mankato

Well, gee, that was a month ago. Are any of the ads for real?

Ok, I always see this banner ad on CC climbers under supporting sponsors that says "Black Diamond 25% off camalots" I can see it right now off to my left as I am typing this. So I click on it and it takes me to a backcountrygear.com web site. But I see no 25% off camalots, and my mighty heart breaks. To be sure it's a cruel hoax and I fall for it every time.

Crampons...yes or no?

7 tugs = I'm sitting on a ledge smoking a cigarette instead of building the next anchor. But keep me on belay.

I've used rope tugs before, and, I'll probably get flamed for this, used walkie-talkies with great success.

If you are going to climb it this year, climb it fairly soon while there is still a fair amount of snow. Hood is a nasty, unpleasant mountain in late summer -- smelly, volcanic dust, and the routes are more limited. I tried climbing it once in August, big mistake.

I also am still not sure what to make of the book. I have no idea if it’s all fabricated or only parts of it are BS or what. And no, I'm not in it or know the author or any of the characters and I’m not a right-wing conservative. Actually, I’ve talked to rangers many times at Rainier, and always found them to be friendly and helpful, and so her description of “Mike” really puzzles me. After reading my review, I should have toned it down a bit. But I was pissed off at the time. After all, the death of the climber in question was fairly recent, so his friends and family are still out there. I have no doubt the description of his death will get back to them. Can you imagine if it were your father or brother or friend that was described this way? I know I wouldn’t like it very much. The guy seemed to be a good person, and was not acting recklessly on the mountain. I can only speak for myself, but if I were to find a fellow climber killed in an accident, I think it would be a somber experience. Eating food over the guy and saying “good riddance” – I’m not sure how that can be defended in any context, whether it really happened that way or not. If it didn’t really happen that way, why put it in the book? If so, she should have clearly stated the whole book is fiction. My only conclusion is that the author is a couple pickets short of a solid anchor. She's free to write books like this, but Mountaineer’s Press shouldn’t have published it.

Well Raindawg, you had it right; this Bree Loewen is the most self-absorbed, self-pitying climber I’ve ever heard of. I got this book from the local library system after reading this thread. When I placed a hold on the library web site, I noticed I was the only one checking out the book; it isn’t exactly a hot read. So here is my review/synopsis of the book: It starts out where she and another woman plan to climb up to Camp Rainier in February, but when they get to Paradise weather is awful with snowstorm and winds. So they go up anyway, trying to get to Muir. Why the hell would anyone start out in bad weather from Paradise, knowing it’s going to be ten times worse at Muir? She says in the book she wants to have a “bonding” experience with her girlfriend and I guess spending several days cooped up in a tent at Camp Muir will provide that. Of course they quickly get lost and have to be rescued off the mountain. So the dumb-ass park service gives her a job as a climbing ranger, even though there are infinitely more qualified climbers available who have been volunteering for years, patiently waiting for a ranger position to open up. The book goes downhill from there. She constantly complains about having to do her job. She doesn’t like working with the public, she doesn’t like climbing, she doesn’t like the people she works with and they don’t like her. She can’t keep up with the other climbing rangers. She gets bad job performance reviews. She is not allowed on any difficult rescue missions because they think she will freak out. She is pretty much relegated to dead body retrieval and outhouse detail at Muir. She is also obsessed with food and eating and talks about it constantly. While the other rangers use their time off to go to Alaska or the Himalayas to climb even harder mountains, she goes to Seattle, eats and lies around doing nothing. Not exactly dedicated to her job. In one part of the book, she and her boss, a guy named Mike (not sure if that’s his real name) are choppered up to retrieve the body of a climber killed by an avalanche on the Ingraham direct. When they dig him out, she recognizes they guy as a volunteer firefighter she once worked with and had eaten Thanksgiving dinner together. To prove to her boss she is “tough,” she eats some M and M’s over his body and nonchalantly says: “He was a Republican, right-wing Christian, good fucking riddance he’s dead, really.” Her boss Mike, “laughed so hard he fell off his backpack, tears coming out of his eyes.” I understand gallows humor and all, but if I were a friend or relative of this guy who died, I would be pissed off at this cowardly woman and this idiot Mike guy. Talk about a total lack of class and compassion. It just goes on an on like that, I quit reading after a while, couldn’t take it anymore. And our tax dollars and park fees pay these people. What a waste. The summary: worst mountaineering book ever. It belongs in the compost toilet at Camp Muir.

I started drinking absinthe after reading Hemingway years ago. So far I haven't gone insane......... As far as I know it's still illegal in the US, but there are many places to get it. Check out spiritscorner.com Deva is a good brand.

Pikas is right, you are more likely to damage your shell pants from crampons or ice axe than glissading on snow. I am a cheap person so my pants are cheap but after many glissades, no damage. Let us know how the trip goes.

There is a parking area at Cold Springs for people who are camping on the mountain and/or backpacking the "round the mountain trail."

Ditto that for the paradise lot at Rainier. We were down there last weekend and were joking about how it would make a good crevasse rescue area. Looks like someone went ahead and did it! Plus you can get some great skiing or snowboarding in at the same time.

Double boots are way overkill for Adams. You can do it in a pair of light hikers really, unless it was a winter attmept or something. Adams south route is basically a long hike, nothing technical. Bring crampons, but you probably won't use them. Bring an axe and shell pants for glissade. You can leave all your gear at the lunch counter or where ever you decide to camp, no one will mess with it. It is usually very windy up there, so anything you set down that is loose will blow away, including your tent. Unless you really want to camp on the mountain, you can do Adams in one day from the Cold Springs campground, just get an early start.

No crevasses right near Seattle, but if you go up into the backcountry off the Alpental parking lot, there are ravines that you can use for crevasse rescue practice, or yes, throw a body or two into.

One thing you might want to be aware of is that road up to Cold Springs might not be open in mid June. You can always park along the road but it would be a hell of a walk in to the TH. Be sure to call the Trout Lake ranger station to find out. Last year it still wasn't open even on the July 4th weekend. That campground is always crowded, especially on weekends, so get there early. Best bet is to climb mid-week to avoid the crowds. Even on a weekday there will be herds of people on that route. As far as I know, unless it has changed recently, there are no reservations. Camping is free and and on a first come, fist serve basis. Hope this helps.

I see people do it all the time. On a nice day, there is a whole herd of people climbing up there carrying skis. It's quite a slog, carrying all that weight, but if you're in good shape, why not? I've also seen people ski down from Adams, Hood, etc.

We went, all thirteen of us made summit. Went straight up avalanche gully to summit instead of taking regular summer route. I was going to post a trip report with pictures but I am tech stupid, I can barely use computer. I would say go as soon as possible, snow is very soft and melting fast. Many times we were postholing up to our waists. Took crampons and snowshoes. Snowshoes were helpful at times. Didn't use crampons at all, don't bother unless you are climbing at night and snow is hard. Good thing is that we were able to glissade from the summit pretty much all the way back to the main trail. Got totally soaked but it was a lot of fun. Bring a pair of shell pants for the glissade, and make sure all your gear is firmly attached to your pack, or you might lose it on the way down!

I haven't been up there lately, but I can almost say for sure the road is still closed. There is a washington trails assocaiation web site with road and trail status and numbers to ranger stations. http://www.wta.org/hiking-info/ranger-station-info When I tried the road link, it wasn't working so you might want to call the ranger station.

Thanks for the info, browze. We are planning climb tomorrow, looks like snowshoes for sure.

Anyone been up there lately? How wide is the avy gully? I climbed it a few years ago, but can't remember.

The hogsback is the standard route on the south side. If it is a clear day, there will be a lot of climbers going up. I think camping is allowed anywhere above the lifts, and there is a flat area up there, not sure if there is a name for it. But you really don't need to camp on that route, unless for some reason you really want to camp. The route can be done in day. There is good info on Hood on summitpost.org. Bring a helmet for sure. There is much ice and rockfall in the pearly gates area. It saved my noggin. You might also want to bring a second ice tool, as there is a short nearly vertical step in that area of mixed rock and ice.

I was wondering the same thing, why not just use 100% propane? Turns out because of the pressure involved, propane needs to be stored in thick-wall steel canisters. You can get them, the ones coleman makes for campground stoves, but they are too heavy for backpacking or climbing.

Not sure if anyone is still reading this thread, but which canisters have people found to work the best in cold weather, say 0 to 32 degrees? I have never had any success with canister stoves in sub-freezing temps, but based on the above info, perhaps I'm using the wrong fuel.

Not sure if anyone is still reading this thread, but which canisters have people found to work the best in cold weather, say 0 to 32 degrees? I have never had any success with canister stoves in sub-freezing temps, but based on the above info, perhaps I'm using the wrong fuel.

My gear made it OK, but not so much for me. Not sure if profanity is allowed on this board but I have a few words for the airlines. Got to airport and flight was cancelled and got jacked around all day trying to get here. But anyway, at seatac, they didn't say anything about the gear, it went right through. Had to transfer planes in SF, and had to go through security again because in that airport to get to another terminal you have to actually go outside and take a train. So in 'frisco, the guy paused on it and asked me if it was climbing gear. I said yes and he let it go through without looking in the pack. Not sure what the big deal about a rope is. If you wanted to tie someone up, you could do the same thing with a laptop power cord or charger cord. In any case, I'm glad I didn't check a bag because between the cancelled flight and the plane changes, who knows where it would have ended up.