danhelmstadter

Trip: Shuksan - sulphide + pyramid Date: 1/22/2010 Trip Report: I left the TH a little late ~8:30, not to stoked about the cold I had woken up with. Summited in the warm windless afternoon. I skiied the pyramid chute from ~15 feet below the summit (too much rime ice on the lip of the ridge to ski from exact summit) lots of soft variable and rime in the chute, then crust-variable conditions down the Sulphide, but there were fun turns had. Here is a recent arial pic of the upper route, taken by John Scurlock on the 19th of Jan. Thanks John! http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/121248282 I didn't take too many pics, just a few on the summit.

bumbaclot [video:youtube]

sounds pretty good, i gotta motivate on a passport

eternalX - here is a better picture of the route (taken last year when there was way more snow) http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2146569780103935217pmmeps Thanks Josh, it's a gopro hero cam, i hear the hd one is a little cheaper and better e.g. - no fisheye.

i had it for a few months in 06, i tried to kill it with cortizone shots - that didn't work - then saw a physical therapist and did massage/stretch + exercises to balance the muscles/joint - and haven't been troubled since. i think the stretching is the key, but those self-massage stick rollers are pretty cool.

looks like a lot of fun

Trip: Shuksan - Curtis Blow Date: 12/27/2009 Trip Report: I left the White Salmon parking area around 7:30, and skinned up through the resort enjoying views of distant sun kissed peaks, reflecting golden early moring sun. I reached hemispheres, then traveled the arm's crest east to where I dropped into the lake Anne area, then traversed crusty snow to the Curtis Glacier cirque. Curtis Blow is a gully that is just behind diagonal rock in thte picture I had my eye on a hanging west faceing line (though it is west faceing, it is entierly shadowed by the cirques north wall this time of year). I found highly variable snow as I climbed, and traversed under scary seracs to the fall line route, here I found sketchy windslab of about 23cm thickness that failed during compression tests at the second tap from my elbow (ct12), on a relitively clean shear plane (q2). Sketchy enough to give me pause as wether to continue, I climbed around and up on ice crust which was quite steep at times, once at the top, wandered around to Curtis Blow which was basking attractively in warm sunshine. I had skiied Curtis Blow last year, so I knew what to expect from the route, which is pretty steep, and has some exposed spots. Conditons were highly variable, stable, and softening -- though there was quite a bit of ice crust lurking just under a thin coat of windboard. Not bad conditions though. This video is not all that exciteing since I was skiing very cautiously since I had not climbed the route, there were also seections of survival skiing because of conditions. Also, by spirit 4s lost another shin buckle, makeing both boots 3 buckelers. [video:youtube] Halfway down the Blow I made it back to the parking lot before darkness, and enjoyed some excellant north faceing poweder off the arm.

i skiied the couloir form the first rockband yesterday, where i ran into some slabby snow that failed with a compression test after the third tap from elbow(ct13), the slab was 1finger 40cm thick, and failed on a thin layer of facets within the new snow, which was over a meter deep in that loactaion... excellant powder in lower couloir.. I also found similar slabyness and compression test failure on the traverse into the lower north face... The slabs -- being so thick, are probally not all that sensitive, but I didn't want to chance it.. I would think they'd stabalize some with the expected warmer days this weekend.

do not underestimate the monadnock! it is beastly, trecherous, danger is too light of a descriptive word.... seriously though, i almost died on monadnock when i broke away from the main group and did some exposed scrambeling on a grade school feld trip...

i'm pretty sure it's based on the # of people who died on the mountain, which accodring to this is ~130 people, includeing one murder. knowing how to use an ice axe takes on a differant meaning back east http://www.hike-nh.com/faq/faq_content.shtml?Safety

world list according to http://www.trailspace.com/blog/2008/01/11/10-deadliest-mountains.html #1. ANNAPURNA (26,545 ft.) #2. NANGA PARBAT (26,657 ft.) #3. SIULA GRANDE (20,814 ft.) #4. K2 (28,251 ft.) #5. KANGCHENJUNGA (28,169 ft.) #6. THE MATTERHORN (14,691 ft.) #7. EVEREST (29,029 ft.) #8. MT. WASHINGTON (6,288 ft) #9. DENALI (20,320 ft.) #10 Mt. Fuji (12,388 ft.) here's a pic of some of washingtons prouder terrain http://www.tuckerman.org/huntington/huntingtonterrainguide.jpg

looks like the danger is going down to moderate/considerable this weekend, with a possible bluebird day saturday. i will be out and about digging pits and skiing, it is tempting to start forming ambitious plans for big steep descents. given the facts of the current pack -- i think i will be more on the conservative side. i haven't been out in the last couple days so i don't pretend to know exactly whats there, rain could have squashed the weak layers at some elevations, certain aspects have already released etc... but certain aspects and elevations will no doubt be touchy given the recent weather and faceted snowpack... i like to practice with my beacon this time of year, and go over the red flags, reaquaint myself with the importance of paying attention to slope angle and looking out for terrain traps etc... the american avalanche association is a great resourse for avi info - check out the snow weather and avalanche observational guidelines section. good stuff.

washington is knar it is true, but it's also true that there are few weather stations on some of the knar western peaks.... my vote for treachery would be the raindawg.. but the high country of the rockies - especially colorado is also decitfully treacherous because of the slab danger, particularly the hard slab danger that lingers through the winter most years.

i got pretty knarsty frostbite on my big toe - digging and analizing a snow pit at 12k on flattop mountain (rmnp co) in subzero temps and howling winds in feb 06. later affected skin fell off, and toenail came off - but i've been in a perpetual state of full toenail death and regroth the last few years due to frontpointing when i forget to buckle my boots etc... i was wearing thrift store alpine ski boots - with their original liners -(burlier than most at stock liners) my toes and fingers get numb all the time when i'm out and about in the winter months, but if my toes get numb again like that for long enough, i'd like to think i'd stop and try to warm em up somehow.

I agree. Hopeing the two missing make it back alive. My condolences to you Scott. positive vibes to all involved.

fuck yeah Gaston! Thats supa rad! whey to rip the shuk recently in proud conditions.

NICE! I saw your approach tracks the other day, I scoped out the north face but didn't like conditions past the col. Way to get it! Lowell - Me and Ben Price skiied the NW culee fully last march (he splitboarded it), and Ben had also boarded it fully the previous winter.

apparently there was an accident up there that night -- from the mount shasta avalanche center -- "We did have a climbing accident on Halloween night when a climber tumbled 1200 feet in Avalanche Gulch and was evacuated the following morning." hope he/she's alright

looks pretty good up there, thanks for the stoke Feck!

sweet, that fawker has tantalized me for some time now -- looks like a fun climb - especially now that the "rock" is frozen together, thanks for the pics!

I shoulda read this -- posted by Dane, on another recent poon thread -- "With a good rigid boot sole and some ankle support I find the Grivel G12 or BD Sabretooth Pro climb as good as anything out there. Petzl Sarken is another I'd like to climb in along the same lines. Dual front points (vertical or horizontal) will seldom be a hinderance even on mixed. Unless you are doing a lot of hard modern bolted mixed, a mono point like the Dart is limiting imo on pure ice and most alpine. Because they lack the support of two front points they can shear out on less than stellar ice or with less than perfect technique. The Rambo offers a different version of the mono point and the stability on most ice of dual front points. It is a trick set up. Easy to see why Turgeon choose it on the M/C. But if I was limited to one pair of crampons the Rambo or Dart would not be that one pair."

im gonna get some used rambos or something of the like -- as i understand it, monos are preferable for mixed climbing cause the mono point is better for rock (i'm more interested in stricktly ice use) -- and also apparently easier to insert into the hole left by pick, is this on target? do they also reduce "plating" on shitty ice? are duel points more secure?

Sounds like a really tough job, and that looks like a really cool area, thanks for the pics.

10-9-09

Trip: cd to 10.2k - Date: 10/9/2009 Trip Report: With crumby weather forecasted to hit us next week, and with my labor buisness (Dan's Labor Service) strugleing - I decided to hit up the 'shan again -- knowing full well that the snow conditions were going to be shiitee for skiing, this was going to be leaning more on the mountaineering aspect of "ski mountaineering" great fun for sure. The snow was as expected -- much crustier than a few days ago, Kulshan has definetly tranistioned from sweet summer corn to typical winter knar. There was an on-off cap on the summit, it decided to leave later in the day, but high clouds rolled in blocking out the sun for the most part -- and ensureing a especially crusty experience. Where there wasn't crust -- there was old frozen solid firn and glare glacial ice... The CD however is a route low angle in nature, so such conditions can be safely mangaged on skiis. My Camp Nanotech crampon (the remaining one I am currently useing) busted just below the col-cleaver. I really love the extrodinary lightness of the Camp Nanoteches, as well as their incredible ease of transition, however -- both front bails broke/snapped on my climb of the east face of Graybeard earlier this year (I replaced them with steel bails with help from a friend), then one of the plastic heel clips broke as I climbed back up the Park Headwall this July, now wearing one old stubai and one camp -- the camp's heel clip broke. The utility of duck-tape never ceases to amaze me, and I ducked the crampon on to my foot --- wich worked for a while... Snow stopped at ~10.2k so - so did I. conditions at 10.2k ahh - coleman headwall - when will you be in? don't take too long, and don't do me in, oh coleman headwall where have you been.