bvail

+1 For the Eiger Sanction! Bad ass movie, ridiculous plot, hilarious 1 liners. The climbing technique and gear are fairly accurate, minus the hip belay from the tunnel on the Eiger.

The trail from Cloud Cap is snow free all the way to tie in rock. I'd bring more water and less flotation.

We climbed the Eliot Glacier/Sunshine route Yesterday and it was in great shape. We started at the Cooper Spur ski area at 3800", and had a shuttle car parked at Timberline for an up and over climb. We took a 2 hour nap in the Cooper Spur shelter to wait for a little more moon light. From what we could see of the Spur, it looked like it still had a lot of snow up high and is probably in fine shape. Like Ivan said, an early early start would be advisable. We summited at 7:30am and descended the south side. I wouldn't want to have been any later descending the old chute. Sunshine is an awesome route that probably won't be in shape much longer due to the 2 giant bergshrunds that have sketchy crossings. Here are a few pics.

A friend of mine has a great view of the south side of Hood from his house and noticed avy debris about 3/4 of the way down the Reid Glacier. He got out his Binocs and said that he could see a crown line above the hour glass in Leutholds. He also said that it looked like there were some smaller slides on the Reid Headwall.

Can't we all just get along, and save the drama for your mamas? Personally, I'll take any info I can get about conditions in the mountains.

I went up yesterday 4/23 and took the pearly gates (right side). Here are a few pics of the gates. The gates are way more mellow than the previous few years.

Hey Xerinae, I think I was the guy that you talked to on the Hogsback. Even though neither of us made the summit, it beats the hell out going to work. Here are a few pics that I took that day.

Hey Fritz, We climbed Washington yesterday and saw no sign of your camera. We did see a set of fairly fresh tracks from someone who might have gotten to it before us. Hopefully you get it back.

Thanks for the beta. What type of pro did you need for the summit block?

I might be heading up there on Tuesday. I'll take a look and see what I can find.

Trip: Broken Top - NW Ridge Date: 6/17/2010 Trip Report: We left the Green Lakes trailhead at 7:15 with clear skies. Snow was well consolidated and made for easy travel. We gained the NW ridge just below the summit via the West facing snow slope.Clouds were forming over the Sisters and Broken top, but nothing real serious. Roped up and traversed to the East below the summit block and up a snow chute (55º-60º). We set a couple of pickets in the chute and scrambled to the summit. Just as we were leaving the summit the clouds broke, which made for a couple good pics. Overall, a great day of climbing with incredible views. Gear Notes: 30 Meter rope, 3 pickets, slings Approach Notes: Consolidated snow from trailhead

Trip: Mt. Jefferson - Southwest Ridge Date: 7/1/2009 Trip Report: Bruce and I started from the Pemelia Lake Trailhead (3100') on Wednesday at 12:30pm. Hiked past Pamelia Lake to the Pacific Crest Trail and headed south for a few miles. At 5100' we left the PCT and hiked cross country to our camp at 6700' below the SW Ridge. We didn't see any snow until about 5400' and it was patchy until about 6000' After setting up camp we melted some snow for dinner and water for the following day. We woke up at 2:30am, ate some breakfast and headed out for the summit by 3:30am. The climb out of camp was up a long snow field to about 7500' where we gained the SW Ridge. From here it was a rock scramble up to about 8000'. We left the SW Ridge and traversed a snow slope towards the South Ridge until it ran out at about 8600'. From here, it was more scrambling over scree and rock until we met up with the South Ridge right below the Red Saddle. We were at the Red Saddle by 7:30am. It took us a lot longer than we expected. At this point, we roped up for the traverse around to the North side of the summit. The snow was firm and good for vertical pickets. In the middle of the traverse there was one snow chute that was about 4' deep that was fairly easy to pass. Once we reached the base of the summit block we shortened up the rope and climbed several short belayed pitches up to the summit by 9:15am). Just below the summit, we rapped off of a stout looking sling to the Northwest side of the summit block. The snow was starting to get pretty soft on the traverse back to the Red Saddle. At 11am we left the Red Saddle, glissaded about 600' of our long descent into camp and were back to the car by 3:00pm. The little town of Detroit was a welcome sight with cold beers and sardines. Good Fun! Gear Notes: crampons, axe, helmet, 50M rope, pickets Approach Notes: Snow is melting quickly, another week or two and this route is going to be a slog over scree and loose rock to the Red Saddle. [img:left]http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/526302.jpeg[/img] [img:left]http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/526303.jpeg[/img] [img:left]http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/526304.jpeg[/img] [img:left]http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/526305.jpeg[/img] [img:left]http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/526337.jpg[/img] [img:left]http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/526338.jpg[/img]