keenwesh

Might be better to not blow it on steep snow, regardless of what's on your back. You're talking about playing a zero sum game. In all my time climbing couloirs and snow, with and without skis on my back, I have not fallen. Steep snow is pretty dang easy to climb, especially in ski boots with crampons. Don't break yourself or your gear. Learn how to walk. If it's fucked up enough that you could fall you can be sure you won't be able to self arrest.

I wore baruntses to summit denali and ended up with silver dollar sized blood blisters under each big toe, those boots are shit. Heavy and clunky. I would recommend a boot that's a little more technically oriented, such as the phantom 6000 or whatever the comparable la sportiva boot is now, SM G2? Don't neglect the fit. Heading up a second time in ski boots (normal sized) was a massive relief for my feet. I size up my doubles a little bit as generally feet end up swelling on long pushes where you've got everything cranked down tight to be able to climb hard. This is not the West Buttress. You could most likely make it up that terrain in sorrells with microspikes. If you don't size your ski boots overly tight, and feel comfortable huffing and puffing up a black ski run in a reasonable amount of time you will be fine.

I switch off between using north machines and nomics. Both are good, and will get you up any pitch you’re likely to find in the mountains. Start climbing ice, do some mixed, figure out what works for you. A set of nomics to start will most likely let you feel comfortable on the harder terrain, and once your skills are enough that the tool at your disposal doesn’t matter you’ll know what you want to climb with. There is no one right piece of gear.

Nothing compares to BN pow runs at 15k in June. Glad to share the stoke! There’s snow in the hills!

If you have bad weather it’s really nice to take a real ski setup. As long as the boots are comfortable enough and you pair them with over boots wearing them to the summit is completely reasonable. I really don’t like 404s for anything other than short flat approaches, they’re heavy, clunky, skiing in mountain boots is terrible, and most of all, it’s less comfortable than a real setup. There isn’t anything technical enough on the west buttress to merit double alpine boots, the majority is easily skiable terrain. If you’ve got the background I highly suggest going with the intent to ski the upper mountain. I skied the orient and it was the end of my first season on skis since I was a child. A far better day than summitting via the buttress, there’s just nothing like making jump turns at 18000 ft, sucking wind, in the biggest couloir you’ve ever seen. Plus, the skiing above 14 camp can be downright balmy...

What month? Any interest in skiing the upper mountain? I'd suggest something a little shorter in the 80-95 waist. Still light, and easier to manage when you factor in the sled getting down. Race bindings are nice and light, but pricey. More releasable and cheaper normal tech bindings will work, but are not nearly as light. On that type of terrain I lock them out and ski like I can't fall, because I can't. If you're not skiing them every day and only pulling them out for a trip like this or rainier I'd go for the race bindings. So sleek, so fast. As far as boots, try on a lot. If scarpa fits your foot start there. Lots of great options. Go to a ski shop! Enjoy the shopping experience, and practice those jump turns this winter, skiing the upper mountain is pretty dang wild. Highly recommend bringing the skis to 14.

It's a good icing on the cake activity, but not as a base. A lot of the gyms don't emphasize the importance of movement and form, which leads to injuries. Crossfit is really fun, but in general something to be wary of. You better be running a lot in addition to throwing the weights around, with a preference towards running if your time is limited. My most successful alpine seasons have been after winters spent ski touring and trail running 5-6 days a week, with minimal ice climbing or gym time (goes to show that most ice climbing isn't that hard). Strength training was sprinkled in there too, mostly to prevent injury and correct muscle imbalances that develop when you don't do full ROM activities all the time. I can tell you're very new and psyched brandon, get out there, develop your mountain skills, moving across uneven ground such as talus or snow. That's far more important than any strength considerations you might have at this point. I've started trail running over the last few years, and so many people in that demographic don't know how to move quickly across a talus field or confidently and smoothly ascend or descend a snowslope in running shoes. It takes practice and exposure. Enjoy the path, who knows where you'll end up.

I don't use ski poles in the summer, because I'd snap 'em. Got some fancy running poles that actually hold up quite well. A little hesitant to go CF, as generally they don't bend, they just snap catastrophically. To further establish myself as a destroyer: I'm the only person the Scarpa NA reps have ever seen who broke the shank on a pair of 6000's. I've loosened the head of (not exaggerating) 10 nomics. I broke the canting bolt clean off a pair of LS ski boots. Don't buy used hardgoods from me.

I am tired of buying new lowers for BD expedition poles and bending/snapping them off multiple times a season. I'm tall, semi-uncordinated, and weigh 200 lbs, so I break a lot of gear. Big people out there, have you found a set of adjustable 2 piece poles that don't snap immediately?

A year ago, almost to the day, I was able to get across on some snow blocks that had fallen and closed the gap. No rope or ax required. If you’re bringing both of those things you’ll be able to figure out a way across. It’s not that massive.

The new guard has some pretty cool stories too, and frequently make new ones. Their company tends to be less redundant.

Experience and complacency. I didn’t rope up once on Denali, despite the obvious dangers. I told myself it was fine because I was on skis, and moving behind/through parties on snowshoes. It was fine, but I’d think twice about doing it again. There’s not really any hard and fast rule. I’ve run below seracs unroped but with a line pre rigged, so that when one of us punched through to the waist they could throw the line to the other as they ran past. Again, not really the best technique, worked out fine, allowed us to move really fast through the worst spot, but I wouldn’t really recommend it as an actual method. Get out out in the mountains, be cautious, and really think about what you’re doing as you gain more confidence. Certainly not every glacier travel scenario requires a rope, but where that line is drawn can change for everyone.

Me and two of my buddies were almost taken out by a falling single car garage sized mushroom on the french route of Begguya that went at the coldest part of the night, dropped 100 ft right of us. 10 minutes later another released, fortunately it was small and broke up before washing over us. We bailed. When the sun hit nothing else came off, and there was so much hangfire up there. The biggest serac release I've ever seen went off a few hours after sun left the face. Swept 3/4 of a mile with a 10 foot high wall on the leading edge. We crossed it 24 hours later, and belayed completely in the firing line for over an hour. Sure, maybe it's less likely to go in the middle of the night, but why? Slesse is such a mellow climb once the glacier goes, dance with death when it's unavoidable. Seracs cannot be reliably predicted, no matter what you and your undeveloped prefrontal cortex might think.

The idea that the glacier is somehow stable at night is ludicrous. Do what you're going to do, take risks, but recognize that if you cross on top of or under that thing, any time of day, you are sticking your neck way way way out there.

Whether you want to or not you just earned membership in Team Danger! Climbing a route that obviously just fell down is worth 50 points, the same amount that you get for continuing to solo a route you decide you want to not be soloing anymore. Keep track of your points! You might be racking them up quickly.

Several guide services are flying out all their shit on Denali, and have been for the last two seasons, at this point it may be all of them.

I didn't leave in 2013. It was pretty simple. NCNP is fantastic because if it's lack of access and consequently very low visitor numbers. No amount of instagram spray will create an overloading of the northern pickets. Paving a road and installing a hotel at the head of big beaver creek, different story. Effectively that's what has happened in many of these most popular places.

Climbing in the Valley during the shutdown on 2013 was incredible, completely empty, no sirens or downshifting diesel busses taking a left every 15 minutes. We road our bikes to the base of the nose, left them on the side of the trail unlocked. Still there when we got down. Compare that to the zoo it is now, only 5 years later. I wish they'd tear out some of those buildings and come up with a different strategy. What's going on now sure isn't working.

Jason and Erik dropped the infinity loop time down a few more hours, respect. 59.22 https://www.strava.com/activities/1699886623

It could be all of the above. I was up there 3 weeks ago, falsely assuming that the pocket glaciers above the propeller cairn would be fine. They were not. Rexford/Nesakwatch zone was a fantastic alternate to being crushed to death. NE Butt is a good route, but certainly not good enough to warrant running below that stuff.

Probably good to go from mountaineers creek, descending the sherpa glacier will only get worse later on.

You could survive the whole winter up there with all the stuff that people give away at 14 camp after a good weather window. The best food is food that you didn’t drag 10 miles. All those things will last, and can be easily bought in Anchorage. Bagels are best in terms of durability.

Brad has been doing what he's been doing for years, he's not much of an up and comer, or "new guy". As far as where he's ending up soon, my guess is the valley. The season is almost here.

Really sounding like a grumpy old man here, dude. When someone loses a friend or loved one do you tell them to not feel sad? I don’t know how you feel all the time, and it’s none of my business. The feelings police don’t have any solid ground to stand on. Empathy. Only good that can come from this type of thing. If you feel sad, that’s fine, if you’re surprised, concerned, heartbroken, totally okay. If posting on the internet helps you, go right ahead. No one can judge the appropriate level of grief for another person. All that you have to give is compassion and love. I dont feel feel very good right now, and I feel like many others are feeling the same way. Take care everyone, and I love all of you that make up this community.

If your budget is that tight you might get more bang for your buck climbing somewhere else. The main selling point of the AK range is that for $600 bucks you get dropped off right at the base of some huge and remote mountains. Zero approach, go climbing. Spending an additional week on either end thrashing in and back out seems like more expensive than the flight. I'm soft though, I've been talking about hiking out of the range for 5 years, and have yet to give it a go.