nhluhr

The road to the South Spur trailhead is open ================= Update for June 16, 2009 FEE SEASON FOR MT. ADAMS BEGAN ON JUNE 1, 2009. Please register and obtain a wilderness permit at the Mt. Adams R.D. The Cascades Volcano Pass is required to climb Mt. Adams from June 1 to September 30. Currently there is 0-5 ft of snow at the South Climb Trailhead and 1-10 ft of snow at 6200 ft (junction of South Climb and Around-the-Mountain Trails). The 80-8040 road is open to the South Climb Trailhead parking lot. For those wishing to ski or snowshoe, there is continuous snow from about 5800 ft upwards, although snow is melting quickly! Please prepare for winter-like conditions at high elevations. Currently, climbers are using both the Suksdorf Ridge route (winter route) and Crescent route (summer route). Please note the presence of cornices on Crescent Ridge west of the Crescent Glacier which can become unstable during warm weather. We have received reports of sun cupping above 9500 ft. Be aware of weather conditions and prepare accordingly (this includes not climbing in hazardous weather!). The National Weather Service website (www.nws.noaa.gov) is a good source for weather information but note that weather can change rapidly for the worst in the mountains despite favorable forecasts. Please, Do Not Glissade with Crampons on (this is a common cause of lower leg fractures). Help is a very long time coming and cannot get to you in poor weather. Remember the first principle of Leave No Trace is to plan ahead and prepare. Make sure you come with the ten essentials for safety. Blue bags should be disposed of in the orange human waste containers located on the 80-8040 road on the way to the South Climb Trailhead. Please do not place human waste in green garbage cans. Road Conditions The road to the South climb Trailhead is open to the trailhead parking lot (though snow patches remain and high clearance may be needed). Please remember to drive slowly and cautiously to the trailhead; this road is very narrow, curvy and has a lot of traffic. Road 23 between Randle and Trout Lake is not clear of snow at this time. For the latest information on conditions please call the Mt. Adams Ranger Station at 509-395-3402

I'm looking for another partner for a climb of Mount Shuksan... Probably (weather permitting) in the July 6-7-8 window.

Choosing the right fuel cartridge is also helpful when using a canister in cold conditions. Contrary to popular belief, they are NOT all the same. Canister stoves have some combination of n-Butane, isobutane, and propane. Here are the relative percentages for popular canisters: Primus: 70% n-butane, 10% isobutane, 20% propane Peak1: 70% n-butane, 0% isobutane, 30% propane MSR IsoPro: 0% n-butane, 80% isobutane, 20% propane Snow Peak: 0% n-butane, 65% isobutane, 35% propane Why is this mixture information important? Well, without some of the fuel in the canister being vaporized, there will be no pressure to feed fuel into the jet and your stove will go out. These fuel components all vaporize at different temperatures. n-Butane vaporizes at 31 degrees F. Isobutane vaporizes at 11 degrees F. Propane vaporizes at -43 degrees F. What happens when you use your stove at or below 31 degrees is the n-butane will cease to vaporize and all the propane and/or isobutane will vaporize instead and that will burn first, leaving just cold liquid (uselesss) n-butane in the cartridge that you can't use. Likewise, if you use your stove at or below 11 degrees, the propane will be the first to go leaving only isobutane and butane in a liquid form with no more pressure. So obviously you want to keep your canister warm OR you want to make sure you are using a canister which will give you the most burn for the conditions you'll encounter. In other words, you want less n-butane and more propane for cold temperatures. If you find yourself stuck with a fuel canister that is inappropriate for the conditions and you need to run the stove, your best option is to warm the fuel. Safe methods keep it in your jacket sleep with it in your bag dip it in warm water pour hot water on it urinate on it chemical hand-warmers A more risky method is to construct a heat exchanger to draw heat from the flame down to warm the canister slightly. Overdoing it will result in your stove exploding so be careful. Many stoves come with a hose attachement for the canister which allows you to invert the canister. This is beneficial because the propane (which will vaporize in all but the worst conditions on earth) will stay above the liquid butane and isobutane, pushing it down through the fuel line into the stove. This works best if your stove has a preheat stage - meaning, the fuel line must loop through the flame to vaporize the fuel before it goes through the jet - otherwise, you'll have a poorly controlled large flame. Either way, start with the valve as low as it will go before lighting the stove. In the above list of canisters by fuel concentration, I ranked them from worst to best in terms of cold weather performance but if you have an inverted-canister mount, really any of the canisters will work just fine as they all have enough propane to keep the liquid pressurized when held upside down.

I too followed the advice of a guiding service last year and obtained a pair of double plastics (some of the most old-school ones there are, thanks to sizing difficulties). My Lowa Civettas served me quite well in a late april week on Rainier although they did have some minor issues, I never got a blister and they only had minimal break-in (a total of maybe 8 hrs of walking in them). I used those same boots again in July on rainier and continued to be happy with them although at that point they were far too warm for the purpose and I did end up getting a blister on my toe thanks to the sweat. I recently picked up a pair of Vasque M-Possible boots which are not plastics but rather a hybrid and significantly lighter and easier to deal with. Looking forward to trying them on upcoming climbs, but so far I've only gone on hilly hikes where they were not totally comfortable for me.

I'm new to the forum and not sure what the typical etiquette is for requesting a partner but here's the basic story. Girlfriend was going to come out to WA with me in July and do some mountaineering but her job isn't looking like it will let her off work for the time needed so I'm looking for a new partner or two to go for some trips. Schedule is totally flexible. Any takers or maybe some guidance on how best to secure a partner would be appreciated. I consider myself to be a safe/conservative climber and would be looking for like-minded partners.