bigeo

sold

Great write-up of a bonafide "soft epic" (full-on shit show where nothing really disastrous happens). If you get through one of those at the beginning of your climbing career and want to go back for more, you're a climber.

climbing is a game in which you can make your own rules

Absolutely agree. It's not just the glacier travel. The more of the garbage rock that Rainier is made out of that is buried under snow or held together by ice, the less likely you become a bowling pin.

That (JasonG) photo is !!!!!!

That's crazy! Riding a motorcycle with no fukking helmet.

Three parties on the S gully of Guye. Que` cosa!

bump for Off Belay collection. Free to a good home. I have some of the guide books left too, so inquire if you see something you want.

You guys are good

Is that out of the Whillans' phrasebook?

But why are they booting down when the ski conditions look amazing?

Shuksan has always had delusions of grandeur

Thanks Dan. That's very kind. The truth is, I was just tagging along. When I went back to do it the next year with the partner who had bailed, I got totally off route and we had to retreat down Ulrich's. Went back a few years after that and finally got my buddy to the top because we hooked up with a pair en route led by somebody who knew where he was going. My route finding disfunction (I'm directionally challenged) is legendary amongst my partners. It makes for great, funny stories because somehow we have all survived.

You could paint dots on the rock every 100 feet (saw this in the Dolomites) and I would still get off route.

Sublime!

"Hard to get to." How hard?

Aid climbing always strikes me as too much work with a healthy dose of fear and suffering thrown in. I do appreciate an Ivanesque TR however.

"New skis!"? Who needs skis when you've got 35# of crystal meth?

Really, you replaced those bolts/hangers? They look fine. But thanks.

Classic west side Cascade Alpine! My climbing "career" started doing that stuff with my dad when I was in my early teens, including many ascents in the Monte Cristo area. I loved it then and still do. It's good to see a father getting after it with his son. My boys never really took to it, although my younger will humor me from time to time with an easy scramble. Getting me started in the climbing game was one of my father's greatest gifts to me. Thanks for sharing the experience.

Further evidence of road being open to TH: https://turns-all-year.com/trip-reports/glacier-peak-all-to-ourselves

You might ask on TAY. There was mention of skiing the W face in a recent thread about the Lost Marbles Couloir

That's a VERY understanding partner considering how good the conditions were anywhere in the Stevens Pass vicinity yesterday.

I climbed that when I was in high school (about 40 years ago). I took a 30' fall (unroped, thank god) and landed in a soft, deep pile of snow. I was unfazed, but my partners were sure freaked out.

Pretending you"re Ueli Steck seems like a bad idea.