Chad_A

Neri- I guess in a way, I see what you're saying...I don't know much about the loading or physics of it all, but it must've been disconcerting to see one screw disrupt the integrity of the ice upon placement more than the others.

What are you, some sort of astrophysicist? Really...you'd think he had his PhD or something...

Good one. I have yet to try it, but until you picked it, it was going to be my choice. For those of you who know a bit of ETOH history, I think Elliot Ness Pale Ale by Great Lakes Brewing Co. is a clever name. Also, Deschutes had "Repeal Ale" for the anniversary of the repeal of the the alcohol abolition laws.

Very nice. Might go up there and scout some stuff out. Good try on getting out

True, true. I took a class with NCMG; if I remember correctly, the most common person to be killed in an avalanche is a 20-30 year old male, with a basic avalanche course under his belt. Guess that, sometimes, a little information is just enough to make you feel less vulnerable.

The downside of this is that you'll also bleed more. I had a very minor surgical procedure a while back and they didn't want me to take asprin the week before for this reason. It started to make me wonder how much more I might bleed should I have an accident and be takin asprin. Given the choice between cold hands and running the risk of bleeding to death I'm with the former. Does anyone know how big an effect asprin has? Lots of the patients I work with have aspirin ordered automatically by the MDs; especially if they're a cardiac pt. The data seems to be really strong these days that aspirin has a significant effect with anticoagulation. ACLS states any cardiac pt. should receive MONA: Morphine Oxygen Nitro Aspirin. 'nuff said

The Beckoning Silence (Joe Simpson). The chapter about ice climbing alone is worth it; I haven't laughed out loud like that in a long time.

There's been lots of posts on the ice that runs off of Cooper Spur; I was up there Sunday, and it's in full shape. Brittle, though; damn cold up there. I made sure my tools were REALLY sharp, and they were still shattering ice. At any rate, it's here to be found (I've heard that there's some over in the Wallowas, and some down in Central Oregon, but it's hard to find anyone that want's to talk about it); of course, it's lots of fun to grab a partner, and drive to SLC or Canada, and go somewhere that you don't have to hunt for it; for me, it's kinda nice to take a road trip every once in a while, anyway. My .02 cents worth.

So, out of curiousity, which axe in the pics above has the 4x4, and which has the upgrade? I see that there's a difference in the two. Which seems to climb water ice better? Alpine ice?

I don't know about the skiing, because I'm not a skier, but I know the road is open as of yesterday, and in great shape.

http://www.marmot.com/products/product.php?cat=glove&subcat=25&style_id=E1659 Check these out. They're really warm, and reasonably priced. I have some of the same problems that you do, and they've served me well.

Thanks

It was what we originally planned on climbing, but we bypassed it on accident in the dark. 1d had some exposed rock in it as well, but it was easily bypassed on snow and ice around it; who knows, but 1c might have a bit of the same. That's why we wanted to do it; just an alternate finish on the south side. Didn't plan on doing what we did, for sure.

And you're saying? If you're insinuating I was at the bar when I found out he'd taken a slip, that's a pisspoor, pointed statement.

Climb: Mt. Hood-Devils Kitchen Headwall (1d variation) Date of Climb: 11/20/2004 Trip Report: I'd never climbed with Justin before, and we'd planned a suss-out climb to see where we were at; I thought about something quick and dirty on the South Side, but I wanted to avoid the anticipated crowds on the Hogsback. So, variations 1c and 1d in Oregon High seemed harmless enough. We ended up in 1d, when I decided to leave my stronger headlamp at home, in favor of my lighter Tikka. On top of that, I didn't expect the traverse to go so quickly, so there we were. I started up quickly, and yes, as it says it's 55-60 degrees. Justin was a bit behind, sorting his pack out. The gully was mostly ice, with some unconsolidated snow. Now, mind you, variation 1c and 1d are described as gullies, and nothing more. No information is given on what lies ahead once one tops out. I had figured incorrectly, that it would go with reasonably gentle slopes up to the summit. This was not true. I recoiled in shock when I arrived at a knife edge, staring at Wy'east to my right, and Cooper Spur to my left. Damn. Lesson learned; look at a topo, to figure out where a route tops out, and what lies between the summit and your position. At any rate, I awaited Justin's arrival, and tried to figure out what to do. The slopes to the right (east) seemed reasonably gentle, but were new, unconsolidated powder, and had an awful sound to them when you sunk a tool into them. I reasoned that it would be best to stick to the windward slopes at that point, and we stuck close, as we simul soloed; I had some screws and an 8.5mm, but no rock gear, save for a few slings, and some possible horns were protruding, but not consistently enough to warrant roping up. Ice was non-existant, once we were on the ridge. I decided that I wasn't roping up for this one, no way. I grovelled (yes, I'm not afraid to say it...I was too chicken to stand up on two feet) along the rotten powder ridge, until able to get on the windward slopes, and was soon blocked by rock outcropping; I had to descend and traverse under. Soon after, I saw another place above on the ridge to get a view of where we were at (follow the red line; it's where it goes back up to the ridge, and drops down). At that point, I could see landmarks from when we did the left gully on the North Face the week before; if I could get down there, I'd get us to the summit quickly, but it was a greatly precipitous drop, and wasn't feasable. Again, I dropped down, and traversed under more rock. Sorry about the blurry pic (the wind was blowing the camera all over the place); here's one of Justin making his way across the headwall. The traverse ended up being longer than I anticipated, and soon I was wondering if we were just going to end up traversing to the Hogsback/Pearly Gate area. As I thought that, a notch in a rib led me to downclimb into gully "1c". After I topped out above this gully, I took a pic. I kept Justin within eyesight, and I communitcated my intentions. I climbed up into the gully, and it was obvious that the summit slopes lie ahead. It was fun climbing, with nice blue ice sections here and there. He took a break a bit lower in the gully, before getting into the ice. I chilled at the summit (literally), and awaited his arrival. As soon as I saw him on his way to the summit, I knew he was safe and ok, we agreed to meet down at the car. Has anyone else here done 1d? Just curious. Some of the downclimbing and traversing was a bit hairy. At any rate, I figured I'd share this info, in case anyone ever ends up doing this route. Gear Notes: Had: rope, second tools, screws, and slings/carabiners. Would've used the rope if I'd had rock gear (maybe? there was some exposed rock, but then again, with the exposure involved, I wasn't exactly paying attention to the quality of the protection to be had.) Approach Notes: Nice cramponing up the Palmer.

Wow...got pretty bare up there. Actually, the gully to the right would be the NEBC. The NBC is off to the right. Thanks for the info, Marko. I'm looking forward to getting up there again

No, no one has responded yet; I'm guessing that most people haven't begun to frequent the area yet. Kinda too early for the snow/ice routes, and too late for the rock routes. John, you could certainly find out for us, and get the ball rolling, though

That's a great pic. It's hard to gauge the steepness of that right there; I'm sure it's very steep. Pics seem to make it hard to interpret accurately. Is that thinner section, on the climber's right in the pic, the start to the right gully? Or is it farther to the right, out of the picture? I'm going to try to make an effort to do that this year, but I don't know if it'll happen or not I'm guessing, though, that with the snow up there from yesterday and today, and with some warmer weather coming up, that some nice cold nights/warm days might set up some more ice. One can always hope, anyway Oh, and iain, are the steps that you're referring to the rock bands that are mentioned in Oregon High?

I'd like to take my girlfriend up to do the NBC on Colchuck. Any idea on how much snow the area's had? I figure by mid-December, it should be sorted, but I'd like to go earlier if possible. If anyone has any input, please let me know. Thanks!

Ok, fair enough. WI2 it is; I was just going on the angle, itself. Mike, I hope to get up there to do the ice pitches. I'm glad I did the route for sure, but it's my intention to do it from the 'schrund on up, and hopefully, the right gully next time. I'm sure that it will be good for another send this season.

So, I've been corrected. I will elaborate on the left gully water ice that we went over. It was about eye level, and it was water ice formed over a bulge of rock. A step, if you will. I hope no one thought I was trying to indicate a full pitch; just a short section of water ice. It was about eye level, or a bit higher, when standing at the base of it. I used the word "bulge" to describe it, to convey it's shortness. I'd guessed 3/4, but true, it probably was much more like 3. I had no idea that this was such a sensitive issue.

Thanks again for the compliments; unforunately, I don't have many pics of the Spur itself; the best I have is the one I posted where you can see the clouds at about the 6500-7000 ft level. I've heard that there's supposed to be 3-5 more inches up there in the next few days, though

Hmm, don't remember that in either of those gullies. Oh, it's there, trust me.

Thanks! Pentax Optio S50.

Yeah, yeah...piece of shit website. Photo hosting sucks. I even tried to upload them to this site, but it kept having error messages. I'll get them fixed. Stay tuned.