hefeweizen

Hey, great trip and photos, if you go back it is really worth the extra time to do the whole traverse. Continue beyond the rap station and keep heading out the ridge until it peeters out or you are no longer having fun. There are some spectacular pitches on the second half, including the "Granite Wave" pitch.

Yeah, when I was at that spot I did not like how it felt. That bitch was moaning like a Bangkok whore. We should all go back for redemtion next spring

Trip: Mt. Adams - Adams Glacier Date: 7/7/2007 Trip Report: Chris (winter) and I went up to attempt to climb and ski the Adams Glacier. We were not successful in our quest, however based on all the activity about route conditions up there I figured I'd post this to give people some info. We left the Killen Creek TH at 12:30am, planning on a one day trip. The approach is snow free, you could choose to get on a snowfield at about 6500 feet, but we took moraines up to around 7000, where we got on the snowfield leading to the toe of the glacier. We roped up and got on the glacier at about 4am. Th first half of the route is in relatively good climbing shape. There are lots of crevasses, but there are reasonable bridges over most of them. Really good climbing up to around 10,500 with lots of crevasse crossings, and some steeper sections up to about 55 degrees (it's not that steep for very long in any one section). At 10,500 we started weaving through some seracs, and could never really get a good view of the path ahead. Then we came to the Wall of Widespread Chaos. From one side of the glacier to the other, a jumbled mess of huge tottering towers and blocks. We could see no possibility of end-running it, and given that it was already 11am (we had spent a little time weaving our way through some spice a little lower) and I could hear the beast creaking and moaning already, we did not want to chance finding a route through. There might be a way through there without climbing vertical ice, but not one that we could see. It did look like above that you could probably get around the final serac section. Oh well, you never know unless you go, and now we know. Go in April or May . The lower section's bridges will probably not last much longer, and there was much evidence of recent calving and rock fall. I know, we should've ollied the seracs, skinned switch up the final snowfield, and reached back like some pimps and slapped the ho, but it's good for the soul to get rejected once in a while. Gear Notes: We brought 3 pickets and 3 ice screws and placed them all. Approach Notes: Do the hike up in the dark, it's surreal. Looks doable Chris in a cool place. Looking down from about 10k. Time to turn around. Turns will be had by god!

Actually a meter is 3.28 feet. 60 meters x 3.28 = approx. 197 feet. A yard is 3 feet.

Ok, so free climbing while placing protection and being self belayed is freesoloing as long as you're by yourself?

It was an example posed as a question, rhetorically. Hang on let me get out my thesaurus... My position is that if someone else is watching you it doesn't negate the experience that you are climbing without the use of protection. Hence: free-soloing.

So if you're climbing the Regular NW Face on Half Dome, with nuthin but shoes, chalk bag, and shorts, and someone is watching you through a telescope from Touloumne Meadows somewhere, you aren't actually free soloing?

Check out the TR for the Adams North Ridge (with the pissed off looking red face) it has some good pictures of the Adams Glacier, and a post at the end with more recent photos.

Yeah, didn't you read where I said I hit it with "fortuanate timing"?

I hit it with fortuanate timing. It was just soft enough to take front points and the first two inches of your boot, but firm enough that as long as you weren't sailing headfirst and belly up I'm sure you could arrest.

That is a classic bit of history, I'm glad I asked!

I heard that Coombs skied this line some time ago. Something about taking a couple 2x4's to rap the icefall sections. Can anyone confirm/deny?

Can't spend a lot, but if you have an old one laying around I sure could give it a good home. Send a pm.

Dude, sorry but you're f-in crazy. Of course it may depend on what type of terrain you're into. If you're talking about 15 degree cruisers, then yeah Mt. B wins. If you want the kind of stuff you can still ski when there's more than 8 inches of new, then you obviously haven't done much exploring at Meadows.

Trip: Mt. Hood - Sunshine Route Climb and Ski Date: 7/1/2007 Trip Report: When the stars appeared to be aligning for good weather this weekend (maybe it was the blue moon?) I planned to head to the Hood and finish what I started a few years ago on the Sunshine Route. This being my first spring back in the PNW since that year, I had remembered it being a beautiful route that would eventually require a return visit I picked up Roger in P'Town Saturday afternoon and we drove up to Cloud Cap. Our plan was to walk in for an hour and get a nice sunset bivy out of the deal as well. Roger hiking in (he forgot his tennis shoes) We watched clouds roll through and caught a few Nordward-style views: After a tasty Guinness and some chili, we settled in to watch the light show. After a spectacular sunset that went on till like 10:30, I dozed off staring at the lights of the Hood River Metropolis (they have a Pizzacato now). We woke at 4:20 (heh heh) to another amazing light show: For about 30 seconds the whole face turned pink: I drank my sissy odwalla and downed some coffee, then figured maybe we should get something done. We cramponed up the Snow Dome and hit the top of it at about 7:30. Roger wasn't feeling well, so he opted to make that his high point. I recalled something about the first ascent of this route being solo in 1897 (one of the Langille bros.) so I thought in the interest of keeping with the original style I'd better continue on. Besides, things were looking prime to be great skiing conditions. Immediately after leaving Roger I went to the rock step (the lowest, closest rock ridge in the photo below) to gain the upper part of the route. It turned out to be gradually steepening mud until I was 4th classing some mud with my skis sticking over my head knocking rocks down on me. I threw one of my poles up above me and it fell down the other side into the 'schrund. Oh well, I'll pick it up on the way down. That section was not too fun. From there I traversed west under Horseshoe Rock, crossed a minor crevasse, and gained the Cathedral Ridge. At that point I realized how bad the wind had been blowing on the other side. The whole South Side was blanketed in orographic clouds. I happened to run into a guy who had just soloed the Sandy Headwall. He looked happy to be alive and said something about selling all his gear when he got back to town. I told him to give himself a week. I dropped the skis behind a rock as the skiing on the ridge looked shitty and I was afraid I'd get blown off with those sails on my back. I went up to the summit and back in about an hour. Note the horizontal pack straps. I jammed back down the ridge and clicked in at about 10,700. I made a few test turns on the ridge and then slid over onto the face above the crevasse crossing. Brilliant freaking cream!! I shimmied back across the crevasse and then traversed over to the slope next to the rock step. It skied as good as it looks: That put me back on top of the Snow Dome. I climbed up and fished my other pole out of the 'schrund. Then made happy arcing corn turns thru the smoothest butta I've had this spring. On my way down I turned and looked and saw a party that had climbed the Cooper Spur skiing the skier's right side of Horseshoe, which ended in a 'schrund. They made their way across it. When I asked them in the parking lot later they said it went but "Don't fall." I had an uneventful but comfortable walk out from our bivy in my tennis shoes. Another cold Guinness waiting in the car, some espresso in Hood River, and I drove all the way back to Seattle with a perma grin on my face. Skied green, climbed red. Gear Notes: Guinness, Starbucks double shots. Approach Notes: Tennis shoes.

Check this out, link. I know some of you have seen this site.

I've lived in CO (summit county) and Bend, I'd have to say that I prefer Bend. It is similar to CO as far as weather (beatiful springs and summers, dry snow in winters) and landscape (desert). There are actually thousands of routes at Smith (not hundreds) and there are new ones springing up everyday. As far as multipitch, I always ended up driving to the N. Cascades (which is where I live now). As far as skiing: I think it's better in the PNW than CO. More snow, year round descents (and I'm not talking about that pitiful "glacier" that CO claims off I-70, marysville or something??). It's also nice to be able to ski in the backcountry without seeing full-depth slides adjacent to you all the time, and without having the threat of the sheriff hunting you down, although at Bachelor they have a closed boundary policy. The good news about that is, Mt.Hood Meadows is about 1.75 hours from Bend and has waaaaay better terrain, and season passes are about 1/2 as much $. Check out the Moon Mountain Ramblers for good bluegrass if you end up in Bend.

Come on now, how about a little 'spect for the dude with the broken shit getting back on snow? Kudos!

Alright, so based on those pics, who wants to go ski either Adams or Lava glacier? Great pics by the way.

Anyone have good directions/recommendations of where to park so the 'wheelers don't mess with my sh*t?

I've been told that the reason our gas is more expensive is because we have one of the highest gas taxes around. It's actually nice to be able to pump your own gas (I used to live in OR) because at 2am when you're heading out for that alpine start you can get gas just about anywhere. Oh, and sales tax: at least we don't pay income tax in WA.

I can make it in afternoons, in fact next tuesday looks nice

For those of you still thinking about the descent: I'd like to ski anything on Baker, I'm also thinking about the Sunshine route on the N. side of Hood. Open to suggestions. I'm in reasonable shape, comfotable on steep terrain, and it aint my first rodeo. Any takers?

Bet you can't wait for tuesday.

There are actually some stellar routes on Hood (especially for the ski mountaineer) if you go in the right conditions: Cooper Spur, Sunshine Route, Sandy Headwall, Leuthold, not to mention the benefit of year-round access and a surprising sense of remoteness if you get off the cattle route. baa