Frikadeller

Not everyone is into "big-rock-mountain clambering"...

I just climbed WCR/old chute route a few hours ago. No rope needed. The palmer glacier/snowfield is crevasse free, and if you are concerned about the bergshrund on the hogsback, just traverse under it's normal location. It is not visible at this time. I suppose some people would want a rope for the summit rim traverse, but right now, it's a well beaten path with a little bit of exposure. I would not use a rope. I echo Ivan on the second tool. I think that is more secure than a rope for this application. BTW, look out for Icefall, the place pretty much erupted today once in the sun.

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To add to Ptown's report. I summited around 10, and around 10:45 or so on my decent the entire south side of the mountain erupted in ice fall. I was taking golfball to baseball sized chunks in no apparent cycle of reason. There where several parties above me that did not have helmets, and had to bunker out at an ice gendarme. I basically ran across the "traverse" with my pack and helmet as protection. I yelled at the parties to "run" but they ignored me. I went on my way down the Hogsback. I have neither seen that amount of icefall this early in the day. It was scary, but manageable on my part. I mean, it was raining countiniously and getting worse as I decended the hogsback. If you go, go early, and get off early. I left at 2 am, and that was apparently not early enough.

yuck. You're just young. Wait till you get older, and you stand there looking at the beer isle and say: "Hmmm... I could buy a six pack of this overly malted, overly hopped BS beer that will make me thirsty after I drink it, or I could buy a 12 pack of something that will actually quench my thirst for the same amount of money..." That's how stuff like PBR and Busch wins the argument most of the times. Plus, drinking a Pale Ale on a hot day these days makes me throw up a little in my mouth... (Not to mention, for some reason micro brews always leave a way WORSE hangover than the cheap shit.)

I am planning on hitting it up, and most likely on Saturday. The weather looks like it's going to be great!

The Ice Axe is WAAAYY to nice for me to drink at. I prefer to dirt bag it with a few PBR in the T-line lot!

If you go up from Butte Camp, you most likely can avoid any rangers looking for permits. If you run into one, start speaking russian, and claim you left your wallet at home.

Just because the FL is at 7000' does not mean it will snow. Lower elevation weather patterns sometimes goes right around the mountain (like a doughnut), only leaving precip at lower levels, and leave the upper parts without.

See that's the mountain for ya. Sunny and nice one day, utter hell another. I have found my self in an utter hell wind and snice pelting nightmare just trying to sit on the picnic bench at silcox hut.

That's rad! That scene you saw on sunday was almost the same scene it was on saturday, minus the ten man rope team. But on saturday there where more people riding plastic sleds. Wow, you said that the snow was super hard on the WCR? Hmm... It seemed pretty soft on saturday, but I came down that later in the day in full sun. I looked for you in the P-lot, but did not see you. I left around 2 ish though. Thanks for the great Pearly Gates beta. This looks totally do-able!

Well, how do you feel about a road 1/3 of the way up the mountain?

Oh, well.... the snow was the "usual". Crust early on, crusty as you left the palmer, crusty until you got above triagnle moraine, and then all of the sudden! Powder! Holy smokes! Powder until you get to "the ramp" up the ss of crater rock. Further up the "ramp" POWDER again... Sheesh, this mountain cannot make up it's mind. Dropped in onto POWDER on the west side of hogsback. sweet turns until I got close to hot rocks... Hmmm.... Boot packed the splitty over that, and dropped in only to find a GIANT set of tents at Illumination rock... WTF! Veered away from the tents, only to find that mid-week jerks took EVERY line of the ridge off I-rock!!! Grrr...... I Decided, in my own self hating rage, that I would spray the tent encampment with "turn debris"... That was pretty passive agressive. The rest was butter turns until I got to the "resort"... So, yeah, If you did not drink 100 beers on Friday, you might have had some fun.... ( See, I only drank 7, and ate breakfast at 0330, and had fun)

That explains why I did not see anyone fitting your description. As a matter of fact, I only saw one other person skinning up, and one guy with slowshoes and packin' his board. Oh and yeah, today I must have seen 15-20 different people coming down the mountain riding plastic childrens sleds. WTF? I have never seen that many people before doing the sled thing. I blame a TR posted on CC.com for this.

Both my Nepals and my Evo Alps like to get untied on their own (must be a sportiva thing...). A good double knot solves all this BS, especially6 when it happens mid climb (and of course you're wearing gaitors, making this even more agravating...) Other than that, totally rad boots!

Where are the pictures? BTW, that pile did not include the snowboard boots, XC boots, and Leather Tele boots....

Sounds like you brought up the idea of beer and pizza... I expect to see you in the parking lot with said provisions around 1-3 pm... (saturday please) And I WILL be thirsty and hungry.

Rah rah rah there "Frenchy".... You can take that "dyyyenaaafiit, and yer Raaannoneee setup "back to the alps where you came from.... What was the outfit you're gonna wear? Nah, wherever your decent device comes from, it's all fun! Norway, France, or the USA, it's all good.

Oh, I thought that this was going to be a pictorial type of thread... Oh well..

I will also be there on saturday! Look for a a goon on a splitboard wearing a green cap, red/gray jacket and a goofy look on his face, stop by and say hi!

You ss avy poo pooers, are, well, wrong. Slides ARE common coming off the west side of crater rock, as well along the upper portions of WCR. I have even seen evidence of slides coming off hogsback towards devils kitchen. Especially after the recent dump that we got this week, I would keep my eyes open. Not saying you should cancel your plans, just keep the mind thinking about it. I'll be up there that week end, and I'll most likely be carrying probe, shovel, and beacon (as usual) because, well, that's just how my crew rolls.

Like Ivan said it's snow from the pull out on the road, but..... Do us skiers and Boarders a favor, and walk to the side of the trail, and not in the skin track (if there is one). There is nothing more un nerving as to be comiing down the trail at speed and round a corner, only to find people in the middle of the trail. It is not very wide, and I have had a few near misses coming down in the past.

Ya know, it's never too late to learn how. Once you do, you too will be lugging that extra 10-15 pounds of usefull gear up the hills.... Plus you can ditch the slowshoes... Plus you get more time to Back at the parking lot at the end of the day!

This is prime advise! Learning, and mastering the bivy is as, if not the most, important part of learning how to climb. If you don't know how to bivy, all else is lost in the alpine. There are many climbers that have died as a result of not knowing what to do if they become benighted on a trek that turns into an epic.