Water

meh.. i can't say how many rope lengths it is but if i was planning on a fixed belay of newbs on cooper spur i probably wouldn't take them there in the first place. that said if it was really icy or something then i see the merits, but that likely means later season (in my book) soi wouldnt be there in the first place.

are you carrying over? I've done it once but would like to again when conditions and wx get together. Personally for me mid-june seems late, most esp. if descending it. unless it was a colder day than normal--just it gets first sun which in mid june.. means light on the face starting at 5am more or less--most accidents there seem on descent from my reading when we went we brought pickets which we didn't use, it was just good snow and step kicking. depends on people's comfort and confidence level but i think the southside slope is a good place for newbs to get a feel for being on a steeper slope, while not nearly as committing of a slope and the run out isn't fatal by default. the steepness kind of creeps up in a fun way, though towards the very end we veered slightly to the left and it eased a bit, and the final 200 ft to the top was a touch more moderate as well. really fun climb though! probably don't need to say it but if roping up, of course place the pro, otherwise don't bother--i would not want to be roped on that slope without something in, though lo and behold you see and hear of people doing such.

thanks for sharing. it is relief to see some concrete proof that america doesn't have the market cornered on idiots the glissading at the end seemed the like the topper.. maybe they know the runout better but no ax and steep enough to send the first guy down looks like they all want to end up as a bunch of broken legs and bashed heads in a pile at the bottom.

uhg. the original statement re: desert cragging made me laugh and obviously was tongue-in-cheek, esp after putting CLASSIC in caps. happy for the conditions report, we went up 4/22 and broke trail along lee side of hogsback and kicked steps up. fun times, happy to finally have a bit of hood action after progressively crappy weekend conditions for what seemed like months. cheers guys

what/how did you hear about it? news to me I was glassing the slopes of st helens yesterday with binocs from McClellan Viewpoint after some lo-key backpacking along the lewis river.. could see the snowtrack and a few spots of wet slides but nothing big, at least yesterday at 4pm.

Didn't mean to rain the avy news on your parade--seemed worth posting giving you asked about conditions since NWAC stopped regular reports. I do think they'll put another update tomorrow. I've felt this winter and spring has really sucked having generally safe avy conditions along with weather windows greater than 24hr..let alone on weekends. maybe someone else can offer something up but I this is my take: ski: resort climb: rock or do some hiking at lower elevations.

http://www.nwac.us/forecast/avalanche/current/zone/8/ done with regular forecasts but still forecasting when they have special hazardous condition announcements. Which, we're getting for this week.

this isnt a troll right? http://www.nwac.us/forecast/avalanche/current/zone/13/

it will be a timberline trial for sure. +with snowpack you can probably go cross country easier -if it gets warm in the afternoon = postholing -still can't go as fast as trail runners -if hot, any fords will be difficult i would say later july-august is a better bet if you want to make a plan now and actually hike it on trail vs route-find and be majority on snow, but really depends on your experience and interests. consider posting this ? at nwhikers.net or portlandhikers.org for more info

mmmmmmm my bc can beers in fridge right now are: caldera brewery's amber ..and. summer solstice cerveza crema (anderson valley brewery) good stuff for sure

yet = a few months Try asking in Mid-June

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=n00b http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbie

cool promos and nice to try things out in-situ. not to thread drift, but, did they ever get the perps who hit the store a year or more ago?? glad to see you are still going.

Moving steady from Marble Mnt you can get to the rim in a day, leaving at 8am, though I'd leave earlier then you can take a more leisurely pace. Additionally if it is sunny out, the later in the day it gets, the more postholing down low-and snowshoes downhill in sinky snow can suck. They won't open that probably unless the snow melts off--I think they want to prevent people from trying to get there and getting stuck. They are done plowing for the season.

yea, i was not so fond of the longer length on that - would prefer short, the length is extra weight, traditional ax for piolet cane.

looked at matrix light as well. hammer seems really tiny--would use this to pound a picket occasionally. one anecdotal review i found said with the monster-x head it can be difficult to hold the head, (i have small hands)..and plunge geometry wasn't great. but i took with a grain of salt. anything on your end to share regarding that? like i said, i realize most of what is listed will work, just being anal about my selection. I agree replaceable pick probably not so important since its occasional use.

Well well well.. I've read these threads many a time and just wanted to kick the ball again on it. Anyone have any feedback? I don't plan on ice climbing, to start off. It would be an aspiration to lead a moderate grade alpine ice pitch. Follow, okay.. The area I'd find it useful is steep hard snow/gullies with the occasional ice step on cascade volcanoes. Looking at Aztarex hammer (50cm), CAMP Alpax special hammer (57cm), and Grivel Air Tech Evo Hammer (48cm) Mostly lean towards Aztarex as I've just heard good stuff from it, cons being too light of a head for good stick when ice climbing (not an issue for me), shaft filling with snow (can block this), and the griprest a bit cumbersome to remove. +petzl +replace picks +light CAMP Alpax has the griprest in a sliding sheath for easier access. +T shaft +replaceable picks -heavy Grivel Air Tech Evo hammer.. Just heard a lot of good word about this too. -can't replace pick, +nice array of grip-handle/horn accessories All will probably get the job done, I'm aware. Going to be paired with bd raven 65. If petzl made the sum'tec with a hammer, I'd get that. thanks

Really anywhere in those gullies right around Tline--You can find some slopes to do this that end in a flat large spaces just east of the 2nd parkinglot. I'd probably opt for that area vs going up into the steeper gullies, just to error on snowpack issues. Down lower you can go to white river canyon and just fool around near the sledding hills there. Been wanting to take a friend out to go over this but really with the snow not packed at all, you can go through the motions but won't experience much more than going through the motions on a grassy slope or your couch in portland.

awesome on ya! yeah find where your work is and unless you live close to it, try to stay on that side of the river or you're in for traffic fun one way or another.

was it indeed due to some shitheads? i hadn't heard that punks were responsible for marble mnt. source? I can think of a great use for the $50,000+ the mnt st helens institute makes yearly off the mandatory non-refundable $5 donation when people pay $21 to climb st. helens. Supposedly that money goes to maintain the climbers trail, most expensive trail in the state, for sure. they could rebuild the warming hut with that money. http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/apr/11/fire-destroys-marble-mountain-snow-shelter/ ie the wallowa-whitman visitor center in enterprise burned down last summer..beautiful building--turned out some workers had left balled up paint-thinner rags up against the building when they went for a break.

what is your plan if you decide to not carry tents 'just in case' and you arrive to find the shelter full?

kingfrankiv, this is good, very good. I am looking at epl-2... because i feel I have hit the limits of my P&S, it is 4 years old and while I get good results, I spend too much time fiddling due to not getting what I want. I'd rather spend more time fiddling due to perfecting what I do have. I'm on the cust of this purchase right now. Almost went dSLR then realized I would never honestly lug that along half the places I go. Tried epl-2 last night at a store with 14-42mm lens and yes bigger than p&s but fits in my jacket pocket overall, and if it was on neck strap is nothing close to dSLR. What lens do you use, kingfrankiv?

did you climb or just skiing? webcams did show plenty of sun today. if climbing did you dig any avy pits-findings? avy forecast and knowledge of all the new snow enough to keep me off of up high for now.

we have FF Lark and WM Ultralight. Ultralight is really a winner in my book! just a great all-around bag. hood is great, zipper never snags, great for 3 season or even winter when it is not too cold. I find the zipper on the Lark snags like a mofo--pretty irritating if WM can make a near-snagfree zipper, that FF can't. Though i've read the design on FF is easier to repair if there was an issue. 400+ nights in the WM Ultralight and no zipper failure so I'll take a better mechanism. I do find the hood on the WM better, but that isn't to say there is a problem with the one on FF--WM was just easier/better cord/setup it seemed. FWIF also WM and FF will zip-together--we paid a bit extra for the zip to be on the proper side for the Lark to zip into the ultralight. This has given us (as a couple) a better temp range.

cool TR from the portrayal perspective-there is definitely something unique about a retrospective (10 years later) re-telling. Adding to that fact, the place you were coming from prior to the trip, out east/without having been to the NW, really sets the stage for how meaningful and impacting such a trip would be. thanks for sharing.