Water

lol.. and being Scottish in the modern world? creative license there, eh? Enjoyed the vid.

wow... not a lot of time on that deadline. lets see if i can get something in..

http://www.outdoorproject.com/sites/default/files/1389160031/ericguth_sandyglaciercaves-83.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Glacier_Caves the OBP expose was fantastic, worth watching http://www.opb.org/glaciercaves/

Dchromey, Upper Sandy Glacier Headwall, Upper Yocum Ridge on the right side of picture. Flat area above both, Queens Chair -- Leutholds tops out there. Leuths is on the backside of Yocum

Sad. Feel so low to hear this. He was here well before I ever joined, didn't know him personally but always enjoyed his rabblerousing and consummate "CC" ethos personified. Great to hear details about the real deal. Indeed we've lost way too many this year.

I would like the one from hyperlite--the 4 person'er, for winter basecamps with a group of 3-4. But it cost a grand, that's crazy. I'm pretty impressed with this style of tent. It held up admirably on the kautz in 40-45mph winds but my site selection was the limiting factor--as the wind picked up things stretched a bit and I did not have space/hardware to further anchor/keep every part of it taut. Thus it started to move a bit = friction on the rocks used to anchor some of the webbing = webbing rips = more movement. We retreated in the night. But the wind had pushed back multiple parties the day before and it continued, we wouldn't have really climbed much higher anyways.

going right down the middle of a slope/crossing in center of a face, vs staying near edging, riding a ridge, avoiding roll over, --using terrain selection to mitigate risk.

if you're wondering "well what can I do?", someone posted a great comment on the page the story is on: https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr5204 write a sternly worded letter to your congresscritter

really? I can't get enough of this... [video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcGRfQXYZsY

Just to chime in from the 'fat person' perspective. I was in the best shape I'd been in since finishing an Appalachian thru hike in 07 when I fell a mere 3-4 foot climbing the day after Christmas in 2013. I ended up needing surgery, and only in the last month have I started "hiking" again (6 miles).. I'm not really in bad shape, prob lost 4 lbs of muscle gained 7lbs of fat. But everything has gone better than average for me. This year has actually been pretty wonderful for the car-camping experience. A wedding two weekends ago at the learning center on lake diablo I was relegated to measly pyramid lake hike. I have a lot of sympathy and compassion for those who are not able, this injury could have very well been the end of pain free walking. So...maybe there are already more than enough "accessible" places and we don't need to make the last few remaining spots conform to car culture--but please have just a smidge of sensitivity for many many people who are not fully able bodied through no direct fault of their own.

Hope I didn't sound like an ass in questioning your route choice, not my intention. Sounds like you've been getting out a lot since your posts this spring--that's great! If you like rainier I'll have to just plug 'the book', by Mike Gauthier (Gator), previous lead climb ranger, http://www.amazon.com/Mount-Rainier-Climbing-Guide-Edition/dp/0898869560 It has route info up the wazoo, routes overlayed on photographs, all the 'deets' you need. great book. two TRs that start at Comet Falls TH. Take a look at a map, you'll see the trail up to van trump park, from there just follow least resistance, veering more towards wilson than kautz. I haven't done it but would guess based on the contours and such you'd hit the 'regular' path up around 8200-8600? Consider a call into the rangers as well/ask when you register. http://www.ericsbasecamp.net/trips/Kautz/Kautz.htm http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=493589

Go up via van trump park by way of Comet Falls TH. No glacier crossing down low. Nate I see you posted in the forums earlier that you are relatively new to climbing as of this year and were looking to take some type of RMI/AAI training. You've investigated the Kautz route, especially at this time of year? I don't mean to poo poo if you are solid for it but I probably wouldn't recommend doing this route now if this is your 'first' time climbing. Get up Adams, St. Helens in the winter.. Hood in the spring.. all great test pieces to get you dialed in for Rainier.

bumping this. Great resource. Don't have to donate $25 either.. I threw him some cash earlier in the year. For those who cannot live in the mountains, a high quality HDR shot updated every few minutes with the click of a button helps keep the sanity..

awesome! Maybe I should peg that for my 35th.. I'm a bit surprised there is still plentiful snow on the traverse, this being a warm hot summer..with rain events in a non-banner snow year, though I suppose snowfall at 9k+ was probably not hit. thank's for sharing. Bummer about the crampons/beers..had that happen once, a real shame. Cheers and happy belated birthday!

took me a second..when I saw tech and ski I was thinking ski crampon and at first was trying to figure how this 'screwed' or clipped into the ski. Novel idea..thanks for sharing. I like the idea behind it.. do wonder about torquing forces--if you would get any unusual slot-wear where the pins go in---probably not tho

Rephrase: making the choice to climb it at this time of year (south side at least) is generally done from a depth of expertise or a lack thereof. If I may so graciously quote from Bill Mullee's wonderful Mt. Hood Climber's Guide: (and apologies if this is not allowed--delete/I'll remove) ---- not a forum conspiracy that most people don't climb this time of year and generally avoid it. There is anecdotal evidence (a few TRs and such) and there are trends and guidelines (book recommendations). Some characters go up in late season...this first one you linked is an anti-guide to climbing this time of year, a real 'how not to do this'. Like the instructions for installing a gas stove that begin with 'make sure the gas is on':

South ridge route on Jeff, long killer scree but beautiful and solitaire. North sister more burly navigation but right time of year to scramble it without all the hardware. Tack on middle for extra fun. Hood, you could go for it but the only people who really climb it this time of year seem to be experts or idiots, not trying to offend but that's the honest to god truth.

the pearly gates would better be called the fecal chutes about this time of year--i was showing a friend the lodge and took a look with binocs--it looked pretty nasty and dirty up there--and melted. Though there were signs of ski tracks.. this is not the ideal time of year to climb, to be clear--most hood climbers would say it is done with right now. most. not all.

to reiterate I've had my corolla back some pretty bad roads--40kms up canadian mining and logging roads, down miles and miles of washboard, dirt roads where I've spanned a many-foot deep rut, etc. Truly almost any small city car (honda civic, fit, toyo corolla, IQ (apparently ), ford fiesta, etc etc), if driven carefully, can be taken to just about all snoparks or backwoods spots. The amount of attention and speed of driving will be a factor, as will the ease (AWD vs putting on chains..etc).. My personal experience is small cars can do about 98% of what a brand new subu outback can do as far as getting to the trailhead (or as close as possible). Gear storage, ease of driving (AWD is nice..), lack of worrying about hearing a scrape, etc are other factors. But getting to the TH.. If a small car can't do it driven with some skill, you probably want/need a truck or jeep.

http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/tnb-death-on-forbidden-peak-was-the-nps-complicit?A=SearchResult&SearchID=2435575&ObjectID=4250920&ObjectType=35 http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1112476/1

Hear great stuff about Honda Fit.. An old corolla has been our city and woods vehicle for a long time. Though not sure corolla is as competitive for cost these days.

Definitely get that it is your opinion. But if it is based on logic then if you did liberty ridge 10 times and never saw ice or rockfall you'd say that's a safe route? What route on the mountain would you recommend? Only Emmons? DC has not just observed plenty of ice fall but also had the worst accident in the history of the mountain when 11 people died on the Ingraham due to ice fall.

superb route and a great write-up! We hit it last year july 22nd and I thought descending the DC was far and away the most dangerous aspect. Having not been on it before it seemed crazy to me that it is the dog route--kautz seemed so much safer overall. One part I liked was being able to look over and see the tracks going up to muir and all the action over there from high on the turtle, definitely hear you about seeing things from a diff perspective. great write up, dig the route drawn and such at high res--that is always nice to have, esp helpful for those who are researching/not done it before. cheers small clarification: Kautz glacier/chute is the route you did. The Kautz Ice Cliff is actually the ~vertical ice cliff above Hazard (which apparently has been/gets climbed). See Gator's Rainier book for details.

i am ted turner and rupert murdoch's love child. PM me the details right now and it will be on the AM news shows coast to coast tomorrow morning. seriously amigo, you apparently already know of Oregon Field Guide, Backpacker Magazine, and the Mazamas. http://mazamas.org/about-us/contact-us/ http://www.opb.org/about/contactus/newsroom/ <--here is your starting point. They'd be a great org to get in touch with. You're hoping one of us on a lark has Gary E. Knell on speed dial? Sorry but the number of cranks who've popped on here for a minute, a day, a week.. to talk about their epic e-mountaineering plans or epic experience and then are never heard from again. The cave is cool. I'm sure you found something cool out there. No need for all the backstory and buts/coulds/whens, if it is as impressive as you say, it will get a feature like the sandy glacier ice caves or more. it doesn't matter one iota if it is first revealed in a forum like this or the cover of nat geo--if it is worthy on its own it'll get all the attention it needs. good luck, you're highly unlikely to get anything more than the same loop of suggestion. Unless you're going to post more actual info you'll probably feel antagonized if you keep coming here and replying, not to discourage you from enjoying this fine website.. (but it sounds like you have a very busy summer ahead of you). I'll be stoked when I actually learn about what it is you found. I'm stoked when someone posts a TR, not when someone asks for beta or tells of how they plan to do something impressive.