scheissami

So... All the crevasses were filled? Sounds safe sans rope, eh? Pics?! Glad you had a good trip, cheers.

Rad trip! Noticed you belaying the second on autoblock off your rope... Pretty ingenious way to extend the anchor, I'll have to try that. Is that a butterfly knot?

Three Sisters Wilderness in central OR might fit the ticket. Four mile hike in to Green Lakes, then plenty of stuff to explore on day hikes.

Three of us drove down on Sunday for some touring in the Sisters, but the weather hasn't been kind. We ended up just climbing at Smith. According to the rangers, Cascade Lakes Hwy is open only to Bachelor (still 2-4 ft snow beyond), so still a 4 mile skin in to the Green Lakes TH. On the east side, the road (I think it's state road 16?) is plowed about 2-3 miles from the Three Creek TH. Have fun, post a conditions report if you get out! -erik

Thanks, Lowell, that's getting me more stoked! Been reading "Oregon High" and "Backcountry Ski! Oregon" looking at possible routes. We're not interested in any speed records, or even necessarily summiting each peak... I just think it'd be a superb outing for a few days. Cheers! Erik

Nice... Just downloaded it and have been poking around on it. I really like the inclusion of the avy rose on the telemetry section. Strong work!

This looks amazing... I can't tell from the description or the screenshots, but are Oregon areas included? What about backcountry areas (i.e. places with weather stations but not resorts, like St Helens)? If so, I'm sold! Nice work!

Checked out "Oregon Descents" on Amazon, yikes! $500! I have van Tilburg's Oregon Backcountry Ski book, hopefully that'll fill in the gaps. So North to South, eh? That's the kind of info I was looking for. I'm not sure if we'll do the base camp thing... I'm more interested in doing it "alpine" style, even if I'm not a hard man Probably just bivy while on the traverse. Maybe a base camp to relax afterwards? How long for a moderately fit group? I was thinking 2-3 days max, unless the weather is grim. Any need for protection/rope-wankery? I figured just an ax and crampons should do the ticket. Don't think our group will be too focused on summiting, if the climbing gets sketch we'll likely just try to bypass the difficulties. I certainly don't want to lug around pickets and such. I've not climbed anything in the Sisters, but my understanding was that most of the peaks have walk-up routes unless the conditions are particularly icy. Thanks for the info!

Looking for a line rated for both half/twin use, light as possible. Most likely use for glacier travel and ski mountaineering; I rarely ice climb but wouldn't mind the option of using it as a twin for that purpose. Favorites? Poking around on the internets, I found the Edelrid Apus, 7.8mm, 42gm/m, looks like decent impact forces. Thoughts? Cheers.

Considering trying to do a May ski traverse of the Sisters and Broken Top. I'm sure this has been done, but I wasn't able to find any beta on it here (other than this link). Is May a good time? Seems like there should be enough snow to actually get some decent skiing in. A back-up plan would be to just hang out on the Jefferson Park Glacier for a few days. Thanks for any info. Probably just try to figure things out by reviewing Oregon High, but wonder if the climbing routes would offer up the best skiing options. Cheers!

Beautiful shots!

Thanks! Considering the Oetztal Traverse...heard much about it?

RAD pics!

Howdy, Hoping to head back to Austria next spring (2011) and visit my family near Vienna. Any recommendations for relatively mellow hut-to-hut tours in the Austrian Alps? Maybe about 5-7 days long? I'd certainly consider the French/Italian/Swiss Alps as well, just feeling nationalistic. Either posh or ghetto is fine, looking for some good, moderate ski terrain with minimal technical travel (roped glacier travel, ice falls, rock climbing, etc.) and would like to minimize the amount of gear I have to hump along. Any other ideas where I could look for further resources? Cheers, Erik

Photos: Socked in on the way up Sweet views from high above the clouds (ignore the two ass-clowns in the pic) Sweet turns from the summit Good snow most of the way down Mount Hood in the distance

Trip: Mt. St. Helens - South Side / Worm Flows Date: 1/31/2010 Trip Report: My buddy Ross and I headed up to St. Helens yesterday. The forecast was for scattered showers early but persistent clouds, which was exactly what we got. Left the car about 8am, summited about 2pm (yes, we are slow), back at the car by 5pm. There were several large groups climbing yesterday, as well as several groups of ski-tourers. Plenty of ski turns low down, but I think we're the only ones to ski from the summit. Most people bagged it early due to visibility concerns. We figured we'd just keep slogging unless it got really nasty. We were in the clouds until about 5500', then mostly above cloud level with some occasional bursts of bright sunlight. Amazing powder turns off the summit, with good snow all the way down until about 5000' where it turned to glop. No evidence of avy activity. We didn't dig a pit since the forecast was mellow and we stuck to gentle terrain away from lee slopes. There was anywhere from 3-8" powder on top of a very distinct crust, under which there was more unconsolidated fluff. Overall, an amazing day of skiing. I'll post some pics once I get them from Ross. Cheers! Gear Notes: Flotation of choice. Approach Notes: Road clear to parking lot at Marble Mount trailhead. Boot it until 2900', then skins the rest of the way.

Thanks for the advice, likely will just stick to bouldering, then, though I'm not too good at it. Any guides for that? I'll see if I can scrounge a crashpad from my buddies' family/friends. I owe ya a pint! Cheers, Erik

We'll be headed to the South Island. My best friend's family is from Christchurch, so that's pretty much where we'll be staying. He's willing to climb but not always totally stoked, so climbing is sort of a peripheral activity for this trip. I'm considering just bringing my harness and shoes and trying to borrow/rent/buy rope and draws there, rather than hauling all of my stuff around. I haven't been climbing as much as I'd like, so prolly will stick to easier stuff (moderate 5.10 and easier). Anything good for easy day trips from Christchurch? If there are long approaches I can already hear my buddy grumbling... Thanks for the info!

Hey, Headed to New Zealand in May. Anyone have any recommendations for climbing there? Guidebook recs? Due to luggage constraints I'd like to stick to sport climbing unless the gear routes are epic or there aren't bolt protected climbs... Cheers, Erik

The rangers can give you good info on the avy-prone areas. They're quite small, and there are certainly ways to avoid them (bypass trails are marked on the park maps). Usually they're below cliffs that are prone to dumping snow/rock onto the rim road.

Did the circumnavigation last April, TR here. Pretty rad trip. So, the official word is that you're not allowed to ski into the caldera, though I agree there are several lines that look amazing. The road accessing the park from the south is plowed year-round, not too sure about the road from the north. If you're looking to log real vertical then getting to Mt. Scott is probably your best bet, though there are plenty of fun smaller peaks within easy distance of the park entrance (from the southern entrance, heading clockwise). The park rangers are super helpful, I'd suggest emailing them for exact conditions and trip planning. No matter what you end up doing in the park, you'll have a rad time, it's absolutely amazing and you likely won't run into too many folk this time of year.

Strong work! The pics are SICK! What camera are you using? Any special settings you use for snow/ice?

Looking for some advice regarding skis. I'm a snowboarder learning to ski (been out skiing about 30-40 days). I have BD Kilowatts 165 and Dynafits for resort and BC use. I weigh 140lbs and I'm 6'0". A friend has recommended that I also check out some waxless touring skis for low-angle terrain and for groomed trails (would still make alpine turns, not tele). There's a pretty good deal on Alpina Lite Terrain Skis, which he recommended highly, along with the Rottefella NNN BC manual binding. The question: what size to get? Still very new to skiing and these skis aren't super expensive, but I'm hoping to get something that will last. Should I get the 158 or 168s?

Linky

Hey, I'll be spending time in Newport Beach and in San Diego over Thanksgiving. Any ideas on local climbing that would be ideal for a few individual day trips? It's lame, I know, but sport climbing would be preferable due to size/luggage limitations... Cheers, Erik