aikidjoe

I feel like more than half the time I just end up taking my tools for a long walk in the bushes.

wow that is sad to see. and not surprising. which makes it even more sad.

thank you for posting this. I left a comment urging the proposal be rejected online.

Thank you for sharing. My take away from this is for the rapeller to bring a prussik system on a blind rappel like that, so maybe they can prusik up the rope if they end up free hanging? Just curious: is there a reason that would not have helped if the anchor had held in this situation? I'm also curious: did you bury the picket and axe anchor as deadmen? Or straight into the snow? (Just to be clear: this is not meant as criticism. I'm genuinely hoping this leads to good discussion and insights. Protecting in snow is tricky and I thank you for sharing what happened that we might learn from it). Cheers!

Thanks!!!

Sounds like maybe you drove there.... did you get a look at Colonial perchance? any photos? Thank you!!

Anyone been to banks lake? Much appreciated!

Glad you made it out! Looks really fun...sorry I missed it!

Nice effort. Did you get any photos on the north faces on Dtail and Colchuck? Thanks!

The problem isn't that natural gas produces 1/2 the CO2. The problem is that fracking (a) poisons the water supply and (b) leaks a lot of methane, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. There is growing evidence this more than offsets the reduction in CO2. Fracking is not a valid answer. Carbon taxes, yes. I'm more open to the idea of nuclear after reading Dr. James Hansen's Storms of my Grandchildren, though there are a lot of troublesome issues with it. But fracking will only make the problem worse. Ultimately, civilization cannot sustain its current trajectory, and I'm not convinced there will be a technical solution. This can really only end in disaster unless we make hard choices, or probably more likely: until disaster forces hard choices. We don't have control over other people; we can only control ourselves, and the choices we make matters. The best we can do as individuals is make life choices that reduce our footprint (eat vegan, use alternative transportation to single occupant cars, reduce consumerism, etc.); support politicians that are not in the pockets of fossil fuel, meat, and dairy industries; and don't support industries that destroy what little old growth rainforest we have left (palm oil, meat/dairy, etc.).

ha! The one that pays you..,

Really cool. As an average guy with a full time career with a hope of some day doing the cassin I really like the style you did it in. I hope you don’t mind if I ask a couple questions: Did you split your packs into a lighter lead pack / heavier follower pack for the Crux pitches? I see you did some pre acclimitizing on rainier before going, but what have you the confidence you could acclimatize on Route? How did you convince your boss you could take off for a week at a moments notice? (That’s a flippant but also kind of serious question....) really cool!

Agreed with JasonG. My one trip to the Pickets (so far) was amazing, but hardly any technical climbing due to weather. It's an amazing, wild, rough place, but not easy to accomplish a lot of climbing... or 5th class climbing anyways.

http://featheredfriends.com/vireo-ul-down-sleeping-bag.html

It's probably in fine shape if it's not too warm. White River Campground road usually doesn't open until later in May, so plan accordingly! I'm sure that's a big factor for why it's not usually climbed in early May.