Tom_Sjolseth

Strong work. It sounds like it was a busy weekend on the Inspiration/McAllister, considering I personally know of two parties that were up there. I know what you mean about the moat. When I climbed Klawatti, Austera, and Eldorado (solo daytrip) in August of 2004, I dropped my ice axe about 100' under the moat. I climbed down into the dark, wet abyss and was barely able to retrieve it (I didn't have a rope, so it was a precarious downclimb). Once above ground again, I encountered near-vertical moss on the way up to the summit. Definitely one of the more interesting climbs I've done.

I have a NEW BCA DTA Tracker Avalanche Beacon. It was purchased on this site in 2005 and I have never used it. $110 FIRM. I will meet anywhere in Seattle.

Road is open as of tomorrow past the border (according to Marblemount RS).

Sweet.

Way to get after it.

Sold!

I'm selling my Black Diamond Havoc 183cm skis mounted with Naxo 2nd generation bindings (NX01 VRS) and BD skins. I also have a pair of Garmont Mega-Ride Boots (street size 13 - once baked). I'd let the whole package go for $400, which seems like a pretty good deal to me. I've used the setup for 3 seasons, but I rarely ski. If I had to guess, I'd say I skied on them 12 times. I've never had them tuned up, and they need a sharpening/wax, but there are no core shots. A tiny 1 cm x 1 cm square piece of the top sheet has been chipped off at the very back of one of the skis and does not affect performance in the slightest. I can take photos if you'd like. tsjolseth at hotmail dot com

Thanks, TW. Just a long walk is all that was. How is China treating you? Are you used to the food yet?

And nice job baiting me into the thread. I'm done.

AlpinFox you chickenshit. You call me out and say I want "respeck" for climbing "Flora and Gardner". I say you are the "consummate douche" because I never said anything like that, I've never acted that way, and you've never met me. You told me to not use your name and I told you to kiss my ass. Kiss my ass, AlpinFox - there I said it again. Then I said I would encourage you to confront me in person if you have any issues with me. I asked if I'd see you at the Climber's Picnic. If you feel threatened by confronting people with your issues in person instead of bringing them up on a bulletin board hiding behind an avatar, then that's your perssonal problem. Perhaps you shouldn't be rude to people.

Post the threats. Let's see em.

Right on DPS & company.. strong work.

Good to see you up there today, Loren. What time did you start out from the car? We climbed the North Face last weekend and had perfect conditions both on the approach and on route. We may as well have used ice skates on the approach to Source Lake, as conditions were firm everywhere, except below N-facing terrain features where there was a lof of wind-deposit. The approach was definitely a lot softer today. TR from 2/7/09 DPS: Conditions were pretty good for skiing. There was like a foot of fresh powder on the N-facing stuff.

I got you. Call me...

Having just been up on Pinnacle, I remember the only view you would get from that angle is somewhere around Kautz Gl on Rainier. To me, the background peak looks to rise too rapidly to be Rainier. I also think the rock on Pinnacle is darker than in the photo. Could it be somewhere in the Stuart Range? Or possibly around Mt Index? The rock looks pretty solid for Cascade standards.

Thanks to the organizer(s) and all who attended. It was good to meet some of the early Cascade pioneers. Lowell did a great job uncovering and presenting priceless videos of Beckey as a youngster. PMS - Ageless Trail Blazer Phil Leatherman is your first don't know on the top row. The guy is in his mid to late 60s and still moving just as fast as anyone. His photos appear throughout the CAG series.

@curtveld --> the gully was well covered but beginning to rot out. It was pretty straightforward in the conditions we found it, but it might be harder to find anchors as it dries out. The underlying rock is very low quality. wastral, we didn't see any coats.

Thanks, John. During the previous week's climb of Baker and Colfax, we saw a white cessna circling 1000' above us while descending from the summit. It was windy then too, but not nearly as windy as it was this time around. It was barely moving and we were wondering how he was even staying airborne. Crazy pilots.

Mt. Baker (10,781’) & Sherman Peak (10,140’) – October 25, 2008 Last weekend, I headed up to climb Colfax, Sherman, and Baker. We were only able to manage Colfax and Baker on that trip, so I called on Justus to head up there with me this weekend to take care of unfinished business. We were also to climb Mt. Baker (for the 2nd time in a week for me), since Justus hadn’t climbed it. In fact, this would be Justus' first volcano AND glacier climb. It sounded like a full day, especially with the short October days, so we set an unusually early meeting time of 4AM at Justus’ house, and gave it a go. After the requisite stops for breakfast and trail provisions, Justus and I arrived at a deserted Shriebers Meadows TH at 6:20. After 20 minutes of packing and remarking how cold it was, we set off at 6:40, with headlamps burning. We took the first right turn off the main trail, and headed up towards the Squak Glacier, the most direct route to climb Sherman Peak (and Mt. Baker, for that matter). The trail gains 2000’ over 3 miles before we headed up cross-country to gain the toe of the Squak Glacier. The glacier appeared to be in fantastic shape, with ice hard snow down low. This ice hard snow would later turn into calf to knee-deep powder higher up, a different experience than last week where I encountered ice-hard snow all the way to the summit. The route later became a bit circuitous, as we had to dodge crevasses. We wound up heading towards the Easton Glacier, which seemed less crevassed. We saw a team of three climbers toting skis heading up the Easton Glacier. I thought it might be Jason Hummel, who was supposed to be summitting this weekend (although he stated he wasn’t planning on summitting until Sunday, via a different route). Later on, we found out it was not. As we ascended towards Sherman Peak, the winds increased considerably. We had been watching a plume of blowing snow coming off the Coleman side of the summit block, and it looked rather ominous. We pressed on in increasing winds towards Sherman. When we got to about 9800’, the wind was so powerful, we had to crouch down and self-belay with our axes so we wouldn’t get blown off. I figured the average wind speed was 35-40MPH, with gusts upwards of 75MPH. Justus disagreed, but these were some of the strongest winds I’ve ever encountered. At times, ice would break off in the wind and come down in huge showers, which sounded like breaking chandeliers. Managing the narrow ridge in these winds was a bit nerveracking (and tiring). Every time the wind gusted, ice chunks would hit us in the face, affecting our sight and balance. We barely made it to the exposed summit without being peeled off. We wanted to get off of Sherman as fast as possible, so we quickly headed back down to the base of the peak, where we encountered the three skiers we saw heading up the Easton Glacier. They were WWU students out for the day. We were jealous of their skis, as they would certainly get down the mountain much faster than us. On the flipside, though, the ski conditions were terrible, with good-sized neve penitentes everywhere. We spoke with the skiers and they were headed up to Baker’s summit. Justus and I discussed heading up, and we decided to give it a go as well, even though we were exhausted already from battling high winds and postholing. Justus and I led off, breaking trail towards the summit. It was a long, slow 1300’ slog to Baker’s true summit from the base of Sherman Peak. The winds were still humming, but [thankfully] not nearly as much as they were on Sherman. Justus and I tagged the summit, took some photos, and at 4:40PM, began to descend. Darkness sets in at ~6:30 this late in the season, and so we were in a hurry to get off the glacier before it did. On the way down, we passed the WWU skiers still heading up to the summit. They looked about as worked as we were. Luckily, though, they had skis and would be able to descend rapidly back to the glacier’s toe. Not so lucky for us! This was a fantastic trip with gorgeous views, and perfect fall lighting. Very good photo opportunities! Justus was a great partner (as always) on this outing, and what a way to climb his first volcano - in a day. Sherman Peak was my 98th summit on the Top 100 x P400 list. Only Luna (#99) and Castle (#100) remain. Link to the NWHikers TR with more photos. Justus approaching on the lower snow slopes. The route to Sherman Peak from below. The Black Buttes. Justus trying to dodge the wind near Sherman's summit. The view accross the crater from Sherman. More views from a gap in Sherman's W Ridge. Justus traversing in high winds - notice the airborne ice chunks. Mt. Shuksan as seen from the summit of Sherman. Justus descending Sherman in high winds. Notice the plume. Justus and the first skier approaching Baker's summit. The view to the W from the summit of Baker. Lincoln and Colfax just before dusk. Sunset on the Sisters Range. Trip Stats: -15 miles -8800’ gain -14.5 hours RT -3.5 hours of sleep on Friday night

Val, I'm assuming you guys were camped right next to us (we were in a yellow Bibler Eldorado). BundledUpSurfer tried to steady your guys' gear as we noticed it blowing in the wind upon returning to camp. He restaked the tent, and I believe he put some rocks in it. We didn't notice the bivvy bags being affected by the wind gusts, only the tent which was very nearly lost before BUS went over to restake it. I don't think he even touched the bivvy sacks.

Yeah, we came at it from Pumice Ridge. There were already several sets of footprints before we arrived, so not sure if there might have been more folks doing the C/H route on Saturday.

BundledUpSurfer and I headed up with skis late Saturday, but we were able to salvage the weekend by climbing Baker and Colfax on Sunday.

Wow, busy day on Colfax Sunday. I was up there with BundledUpSurfer climbing Colfax and Baker via the standard routes (we are pictured in the above photo on the Roman Wall). We were jealous of you guys getting on the route.

Very good times indeed. That Bulger List is always good for a 20,000' week. Thanks for the report!~

Ballers! Nice work, you two.