Chad_A

Ah, yes. The Pickets. Thanks for that

Every time I've been to NCNP, it's always socked in. Hope to do Buckner relatively soon. From the cam pic taken here, which peaks are these? Just wondering. Thanks for the help. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/509/4625noca2004_144_1300.bmp

Replaced some slings recently on a couple of TCUs and a BD #3 for me. Fantastic job. Cheap, too.

Bzzt. Well, not exactly. Carbs, within the first hour, are what helps recovery. Protein doesn't even begin to get absorbed by the intestines until 1.5 hours after ingestion. Hit some complex carbs after a hard workout, and your muscles soak it up quickly for better recovery.

Aw, man, that's cool. Glad you guys made Dragontail, as well We hung out at the moraine to view Colchuck's couloirs from a better vantage, and headed back to camp. We were camped at the small pond just off of Colchuck Lake. Seems like the rain moved in minutes after we made it back to camp. We were to do Serpentine Arete on Sunday, but of course, it wasn't to be. Damn. Have to go back to do that one. Triple Couloirs is on my list for next year, as well.

Hmm. Strange. Well, It's going to have a removable one soon, and a nicer one, at that.

Well, I splurged; since I'm a "short torso" person, the small version of the Chernobyl (Cold Cold World) just wasn't cutting it for overnight trips, at 2500-2600 ci. As a last minute decision/need for a multi-day trip to the Stuart area, I picked up the BD Shadow 55. Touted as a "one size fits all", I loaded 45 lbs in the store, and carried it around. For a ~3 lb. pack, it carried it well. Took it home, and called the decision done. The mags complain about the buckles being difficult to operate with cold hands, or with gloves on. True, but not impossible. I didn't have that hard of a time, with either scenarios. The pack is supportive, and the cords that lash the ice tools on aren't as bad as reviewed; the sliders hardly slipped, if at all. The crampon attachments are on par; in fact, the buckles are the same as what's on my Chernobyl. Waterproofness was proven, as the rain moved in on Saturday after climbing NBC on Colchuck. Everything stayed as dry as was reasonably possible. The lid can stow lots of stuff, but doesn't have an under-pocket, as some packs do, on the bottom of the lid. The pass-through for a hydration bladder is nice, as well. The shoulder straps and waist belt are good, and non-intrusive, but the sternum strap SUCKS. This is where the "one size fits all" is challenged. Riding up high, the sternum strap is able to slide right off the special bar that it slides up and down on, and twice on the approach, it came off. What the hell...there's nothing wrong with a standard sternum strap setup, so that's exactly what I put on; REI sells an OR sternum strap kit that works fine for $6.50. I like the fact that ice clippers slip into the waist belt, but I like the gear loop/holster that's on my Chernobyl better; much more versatile. Another thing that needs to be changed is a removable bivy pad; the thin one that comes with is sewn in. Needs some fine tuning, but it's a worthy pack for the price point. The janky features that it comes with are eclipsed by the fact that a 3.5 pound pack can carry a good amount of weight without a problem, and with an excellent amount of waterproofness at a retail price of 179 bucks. Not a horrible deal. There you go; I might write some more after Rainier. That should give it a good go, if nothing else. Hope this helps someone out.

We did the NBC on the 22nd; on the descent to the col, we peered down the NEBC; looked like it was guarded by a cornice. Could've been interesting, eh? Cool TR. That route is on my list for next year. Indeed, soon the schrund will be difficult to get across, I would guess.

Hahahaha...#4 Camalot. Good one

Not perfect, but it's the best that's out there, IMHO. The photography is excellent, and even if the advertisements are increasing, they're still less than others. Paying bills is a way of life, and there isn't a magazine out there that is exempt from that.

Man, gonna have to do this route... What was the ice cliff like? I'll have to get out the Beckey Manual. Sounds schweet.

I know of Stuart Range, but looks like the weather won't be much better for that this weekend than Rainier. I was thinking of Mt. Maude. Any other suggestions? Looking for something challenging, that will need a second tool, and possibly some AI.

Steve- My name's Chad; PM me anytime, if you have a climb that looks to be in shape. I'd like to do Sunshine as well; what's your experience level? I'm here in Portland, as well. The next couple weeks looks busy for me, but I have days off here and there, and a one-day thing on Hood is usually doable.

That's good info...so you figure that it's easier to follow the moraine up, than to follow the trail? How far did you go up, do you think, altitude wise?

Yeah, it's open. I was up there a month ago....I believe it's open year-round, unless otherwise noted.

Oh, yeah, understood, about the Benadryl That's one thing that I do have access to, is SQ lidocaine. might not be bad to take a bit of that with. I'll look at the Dr Scholls product....or, you could probably fabricate the same type of thing out of moleskin??

Had an opportunity to head up to Illumination Saddle (to practice some self arrest w/ a friend who doesn't climb....yet), and surprisingly, it was bluebird skies up there, with some ominous looking clouds that hovered around, but seemingly never on, Hood. Anyway, the Reid looks good. A couple of crevasses have opened, and the bergschrund at the base of the Reid Headwall route is open as well, but looks to be in good shape. A cloud was hovering a bit farther away, obscuring the view of the ramp to get on Yocum, so I can't comment on that. From what I could see, looks like Leuthold and the Reid HW would still be good for a go. Anyway, hope this helps someone out. This coming weekend would be a good time to get either one done before they're out of shape, I would guess.

I guess that's just it...what justifies a "must have?" I guess the answer lies in my own comfort. In one day, I've seen/heard anywhere from a knife and a bandana, to sparing no weight, and carrying a full-on First Responder kit (and leaving other stuff at home to make sure it fits). Hell, maybe I'll leave it all home, and pack a flask of whiskey. Then again, I'd endulge, and the alpine start of the next day wouldn't be much of an alpine start. A knife, some pain killers (Benadryl is also a great idea....thanks for that. Works great as a sedative in a pinch) gauze, a roll of tape...a small bottle of new skin, and some moleskin is good, too. NSAIDs, a couple of packs of handwarmers...and some pain killers, if I can get my hands on some. Thanks for the responses; the broad range of answers and rationales have helped a lot

Damn, the caffiene isn't doing the trick this morning...what the hell does this mean ? Either that, or I didn't drink enough beer last night. Anyway, here's what I saw on someones TR: 1 FIRST AID 7 oz (total kit weight) 15 iodine tablets water purification sunscreen small plastic bottle dermatone x-small 2 chapstick with sunscreen 10 salt pills moleskin 1 tape cloth athletic, partial roll 2 gauze pads 4 inch neosporin x-small plastic tube 15 tylenol or Nuprin 15 pain pills percodan 15 antibiotic ceclor 1 pr earplugs Might just duplicate this. I don't see the necessity for a splint, with the tape, foam pads that we'll have with, not to mention the trekking poles. Still searching for a solution to the pain pill problem, though. Tylenol and Ibuprofen won't cut it.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?productId=2867&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&langId=-1 Here's the kit; found it online. Help me to pick it apart.

Thanks for chiming in, everyone! I plan on doing that search that was suggested. Actually, I'm an RN, so you'd think that I'd know what to bring, but, I'm always out for more ideas. If someone were to suggest that I leave something out, and I wasn't comfortable with that, I'd bring it, anyway. The ensolite pad idea is great; I think that I'm pretty much on par with what people have said, here. (the kit that I have is about the size to fit inside a nalgene bottle; not tooooo huge). I'd like to throw in a solid roll of coach's tape, as well as some moleskin, as someone suggested. Easy to forget about stuff like that (especially when I'm not too prone to instances of blisters, historically speaking.) I think the only missing link is, stangely enough (me being an RN), getting some effective pain killers for the kit. I've never had any around the house, and doctors don't like to prescribe that stuff frivolously. Hmmm... I think I will take it apart over the weekend, and list what's involved. Then maybe you all can help me critique it.

I have a standard first aid kit; but out of reverence of trying to regain a bit of space in the pack (without totally screwing myself out of being able to provide basic first aid for myself or others), I'm going to try to whittle it down a bit. List what you have in yours; I could do the same for what I have, but I believe it's too much

I've heard that the crevasses over on the White River Glacier are opening; but haven't seen it in person. Makes sense, though. I flew over the west side of the mountain, and from the air yesterday, it looked pretty closed up still, but I could be wrong. If nothing else, I'll bet you'd find something on the Eliott to dump someone into...

Thanks for all the replies! I thought about the IceSac, but have kinda ruled it out. The reason is the size, and the fact that it won't do well with over 30 lbs in it, according to the manufacturer. The BD Shadow is of similar size, but has a frame; I, too have heard many complain of the buckles, now, and some of the features. But, the basics of the pack would be what I need. I haven't ruled out the Chaos. I really love my Chernobyl, and if I can load it without the 4000 c.i. seeming to big, it'll probably be what I'll get. I would like to do some stuff up in Alaska sometime, and it could cross over to that. Maybe next year BD will hear what we're saying, and make a few changes??? The Lowe sounds good; If I can find one here in town before my next trip, I might get that. A pal of mine, Donn, has one, and seems to like it lots. The POD looks nice, as well, but the small size (the one I need) is 42L, and probably smaller than the Chernobyl I already have.

I've whittled my choices for a slightly bigger alpine pack down to these two choices. They are different in size, but not much, and they both have features that I like. I'm pretty sold on the CCW Chaos (Since I have the Chernobyl already...unfortunately, I'm a "short torso" person, so I have to use the small 2500ci version of it). I saw the Climbing mag review on the Shadow, but it seems like the gripes they had would be manageable. The reason I like the idea of it is, on a long approach, the Shadow would have an actual frame, whereas the Chaos would not. Anyway, feel free to post what you know. I hope to get into ClimbMax with my stuff to pack them both up and see how they feel. In the meantime...