Pete_H

Nice! That Spickard / Redoubt area is a special place. Not a bad way to spend 5 days!

Don't give aspirin for a suspected stroke!!!

How ironic. Most conservatives consider Obama a blatant wealth-distributing socialist. Kevboner, the self-proclaimed socialist, thinks Obama a right-wing fascist. Hard for a black man to be President these days.

Thanks for the link. Really enjoy the blog. Sounds like a very fun trip.

2x2's, 4x4's, and 2" cling for bleeding; 2 triangles for sling and swath; sometimes a small SAM splint; epi pen if necessary; tape, and bandaids.

I wouldn't climb it for the rock quality but for the fact that its a moderate scramble with great scenery.

Completely different routes on different sides of the mountain. For the Emmons you start lower and have a longer approach but it stays skiable a lot longer. You would need to hit the Kautz ice step pretty early in the season unless you want to rap or downclimb that part of the route. They're both pretty straight forward skis except for the ice step.

6. Skin-tight Euro rando race unitard. Seriously though, noce job. 5 hours is blazing, especially for never climbing or skiing Rainier before. Hopefully, you'll be able to come back and ski some more interesting routes on it though.

Trip: Canadian Rockies Melange - Date: 6/11/2012 Trip Report: After Ryan recalled an aphorism he had recently heard, “[you should] always drink your best,” this became an appropriate theme for our recent road trip to the Canadian Rockies. With an iffy forecast for the week creating uncertainly about our plans, Ryan Lurie, Eric Wehrly, and I arrived Monday night at the Icefields Centre just in time to sneak a peak at Athabasca and Andromeda in the fading light. What would either become a warmup for some bigger objectives (if the weather cooperated), or our “best” of the trip we selected the ultra-classic, if strong, offering of Skyladder on Mt. Andromeda to pair with the mellow forecast for Tuesday. Considerations of sun effect on a not-yet-ripe snowpack necessitated a 0330 start. These opulent schemes are often best consumed early and bleary-eyed. Skyladder. What sparkle and energy! Inviting and impressive for the purity of its position. Clean and focused, a chalklike texture riding a firm structure. There’s fine clarity, extraordinary balance and finesse without sacrificing an ounce of power. Best from May through June. After a rest day Wednesday to sleep off our hangovers and watch the forecasted weather roll in, we concluded a change of venue was necessary to escape les nuages sur l’horizon. Yamnuska is often described as the birthplace of Canadian mountaineering - for a good reason. These steep expressive cracks, textured faces, and questionable holds and blocks will get your ass in shape for the mountains. No doubt. The Forbidden Corner. This complex 10-pitch 5.9, pioneered in the ‘60’s, gets better and cleaner with age. This ripe, slightly exotic line offers a bit of everything, including a quite spicy and runout rightward traverse on pitch 8. This is full-value 5.9. Full-bodied, big, and chewy. Yet there’s so much underneath. Retour northward to catch another weather window with excellent potential. Thursday night was spent at the Mosquito Creek Hostel on the Icefields Parkway where we availed ourselves of the hostel’s rustic wood-burning sauna. Punctuating our heat-absorption session with trips to the icy creek. Conditions for the next day would be interesting. The cold rain all evening and night felt like Western Washington in January. Athabasca N. Glacier. With hopes of skiing the N Face of Athabasca dwindling upon realizing how much new snow had fallen over the night, we pushed up the N Glacier to get a better look. I concluded the Face wasn’t in the cards for me this day and begged out to ski the fresh powder on the glacier. Eric and Ryan took a closer look but after observing deep ski penetration, active wind loading, and evidence of spontaneous slide activity they joined me in my gluttony. Two laps on the N Glacier was a superb conciliation. Tasted like candy, in a good way; gliding effortlessly to the lingering finish. The aftertaste is like a buttery croissant, staying bright and focused. Best consumed now. Our bigger objectives in the range will have to wait for other attempts with better forecasts; but what a successful trip as an expression of our epicurean search for those turns and movements that, like waves in surfing, recreate the rhythm of human life and frees us from the pain of humanity. Always drink your best. *All photos courtesy of Mr. Ryan Lurie Gear Notes: Beaujoulais, Pale Ale, Bourbon. Approach Notes: Refreshingly Easy

Sonics would have won it all in '96 if Nate was healthy and officiating was less Bulls/Jordan biased. I'm no football fan but wouldn't the seapigeons have won it a few years ago except for a few bad calls?

Awesome. Thanks for the TR!

Nice job making a difficult decision to turnback. Encountering stormy conditions up high would really suck. How did you find snow conditions?

Awesome. Looks like a great, productive trip. Nice work!! That NW Face has been on my list for a while. Despite your retardation you sure seem like nice kids. Enjoy your youth before you end up like an old lecherous cynical alpinist like many of us.

I'd throw in the towel. You're missing out on some good shit.

dude needs to get back on his med's.

Sweet. Nice off the couch sends.

Truth is Helmstadler climbed it and skied it solo.

Nice job finishing the route despite the uncertainty though!!

Colchuck isn't in the North Cascades either.

I may only be a 5.12+ on-site climber but I attribute my ridiculously good-looksingness to my amazingly pure nordic genes and extreme navy Seal cross-fit paleo workout regime.

This post is an absolute classic, by the way.

I doubt you'd have any objections to your efforts to replace anchors. You should clean and scrub and replace the anchors on the Great Arch while you're at it. Wish I could help you with beta on the route but its been so long since I did it I don't remember!

Yeah but those are probably Californians.

I disagree. The worst mountaineering disaster in the US ocurred below the ID. Lots of opportunity for rock fall (Jim Wickwire lost a partner this way), serac fall, (over a dozen died at one time this way), crevasses, avalanches off the Cleaver have taken lives, weather, as it is all over the mountain, is an objective hazard. Fair enough. Good points. Concensus seems to be: consider doing it with a high camp, consider adding a third experienced party member, make some training climbs with maybe some practice sessions, and be smart enough to bail if necessary.

But I bet you can get FOxx.