Chad_A

Thanks for the great TR, Donn. Accurate as could be had. Dru, I understand your point, but the angle there, combined with the snow conditions, were more than conducive to self arrest/team arrest. No pro needed. Guess you had to have been there.

Criticism aside, I just hope the outcome is for the best. Doesn't sound so good for now, though. My thoughts are with the families and the rescuers.

Same here, put my envelope in in April; received it today. Gracias, MRNP!

Thanks for the kind words. Honestly, felt it on the too "mushy" side after writing it, but chose to leave it alone, as it was obviously what I was feeling at the time. Thanks, ken4ord, for doing that. For some reason, when I tried, a whole bunch of weird characters and random numbers popped up when I posted it. Strange.

Well, here it is. I intended to write up a TR, and thank Oly for going ahead and doing it, because it took on kind of a "project" feel, and I ended up writing it to send to family and friends, who don't hear about my climbing endeavors that much. Oly was pretty gentle with me and my "falling" episodes on the way in (I still don't know what was up with me, but hey, I'm new to bushwhacking, and everyone can have a bad day). SO, enjoy. I don't care if anyone flames; it'll only serve to entertain me. It's long, so grab your favorite and read on. Edit: It didn't copy and paste well, so I entered the word document to click on. See the attachment. 361954-Stuart.doc

Nice pics Iain Good job on doing the route, Ducknut! Man, all this weather looks like it's kept it in spring conditions up there. Doesn't look too different from when we did it in early April. How's the schrund on the Hogsback looking these days?

Ok, here's some pics. First, Stuart as we were walking up. Us roping up near the left side of the moraine. Snow hard enough now; throwing on the crampons before going through the icefall. Oly leading above the icefall, before getting to the schrund. Me leading after going left above the schrund. Stayed left close to the wall to get across. View from the false summit. Looking up from the descent route. Celebratory cigars afterward. Awww-yeaaahh. Sorry about the poor pic quality, but with my record of cameras, I refuse to take anything nice up there anymore. Not bad, though, considering the throw away I used had a large hole in the side of it from the fall I took from the approach

Phew! Thanks for the TR, Oly. I started typing up a word document to copy and paste as a TR, and it took a turn toward an essay...something you would put on a webpage. Glad we got out and did it bro, even with our late start. Hopefully we'll get some WI in this winter on the east coast, eh?

Wow, pretty impressive. I'd like to see them up close sometime

Aw, jeez. Not much to say, but my thoughts are with the family, the partner and the rescuers, for sure. Guess I'll be doing LR next year. Bad vibes, indeed.

Cool, thanks for that, Bug. Sunday, it's supposed to be 5000 foot freezing level, so might give it a go. Man, Ice Cliff, or the NEBC. Hard to choose. Wanna do 'em both

Very nice! This was on the 29th? Hmm. Freezing levels are dropping for this weekend. Might think about it. What was the general angle of the couloir? I looked down on it from the cornice after doing the NBC a little while back; the lower section looked 45-50??? but looks like it was way steeper, to 65 toward the top? Just a guess; let me know what you all think. Good TR, glad you guys nailed it.

Thanks for bringing that up. Funny, for some reason, I thought Stuart would be farther east. Huh. Well, I'll have to save this as a reference point; I seem to get geographically confused

Or send a different link? Sorry, can't get it to work. I understand what you guys are talking about. I also understand that it's not an exact science; but it is nice to have an idea of where the meteorological crest is, for weekends like mine that I have coming up (Saturday through Wednesday.) I'm hoping to sneak in the Ice Cliff Glacier on Stuart, if possible.

Just wondering; when checking out weather forecasts, one might hear "east of the Crest" vs. "west of the Crest". Rainier? Stuart? Forbidden? What draws the line? Obviously, it's not straight. Just looking for some insight, especially for when I want to get into the North Cascades, but want to try to stay out of the weather. Thanks for the input

They may be a bit heavy, but I've climbed WI4 in them, and done basic glacier climbs in them, as well. My other crampons are now relegated to my g/f and others who need to borrow a spare pair. I do everything in the Grivels.

Looks to be in fab shape Now, if this damn weather would ever settle down....then again, it might be unique to be able to climb it in August

I'd agree on the Sirrus SL. I've heard that, from many people, that I shouldn't expect it to last long with harness wear and the such, but I've had no problems. It is a bit short, though. I've considered, if I were to wear this one out, that I might replace it with a Theta SL; same jacket, but a bit longer, and a couple more pockets. Only two more ounces, to boot.

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.