hippos_are_evil

The water from the pumps is awesome now. I was there last memorial weekend. Camp in the park, don't go to the RV park on the East side, not nearly as pretty. But their showers are ok

I haven't, but I took the course from TMG (http://www.timberlinemtguides.com/) and it was really good.

I'd check the NWAC forecast, it's saying high avy forecast: http://www.nwac.us/products/av_fx_page.htm So at least be smart about going up, don't be the guy who ends up on the news.

Trip: Mt. Tabor Massif Winter Ascent - Western flank Date: 12/22/2008 Trip Report: Team Kermantle decided that after our years of training and preparation it was time to take on the big one - Mt. Tabor in SE Portland. Our day started leaving our bivy to the south on the flanks of Mt. Tabor. We marked the safe passage from the bivy to the climbers trail. I broke trail until we got to a clearing a few hundred yards from our campsite where we consulted our map and compass. Here is Matt jumping across the Bergshrund that just opened up recently. Our first headwall Note the PRG belay: A woman walked by so we had to pause and pose: Keevin almost losing balance Thank god Belaying Matt up Our second headwall Closeup of our mixed trad climbing 2nd pitch conquered Drytooling on the natural features Rest stop at alpine lake on South side of Mt. Tabor The slog up High winds and blustery conditions made it difficult to handle the rappell and traverse on the West side Keevin belaying Matt up past a slab fracture from a recent avalanche We just finished our Mazamas training! After much trial/error we found that the sharp pointy side was better at sticking in the snow. As we were burning daylight it was necessary to strip away all weight and make a dash for the summit! Fast and light! You know what you're supposed to do when someone is going hyperthermic..... Matt and Keevin getting rewarmed The high altitude at the summit is begining to tax our reserves No really, it was hard Summit! The descent was pretty tricky going down an unexplored route on the South Face (nicknamed 'The Skank' by locals) We decided to put in some V-threads and rappelll down This was a very successful first ascent of the Mt. Tabor Massif. While we lost our pride and a box of Cheez-its, we all came back alive. Which after money, women and cars, is the most important thing. -Team Kermantle "Extreme action in the mildest conditions" Gear Notes: 1 Picket 2 Ice Screws 3 cases of Badassness 1 30m twin rope 2 Ice tools 1 Axe 1 Shovel 4 runners 3 Screamers 1 Link Cam (very useful near stairs above dog park) 1 bottle of water based personal lubricant (what happens on the mountain stays on the mountain) Approach Notes: We got lost en route from South Tabor to the Mt. Tabor Masiff itself. Beta: Mt. Tabor is not on the USA map.

Autopano is a commercial version of autostitch. I use it and it is very good. Using the "pano" on your camera is helpful because on some cameras it keeps the exposure the same which is important when doing these.

Hi. Is the route finding tricky to get to the summit ridge? We did Reid Glacier Headwall last year and it seemed kinda funky to find the ridge in the end. I think I know the answer to this one, but, for the mixed sections is it possible to protect in the rock at all? thanks

They said his looop broke because he put a daisy on the loop and that caused wear in the same spot that made it super ratty.

The area around the bergshrund is pretty thin. I was descending and went what I thought was far south of the crack along a boot path and my left leg fell into the bergshrund and dangled in air. So I'd give it a wide berth.

Yo, I'm planning on going out to the Wallowas in August with a buddy for camping and such and was wanting to see if there is any decent rock climbing out there. I'm not needing 5.11R or anything, maybe even low fifth class to practice simulclimbing. thanks!

I thought about leaving them (given the thread a while ago about ganking peoples crap off of routes), or putting them on the ground at the route or something. But I really doubt someone was working the route by leaving their two quickdraws at the top of that route. And I also thought that someone else would take and keep them. Maybe I should've left them, but I was trying to do the right thing. I asked people on the routes near me and they said it had been up there all day.

Howdy, Someone left their two locker quickdraws on top of the 5.4 trad climb just to the right of Cinnamon slab on 5/13. If they are yours, let me know and I can get them to you. I'm in pdx. Someone else left a few nuts in the 5.6? crack in the middle of the climb to the right of that 5.4. If it's yours let me know. Sam

How was the snow near the top? it's been warm lately so I'm curious. We're doing the Luthould Couliour tonight.

Huh? Are you calling someone out?

I think it's important to use Skinner's accident to bring up discussion and to evauluate ones own practices.

I was more talking to Raindawg's comment with the skinner belay loop issue than rehashing anything

Didn't Todd Skinner's belay loop break because he had a daisy girth hitched to it so that it got worn down in one spot and eventually failed? Going with that, is the main issue with putting a biner through the tie-in points that it can get tri-axial loaded in certain situations?

If someone on this board, like barkernews, works for a news agency and is a climber, isn't there something you can do? sobo put out the link to an older post that had URLs of reports that put things in perspective. Use your position to do something good, the rest of us can't as easily I know that it won't be as newsworthy as a dog keeping people alive that might've frozen to death, and I realize they are in the news cos the last group to be searched for died and they had a cute cuddly dog with them. But maybe you could mention these facts as the general populace listens to the newscasts. Most normal people would cool off if they realized what a small percent of rescues are for mountaineering. As for the climbers who fell, it would be nice if they let us know what happened as we're seeming to be super critical of them. I doubt anyone here is climbing so much that they can't respond. As I'm ranting already, I think they should use their media coverage to do some good instead of talk about the dog and pep talks. If I f*** up on the mountain and I had a voice being heard, I'd try to use it for something informational, whether it's through here, an accident report or the news. I can half see people thinking they just need a MLU and a fluffy dog to summit Mt. Doom.

I believe what she's saying is that while there always going to be unknowns, liky avy, falling, sudden weather, you can do things to mitigate that. (not to sound like Rummy and say 'there are unknown unknowns and known unkowns). If you know there is high avy risk (like this weekend) and a storm is forecasted to come in the next day, it's stupid (my words) to go up there. In regards to being prepared, if you have a GPS you should use it to get you out of trouble, like way points and such, instead of using it to get help to you. I would imagine in a white out that you would be roped up and could send one person out on point and if they fall over a cliff you could arrest (or try to), instead of everyone walking close and falling down together. I don't know the specifics of what happend, but I think you could handle the situation better. My point is that taking unnecessary risks is naive and dangerous.

Howdy, So could someone send me or reply with addresses of other organizations that would likely to be interested in this? I have pmru.org, but that's about it. I can email them all and see what their responses are and add their ideas/#s and such and see what direction we can take. I'm not sure what the best way to release a joint email/letter, if anyone knows let me know. I do have a friend at a AM new radio station so maybe that could help out as well. hippos

Howdy, I was just over at katu.com and saw their poll of "Do you think climbers should be required to reimburse counties for rescue expenses?". And over 75% of people think climbers should reimburse counties. While we can blow them off as ignorant or whatever, I think as a community we should do something to combat this misinformation and ignorance. I know on our forums we have put out the statistics of what percent of SAR operations are related to mountaineering and how the budget already exists for these events. I think we need to be more proactive in this area and write to papers and the news stations. I'm the last person in the world to write letters to the editor, but this just bugs the hell out of me. Is anyone here more literate than me who could help with this? Or is this a bad idea and I should let it go? hippos

Nope, not us. I was safe at the coast drinking whiskey and watching K2! I'll be waiting for clearer weather and good snow before I go up. Sam

Thanks for the beta! sam

I was looking for areas that would be good or bad for bivy sites but don't need GPS location. We were going to cave it up at the top of the palmer but I thought why not camp up higher? As for avy danger, I know slopes of 30-50 deg. are the highest risk and that a heavy snow on top of pretty consolidated snow isn't safe as it can shear off easily. And to avoid West Crater Rim as it's a high avy site. I was hoping to camp somewhere near crater rock but wasn't sure if it'd be a bad idea to be right there as rocks could fall off. But also I don't want to be in a gully and wasn't sure about just camping on the face on the east side of crater rock either.

Howdy, My friends and I are doing up Hood this weekend (provided the snow/weather are good) and want to bivy somewhere near Crater Rock and summit again the next day. Are there any areas we should really avoid for avy danger? We'll be in snow caves so I'm not concerned about flat areas. thanks Sam

Howdy, We are going up the Middle Sister this weekend and were hoping to get some beta on the East Arete route on Middle Sister. Has anyone gone up this? I know there are two sections of rock climbing < 5.6, but it'd be good to know how the rock is for climbing and placing pro. If anyone has any info, it'd be greatly appreciated. thanks! Sam