tytyler

Keep passing it on

The Access Fund is looking for its 2013 Conservation Team members. The Conservation Team is Access Fund's traveling stewardship team, working to improve climbing resources throughout the United States. We're looking for a varied duo, with a mixture of trail construction, video editing, education and volunteer leadership skills. For more information visit: Access Fund Employment for more info.

scenic: ice:

Anyone planning on being in Zion Nat Park for Memorial Day? Have rack, rope, time, rental car, lead ready....

has anyone used their avalung pack as their carry-on when flying? curious if NTSB is going to be weird about it. thanks

Yeah, what a sweet trip!!! Been on my list for years....thanks for coming along! some more pics... www.flickr.com/photos/tytyler37/ www.flickr.com/photos/tytyler37/

Trip: Mt Redoubt - NE Face Date: 6/14/2008 Trip Report: For complete TR & pics, go to: www.elevationadventures.com/2008/06/18/mt-redoubt-ne-face-61408-trial-4/ and for just pics: http://isc.astro.cornell.edu/~don/pictures/v/friends/joe/joe_climbing/joe_ty_redoubt08/ www.flickr.com/photos/tytyler37/ To make a long story short.... Joe and I decided to give the NE Face a go. We weren't totally sure how conditions were going to be, we new they wouldn't be ideal, but we had no idea how bad..... The first portion of the climb is on an 800' face that faces NNW. The climbing was pretty good, styrofoam snow in places and decent pro. As we climbed the conditions deteriorated to rotten snow, but at this point there was no turning back...have to go up. We traversed into the NE Couloir and things just goes worse. The snow was completely unprotectable and the rock was marginal at best. Took us about 8hrs to do 6 pitches of mixed climbing over some of the biggest exposure and scary moments either of us had experienced in the mountains. After more than 12 hrs, we reached the top of the NE Face route! The route then connects to the standard route, but with 400' still to climb and time running out we decided that descending and hiking out was a better idea. The summit will be there another day and there are plenty of routes on this mountain to make another attempt worth while. All in all, my 4th attempt at going for this mountain was yet another chapter in my quest for Mt Redoubt. I've gotten Joe hooked as well, so its pretty easy to simply say: "hey, Redoubt this weekend?" Gear Notes: few nuts, pickets, fluke wish we had a little more rock pro. courage! Approach Notes: Still a good amount of snow near border. Just follow the stream and the trail comes & goes. LOTS of blowdown.

Trip: Goat Mountain - Date: 1/20/2008 Trip Report: Finally!!!! I've been looking at this face ever since my first day snowboarding in WA, 5 long years ago and was finally able to get it last weekend. Great snow conditions with decent weather. 6-8" of fresh on top of early week's crust. Firm crust supported our weight with fairly consolidated underneath. We stuck to the lower angles of the face, but didn't feel anything do much, just a little sluffin.. TR & pics at: www.getinetdesign.com/elevation_adventures www.flickr.com/photos/tytyler37/

Trip: Mt Rainier-Skyline Ridge, pit image - Date: 12/1/2007 Trip Report: Just thought I would share a picture of: "something sitting on top of nothing" 12/1/07 Mt Rainier Skyline Ridge about 6200', SW, 36 degree slope facet layer about 1.5' down (completely swept away with hand 8" of 4F above that, topped off with about 8-10" of unconsolidated new snow.

Trip: Mt Baker-Heliotrope Area - Date: 11/24/2007 Trip Report: 2 nights on the flanks of Mt Baker...who could complain!!!??? Snow was pretty wind affected with some areas of 3-5in wind slabs sitting on top of some faceted snow, so watch the steeper angle slopes... Mostly a light wind crust everywhere else. Feel free to check out the pics and a TR: www.getinetdesign.com/elevation_adventures/ Approach Notes: getting up the road the trail head needs either all wheel drive or chains. TONS of blow down on trail about 1/3 mile before cabin site, all together adding about an hour to the approach. Be ready for it!!

Trip: Maude, 7F Jack, Fernow - normal routes Date: 6/30/2007 Trip Report: Three 9000 ft summits in three days. You can't really complain about a weekend like that. Check out the TR and pictures @ www.getinetdesign.com/elevation_adventures/

Trip: Kendall Peak area - Date: 1/13/2007 Trip Report: Headed up to the Kendall peak area for an attempt on a face and gulley I saw from Gold Creek Basin last weekend. I was hoping that snow conditions were going to be better than they were. Parking at the Gold Creek sno-park first thing in the morning is SO much different than when you arrive back from you're trip in the early afternoon. People seem to just want to park in the middle, so no one can move. Alright enough bitching. I brought the splitboard and the skins, but the snowshoes would have been better. The logging road up to the basin is nicely packed and I simply carried the board on the back, until the final push up to the ridge....which could have gone with just the boots too. I stopped before heading up the final ridgeline to the face and dug a pretty quick pit. It was 11am, partly sunny, about 4400' on a SSE face, 38 degrees. My foot penetration was about 10-20cm(variable) to a pretty stiff crust. The first 25cm was about 4F-1F and the crystals definitely had some facets in them, but mostly rounds. I got a Q2 shear with a compression score of 13 (3 elbow smacks). yellow light The second layer was the 10cm thick, P hardness layer (crust?) I had a Q2 shear with a score of 21 in compression. It seemed to bond fairly well to the surface below, but not the surface above, making a nice bed surface. After about 15-20cm of 1F snow, I reached a really soft/unconsolidated layer that was 10cm of 4F-Fist. I pulled out some crystals and they were large and looked like a layer of graupel (I remember seeing the weekend b4 in Gold Creek) I got a Q3 shear after a score of more than 30 in compression. The layer seemed to compress down on itself instead of shearing. Below that, a minor crust and then more 1F and then another crust and more 1F. I decided that taking the face through the heart was a bad idea. I headed up and took it along the sides where I was able to find descent snow. The middle sections that I cut were pretty rock hard and uncarveable. If things were better I would have attempted the gully, but decided against it. After cutting back, I traversed the clearcut slopes and found descent snow with that occasional crust. All in all not a bad day out, I'm always blown away with how many people are wondering around by the time I'm on my way out. I saw about 4 people on the way up and 100's on the way out. Temps broke about 26 and I even saw the sun. Hope things are better at the resorts, I'm headed to Baker tomorrow! Approach Notes: the old logging road is nicely bootpacked right now

Trip: Source Lake Basin - The Rap Wall Date: 12/17/2006 Trip Report: Just a short little trip to the Rap Wall in the source lake basin area. What a nice day for some mixed climbing. Check out the brief trip report and pictures. Elevation Adventures http://www.getinetdesign.com/ea/ Gear Notes: DOWN!!! Approach Notes: 1 hour on a well packed boot track

Don't bother going to Rainier for a while. The road between the Nisqually entrance and Longmire has washed out in a few spots, so has the entire Sunshine Point campground. Hopefully they'll be able to fix it before the winter's over. http://www.mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com/ http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/6218616p-5432653c.html

If anyone is thinking about heading down there, don't bother. The park is closed due to all the rain. The road is washed out between the Nisqually entrance and Longmire. Hopefully it won't be all winter!!!! http://www.mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com/ http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/6218616p-5432653c.html