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CaleHoopes

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Everything posted by CaleHoopes

  1. You guys are my heroes! That looks like an awesome send! I'd love to do that route someday! :-)
  2. Thanks for the review of the boots! Especially when you had an injury. I'm a believer. They seemed to do well to the approach and climb really well when we started up the steeper sections of the Carbon. Great climb!
  3. Nice work! It's great to see what the route looked like a few days after we retreated. Too bad we didn't have a flexible enough window. Nice send! Oleg, how did Nastia's boots do for her? I was about to rock the Phantom Guides up there and was curious about her experience. Nice send!
  4. No less, someone left a very large (Nalgene sized) deuce at the poop rock at Curtis Ridge. DUDES, grab blue bags and use em. I don't care if you ate three mountain house and delivered a 2 lb baby to the rocks. Pick your s*it up and take it back to a can, ok? I don't care if you're doing a carry over, take your crap home. Ok, now that that is stated... It seems that the "camp regions" on the mountain are probably much of the problem you've run into. I was with a guided group on the route last week in the bad weather and we barely made the base of the ridge. So glad you folks got up and over and found some interesting conditions. We had a few issues with the Ranger as well because we delayed a day due to weather conditions. Furthermore, we also contacted the park and told them about the reschedule and thought it was handled. However, the ranger at White River did challenge our permit a bit. I honestly think, and rightly so, that the park is in a constant state of worry about teams in the remote area of the ridge simply because of the percentage of rescues from bad decision making and/or immaturity on the route. Anyhow, I'm gonna give it a shot again next year with a guided group - it's actually kind of nice to have a guide go to battle with a ranger for your permit. Meant that I could focus on which powerbar wrappers I'd drop on the trail first (kidding).
  5. Well, I wished we'd had the weather but didn't. We went over from White River to Curtis Ridge camp. Nice trail getting over there. There's a plug on the west side of the Winthrop which is not going to last - maybe even after this hotness it'll probably crash. Navigation over to Curtis Ridge was easy. We had tons of rain (this was Tuesday, June 28) coming in squalls every hour or so. So, the rain gear was important. Up early in the morning, we tried to wait things out. After some rain coming through, some breakfast and teardown of camp we decided to try to make Thumb. So, down to the Carbon and up toward the ridge. We found and went up the west ramp toward the west side of the ridge. After some hairy route finding through crevasses near the 8300 ft level, visibility had dropped to 50 ft and precip was picking up. Considering that the precip was about to become snow and many of us had wet gear (which might freeze) and with no visibility to see icefall or rockfall, we called it done. This was Wednesday. Oh well, I'll have to go back. We rolled back to Curtis Ridge camp, took the crampons off and skated back to White River which took around 4 hours. It was a fun trip regardless - but the weather just didn't cooperate. Until next time Liberty Ridge. P.S... With 4 days of food and carrying group gear, I got my pack down to 34.8 lbs with everything on it (including overnight gear, fuel, climbing gear, etc). Which means I would have been under 30 once we got on the ridge. Good stuff. This is way different from the 60ish lbs I had in 2000 on my climb for clean air. I don't know why I wouldn't always climb like this! Thanks for the suggestions, trip reports and everything. I look forward to doing the Emmons in two weeks which will be an easy walk at this point.
  6. CaleHoopes

    Trip Reports

    +1 for trip reports. I've been reading this site since inception. Many a great inspiration has come to me here. CC rox. And for all of you out there - thanks for the awesome advice when given. +100 for ivan's TR's. Great descriptions. He really is "The Angry Hiker" for CC.com.
  7. I've wondered about my opinion of it afterward and whether I'd think: "huh, so what was all the fuss was about again?" - I can forsee that. I certainly felt that 2 years ago when I did the Kautz. However, I loved doing the Kautz because it's a beautiful route. Classic climbing, great beauty, interesting (to the top of the chute and then DAMN BORING except the can-be-sporty upper Nisqually icefall), etc. So, it was a wonderful experience - but easy climbing. Yep, I also agree that if you couldn't down-climb it, you shouldn't up-climb it. The ridge seems reversable just based on every pic I've seen. I wonder why everyone makes such a fervor about not bailing. Maybe it's because no one really wants to walk all the way back to St. Elmos. Seems like it'd be the slog from hell. In bad weather though, that would be a weaksauce reason to push on.
  8. DPS, thanks for the "strategy" post. I think if I was doing that on my own that it would be the same itinerary. Honestly, our only change on the guided climb from your 3 day approach is that we might opt for descending down the DC instead of the Emmons because we can have a happy guide pick us up in Paradise instead of getting back to our car at White River. The other problem? We'll probably take an extra night on the descent. If we could convince the guides that we could just head back to the cars on the descent, I'd be all for it. I hate the "extra night" on the descent - especially if I'm at Camp Muir (really? We're gonna sleep here when I'm 2 hours from the car and civilization?) I'm not surprised that the 2-day was agressive. I see how in great glacier conditions that you could get over to the base, up the schrund and to thumb rock in one push. Anyone done Lib Ridge from the NW side of the mountain? Carbon entrance? Also, I think that most won't descend if they can get above the ice cap. I do have a friend (guide) who bivied near the summit in a moat with a team of beat up clients. Other than that, I've not heard of a descent down the ridge. I'm certain people have probably turned at or below Thumb Rock.
  9. At this point I'm ready to go with a Sum'tek and a newer Cobra hammer. I've done a lot of ice climbing so I'm good for that. Thanks for everyone's advice so far! I'd love to hear how you'd attack this on your own DPS. Despite the fact I'm going with a guide, I could have planned out and done this trip without one... I feel confident enough in my skills to navigate to the ridge and move up it based on other TR's. I really just wanted to go "follow" with some folks who know the terrain for my first time. So, I would be interested to hear what your strategy would be.
  10. OMG another classic. Lord, won't you buy me a flat screen TV.
  11. Hey! Thanks Waterboy. I'm rocking around 30lbs at the moment with all my climbing gear in/on my pack so I'm feeling pretty good. I'm glad I'm going with a guide just for the route experience and I agree - I always learn something new. I think it'll be fun! Anyhow, thanks a ton!
  12. Potentially @ RMI? I know that they have a shower in the bunkhouse that's across from the Rental Office. I just don't know if they let you use it. Maybe pay em a fee?
  13. OMG. This is why I read this site. RAD, congratulations on all the route development and the journey. Your story about the journey is as good as anything I've read in the over expensive magazines. Climbing is not one big ass trip in the Alaska Range. Climbing is a journey of personal victories that grow and grow over time to culminate in a body of work that you can be proud of. That work is an encouragement to the soul and part of what drives us. The pictures are invaluable. To someone who's not even near this level of climbing (for God's sake I've just finally made the gym to outdoor transition and have only been to x38 3 times and always a different area!), I totally appreciate the work you put in and especially your story about the journey that got you there. Thanks for an awesome report! Keep climbing!!!!
  14. I smell troll. Smells like KirkW. We should move this to spray and get it off the OP's question.
  15. Chris, I forwarded your name... and your post. Good luck!
  16. I'm assuming you're saying we're gonna find booty on the glacier?!
  17. Gene, excellent points. I've been working the calves just for this exact thing. Practicing the low dagger position is something I should do, even if it's on snow at this point - I definitely am a fan of the 3 oclock foot work. Thanks for great input. My comment about the time with water ice is just about the final pitches up the cap. I won't be lying to say that I'm a little daunted by the endless ice that the route could have - but I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Guess I just need to experience it.
  18. Great comments! Yeah, I'm all ready for the ice, honestly. 4 years at Ouray, with long pitches and I feel pretty confident on ice. I've got a pair of cobras I plan on climbing with so that fits in. I have a mont-bell puffy that I can hang off my harness for quick access so I'm good with that - great advice. HEADLAMP, very good call. I've heard about the shooting gallery which of course makes me nervous as hell, but whatever... mts are for objective hazard, right? Climbing between June 24-29th. Going with IMG by the way, no idea who the senior & junior are on the climb yet. Thanks for the great comments Tvash!
  19. Tvash... of course, I love your comments. LOL. Ok, so as far as ultralight and fast, body armor don't come to mind. Underarmor, what about that? LOL. Oh well, maybe someone will have something constructive. Or maybe I just need to leave my desk at work and go climbing and forget about the intarwebs.
  20. Thanks AOC. But I really want the experience with some experienced folks. I could go try it on my own now. But I treat it as an "at the limit of my experience" and I'd like a competent group to go with that I trust. Yes, I could have all of that without a guide - and at this point I treat myself as more of a partner to a guide than a dude that needs to be short roped to the top. However, I still learn a ton on these and that's why I'll do some routes this way and some routes I'll feel comfortable leading. That being said, when I totally on-sight some route out in the field, it will be an awesome experience. Just don't feel ready for that and don't want to put myself at unneeded risk.
  21. Ok, so I've already asked a bunch of folks, but I thought I'd open it up for fun to see what the intarwebs have to say... I'm going on a guided climb of Liberty Ridge and I just wondered if anyone had any input on prep, gear, etc. I feel like my conditioning/prep is not an issue, my skills are sufficient, etc. I'm just looking at hints, tips, experiences, thoughts, feelings, anything. I'm doing it as a guided climb simply for the beta and experience of a guide on the route. So, thoughts? I'd love to hear about other guided Liberty Ridge experiences too if they are out there. Thanks in advance! :-)
  22. I agree John. TAT is the best. Very professional and does an awesome job to/from.
  23. If you're thinking 4-season, take a look at the exped pads. They are pretty awesome and generally have higher R values per oz. That being said, I usually have a neoair light under me on something like Rainier in summer.
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