Stime

In late July or so, there's some great meltwater streams at Schurman just as you come into camp/head up to the Flats. But, as has already been said, don't count on it.

It's no problem, especially if you get a full moon and/or clear night.

That'd be fine and a fun trip. Lots of people have done it. I wouldn't want to reverse the climb anyways, the Emmons is much more fun to climb and the better hike/scenery to high camp. Just make sure you know where to cut out of the crater to head down the DC. That seems really trivial in good weather with lots of climbers around, but if you haven't been to the top before (it's not exactly a small place) and you get into some white-out conditions, you don't want to be groping around to find your descent option. Oh, and go in June. That's a great time of year to be on the hill.

Go to Schurman via Ruth Ridge. Just roll through Glacier Basin camp, hang a left across the river, find the climbers' trail up the ridge and take that to Steamboat Prow. Then, just drop down to Schurman from there. Should be fun.

I'd like to put together a simple backyard "gym" to play around on/work out with my tools. Not really sure what the best course of action is, but I'd love to hear any ideas/opinions, or better yet, of any setups you guys have come up with. My current plan is simply to bolt a solid board between two trees and make a short traverse. It'd be easy and should work fine, I could even add a few loops of webbing hanging down to add a few options for pick placement. A couple places I've lived in the last few months had similar loop traverses and they were fun. So, yeah, anyone done anything like I'm describing? I don't want it too be overly complicated, I mainly just want it to work out on. My days on the ice are very limited in the winter so I'd like to spend as few as possible getting my arms in the swing of things. Thanks. - Scott

Thanks for all the info, guys. Much appreciated. Personally, I like leashes and I like to climb leashless when I'm feeling a bit more confident, hence why I want a set of Quarks. The reason I asked is I'm working on buying a used pair. Several pairs have been offered to me with one being the older version (high attachment) and two pairs the more recent version, just trying to peg which pair would be best. Looks like it doesn't really matter. If I'm climbing alpine routes Ill probably umbilical cord them to my harness rather than deal with leashes anyways.

There seem to be two styles or generations of Quarks around... #1: [img:center]http://media.rei.com/media/717525_9996Lrg.jpg[/img] #2: [img:center]http://media.rei.com/media/193125.jpg[/img] What's going on with the different placement for the leash attachment? Which would be preferable? I've only climbed on the #2 version of Quarks and the leashes felt great. Unsure about how the #1 style would be, looks like it would be comparable, just longer... Thanks for any input. - Scott

I'll be climbing Mt. Shuksan tonight via the Sulphide, planning on bivying at the trailhead then an alpine start tomorrow morning. Then, Mt. Baker via the Easton, same scenario, the following night. Both will be day trips, back-to-back, so come prepared physically. So... Mt. Shuksan - tonight Mt. Baker - tomorrow night If anyone would like to join me, shoot me a message or, much better yet, call my cell at 828 - 507 - 9950. - Scott

I've climbed the SS with no crampons a couple of times. I had them in the pack, just didn't need them.

Yeah, it was a zoo up there this morning. I was glad my group (myself and two buddies) made the summit around 4:30 AM and we were down and out of the way before the major traffic hit. I was also amazed there were no accidents with all the random roping up and inexperience up there.

Holy cow! I go on the mountain for a little while and got all sorts of replies. Thanks for all the replies, if you haven't already, shoot me a PM or email. That way we can all start our own discussions.

Sweet! Climbing it tomorrow morning...

I'm planning on climbing El Dorado tomorrow, shoot me an email or give me a call! I'll PM you my #.

As the title states, I'll be (potentially) attempting these two mountains back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday. Both will be one day ascents. Shoot me an email SOON at srhotali at ncsu dot edu if you'd like to come. Need to be in good shape, these will be strenuous days. - Scott

Check your PMs, Don.

Thanks, guys. I'll shoot you both some messages. Anyone else?

Currently a volunteer climbing ranger at Mount Rainier. 23 years old, pretty strong (climbed rainier twice in the past 5 days), a competent climber, but inexperienced to a degree. Have 6 days off at a time and need some partners to get out in the northwest. I've had crevasse rescue training and am comfortable doing 1-man, 2-man, or more person rescue scenarios. Trained WFR. Would love to climb anything on Rainier (I don't mind doing laps on the easy routes) or other peaks in the PNW. Shoot me a PM or email me at srhotali at ncsu dot edu. I have some ideas in mind but always open for others. - Scott

dhrmbum, as scm said, I would just solo it. Or, you could even drive up to the trailhead (or wake up) early and wait til a group leaves. Chat them up and ask if you can hike up with them. 95% of climbers won't mind, just let them go ahead if you're slowing them down. But, if you can keep with them, it should be no problem. I've had people hop on with me in the past, some were great company for the climb.

Sorry about the "massive" comment. When I got back from being on the summit with just two other people, there were about 12-14 people on/around the Hogsback. It looked like a 'massive' bunch of people that I just lumped together. You guys didn't bother me at all. Glad you enjoyed your climb.

Thanks, guys. I shoot with a Canon 5D + 17-40 L. As for hiking, I don't spend much time on the AT i.e. the Green Tunnel. Yep, Tuesday morning with the group of 8. Were you the half-dead guy at the Hogsback? It's a long day on the southside. That doesn't sound like me. I was on a bit of a speed ascent and happened to be the first person on the summit for the day and didn't talk to anyone in the group of 8. You were guys were on the Hogsback starting the high traverse (for whatever reason) as I was coming down around 6 AM.

I gave advice to a solo guy (and a couple others) to go low, but I did the low traverse when I went up as well. I was coming back down by the Hogsback about 6 AM. There was no need to do the high traverse, not sure why everyone was doing it including that massive group. I was way ahead of all that mess.

Were you the solo guy I chatted with at the Hogsback? I was heading down, you were going up (if it was you).

I snapped a few this morning...

I dropped down and traversed low then straight up the fumaroles. Saw no need for the high traverse. Everything was in stellar shape. Great snow for cramponing (didn't even use the ice tool I brought) and basically a staircase has been booted in up the final slopes. The upper traverse looked fine too, just don't see any reason to do it. More ice/rock fall and greater fall potential than the low traverse. At the top, I went off the standard chute and ascended a steeper gully to the right to gain the summit ridge, but that was just for fun more than anything. I descended the direct gully and it was fine.