OlyRob

I let a freind of mine borrow an ice axe to a trip with his wife up the south route on Adams last weekend. His wife lost my axe so they bought me a new one that was a little nicer (and lighter) So if anyone finds a Petzl Charlet ice axe near pikers peak... Enjoy!!!

Mattp....is the route pretty straight forward on the backside or is it easy to take a wrong turn. Actually its pretty easy for me to take a wrong turn just about anywhere

Thanks for your help guys, REI doesnt carry the thing anymore(According to the lady I spoke with on the phone). And even the one in the Mountaineers library is missing. Guess I will be going with the Smoots. Thanks again!

<---was up at Mccleary Cliffs a few months back and found some ticks drinking away and partying hard in my hair. But these ticks are really small and hard to find. Check your crevasses!

Im also looking at doing this traverse and drove up there to attempted it with a freind in March. We had really bad weather and turned around at the end of the maintained trail on Washington. One thing I have heard though(and what we were planning on doing) is that staying on the west side of the ridge is supposed to be very fun and gives you a good "Backcountry" feeling. Also, I have heard from several freinds, that have completed this traverse, is you definitely want to start from Washington.

Ive been to McCleary Cliffs and I think its about 1.6 miles after you make the turn at the T. There will be a big turnout on the left hand side of the road. The cliffs are across the street and spread out pretty good. The X cliff has a good bolted route on it. Also, there is a small cliff down by the water, right next to the turnout. It has three bolted routes, the middle one is pretty good, the one on the right is probably 5.7 or 8. The one on the left isnt that great. The whole area doesnt offer too much but there is still room for new routes to go up. I plan on doing some exploring up there later this summer

Im new to the area and looking for the Climbers Guide to Fossil Rock that went out of print in like 1840 or something. Does Anyone have a copy they are willing to sell or know where I can get one? Any help is appreciated!

This time of year the traverse might require crampons...later in the year it would be a lot more enjoyable for a rock only climber, just remember to take a lot of water because it gets hot and dry up there in the summer and there is no place to get any water once your up high on that mountain

Should be a small group of us there. Anyone else wanna go just show up and enjoy the day!

Yea I was just up on the south route last Friday/Saturday (May20-21). Conditions were pretty good except very little snow at the bottom. Up high the snow was wind blown and kicking steps was nearly impossible as the snow just collapsed every time you put any weight on it. But if you have good weather you will have a good time. we even had a couple of guys meet us at the climbers camp saturday morning and they did the whole thing in a day.

Hey great pics! I was up on Ellinor the same day and it was beautiful. The climb was great, we climbed the chute but there is no glissade(Except very very short sections). There is snow at the top of the chute but its really hard. The summit is the same as Washington, snow but no cornices. The glissade from the summit is still really good. We went down the summer route but it is muddy and the path has a lot of 2-3 inches hard ice from all the traffic(we saw probably 30 people over the day and all were on the summer route). If I had it to do over again we would have down climbed the chute. Still a great day on Ellinor, in a few months Im going back for the Washington to Ellinor Traverse!

Alpine climbing eh? Excellent Well good news, 6 weeks into this and I'm climbing again. God that took a long time and it still hurts so I'm not pushing it. The first day back it was sore but it loosened up quickly and now it feels WAY better. Thanks for all the posts guys!!!

My physical therapyst told me the following: "Ice it until it goes numb three times a day and take Ibuprofen once a day for the first 10 days after injury to reduce swelling" "Freeze a dixie cup of water and then massage the injured area with it for 10-12 minutes...then you can put the dixie cup back in the freezer" There are three stages in icing: First is the ice is really really cold (duh) Second the ice feels like you are being poked with needles third the area goes numb(After about 10-12 minutes) I threw in the fourth stage: Flesh turns black and falls off......She wasnt amused. Well its been since January 10th and I have done what she said and it still hurts like hell especially if I put any pressure on it. I would say it still has another 90% healing to go before it's back at 100%....if its ever back at 100% that is. God Im getting old.

great stuff everybody, thanks. I went to a physical therapist and she told me to ice it three times a day for the next 10 days and take Ibuprofen plus lots of water. I took my daughter to the gym last night to let her climb so I tested my finger out while we were there. Its still way screwed up. I'm thinking Dr Flash is right, this is going to take months. Oh yea, whoever said no coffee, soda and beer.....screw you! J/J

I climbed Mt Ellinor on the same day (22Jan). The road was completely iced over just past the lower trailhead so I decided to park and hike from there. The trail had zero snow on it until well past the upper trailhead. Up high there was tons of snow and route finding was a little difficult. The visibility was horrible and I couldn't see anything over 100 feet away which meant my camera stayed in my pack. If anyone wants to go climb Mt Ellinor, remember your snowshoes. They are not absolutely necessary but I think you will enjoy the climb much more than postholing.

5 months? I hope mine doesnt take that long. I have a lot of stuff I want to climb this summer! Oh well thanks for the response, I like the gym for staying in shape but it's really going to piss me off if a stupid gym injury takes out my entire season of climbing

I recently injured my middle finger while bouldering at the gym. It's been 10 days now and the thing still hurts just as bad as the first day. I have been climbing for over 15 years and never had one feel near this bad. Has anyone had a serious tendon injury in a finger before and how long did it take to heal? Im starting to think I broke my finger!

But are they worth the cash? Those boots are expensive

dryad, good deal thanks for the info!!! Was the class worth your time? I have been rock climbing for over 15 years but I have never set foot on a glacier. Im hoping this course will be a good starting point for climbing glaciated peaks in the pacific northwest.

Ramsey - Thanks for the post, good stuff. You just made my decision easier. I plan on using my Asolo leathers with the Black Diamond Contact strap-ons for the mountaineers this year and then make a better decision on boots next year.

Look for me on Sunday if you're up there and dont forget your snowshoes...you will need them - Rob

I just joined the gym at Alpine Experience in Oly. Its really good...at least one or two Prana tops every time I show up. Oh yea, the gym is pretty decent too.

I talked to a lady at Alpine Experience(in Oly) that went up Ellinor on Saturday(Jan 8th) with 2 other people. They didnt make the summit because of "To much snow" and thought the place looked prime for a avalanch. Also, I heard the place has some pretty menacing cornices right now. I may try to head up there this weekend if the weather looks decent.

Im in the same boat when it comes to finding a good mountaineering boot. I have a good pair of leather Asolo's but they do not accept step-in or hybrid crampons. Right now I am looking at either getting a pair of Scarpa Invernos to go along with a pair of Black Diamond Sabretooths crampons; or I will just get a pair of strap-ons for my Asolo's and leave it at that for the year. I am taking the Mountaineers Basic Climbing course starting in a few weeks so hopefully they can help out. Its always been easy picking out rock climbing shoes, but Mountaineering boots seem so final since they are so expensive!!

I cant believe I left Oklahoma for this! Oh wait...this is why I left Oklahoma