powdrx

Great job Joe and company. Looking forward to seeing you back in the PNW bro!!

"This is fucking AWESOME!!" Having got my butt kicked once in the N Picketts, I just find it amazing to read about you guys running shop out in some of the wildest terrain in the lower 48. Great accomplishment all around!!

Might work nicely for the tops of skis to keep snow from collecting and freezing.

Awesome TR Dan. I caught glimpses of those couloirs a couple times this winter and plotted to get out there. Thanks for the beta and the stoke!! Aaron

They sell it pre-packaged in QFC stores in Seattle and also at Ballard Market.

I skinned and skied Whitehorse in May 2008. We brought a 30m-8mm rope as a just in case, but no gear ever came out of the bag. We booted up through the avalanche gully and once out of there we skinned 95% of the whole thing with a couple sections of booting. It is a great ski!! Have fun. https://picasaweb.google.com/aaronch76/080501WhitehorseMountainClimbAndSki#5195848881384941458

Pretty cool picture!! And FYI, the gate is now open so your next attempt will be "easier".

So the mudslide is now cleared (pretty awesome sight)... any word on the gate at Bridge Creek??

Thanks for the TR. Sounds like deep and unconsolidated snow is a concern all around the state after talking/hearing from several people. Great effort!!

BC skied on the south side of Mt Herman today and it was crazy!! Getting blown around by 60mph gusts was wild, but graupel skis pretty well!! Awesome weather today!!

It got renamed so link might have changed: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=19486.0 Very Lame!! My thoughts are to her loved ones.

This looks promising: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=47.460245858400384&lon=-121.4168643951416&site=sew&smap=1&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text And that's at 3600ft!!

I anticipate us taking the line of least difficulty on the West Rib. Being in AK and at that altitude will be quite a challenge in itself!! I haven't seen anything about vertical ice or extended dry-tooling on the route. Those are two areas I might suffer in ski boots with overboots and crampons.

Yeah, I follow the WildSnow blog regularly. It has a ton of good info for a AK-newb like me. I'm going to deal with the concept of punching out my ski boots for AK and still being able to use them down here after I decide which boot system to use. Taking two pairs of boots up there isn't too bad considering all the gear we will already have!! But I'd like to avoid that large expense of another pair of boots more dedicated to AK that I might not use as much after the trip. Of course success on Denali is the #1 goal, not saving $$$. Anyone have feedback on climbing with ski boots and intuition liners for multiple days... possible the West Rib

Howdy, I've got plans to attempt the West Rib of Denali June 2011 and I'm psyched!! My questions center on boot selection. Our plan is to climb the West Buttress to ~14k for acclimatization and to leave a cache for our descent off the Rib. Then head down, get a little rest and hit the Rib per weather. My partner is a split-boarder and he is using the Baruntse for everything. I'm a skier and I'm not sure about boot selection for this trip. If I had my choice, I'd take my Garmont Mega-Rides with Intuition Liners and a pair of overboots from 40Below. Does this sound like a decent option to AK veterans? I feel the ski boots are warm enough with the Intuitions, dry well, and I will only need one boot set for the trip. I have done some winter alpine climbing in ski boots (NE Butt-Chair Peak, Whitehorse) and in my reading on the West Rib, it doesn't sound too technical that I'll be crying for different boots, but I haven't been there so I don't know for sure. I've been reading Dane's blog and his posts on here reviewing boots (great stuff for sure :tup:), but I'd love to use ski boots. Any info from West Rib climbers and AK vets will be much appreciated!! Thanks a bunch, Aaron

Solid work Ben!! Congrats to ya'll on a sweet climb!! Aaron

I am quite average. I brought and used the #5 on the White Flake Pitch and then used it again on the Bear-Hug pitch. A #4 works fine on both pitches, but I liked the #5 on the Flake. Approach is not far, so if you have it, bring it and if nothing else, training weight!!

This might be better in the topic that Atreides linked above, but I use the JetBoil a lot and really like it. I use the cup it came with and pour in a little hot water to keep the fuel warm and the flame roaring. Same technique Atreides uses with the Reactor and the squishy cup. I also bring a Nalgene gallon bag and fill it with lots of snow. Get the water nice and hot, but not boiling, and pour it into the bag to melt the additional snow. This works pretty well and I average ~12L of water with a couple boils from one 110g canister. Admitted this is above 20F. I haven't used it below those temps. Just more food for thought from a JetBoil user!! Great discussion!!

With all the rain on Saturday night, ended up over in Vantage. It was wet and rainy until about 10miles from the River and then it was dry. We climbed in the clouds for about 90min, then had 2hrs of shirts of cragging in the sun before the clouds cooled it back off. Fun to get a little Feb cragging in!!

Thanks for the heads up Kurt. That is a good start... we might check out Clem's Holler and the Javelin area as they get a lot of sun. Weather today is great and tomorrow looks good too (for rock, not powder snow, which is what I would usually be looking for this time of year)!!

Thanks for the info. Hard to imagine much of Index is dry right now, but with all the El Nino "magic" out there it just might be true!

I'm jonezing for some granite... any local thoughts on dry rock come Sunday?? That or I'll be on another search for freshiez!! Thanks!!

I think my New Year's Resolution is to be able to do one thing in this video. This guy is impressive!!! http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/journal/culture/video/winger-for-the-weekend-23

MF-- Where abouts at X38 is that ice setting up?? I know of a flow above the Dry Tool wall, but this looks different. Thanks!!

Great climb and great pics!! Did ya'll take crampons. Heading out this weekend and just finalizing the pack list. And thanks for the West Ridge rap beta!!