kevino

Hamm's is still made...my friend will randomly show up to my house with a case of it.

Looks a lot better than when its not covered in snow!

There have been several reports on turns all year.com

I'd be interested in participating in such a day some time in the future....

Epic. Hey Craig, do you have a #5 or 6 I can borrow so I can climb backbone this summer?

Good to see some pictures of you and Justin! Did he tell you about time we started up the route but it was like 100 degrees out? Take care and heal up well!

That movie is so true.

Really? We found great conditions this weekend We knew we were running a risk of going up there with conditions, weather etc, but we talked to rangers guides and did our own analysis. Things turned out great, we nailed the weather window. If you are dead set in your plans to climb rainier and have an opportunity in weather/conditions, I'd say its worth checking out as long as you are comfortable in your skills/ability to get up and down and get out as needed.

On the other hand, you will get tons of free booze and other ilicit drugs offered to you if you are into those things. Then just climb in the middle east and you'll have no crowds.

Sorry for the delay. There were only two cracks near the crater. The first was completely covered, although the lead guy on the rope team managed to find a place to punch through. The second one, is in the 7th pic of the TR, very filled in and no stability issues when crossing it. That said of the mountain looked to be in great condition. There was a TR on turns all year from some people skiing below the turtle on this same date. Enjoy and good luck!

Nice job. That looks liked quite a little ride. Seems the schrund is growing? Perhaps just a slow snow year? Thanks for the video.

Trog, Whats the rab product? I saw Doug Shepard talk about a new rab piece but it isn't out yet... While I agree with G-spotter that insulation is not always needed during the summer, I want this piece to work into spring skiing and fall alpine rock where there is greater chance of storms and cooler temps (prusik in oct or the wind river range in sept again)

Thanks for the opinions and comments. I'm really trying to stick to my original guidelines for this jacket as I'll want the lightest/smallest pack I can get for plans I have this summer. With that in mind, both the compressor (18 oz) and ignitor (19+oz) are out. As mentioned, the nano puff hoody is going to come out in late summer, and weights around 14 oz. Till then I'm going to get the OR Fraction as it fits my wants and costs $60-70 less than the montbell, which was next in line. Thanks again!

Trying to find a jacket to fit this bill: -synthetic insulation -hood (like the extra warmth) -used for belay on spring/summer/fall alpine rock climbs or light overnight trips - <16 oz So far the only jackets I have found are the Montbell UL Thermawrap Parka, Arcteryx LT Hoody, Montane Prism 2.0, and OR Fraction. Anyone have some of these jackets or other jackets that fit these requirements? Seems to be a pretty narrow field...

There was some slide activity below the Kautz glacier and the Nisqually-Gibraltar Chute. Other than that nada. All the snow we encoutered was hard packed all the way to the surface or couple inches of soft snow on top of consolidated snow. There didn't appear to be layers. I know the warning you speak of, but with the weather and snow conditions we had we felt we were safe.

Trip: Rainier - Ingraham Direct Ski Descent Date: 5/9/2010 Trip Report: All last week, Mark and I had been throwing around different ideas on what to do with some free time this weekend. Then I get a all from Mark friday afternoon, "dude lets just go to rainier and try to ski off the summit. If anything we still get lots of skiing." Eventually we got up to Paradise and started skinning around 1 pm. Holy crap, warm and sunny! Beautiful weather. We got to Camp Muir around 7 pm, to find the hut next to empty! The only other party was a group from Utah. We got up around sunrise and started skinning. We followed some tracks up and over Cathedral gap to the Ingraham flats. We put on our glacier gear and headed directly up the Ingraham Glacier. Around 12,700 we joined the DC route and continued our way to the summit crater. Only had two minor crevasse issues and otherwise straight forward route to the summit crater. From our high point we clicked into our skis and was back down to camp muir in ~30 minutes. The snow from the crater to the top of the cleaver was variable, some wind pack pow to hard crust to icy spots. Once on the cleaver the snow was great! We then skied Cadaver Gap on the way down, which provided a much more direct line to Camp Muir. After packing up our overnight gear we skied down to Paradise. The snow on the way down had developed a crust and was not nearly as pleasant as we had hoped. Still a great trip with some great partners. This was my first attempt on Rainier and boy what a fantastic time! Now for pictures! Warm, sunny and clear! God knows what are in the those packs Watching the sunset on Adams... Sunrise behind Little Tahoma The route...straight up the middle Break mid glacier Nearing the top... Group shot on the crater Action shots from the glacier! Conditions on the Cowlitz Glacier, Cadaver gap (our descent) and Cathedral Gap (our ascent) Gear Notes: Its all about the skis...

Has anyone been up to Rainier recently?? Was thinking of heading up there this weekend but the weather window has shifted and I haven't seen any updates after this past storm. Any info or tips would be great. Thanks.

I like how its the LASER DISC version.

Is that like when you climbed at index?

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I have the 350 and use it for everything (ice, alpine, cragging) and thoroughly enjoy it. Got it on sale and haven't regretted it. Light, comfy and packs small. One thing I really enjoy is its low profile. When I was in the wind river range I would just wear it during approaches and while climbing ice in hyalite canyon I would just wear it between climbs and never felt uncomfortable.

Or even a long traverse could be intriguing...

Long story short, I have 5/7-5/11 (5 days) off from work and want to spend as much time outside, since my last several months have been spent studying. I have some ideas in mind but always open to new ideas and other people's thoughts...I was originally thinking go in to some range/cirque, set up base camp and climb (rock or ice) and ski various mountains. Places that come to mind...Stuarts (upper enchantments or stuart?), Pickets (don't know of any specifics), North Cascades (like eldorado icecap)... Anyway, any thoughts/opinions would be great. Thanks!

Jaberwocky tower?

Nice, that looked fun. Whats the road coverage now? When I was up there a couple weeks ago snow start at about 2 miles in/where the road flattened. Just curious how the time passed plus new snow has changed anything.