rocky_joe

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.

Jlag is right. If you guys ski well...ski. No question. It will make the way up Middle and down all three way faster, easier and more fun. Skiing down middle and south would be sublime. I don't mean to be a nay sayer...but after having done this traverse, I was definitely humbled. It should not be underestimated.

WOW, I've now looked at these photos 8 or 9 times...still fucking amazing.

luvshaker-this is not the best time of year to do a traverse, whether one or multiple days. Have you done it? It may be the best time of year to be there for one mountain, but the traverse (especially sans skis) will be very difficult. Like thomas said it's 18 mi from Pole Creek to Devil's Lake with 9800' vert. If you have to hike the last few miles of the road each way that will make your trip SUPER long and you will need to be VERY VERY fit. And that is with hard snow. Also, the N. Ridge (NE) is high 4th class to low 5th on volcanic mud. I've heard of people using ICE SCREWS to protect the ROCK. This is one of the few advantages of doing the traverse with snow on it. You need to plan your camps. Decide how fast you will be able to move...avg time TH-Summit of North is ~7hrs...and plan to camp one or two nights. Start early so you can make camp early as well. Familiarize yourself with the map/area. Route finding is a huge part of this challenge. If you're not skiing, bring slow shoes...don't chance the success of your traverse on saving a few pounds.

sorry to butt in, but how much of a cluster fuck will Rainier be Memorial day...worth going or no?

Start at Pole Creek. It may or may not be clear to the TH. I'm heading there the weekend after this one, so if no one else has any beta I can let you know. North Sister is going to be the crux, and it will have snow on the summit pinnacle. Expect steep snow/ice for the last bit ~70 deg. Middle Sister will be the EASIEST of the three. South Sister's N. Ridge is a shit show, hope for lots of snow/ice covering the shit that makes up the rock on that mountain. Are you skiing? Where do you plan to camp?

Neal? Yo. This is Joe, didn't know you climbed. I'm always looking to get in the mountains. What peaks you looking to climb this year? Are you gonna be in town for the summer?

Holy Fuck! That is the dopest shit I've ever seen. Talk about stoke. Way to go and the pics are fuckin brilliant.

saw those three on the way their way up the hog...going up a little late, but looks like they had solid summit condish. sweet photo.

the grasslands should stay free. Not for some legal reason (there isn't one.) it should stay free because it is federal land, owned by the people. I should not have to pay to throw my sleeping bag on the ground on land that I own. I realize that all BLM camping isn't free, but is one wrong merit or grounds on which another should be committed? No, the grasslands needs to remain free.

Trip: Mt. Hood - Wy'east Date: 5/1/2009 Trip Report: Before the trip report begins, I would like to propose a new name for this route. The change would be simple, from Wy'east to Wy'(the fuck did we walk so far)east. Takers? I'm talking about a legit name change, new edition of Oregon High and everything. That being said...this is a fantastic route, and could have been a whole hell of a lot better without the 8 or so inches of sluff. Tom (different than Maineiac) and I had given Wy'east a shot about a month ago to little avail (to date my only failed attempt on Hood.) That go just wasn't meant to be, and it made this success all the sweeter. We were turned around by a few factors, mostly on my part; poor route finding (Oregon High's route is a little out of date considering the formation below steel cliffs), and a REALLY bad gut feeling, the kind that just tells you to get the fuck off the mountain. Well a month later we found a weather window and went for broke. Super stoked on how the alpine has been treating me throughout my first year, 5 peaks this year, I was really excited to get this route done and out of the way, Tom was also keen to have it done with and move to new objectives. We left Eugene at 5:30, a decent hour and headed North. The ride up consisted of the usual climbing bullshit and complaining about how that damn Swedish bikini team better be on the top of this hill or I'm getting out of the sport (they weren't again, but I'm still determined.) We stopped in briefly at the Ice-Axe for a burger and a brew (well Tom got a brew, cuz our nation is still protecting my infantile self from the evils of alcohol,) and watched the Blazers fail to make a single shot (is this not why they are paid?) We grabbed a few brews to go and headed to T-line. Arriving at the parking lot we were quite surprised to see a bunch of people readying to go, some headed to the cave others just up the slope. Keeping in mind it was only 9:30 we had no idea what the fuck these guys were doing.Oh well, we saw a bunch of them coming down the slope when we left at 2:30. That must have been an exciting time for them... To the climbing...well rested we awoke a full 30mins before our alarms. Climbing by 2:30 we made quick time to the first waypoint (two of which we set on the way down our last go.) We then descended a few feet into the canyon. From there the climb went up. Now that may sound like a stupid observation but this fucking hill never stopped. I kept taking the bootpack duty thinking that it'd be good if I made it to the crest of the ridge, well 5 lead changes and two breaks later the crest was in sight. Fuck that was way longer a walk that either of us expected. Finally on the backside of steel cliffs we took a break and complained about the fact that we were still 800 vertical away. By this time the wind was a little more than a nuisance, and the clouds (in their infinite wisdom and grace) had rolled in making it damn near impossible to distinguish the snow surface from a lengthy tumble to Newton Clark. Keeping within spitting distance of the rocks proved not to be our best idea of the day, as Tom fell into a moat, scary for a moment as it first looked a lot deeper than it was. A few more yards down and my clever ass also found its way into a little moat. We decided to stay a little lower until we knew for sure where we needed to go and that there would be no more moats. We were soon at the saddle before the steep section and the whiteout was not helping our route finding. And then, as if by some divine grace *coughs* a solid gust blew away the clouds and our route finding problems were no more. We made short work of the last walk before the climb. With one quick look and a brief discussion we decided against roping up, both because the terrain looked super manageable and the snow/snice wouldn't have pro-ed worth shit. I hogged the lead, because, well I wanted this one. The exposure was immense and exhilarating. The steep part was over soon enough and we took the opportunity of more shallow snow (~50deg) to take some photos. The summit was serene. We were the only ones there, as 9:30 is way to late to be making the summit push via the Cattle drive. we snapped some triumphant photos and then decided (as usual) to get the fuck down off this mountain. The downclimb (old chute) was straight forward as usual and the soft snow made for easy on the knees plunge stepping. The descent was quick; about 3 hrs and we were back to the car. I managed to make it from the top of palmer to the car in 45 with a nifty combo of glissading and near running pace slide stepping. Long walk, great exposure, fantastic views and perfect luck with the weather made this trip very memorable and built even further on my growing confidence in the alpine. However, I am in no hurry to do it again anytime soon. Gear Notes: 2nd tool (used) Rope 2 pickets 2 screws (all not used) Approach Notes: Car, Burger, Brews and an alpine nap.

You went up yesterday? why? Did you check the forecast, it was supposed to be a shit storm. Bummer about the wasted gas. Ivan--I can't see a chair either, maybe a bean bag, but no chair.

how much if any benefit could I see by modifying my aztarex to take the head weights designed for the nomics. One climb and a few hundred feet on snice in I love the tool, but I imagine on some harder ice I'll want some additional head weight...any thoughts?