dinomyte

John: Thanks for the advice. Our thoughts were that it's a pretty odd time on North right now. You've got snow on the traverse, which is great, but the icy rocky wet alley might be tough to solo. I'm fine with 4th class stuff, having done Thielsen & Washington, along with Jack and Jeff, but conditions in the alley right now give me pause. Still, if the traverse in fall is anything like on Jeff, that's a doozy too! We talked to a guy at the TH that said he had soloed North in September and the traverse had a pretty well worn path. He also mentioned that he found a few spots to place pretty good pro. Oh well, I guess opinions vary. Still, I appreciate the comments.

Paul: Here's a shot that Kevin took that may show what I mean. I went around to the left and under the first hump, then around a rock to the right (from where I am standing). Looking again, I think your red line just circles the camel's hump and stops short of this rock that I went around right. So, perhaps the answer to your question is that I saw people go under to the left, and up over the top of the hump as opposed to around the side that your red line goes.

You know, I'm pretty sure we dropped down and traversed under this on the west side. I think your red line is around what's called the camel's hump. However, on the other side of the camel's hump I think there was another rock that I traversed on the east (maybe the final third of your red line). Maybe someone else can comment, but like I said, we saw a group that went right over the hump and to the end of your red line. And, yes, the bowling alley terminates up at your green arrow.

I forgot to mention that the team that came straight up the glacier passed us right near the Camel's Hump. They climbed right up over the top of it, rather than traversing under. Chris gave them the scoop on the Alley, and they headed on over. I kept checking the summit on my way down, and never saw them top out, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. I'd love to hear their assessment of conditions in the Alley.

Trip: North Bee-otch Attempt - SE Ridge Date: 6/2/2007 Trip Report: So, after being weathered off by 40 mph winds a couple of weeks ago, Kevin_Matlock and I were back and hungry for a summit, kinda like one of those Guantanamo Bay detainees after a 3-week hunger strike. This time, rather than do a one-dayer, we decided to pack it in to the base of the SE Ridge. We wanted to get up early to hit the traverse while it was as firm as possible, kinda like me when I'm watching I'm watching "Busty Cops" on Skinemax at 11:30 on a Friday night. We took off from P-town at 2:40pm and hit Pole Creek at 5:40pm. The forecast was for "possible thundershowers" and we did hit a bit of rain just before Sisters. It was nice, because it toned down the dust a bit. The 15 road is total washboard, kinda like my stomach. We strapped on our packs and headed up the trail. We hit the first patches of snow at about 6,000 feet. It's melting fast and the bugs are gonna be out in force soon. I got hit by 3 or 4 skeeters before I could spackle myself with Off. We got up around 7,400 feet and found a decent campsite. We had just brought bags and groundcloths, so getting settled was quick. We each had a sammy for dinner and washed it down with a couple cans of beer. I'm not a big Heineken fan, but I gotta say, it went down easy, kinda like a Thai hooker. We went to bed at 10:30pm or so, and it didn't start raining until midnight, so we got an easy hour of sleep. We pulled our groundcloths around us, burrito-style, to keep the majority of the rain off us. It only lasted a few minutes. We got another dose a bit later, along with a bit of wind, but it was all good. The alarm went off at 3:00am, and we woke to clear skies with plenty of stars. The moon was nearly full and bright, kinda like those Xenon headlamps on Kevin's G35. I choked down a PB&J while Kevin munched some Pop Tarts, and we got our shit together. We mentioned that it was damn warm. It prolly didn'te get below 45 degrees all night. We took off at 3:40am, heading up the SE ridge. We saw a couple of headlamps in front of us, approaching the first gendarme. They were prolly an hour ahead and we figured they were camped somewhere near us. The climb up the choss pile was pretty uneventful. Nothing to see in the dark, and we were up at 9,000 feet or so before we knew it. Looking bakc down the ridge, as it was getting light, we could see another tent (prolly the party ahead of us). We could also see a couple of climbers heading straight for Thayer. Ballsy, kinda like that guy that takes the cannonball square in the gut! We also saw all Timmay's turns over on Hayden. A bit later we were at about 9,700 feet; the point where we had to drop down and traverse under the Camel's Hump. We dropped down a bit, took a look, and had a convo. Kevin told me he was pretty wiped, kinda like one of those guys crawling across the finish line in the Ironman. I told him I was cool with turning around. The summit was so close, but I know that when you push and you're really not feelin' it, you risk the trip turning into an epic, kinda like any one of Jamin's trips (no offense, man). I told him, I'd at least like to cruise around Camel's Hump and take a peek at the rest of the traverse. He said he'd cruise back to a safe spot and wait. I traversed under the hump to another section of rock, and looked at the boot path on the second section of traverse. It looked good, kinda like Avril in that "My Happy Ending" video. So, I got on it! I cruised across, after slapping on the pons. That section was short, but damn steep. I didn't look down much, but it was a ways down! The third section of traverse was the last one, and angled up a bit. Boot tracks were sinking a good 6 inches each step. I got across that and was just getting to the point of looking up the bowling alley, when I heard all kinds of shit happening. It was kind of a crash, clang, ching, kinda like when the plane crashed on "Lost." I looked up to see a guy sitting on his ass right at the narrowest point at the bottom of the Bowling Alley. He didn't look like he was having fun. I asked him if he was alright, and he said he was leading and came off. He musta dropped and slid 20 meters or so. Fortunately, he was not injured, only hurt. His partner very carefully downclimbed to him, retreiving a tool along the way, and got him up. They proceeded down to me, 5 meters below on some relatively solid ground. We chatted, and they introduced themselves as Chris and Mike - a couple of guys outta UCD. They gave me an update on the Alley - wet rock, slush, ice (but nothing that would hold a screw.) You name it, and it was there. I sure as hell wasn't going any further! I mentioned I was cool on the way over, but was a little worried about the trip back, and they offered me the middle of their rope. I clipped in, and we set out back across the traverse. Mike led, setting a picket here and there. Once we got back to safe ground, Mike sat down for some Advil, a bandage and a snack. I shook their hands, thanked them, and headed down to camp, where Kevin had already gone. I left there at 10:30am and was back at camp at 11:40am. I just caught Kevin, who had planned to bail back to Pole Creek right about then. We packed up our shit and were back at the car enjoying Ruination and Hop Rod Rye by 2:30pm. There we chatted with a fellow who was leading a group of 8 up North the next day. We gave him all the beta we could and wished him luck. Hopefully, Chris and Mike, and the group of 8 will read this and can comment. I don't know if Chris and Mike had rock pro, but protecting the Alley seemed tough. Screws were certainly no good. Kevin and I are gonna wait till August or September to try this one again. Here are a couple of shots: Right before the traverse under Camel's Hump. The second section of traverse. Looking up at Mike and Chris in the Bowling Alley. Mike leading back across the traverse. By the way, Chris and Mike, if you do happen to catch this, good tip on the Moylan's. A bit heavy for me, being a triple, but hoppy as hell! It's going down well as I type this! Good luck on Jeff, fellas! Gear Notes: 2 2-ft pickets 60-m rope Chris and Mike had a 60-m rope and 3 2-ft pickets, I think. Approach Notes: Miserable for the first 4 miles or so, until you get some views!

I read a different article on this, and it portrayed this gal as someone who had a kid more to promote the fact that she could, than because she actually wanted the kid. Prolly more of the press misportraying the facts, but..... I'm cool with her having kids at any age she wants, but I don't wanna be preached to that it's her right. I actually feel that way on a number of subjects.

Good call sobo! The first time I was up there, we came across a couple (complete with rented REI mountaineering boots) sitting at the top of a chute that was absolutely frozen solid - with crampons on. We advised them to reconsider, about 10 times. They couldn't seem to understand why. We could only explain and reiterate. They were still contemplating when we got the hell outta there.

If you hit North, we'd love some beta on the traverse and alley. I think we're gonna shoot for 6/2, weather permitting. Take photos and good luck.

Agreed, Matt. These are some views from about tline on a snowboarding trip I took in March 2005. Sweet views of St. Helens from the tent.

A one-day on Adams was my first "climb." I have jogged a few miles every day for years, but was also worried about the altitude thing. I did spend one night at the TH. I obsessively sipped water and nibbled on snacks on the way up. I think I remember a slight headache between the false summit and summit, but not bad. I've even heard that gingko taken over a couple weeks prior helps, but I dunno. I agree with eric. You're prolly in fine shape. I would recommend the hydration and eating, and if you have a day for the TH or at LC it could not hurt. Have fun!

I took a great backpacking trip through there last fall, summiting Sac and Matterhorn. I took a lot of photos of these from all angles, though probably not close enough to see great detail. My site is at www.lebre.net. Look under Outdoor Activities.

Since I suppose we need one serious answer, I understand that the North Fork Sauk River Trail #649 is still the best access. The paper said the road closure adds 4 miles of road hiking to the beginning and end of the climb.

Youngest on 7 summits

We were so far away from those folks in the vans that we couldn't really tell what they were doing. Probably self-arrest practice or something. I was wondering if COCC or some folks like that might have a class. Those were state rigs. Kevin and I are thinking about 6/2 for our next go. Standard route as we wanna knock that bitch off as well. We were joking that after we do, we might not be back on that one for awhile! I had gone up solo the weekend before, but with no intent to summit, just to get a feel for the route as I knew Kevin and I would be back. Weather was a lot better then! Maybe we'll see you there in a couple weeks!

I agree with you on the engineering thing, though I think the folks that lay these out can do a pretty good job when they carefully exmine the terrain (and I think most times they do). For example, when they lay out the first jump in a park and they cord off everything except one entrance, everyone has to stop at that entrance, and essentially take off from the same spot. Given that, they shouldn't have a 20' tabletop when no one can possibly get that speed from the takeoff. Similarly they shouldn't have a 2' tabletop and a 20' drop when everyone would have way too much speed for it. (Obviously, I'm exaggerating, but you see my point. That said, I've seen very few jumps that I thought were really poorly designed. And, the additional "rumor mill" stuff is interesting. If I were in the jury and stuff like that had been put forth, I would have had a lot less sympathy for the rider. Course, not having seen the jump, I have a hard time. They shoulda taken the jury out and had a few riders hit it, so they could form their own opinions.

Although I've been as bad as anyone posting to this thread with my off-topic comments, my understanding is that the resort was in some way negligent, having incorrectly engineered and built a jump. My understanding is that this faulty engineering resulted in multiple injuries, and that even after that, the resort did nothing. While no jump is safe for everyone, riders probably have the right to expect that jumps are built properly and that they will be fixed if they are not. Perhaps I can use another car analogy that's a bit more on the mark than my last. Driving a car is dangerous, but if your Pinto explodes in a minor fender bender, it might be an engineering problem. You shouldn't sue car manufacturers becuase you're stupid and wrecked. But if they built a faulty product, had it reported to them and did nothing, they need to be sued. And, that is what I usually see happening.

Well, perhaps not a perfect analogy, but you closing sentence indicates that you get my point!

Ah, wish we'd have said howdy instead of just waving. It was a bit blustery, eh? We enjoyed watching you guys blaze outta there! I think I counted to 5 and you guys were outta sight! There was a bit of jealousy there! From where we were, up a bit, we saw the 25 or so people that were in those vans at the TH as well. They looked to be on the trail on to Camp Lake, and were taking turns sliding down a snowbank. Pretty weird to watch from 1500 feet higher. Hope to see you again. I think we'll be back to try again in a few weeks.

We went out, leaving at about 3:45am. It started snowing on us pretty early, and was blowing like a bitch by the time we got to the ridge, and it was coming from the west. I'd say sustained 25 and gusts to 40 or so. We only went up to that first rock, where you kinda turn more north, at about 8200 feet. Just didn't relish the idea of getting blasted on the traverse. There were two guys with skis that turned around right at the base of the SE ridge. I think they intended to climb, as I thought I saw pickets. We also ran into a group of 5 as we were heading down. They were contemplating it, but it looked to me like they may have been leaning towards no. The wind kinda died a bit as we were heading out as well, but to be honest we both agreed that we want absolutely optimal conditions before jumping on this one. It did look nice though:

Looks like we have several topics here. With respect to Bug's comment, I know that here in Oregon they have made an obvious effort to crack down on out of control skiers and snowboarders, probably in response to a death and a serious injury on Hood this season. If you are seen out of control they take your pass or ticket. And, it is absolutely at the patrol's discretion. There is no appeal. Granted, this may not be much of a deterrent to someone who bought a day pass, but there is definitely a big add campaign, etc. I've seen the same thing in Utah. As that relates to hitting jumps and being out of control, it certainly is the responsibility of the skier/rider to investigate before hitting it. But, it is the responsibility of the resort to properly design, build, and place jumps, rails, etc. I'm not saying that it was done incorrectly in the Snoqualmie case, as I don't really know the specifics. And, it's obviously arguable as to how much responsibility the resort has vs. that of the individual. I would use the analogy of our roads and highways. They are supposed to be designed correctly with the intent of being safe for the public. If the DOT sees a ton of accidents at one area, like an intersection, they typically make changes to reduce the danger. Similarly, if there are tons of injuries at one jump, I expect the resorts to make changes. To carry the analogy further, there are a lot of folks who, for one reason or another, are going to get into accidents - some their fault and some not.

No worries. I appreciate the info. Don't mean to be difficult. I just always like to have a picture in mind when I head into a spot I haven't been before. A picture in hand is even better! So, I appreciate those above. Paul, I had actually already printed yours and drew a line!

Is that UH!! or Uhhhhhhhh?

Sorry for all the questions, but do the first 2-3 ribs drop down about the same?

Thanks. Kevin_Matlock and I are gonna start out at Pole Creek at 3 tomorrow morn. I hope there's a bit of a track, as I don't wanna be screwing around in that area all day. I don't have a real sense of how far across the traverse is before you head up the alley. Sean said two traverse pitches. Sound about right?