KaskadskyjKozak

Jason, there were gnarly cornices everywhere. I'm not sure the conditions were so usual this year...

Trip: Little Tahoma - Frying Pan/Whitman Glaciers Date: 7/1/2014 Trip Report: Little T is another peak I've had on my tick list for years but never attempted. It's been on the calendar, yeah, but always canceled for one reason or another. I have this week off from work so I decided to go for it with a great weather window that opened up and found some friends to join me. We made quick work of the hike to Summerland (2 hours). Lingering avy debris made for a quick hike up a stream bed instead of the usual switchbacks up to Summerland. However, on the way out the snow was noticably melted and this way up will not be really viable soon. Luxury accommodations! From Summerland we traversed too much than we needed but still got to the top of Meany Crest in 4+ hours. The bivy sites are all melted out. No running water. We woke up just befor 2 am and headed out onto the Frying Pan glacier. Alpine start: With the freezing level rising from 7K to 14K I was worried we'd have soft snow the whole way, but thanks to a very windy night and clear skies, we got perfect cramponing across the glacier to the notch before sunrise. As the day went out the snow did soften but we had to contend with it really only on the descent. The Whitman is still in good shape but crevasses are opening, including a large on up high. It will be in a while longer. Approaching the notch between Little T and Whitman Crest: Traversing from the notch across the Whitman Glacier: Great shot of Rainier from the Whitman: We had some routefinding shenanigans on the choss pile summit block. Basically we traversed left and up a lot before finding an obvious way up to the notch. From there I led out and set a fixed line for my partners. Steep snow transition to summit block (pic taken on descent): Shot from summit back to notch: Summit selfie: Summit p0rn: For the descent we rappeled from the base of the gully across the top of the steep snow. We had good plunging stepping down the Whitman Glacier, but the top layer of snow was sloughing off and entraining and we set off one microslide (2 inches deep maybe 10 feet wide). The Frying Pan glacier was easy to traverse with no postholing. Gear Notes: a couple runners, 1 nut and 1 cam for belaying to the summit. Approach Notes: Snow free until after the stream crossing. Snow approach from Summerland to Meany Crest.

Hey, Sobo... What time is it???

Trip: Clark Mountain - Walrus Glacier Date: 6/21/2014 Trip Report: I've never attempted Clark. I've had it on the calendar and bailed from the couch a couple times due to weather forecast. Finally, it happened. The plan was to hit Clark and Luahna in a 3 day trip. The approach went fine...the 10 miles and 4000 foot gain was not bad. Even the infamous Clark skeeters seemed overstated (bad in first 4 or 5 miles only). However 15 min out of camp at Boulder Pass we encountered unexpected shenanigans with steep downcliiming on bullet proof snow down from cornice remnants. Other salad-tossing shenanigans were encountered near the not-guite-melted-out summit block. Once we summitted and obtained an adequate vantage of the Richardson glacier and Luahna approach, we opted to bask in the sun for an extended break and return to camp early to relax and crash. A few pics from the climb. Usually I have to wait for a summit pic for summit p0rn: Walrus money shot. Coo-coo-ca-choo: Summit ridge: Team "ST" on the summit: Shot back up ridge on descent: Gear Notes: Standard. Approach Notes: No snow until around the creek crossing.

Yeah, some of our group had mountaineering boots only and it looked more dicey that way for sure (but they were on TR)

Trip: Big Snagtooth - Standard Date: 5/24/2014 Trip Report: Some friends and I climbed Big Snagtooth on Saturday as a consolation prize for Logan, which we backed out of due to weather concerns. We had great weather at WA pass and a wonderful time on this route off the beaten path. Some pics follow. We encountered no difficulties beyond some tedious postholing at the very end coming out and up to the highway. A suitable log crossing we found across the turgid waters of Early Winters Creek: A great day to be in the mountains! Some streams were encountered and crossed: Ascending moderate snow towards the final, longish ridge. Looking up towards Snagtooth Ridge: Nearing the summit block: I led the final moves to the summit. My partner spotted me while I made the awkward moves off the deck: Gear Notes: 2 small cams, 2 mid sized cams for the short class 4 pitch onto the summit block. The final summit block is unprotectable. Approach Notes: Patchy snow from close to the road, lots of postholing, with too much dirt to really ski. Snow is melting fast!

My friend climbed NBC on Colchuck and said the conditions were perfect. Go for it!

I have a wake every day

"Not a joke" Ummm, yes, this is a joke. Fucking A

Thanks for putting this together Porter, it was fun to come out and hang with you all for a bit!

On it.

Stay frosty.

Hey, you've got one thing in common with them.

I'll block it off on the calendar. :-)

Next week on Wed or thu?

LOL. WTF? I mean on the quantity of bacon. +1 on the food poisoning revelations on stomach structure.

See - He is most merciful. Even to you :-)

naw, it's just nice to see such a nasty guy get some payback while all the rest of the aholes of the world seem to live it up w/ no punishmnet.

just deserts ;-)

All I ask for is a good IPA to be available. Or three.

uggh! I can't do Thu this week! How about Tue or Wed???

Cool, set up another pubclub,and I'll show up for the exchange!

Sorry I missed this - I was drinking in Ballard on Wed night. I'll try to make the next one Porter. :-) BTW I'm too fat for my "L" cc.com t-shirt and would love to swap it for XL, or just give it to a more svelt member. The windshirt fits great though :-)

God hates you.

Coming from the guy that says 'god is an asshole' because he got poison oak God says you're a dumbfuck for not staying from poison oak in the first place ;-)