Bergretter

That is a fantastic picture! Makes me laugh every time I see it. I can't wait till my little guy is learning the same lessons, and hopefully, I'm teaching him. Nice work, Dad.

Jeremy is a very calculating and conservative snowboarder, as an old time splitboarder myself, I admire his mature riding style. Check out his splitboarding movie Further sometime and you'll get to know him well.

These boots are older but worn only two or three times. I wear a 43.5 in all my other La Sportiva boots but these ran a bit small, so for cold weather they are out for me. Willing to ship. More pics available if requested.

I'm curious about these devices as well. I was pondering the question if you should be on a steep slope wallowing in deep powder anyway. Will these things get you into a place on the mountain you shouldn't be in those conditions? My old school thoughts were if you can't make progress in that type of terrain in those conditions, should you be there?

Petzl Spatha (small size). Compact so you cut only the strand you should be cutting, lightweight, orange in color to assist with not losing, combo serrated and straight edge, carabiner hole, one handed opening.

What age child are you referring to? My 5 y/o will only tolerate comfy keen style boots! He climbs rock better than me in 'em but we haven't tackled much inclined snow yet.

I'm with you on using the split setup for access to climbs, getting on with the route, and descending steep snow in the most fun way possible. I've used splitboards to access climbs all over Alaska and Washington and found them to have some weaknesses but what an awesome way to slide in with the boot you will be climbing the route in and not having to dick around with AT or ski boots. My latest model in use is Voile's Mojo RX with the light rail bidings, seems work just fine with my La Sportiva Nepal Evos or Nuptse boots. I am 6 foot and weight 195lbs, carrying 20 or so pounds on average in the pack, using a board the measures 166. The shorter board works just fine in maritime climates, and cuts a bit of weight. I admit the flats suck, but worth it overall imo. When the slope gets sporty due to hardpack or ice, I slap on the viole split crampons, work like a champ, or just continue on with my mountaineering boots cramponed up and board on the pack. I made due with an old burton setup for years, trying AT boots with step in bindings, koflach boots with mountain plates, everything just a bit shy of what I really needed to make it work, so finally bit the bullet and dished out cash to get the right setup.

As far as using your Koflach boots, I tried using my old Asolo plastics back in my early split days with the mountain plate bindings (toe/heel bails) with no joy, trying to keep the opposite side of the deck up during a heelside turn ended up being impossible in firm conditions....too much heel flex. Also had problems with the toes/heels of the boots dragging due to boots being so long(on back foot only). Ended up using AT boots to make those bingings work for many years. I've since switched to using my Nepals or Nupses with regular strap bindings since I enjoy accessing climbs with my split and those boots work much better in the alpine for me.

Man, thanks for the TR and info, we were debating on making the pilgrimage all the way to the Palisades, but it looks as though the season on the Notches may be over earlier than later this year! Is early September an average 'in condition' time to attempt these routes?

Pack basic supplies to sooth their minor cuts and bruises, then take a Wilderness oriented aid course at the level of Basic, Advanced or to really develop confidence, the First Responder. The wilderness version of these courses will teach you how to take care of most situations encountered in the wild with appropriate supplies AND how to improvise should the situation dictate.

Thanks for sharing your experience on Sahale Peak, Luke. To add my opinion to this SPOT discussion, if I were looking to bring one device into the backcountry for emergency use only, I would go with the McMurdo Fastfind PLB, smaller and lighter than SPOT, sends out a GPS fix to the SARSAT system which is more reliable than the Globalstar system that SPOT uses (read, possible delay). The PLB requires no annual fee to use, just pay purchase price and done for life. Also, the PLB's ping out a signal on 121.5mhz, which I can tell you from first hand experience assists aircrews in conducting the fine pinpointing of your location. If I wanted my spouse or friends to be able to track my progress, send out 'miss you, I'm fine' messages every so often, and have an adequet way to reach out to SAR services, and willing to pay a monthly/annual fee, the SPOT would be ideal. Of course my satellite phone is the ideal machine, being the new motorola 9575, lighter and smaller than previous models. It utilizes the very reliable Iridium Network, is able to communicate via two way voice (phone), two way texting, and programmable SOS button is the ultimate way to explain to SAR services your predicament and exactly what aid/supplies you need. Downside is initial cost of unit and satphone minutes are not cheap. Just some food for though and what I've experienced through the years.

I've got a 40 pound four y/o and use an older model singing rock full body harness with good results. My boy seems to feel secure enough in this harness to swing in it, randomly fall off the wall (testing Dad's reaction time!), and flip up-side down in it. I imagine any model full body harness for a child would provide similar security. I would be much more nervous with him in a waist harness at this age.

Oh man go for a stout 2-3 person tent. The haul up to Muir is not that far or particularly difficult to be counting grams. When the weather kicks up, and you are living in that space for a few days, you will be counting your blessings for the space and the sturdiness. Hut is fun, but if you want good sleep, do the tent. Add my vote for the use of scoop style tent anchors, had to chip them out last departure from Muir!

I'm excited to get my 3 y/o boy off the ground. I've got a full body harness that he is just about to fit into. What would be a good way to introduce him to the vertical world that won't give him too much of a scare the first time around. Maybe a low tyrolean rig to scoot across? Or just haul him up a small wall on TR and see how he likes it. What have other parnents tried and found works?

Heard of folks getting some summer time crevasse climbing in on the Mendenhall, but not sure of the details on doing this. Maybe someone from the are can chime in.