scheissami

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

PM sent.

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

Thanks! Good to know the trail was repaired, that was a monster washout...

While doing the approach to Forbidden two years ago via Boston Basin we noted the very large wash-out through the road, making the approach a few extra miles. Did this affect the approach to Torment for the start of the traverse? Any other general recs for the climb? How hard is it to find the trail? Cheers, Erik

Sick! Love the photos....all the pron this month has me itching to get out to the Pickets for the first time.

Nice pics!

Awesome, thanks guys!

So, we did this route about 2 years ago by walking into the base and climbing up. Haven't done the raps from the top, so I can't say which approach is better, but I thought it was cool to climb it ground-up for the first time. We tried to find the trail but without clear success. My friend from Vancouver was along, but it seems the new construction has changed a lot of the landmarks. I don't think the billboards were there anymore (?)--Dru, have you climbed it since the construction? I think they've taken the signs down. Also, there's a culvert built across the trail to the top of the climb. We felt sketched about climbing it (at the end of the day) without knowing for sure what kind of condition the walk-off trail was in. Any more info would be appreciated, hopefully I'll get on this later in the summer on another trip. Thanks! Erik

Rad!

Thanks! I'm stoked to do this again cuz like you say, the view and exposure is great!

Hey, Headed to Squamish this weekend, hoping to climb Star Chek again but with the recent construction I doubt I'd be able to find it. Anybody got relatively specific directions for me (milepost markers, etc...)? Cheers, Erik

Rob, I don't think anybody wants to climb with you. Bummer, dood. Drive on down to Maple with me...sorry, it's sport climbing, but at least it's outside

I thought the reason for Carver's waivers was the fact that the crag is on private property and the owner (a lawyer!) didn't want to deal with dumb-ass climbers dying on his lot.

Hey, If you left a quickdraw on the last bolt (!?) of Kung Fu at Ozone, send me a PM and describe it. I recovered it yesterday and would be happy to get it back to you. Cheers, Erik

So, I was on this trip but didn't ski the face described cuz I'm a shitty skier and I would've died. I wasn't too stoked on that so I turned back around 10,200' at the last crevasse crossing, just below and climbers left of a large rock tower. The other three kids headed up climbers left of the tower (I thought the Sunshine route traversed farther right around this tower, then up easier ground to the summit?) to the summit ridge. The Elliot Glacier Headwall itself was a few runnels of snice over bullet-proof blue glacial ice; they skied skier's left of the headwall, avoiding several large crevasses and the large cliff at the bottom. Traversed skier's left at the bottom to meet up with me at the top of Snowdome. We then skied to the Elliot Glacier basin and our bivy, packed up, and headed out. Sorry, I'm computer-retarded and don't know how you're marking the pics above (what software? I'm on a Mac...) but here are a couple of shots. From our bivy at sunrise: The skiers skied just climbers right of the rock rib protruding from the Elliot Glacier Headwall. You can see some of the substantial crevasse danger they encountered. A view of my high point and the climbing route they took (little dots adjacent to tower): This is a pretty good, albeit foreshortened view of their descent route; they came down just next to the protruding rock band and on the far side of the substantial icefall in the pic. So. Not a true ski-descent of the Headwall itself, but I think that's an issue of semantics and not due to inappropriate chestbeating. In any case, it was a rad trip with pretty fantastic conditions. I wish the pics did the route more justice. Even for me and my suck-ass skiing, Snowdome was awesome. Get on it now before the crevasses open up lower on the Elliot! Cheers, Erik

Yeah, I figured if I were driving to SLC might swing by. Suppose this early there's still a chance of snow, eh? If I remember correctly the elevation's about 7000'. Castle Rock park adjacent to CoR is also a good idea if the weather cooperates.

Hey, Hoping to go climbing next week with the lady-friend, looking for single-pitch cragging, preferably easy-ish sport climbing. I live in Portland and was hoping to go somewhere besides Smith, be gone about a week. Initially I had thought Skaha might be a good bet but the forecast is not stellar. I'd be willing to drive as far as Salt Lake so bring on the recommendations! Cheers

I ended up getting the MH EV2 since I was able to get a good deal on it. I used it on my trip to Crater Lake last week. It was pretty warm weather with no precip so I didn't really get to test it in winter conditions. It's fully seam sealed, which you could argue isn't necessary in a cold weather tent. It's super burly and pitches out very sturdy but is still pretty lightweight. I looked at Bibler tents and the Tenshi closely, but wanted to try something new (I have the BD Firstlight, which is rad); I like the external clips for the poles, makes pitching really easy. Because of the integrated vestibule, you have to take some care to keep snow out and the tent dry, but there is plenty of room inside. The benefit is that there's no extra material to bring or set-up. The first night temps dropped into the 20s and there was some condensation despite having the vents open, but nothing outrageous. Overall I'm fairly satisfied with the tent, though it really is only a one-season tent. I think the Tenshi and Bibler tents are likely more versatile, but for lightweight three-season alpine I already have my BD Firstlight.