cool. the tree route is a fun easy outing. I often use it to introduce newbies to multi-pitch climbing.
I know nothing of the stump. must be one of the tasty new routes out there. What piece of rock is it on?
pics?
in no way would i use this as a toprope anchor, but i did use this as a rap anchor and felt pretty sketched out by it.
you can find it on white slabs of snow creek wall
i recommend having a few back-up plans in case the weather and snow is crap. Find some other mountains, or easier routes up Rainier.
I had an attempt last year mid-May and was at the tail end of one storm and the beginning of another. We were wallowing through up to 3 feet of snow on one of the easier routes up the mountain.
yea, what Ivan said.
Good work escaping death and learning a bit more about the mountains hands on.
Don't worry about the missed summits. In the winter, my summit rate is somewhere below 50%. The cascades are tough, especially in the winter.
the one thing missing in my rack is something to protect flares and pockets. that is where the tri-cams and/or offset cams/aliens come in. I will probably go with tri-cams for pockets because they are cheaper, but having some offset cams for flares is quite nice. it just depends on the route you are climbing.
i liked it. the drama with the journalist was a little forced, but it was something i could take the misses to and we both enjoyed it. the climbing scenes were pretty spot on.
movies in general are all about expectations. i went into it realizing that it was a "hollywood-esque" film and so expected some hokey themes.