sweatinoutliquor

Oh my! Great pics! Crevasse fall didn't actually sound all that sweet. Glad you made it out okay! Did you freak out a bit after you fell in, or were you pretty calm? How did you get out? I'm not looking forward to know what that stomach dropping out feeling is like. Anyway, again, thanks for sharing, I'm glad your okay! ~Nate

I wanna say they are right behind our flying friend Shawn.

I'm jealous dude... Great job, and hey screw it, I like the photos! They show it like it is, which looked dark, solo, and pretty awesome. Looks like you made pretty good time up there as well. Thanks again for posting the writeup!

Yet another trip report that is making me kick myself for not leaving the office this weekend! Great photos! Looks like a schweet spot to camp! Thanks again for the TR!

Looks like fun! Thanks for the report! forweezer to get back to your car you can descend either cooper spur, sunshine, or the easiest is the standard south side route, but that involves a mandatory car shuttle (unless you want to hike an eatra 12 miles or something like that).

Goddamn you no questions in the TR forum!!! Just kidding of course! Eugene is a cool town dude. Pretty alternative, but lot's of folks like it. As for climbing, I dunno where you are coming from, but ice climbing is certianly not something that the area is famous for. You can find some mixed stuff if the conditions are right, and on the north side of hood there are a few pretty amazing ice lines. Area is better for proximity to Smith Rock (3 hours) and for alpine routes in the Cascades. For the most part forget the oregon coast or coast range. Sure there are a few chossy gems, but nothing to write home and tell your parents about. You do have the Columns, or skinner butte, right there in town, which supposedly is an okay spot to stay in shape (basalt columns, single pitch if that, small area). You will be within 2 hours of a few intersting Cascades mossy gems such as Flagstone. So yeah, I dunno, it's not a bad area if you don't mind spending 2 hours in the car. Wait, shit, you coming from NH? That's where I came from. Damn brokofsky, don't expect much granite. The big hills are sick though. ~Nate

Keep in mind that our happy Utah soloist would have to cross two significant glaciers to get to sandy, and I know that sandy does have the potential for deep crevasses... While coverage seems good at this point, I personally wouldn't take the extra risk for a route that doesn't seem to be much harder than leutholds couloir (I'm refering to sandy). Reid is spicy enough to have a great day on. I mean shit, it's your first time in the cascades, and lot's o' folks would think a solo of the reid would be a heck of an initiation. If you really want harder than that you should spend the 2 days and hit the north face. As for weather, I would try NWS Portland, sick!, and of course, the ol' standby weather.com Remember that if the weather is crappy in Government Camp it's more than likely gonna be really crappy up on the hill. Don't waste your time in a storm up there, just go to Smith and climb rocks.

Hmmm... North face is certianly the classic I would say. Problem is getting to it now. I'm sure that the approach is long, and no public transportation really get's you to that trailhead. If you want to do that route you should probably hook it up with a local who is heading up that way (sorry, I can't do anything till I finish my thesis, shit I don't even have a car so what am I talking about). Other options that may be a bit more accessable but slightly less spectacular are the Reid headwall and the Devils Kitchen Headwall, both of which are accessed from the popular Timberline Lodge parking lot high on the south side of the mountain. A search on this site should yield photos and possibly route descriptions. I also recommend getting your hands on a copy of Jeff Thomas' book "Oregon High", which has excellent photos and route descriptions. Maybe at your local public library, or certianly in portland somewhere. Don't expect too much quality water ice on the south side right now... My understanding from the TR's is that lot's of what's up there is good 'ol crumbly rime. Hey, don't forget that if the weather craps out, you can always go to Smith too. Good luck dude, hopefully that helps!

Success!

Can we break over a page of spray before we actually get more details? I'm doing my part...

You guys looked rad up there... I was scared enough looking down into the cirque with my feet on solid ground!

Climb: Bachelor Summit Photo - Date of Climb: 2/8/2006 Trip Report: Taken from the summit of bachelor yesterday. Not sure who the dude in the paraglider is, but it looked like a lot of fun! Sorry about the huge pic, but whatever, I guess I'm really not sorry. Gear Notes: Should have brought my parachute? Approach Notes: Chairlift

web page ?

That's some sick skiing guys, way to go!

For a second tool get something with a hammer rather than an adze. If you think that there is a chance that you may at some point want to get into more technical ice climbing, then consider getting the hammer version of a nice tool set (example petzl quark or aztar with hammer). It's gonna be more expensive for a nice technical tool, but then if you do choose to try some 2 tool climbing, you only have to pay for the other one, rather than a whole set. Chriz's route suggestions are great! Lot's o' people say that curved shaft tools aren't idea for alpine stuff cause the shafts don't plunge as well as a straight tool, but I have found that my quark plunges quite well, and in general, if I'm climbing softer stuff where I'm doing a lot of plunging, the second tool isn't out so much. Good luck!

Sweet link of me and my friends playing add on.

Ha! Remembering the classics? Dude, I have the memory of 1/ so that doesn't work, especially when so I need bright colors. I especially need reminding if I don't get something on day one and want to try it the next time. Plus then you can take all the holds off, and put them back different and try the same old routes with new holds. Okay, how about a box of colored chalk to write little blue X's next to holds that are "on", and "Hey, don't grab me you cheater asshole" on ones that are out? Seriously though, you do have a good point. I was just reading a thing about how if you keep doing the same sequence you can actually train yourself on how to do it wrong. So when I play on the walley wall I do the first half of my excersice on my "taped classics" and the second half (after ) freestyle.

I have a cassin tool that I was looking to swith the adze out for a hammer and I can't find the peice anywhere... The products seem to be good, but they don't really seem to be sold in the states at all. Go with quarks. Oops, just saw your were looking for mountaineering axes... Quarks probably wont work so well for that.

Thanks for bringing this up... I had similar questions. Nice tip Alpk. More time to use two seperate clips, but makes lots of sense.

You can play add on... You know, the one where you climb one move, then your buddy does yours and adds one (or two) moves to it. Then you do the new sequence and add a few at the end. Fun, and get's progressivly harder. Sounds like you have enough holds to make a wall of that size a lot of fun. Probably wont spend too much time with it vertical, as even slightly overhanging add lot's to a smallish wall like that (I have one, same size, looking to make it bigger). Also grab a few rolls of colored tape and put up some routes in a bunch of difficulty. Tape up routes that are possible, but that you can't do right away and will have to work towards. Those routes may get boring for you if you are doing them all the time, but your buddies will love coming over to try to link up one of your problems. Then make them add their own route before they go home. Finally, one tip I would suggest is to make a "ladder" of easyish holds from top to bottom so that you have something you can downclimb to link routes together or make them longer. Right now you probably are going to have 5 or 6 move routes, unless you wander around a lot... Adding downclimbing can help you stretch that wall into a more aerobic workout (if that is one of your training goals). Cool you built one, they are more fun than I initially expected, and I find myself playing around on that rather than fighting crowds at the gym. Good luck and have fun! PS. you can at home too... Adds a new dimension to workouts!

Alta... Snowbird... I hear they are one day routes... If you do it right you can go up and down them about 15 times a day and barely break a sweat!!! Great views too! Sorry... I just can't wait till your shreading on the skis!

Holy crap that's another good deal... I wish I actually had money for this stuff or I would be all over it. Josh and wazz I totally agree on the rangefinder feature, and I'm glad you mentioned it. Seems like any "green" placement is sure to get your cam stuck. Still a good cam though in my opinion if you ignore that part.

Hey dude, I agree with the above. Dru is right on about the small tricams. But, that being said, if the crack is bigger than an inch, in general I'm ALWAYS reaching for a cam. I will say that tricams are a great when you have the time to make sure they are placed correctly, and they really rock for beefing up a belay anchor. Here is a link to a local company that is selling some really nice cams for cheap. They are on sale in a lot of places cause Metolius is replacing them with superlight ones (which are pretty awesome, but cost a bit more), but for the price I feel like the quality is great! HERE Good luck!

Hey dude, if you are looking for some cams, I think this is one of the best deals you can get right now for a SOLID cam. They are on sale in a lot of places cause they are being replaced with a superlight model (that's pretty rad too, but spendier). Anyway, I agree with the above. Buy a nut set, and cam set. I would steer clear of hexes to start... If you do get them I personally think the wired ones sorta suck so get something with a sling of some type. Tricams are great, but I only like the smaller ones. The big ones do have their use in funky pockets and stuff, but I find that I'm reaching for my cams in almost all other situations. Here is the cam link . Good luck and have fun!

Dude, matt's got the right idea... Rather than buying lots of stuff, get 3 trashbags and carry your stuff in one (on the end of a stick over your shoulder) and sleep in the other two. The "yard waste" bags these days are really great. Seriously though, I think you got an interesting idea, but when a quality bivy sack weighs about a pound, is this really the best place to be looking to save weight? Send a photo if you pull it off. Otherwise I would be interested in seeing a link to some quality trashbag shots.