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Snafflehunter

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Posts posted by Snafflehunter

  1. Not that this thread needs another post, but I thought I'd share some of my own opinions on the matter.

     

    I just heard a radio show (AM 570) discussing how irresponsible these climbers were attempting the mountain in December. They were saying that the people who were searching for the trio all had families and are being put in harms way. These guys aren't ballet instructors, they're professional mountaineers trained in mountaineering, medicine, and assessment of environmental variables. If I'm not mistaken, SAR is a completely voluntary service. Nobody is forced to participate, and I kind of doubt that any of the SAR members feel that way. Furthermore, SAR members are climbers and skiiers in their sparetime, and I'm quite sure there are at least a couple on the team who have summitted Hood (and other PNW mountains) in December - and don't think it's irresponsible. The idea that nobody should climb Hood in December is ridiculous to me, and anyone who believes that doesn't have a clue what they're talking about.

     

    The fact is, climbing is a year-round sport. That will never change. If these guys were skiing in the backcountry and got into trouble, would everyone say how irresponsible they were for going out on skis on... SNOW in ... DECEMBER and risking theirs and others' lives for the sake of recreation? No way. Granted, there are many climbers who would not have chosen the first week of December following a series of serious storms to make the climb (I'd probably wait until February when there's traditionally a nice stretch of clear, mild weather), but I'm not training for Everest either and I may not be as qualified as these guys were.

     

    Saying that Hood (or other mountains) shouldn't be climbed in December is about as dumb as saying pleasure pilots shouldn't fly in airplanes over mountain ranges or bodies of water in December. If the plane crashes, that selfish pleasure pilot will have put many rescuers' lives in danger, all for the sake of a scenic ride.

     

    You're not going to get people to stop climbing mountains in December. The mountains belong to everyone.

  2. OK .. I'll bite, Sky.

     

    First of all, I've met you before. You seem like an alright guy. I like your trip reports and you do some hard core crazy type shit. Awesome.

     

    But let's be real about it. You say its a pretty petty beef. I agree. It is. But nevertheless, my point is a valid one. You shouldn't be on this board offering advice to people if you haven't stepped foot on the route. This website maybe the only place on earth where people would disagree with that statement.

     

    If I were asking advice on a route, I would expect the decency of an honest answer. If someone is blowing smoke up my ass and leading me to believe they know what they're talking about when they don't, then I'd be glad that someone alerted me to the fact outwardly. Is someone going to die because they were suggested the wrong rack for the W. Ridge of Forbidden? Probably not. Am I implying that? Not in the slightest.

     

    We all know that asking for 'beta' on this website is akin to asking for legal advice at the office water cooler. You're going to get some good opinions, and some bad ones. But .. if you are intentionally bullshitting an entire community and someone knows about it, then expect to be called on it. I sure as hell would. But that's just me I guess... I don't post on here to lie to people and get brownie points with my compadres for climbing a bunch of routes that I actually haven't. Take it for what it's worth. If you think the beef is petty .. fine, then don't listen to what I'm saying. You have your opinion and I have mine.

     

    Is cascadeclimbers.com "the pacific northwest climbers resource" or a bunch of yahoo armchair climbers who like to type funny little messages more than they like to get out and climb? If the latter, keep on keeping on. If this site wants an ounce of respect from newcomers, then do the right thing and give people honest advice when they ask for it.

     

    If all this makes me a hater, then so be it.

  3. I don't mean to play shrink, Harry, but what exactly is the point of your post? Is it due to the size of your penis? Everyone knows you are a wee little guy, but now we're beginning to see how wee your wee wee is. hahaha.gif

     

    BTW .. I like to use a cotton windshirt. No hard feelings?

     

    EDIT: Get it? No hard feelings .. small wee wee!!!!! Ahh, forget it.

  4. yellowsleep.gif

     

    Not quite as "core" as 2064 posts on this website in less than 2 years though, right Napoleon? Who knows how many posts you have as other avatars. Take your lips off mommies tit and get outside.

     

    Now that I have your attention, put your thinking cap on and reread what I wrote again and again until you can finally understand that I was attempting to clarify that I (unlike others on this thread offering advice on what to bring on the climb) have actually climbed the route.

  5. Exactly. Forbidden is indeed in the Cascade Pass area of peaks (see Green Beckey 3rd edition, pg 322) and I have yet to meet anyone besides Blake who would disagree with that. Some people think they have a lot more experience than they really do on this website, so you really need to take everything you hear with a grain of salt.

     

    That said, if you haven't personally climbed the W Ridge of Forbidden, then what business do you have commenting on what constitutes a suitable rack?

     

    As for my own opinion (and I have climbed the W. Ridge twice), you could easily get by with a set of stoppers to 1" and plenty of double length runners. If you're really concerned, bring along a few small cams. Also, I suggest descending the E. Ledges ... I think it saves time. It's about 5 raps from the summit then ~20 minute traverse, then a climb to an obvious notch which brings you to class 3 terrain above Boston Basin.

  6. I climbed Liberty Ridge on June 1-3 on a somewhat low snow year and thought conditions were perfect. We got a noonish start at the White River TH on day 1 and camped on the far side of St Elmo's Pass. We then bivvied again below thumb rock and did the midnight departure on summit day. We belayed one pitch at the 'schrund, but other than that we soloed from the Carbon. I used two tools, but in the conditions we encountered (softish snow lower down, styrofoam from just above Thumb Rock to the summit, temps just above freezing) I could have easily got away with using just a short mountaineering axe if I really felt the urge to save weight. Maybe one short mountaineering axe and a third tool would be the perfect compromise in good conditions. In my opinion, though, why chance it just to save a little weight ... it could be icy and you may be glad you brought two tools. Especially if you're coming all the way from Alaska. You may not have the luxury of watching the forecast and conditions, so you should be prepared for the whole range. The 'schrund can get pretty nasty later in the season, and may require two tools and/or maybe even some aid. With the amount of snow we're getting this Winter though, the 'schrund should be in decent shape well into June.

     

    Most years you'll want snowshoes through the end of May, and this year you may need them into June. I did not have to use them on June 1st of a low snow year, and am sure glad because that would suck to have to carry them up and over pitty.gif

     

    From my general Cascades experience, temperatures can be all over the map in June so it's pretty tough to say for sure, but I'd say be prepared for as cold as 0 at night in super shitty conditions at 10,000ft. I think it was like upper 20s at night when I was up there (at the coldest)

     

    I'd go with DPS' advice on pickets/screws (2/4). You may not use any screws, especially in May where you're more likely to experience a steep snow climb, but you should definitely have some along.

     

    Difficulty can be so varied on Liberty Ridge, so it's tough to make an accurate comparison to another climb unless snow/ice conditions are known. I would say be prepared for a relatively moderate grade III at the easiest to a full-on grade IV with significant objective dangers, steep ice, and the whole weather gammet at the very hardest. Time of year and snowfall/depth, firmness of snowpack/temperatures in the days leading up to the climb will be key factors in determining how difficult the route will be when you are on it. Either way, expect dramatic exposure. Also, and this may or may not be obvious, but expect Mt Rainier to be MUCH bigger in person than you imagined from pictures. I found this to be the case with Mt Rainier more so than with other any mountain I've encountered. Rainier is mammoth.

     

    Write a TR and take lots of pics.

     

    Edit: I cannot advise making the trip in from anywhere else but White River CG. I won't go into my reasoning here as there is an entire thread devoted to the topic somewhere on this site (see link above).

     

    Also, don't take the Interglacier for granted -- it is crevassed, and there have been many incidents there in the past related to crevasse falls (some fatal). I suggest remaining roped up until you get further down into the basin. It is easy to fall into that herd mentality and unrope whenever you see everybody else doing it, especially when it looks so benign from the surface, but I can assure you a punch-through on the Interglacier is not a rare occurence.

     

    If I had to predict which week would be best this coming summer (May-June) to climb LR, I would go with around the 7-14th of June. I do not proclaim to be Madam Cleo (if I did, you'd be getting charged for this), but if I was coming from Alaska and had 4 days to set aside in advance, that is the timeframe I would gamble on.

  7. In 1998-99, we had 93 days of rain .. not in a row. If you can grasp that, semantics should play no role in your interpretation of the events. The maximum number of consecutive days it has ever rained in Seattle is 33 (since records have been kept). Our current streak is at 22 days. It has never rained in Seattle for 93 consecutive days (meaning measurable [>.001 inch]precipitation on each day for 93 consecutive days).

     

    http://www.komotv.com/stories/41209.htm

  8. Climb: Spider & Formidable-SE Gulley & S Face

     

    Date of Climb: 8/15/2005

     

    Trip Report:

    Klenke and I climbed Spider and Formidable this weekend in a 2-day, choss-filled extravaganza.

     

    We left the Cascade Pass TH at 9AM Saturday morning and arrived at Cascade Pass at 10:15 where we were greeted by a very lovely young Ranger, named Miss McKay, who promptly asked us if we were staying the night ("Your tent or mine" came to mind, but I digress). After explaining that we were in fact staying overnight, but not in the Park, we engaged in friendly chit-chat regarding our planned itinerary. Miss McKay explained to us that a recent "experienced" group of climbers who attempted to do the Ptarmigan Traverse reported to her that the route was "impassable". We asked her just what it was that was impassable, but she couldn't elaborate. Klenke casually explained to our Ranger friend that impassable to some is passable to others, but she seemed convinced. Just a small tidbit for all you aspring Ptarmigan Traversers out there (having only seen part of the route, the LeConte Glacier looks interesting, but not impassabe - from afar - for what it's worth).

     

    The route via Cache Col is in great shape right now, with very minimal crevasse avoidance required on both the Cache and Middle Cascade Glaciers. There is some alpine ice on both glaciers which makes for easy ascension and which prevented our crampons from balling up in the hot weather. Worth mentioning were the numerous veritable ice creeks which carved out deep channels in the glaciers, collecting in crevasses and forming "pools". Instead of roping up, one might consider a life preserver here, as you would certainly be swimming in the event of a fall into one of these crevasses.

     

    After 6.5 hours of hiking, we arrived at Spider-Formidable Col where we camped on rocks at the West notch (~7350') where we were greeted with unbelievable views of Yang-Yang Lakes, LeConte, Sentinel, and the rest of the Ptarmigan Traverse (among others). We briefly set up camp and set out to climb our first objective, Spider Mountain. Traversing over towards the SE gullies of Spider, we encountered very steep and hardpack dirt. If you've ever seen the railroad grade on Baker in late Summer, this is very similar. Dry, concrete-hard dirt mixed in equal proportions with sharp, tiny rocks. A fall here would surely yield a flurry of cusswords and a fanny full of pebbles (at the very least).

     

    There are really two gullies to choose from on Spider's SE side .. neither of which are enticing. After a short discussion, Klenke and I agreed that the Western-most gully was worth a shot. Our chosen gully consisted of about 900' more feet of nasty loose pebbles over crusty slabs with the occasional step of coarse, very steep mud thrown in for good measure. We climbed our gully to approximately 250' below the summit where we traversed right and then up before we topped out on the ridge just E of the summit (between the false E summit and the true W summit). From here, it's a traverse of about 200 yards of class 3 choss to gain the true summit to the West. On the summit we were rewarded with unbelievable views to Forbidden, Sahale, Boston, Ripsaw Ridge and Buckner to the North and the Peaks of the Ptarmigan Traverse to the South. The summit register was quite old, dating back to the late-60s and included many recognizable names including that of Ed Viesteurs. There have also been an army of Skoogs up there over the years. An interesting read.

     

    The descent off Spider was much easier than the ascent, mainly because we found the rib Beckey refers to in his route description. The rib consists of loose class 3 choss with very short class 4 steps. Traversing back towards the Spider-Formidable Col was just as ugly the second time around, and was capped by a loose, steep 300' scramble up to the bivy site which turned out to be a real pain in the ass. Unfortunately for us, we would have another encounter with this gully on Sunday following our climb of Formidable.

     

    Back at camp we enjoyed 24oz cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and cold soup (long story). We were visited by a hungry looking Billy Goat who mingled around camp for 20 minutes or so waiting for us to take a whiz, but neither of us had the urge so he finally moved on. That night, the meteor shower was in full force, and the bright half-moon vividly illuminated the surrounding peaks. Even though I was tired, it was hard to get to sleep with so much going on. Truly one of the best bivys I've ever experienced in the mountains.

     

    The next morning we slept in and awoke at 6:20 to cloudless skies. We [again] descended the col and traversed West to a prominent saddle (~7000') above some very nice bivy sites. On the way we saw a very brazen bear who was climbing very icy 25 degree glacial slopes above the Flat Creek basin. Amazing what bears can do, I have never seen them "ice climb" before. Anyhoo, after calling for the bear to stop and chasing after him so we could get a good photo, he finally decided he had enough of us and took off towards Yang-Yang Lakes, never to be seen again (I did manage to snap a photo of him on the glacier, but he was a ways away). We dropped down another dirty gully on the NW side of the saddle and crossed one basin, a prominent rib, and half of another basin before we began to ascend a class 3-4 gully on the South Face. Rock here was relatively solid. After the gully Y'd, we stayed left which kept us climbing nearly straight up. Near the summit we veered a bit right (not much), and ended up almost exactly under the true summit. Views from the summit rivaled that of Spider, but were intensified by an extraordinary, unobstructed view of Dome Peak. Reading through the summit register, it was clear that many more parties attain its summit than neighboring Spider Mountain. Fay Pullen left a new notebook type register up there recently and only 4 parties have signed it, but there are still many loose-leaf entries in the cannister. These loose-leaf entries date back to the early 90s (if I remember correctly).

     

    Our hike out was rather uneventful save for an intriguing conversation with a rather ecclectic group attempting the Ptarmigan Traverse and an encounter with a boulder-trundling mountain goat below Cascade Pass who nearly gave us a heart attack. Back at the car at 7:30PM, 34.5 hours after leaving the TH. Dinner at the Buffalo Run capped off an absolutely perfect trip (except for the fact that Klenke failed to order the Cascade Mountain "Oysters" as he vociferously intended).

     

    Gear Notes:

    Used : camera, sunscreen, dustmask

     

    Shoulda had : stove

     

    Approach Notes:

    Approach is in fine condition. Go get 'er.

     

     

    6673DSCF0736_resize.JPG

    Klenke Admiring the view from our bivy site

     

     

    6673DSCF0743_resize.JPG

    Sinister to LeConte from the summit of Spider Mountain

     

     

    6673DSCF0751_resize.JPG

    Klenke chasing down the bear for a photo op

     

     

    6673DSCF0753_resize.JPG

    The view into Flat Creek Valley from near the 7000' notch

     

    6673DSCF0773_resize.jpg

    Looking East to Spider Mountain from the summit of Formidable

  9. Take the abandoned logging road (blocked by three or four large boulders) out of the Stuart Lake TH instead of going up the trail -- road trends ENE and is marked on the USGS map. Follow this road about a mile or so until you come to a large washout (well before the marked end of the road on the map). Start heading up the hill and generally stay on or near a rather prominent ridge until you top out on the NE Ridge of Cannon (~7800'+), approximately 1 mile NE of Cannon's summit. From here you can either drop ~500' to Coney Lake and regain the Druid Plateau, or traverse high on the ridge directly towards the summit of Cannon. I don't think you'll save that much time (if any) if you stay on the ridge. I chose to drop to the Lake, and it took about 45 minutes to reach the summit from there. This approach is highly recommended versus going all the way through the Enchantment plateau. It makes for a nice loop going out Aasgard Pass and ending up at the same TH.

     

    Continue on through Prusik Pass to get to the Enchantment Plateau, or climb a dirty gully on the N Face of Enchantment Pk like I did (not advisable).

  10. i don't know if i'd classify the glacier travel as "very little" - certainly less than the sulphide, but winnie's slide is steep and dangerous, and the upper curtis when i did it was very maze-like, and of course the upper sulphide itself before the summit is well crevassed. i think it's a reasonable solo, but definetly not pussy shit...

     

    bivy atop the chimneys, there's good space there, and from there you can do the whole thing in and out in an enjoyable 2 days.

     

    Relatively speaking. Fisher Chimneys has the least amount of glacier travel of any of the routes on Shuksan. I think we spent (at most) a total of an hour and 20 minutes on the glacier portion of the route. In the grand scheme of things, that's not very much. I'm not sure I'd say "very little". bigdrink.gif

  11. Climb: Dorado Needle-NW Ridge

     

    Date of Climb: 7/31/2005

     

    Trip Report:

    We approached from Eldorado TH and camped at 7800' below the E. Ridge of Eldorado. Running water was scarce until about 3pm at 7800 camp even with 80 degree temperatures (???). We left camp at 5:45AM and made our way to the col between Tepeh Towers (8040') by 6:15. We then crossed over onto the McAllister Glacier which was fairly mellow (see photos). We dropped and regained about 400-500' avoiding a 'schrund that spans nearly a quarter of a mile. Climbing on the NW Ridge was pretty easy (low fifth) with pretty good exposure on sound rock. The crux went at ~5.4. We belayed 2 pitches, but the route is 3 pitches in length from the notch. A long way to go for 2 pitches, but the views made it all worthwhile. I'll go back for the SE Buttress.

     

    Photos:

     

    Evening view of Dorado Needle from the summit of Eldorado:

    6673DSCF0673-med.JPG

     

    McAllister Glacier from Dorado Needle:

    6673DSCF0700-med.JPG

     

    Views from the summit:

    6673DSCF0705-med.JPG

     

    More views from the summit:

    6673DSCF0711-med.JPG

     

    More views from the summit:

    6673DSCF0713-med.JPG

     

     

     

    Gear Notes:

    used: crampons, ice axe, 8.3x60, cams (red and purple C4 were placed twice), lots of double length runners.

     

    shoulda had: more beer

  12. Hey Josh,

    I soloed Snowfield in July of 2004, and it was one of the tamest glaciers I've ever been on, which is ironic because it is a large glacier. That whole place is pretty scenic, and it turned out to be a great trip. If I were to do it over again I'd probably spend 3 days in there and climb Colonial, and Pyramid as well.

  13. Alpine Tom's idea is a great one. Go up and get Colonial, Pyramid, Paul Bunyan's Stump, and Snowfield (the icing on the cake). I did this same trip solo and it was one of the most enjoyable trips I've ever been on. Another thing to consider .. if you went up to Stuart and Colchuck, you wouldn't really be 'solo'. You'd see tons of other folks. You probably won't see a soul if you go up to the Snowfield/Colonial area.

  14. ...On route at 10:30 pm at about 7,500 ft elevation...

     

    ...The summit was reached at about 1:30 pm...

     

    I'm guessing you meant On route at 10:30AM, otherwise that would be one long 1,500' climb!

     

    Apparently this was too obscene the first-go-round, as the moderators deleted it. This is obviously an error in the TR, and I'm not making fun of it so get over yourself moderators. yellaf.gif

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