YocumRidge

Did you happen to look at the Eliot HW? Just curious in terms of the extrapolating these unbelievable conditions from the NF.

Trip: Rainier - Kautz Date: 7/11/2010 Trip Report: Springtime has officially established itself on Rainier and so I talked my PRG partner Todd E into joining me for the trip. After going back and forth between Kautz and Nisqually Ice Cliffs, we settled on the Kautz. We leave PDX on Fri after work and unavoidably get stuck on I-5 which does not seem to be a problem with our similar musical tastes wrapped around the Electronic dub. Somehow we feel heavy and immobile and certainly not in the mood for climbing. Todd suggests we go and give blood to an American Red Cross to shave off a few pounds and get perked up. The good thing is we did not mix up the mountains this time and arrived to Paradise (what a name). Happy about that, we get the stuff ready for the next morning and comfortably go to sleep in the Todd’s sweet truck. With permits in hand, we casually get on the Skyline trail around 7 a.m. on Sat. The approach is uneventful and nagging as usual. At Glacier Vista we drop down to the lower Nisqually which is surprisingly closed up and cross it en route to Wilson glacier essentially following the early season variation all way to Turtle. There was no need for us to rope up at all. I guess this depends on the comfort level because for others that was an obvious necessity. We met one party of 3 who roped up and put the crampons on already in the parking lot – Mt. Rainier is a dangerous mountain after all. Snow gets mushy and unpleasant as sun rises higher but Saturday turned out to be one of those rare windless and shirtless days on Rainier: Wilson HW, FF and FT are all in good shape with crevasses easily passable at the bottom: We hike higher up the Turtle, reach the Wapowety Cleaver and who do we bump into? 3 cc.comers camping at about 10500’: Chase (nels0891), Ryan (Ryan Canfield) and Kurt (Khartoum Wood). The guys intend to head up the Kautz on Sunday as well. Cool. Me on Wapowety Cleaver at about 10300’: We are still full of energy and determined to get to the highest point at the Camp Hazard (~11400’) to scoop different options on the Kautz IceCliff for Sunday. This goes smoothly except for me falling into a moat and Todd spending 15 min to dig me out. No problem. Kautz IceCliff: Kautz Headwall from the Camp Hazard: The Kautz IceCliff is a suspiciously quiet, beautiful formation with lots of blue ice, which is unreal by itself. I put my eye on the direct traverse from the Camp Hazard connecting the ice/rock shelf just below vertical seracs to the next ice shelf on the Kautz chute itself. Todd is not inspired by my choice of sketchy traverses (which besides I kindly suggest we solo) and insists that we take the standard chute instead but allows me to climb through the bottom seracs if I am so inclined. Good enough. The plan is to take the direct shortcut from the rap slings off Wapowety Cleaver to the base of the Kautz chute seracs to bypass the Camp Hazard descent gully. Currently, there is a plenty of snow to just walk through this section without rapping. Kautz chute direct variation: We downclimb and set the camp near the rap slings (11200’): The alarm goes off at 2.30 a.m. next morning and this is when the best part begins. I realize that I completely lost my voice and cannot open my eyes – my face is swollen as if I was stung by wasps all night long. Finally by 4 a.m. after a few energizing treatments, I somehow manage to get myself up. I feel completely spent and suck to the point that unable to bring the ice rack back to the tent. There is no more discussion about climbing through the seracs, I would be thankful if we can get our asses up the standard Kautz chute. Todd leads before I start feeling a little better and then I take over. In the chute: Todd, Chase, Kurt and Ryan: Jeremiah West and a partner on the upper Kautz heading up to the Point Success: We reach the rock saddle on the upper Kautz, unrope and the long slog to the crater rim begins. The slog is a crux for me, I need to stop every ten steps and it feels like eternity. The crevasses below the crater rim seem like giant skyscrapers. Chase, Ryan and Kurt are doing much better than us and are already on the summit while I am fighting sick stomach. Somehow, I refuse to believe that we got there at only 9.30 a.m. - in my mind it always will be 3 p.m. Finally on the summit. Winds are unmerciful: Climbers from Lib. ridge and Kautz on the summit: [video:facebook]441293896340 The descent down the Kautz glacier back to the Camp Hazard is equally painful if not harder. Everyone who is going that way – 4 parties from Kautz and 1 party from Fuhrer Finger – gather at the saddle. Joining forces for the attack on the Kautz descent: Chase kindly rigs double rope raps off pre-existing gear probably left by guides at the steeper section of the chute. [video:facebook]441504491340 Everyone raps and downclimbs the rest of the chute. There are hidden crevasses in the chute I never imagined could be there. I step into one, unroped. All ropes are in use for raps. Luckily, Ryan sees me disappearing down the hole and tosses the second tool. I somehow manage to extricate myself out of it by probing for solid snow bridges. We get down to the rap slings and realize the snow soften enough to open up more hidden holes. This time Kurt steps into one and whacks his face against the axe. I wait for Todd who comes down the chute with bleeding nose. Lingering at the camp is out of question and getting back to civilization in Paradise sounds like paradise (or paradise is it really?). Todd still has some energy left to joke about the tent being flown away. But for some reason we cannot see it. I am thinking what a bad case of AMS we have got – the one that comes with hallucinations and delusions. After a few minutes, we spotted the tent jumping down the Turtle. Todd makes an effort to be reasonable: its OK, we’ll have less crap to carry to the car. Not. $3K of gear going down into the Nisqually belly. Miraculously, Ryan catches the tent at the level of their bivy at Wapowety cleaver. Good god, thanks Ryan. We pack up and leave the Camp Hazard before anything else happens. Glissading 6000’ down to Paradise takes 2.5 hrs: Awesome trip. The crew arrives to Paradise: Gear Notes: Pickets and screws, two tools, double ropes for rapping down the Kautz chute Approach Notes: Nisqually/Wilson

Hey Jon, Yeah, north faces are not very popular for some bizarre reason. How is the kid doing? A

[video:youtube]Dq72lrDRXpM

ABDUCTED? Oh no. Luckily or unluckily, we are still alive... Yes, snow and moats are not part of the game where most people tend to climb North in snow-free conditions. We climbed to the top ridge along west face and so we were able to clearly see the line of gendarmes and the three summit pinnacles and then just followed the standard route for summer conditions according to Ore High. Since you approached the gendarmes from the ridge down below, I can see why you had limited visibility of the route to the traverse and the alley. I hope you will pull it out next time

Is there anyone out there who is interested and capable to climb either Adams Glacier or Lava glacier headwall on Adams this weekend 07/17 - 07/18? I have all the gear. Please, dont let me solo it. PM or e-mail me if interested.

V - you might want to send the TR to Rainier blog - the latest "unclimbable" update on Liberty was given on the May 14th.

Just plain awesome! Great job guys! P.S. Grunau is the only one who does not look happy at the forced bivy.

What a sweet line! What the mixed section goes at? M3-4?

SMALL of NeoAir is actually lighter than SMALL of z-rest but certainly is not as durable.

Thank yew for thet contributions Bill - You look awesome! Have you been working out lately?

And higher up too. No GPS needed. Good job regardless, summitchaser.

The Concise History of Human Thought and Its Unfortunate Direction of Regression, in six stages. Curious what is to follow after the stage 6?

Good to know. Thanks. I might fiddle some more and see if I can locate more hidden tears like Gene and others suggested. The universal kit for NeoAir is just a sticky fabric patch (kind of like a duct-tape, but more civilized) and as such did not put much confidence in me. So, a rubber cement is some variety of barge? I do like the idea of cements but am not sure if they are applicable to NeoAir because its fabric is so thin.

Neh, alpine ice is only going to get better in August, like a fine maturing wine. Also, remember this year is the beginning of a new era of permanent glacier expansion What's the idea you got there, Kenny?

I have a Thermarest NeoAir that is great: comfy, weighs 9 oz and packs to nothing. The only problem it does not stand abuse and is easily torn, at least in my hands. Duct-tape is generally good for emergency repair that lasts for a few hours. The universal Thermarest repair kit I tried is slightly better but the end result is the same, the mattress deflates - it's just a matter of time. How do you guys repair these?

Thanks guys. We hit the perfect winter-like conditions on the North.

Trip: North Sister - Act II - West Face/SW Ridge Date: 6/27/2010 Trip Report: With a high pressure system happily residing in Sisters and low chance of ending up on the wrong mountain, Patrick C. and I head back to attack the North Sister again. Oh boy, we scored it; the right approach and the mountain came together this time. We camp and chillax between the SE Rib of North and the Prouty Point at the 8000’ dry moraine. Next morning we are awaken by somebody emotionally fighting their way up to the top of the rotten vertical headwall over the SE rib in the dark. Later we find out it is a group of 3 from Portland trying to get through to the Collier glacier. The sound of falling television sets (or was it a truck-sized asteroid?) tells us the obvious that we are late and its time to go. Temps are still below freezing which is going to change quickly at sunrise. Sunrise on Sisters: We catch up with the group of 3 on Collier and move along the west face of North while scooping multiple lines. West Face of North Sister: Patrick is not hugely impressed with the west face gullies but mostly attracted to the gendarmes on the SW ridge at 9000+’, its mixed climbing potential and panoramas. We gain the ridge via west face while the group of 3 opts for the ridge per se. Icy patches call for kicking steps and front pointing. Not bad given the forecasted 13000’ freezing level. On the west face of North: Once we pass the Camel’s hump, we cut across to the east side of the SW ridge and loop around the next unnamed gendarme. It has unusually solid rock and Patrick is thrilled with an idea to climb up and over it to get back to the west side. I am reluctant to do so in anticipation of conserving energy for the Terrible traverse and the Bowling Alley. So, we wade through the waist deep moats of the Thayer glacier on the east side. The group of 3 is gone from our sight – they bailed and for some reason did not share our excitement of getting to the cruxes. Oh well. We reach the start of the icy Terrible traverse that we simul-solo for 250 feet straight below the Prouty Pinnacle to the base of the Bowling Alley. The traverse gets steeper half way through – dear god, don’t let us die. Thank you. Patrick on the Terrible Traverse: The best way to deal with the second thoughts is not to look down. It is amazing how fast human body adjusts. Adjusts to altitude, pain, miserable weather, steepness of rock/ice…so that we can carry on with the never ending survival game. We are at the base of the Bowling Alley. It is all ice and not less than an AI3. The best way to enter the Alley is via the couloir to the climbers right of the standard entrance. Patrick’s knee gets whacked by a giant icicle and that keeps him out of action for a while. We decide to simul solo the 150’ high Bowling Alley as the safest of all options. It works OK if you do it fast. Couloir to the Bowling Alley: Soloing the Bowling Alley: Reaching the summit block on the Prouty Pinnacle does not look promising. The rock is coated with melting rime and the tools don’t stick. The MEAN SUMMIT BLOCK we pitched: Patrick talks about bailing while I want to lead the sick pitch. In the end Patrick leads it himself by slinging horns and plugging cams along the way. We are finally on the summit - 7 hrs later after leaving our camp: PANORAMAS SW Ridge: NW Ridge: Now we’ve got to downclimb the same line. The first rap we rig off some horns on the summit is not bad and landed us on the summit ridge. After downclimbing to the bottleneck of the Bowling Alley, we try to get creative on how to get our asses to the old rap slings 40 feet down and don’t come up with anything better but to sling an ice horn with a backup off the harness. I rap down first so that Patrick will live, clip bolts and top-rope in the future. But we both survive and then downclimb some more to the couloir leading to the Terrible traverse. From this point on, it is all in reverse to get back to the camp. Once at the base, we watch Middle Sister collapse in a snow explosion from avalanche that heavily scars its east face. We grieve and go back home. Gear Notes: Ice horn, ice screws, mastercams, slings, pickets Approach Notes: Pole Creek TH

Does this mean you guys are moving south? I hear the Black Spider/Black Widow are not well explored on Hood.

Just before the avy ended: [video:vimeo]12932443

We could not really see how much of the entire east face was affected. We had just descended from North to our camp between the SE rib on North and Prouty Point when we heard an explosion similar to quake and saw the avy shooting down one of the NE headwalls. I'll post the pics if I happen to get them from my partner. As of 06-21, the shrund on the Diller gl. was pretty much passable but it is hard to predict how much worse it got now. Here is the shot taken from the T-line:

Thanks for the beautiful photos! Looks like some nice skiable snow on the east side of North which was clearly not the case on the icy west side today. At about 3 p.m. a cornice avy on the NE aspect of Middle took down a half of the mountain. That thing was going for 10 min. Unbelievable sight! I'll see if the pics we took are any good.

Lodestone and I climbed at Silver Bullet yesterday after work -pretty much all climbs were wet. I wish I had my boots (and not shoes) on.

Jim, The snow coverage on the west face of North is pretty good right now, see pics we took off the summit on Middle. Snow/ice on the west face of Middle was probably the best I've been on in OR or WA this last year. It got more mushy later in the day but for as long as you hit it early enough it should be fine. We expect to be back this weekend but without knowing current rock fall conditions (as well as crevasse status on the Collier glacier), West Face right (var. #11) might be a better option since one could bail off this route and easily get on the SW ridge.

Paul, First 2.5 miles on the trail is snow free, then you follow boot pack on a well marked ski/winter trail through the snow which was BTW pretty good consolidation-wise. No snowshoes needed. There is plenty of water below 6000'. We did not see any trail going to/out the Camp lake on our deproach. One reason might be it is mostly frozen. Camp Lake 06-21-10: But it might change by the 4th of July weekend.