ScaredSilly

by who, the owner? or someone else?

It is kinda of like when Alpinist went under. I sold off dups for a premium. Now that they are back back issue prices went down yet there is no change in the number of available. As the old saying goes a fool and his money are soon departed. BTW Rumor has it that Mad Rock bought CCH ...

As said above the Furher FInger is good as well as the Kautz. I have done both as up and over routes coming down the DC. There will be people on that side of the Nisqually so both routes will probably have some tracks but it will not be a cattle trail. So you will have to be a bit more heads up. Gib ledges is fun as well but I think at this point doing a route not out of Muir would be good. If you want a more remote route look at the Tahoma Glacier. I have not been on that side of hill but it seems popular early season.

Sad situation in deed. I heard that Lee may have well saved the other's lives as he was the last person on the rope and there was a long grove in the snow/ice from him trying to self arrest which undoubtedly slowed the others as they fell into the crevasse. Having the most experienced person last on the rope is SOP when in a mixed group. So my hat is off to Lee and my condolences to his family and friends.

Josh, whether you realize it or not your Rainier adventure has really just begun ... Good on ya ...

FYI, the last person was found but did not survive as they fell from the OS down the west face ending up in the black ice gully. DD, afternoon thunderstorm are common. This storm moved in earlier in the day. One report I read said it came in around 11am.

Just a bump as I hope the day was a good one. BTW Your Uncle, Grant was the director of the lab where I did my grad work when he lived in Oootah. Cheers, Allen

Great story ... can't wait to read next years installment. And consider yer self lucky you got to ride inside the helicopter. When the NPS plucked my injured partner off of Denali we rode on the outside, 200' below, hanging by a rope. Had to pay extra to ride inside you know.

The HW was in fine shape given the amount of snow. It was our second choice. With all of the snow it looked to be very straight forward.

Bill when we walked by the Spider I saw very little on it. I was kinda of hoping to see some bits to get an idea of the lines folks have been playing about on but no such luck.

Interesting to see the route with so much snow in July compared to other years. Except for a few routes on Rainier I have become a big fan of carrying up and over and coming down the In/DC or Emmons. Unless bringing up the kitchen sink about all that gets left behind is a tent, sleeping bag and a stove. Which should not add more than a few pounds to ones pack. It saves all kinds of hassles. Coming down the In/DC or Emmons one can really blast down. The last couple of times we have been on the summit at noon (we like to sleep in ;-) and back to Paradise by 5-6.

No need for a car shuttle if you come down the SS. Just walk around the hill. Very straight forward just stay at about the 8k level as you walk around the hill.

I saw that comment as well an thought WTF?? Someone has a good sense of humor. I am sure folks will be very concerned about the climber's wellfare.

Nice turns ... we admired them as we climbed up the N. Face last weekend.

How often are you going to use them after the trip? If rarely I would just say rent some boots from one of the guide services.

My understanding in talking with the Rangers at the desk that no one has been on that side of the hill. However, given conditions on the parts of the hill I would venture to guess that the Tahoma is fine shape. Go for it. We hoped to get over there after doing the Finger but the winds made it unpleasant.

As I remember the head wall is fat as to the left of the spider was a big ole ribbon of snow coming down. Wy'east would be a cruise. The glacier does get pretty sloppy so start early - we were glad to be traversing it will a down hill slant.

Bummer, are you sure it did not head down the Winthrop? That is were most tents have ended up heading before going down into a crack. Folks heading over St Elmos and across the Winthrop might see it.

Trip: Mount Rainier - Furher Finger Date: 6/27/2010 Trip Report: Because the rangers are not posting info to the blog this post is more of route conditions report than a trip report. For the first time in over a dozen trips to Rainier I did not use a rope for the climb up. What does that say? The conditions on the route were great. The Nisqually had no cracks showing on the crossing from Panorama Point over to the Wilson. The Finger was in great shape with excellent nevé. Still the usual bowling for climbers but fortunately only grapefruit size ice chunks and rocks. The upper Nisqually was also in great shape with a only a few cracks to skirt around. Those skiing the Finger were having a field day. Our summit day was quite windy and with some clouds at 14k. We went up and over and down the Ingraham. Which also a first for me, that is descending the Ingraham Direct rather than coming down the Cleaver. Though late in the afternoon that slope is spoky with slide potential. It has been a long time since I have seen the Finger in such great shape so late in the year. If you catch it now with the freezing levels down around 9-10k you will be styling. After that we headed off to Mount Adams (Pinnacle Headwall) and Mount Hood (North Face) Gear Notes: Single tool and a rope. Approach Notes: Start at Paradise and go long.

Trip: Mt Adams - Pinnacle Headwall Date: 6/30/2010 Trip Report: Mount Adams, sometimes the neglected step sister to Rainier but still a prize. After completing our run up Rainier a few days either Vince and I headed off to Mount Adams hoping to escape the winds we found a few days before on Mount Rainier (Furher Finger). Being still early season we decided to try something with reasonable access but with good climbing. The Pinnacle Headwall seem to fit the bill. Steep climbing with a nice descent down the west ridge. All we needed to do was get there. Fred said to come in from the south but it seemed that the Riley Trail would be better. Especially as we figured we would cross country part of it. Finding the Riley trail head is problematic as it is not marked with any road signage. Further the trail is not immediately obvious from the road as there hardly any pull off along the shoulder. The only reason we found it was because we trying to turn around at that location and we saw a trail sign about 100' up in the woods. After about 30 minutes of hiking we hit a junction Riley and Riley Cutoff. Thinking the cutoff would get us to Crest Trail faster we chose that option. We chose the wrong option as latter we figured out that it took us farther south than we wanted. That cutoff probably cost us 2 hours of extra hiking. Arrg! After 6 hours or so of hiking with the last three cross country on snow finally we reached the base of the West Ridge. After a nice bivy the next morning we started up the headwall. We went pretty much straight up the headwall which was just to the right of the original route. We had great nevé and with slope being around 35-45 degrees it was great cramponing. We carried a rope and two pickets but never used them. That said a fall would a have resulted in a 2000' or greater ride. Near the top Fred indicated that the headwall joined with West Ridge which then joined in with the NW Ridge. I found all that odd as it would involve traversing left a bit more than looked reasonable for the conditions. Though Vince thought it would go. Instead we went straight up to the top of the headwall and then found an easy exit to the right around the rock and rime buttress. From there the slope kicked back and we walked up to the West Summit. I was ahead of Vince by about 45 minutes so I walked over to the main summit and back. For the descent we retraced our tracks down the upper part of the headwall and over to the West Ridge. We walked down the ridge back to our camp. Along the way we marveled at the activity of the west ridge and enjoyed the goats. On the way out we traveled pretty much due west on snow figuring we would hit the Riley trail once we got deep in to the woods. Nope we went just a bit south and hit the Riley Cutoff trail. Not realizing our mistake again we wasted an hour hiking in the wrong direction. All in all I found the Pinnacle Headwall to be a gem. Fred says it is a Grade II. However, I would say it is a bit more than that because of how continuous and long it is. Similarly I think the West Ridge is a bit more serious than a Grade I as the upper part goes onto some pretty exposed slopes where a fall would be quite serious. One photo showing the headwall. The route we took goes pretty much straight up through the rocks to the summit buttress before exiting to the right. After that Vince and I took a couple of rest days before heading off to Mount Hood (North face). Gear Notes: Single tool for those comfortable big open slopes. Approach Notes: Riley Trail to PCT then cross country to the West Ridge. Do not use the Riley Cutoff.

Trip: Mt Hood - North Face Gully Date: 7/3/2010 Trip Report: Who would have thunk one could get on the north face gully on Mt Hood in July and have great conditions??? Wanting to avoid the south side masses and best of all learning that the road to Cloud Cap was open my partner Vince and I decided to go check out the north side of the hill. It had been over 15 years since I had driven up the road and seeing the aftermath of the fire was surprising as it was a hot one. When we arrived at Cloud Cap we were the first car there which was surprising for a Sat morning on a holiday weekend. I guess the road opening announcement had missed the masses. Soon another car pulled up with a solo climber heading to Cooper's Spur. We did the usual moraine hike to gain the Elliot Galcier. We hiked to the base unroped as the cracks are well filled. At the bergshrund which was wide open we found a nice debris cone on the right side that made passing it a quite easy. Except that one had to enter the 3' deep runnel for about 10 feet. Though the runnel was quite deep there was very little rock debris just snow. Had anything come down while in the runnel it would have been instant rejection. After the shrund we climbed up on firm nevé to the base of the first ice step which was still in very good shape. We quickly dispatched with it and started working our way up the main part of the gully staying to the left side. We simul climbed and placed a picket every rope length or so. After a bit we hit the second ice step which was quickly becoming rotten ice on the left side. Vince said the right was better but more exposed to sluffs coming down. At the top of the slope one can go left or right around a rock buttress. We chose to go left and continued up. We found a nice spot and took a quick break before continuing up into the rocks. The last little bit was great fun we were right under the summit cornice. Though getting late in the day, now after noon the snow was still in great shape. As I climbed up I placed one last piece of pro - I clipped a runner to an old cable still tied to a block 30 feet below the summit. From there I kicked a few steps under the cornice and popped on to the summit. We descended down the south side and muttered about the usual chaos - including the silly group of one crampon each. We walked back around via the Newton-Clark to the Spur making it back to the truck in just under 12 hours. No speed record in any sense but we were happy as Hood was our third Cascade peak that week and we figured that we had done over 23000 feet of up between Mount Rainier (Furher Finger) , Mount Adam (Pinnacle Headwall), and now Hood. On the way down the hill I figured out that I now completed my 21th ascent of a route on a Cascade Volcano. Not bad considering that over half have come from after I moved out the PNW 25 years ago. Oh and I should add damn good for my partner Vince who is 63!! Da north side: The slope above the upper rock buttress: The slope leading up to the finial headwall: Coming around the summit cornice: A few more images from my partner Vince: Going up the first ice step: Based of the second ice step: The summit cornice looms: Gear Notes: The usual - two tools, a couple of screws, two or three pickets. Approach Notes: Drive to Cloud Cap and hike from there.

Very odd, why would he unclip? The take a dump is plausible but why would he not let his partners know? And finding gear and a cave but not him. All very odd ... I hope it turns out well. Props to those who commented on the story over the other twits.

Dane, thanks for the info. If the rangers do not like to down load info then perhaps they need to find a new job. Further, what exactly do the rangers think is a good use of their time? Perhaps what they think and what the public (i.e. climbers) who are paying their salary want/need are different. Maybe they need to sit down with a few more folks ...

Iain, for what you describe (roads and admin hoops) is already on the main Rainier NPS page. If that is all we are going to get there is no need for the climbing rangers and the $30 fee for those not going to Muir or the Emmons. Having some good general route info is helpful for most. For instance, the Finger - knowing that it is in good shape and not yet bowling for climbers or having a report that it has pretty much melted out is good enough for most. Enough info to make a choice and still have an adventure. Here is my heart burn I was told the climbing rangers are out on the hill and not in the office. So those issuing permits have little knowledge of what is going on the hill unless the climbing rangers given them some info verbally which then needs to be pass around to everyone running the desk. Not a good system. Finally, where are the rangers? Emmons or Muir. Fine that is where 90% of the people are. So those 10% who are over say on the Finger get 0% added benefit. That is the problem. PS Bend to Rainier is no big deal many come from much further. If you note there a several each year posting who are from the east coast. Knowing conditions is much more important for them.

There is a restroom all along the route to Muir. Just look for the yellow dots along with occasional brown/green/red/yellow puke spots.