Brewer

Expanding on what Lisa said ("Research the route thoroughly before you go. Sounds obvious, but...") I'd say research the route so much that you feel like you've climbed it already. Use as many sources of info as possible: guide books, TR's, Googles (including Google Image Search), Google Earth (with USGS topo and 1m resolution aerial photo overlays - GPSVisualizer.com), etc. Also get an idea of alternate ways off a route towards help in case you are unable to take the planned route. A logging road or a ski park over the hill, a small town just down the canyon, etc. Two words sum it all up: SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.

We noticed that there were some small flat bivy sites in the rocks between Winnies and the tops of the chimneys, but we decided to set up on the snow immediately at the top of the chimneys. Sounds like you had quite a hike on your trip. I can't imagine adding another 2 miles in the snow before you even get to the trailhead proper.

Trip: Mt Shuksan - Fisher Chimneys Date: 8/30/2008 Trip Report: Sorry, no pics here. Visibility rarely made them worthwhile. Co-worker and I decided to do this route as it is a classic route with lots of variation in climbing situations. It was my first time on this mountain and the first time in 15 years for my partner. Got to the Lake Anne trailhead on Saturday morning and hit the trail under cloudy and foggy skies. Took the wrong chimney at first (as many often do), but eventually made our way over to the right one within the last hundred feet or so of the top. Camped at the top of the chimneys. Chimneys were completely clear of snow, but damp from precipitation. Took a nap, ate dinner, and packed for our alpine start. At 4:45 we woke and hit the trail by 5:45, just as the dawn was lighting the eastern skies. A few minutes got us to the base of Winnie's Slide. We didn't like the look of the runout on the left side, so we free climbed up the right side to a moat next to a rock. This offered a belay stance for the last steep part of the slope. Snow conditions were firm and nice for cramponing, with a thin layer of recent powder on top. A second tool helped a lot because the snow beneath the top layer was so firm that it was hard to sink the spike of the axe more than a couple inches in. The picks from two tools helped a lot. There's an 11mm rope slung over the rocks at the top of the slide that offered a good anchor for belaying a second or rapping on your way down. A short walk over a small rock saddle took us to the bottom of a steep and icy section below the top of the Upper Curtis. A little tricky, but easier going up than down. Upper Curtis crevasses are all open, snow bridges of any size are nice and stable. Routefinding was easy, even in the poor visibility. Dropping a hundred or so feet down on the U.C. before hitting Hell's Highway sucked, but it wasn't too bad. Hell's Highway looked different than any of the photos I've seen. The first section was heavily crevassed on the right, so we hugged the rocks on the left. Eventually we were pushed right and up the steep slope to avoid tons of crevasses, ice, and steepness that eventually showed on the left. Topped out on the Sulphide and started the slog up to the pyramid. Navigating around a few crevasses was no problem, and visibility still sucked. Didn't see the pyramid until we were right on top of it. Took a break on the rocks at the base of the pyramid and assessed the situation. We decided to turn around and head down since: visibility sucked so vistas were not there, we didn't know exactly where the gulley started, and we wanted to save time and energy for our trip out of there. After checking some photos after we got back, we realized that we were pretty much on the left edge of the base of the gulley. Oh well, no big deal. On our trip down we saw a group of 6 coming up the Sulphide; first people we'd seen so far. Trip down the Sulphide, HH, and the UC were all just like they were on the way up. Getting off the UC was tricky because it was so icy. I was pretty stoked when I found an opportunity to make an Abalakov anchor (V-thread) to rap the last section down to the rock saddle between Winnie's and the UC. Another rap down WS to the moat mentioned earlier and we were back to camp. A group of three were at the top of the chimneys (camped at Lake Anne) and were checking out route conditions. Don't know if they planned to summit at all. The down climbing in the chimneys was a pain. Long and arduous, but at least we were on the right route the whole time. Met more climbers on their way up. Back to Lake Anne and the throngs of wet day hikers, and eventually made our way back to the TH, where I nearly threw up from exhaustion. Those last couple miles uphill are brutal after a long, tough day. Fog, rain, sleet, snow, poor night's sleep, perma-dampness, heel blisters after 2 miles, no summit? A perfect mountain excursion! Gear Notes: Pickets, ice axe (second tool is nice to have), cords and slings, maybe some nuts and screws. Approach Notes: Approach by Lake Anne was typical as far as I know, although VERY muddy. Snow is gone (finally) except for a few small patches in the talus fields before the chimneys. Lots of rock cairns and orange markers to help you find your way.

How about this (or some variation of this): Girth hitch a double sling into an end hole on the picket, then clip a biner into the sling. Slide the biner up against the picket so the spine is next to the girth hitch. Wrap the sling tightly around the picket (so the biner is pinned and doesn't move much) and when you get to the end of the sling clip it into the biner again. Now, to help it stay secure on your pack you may need to fashion a small loop of webbing onto the side of your pack at about shoulder height. Maybe somewhere near that groove that forms between your arm and the side of the pack. 3 or 4 inches diameter, roughly. To rack it, take the end of the picket (without the sling/biner) and slide it up into that loop (like packing an ice axe kinda). Now take the other end of the picket and clip the biner into a compression strap at the bottom of the pack, or that small strap that comes off the back of your hip belt. To unrack it, just reach back, unclip the biner and pull down. Racking two of them might be easy with this (one on each side of the pack) but more might get cumbersome. Note: I haven't tried this yet, only imagined it, so if it fails miserably then I am not to blame.

I'll second that notion. A friend and I did this loop (starting at Ruth Creek trailhead) in mid-July of '07. As far as the Rangers knew we were the first to do the whole loop that year, and it showed. Aside from the good deal of snow left on Copper Ridge (and everywhere else) the bushwhacking down on the Chilliwack was BRUTAL. Can't see the trail except what is directly under your feet, stinging nettle, devil's club, slide alder, downed trees (bad winter). Nasty nasty nasty. We did the loop with 3 nights. 4 is recommended (especially if conditions are bad, making travel slow). The 15 miles out on the last day just about killed me. Scenery (especially from Copper Ridge) is outstanding.

Thanks for the info. Forecast calls for 30% chance of snow for the next couple days and snow likely this weekend, with lows in the mid to low 30's. Hopefully we don't get much new snow up there this week, I'd really like summer to quit screwing around and get here already. Thanks again.

Thanks, patob. Is there a decent boottrack, or do you think snowshoes would be handy? I imagine after this spell of warmer weather it might consolidate enough...

My condolences to friends and family.

Will be on the Easton in two weeks (I know, still a ways off). Has anyone been up there recently?

Nice TR, and congratulations! If I could only get my wife up a hill like that...

I can also attest to the sheer ruggedness that is the Cilogear Worksack. I took it on a two-mile (uphill!) showshoe journey in the vicinity of Camp Muir, and it held up like a champ! Sorry, I've only had it a couple weeks. But it seems great! And Coldfinger, that was hilarious.

I live in the Seattle area and have placed a few orders from mgear. I have found their standard shipping speeds to be very fast, often times getting here within a couple days. I even have gotten the package a few hours before I get the shipping notice email! Very satisfied.

If she'll let me summit her peaks or make some dynamic moves in her chimney, count me in!

Go check out the rec center on campus. They have a mountaineering club that I'm sure is full of people who like to climb. Alas, I was not in the hobby (is "hobby" the right word?) while I was enrolled there, so I have no first-hand experience with the club. Now the Fermentation Science Club is another matter...!

Another vote for the Garmin 60CSx. The thing holds onto a satellite signal like a crackwhore holding onto her pipe in a booking room. Or something like that. The electronic compass, altimeter, and expandable memory are nice too.

There's a section of the Skyline trail near the top of Santiam Pass (~1.5hrs east, near Hoodoo ski) that's nice. You probably already know about Mary's Peak. There are some decent trails up there. ~30-40 minutes WSW. I think your best bet for views and elevation would be up near Santiam Pass. Both the Oregon Skyline Trail and the PCT are accessible up there. Go Beavs! (alumni)

I think UPS just delivered my V3 today... Too bad I'm at work for the next few hours.

Wow, that sounds like quite a story he's got there. I can't wait to hear the details. I've got a 60L pending shipment, but it sounds like he's up to his neck right now, so I'll try to be patient... still trying

Marmot Mountain Works in Bellevue, WA carries some. VERY few sizes left as they are discontinued, but if you have huge or tiny feet you can get them on sale!

The most important things when shooting panoramas (to make stitching easier) is to: >keep all camera settings the same between each photograph >rotate the camera around the "entrance pupil" or "nodal point" of the lens (which is in a different location for each focal length, focus setting, and lens; it gets confusing) >not use a polarizer The first eliminates problems with different colors, brightnesses, and other factors that will make each picture look completely different once they are side by side. The second eliminates parallax, which would make stitching them together a real headache due to the amount of distortion you have to use to "fix" the images so they line up. The third helps to eliminate the issue of "sky banding", where half the sky is dark and the other half is light, so when the images are put next to each other your sky looks like a zebra. There is a lot more to it than this, but these are the basics. If you want more [excellent] information, check out this site: http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/ The software he uses is about $35 or so, but you can try the free version for awhile before deciding to pay.

A good friend of mine has access to a freeze-drier used for food science research. We like to make: Chicken Tikka Masala Green Chile Stew Dahl (can you tell we like Indian food?) Schezuan Beef all sorts of other stuff (ie: nearly anything). Meals for two weigh barely 200-400 grams, you can eat it right out of the bag, and GOOD GOD does it taste divine!

awesome find, thanks organdonor!

Maybe I should have put this in the Climber's Forum. Or is it just a boring and pointless topic? Or is everyone already on Holiday?

Hey, I've been doing some searching for useful weather links around the web, and I thought that I would share what I found that I thought would be helpful, and ask if there are any others that people like to check which might supersede some of these. This is just 20 minutes of looking around, so there may be other, better ones. Intellicast Jetstream Forecast Western Pacific Satellite Imagery NOAA Satellite (IR, Vis, Vapor) NOAA Geostat. Sat. Server PNW Snowfall Forecast Western US Snow Quality Forecast US Wind Forecast US Wind Chill Forecast PNW Precip. Forecast Tomorrow Night's Cloud Cover (would be nice to find more local forecast) Park-Oriented Forecasts 5000' winds aloft 10000' Winds Aloft Any others you use?

Can't tell from the photos if that is mine (or at least has the same color pattern) but it resembles the "classic blue" pattern. Not terribly useful if my rope is "classic blue" is it? Makes it sound like there are dozens of other models with that pattern... I guess I'll be dipping it to see.