keenwesh

Could be warm enough, depends on the style and time that you'll be up there. I would say if you're going in June, and are fit and confident enough to climb to and from the summit quickly they very well could be perfect. If you are planning a trip where you'll stay at 17 camp and be on a rope team the whole time, and therefore more limited in your ability to turn around and be back in camp quickly if your toes get cold, I'd say you might consider going for a different set of doubles. Whatever boot you choose to go with, make sure it's comfortable! You'll be spending a lot of time in them, and tender toes are not fun or worth it. I stupidly brought a pair of boots that were warm, but didn't fit my feet very well. I made it back to 14 camp with screaming feet, and once I removed my socks, found that I had a silver dollar sized blood blister on the bottom of each of my big toes. Wore my (also ill fitting) ski boots for the rest of the trip. Bottom line is they're on the lighter side of warm, and denali can be a very cold place.

It's much better to fall a few extra feet vertically instead of a shorter, harder catch that spikes you into the wall, especially in the gym, where falls are common and expected. I'm a big guy, so I have to be especially careful when I'm belaying to hop as the rope comes tight, otherwise I can cause the falling person to tweak or even break their ankles or legs. A hard catch can also increase the chances of a leader inverting in a fall, as everything happens much faster with more force, there is less time to stabilize before coming to a stop. Developing the skills to give a dynamic catch safely and automatically is right up there with keeping your hand on the brake strand for importance, especially gym and sport climbing. Less than vertical and ledgy terrain the falling climber is unlikely to be falling fast enough for a hard catch to hurt them, hitting ledges and protrusions keeps their speed (mostly) in check. Best to just not fall when facing that below.

If you're an AAC member you can get good deals on Suunto watches. I think I got an ambit3 for 60% off.

Cham was dry last march, not much ice on anything. RMNP can be really good at that time. It's pretty scrappy climbing, maybe not classic but excellent preparation for when you have to lead some scrappy pitch in the big mountains.

The ghost is great in late march. Still plenty of ice, with the possibility for mild temps and longer days can make camping quite enjoyable. If you've never been there'll be plenty to stay occupied for a week. Bring a 4x4.

Hayden was thoughtful and analytical. I knew him as part of the crew who we'd get a beer with, or boulder at the gym and talk about whatever. I remember a day where he wanted to see how many harder problems he could climb consecutively, while never climbing up or down a problem more than once. After 3 routes he popped off a hold, rolled off the ground, and with a big goofy grin said "now that's how you get a pump!". At the bar or dinner, even though we weren't very close, he always took the time to have a one on one conversation with me, asking how I was doing, my plans, basic stuff. I work for another christmas lighting company, and we would swap stories about my boss (Hayden had received a few calls to his company over the years from our clients that had been completely ghosted by our company, 'Get me out of Christmas light hell!" had been the opener for one such call). Hayden was so wonderful and special, not because of his talents as a climber, but for the way he moved though and interacted with those around him. He didn't talk himself up, only wanting to hear about what you were doing, and thrived on the success of those around him. All I got out him before he left for the Kashmir was that he was going to India, afterwards he was similarly stoic. The alpinist piece, published the following summer, was shocking, not only for what they climbed, but for the way it was written. I have felt the same way on big climbs that I have done, but have never been able to express those emotions to another person. He wasn't obsessive, but he was a wonderful person who I and many others will miss dearly. http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web17f/wfeature-light-before-wisdom

Cilogear packs are great, but only really last for a year before exploding. Because if this I've switched to hyperlight packs for actual alpine climbing. Again, durability isn't great, but if you only use them for your one big trip a year they're great. Overall I like the rolltop closure, although it can be finnicky at times. I just started using a CCW pack and am psyched, although so far it's just been for summertime rock usage. It's much cheaper and durable than those other options. For anything in the lower 48 it's what I'd use. So much of the time I think having the lightest best thing isn't really going to make any difference. I'd suggest getting a new CCW. Cilo will last you a year before turning into a hamper bag with shoulder straps, and hyperlight, while nice, isn't really essential unless you're climbing in alaska or a similar big mountain area.

Hi all, Anyone have plans to do the Ptarmigan in the next week and a half or so? I would like to do it, but need a work around for the shuttle. Tagging along with someone else would be great. If I showed up at the southern trailhead on a weekend would there be a reasonable chance of hitching back to Cascade Pass? How long might I end up sleeping in the ditch?

Running those long distances is so much fun, I feel like it's a bit of a toss up between spending a longer time in there and just the sheer enjoyment of covering so much ground in a day. Out and backs are a little bit better on the scenery front as I find myself not really looking around much towards the end of the day. Instead of sightseeing I'm usually staring at the ground in front of me repeating the mantra "Faster I run, sooner I'm done" I picked up a couple guys hitchhiking at the Ross lake trailhead last week that said you guys had run by them, glad to see the spraydown on here!

I went in with a buddy 2 days ago and ran Goode in 13.41 c2c. Not sure how recently the fire on the north side of park creek burned, but that descent was pretty miserable and slow. Short of that nightmare, fantastic route. Could almost certainly go a few hours faster. We spent 20 minutes hanging around the summit. Wahoo! Ps, doing Logan after Goode would be a wild ride, shorter mileage but almost double the vert. North cascades are a special playground ya'll have up here.

Hah, I though for sure it was the big flake at the start that flexes. I always figured that thing was good because of the sheer volume of traffic, glad it still is hanging in there!

Looking through more of Sean's blog looks like he did Goode in 15.05 from the north in crap weather with some navigational errors.

DPS, do you know when that was? I'm curious about the time c2c from the northern approach. Doubt that southern road is going to be repaired ever.

Dang, so they did! 7.07 to hit the top of liberty cap and Columbia crest.

I've recently started trying to run consistently with the goal of trying some long run/scramble days this summer here in CO and hopefully later on once I make it back to Washington for a spell. Hence the attempt at thread resurrection. I found these times put up by Sean O'Rourke Adams: 3.11 Olympus: 10.12 E. Fury 20.45 Source: http://www.drdirtbag.com/category/activities/fkt/ Curious about the times for W ridge of Forbidden and Mt. Goode. Cheers! Now that the snow is melting here in Colorado I'm getting antsy about running around up high.

A good trick I've used for simul rapping is to have one person use a gri and the other atc with an autoblock. less clutter and faster. as always though, paying attention while simul rapping is essential. More chances to screw up, but it cuts your descent time in half so it's a good skill to have.

Nick Elson, Colin Haley, and Eric Carter just did Liberty in 9.11.

If you have huge feet these are for you. 31.5 mondopoint. I'm just going to link the mp post because they have a much easier photo uploading system. I'll be in Seattle at the end of April if you'd like to pick them up there (in Boulder now) https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112837979/fs-ls-spectre-315

Everything in icicle and Tumwater that doesn't have a snow patch above it was good to go on Sunday. Triple couloirs was cruiser neve the whole way two weeks ago. Only thing to slow ya down was hitting your max HR. Bringing skis for the descent is pretty essential beta.

Triple couloirs is good to go. Put a boot pack up it yesterday. There is some windslab on the approach and coming off the back, but I could not get it to propagate. The runnels are super mellow neve. Go check it out.

I made it in to strobach this last weekend. Was blown away by how stacked it is! Everything left of the gully was getting pretty sun leached, but to the right was good to go. Those pitches are stellar, long and virgin, don't think many people get in there. This is the standard for level of in-ness? It's just not popular because you need a sled? Anyone know if/when the left hand cliff starts getting hit by the sun? mid january?

Sounds like maybe in on source lake line? Anyone seen Flow Reversal? Haven't been up in that area for years, how are the slopes above the routes? Can't remember if they slide or not.

What kind of shape is TC in right now?

Oh man, looks miserable. Seems like an item that would be a good diy project. Using that in anything but sub 15 degree temps sounds like a recipe for creating a sort of sweat lodge, but without any of the warmth components. Might be useful in a colder and drier range than the cascades by someone from Eastern Europe more than 25 years ago.

I've found that using these as a regular camera yields the best results while climbing. POV footage, especially while on a route like the W butt, is generally too shaky and boring to be pleasurable while watching. Holding the camera and hand holding pano shots in critical spots (fixed lines, the ridge from 16-17k) should give you some sweet footage that you can splice together for a good "best hits" video of your trip. Have fun up there buddy!