RCLee

thanks-- yeah, that's what I miss the most about my 10 years in the Northwest-- the outrageous skiing (along with devil's club, flies, rain, Mountaineers, pistol-toting rangers, etc.- NOT). The range truly is a paradise of turns. I'm too terrified of avalanche hazard in the Rockies to do much skiing these days, plus there's too much ice climbing to be done. . .

yes- sorry- just found my old Beckey- my interest related to this being an alternative route to the summit plateau(not the pyramid) if the scrund on the final bit happened to be impassable-- Beckey indeed mentions this.

If we do it- it will be before then. May not have (or want) access to Web, but good advice is to not follow our tracks. . . Regardless, good luck. BTW on Layton's photo there looks like a "direct" route to the summit pyramid via a snow slope to the right of the upper part of the glacier- anybody know if this "goes"?

how long is this route usually in condition, i.e. is it still climbable late June? Thanks--

photo looks great- even for late season. As I recall we were off the thing before the sun hit it. And I'm used to the Canadian Rockies, where a whole different standard of objective danger exists. . .anyway- thanks- if we end up doing it will post TR.

thanks-- but why "stoooopid"-- I did it about 15 years ago and thought it was great.

coming down from the Great White North (Calgary) in a couple weeks- one possible objective being the Price Glacier on Shuksan. Is this route still reasonably intact, or has it suffered in recent years? Any approach issues? Thanks--

Thanks-- very useful discussion. Just to add a Canadian perspective (whatever that is)- essentially in ice and alpine climbing the use of half-ropes provides redundancy, as the pro is often suspect, and here in the Rockies chops from falling rock are a real concern. Standard practice is to alternate clipping in ropes to closely spaced pro above the belayer, running it out more as you proceed. W/ regard to cruxes, I again place multiple closely spaced pieces and alternately clip in. I don't see any particular advantage to using twin ropes (perhaps a slight weight savings?), and have never encountered a situation where it is necessary or desirable to clip both half-rope strands into the same piece. Additionally, a recent 20' leader fall on ice on a standard draw (3rd piece above belay-- screw held) scared me-- went out and bought a bunch more screamers. Basically, whatever you can do to reduce force on suspect pro is desirable. Unfortunately screamers weigh more, but they do add peace of mind. The only time I use a single half-rope is in situations where 1) I'm assured there won't be any rock or ice climbing of significance (e.g. some classic mountaineering glacier routes), and/or 2) there won't be any full-rope rappels. These situations are rare in the Rockies, so usually we carry two. When we first moved here we were in multiple situations where we tried to save weight by carrying one rope and regretted it. Sometimes if only (2) is relevant we'll use a half-rope plus carry a 7mm zip line to save weight, but this is rare at least for routes we do.

any experience with this?-- I've recently returned from the UK where it gets rave reviews. See http://www.paramo.co.uk/UK/index.html The attraction is much greater breathability and durability than goretex or other laminates, but it is expensive. Thoughts appreciated.