jordansahls
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Posts posted by jordansahls
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Never had clinical frostbite but I did get a nasty case of frost nip on my right foot during a single push winter ascent on Baker (they were white/grey and waxy for weeks, even after warming them up). For me the numbness, tingling and general pins-and-needles feelings lasted for two years. The symptoms gradually got better and better. Now I only get symptoms when I'm out in the cold and I don't take proper care of them. And to echo what others have said it seems my toes are hypersensitive when it comes to cold conditions. Otherwise I don't have any issues.
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No, I was out there a week ago and it was not possible to drive past MP15 (ended up walking all the way in to the Eldorado trailhead gate). If you have a four wheel truck with chains you would be able to get a couple of more miles in before having to hoof it.
What was your objective at the elderado TH and how was it?
A friend and I ended up doing a ski traverse from cascade pass to mazama. We did the road approach and spent the night up in Boston basin, just below Sahale. We had hoped to climb over sharkfin col onto the Boston glacier but we had bad weather conditions and, due to time constraints, ended up traversing over to the Sahale arm and dropping down into the valley east of cascade pass. I should have a TR posted up here in a couple of days.
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No, I was out there a week ago and it was not possible to drive past MP15 (ended up walking all the way in to the Eldorado trailhead gate). If you have a four wheel truck with chains you would be able to get a couple of more miles in before having to hoof it.
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Thanks for all the information, lots of stuff to think about. You all have mostly confirmed and reinforced what I was thinking or what I have been told. I understand that a huge part of traveling light has to do with comfort. Willing to suffer a little usually means a lighter pack. I'm about to head out for a winter ski traverse for a week and every year when I do my first long winter/spring trek of the season I always wonder how I can lighten my pack. Food seems to be the big issue on long winter trips. I usually try to pack calorie dense foods in order to save weight, and I don't usually pack any warm dinner meals. Stoves are typically for melting snow and making tea in the morning and at night. Anyways, thanks for the tips. No matter what you know, chances are good that others know it better and have some tricks to share.
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So, I'm looking for some tricks and tips on how you all fit your over abundance of gear into your tiny packs. What I want to know is how you jenga your gear so that it fits. It's like packing luggage into your car. Two people could have the same luggage, but depending on how you pack it, only one may get it all to fit. I'm typically that guy who stares at the car wondering how the hell he is going to get everything in. So what nifty space saving tricks have you learned? Any specific order that you pack things so that it all works out? In my (limited) experience, I typically overlook little things that make a difference. Basically, I could be smarter and more intentional with how I pack my gear which is why I'm coming to you all for those little nuggets of wisdom.
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Well thanks for the informative and thorough responses. I really like the looks of the B&D custom parts. I e-mailed customer service and received a quick response. It looks like their custom made comfort heel plates are compatible with the vertical bindings. I think I found my replacement parts.
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I broke the heel riser from the top plate, the piece that stands up with the holes in it for making adjustments with your ski poles. Is that the volcano? It was in the position shown in the above image. I stuck my ski pole into the lateral hole and torqued it in a stupid attempt to move the heel piece away from downhill ski mode to touring mode (at some point while I was touring the heel piece spun from touring mode into downhill ski mode). the heel piece was covered in snow so I assumed I just needed to torque harder to get the thing to adjust. Instead I broke off half of the riser.
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So, I need some advice. I was out skiing last weekend and managed to break a piece off of the heel lift on my Dynafit Vertical FT 12 bindings. I couldn't get the heel to rotate into the highest setting because I'm a dip shit and didn't realise that it was locked in the ski mode. I e-mailed Dynafit to see if they still sell the top plate piece for the vertical ft 12 bindings but I have not heard back. I really like the vertical bindings and would rather not drop the money on getting a new binding set-up. So I'm curious, does anyone know if the top plate from the Radical binding is compatible with the heel piece from the verticals? Any after market top plates that might work? The bindings still work great I just can't get into the highest heel lift setting on 1 foot. Thoughts?
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Trip: Hidden Lake Peaks Area - Standard
Date: 1/6/2014
Trip Report:
Finally! A decent amount of snowfall! And, as a bonus, Old man Winter's impotence has made it easy to drive up high, eliminating the road walk.
Given the great forecast I packed up the 4Runner, grabbed a six pack of beer and picked up Brian, Aaron and Gus for an adventure in the North Cascades around the Hidden lake peaks area. We were not disappointed.
There was around 10-14" of new snow over a week base that was dry and poorly bonded to the lower layer. We saw a few slides and I managed to set off a small, slow moving slab up high. Other than that it was face shots all day. It was so good that we decided to come back the next day and get more skiing in.
There's a trough all the way up to the trail head, get out and get some while it's still there! Picture were all taken by Brian.
Looking up towards the pass north of North Hidden lake peak.
Enjoying the views on the way up.
Artsy shadow picture.
Brian taking in the views from our high point.
Gus and Aaron at the saddle.
Looking (L to R) at Forbidden, Boston, Sahale, Johannesburg, Spider, and Formidable.
Enjoying the first lap.
The rare time when we were actually able to tire out Gus.
Gear Notes:
Bring your skis and avy gear.
Approach Notes:
Was able to drive all the way to the trailhead but it required 4-wheel drive and snow tires. Saw a Subaru parked about 1/2 a mile from the Trail head so it's not hard to get within striking distance.
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The short answer is "yes". Hiking requires that you have well trained quads, as does skiing. However, the muscular demands of hiking and skiing are drastically different. you mentioned that hiking training made no improvements on cycling performance for you personally. This makes sense because the metabolic and biomechanical demands are very different. For example, researches tried to figure out if there was any overlap between training a straight squat with Olympic weights, and performing strait leg raises on a machine. So they had a control group (who did nothing), a group who did squats, and a group who did leg raises. at the end of a 12 week training period they had all groups test their squat. unsurprisingly, the only group that performed better (compared to pre-training measures) was the group who performed squats specifically. There was no crossover from training with leg raises. This type of research has lead to the whole "functional training" craze. Why am I mentioning this? Because skiing and hiking, while both working similar muscle goups, are not the same activity. For starters, the forces and muscle actions associated with skiing are WWAAAYYYY different compared to hiking. Also, the movement and range of motions required to ski is drastically different, as well. So, yes, hiking and skiing wok the same muscle groups, but that doesn't mean they have the same metabolic and biomechnical demands. If you want more info I would be happy to find what I can, in the literature and elsewhere.
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I found spontaneity arete to be enjoyable. Also, the west ridge of Stuart is a great low 5th enduro day.
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Methinks it might be easier for teachers to deal with the emotional needs of their students if they didn't have 38 students in a classroom that's only supposed to have 20.
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Definitely take skiing lessons. The money you spend at the resort will pay itself off in strides when you get into the back country. I did the exact opposite. I spent my teen years snowboarding at Stevens pass. I got into climbing and mountaineering and a friend convinced me to get a back country ski setup. I was a poor college student and so I didn't have the money to pay for lift tickets. I learned to ski exclusively in the back country. It's a long, steep leaning curve. I have been skiing now for about 7 years and have still not been to a ski resort. It took me the first three years to get the basics down. Think of it this way, a years worth of back country skiing is equal to a couple of days at the resort. I have no regrets, but learning at the resort would have made my life a hell of a lot easier.
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Well I pulled the trigger on a pair of the Black Diamond 2013 Drift skis. 6 lbs 10 ounces per pair and 100mm underfoot. We will see how well they handle mank but for now, I'm stoked to get on the snow. Thanks for all the help.
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Thanks for the info Jim, I have really been keeping my eye on the Coombacks, sounds like they perform fairly well. What size do you ride? My old skis where 183cm, the Coombacks around my size are 174 or 181.
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Thanks for the link. I forgot about the Volkl Nanuq and Nanataq skis. It looks like a wider ski is better. I was thinking about something in the mid 90's underfoot but it sounds like something in the 100's might be better.
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Well, I finally have some disposable income and I'm attempting to navigate the smorgasbord of different skis. As a formerly poor college student I have only ever used the black diamond Nunyo skis, which I'm told suck. I need an all mountain ski that can handle side hilling and crud but also has a little bit extra underfoot for those nice powder days. I do a lot of multi day back country trips so weight is a concern. I have been looking at the K2 Waybacks and Coombacks, the Dynastar cham 87 and 97 high mountain series, Salomon BBR, G3 Tonic and Black Diamond Warrant and revert skis.
I know that it's impossible to get a one-size-fits-all ski but I'm hoping to get close. Just for reference, I'm used to taking my Nunyo skis on everything from week long tours to big powder days. At this point, I think anything is going to be an improvement. I really just want a ski that can handle mank and powder but also has a tighter turning radius for narrow couloirs and choke points, oh, and ideally it wont be over 8lbs. That said, I dont mind a slightly heavier ski, especially if it performs well. In fact I'm looking to play around with a little heavier set up, at least within reason.
What have been your experiences? What skis do you really love to take out on both longer tours and powdery days? I'm all ears!
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because that's what the shutdown is really about?
Certainly not, they are two separate issues. My comment stems more from my frustration with the forest service and their public access policy and less from the government shut-down. In general I see people spending more and more money for access (forest pass, parks pass, camp-site fees, ect.) and in return getting less and less access to the land. Perhaps It's the cynic in me, but I cant help but think that the government shut down is being used to as an excuse to gate access and get the general public pissed. It has the feel of being one of those, "If we aren't getting paid than no one can use it" sort of deals. It's like getting yelled at by your boss just because he got yelled at by his boss. Wouldn't it have made more sense to just shut the offices and leave the low traffic roads un-gated? I get why they would close and gate high traffic areas (Paradise), but what about the rest of the wilderness that isn't as "popular"? I understand that there is the liability side of things but I'm getting super fed-up with being told how and when I can use our "public" lands. In the grand scheme of things this is a minor issue. There are more important programs impacted by the shut-down than access to recreation but it just so happens to be one of my sore spots. First world problem, I guess.
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I'm glad the government stayed open just long enough to cock block all hikers, climbers, and mountaineers.
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I think this illustrates a broader issue, that being the trend of wilderness advocacy groups trending towards over-regulation of our National parks and wilderness areas. I would argue that a lot of what is wrong with things these days revolves around the fact that people are less connected to the natural world than they have ever been. How can we expect people to protect what they haven't experienced? It's a tough balance between preservation and use but I strongly believe that keeping access easy and people connected to the wild places in the US is worth the additional stress is puts on the wilderness. The extreme stance that groups like WW take are counterproductive. Will their policies and agenda preserve the wilderness? Yes. But, if it locks people out and discourages recreation then what's the fucking point? I guess I always assumed that the point of preservation was to insure that all future generations would be able to actively experience what the land has to offer.
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[video:youtube]znxFrgql5dc
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This was the best mantel all route!
Ha ha, Awesome. Weird belay shenanigans are the best. I had to have a partner crawl through my legs once due to my shitty rope handling and the inherent awkwardness of the belay ledge.
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Trip: Snowfield - Standard
Date: 7/22/2013
Trip Report:
Optimist or fool? It's debatable. Ski season is mostly at an end (unless you count the sun cupped volcanoes), The alpine rock is beautiful (where did i put my rock gear?), but for some reason I still get the voice in my head convincing me that trying to ski is a great end-of-July activity (What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?). So I decided to haul my skis up through the brush in the hopes of getting in a few turns to officially close out my ski season. I spent a good amount of time looking through past TR's and perusing Google maps before I more or less played "climbing roulette" and randomly decided to try for Snowfield. In case anyone is wondering, no I do not have a system.
I took a leisurely day on Monday getting to camp on the shoulder below pyramid peak. The views were amazing and I would have spent more time marveling over their beauty if not for the blood thirsty hoards of bugs. So, yeah...The bugs are out. Instead I crawled into the tent and promptly passed out, courtesy of the previous weekend's frivolities (anyone ever been to Kla Ha Ya days in Snohomish?).
I left camp the next morning around 7am and made my way over towards the Colonial glacier. Travel was easy up and over the pass at 6800 feet and continued to be simple up the Neve with the exception of the crevasse divide around 7k. I had to end-run a few cracks and remove my skis to jump a couple of narrow crevasses. I reached the summit around 9:30am and lounged, taking in the views.
The ski down was about what I expected, not great but not horrible. I actually got some good turns in coming down from the neve-colonial col (or whatever you call that pass) and was able to ski patches of snow from the colonial glacier across the traverse to below my camp site on the knoll.
The way out was uneventful. I was actually quite amazed that I didn't see another living soul the whole trip. I did feel a little bit special getting that area all to myself for two days. Thankfully, the voice in my head seems to be satisfied since it hasn't been back to coax me into another implausible or ill-advised ski attempt (well, not yet). Now it's time to bust out the rock gear and get on some granite! Which means I really do need to find my rack.
Photos:
Looking back at Pyramid, Pinnacle and Paul Bunyan's Stump
The Neve glacier and Snowfield in the distance
Views towards Eldorado
I have to go all the way back there?
Gear Notes:
Bug spray would be a good idea.
Approach Notes:
Follow trail to Pyramid lake and continue up on the climbers trail.
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Seeing how everyone seems to be getting out into the Green Creek drainage, I didn't want to be left out so I made a quick and lazy day trip through the area (I also want to add to the stoke, which is well deserved). It's truly a wild place. I'm looking forward to getting back out there when I actually have some time to climb something. Thank you dberdinka for getting the word out on this place.
Also, I apologize for the crappy pictures, I took them with my phone.
Here's a map of the route I took into and out of the area. I might mention that my descent path from high on the ridge limited the amount of bushwacking I had to do on my way out. It might make for a decent approach alternative but I'm guessing it probably still takes longer than subjecting oneself to the shrubbery. But what can I say, I'm a sucker for the high route.
The bushwack wasn't all that bad. I think it took me around two hours from where I left the trail to where I exited on the talus.
Baker always looking good
View of the Twin sisters range from the ridge (sisters divide?)
Southern part of the range
Looking down into Green creek from the ridge
Lake Wiseman
Cravasse fall
in Climber's Board
Posted
People do strange things when they are in shock. Getting out a camera might have been a way to feel less alone down in the dark belly of the crevasse.