Chad_A

Yeah, the schrund is still wide open. Easy to see once you get down to it, though. Lots of room on the climber's left to get past it. By the way, thanks for the complements, gents

The Micro Puff looks good. I own a Cirrus as well (older version, with Primaloft, and love it. Use it almost every day, as well as on climbs), so I can vouch for its durability. Here's yet another option for you. I'm thinking of picking one up, myself. http://www.wildthingsgear.com/primaloft.html

Cool, glad you found the TR, man. I just read about the person that passed. That's terrible. Makes me wonder where were were at on route when it happened.

Thanks By the way, to whom it may concern, I have the 10th-13th (next week) off, if anyone is interested in the NF. I really want to get that one done!

Climb: Mt. Hood-Leuthold Couloir Date of Climb: 11/4/2004 Trip Report: Three of us (me, vw4ever (Chad), Jeff (JeffH), and Lon (?) ) decided to do something on the western aspect of Hood; Jeff had his eye on a couple of routes, mainly Sandy or Leuthold. I tried to talk him into the NF, but wisely, he insisted that he do something else, first. I gladly agreed to do something else, as simply to get out, was the bottom-line prime directive. It didn't seem to matter what we did to Lon. He was happy just to be climbing. We left the car shortly after 1:30, and it was easy to boot track up the Palmer on the wind blown turf. Icy in spots, but sticking to the edge of the groomed trail easily awarded good footing. The moon saved our headlamp batteries for us in the bitter cold. At the top of the Palmer, Lon gracefully opted out, stating he wasn't feeling well. He went back down to await our return, and Jeff and I silently prepared. At I-Rock, I dumped the rope out of the pack, and quickly managed to puncture my platypus with my crampon. Nice. Spare platypus connected, and continued fidgeting with gear (thanks to Jeff for his patience). Upon dropping over the edge of the saddle for the descending traverse of the Reid, it was decided that, since we were a two man team, it'd be a more wise, and safe, idea to stick to Leuthold, rather than traverse Yocum to get to Sandy, and deal with yet another glacier with hidden crevasses. I'd made my first mistake when proclaiming that the cramponing was excellent. It was, at first. Then, it became unpredictable between sugary powder and rotten water ice under a thin layer of snow. The second tool was out and in use. Thinking of pro, I didn't think that a picket would be any good (it wouldn't), and that an ice screw would be worthless. Roped together, questionable footing, with no pro. Bad idea. Worse idea to stop and unrope, since stuff was starting to rain off of Castle Crags above us. Answer? Move, suck it up, make sure placements are bomber, and get it over with. Soon we were traversing the Reid on easier ground, with a few inches of powder on top of blue ice, with varying quality. I'd only brought one screw just in case, because of all the fresh snow recently, and the lack of a freeze thaw cycle. Hmmph. Anyway, the footing had become more secure, consistently, and I wanted to save the one screw I had, in case I really needed it. Soon, we were traversing up into the base of the couloir. I set a quick anchor, and prussiked Jeff up to me, and we ate. It was just becoming light (barely). I suggested that we unrope from there, and he concurred. The rope was stashed, and after some H20 and food, I started kicking steps. With the wind picking up, more ice had begun to fall from above, but nothing more than quarter sized (still hurt). Powder of varying thickness made for decent step kicking, as it was wind blown, and consolidated. Powder funneled from the hourglass consistently. The hourglass section, was some spicy fun, since we were simul-soloing. A 6-foot less-than-vertical step of WI guarded the entrance, followed by 200 ft more of 45-50 degree WI. Good placement. Lots of fun. Above the WI, it alternated, again, between kickable powder, and rotten WI. We stopped at the Queens Chair to get a view, eat, and take some pics. After some more water (finally! My tube had frozen solid. Chewed on it until it worked again) and some chocolate covered espresso beans, we left to work our way to the summit ridge. Twenty minutes later, after negotiating the commonly found ice mushroom/seashell-like features of the upper slope, we gained the ridge. It was the most interesting traverse of that ridge I'd done; I usually don't mind the exposure, but more of the loose powder, combined with rotten ice mushrooms, nerved me up a bit more than usual. The second half of the ridge was a cakewalk. On the summit, Jeff graciously offered me some of his water, and we took pics. It was about 9:13 at that point. Descending the Pearly Gates proved to be interesting. I figured as much; being south-facing, I'd been surpised if there was no ice, or other obstacles of that nature, in our way. There was a four-foot section of WI to downclimb, and another 15 feet or so of plastered WI on the slope below it, to negotiate. It looked worse than it was; maybe some people it wouldn't even bother, but it's the descents that get to me, so I had to make sure that I remembered to breathe. It proved to be of no significant difficulty, and soon we were, once again, on rotten powder, descending; I continued to face in, and kick in steps until past the bergschrund. It was a bit creepy; I couldn't see where it was from above, so I chose to traverse to climbers' left to make sure I stayed clear of any unforseen opening, and it turned out to be the right move. Soon we were at the Hogsback, where the only other problem to deal with, was the down jacket that I dropped, still in it's stuff sack, while repacking my sack; it landed down by the fumaroles. I was lucky to have been able to retrieve it. After many sheddings of layers, we arrived at the parking lot, where our other partner-to-be, Lon, informed us that a helicopter had just been authorized for a rescue on the Sandy. It felt pretty awful to hear that. I wanted to find out more, but I didn't feel it would've been appropriate. It was a fine day out. It's too bad that Lon couldn't have come along, but there'll be other times. Jeff, in his seeking of alpine experience, is quite settled and confident. I hope to climb again with him in the future. (How about the Reid next time, eh, Jeff??? ) The route was much more characteristic in fall, than when I soloed it in late winter. I was initially uninspired to climb it once again, but after experiencing some of the fall character, it was well worth it. Besides, it beats the hell out of working. By the way, where was everyone at today? No one but us at the summit register. Great weather for a climb! Here's some pics. Sorry about me being so ugly on the summit shot. I need a makeup artist. Gear Notes: Second tool, usual glacier stuff. Another screw or two would've been nice. Oh, and the chocolate covered espresso beans were key to our success. Approach Notes: The whole south side is nice and windblown. No postholing. The crevasses on the Reid are pretty open to see, but I'm sure there are a couple there that you could certainly "find".

Reporting home, gents. As we arrived back in the parking lot after our climb, our other partner breathed a sigh of relief, as he had stayed behind with a sick stomach of sorts. We were going to do Sandy, but with only a two man team, and the weak aforementioned possible snow bridges over crevasses, we decided to call it good, and do Leuthold Couloir, as Jeff, the other partner, had yet to do that one. Rescue personnel were just getting underway as we were leaving. Good luck to the rescuers, and my thoughts are with the climbers and their families.

I'll be sure to post what conditions are like. Hopefully, get to climb something tonight

Subarus are great. Pretty bulletproof, and cheap to boot. Downside, low ground clearance. Another good one is a Toyota pickup or 4-runner that is less than 10 years old. Really bulletproof. Have three friends with Toyota pickups that put a cap on the back, and a platform to sleep on , and then they store gear in the space under the platform. I have a Cherokee. Bulletproof. Not so great for sleeping though. The I-6 engine is the same they've been using for decades, and lasts a really long time.

Ouch. Guess I shouldn't complain about the headache I have today. Took a 40 footer at Red River Gorge. Can't remember what it was, just that we read the guidebook wrong, and it was an 11b (slab). All I remember is the face zipping by in front of my, my foot touching the rock enough to spin me vertical; then my partner caught me. The catch bowed my back pretty hard, and it hurt on and off for a good year. Nothing spectacular since then. But, I got back on, and finished the climb (had to; didn't want to leave gear behind!)

Man, makes me want to get out the tools. I'll find something to play on this coming week!

Wish I would've known about the WI. I had a gent with me that I'm sure would've been psyched to follow me up some. Can you point out which line you did? I have some time off this coming week, and I wouldn't mind grunting up some ice. We saw your descent tracks. I thought you might've summitted until I saw them; good job on finding something else to do : How was the wind down on the Eliot?

Nice TR FYI, we drove up there today to take a look at things. The snow seemed like it would be kinda sugary. Nice that you found some ice to climb! We re-broke trail up to the split between Cloud Cap and Tilly Jane, and parked there. Soon after, another gent in a Blazer (prolly a Crag Rat) stopped to say hi, and continued breaking trail up the the parking lot. So, as of today, it will be open to 4WD vehicles, but I guess it's supposed to snow up there some more, so it might indeed be gone. Here's a pic of the road, and of the NF in the early afternoon. Man, the wind was WHIPPING up there today. Ice pellets never hurt like that before.

Stretch in a nice, warm shower. Drink lots of water. Take an NSAID (Ibuprofen, etc.). Get out and use them again. That's really what makes the pain go away for me

Tonight: Rain likely early. Then a chance of rain after midnight. Snow level 6500 feet. Pass winds southwest 5 to 10 mph. Friday: Mostly cloudy. A chance of rain early. Then rain likely in the afternoon. Snow level 5500 feet. Pass winds southwest 10 to 15 mph. Friday night: Rain. May be heavy at times. Windy. Snow level 7000 feet lowering to 5000 feet after midnight. Pass winds southwest 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph. Saturday: Showers. Snow level 3500 feet. Pass winds west 10 to 15 mph. Saturday night: Snow showers. Cooler. Snow level 2500 feet. Anybody still planning on heading up? Forecast isn't looking too great, but maybe you gents are seeing something that I'm not?

I've had some time in my 8's now; very comfortable, and pretty warm, too, for a basic boot. I wouldn't recommend them for vertical ice, but for steep snow and ice mountaineering, they do fine. If you're planning vert ice climbing, then get the 9's; they're full shank instead of 3/4. My two cents worth.

Agreed. I planned it as a first-climb for my girlfriend; I ended up enjoying it quite a bit, and so did she. The approach across the avalanche debris on the basin trail gave her hell, though.

OK, I'll bite: 1. NF of Hood. 2. NW Couloir of Eldorado. 3. Liberty Ridge, or one of the Mowich Face routes, don't care which one. 4. NE Face of Redoubt. 5. Coleman Headwall (or NR) of Baker Honorable Mentions (seconds): NF Shuksan (or Price Glacier) Spickard Minus 5 gully (and some of the other gullies around that area) of Rideout NE Buttress of J-berg. Dragontail TC. Oh, and I'd like to give Graybeard a shot, too. Ok, I'll stop now

Ahh, gotcha. I think my g/f met you on the way out, in retrospect. Said she met a nice guy by the name of Gary on the way out (or, that the person with you referred to you as Gary, more accurately). Sorry it pissed on you so badly. Glad the way out wasn't as bad as I'd suspected

Yeah, looked like it was going to get ugly and cold up there; we camped near Sprite Lake on Friday night. The girlfriend, my friend and I hiked out Saturday morning, and found the last room in town at a B&B, and woke up to pouring rain on Sunday. Sounds like the Enchantments alpine rock season may be over with? By the way, was it horrific descending the climbers' path with the snow on the granite? My pal Rob was the one who asked to leave; didn't want to skitter all the way down to Snow Lake

When I started out on plastic, my callouses grew really fast. Too fast, to be exact. The bigger they got, the more apt they were to tear from the underlying layers of tissue. As soon as I started whittling them down with a file (Franklin makes a nice, rough callous scrubber that keeps them from getting too big) the problem went away. Also, I found that hitting the campus board created lots of flappers. Just my .02 cents worth.

Oksy, not that's what I was looking for! Lots of good ideas. Thanks to you all

Damn, have to learn how to ski But that's on my list for this upcoming season...

No, haha, certainly not teaching for NOLS; I was thinking of using NOLS to get a type of certification to use toward my RN license, to get me into opportunities for the outdoors. Thanks for setting me straight on the orientations of NOLS; WFR and the WEMT would probably benefit me the most, as of this point, I'd imagine.

Thanks for that Other ideas? Anyone? Anyone?

I know it's a stretch, but I need to ask. What ideas, here in the PNW, do you all have for an RN looking to exploit his skills in the outdoors? I know that there's rescue, and what-not, but I don't know how to approach it; I also know that there's some climbers on this board that work up at Hood, and some of the other areas. In the next month, I'll end up ACLS certified through my job, so that'll be out of the way. I'm just looking for ideas; I know there's North Country EMS. What other outfits are there that I could apply myself to (note: I'm willing to go back to school.) I'd thought about going to NOLS, but that, from what I know, lends itself more to guiding, and well, I don't want to guide (or, does NOLS offer some kind of outdoor rescue/EMS certification?) I want to apply my skills in an outdoor/climbing environment. Thanks for any input. One final note: for those who volunteer/work at Hood, NCEMS, etc, etc, please feel free to provide a description of what the job descriptions are, and the range of skills necessary, and....well, anything else you care to say about it.