed the Ocun's for a pitch last year and liked them better. They sure made the jams on the split pillar much nicer. I just hate wasting so much tape every trip, especially if I only need it for a few pitches.

Cool, looks like fun! Good job on the timing!