ColinB

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.

Thanks for the heads up Kevin! Obviously I still hadn't found enough coffee by noon to function correctly. Mods, please feel free to move this post as I'm an idiot who can't use the interwebz.

Title says it all. You got 'em, I want 'em. Let me know what you have as my old Vasques have pretty much fallen apart

Montana: where the men are men and the women are men.

Which is why you should always bring your Tauntaun...

I've got the new Scarpa 6ks and like them a lot. I have to cinch down the strap across the ankle a lot to prevent heel lift when skiing in them, but the are solid boots and nicely low volume. Super super warm (even in -40 in the Ruth...) to the point that I've had to stay with thin wool socks and change them out often.

And here I thought that they baby blue onesie was for you not Doug... At least you didn't need to worry about losing him with the amazing color combos going on there. Looks like good fun for you two!

I've got last year's NW Alpine pants too and they're kickass. They replaced my old Mammut Champ Pants but aren't as warn, I use them in the summer as well as winter (just layer underneath) though I do use the NW Alpine Salopette a lot in the winter as well. Well designed and (relatively) inexpensive.

Maybe you've already seen this, but Andy Kirkpatrick has some choice words about using a GriGri and recommends a steel biner. http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/rope_soloing_101_part_1

Well, let me know when you get back if you're looking for a partner! That was my backup plan anywho. Too bad I don't have a solar powered ghetto blaster...

I'm looking to get out Sat and Sun this weekend at Beacon for some aid trickery. Still in the learning stages myself but happy to trade off belaying duty and what have you. Shoot me a PM or email me at colin.bohannan@gmail.com if you're interested.

Closet cleaning time. Old Mammut softshell pants, lighter than the Champ Pants, well beaten. About a 36 x 33 pant. Need some aggressive seamgripping but have some life left. Mammut Champ Pants Size 48 (about a 33 x 35), less beat than the other pants but seen quite a bit of action. Also need some seamgrip love. Mammut Laser Jacket Size Large. Was red, now is more of a faded pink. Still functional. Mountain Hardware softshell pants. Approx 36 x 33. Lightweight, only a few holes. Outdoor Research Alibi Gloves Size Large. Too small for my big ass hands, just made me chilly. Super grippy for those spring ice climbs or mixed cragging. Local pick up only, also won't complain if you show up with beer. Feel free to PM me or email me at colin.bohannan@gmail.com

Thanks for the heads up on drill bits! I found a hammer, but am still looking for a hand drill. Anyone given up on bolting? Raindawg got a spare drill taking up space?

You got 'em, I want 'em. Especially looking for some decent drill bits (that can bite into some granite if need be). I'm located down in Portland but willing to pay shipping. Also can email me at colin.bohannan@gmail.com

Tim Olsen's new book has a great section on ice in the Gorge but it's far from an easy venue to learn the sport. If you want reliable ice you can top rope, the best bet is to drive out to the Canadian Rockies or Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman. There's plenty of terrain that you can learn the basics on out there and its not too painful of a drive for a 3-4 day weekend. The most reliable ice from Portland is Strobach Mountain east of White Pass (in WA) but there's only a few routes under WI4 and nothing is easy to toprope. Out east in Oregon there's a lot of ice, most of which has been climbed by vert. Look up some of his photos of the site here if you want to get stoked for Oregon ice.

2nd Wayne on this. The book is kickass and has a bunch of neat tucked away crags for those busy warm summer weekends. Thanks for the hard work Tim!

Trip: Mt Stuart - Girth Pillar Date: 7/22/2012 Trip Report: On Sunday (7/22) Nate F. and I climbed the Girth Pillar via the Ice Cliff Glacier from our camp at the bottom of the Sherpa Glacier. We started up the Ice Cliff at 3:15 and topped out 12 hrs later. On the Ice Cliff, things were more active than we had expected. A fair bit of rock/ice fall at night though the tongue of ice & snow to the left seem to be more sheltered. We pitched out three sections on the Ice Cliff as we only had one tool each but it seemed to be melting out pretty significantly. Neat ice features gave pretty good handholds on the steeper parts and the lack of daylight added to the alpine charm. The bergschrund at 8k was entirely open and overhanging, so we downclimbed into the moat to the climbers' right, switched over to rock shoes and climbed a pitch of 5.8/5.9 to reach the ramp. Three+ 70 m pitches got us from the moat to the base of the pillar. Nate lead up the pillar mostly free and I jugged up after him (as I suck and didn't want to waste time flailing around). The rock on the pillar is solid and the line damn impressive. That said, there's definitely plenty of loose rock sitting around on top of the pillar and we ended up with only 40 m of rope to finish the route with due to a couple of rockfall inflicted core shots. Six or so 40 m pitches got us up to the false summit about 12 hrs after we started up the Ice Cliff Glacier. We found the entrance to the Sherpa Glacier descent without too much trouble (hint: traverse over left instead of following the tracks down the couloir) and found sloppy conditions. Feeling tired from the day, I took my time downclimbing and was back at the tent 3 hours after topping out. Right now the bergschrund on the Sherpa is open but there is a narrow snow fin on the extreme climbers' right that can be downclimbed so you don't have to rappel. Back in the tent, we greedily slurped down some water, packed up, and punished our feet on the walk back to the car. An epic rainstorm on the drive back made us feel lucky to have gotten this route in during the short window we had this weekend. All in all, the route was a big interesting combination of very different alpine skills. Carrying boots, crampons, and tools up and over made the followers' life harder but that's alpine climbing, no? Nate leading out of the moat and up to the ramp. Myself jugging up the pillar with the Ice Cliff Glacier far below. Nate finishing up the top of the pillar. Gear Notes: Windshirts and neutrinos were the key to sending. One sacrificial neutrino was left on the Girth for you booty bandits. Doubles to #2 (bring extra #2s if you want to free the pillar!), one #3, two 13 cm screws, two pickets, one tool each, boots, crampons. 9.2 mm lead line and a 7.5 mm tag line (for hauling on the pillar). 45L pack for the follower, 20L pack for the leader. Approach Notes: Up the creek, follow the cairns.

Looks like you guys had fun up there! Sweet photo you got of my buddy while I was jugging up to him. We saw you over on the gendarme and waved. Wayne, we did climb the Ice Cliff to get up there.

@dkatz: We climbed far to climbers right and there's a solid fin of snow you can downclimb around the schrund. Not sure how long it'll last, but it was super solid yesterday. If that's not your cup of tea, there's a sketchy bollard of slush people have been rapping off of and somehow not dying...

Always bring the baby angle! Best piece of bail gear for the Cascades...

You might just want to go with some G12s with a plastic front piece and a pair of the red Trangos or Scarpa Charmoz. Get yourself a warmer pair of boots for winter climbing with the G12s or your G14s. Pretty much all you need for 98% of climbing in the cascades.

Fuck yeah! Thanks for snapping some stunning photos for us pack monkeys back in Oregon to lust after. Glad to see you guys had fun and climbed her in good style.

Daniel, When I post TRs (rarely) I just shrink them down before uploading them. Saves a bunch of headache with the uploading a ton of photos.

That totally sucks. Surprised no one has mentioned this, but if you have renter's insurance you should have it covered. Usually, you can show them documentation of your gear & a police report and get some coverage for it.