Chad_A

Damn. I'm screwed! That's a great quote, haha!

Thanks for all the insight. Guess it pays to ask around a bit. How the hell does a guidebook get so far off? Maybe the author never climbed any of the routes? Glad Dru posted that, I would've never known about that one. Gene, check your PMs. Foraker- still glad you chimed in. Thanks for taking the time. -Chad

Thanks much! Looks like this is the one to get; if anyone knows of any others that are good, feel free to post it.

I don't remember hearing of, or seeing one, in particular. Robson, Athabasca, Andromeda, etc. Is there one "best" guidebook for this area?

That's what it is. Thanks, Larry!

May not be all related to climbing directly...but all are motivated by it, so I'll do it this way. More of: Training- Strength and cardio. Climbing outside the Cascades, even if I don't make it to Alaska. Climbing on rock. Kind of lost the love for it, but it's mandatory to be good at it in the mountains (especially crack) and I'm slowly slipping away from it. When I can't get out of the Cascades...to spend more time in the North Cascades, and/or being willing to drive all night for weekend trips, and lose sleep. Oh! I'll throw in ice climbing by itself. I know that people argue that it's the least pure form of climbing (tools are aid, blah blah), but to me, it's the most beautiful and the most challenging medium, and has the sexiest gear by far. Less of: Working (on the house and at my job). Climbing on the Volcanoes (though I still want to do something hard on the North Mowich Face). Drinking. Easy to tip the bottle more when you're stuck at home more. These are goals, but I'd like to see at least half of them happen.

Good flick; I enjoyed that one. Happy New Year, everybody. Have a beer or three for me; I'm on call, can't enjoy one.

Haha, well, I have a legitimate excuse...I'm a health care worker, succeptable to random drug screens. Didn't matter, anyway, they were diverting traffic into the Narada Falls parking lot, due to (I'm guessing) avalanche conditions. Some new snow up there, with rain falling on top. Pancakes at the Copper Creek Inn sounded good all the sudden.

Anybody know of the conditions there? I tried registering and logging into montanaice.com, but either my browser doesn't like it, or the website has issues. Any ideas out there? Might end up going next weekend.

Hey, guys, I have a pal that lives there; the plan was to go there next weekend, visit, and do some ice. Then, yesterday, my other pal talked to the Black Diamond rep in SLC, and he said that it warmed there, and all the ice is gone. I know my friend said there's a premier alpine route there; from what I remember, it's in a cirque, and it sounded reasonably hard. Next time I talk to him, I'll ask him, and I'll post it here.

I second Josh. With the rate of global warming, it'll be a rainforest/garden area within the forseeable future.

Not that I plan on attempting to repeat the South Ridge, but since you've done it, how do you feel about that particular route? Any thoughts, or is it worth repeating? From what I've seen/heard from others, there's some routes that are obviously left unrepeated out of unnecessary risk.

No, not internet porn! Rainier. Looks like there's some good snow up there

Classic!

That Hunter issue is my favorite; I should pick up "Breaking Point". I can't imagine being strung out and stressed like that over and over again on difficult, remote climbs. Guess that's why Glenn decided to back off after those outings. Pretty amazing stuff, and it reminds me how far I have to go. Those guys did so much with much less technology than most people out there today.

I'm slowly coming to grips with that; something that, well, here in the Cascades, isn't the usual. Most trips here have a specific destination, for sure...and if that doesn't work, you're back at the pub early. I may just have to do that, and take a look at things when I'm there, and just suss out my feelings on a route when I'm at camp. Guess it doesn't matter much, anyway; the beta will likely be swirling, and if the rangers tell me that my chosen goal is out of shape/too high of objective hazard, I'll be choosing another. Thanks for your thoughts; feel free to post your impression of the SW Ridge here, if you like. Regards, Chad

Mr. Rogers? Haha, that's nice. I just don't see the necessity of bashing someone on their first post on the website.

Hi, Jim, check your emails.

Why make fun? Does it make you feel better?

His writing, I think, is pretty good for the most part; for a laugh, read "The Coldest Dance", a chapter in "Storms of Silence" that covers the topic of Water Ice Climbing. Pretty friggin' funny.

Hi, Oleg; I think that, from what I've heard, it's 3 days on, one day off. Shoot Donn and email; I know he's involved, and could probably give you a pointer or two.

Maybe you should fucking give him a break, eh?

That's a goddamned beautiful picture. Thanks for posting!

Thanks much for the enthusiasm! Tonight, I'm meeting up with the friend that is the potential partner, and we're going to hash things out. Since we're pretty new as partners, we've been saying "lets see how things go". But, May isn't far away, now, and we can't really keep saying that to ourselves. If we can't come up with a viable itinerary, logistics plan, etc, then I may end up waiting for '07, myself And, I'm sure he'd feel the same way. I received a good present for Christmas this year that will help out, if I end up down there: a set of binoculars. Although, I'd be surprised if I could actually understand the scale of things my first time down there

Will do, thanks for posting what you know. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on up there from the forecasts and webcams. Planning on heading up there Friday. I'll put up a few pics of what we find.