rocky_joe

go rent one from a stihl shop they'll prob get 50 big ones of you, but better than throwing down 600 for a decent saw. and no you can't use mine (cuz I don't have one).

thanks for the links...interesting...perhaps depressing.

this guy's jealous. way to get after it.

give him his stuff back...dan, hope you see your gear soon.

Mountains do not get bolted (exception MAY BE sketchy belays or rap anchors). If you want bolts, go to Smith. Bolts are for featureless face climbs, not beautiful crack systems. Can you imagine a sunset in the Enchantments with the sun's last rays glistening off all the bolted lines on Dragontail? Sounds gorgeous huh? *reeks of sarcasm* To add another voice to the glacier saftey choir...learn crevasse rescue ie. 2:1 & 3:1 pulley systems, snow anchors, prusik belays and how to travel in rope teams over heavily crevassed glaciers. Again, this will most likely be the crux of the climb...you shouldn't have any problem on the class 3 stuff. Also, let's see a link about the Everest bolting...

If you have to ask if a MOUNTAIN is bolted you need to consider what you're getting into. Also, if you need beta more specific than gear to 4", class 3/4 and "go up." you really need to second guess your skill level. The beta you have been given should be more than sufficient to get you up the hill. I haven't been on the hill, but from the photos/topos I have seen it is pretty straight forward. Anything more specific would be running beta (and thank god we're not sport rats.) here's a good reference to help sort out what we mean by class 2, 3, 4, 5... * Class 1 is walking with a low chance of injury and a fall unlikely to be fatal. * Classes 2 and 3 are steeper scrambling with increased exposure and a greater chance of severe injury, but falls are not always fatal. * Class 4 can involve short steep sections where the use of a rope is recommended, and un-roped falls could be fatal. * Class 5 is considered true rock climbing, predominantly on vertical or near vertical rock, and requires skill and a rope to proceed safely. Un-roped falls would result in severe injury or death.

oh man, i love buildering...was just "climbing" on campus at UO today. I have one proud send...goes at like V6 or so. fun shit.

camp at the hogsback? why? but there's not...probably best to camp climber's R. of crater rock...or even better, Illumination Saddle.

Canuckistani bacon...is there any other sort? kinda like geese, huh? great trip report (esp considering it was a marginally intelligible shit fest). way to "send." P.S. muenter mule overhand? you should use the muenter slippery overhand...way more reliable (and takes a little less rope.)

cool climb and fantastic photos. thanks for posting.

i think Rock & Ice had an article on people like this guy...called something like "Top-Ropers unite." sounds like you found one of these TR only climbers.

kimmo, I don't think, and Aric correct me if I'm wrong, that the direct objective of this small sample size testing is to make the consumer feel safe. Rather I think that Aric is trying to stage an indirect protest to the manufacturer through a retailer of considerable size. It would seem the most effective way to get CCH to change their process. I mean if they do this at a few stores who sell a lot for CCH and at every store see below rating failures I'm sure CCH will have a few angry shop owners knocking on their door demanding money for the shit they were sold. To me that sounds like the most effective way to deal with CCH, who obviously couldn't give a damn if you or I deck(die) because their gear is assembled under piss poor standards.

no spoon=ultralight. well done guys and nice photos to boot.

LS--sled worked fantastically. 3k in 40 mins!!! (from I saddle to the parking lot) picked them up for 18 buckaroos at some ski shop in sandy. it'll take some convincing for me to climb the SS without a sled descent again...lol.

yeah, i was up there the last weekend. that pile o debris was huge and the hike up the gulley north of the glacier was no fun. we camped low, like 5200' low. two of the three of us decided to hike up aways, as we hadn't been on the mountain before, but we turned around at 7500'.

5 person teams are arguably more dangerous than soloing, even and especially with "newbs." If a chunk of ice hits you in the head with enough for to send you "ragdolling"--you're dead already...no reason to take your partners down with you. inter team communication isn't always necessary, but in the situations you mentioned...you should have let the 2 man team pass you and should have communicated to thomas that you were aware of his actions and ready to respond should something go wrong. That's probably not your fault, but good stuff to consider your next time up and for Mazama leaders on this site to know. It may be the mall but its everyone's mall...share.

As a Mazama and BCEP assistant; no kidding man! It's the southside - it IS like the mall. At least we can climb all the other peaks with friends and not just stick to SS hood for the rest of our lives. NO disrespect to anyone else. Note to all CCers: if you say you mean "NO disrespect" it immediately negates any overtly harsh biting words. LonelySummit: Are you really trying to say that only Mazamas climb anything other than the Cattle Drive routes? While the South Side may be a popular route it does not (EVER) negate common decency among climbers. Slower groups and climbers should be considerate of those moving faster and vice versa. Those on the rope team: Thomas (Maineiac) is quite right tho...y'all shoulda let him know you understood what he was saying, he was after all making an attempt to show you the courtesy that you failed to show quite a few others that same day.

yuck.

The ultralegere seems like a waste of money. I have a fixe, but no need to carry all that for such an expedition...I'd be inclined to take a few BD ovals. They do quite well, esp if you're on a super thin 8mm glacier line. Haven't used the DMM revolvers, they may also be useful.

About N. Ridge of S. Sister...it is 4th class...by the definitions you posted.

Wimsey, you're a fucktard. You wanna play the stats game? Get a random sample...dipshit. You are right, the chances are slim that randomly selected 10 points would fall below the mean (heard of a convenience sample?) Again your argument holds no water. How about you take 3hrs out of your day, summit the Sister to fetch the register. Call everyone on the list. Have them examine their trip notes and give you the info. You can plot the data (which will probably not be normally distributed, because very few populations are.) You agree to do that...I'll take your wager. otherwise fuck off, you've got 4 people on here (all of whom climb) that have said separately that the climb took ~7hrs and then there's you (whose story changes with each post) saying that (as of most recent post) the avg is around 5 hrs (on mere supposition.) Suck a nut. As for fitness...you run a sub 4:20 mile and we'll talk.

Wimsey, you may have done the climb in 3 hrs. you may know some people who have done similarly. in those statements there is no statistical legitimacy. your argument is based off too small a sample size for any of your conclusions to hold any water. As well as knowing several people who took ~7hrs to summit, I have read in more than a few locations that the avg time for N. Sister from Pole Creek is 6-8hrs in good conditions (walking, not skinning.) Not the least of which of these was Oregon High. I question your time because of my experience on the mountain...at the time I was VERY fit, running 35-45 mi/week at sub 6:30 pace with workouts in the low 5min/mile pace, and the climb still took me a hair under 7 hrs to complete. Maine-iac was with me, he was also quite fit. Our third, Jon, was running 65-70/week under 6:30s. Our fitness was not a factor, nor was a lack of climbing experience. I cannot see the climb being done regularly in under 5hrs, much less 3. As for the NE Ridge (center of Maine-iac's photo) IT IS 4TH CLASS! No doubt. There is no way that climb was 2nd class or even 3rd. The line we took had fall (tumble) potential of a few hundred feet. The moves required thought and every hold was shit. There were portions of climbing on 70+deg rock, along with sketchy traverse moves on a ledge. If you call that 2nd class, I'm sure you also think Mr. Sharma climbs a mere 5.4. The NW ridge is another story, and I can't speak regarding that, although I have heard it is definitely 2nd class...if that is the part of S Sister you're speaking of, then you are probably right. But the NE Ridge is NOT 2nd class.

bullshit wimsey. unless you were one of the people on the record holding traverse...which would either make you Max King (an elite 3000 steepler), Dave Clark (an ultra-marathoner) or Mitch Thompson. So, on the side of 3 hr avg...we have wimsey, a world class runner, an ultra-marathoner, and a superb back country athlete. On the side of logic...everything else. Oregon High, me, letsroll, jlag, SummitPost, etc, etc, etc. CC.com-ers. You decide...is 3 hrs the avg time to summit N. Sister?

When we did the traverse we were in fantastic shape, I was running ~40/week and my buddy was at ~70/week. We pretty much jogged the whole way to and up the ridge. Still made the summit in 6.5 hrs. There was a group of two ahead of us. They left PCTH at 2 (2 hrs before we did) and said they also took about 6.5 hrs. I know that some people may summit faster, but not frequently. Yeah South will be covered in snow, so I suppose the scree won't make much of a difference, but if these guys make the same mistake we did and take the NE ridge, it is difficult. However it may not be near as sketchy this time of year.

anything will handle a 9.7. I've used everything on my 9.4...gri-gri, reservo(ino)(3), atc, figure 8. 9.7 is a good size rope...takes lots of wear very well. I hate tr-ing on my 9.4.