ColinB

I've got a pair of the Guides and 6000s. The 6ks are way warm for the Cascades but great for Alaska or the Canadian Rockies when its cold. I'm really happy with the Phantom Guides and would recommend them for local winter/spring stuff. They get super warm and I've sweated them out a bunch. Tons of similar stuff out there. Don't get Spantiks (or any other doubles) without a better quiver of boots for routine conditions down here.

Holy shit. He's on a roll!

Have you read Psychovertical and Cold Wars? Andy Kirkpatrick is a self-proclaimed wingnut and writes damn well too.

Dr. David Black at Longview Orthopedic is a climber and did a fellowship in hand surgery as well. Bit of a haul from Seattle but not bad if you're in Portland.

With a 5 mm rope, I've just used it as a tag line instead of rapping on it. Way more secure feeling. What situation would you need to rap on both ropes?

Awesome TR and quite the season up there for you! Thanks for the stoke in these warm PDX summer months.

I've know a few new grads that have moved to Portland and found work doing ME. Not sure what the market is like now (this was a few years ago) but there's definitely jobs in Portland, as hilarious as that sounds.

Thanks for those links! Totally amazing.

Pub Club is (usually) the 3rd Thursday of each month at Base Camp Brewing and starts around 7 pm. Good times to be had and climbing partners to be found.

You should be fine. It's really slushy in the afternoon. Descended it on 6/4 and its not getting firmer that's for sure. The schrund is easy to cross and you can glissade all the way to the meadow.

I second the Suunto Core. I've broken and beaten mine a few times (user error not design flaw) and Suunto was happy to replace it at no cost. It's pretty accurate and consistent (as much as a barometer can be).

I'd recommend Remote Medical International. They're out of Seattle and do WFR and WEMT classes. Very solid instruction, very experienced staff. I got my WEMT from them back in 2010 out in Leavenworth (though that's a way longer course and probably not what you need at all).

Ah bummer! Well let me know if you're looking for a partner another one of these weekends once you're done being ignored by our rulers.

I'm looking to tune up my aid skills before spring starts up much more and am looking for a partner in said endeavor. I don't mind doing the leading or the belaying if you've got some hard/sketchy aid mission thought out. Looking to get out this weekend, most likely at Smith as the weather should be cold but clear out there. Drop me a line at colin.bohannan@gmail.com if interested!

The runnels have no ice. Can't say on the 2nd couloir as we didn't get to it. Definitely no sign of your bollard in the couloir as the snow was pretty damn deep there. I think that the bypass didn't have much snow as we found a pretty thin snowpack just above the runnels.

It was skied by some French guy back in the 70s and snowboarded in the 90s by that guy who climbed Light Traveler on Denali. Three 30 m raps should be all that's required (though maybe one more over the schrund).

Not a problem! Definitely a venue worth seeing way more traffic. Hardest thing is finding people who believe me when I say there are routes near das Hoodwand that protect well and have (mostly) solid rock.

Trip: Illumination Rock - Skylight Date: 2/17/2013 Trip Report: Mike and I enjoyed bluebird skies up high yesterday and climbed Skylight up to the last bolt. Would have some bitchin' photos but the camera battery died from the cold. Fantastic neve, good gear, and fun climbing. The route is a great mini alpine climb and deserves more traffic considering how its a straight forward day trip from Portland. You can rap the route on fixed anchors at the top of pitches 1+2 as well as the bolt at the belay for pitch 1. A single 70 m should get you down but we used two 70s and skipped a rap station. Not recommended due to increased chances of getting a rope stuck. Everything else on the north side of Illumination Rock looked in fantastic shape. Gear Notes: Cams to #3 (placed it on both pitches), singles except for doubles in the .3-.75 range. Handful of pins and nuts helpful as well. Approach Notes: Traverse around the back on Illumination from the saddle, pick a line, climb it.

Enjoying the sun while setting up a rap off of Dribbles in Hyalite.

Three good ice routes all in Oregon? Can't say that's a normal winter. Well done and thanks for the photos!

Reading your post made me miss the midnight tours of the Chasm of Doom under moonlight and bourbon. Your paintings are gorgeous as well. Thanks for reminding me about how special of a place Joshua Tree is!

As of this morning, this is how Strobach looks. We drove the road, but 14" of snow there tomorrow should close it off for the season. Give things a few weeks and they should be good to go. Right side of the gully (Sad through Ice Dreams) First on the Left and Unholy Baptism almost touching down Better view of Unholy Baptism forming up Responsible Ladies Man is almost there as well. Primus Sucks (on the right) is forming but has some rock sticking through still

Monos rock for mixed climbing. You can climb with them more like rock shoes (with the point being your big toe) than other crampons. How much that matters to you is your own call. Duals are better overall crampons as they do have less shearing through soft/sun-bleached ice. A rigid boot makes more of a difference and there are plenty of folks out there getting up WI6 or M8 with a pair of Sabertooths. If you're starting, a modular crampon (like the BD Cyborg or Grivel G14) will let you test out both mono and duals without breaking the bank. The weight savings aren't that great and won't matter until your technique improves. Good luck and have fun out there!

Its confirmed. If you ask nicely, some folks on this board have stacks of the old picks sitting around their garages though. New quarks take the same picks as the nomics.

Good to see you guys up there! Fun conditions up on Illumination and it looks like your line was a bit more solid than ours.