RJRiha

Megaride boots. I have no idea if there is an alignment issue. I could try to figure it out on the ski that I still have, but if the alignment issue was with the mounting of the binding toe piece, then I'll only know if the ski turns up.

That is the top. The base is a greyish color with the Atomic logo. I think it's pretty unlikely that the ski continued into that drainage. The area under Steel Cliffs looked pretty covered in rocks and I would expect it to stop somewhere.....however it is always possible that it popped over there and kept going. From the direction it was heading and what other people saw, I think it's most likely under the snow in a cave carved out by the hot volcanic gas. I don't know the extent that it melts out during the summer....

I know about pulling hard to get them to click multiple times (I can't get them to click more than 3 times though). I still had them release about once every 3 or so outings while touring. I have heard the same about the brakes possibly increasing release force on a twisting release. I also dont like the added weight and more stuff sticking out on my pack when I have to boot up. The more I read, the more I think that I might try the Dynafits again, this time with some carefully engineered leashes.

I was using the Comfort TLT. I am also anal about clearing snow/ice, but sometimes there is snow in the holes between the time of clearing the holes and stepping into the binding. As I said though, I pop out at the toe ALL the time (maybe it's possible that I got a bad binding....didn't mark them to test that theory though). Has anyone ever released out of the binding with the toe locked into touring mode WITH the heel locked for descent? I have popped out with the toe locked WHILE touring numerous times (and it seemed to do so without excessive force).

I'm not a huge fan of the dynafit brakes, so I ski with leashes. I didn't have the leashes attached because of a concern for avalanche. Maybe I should re-evaluate my dislike of the brakes based on my even greater dislike of losing a ski. Brakes wouldn't have helped in this particular instance anyway, the ski tumbled end over end on hard ice, then went rocketing away upside down. If I stay with Dynafit, I think I'll utilize that leash setup in that link that will break under avalanche force as that is my primary concern with using leashes. After stepping into the binding, I did pivot the toe a few times to check that the binding was locked, but I didn't have it locked into touring mode. Maybe that would have helped clear out any snow that jammed into the toe holes between the time that I cleared them and locked in. Inadvertent toe release has been my primary concern with this binding as it seems to happen at LEAST once every time I go out (and usually more like 3 or 4 times). Every once in awhile it even happens when I have them locked into touring mode. It's to the point that I am not terribly confident in skiing anything that has exposure to any objective hazard (like I would be if I was on my downhill gear). Now I have to make the decision whether to go with a different binding, or give Dynafits another shot. Are there any Fritschi lovers out there who would like to chime in? The weight and size penalty seems hard to justify.

I posted in the Oregon forum regarding a lost ski around the Devil's Kitchen area of Mt. Hood. I was skiing down and hit a patch of ice. I didn't lose control, but my toe released from the Dynafit binding. I'm sure it wasn't a heel release because that has happened to me before and I know what it feels like. This has happened to me before and it is usually just frustrating. This time there was no soft snow to allow the ski to stop, it just went skipping down the ice until I lost the ski. Is this common for Dynafit bindings? I know a lot of you use these popular bindings. When I get new skis, I'm tempted to switch to a different binding because I now worry that a similar thing will happen and I'll either lose another ski, or worse. Does anyone else have problems like this? I've heard that some will put the toe into 'touring mode' when a fall could be disastrous. BTW: If anyone happens to find an Atomic RT86 ski around the Devil's Kitchen area (or possibly even near Steel Cliffs) of Mt. Hood, send me a message and I'll give you a nice reward ($150).

Yesterday (6/8/08), I had a great climb of Mt. Hood, reaching the summit via the west crater. I started skiing from the hogsback and got a few turns before disaster struck. My dynafit binding inadvertently released at the toe, and my ski went tumbling into the Devil's Kitchen fumarole area. I looked all over and couldn't find it. It appears as though the only place it could have ended up is in one of the caves carved out from the hot sulfur gas, but I can't be sure it didn't just skip over and end up somewhere below Steel Cliffs. Does the Devil's Kitchen area melt out in the summer? If anyone happens to find an Atomic RT86 ski with a Dynafit binding, please message me. I'll pay a nice reward of $150 if I can get that ski back.

Mt. Appleton area is nice. I did that trip back in April and there was TONS of snow up there. Its probably a hike for the first 3 miles or so now. There are plenty of nice bowls to ski if the snow has consolidated.

Jefferson Creek area has bouldering. Go in on Hamma Hamma river road and take the eventual left fork and follow it in.

armstrong's benefits were much more pronounced because HIS sport is ALL about fitness. his records are more tainted. like body builders. Except in professional bodybuilding its a level playingfield. Every single one of them is on roids and insulin.

I climbed the mega gully 2 weeks ago. Its very straight-forward and leaves you with a very easy walk to the summit. True, it is steep (about 50 degrees at the top). It seems most parties choose to descend a different route, but we didnt have any problems descending it. There was a TR this year of a team skiing it, but I dont have the balls for that. It seems the guide book doesnt list that route (dont know why, because its an EXCELLENT route). Next time, I want to try the face proper, just left of the mega gully. Does anyone know if there is an easy access to the snow ramps on the face? It appears as though there is alot of rock in the way (and deception's rock seems sketchy at best). Maybe there are hidden gullys? Or does it have to be done early in the season when the gaps between the rock are plugged with snow? I know there are ways to access the upper face from the mega gully, but that seems as though it would take all the fun out of it.

Rain....Washington state.....sounds like a normal day out in the mountains to me.

I was in the group of climbers with the injured person. Surprisingly the news didnt botch the hell out of the story (except for the few maps they showed which put the brothers right next to Port Angeles). One thing to note: John is an extremely strong climber. If I could climb like him when Im in my 60's, I would be extremely proud. He keeps up with people 1/3rd of his age with no problems. Heres some more of the story. We reached the summit of the south brother around noon. I topped out about 5 minutes after John did. He was taking his last few steps, seemingly safe on the summit block when his Achilles ruptured. He tried repeatedly to get up on his leg, but it was obvious he wasnt going anywhere. We tried repeatedly to get calls out, with a few very short, interrupted calls to Olympic Mountain Rescue, and 911 (reception was poor even though we were on the summit). A game plan was made to get most of the party off of the summit, leaving 2 other climbers with the injured person (we gave them all of our extra clothes, water, food, pads and bivys expecting a rescue to take place in the morning). After reaching camp, I quickly loaded my pack with gear and started speed hiking to the trailhead to assist with getting the rescue started. I ran into OMR less than a mile from the trailhead, meaning they organized a pretty decent rescue party within 4 hours!!! They had no idea that the injured climber was still on the summit pinacle, so they called out to the coast guard to attempt a chopper evacuation. The chopper was heard in the air less than an hour after the call went out. The cloud ceiling was not very conducive to a rescue, but luckily they pulled it off anyway. If anyone from OMR or the Coast Guard reads this, I want them to know exactly how much respect I have for those folks. Every single one of those involved was truly dedicated and should be extremely proud of themselves. Every single person who climbs in the Olympics should feel blessed to have organizations around who will selflessly save someone in trouble. This also shows what can happen in the mountains. John was fully prepared and an experienced climber. He just had some bad luck as to when disaster decided to strike. This just goes to show how important it actually is to be prepared when you decide to leave the comforts of home to enjoy a day in the mountains. If you know John, you know that he will be trying as hard as he can to get back up to the mountains. If you do know him, wish him luck in a speedy recovery!

Trip: Washington Ellinor Traverse - Traverse from Washington to Ellinor Date: 4/25/2007 Trip Report: I have had a long desire to pull off the Washington-Ellinor Traverse. Finally had a chance to do it. We got just past the lower Ellinor trailhead at about 9:30AM (late start). The climb up Washington was enjoyable and the weather was cooperating quite nicely, but we didnt actually reach the summit(not that either of us hadn't been there before). Maybe it wasnt the true, complete traverse, but as it was about 1:30 by the time we reached the Washington route 1 headwall and the weather was turning, we wanted to get on route as quickly as possible. Anyway, about the climb. We walked below the route 1 headwall to the notch off to the left. The first chute encountered was the first of many with bad, possibly fatal runouts so we roped up and set a few pickets on the traverse of this chute. We stayed below the large rock formations until there looked to be a good, clean shot up to the ridge. Upon reaching the ridge we realized that it was corniced and had lots of loose rock with pretty bad drops on both sides. Not a good sign so we stayed just below the east side of the ridge until we reached a chute just right of a large, 2 peaked rock formation. After ascending the chute, we decided to stay as true to the route as possible and stayed just under the corniced ridge which meant more pickets (so the going was slow). We started to see 3 large, very steep snow slopes(appeared to be about 50-55 degrees) as the route dropped into a large bowl between large rock formations (I believe these were A peak and B peak). The direct route between these peaks appeared to be fairly heavily corniced so we decided to go around the southeast side of A peak. The route didnt "go" any further on the southeast side, so we climbed up the southeast ridge to top off just under A peak. The climbing was enjoyable as there was pretty good exposure and very solid windpacked snow. We then traversed under B peak and had one more slope to climb until we were on Ellinor. Once we reached Ellinor, all the snow deposited during the climb was starting to build up. We started to notice debris from small avalanches, so we wound down through the small rock cliffs to the right of the Ellinor chute to avoid going up through the steeper summit area where we were concerned about possible avalanche activity. To avoid taking off the rope and setting rappels, we slung a few trees and simulclimbed down into the flat area below the summit. The summer route was the least probable for avalanche as you can wind through the trees and below large rock formations, but we did travel right through the biggest slope of fresh avalanche debris seen yet to reach the bottom of the chute (I was surprised at the size of the debris field as it was only about a 20 degree slope...glad we didnt take the steeper chute down). A quick trip down to the car and we were rewarded with a tasty sandwich and Full Sail Session Lagers. All in all it was an exciting trip with just enough spice to make it fun. Once on the traverse the wind was whipping hard, with alot of snow and freezing rain...starting of course after we were committed to finishing the climb. Unfortunately the weather didnt permit any pictures as visibility was low. 10 hours car to car. Gear Notes: 4 pickets (used 3), rope, axes. Crampons would have been nice on some of the wind packed slopes. Approach Notes: 1/2 hour hike from car to Mt. Washington Trail

I dont know which route is 1a...is it the surprise couloir? There are a number of chutes to the right of route 1 which look like they go to the summit ridge right now...not sure if they do or not. The road is melted almost all the way the the Ellinor bypass trail. It took us about 1/2 hour from the car to the Mt. Washington trail today (4/25).

Trip: Mount Ellinor - Chute Date: 4/7/2007 Trip Report: Wanted to get out for a quick trip this past weekend. I was hoping that the 80 degree day the past week melted out the road all the way to the upper trailhead. Unfortunately, the road is snow covered starting at the lower trailhead. Very soon, the snow will be thin enough that someone with 4-wheel drive will be able to blaze all the way up to the upper. We took the road for about 1/2 mile to the way trail that leads to the upper trailhead. The way trail was mostly free of snow. The first 1/2 mile of the upper trail was snow free. When the trail starts to switchback, we rain into ice all the way to the trail marker that splits the summer/chute routes. From here it is soft snow all the way to the top. The chute is in GREAT condition now, with a boot path all the way to the top and the "butt track" is clearly visible all the way down. The chute would be a great ski right about now....wish I would have hauled them up. Gear Notes: Didnt use the axe at all, crampons would have been nice on the ice on the upper trail, but not necessary.