OlympicMtnBoy

Awesome, I'm jealous. I almost went down there when I was living in Russia, but it was too much of a PITA to get a Ukranian visa for an American living in Russia (but not in Moscow).

Hot damn! Just makes me wanna get out there and start the season. Maybe with some nice C1 in granite though when it warms up and dries out up here. Great TR.

Looks like crazy Russian action hero training to me.

It didn't look particularly "in" to me when we were up there on 2/17. Check the colchuck/stuart range conditions thread for more of the pics VW took. The exit from the second couloir looked barren of ice from what we could tell. I think it will actually take some warm days instead of more cold to melt that snow and snice a bit and turn it into good ice. :-)

Yeah Chad, thanks for driving up this way so we could at least get out and camp! It was freakin cold up there but still a great time. Goatboy: We were in boots all the way up and down. It wasn't bad as long as you stayed on the 12 inch wide packed part. We only postholed a few times, not enough to justify the floatation for most of it. When we go back though I'm taking my kiddie sled and skis just for the road section, be a lot more fun (and I'm too poor of a skier for going all the way from the lake). :-)

Anybody wanna head from Seattle to Vantage or Index this sunday? I might be open for monday as an alternate as well. I NEED to hit some real rock. Right now I probably lead 5.9, follow 10+, have gear and car. PM me with contact info.

Hmm, now I'm noticing it's the 8th, not the 7th, nevermind then, unless someone wants to meet me for Thursday.

I might be headed up to Alpental tomorrow to check out Stellar Falls, was thinking of heading up there in the morning to get the most of my day pass. I'm guessing you were thinking backcountry, but if you wanna ride the lift with me? Oh and I'm a shitty skier and you'll laugh at my skis. Let me know. :-)

Check your PMs.

Anyone got a weekday off and want to hit Vantage for some trad or sport since the sun might be out? I'm up for other ideas too, my schedule is pretty flexible this week or this weekend. Anyone??

You guys going out this monday (tomorrow)? I'd be up for it if you need another person. - OMB

Anyone wanna head over the pass for a day at Vantage before it starts raining? I need to get outside.

I'm up for tomorrow, or are you already out there?

Here{s an idea, instead of trying to go from the top up, go bottom down. Cut a hole in the bottom of your pack and sew the bottom half of a bivy sack to that, then just put a buckle or zipper so you can roll up the bivy half and store it and pack the rest of your stuff back in your pack. A bonus if your pack has padding is that it automatically becomes your sleeping pad for your upper body. For the opponents of using your pack for more than one thing, I use mine all the time as my sleeping pad with a sit pad for a little extra length,then I just bring all my gear in the bivy sack with me. I{m going altralight so it isn{t thatmuch stuff anyways. Hey, it doesn{t hurt to try new things. Good luck, post pics if you make something cool.

Also check out: http://www.davidmikelsons.com/fine_art/gallery.html Click on the "mountains" tab. He's a friend of mine who was living here till a few months ago and did some nice paintings of the Olympics, Cascades, Smith Rock, etc. I was dragging him along on some easy climbs. You can't have "Last Pitch", it's already spoken for though. And he doesn't know I'm posting him here.

Yeah, I think I'd have a hard time convincing a lot of normal climbers that drytooling next the highway in the dark in the rain is anything but stupid too. Hehehe, fun though, thanks for having the ropes up when I got there too! Nice lead, maybe I'll try that next time (or in a year ot two), that and trying not to kill myself pulling back onto the road. :-)

Ahh well, I'm heading out anyways now. :-)

Are you still going early?

Well shoot, it got sunny while I was indoors at the gym or I would have gone out earlier. You still ned a ride Gary? I could leave in a half hour. Is anyone else aready there or planning to meet at 5?

I can probably do weds too, sounds like more fun in the rain and mud!

Ok, if we're meeting at the P+R I'll be there around 5:15, if we're not then I need some additional directions. :-)

Hey I can make it this week! I wouldn't mind starting with light if anyone else wants to show up at 3. Post and let me know. :-) - OMB

I've done it a ways down the obstruction point road. You can't park at the top of Hurricane ridge, but if you let the rangers know, you can park overnight down at the snowplow parking, maybe 1/2 mile down. It's a short walk to the obstruction point road snowshoe start. I dug a nice cave across the road from steeple rock, maybe 1 mi in.

Yeah, Hubba Hubba with WM was a lot of fun, but we drove around and didn't see a while lot else that was ready quite yet. Maybe more for a new years ice party? Maybe I'll just have to drive to Canada. Hey WM, where are the pics?

I'm free Friday, but I don't have my ice book with me. I'd love to get out. I'm coming from Seattle, so Stevens would be awesome, but I could make it farther easily enough. I've got new tools I'm dying to try out. I'll PM you.