TrogdortheBurninator

We were out there today and the ice looked great. The avi hazard on the other hand would lend significant reason for concern. I would want some major settling and cold weather before I even thought about going up polar circus. Lots of fresh snow last night and lots of sloughing/sliding today. There seems to be sort of a 3 days of warm unsettled weather - one day of cold weather cycle right now. Definitely not ideal for climbing in Avy gullies. The weeping wall today:

Best wishes Porter!

Is anybody else going insane being at work know that there were 1000-2000' freezing levels yesterday and today after a 10k level on the weekend? I know I sure am. Selected reading that fueled my insanity (from NWAC): "Water percolation was reported by the Stevens DOT to the bottom of the snowpack" "1500 ft N, 2000 ft C, 3500 ft S Tue and Wed, slightly higher midday and afternoon hours, slightly lower night and morning hours." "Moderate avalanche danger above 5000 feet and low below Wednesday." "This allowed for a very hard crust to form in all areas." Hopefully somebody was able to get after it.

Hey Joseph, That first pic is awesome. Did the leader run that whole thing out, or are you guys toproping it? Bold!! PS, this is a great thread!

Good eye photocop gary:) That was from my website, guess I did soften the focus. Fixed now.

Alpine: W. Arete Eldorado Ice: This House of Sku Ski/Board: Shuksan Arm Cragging: Hotel Supramonte in Sardegna Scenic: Reflection of Bear's Breast Mt in Waptus Lk

Caught this film yesterday on SciFi channel. If anyone had considered taking an avalanche course, don't bother, just watch this made for TV movie. One of the highlights was when the avi forecaster checked snow conditions by digging a 6" hole by hand, then proceeded to listen to the snow, and the taste the snow. After this she mysteriously fell into a hole in the snow. I also learned how snow mobiles can trigger avalanches 3000 ft above the snowmobilers. Very informative stuff. http://imdb.com/title/tt0363448/

So kurt, when are we gonna put your new rig to the test. How was the gas mileage on the maiden voyage? What did it cost?

Sweet renton granite. Drive to leavenworth, take icicle creek rd to where it is no longer plowed (bridge creek campground). Park and walk up 8 mile rd for about 25 minutes. Whenever you feel like it, drop off the rd in to the Mtners Creek drainage. Cross the drainage and look up, you will see the ice. If you walk up stream more, you will see more ice. If you hike up the hill, you will see more ice.

Just a question, why are you looking for a Toyota van and not a previa? I just bought a `91 previa all trac and it is awesome. Way better than our outback in snow. Supposedly much more reliable and solidly built than the previous generation vans.

Here are a couple pictures from the weekend: We lead the right side, then TR'd the middle. Not too bad for march. The topout seemed to melt considerably throughout the day. This 50 ft free hanger is about 10ft from touching down now. Another mini cold spell and who knows.

So pope, what solution would you propose? 1) Leave it be 2) Chop it 3) Clean the "unnecessary" bolts (not sure who makes that decision)

Here is a telling quote from Wharton (from climbing.com) “I’m glad we climbed so much of the route without bolts. I’m also excited to see that the 120-meter headwall (in better conditions) will go with perhaps only 30 meters of aid—20 of which are the legitimate aid climbing of the Bridwell pitch. And I thought we did a great job struggling onto the top in horrendous weather. I’m disappointed, however, that in the end we took the easy way out, using the bolts to gain the top in what would otherwise have been unclimbable conditions. Human laziness and coveting the easy way to the top is a sad piece of the Compressor Route story, and although Zack and I nearly avoided this path, in the end we fell just short.” A proud ascent, but as far as I'm concerned any further ethical debate about chopping the compressor route is completely hypocritical if it originates from either of these two climbers. If their ethics were genuine, they should have bailed when they could no longer proceed without Maestri's bolts.

So was it rack failure or negligence? If rack failure, you should just eat the loss. If negligence, I thnk 50/50 is fair.

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=333051 I'm sure some of you already saw this, but it is a pretty interesting situation. Lots of key players chiming in with their response. Seems that the yosemite crowd and the CO/UT crowd have pretty different opinions/allegiances.

from this very thread!!!

Basically we're telling you to get off your ass and go climbing more. Jeez, what are you thinking? Not sure what you mean here. I wasn't trying to negatively criticize your review Oly, just saying how I think your review could be a cut above the rest. It'd also be cool to see more negative remarks in the reviews. For example, for even my girlishly skinny fingers, the new UL TCUs (non offset) are a really tight squeeze. Theyve also made the trigger bar narrower beyond the wires so you cant easily grip outside the U-stem. They still work for me, but I can imagine it would be tough for a fat fingered fellow.

That is cool that you guys are starting to put up full on gear reviews. I like the forum link feedback too. What I would like to see is pictures (or written comparison) showing placements that could not be made with standard TCUs in particular or aliens/c3/zeros more generally. If these placements were further compared with offset aliens, that would be cool too.

Was out again yesterday. The lower drainage is starting to suffer, however further up the climbs are in good shape. Mr seattle was still fat and blue. It gets almost no sun, so it will still probably be around for a while. The climbs to the left and right were swept by falling ice all day, so be weary of free hangers above. Ice climbing in march in 45 degree wweather is great.

From what I've heard Ipod's and solar panels are tres chic on denali. People who I know that brought Ipod's didnt have problems, but that is only a small sample.

Hockey tape works ok and sheds snow pretty well. Alternatively you could go to a skateboard shop or a marine shop and buy some grip tape (like sand paper), but expect snow to stick to it as well.

Its like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a spork

I beleive Isaac's book is fairly current, but there has still been some development since then. Unless you want to climb some hard mixed stuff, I wouldnt bother buying the mixed guide. Just go to Haffner and ask around. There are a small handful of TRable lines in the 5-6 range.

If youre gonna die, die with your boots on If youre gonna try, just stick around Gonna cry, just move along If youre gonna die, youre gonna die Iron Maiden

Sizing is off. I usually wear 10.5-11, mine are 42 2/3 (~9.5us equiv). Like I said they are a little snug, but still enough room to prevent any toe damage.