Chad_A

Howdy all, thanks for the replies. I'm in Seattle right now, and poised to hit the road to give something a shot, so it's too late to try to hook up with others, but feel free to email me, or PM me, and let me know what your future objectives are...always love to hear from other people. Take care, and I'll talk to you all soon. ---Chad---

Very nice. Sounds like the snow up on the east side is still pretty unconsolidated. Probably much more so, now. I'll have to go up through that area and do some more exploring. Nice pics, by the way!

Hi, Dan. Good to see your trip report here. I was wondering, do you train for your M climbs, or have you gained experience on mixed ground throughout your climbing career enough to simply be comfortable on that terrain? NYG and Pineapple Express both look interesting, and I would love to attempt one or both; I'm comfortable on ice, but M6? Sheesh. Also, out of curiosity, what kind of 'pons and tools do you use? I'm asking because I've seen your name in Nelson's books quite prevalently, and it appears that you've been climbing for quite some time. Do you "old school" it with the gear, or do you prefer some of the newer stuff? Thanks for your reply in advance. Good to see you on the site. ---Chad---

Thanks! I'll make sure she sees this post

We were the party of three that came up the west side of Crater Rock (after bailing on Leuthold) and on up the left side of the crater wall. Were you the solo guy with the snowboard and MSR snowshoes? BTW; while the schrund is closed, coming down the Hog's Back I noticed that someone had recently punched their foot through. No, but I did see that gent up there. We were the first to the top that day; my g/f and I left the car at 12:30 fo get her first summit. Took until 7:15 to get to the top; one minute after sunrise (Yayyy for Megan! Good job, girl. Way to stick with it!) Goregeous views...anyway, we were back down on the hogsback at about 8, and there was a group coming up after us, but doesn't sound like you; they were following our tracks up from the top of the Palmer. Interesting that someone had punched through; what time was that at? Also, I figured the conditions on the west side might be a little loose and sugary; is that what kept you off of Leuthold?

Well, as it stands now, looks like the weather is settling out a bit as of Monday afternoon up there; I can leave P-town here Monday,and I have to be back Wednesday night. Looking to do something alpine; open to ideas. Doesn't have to be burly. Probably won't be able to be burly, anyway, after all the snow that's supposed to fall this weekend. Anyway, just casting out. Have an opportunity, and I want to get a view or two.

I was in that neck of the woods yesterday; about shin-deep powder from the Palmer on up, and the 'schrund was closed.

I'm wondering if Chair has gotten any better? Thinking about heading up there sometime early this next coming week. If anyone has any info, let me know. Thanks!

I own the Chernobyl and love it. Never had a helmet issue with it; it's a great dayclimb pack. I've even overnighted with it, but it's easy to overload the carrying capacity, with the expansion sleeve 'n all. Love the waistbelt, too; very comfortable. Honestly, I would've considered the Icesac, but no one had one in stock at the time. Considering you can get the Chernobyl at 169 bucks here in Portland, I'd have a hard time paying 279 for the Icesac. Someone here mentioned the BD packs; they're a good option, as well. When my "small torso" sized Chernobyl ended up being smaller in volume than the standard version (2500 vs. closer to 3000), I ended up needing a bigger, lightweight pack for overnights. I picked out the Shadow 55, and it made all the difference. The small buckles didn't give me as much problem with cold hands as the reviews made them out to be. The Silnylon (sp?) material seems to be a bit fragile, but pretty waterproof for a rainy walk-out. Carries a nice sized load well for the weight of the pack (I did a carryover on Sunset Ridge on Rainier with it this past year, as well as a few overnighters in the Stuart Range, and it did great), and is very reasonable in price ( 3360 c.i., 179 bucks, I believe?) The only true drawback on it that I've had to deal with is the chest strap, which doesn't quite cut the "one size fits all" theory that they tout; my short torso makes it at the very bottom of it's adjustability (I took it off, and added my own standard style); oh, and the waistbelt, while very clean and uninhibiting, lacks reasonable padding, and tears my hips up a bit, after a couple of days on a climb. Do like the option of the ice clippers on the belt, though. Handy! Well, there you have it. Too much coffee this morning; sorry if it's too much info.

Holy shit...thanks all for providing hours of future entertainment!

Nice thought, Chris; that would be a simple solution. But, with that option, unfortunately, one can't make their own menus, and specialized options and such. The thought of combining two pieces into one (and gaining some much needed space) does sound appealing, though!

If the ice is in, SLC isn't that bad (for the price of the tickets...especially if you know someone who can put you up). Santaquin and Provo Canyons can probably keep you more than busy with WI3 and 4, for the length of time that you have. My pal lives there, and ice climbs frequently. If you need info, I can call him and see what the local conditions are like.

Nice pic Where's Paul Lake at? Sounds familiar.

Ah, yes. Fancy doing the North Mowich Icefall, or the Coleman Headwall in late season with that, eh?

Nice, but...I'd assume that's a bit out of my price range.

Not sure what you're trying to express on that one. What I'm getting at is, for my budget, I have to make the same set of tools work for a steep icefall route on a volcano, and for climbing WI4, as well.

I initially liked them, but they hang up a bit on the puffy gauntlets of my Marmot Piste gloves. PM me if you're interested. Just making room in the budget to try something else, so if you name a fair price, they're yours.

Because I can't afford to replace my existing Axars, and what's more, if I can only have one set of tools for now, I need something that plunges well in the alpine, where my main interest lies. So, I have to make them somewhat liveable for WI climbing that I *occasionally* do, and the freelock leashes that are on them right now just aren't as user friendly for that.

Good for rock routes, bad for snow and ice routes And really bad for our water supply (yikes!)

Who likes what? I was looking at the Androids; looks like the bolt-on version will work with my Axars, since they have a hole in the appropriate place, with a black plug in it. I fidgeted with the Charlet version in the shop, but it seems a bit trickier, and I can only assume moreso once I have a set of warm gloves on. Looking for input. Disclaimer: sorry if I have the name wrong for the Charlet version. I think they're referred to as the Clipper, but could be wrong.

Wimpy climber-type here... Lack of body weight hasn't bothered me any. Like anyone else, you learn what your body can do, then gauge how to treat it. Long haul... go light. Short haul and willing to suffer a bit... pile on the weight. I've always thought pack weight, up to a point, is just a mental issue. I'm pushing 145lbs soaking wet and have had guys at 200lbs heft my pack after a long haul and their eyes bug out. To them, it was heavy. For me, it was fine. Go figure. (No chestbeating... just trying to point out that like most things in climbing, a LOT of it is just in your head.) As far as snowshoes go, the lighter the better! Same footprint/area as everyone else, but less weight equals less floundering for me! And if you're with a sympathetic bunch, us lightweights can always use the "but I'm already carrying 30% of my body weight" excuse to offload group gear to the other brutes in the party. Personally... I've never done this - or should I say - been sucessful at doing this. -kurt True, true. I'm 6 feet, and 145 lbs. If I have a 45-50 lb. pack, I can keep up with the others...then again, if my share of the group gear is the rope, which inevitably ends up on upper half of the pack (under the lid), I certainly seem to tip over easier than the other heavier guys. Just an observation.

Thanks for that link, shred. I've begun the wading. So much information...might have to get some TG IPA and get down to business!

Thank you all for chiming in, and for the info. It's good news to hear that I just need to buy a program with the codecs to have the CD ROM/burner work with DVDs. Although it's daunting to hear about the editing, and the use of differing programs to achieve the project, I'm pretty sure that, by Christmas next year, I'd be able to figure it out. I guess the only issue that remains is the GB of available HD space. I don't know what I have here; might have to look into that one. Also, what good sources does one look to, when looking for the codec program, and the DVD editing software? Online, or would a place like Fry's that I see advertised all over the place be okay?

I've seen some awesome homemade Quicktime and Windows movies on the web; most have some nice soundtracks involved. As the year goes by (and maybe for some past climbing trips that I've done) I thought it might be nice to make some DVDs to give away at the holidays to friends and family. Maybe put a few big movie files on one DVD; mostly climbing, but one of mountain biking, hiking, etc...and I'm sure that the Muppets Show theme would be great for my first ski outing. (I plan on taking up skiing, if we ever get some snow.) If anyone has made one of these, or knows of an easy-to-use DVD program, let me know. I'll have to purchase an actual DVD burner (only have a regular CD burner for now), so I know that's an issue. I'm an average PC user; so far, I've been able to figure out your average-joe's issues. Thanks for insightful replies in advance. Edit: By this, I mean taking movies from my digital camera, and adding a soundtrack, OR, taking jpegs and making slideshows, with a soundtrack added, and then putting them on a DVD (I'd like to do both).