toproper

Thanks for the TR and the pics. I would think vertical placement of the v thread is better in that it avoids magnifying the load similar to the 'American death Triangle'. Of course it all depends on the integrity of the ice. But i'm no engineer and not much of an ice climber either. thanks again for the pics!!

that is awesome advice. thank you

2 words: Tyrolean Traverse baby! It's consistent with Leavenworths Bavarian theme after all. could be huge glad everyone is ok

gorgeous! do those crampons have sticky rubber on them?

it worked for joe namath! he wore pantyhose to help his knees.... and he was a super bowl mvp!!

those look cool... like they belong in a climbing museum or something

Nice TR, great pics! From the pics the route reminds me of parts of the Serpentine crack route on liberty bell. And congrats on your feature in the latest issue of Climbing. Nice to see Washington climbers getting some well deserved props.

Looks beautiful. What's the rating on the Kone? Just wondering if it's in my league. I imagine its in that yellow paperback guide book? I have that book somehwere......

after sketching and groveling up moby dick with one #4 friend, my littlest teency weency alien saved my ass (psychologically) and allowed me to munge over that roof. ..just goes to show, it's not how big it is. happy groveling

sound like you have a pilon fracture of one leg only, thus it is not bilateral. Pilon refers to a comminuted or fragmented/displaced fracture of the tibia. You probably sufferred some nerve damage as well. To have residual pain 4 months out is not surprising and it may take 6 months or a year to resolve As mentioned, vit D is appropriate. as is Calcium, magnesium and a small amount of manganese (15 mg or less). You are doing well to get off pain meds. You're less likely to aggravate during rehab if you are not masking the pain. Find a good doc and PT, and try to be patient. thats my best advice. Good luck.

well said Donnie, I agree with the original post that it is generally bad form to be pounding and nailing at a sport crag, even if it is at crap ass little mt sludge.

6 fatalities; quite a few more accidents for sure. i wonder how dragontail compares with something like Forbidden?

Interesting question.... both backbone and serpentine require some unroped scrambling at the base. I know at least one of the fatalities (I believe the most recent) occurred here. Also, dragontail sees much more winter and shoulder season climbing than WA pass due to the fact that WA pass is closed at least 5 months of every year. Dragontail also has technical ice climbing (triple couloirs e.g.) which WA pass does not. I wonder if any of the fatalities were on this route or on winter ascents of dragontail?

someone needs to pioneer a new line and call it 'scarlet begonias'. Then people could do the 'Scarlet/Fire' link up! congrats on a your FA!

It's great to see a healthy dose of moderates on the list for the 5.9 leader. I for one, really appreciate this. Thanks for the compilation and thanks to all of you pioneering these new routes in our beloved cascades!

nice pics! I tried to do this climb last year but somehow managed to botch the approach. We failed to exit the trail early enough and wound up in the next drainage over. We felt like total gumbies and bailed to go cragging in mazama!! Kudos to ya'll!

South Ridge of black peak is goodun'. The North ridge is a little steeper and spicier but also more or less a scramble. Whistler peak, right off of route 20 at WA pass is a good one too! I like the stonerabbit suggestion, I'll have to check that one out.

peshastin?

The lower bivy ledge rocks. we did it in 2 days and slept there. It's at the start of the ridge where the scrambling/climbing starts. Just exit the glacier and 3rd class it up some towers. I'd recommend that over schlepping all your stuff to the summit. good luck!

Wow.... I can't believe you climbed thin red line at age 17!! congratulations on your alpine pink point(APP)! way cool.

everything bagel (or dave's killer bread) with avocado and sea salt. cup of coffee on the side oatmeal = bloatmeal (imho)

cool! Thanks for the useful approach beta, I'm hoping to get out there later this season

for fucks sake ninos...apparantly there are historical issues between individuals not obvious to everyone here. How else to explain Mr Pink's hostility?? take it easy manos...

it was closed last weekend. When it's closed it's still less than a mile to the overlook. The pull off can fit quite a few cars, you'll just have to rough it with respect to bathrooms etc. There is some halfway decent bouldering up there!!

nice TR, great pics. instead of tunneling, I think I went climbers left , down and around that formation.