Fuggedaboudit

There was a BIG, BIG slide Friday 6/9 about 4PM that covered the entire upper half of the corridor, almost took out a party of 4 who were about 1000 above Schurman befor the slide veered off to the left. We saw it after descending from Liberty Cap. BTW we were able to descend from Liberty Cap by traversing Winthrop, should tell you how much snow is on Mt.

I have done many approach days by starting out with a serious hangover. I tell myself that since I'll never see the Himalaya that this is what the altitude would feel like.

Good luck David, hope you are able to kick in steps all the way to Liberty Cap as I'll be heading in from WR campground June 4th! Looks like this Monday (29th)and Tuesday (30th) may give you a shot, weather-wise. Be safe on the Carbon, post those pictures and tell your partner to bring earplugs, you snore like a bull getting stuck in the ass with a leafblower . Seriously, be safe and have fun.

Congrats on getting up and down safe. What was the route on Hunter? West Ridge?

I just posted a Patagonia DAS jacket on this forum. Not down but only $50

Now c'mon I'll admit you guys have the alpine over us but seriously, cheap guns? I can get cheap guns on my corner, no waiting period or background check- $200 and a pack of Newports, good to go! Thanks, that REI in Tukwila is on the way I'll stop in there. Ridgeline- I am heading out west first week of June, checking out a certain northern ridge climb (again, again . . .) A guy I climbed the Emmons with last year will be there the same time as you also looking at the Gib Ledges, he is "snowball" on this site. I see you are from NE, send me a PM my friends and I get in 4-5 weekends of ice every winter in 'Dacks, NH and VT.

Can anyone give me a store (or two) on the way to the WR entrance from SeaTac airport that sells the isobutane gas cannisters? Cant fly with them and our flight gets in around noon, hoping to get in the rental and drive into park and register day before we set off for the climb.

Thanks McKay, appreciate the insight and descent advice. Late spring opens up a whole other set of trip possibilities I hadnt even thought of, might be better for some of my buddies than this fall. Which means I can do something bigger up there this fall! But first I've got to finish a certain northern aspect problem on Washington's ugly crumbling boil. I will reach out to you and your website this summer. Thanks again your input on this site.

Thanks guys, at least now I know how they get away with charging almost $120- monopoly!

My good friend is lending me his Garmin GPS, I just checked on their website for a map to load onto it and all they offer is a Western US set for $116!! All I need is Rainier for now. Anyone know of other company that has maps you can load onto these units that may be less $$$ and more specific to Rainier NP?

Thanks a lot to everyone who posted. Have been to the Icefields twice in September, but never in August, and based upon what I've now read, will look at mid-Sept to late September. The August 15 2004 accident happened at 11AM which is sobering because I wouldnt think of that as being late in the climbing day. Quite to the contrary, before reading your posts I would have assumed that if we were off the route on Andromeda by noon in the middle of August we would be ok. Now I'm thinking that noon in the middle of August does not sound as good as noon the middle of September. And I'm thinking noon doesn't sound as good as 10AM. I've since learned that the estimated time of actual climbing on the NW Shoulder Direct is supposed to be 4-6 hours so we'll try to be at the base of the route 5AM. About the only climbing skill I excell at is getting up early. Hopefully that earlier than originaly planned start time in September will cut down on the objective hazzard.

Hello. I am thinking about this route. Has anyone done it in the last few years? With the recent warming is it still predominantly an ice/snow route or is it more mixed now? Would you recommend late August early Sept (when I am thinking of going)? What is the approach time from the climbers parking lot to the base of the climb? How would you rate the difficulty of this climb against say the North Ridge on Athabasca or the North Face of Assiniboine (winter conditions)? Assuming you would belay anything WI3 or higher, or any climbing on slopes over 50 degrees how many belayed pitches are involved? Are there any fixed (pitons) belays? I live in Brooklyn which by no means is a climbing mecca. Some of these questions may seem silly to the reader but its hard for me to get a sense of what this climb is like from summitpost or "Suspected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies". Dont have lots of climbers with experience I can reach out to in my hood. I've seen the mountain from afar but only up close from the AA col/Andromeda Strain side. Thanks in advance!

Yep, that was us. Funny to hear Barry's feet got a little cold cause that guy is not feckin human.

Alpinfox: Best wishes for a speedy recovery by your partner. Thank God you all got out and didnt have to spend the night there until morning for help.

Size is XL Mens. Color is black. 2 Photos of the pullover are on the "For Sale" section of the "Gallery" link of this website. Only use was 3 days on Rainier July 2005. It is a fully stormproof shell and weighs only 8oz. Hood easily fits over helmet. New it was $175. It is in brand new shape, absolutely no wear or the slightest damage. So light you wont notice it in your pack until the weather rolls in. Free shipping US Postal ground to US destination. Send me a PM.

Go to the "Gallery" link (its at the top of the page). Then once you are in the gallery scroll down to bottom and find the "For Sale" photos. you might have to go through a few pages of pics till you get to the Mitts.

SIZE XL MENS. $149 new, selling for $25 plus shipping. Pants only worn 3 days, excellent condition! They have full side zips and “bathroom” zip and are very warm. Look picture of pants in "Gallery" section of this website in the "For Sale" section. Send me a Private Message if interested.

Men's Large. If you have small hands can always get 300 fleece liners. They have a strap you pull across the wrist which will keep them on nomatter what.

Only used on 2 trips. Very good condition. Comes with 200 weight fleece liners. Photo of mitts on FOR SALE gallery of this site. Send me a PM with you e-mail if interested. You pay shipping.

Now a bunch of Kiwis are going to post. I had a pair of the old Black Prophets, the ones with the rubber covering the entire shaft that I started climbing waterfall ice with. Not only are they much heavier than my Quarks but the picks on those old things were shit as well. Get yourself a pair of used modern tools like I did. You really will feel a huge difference. Not only are they going to allow you to climb better (seriously) but you will enjoy it more. You just cant "finesse" a stick with those old tools.

Originally my friend Chris and I had hoped to climb Robson by the Fuhrer Ridge, but heavy snow made that too dangerous. We had booked some time with Barry Blanchard and spent a day at Yamnuska doing a chimney climb. Then we helicoptered into the park and hiked up to the Hind Hut on 9/5/05. Left hut 5:30 AM the next day. Chris Barry and I were going up the North Face while Jonathan and Martino went for the North Ridge. Weather was great but there was lots of snow, crampons stayed on the entire day. Made slow but steady progress to a rock scramble (low 5th class but with east face 3000' exposure)which led to the summit cornice. On top at 3:30 PM, waited for Martino and John to summit and then we all decided to rap down together. 20plus rappels, none of us were able to keep count. Burned all of our slings and pitons as well as some nuts. Dropped my ATC about half way down. About five times we went to pull the ropes and they got hung up. Shit!!! But the weather was great and we were back at the hut at 12 midnight on the dot. Hiked out the next day to the Assiniboine Lodge (great people there, gave us cookies and coffee). Apparently the guests had been watching us in a telescope from the lodge. Rested a day and then headed up to the icefields as weather forecast turned for the worst. Got about four pitches up peak A2 (subsidiary peak of Athabasca) before the snow really started comming down. Snow/rain for the next few days ended the trip. A beautiful mountain, stunning. I'm sure better climber with better conditions could race up and down, but I prefer the winter conditions. Couldnt have been more perfect for me.

Climb: Assiniboine-North Face Date of Climb: 9/6/2005 Trip Report: Gear Notes: One tool and one trad ice axe each, could have used more gear for the rappels Approach Notes: Helicopter!!!

Dave: You will have to start drinking to ice climb in NH or VT or the Aidirondacks. The hangover is how we simulate altitude.

Actually stopping the fall wasnt to bad, when he went in the rope pulling you forward kinda helps your reaction time. The practice the day before helped, it had been at least two years before that I had simulated this situation. I had never used a fluke before and I will tell you right now it is a lot easier to get in a fluke with one hand than to push a picket down into the snow. Since I was prone over my axe with my left hand firmly on the adze I had to reach down to my right hip with my free hand, remove and set the SMC fluke and then slowly let the weight of Dave onto the fluke via my waist prussic. I then was able to sit up a bit, swing my pack off, pull out a picket (while still on the axe) and get that in (vertical), so it backed up the fluke. Then I took the axe out, plunged it in vertical and used a ti-bloc biner and a sling to make the axe a third piece. Now I had enough slack to escape the rope. Then I stood up and stomped on all three. Then I just about shit myself since I was totally unroped and Dave had just fallen into a crevasse that was totally hidden and there I was stomping on the glacier. So I did a quick figure 8 on a bight with about 10' of slack and clipped in. Then I exhaled, realized that the lip was 25 feet away had to use a second ti-bloc above the knot to re-clip in, then undid the figure 8 and went to the lip. Did that 30 minutes the day before help? YES, especially when I realized that face down with 240lbs pulling at your waist is not the first time to try and figure out how to get a piece in. We had access to a screw, a fluke and a picket each off our harnesses. Yes I feltlike a nerd walking from Schurman to the flats with all that stuff rigged. No I will never feel like a nerd again.

I was the other climber on the rope. I have to tell you that I had a great time on the climb, and was humbled just a little bit by the sheer bulk of Rainier. While I have climbed multi-pitch WI4 and 5 routes in NE and been up Baker, Shuksan and Athabasca in Canadian Rockies I had never been above 11,000 feet or so before this. This was also the first time I had encountered CROWDS. But it was to be expected and I must admit that I wasn't fer passing other ropes once I got above 12K. So this is what altitude is? Didnt mind the other people though, its part of this type of climb. My attitude is that if I didnt want to see crowds I shouldnt be on that side of the mountain on a Sunday, and to bitch about it out loud was to make an ass of myself, something I heard a lot of from others, unfortunately. My 4th time in the cascades and I have never seen a spell of weather like this before, absolutely cloud-free beautiful summit day. As for the crevase fall, everything Dave said is accurate. You are not just keeping the leader safe but yourself as well- if the crevase is over 40' deep and you dont arrest the fall, shit your going in too! I'm sure 90% of you all know all this crevase stuff backwards and forwards, and are much more familiar with it than I am, but maybe because I'm not as used to moving on glaciers I'm a little more scared/cautious? We saw about a dozen people walk UNROPED within 10' of where Dave went in. They were walking between the flats and Schurman. The crevase was deep enough to kill in an unroped fall. Finally, when Dave went in, once I had held him and built a 3 point anchor (fluke, picket and my axe), I freed myself from the rope and then uncoiled my half of the rope, used a prussick from my harness to the free/unweighted end of the rope and then belayed myself off the same anchor over to the lip. When I got close I got down on my belly and crawled to the edge until I could see in. That was really the first time I could actually hear Dave clearly. The crevasse really swallows up one's voice. Anyway it would have been a good idea if we had established that three "tugs" on the rope would tell the other ropemate that the one who has fallen in is conscious. Thanks again to Pete and Drew.