tvashtarkatena

Spot the couloir on the hike in. It's obvious. Climb the couloir to it's end. Hang a right up a pitch of 4th class mixed stuff. You'll see rap slings at the top from below. Traverse up and as far right (west) as you can go on the upper snowfield until you reach the summit ridge. Traverse west on the summit ridge until you're on top.

I have MSR Lightnings. They're consideraby lighter than the Denalis and grip on up and sidehills wonderfully. I really like them.

Nope. Didn't see any wildlife to speak of.

I only fuck other people's gear up. Mine stays at home with the tags still on.

The Speed carried my overnight gear comfortably. I had to drape the rope under the pack lid, and strap my helmet, foam pad, and crampons to the outside on the way up, so I didn't pass the 'Eurokewl' test, but those fuckers never carry overnight gear anyway. Don and I split group gear pretty equally, so scientists are still trying to determine what filled his gargantuan pack. Saddam's fallen statue? A live goat? 2000 feet of bail runners? He did have an Alaskan style down parka the size of a small cumulus cloud, but other than that he didn't seem to have any noticeably bulky items at camp. The lowest moment of the trip for me was when he asked me to help him get his pack just before skiing down the road. I swear to God I was frightened of that thing. A vision of my broken body being dragged behind a rescue snowmobile on a back board flashed before my eyes.

Trip: Argonaut - NE Couloir Date: 3/17/2008 Trip Report: Argonaut, NE Couloir March 17, 2008 The pelting woke me up again. It hadn’t stopped for several hours. By now I was looking forward to sleeping in before casually brewing up some tea and cream of wheat, packing up, and strolling back to the car. “I slept through the alarm. It’s 5:20.” Don said. “It’s clear out.” Damn! Back to work. Don slipped into his ancient Galibiers. The only synthetics on these medieval war horses is the duct tape holding the inner boots together. We started up at first light. It was windy, but relatively warm. Stuart and Sherpa were keeping the clouds at bay. The climb can be broken up into five sections: The approach slope (which is most of it), the couloir, a short mixed pitch above the top of the couloir, the upper snowfield, and the summit ridge traverse. The approach slope went much easier in snowshoes. The couloir itself offered fine, secure step kicking, with one little bottleneck requiring a few easy ice moves. What little ice we encountered other than that; small amounts between rocks, was grape nuts. We attempted a bypass to the upper snowfield about 100 feet below the top of the NE couloir, but sugar snow over slab returned us to the couloir proper. This sugar snow/grape nuts ice combination characterized all the mixed climbing on the route. Don spotted a descent route which wound up going easily: after a single rope rap down a shitty gully (and climbing back up shitty gully to get my forgotten ax) to Colchuk’s large south slope, traverse the Argonaut – Colchuck ridge for a short ways to a snow capped ridge heading north. Traverse and descend that ridge for a 100 feet or so before dropping off it’s west side and back to the base of the NE couloir. All day we enjoyed being in the eye of the storm; plenty of wind, surrounded by clouds, but blue bird skies above. No precipitation fell during our visit, although there was quite a bit of wind deposition going on. Thanks to Jiri, Kevin, Dave, Keith, and Eric, all of whom we saw in our way in, for beta on the conditions. “These snowshoes suck”. Don ascending to the base of the couloir Sunrise on Sherpa Argonaut Don in the couloir: asleep or frozen solid? Don topping out on the mixed section The author ascending the upper snowfield Don reaching the summit ridge. Colchuk in the background The author demonstrating his signature Enumclaw technique on the summit ridge traverse The author negotiating the final Obama Step to the summit block Don: tanned, rested, and ready for anything on the summit Architecturally, you can’t beat Argonaut’s summit Don descending Sherpa Gear Notes: We broke out the rope for 2 single rope raps; one down the mixed pitch below the upper snowfield, and one to get down to Colchuck's southern slope. Somebody might take a pencil up for the summit register. The lone pen is either frozen or kaput. Approach Notes: We skied the road, stashed them, then switched to snowshoes, which were most helpful after the Colchuk/Mountaineer's Creek trail junction.

Same couloir, but on Argonaut.

Total whiteout....

The weather sucked....

Thats what I thought too! He was bitching about his skies as we passed him on our way out as well. I thought the road up in the morning was great, the way out SUCKED! If you mean his skis, he didn't have any...tvash was on snowshoes. The road out was quick on skis What route did you guys do/attempt? You mean those things on my feet weren't skis? So that's why they didn't turn worth a damn. We skied the road, stashed em, and snowshoed from there. We usually bring rollerblades, too.

Can you try not to be a complete cynical dick for just one minute? Tibet is a recent, brutal, text book foreign occupation that the United States, if it chose to do so, could probably do something about. Fuck you, I'm off to the Stuart Range.

One small difference: the Tibetans are still living on their land.

We're suppose to feel bad about hating Bush? In any case, we don't hate Bush. We just don't have any respect for those who voted for him. Twice.

yes, it does have a meaning. Why don't you write the Turel Corporation and inform them of your concerns.

You can add "Raindawg" to that list. Trashcanlicker has made a very long list of friends on cc.com. : For once, I agree with you. I've made a lot of great friends who also happen to be climbing partners. This site has been, and continues to be, wonderful for that.

Get rid of your siding while your at it and free yourself

Bush is one of the few alcoholics who's trail of fuck ups became an interstate freeway AFTER getting sober.

God, I wish he'd fall in front of it.

Not the same, as the Tibetan struggle is still fresh and ongoing. You'll know when it's over when they start building casinos.

Rahrrr!

Swallowgarchy?

The battle is far from lost. The Tibetans are finally saying "enough, you assholes" just when the Chinese can least afford it. Their timing couldn't be more perfect to get the message out about what the Chinese regime really stands for; totalitarianism.

Particulate is not a greenhouse gas. Particulate is fine particles of soot that remain suspended in the air. And being so fine, when inhaled they tend to lodge deep in the lungs and accumulate there. This causes respiratory problems like asthma and, in extreme cases, black lung. So particulate is a concern particularly in urban areas because concentrations can get quite high, and pose a significant health risk. It's also a component of visible smog. But it's got nothing to do with global warming. While it's obvious to most that particulates are not gases, they do contribute to global warming, hence my previous post. CA EPA summary This is a short summary of health/environmental effects of diesel particulates. Note the last last bullet identifying diesel particulates as a potent contributor to global warming.

Hold me DC. Heal me.

I'm a little despot hear me out tip me over and the poor can buy houses and cars and whatever they want and shit