Chad_A

I vote for #2, but then again, I'd say that you guys were "within reason". It's a free campsite, after all. Damn.

I'm open if you are; let me know what you're up to. I'm game for 5.7 alpine, or something on snow and/or ice. PM me whenever you like; I can leave town here on Friday. I don't have to be back to Portland until Monday. FYI, hikes are okay too. Backpacking, etc.

Hi, Dan, hadn't seen this post. While on Sunset, during the second day, I felt like crap. I ate a ton, drank as much as I could get in, and I was a million bucks the next day. I felt better on the summit plateau then at 10,000. Some people swear by an extra day of acclimization. Weather windows don't always allow that, but if you have the extra time, that's the thing that I think most helps (in addition to what the others have suggested above.) Sleep and hydration

What a loss.

Three FEET? Holy shi.....

You've done a good job with the info sharing! Thank you for that. I'm sure others will benefit

"9/8/04 -- Westside Road is closed to ALL TRAVEL including foot, bicycle and vehicles near Nisqually Rd due to mud and rock slides and an unpassable stream. All other park roads and facilities remain open." Well, I guess that answers the question, eh?

Found this on the Rainier website, copied and pasted: Approximate Road Opening and Closing Dates These dates are approximate and very dependent on snow both in the fall and the spring. Highway 123 from the south boundary to Cayuse Pass is closed by snow from November thorough March or April. The section of Highway 410 from the park's northeast entrance to Cayuse Pass is closed by November through March or April. Highway 410 over Chinook Pass is usually closed from November through mid-May. The White River Road to the White River Campground closes mid-October and reopens the third week of May. The Sunrise Road opens late June or early July, and closes by late September or early October. In mid- to late September the Sunrise Road is closed at night and reopened the next morning due to icy road conditions. The Westside Road is open to Dry Creek from mid- to late May throughl mid- to late November unless snow closes it earlier. Its opening is dependent on snow melt out. Steven's Canyon Road and the Paradise Valley Road usually close mid- to late October and reopen the third week in May. Mowich Lake Road is closed by mid-October or earlier by snow. It usually reopens by late June or early July.

Hey, Dan, need some help putting one up?

Oh, sorry, fern. No disrespect to Flatlander, either. Didn't mean to drift offfffff............ Speaking of the North Face of Serratus, though, it looks like a pretty nice, moderate snow/ice route. I think I might give it a shot in early summer. Hey, Flatlander, what was the approach like? And, what (providing there's any snow and ice...yikes)do you figure the angle to be to the summit? I'd like to take my girlfriend on another snow/ice route, and I'd like to get her across the border. Off White, I'd thought of that, but my pal Dan is really stoked on Triumph. Although, Forbidden looks great; I'd love to do that one, too. The cool thing about Triumph is, I haven't seen a handful of TRs about it lately

Oh, to answer your question, by the way, all, except the NR of Stuart, have been snow/ice routes. I should also mention that, even though this was my first alpine season, I wasn't wholly inexperienced; I'd summitted Rainier a few years before via the DC route, with a friend, after taking an ice climbing/crevasse rescue class with Mountain Madness. Then fast forward to November '03, when I finally met a pal, Dan, who took me up and we did the standard Colchuck Glacier route to the summit of Colchuck Peak. That was it- I was hooked. The following February of '04, my pal Andy invited me to hang with him in SLC, where I lead my first WI pitches; one was 3+, and another, solid 4. Followed him up some other stuff, as well; this set me up to be very comfortable on steep alpine stuff. After leading WI, a 50 degree snow slope doesn't seem scary at all! Okay, that's it for now, sorry for the long posts!

Cool! Joffre group looks nice. Moving from Michigan was a blessing. Much rather be moving from there than to there My first true alpine season went kinda like this: March- Couldn't find a partner, so I soloed Leuthold Couloir on Hood. April- Gave the Furher Finger a shot, but was stormed off at about 12,500. Finally met a partner! After going up and looking at it three times, finally got the Sandy Headwall on Hood done. Beautiful climb. Met more partners May- Did North Buttress Couloir on Colchuck Peak; fun! June- Did Ice Cliff Glacier on Mt. Stuart. Probably the hardest (mentally) route I've done. Took a nasty spill on the approach (ouch!). Sunset Ridge on Rainier; summitted June 20th, on my Birthday. Best present I could've asked for. July- Did Jefferson Park Glacier. This one was the most surpising to me. I thought we were settling when we couldn't do Coleman Headwall due to weather; I was wrong. Beautiful climb, indeed, and harder than I expected. Then, family came to town, nonstop, as well as friends; two climbing partners moved away (or went overseas), one broke an ankle, another got a steady girlfriend....and it was it until the end of August, when a pal of mine and I did the North Ridge of Stuart. The poor guy; I keep pestering him, but he keeps agreeing to go out and climb with me! Thanks to him; I'd be going crazy if I were to run out of partners again Next, weather providing, we're going to try to give the NE ridge of Triumph a shot. After that, hopefully the North Face of Hood will come into shape. What's next? Who knows. Thanks for asking, though. Kinda gave me an opportunity to sort things out. It seems like I didn't climb too much, but it, in retrospect, just hasn't been lately. Sure, I missed out on climbs that I wanted to do, but they'll be there next year. Baker, I'm comin' for ya, baby!

Good job! I'm looking forward to spending some time up in BC next year, after they get some more snow up there (hopefully). I moved to Portland a couple of years ago, and this has been my first true alpine season. I'm in love with the Northwest as well, but I wish that I could've gotten closer to the Washington Cascades...guess I can't complain since my work paid for me to move out here from Michigan, though...haha. Watcha gonna climb next?

First one didn't work, so I tried again...oh, by the way, nice pics! I'd like to get in there, someday

Figured I'd fix these for ya...

That's okay, shred...we all know what that white stuff up there is going to turn into...mmmm....mmmm...

You have PM....

Oh, man, that really sucks. Dan, I remember the rockfall up there sounding AWFUL. Shite.

Thanks for keeping this one going. Hope to get up there...if only to do some recon. I'm sure I'll be awed into submission. For a minute or two

Sounds cool; I live in SE Portland. I do a bit of trad; had a friend of mine take me out there, and I followed him up Blown Out. Tough. I made it, but I'm not much of a crack-and-smear person, though I'm trying to learn it, for alpine's sake. Other than that, I'm okay with plugging gear on 5.7/5.8 stuff at Smith. I'm kinda busy these days, but often after work, I'll get into the PRG just to keep in shape a bit. If you're interested in coming down, let me know. PM me if ya want; catcha later, and have fun on the rock. ---Chad---

We hiked in to do Stuart on Saturday morning; no fires anywhere. Especially now, I might add. It pissed on us pretty good Saturday night. I'd say that, from the main highway, the trailhead is about a half hour away? Hope this helps out.

Glad they posted it, actually. Wouldn't have thought to search for a post like that; wish I didn't work in a dungeon all day.

Hmm...I could be wrong, but from what I've seen, looks pretty rotten toward the summit. I'd go elsewhere, if possible.

Naw, I bike commute 3-4 days a week in Portland traffic; most times I'm faster than the cars. Good hill training in this city.