wfinley

In the AK Range. That chock-stone is all of 2"x3". What we rap off while ice climbing up here. Always sketches me out but they've held for 20+ years. In the Tetons... not really mank but I thought the bolt was cool.

Congratulations Clint -- a beautiful fine route.

Cliffhanger. I know people diss it ... but comeon - it's an awesome film! With Wolfgang Gullich free soloing sick overhangs and great quotes like "Gravity sucks" what's not to like?

Fun! I thought the Durrance Route had been closed due to the leaning column being unstable? I take it that's not true? Climbed that route 17 years ago - I remember the leaning column ringing hollow. Check out Obed in TN. And get over to Whitesides for some SE alpine-mentality climbing.

In my opinion this line pretty much sums up the misery. Great story and pix! The space blanket pix are classic.

The chart will say between 3 and 10.

Excellent job! Way to take advantage of one of the best weather windows we've seen in a very long time!

Congrats John! Looking forward to the photos!

@genepires: That 2nd photo is Portage Lake - and the 3rd photo Portage Glacier. It's pretty cool to be able to ski across the lake and right up to the glacier. @mccallboater: yes. against better judgment I allowed the boot fitter to talk me into a smaller pair of boots. They're a better fit than my old boots - but they won't keep me warm in extreme cold whereas my last boots were a 1/2 size too big and super warm.

Trip: Alaska - Carpathian Peak; North Ridge Date: 3/12/2011 Trip Report: Getting in on the march prize in the hopes of offsetting my gear binge footprint! Carpathian Peak (6020'). The North Ridge takes the left skyline. Carpathian. A peak that everyone stares at look at - many try and a few luck out and make it to the top. Most SCAK climbers and skiers have at least one attempt story. Many have multiple attempt stories - the stories all seem to have the same theme: Get to high camp, endure an epic storm, shovel like mad and then escape as soon as the snow relents. My 4 attempts span 14 years and fall into the prior category as well as a couple other alpine categories including the show up at the airport but the pilot never bothers to, slog up a neighboring peak, get scared, run back down. But this past weekend was different. High pressure has been sitting over Southcentral Alaska for 3 weeks now. The skiing sucks.... I mean really sucks. The ice climbing is good - but ice cragging gets old and I tend to be terrified anytime I venture on anything beyond a fat sticky Grade II... thus we chose to go mountain climbing. So we loaded up the packs for an overnight spring shake down (even though it's not yet spring and they were calling for overnight temps of around -15.) We skied across Portage Lake then up Portage glacier to a nice icebox campsite where temps dipped to -15 at 6pm. By 7pm I was in the bag and didn't stir until 7am. The next morning we set off around 9:30, skied 2 miles to a col, then set off on crampons for the N. Ridge. The route getting to the ridge proper consisted of mellow snow slopes - then up onto the ridge for a beautiful undulating ridgeline that leads to the summit pyramid. On the North Ridge with Price William Sound in the background. This area sees an average annual precipitation of 197 inches of rain and 241 inches of snowfall. That's more than 16 feet of rain and 17 feet of snow! Note the ski tracks lower right. This peak does get skied sometimes - but the ski tracks seen here were from a friend who tried it a couple days before us, took a fall and luckily self arrested mere feet above a gaping crevasse. 400' of mellow steep snow led to the summit. [video:youtube] We then reversed the route... easily downclimbing the steep snow then across the ridge and back to camp. A final ski down terrible snow put us back at the car just at dark. Friends poaching our bootpack. Blackstone Bay behind them. (Fun place to go sea kayaking.) Looking back up at the summit. Skiing hardpack back to camp. Many many more pix here. Gear Notes: - Glacier gear, chocolate covered espresso beans, skis. - the "performance fit" isn't a good idea when you plan on camping in -15 temps Approach Notes: Ski across lake, go up.

My wife has a pair of Baruntses and really likes them. We haven't been out on super cold days - but they appear to be as warm or warmer than my Invernos. As for leather boots in the AK Range - I wouldn't recommend them. If all goes to plan and you're back in your tent within 20 hours they'd be fine - but too often things do not go to plan. Likewise double boots allow you to pull the liner out and place them in your bag to aid in drying them.

A life well lived. Here's the google translation.

Awesome! You were there the right week. This is what Valdez looked like a week ago; 95mph winds in town - 100mph gusts up on the pass! [video:youtube]

Daniel Boone National Forest is about 3 hours south of you. Put on a heavy backpack and go on some long hikes. After your hike go clip bolts at the Red River Gorge. Fayetteville is 4 hours south. Take your bike and do the gorge loop (the climb up out of the gorge will give you a massive pump). Afterward climb cracks at Bridge Buttress.

Chummy sounds kind of goofy. But people up here have different connotations for the word "chum".

I once bivied where we had to duck into a crevasse during a blizzard. There were 3 of us... me, and a couple. The woman crawled into the cave and curled into a fetal position - whereas the man was so thin we was forced to pace all night to stay warm. When I saw that the man wasn't going to cuddle with his girlfriend I jumped right in there and we spooned all night. He gave me a dirty look but I refused to move. All is fair on bivy ledges - and like Vegas what happens on the ledge - stays on the ledge.

I thought you were writing a romance novel? Where's the hot and heavy action, the labored breathing and all that? This sounds too realistic. On a serious note - it's good. The "ten essentials" sentence is a tad cliche. Most climbers wouldn't admit to packing the 10 essentials - it makes them sound kind-of geeky.

Don't forget about the safety kit. Especially if your hero is a hippie telmarker.

I'm in the market for a new tent so I went to the store the other day and set up the Jannu. It's a nice sized tent - definitely more than livable for 2 people on a glacier - however my thoughts were: - they say the light fabric is bomber, but I still don't trust it. I tend to be hard on my gear and do things like rip hole in tents when shoveling snow off because I'm too lazy to brush it off first. I felt like the Jannu wouldn't handle my abuse and I'd have to be real careful with it. - the 3 pole design makes for a bomber tent but I thought it was a pain to set up (in comparison to my Integral Designs). A lot is to be said for the Biblers / Integral Design tents where all you do is crawl inside and you're done. - I don't like the flap that is over the top vents. Seems to me it would get in the way and flag like mad in heavy wind. After setting it up I've shied away from it and am considering the Nammatj instead. I have friends that swear by the Nammatj and considering I'm looking for a glacier / expedition tent I don't mind the hoop design / extra room. (Note that the Nammatj is a heavier fabric but the tent is the same weight due to the hoop design.) However - like I said - I'm looking for more of an expedition tent. If I was just doing 2-3 day climbs then I'd go with either an Integral Designs or a Firstlight. I've had my Integral Designs MK1XL for about 8 years now and it's an awesome tent that has held up to lots of abuse all over the place. The Firstlight is a nice option as well - people swear by it. In case you're interested, tent data is below... Tent / Length (in) / Width (in) / Height (in) / Weight (inc. vestibule) / Cost Integral Designs MK3 / 88 / 54 / 45 / 7 lbs / $700 Integral Designs MK1XL / 86 / 46 / 39 / 6lbs 1oz / $650 Bibler I-Tent / 82 / 48 / 42 / 6lbs 4oz / $700 Bibler Eldo / 87 / 51 / 43 / 7lbs 7oz / $700 Bibler Fitzroy / 93 / 60 /40 / 8lbs 7oz / $800 Hilleberg Nallo3 / 87 / 64 /42 / 5lbs / $580 Hilleberg Nammatj2 / 87 / 52 / 38 / 5lbs 5oz / $575 Hilleberg Nammatj3 / 87 / 64 / 42 / 6lbs 5oz / $615 Hilleberg Jannu / 93 / 57 / 40 / 6lbs / $735 Marmot Alpinist / 88 / 52 / 40 / 5 lbs 4 oz / $495 Sierra Designs Covert2 / 85 / 54 / 45 / 6lbs 10oz / $450

Awesome!!!

Two of my favorites: MONT BLANC MASSIF: THE 100 FINEST ROUTES Gaston Rebuffat High Alaska And of course "50 Classics" - I never tire of flipping through that.

Awesome! You should send Sheri some Patagonia pix. We're lacking South America photos on the Alpacka website.

The G12 is bulky - definitely not a clip to your harness kind of camera.

Ha -- I had totally forgotten about that! I remember now! Thanks for the trick! Everytime I climb Ripple (2-3 times a season) I think about that night sitting at the top staring at Hale-Bopp. That was a really special sight.

I used to tape an emergency blanket in my helmet. Once in the Canadian Rockies while climbing with an old friend I showed my space blanket / helmet trick to my partner and he very ceremoniously pulled his space blanket out of his pack and tossed it into the truck and slammed the door as we were leaving. 15 hours later we were huddled on a snow ledge with only one space blanket and he felt really stupid. Here's that story. And another one with the wife. Yes - I am a very slow climber and I don't know when to turn around.