JeffreyR

There are still a few SAR specific Blackhawks in WA (Whidby Island NAS SAR) and Ft Lewis-McCord has a few still.

I usually wait for a sale at REI or some other outdoor store and get zip off quick dry hiking pants. I rarely spend more than $40.

This seems like a reasonable requirement for NP Wilderness areas. I am interested to see how it all plays out and I hope climbers respect it!

I have pretty wide feet and my pair of Raichle boots feel great. I believe that Raichle was bought out by Mammut, so I don't know if the sizing has changed at all.

Seems like the DNR should be able to generate enough revenue with all the logging that goes on in their lands...

Thanks for the info! I was up at the baldy/tyler trailhead this spring, but I had not noticed any of the development. I will have to go check it out some time.

I am not totally sure what you are planning to do with your harness, but for most SAR applications I have seen something more along the lines of this used.

Your batteries is bound to not perform well if it gets cold. I have a Nikon battery that sucks in temps below 25 F. Also, your lcd screen could freeze in extreme teps. It has never happened to my camera, but to other electronics. I usually keep sensitive items like that stored inside my jacket in cold weather, which could be a hassle with a D-SLR. I don't believe the actual elevation would have any negative effects, but I have no experience with anything quite that high.

Do you have any more info on this area. I would be interested to hear about what has been developed.

I know that people have skied all three routes on the N. face. You would probably want to wait for better snow cover though. I could see a little of the N ridge of Pinnacle and it looked to be in ok shape. If the conditions were anything like on Lane, the snow would not have been overly well consolidated to the rock, but very little was falling off.

Trip: Lane Peak - The Fly Date: 12/22/2010 Trip Report: Left the Narada Falls parking lot at around 0900 under light snow/ice but a reasonably high cloud deck which cleared up within two hours. There had been about four inches of new snow overnight, so breaking trail was no problem. We reached the base of the climb at around 1000 and switched from slowshoes to crampons. The creek crossing is still open, but there is a log that makes it easier. Once on the avalanche fan the snow conditions were variable. At points there was a strong crust and at others the powder was thigh deep, but seemed pretty stable. There seemed to be a lot of large avalanche debris (ice boulders) under the new snow, probably from the last Pineapple express. All three North face routes appear to be in now. We broke out the ice axes at the coulier entrance. Most of the route was in pretty good shape with around six inches of powder over a well consolidated base. There were several sections that required wallowing up bottomless powder, but it was not too bad. About 3/4 of the way up there was a fairly large boulder blocking half of the coulier which presented the greatest difficulty. We managed to pull over it, but in a couple weeks of more snow it should be a lot nicer. Just above that, there was a small crevasse (bergschrund?)that was interesting to cross. It was only a foot wide and not all that deep but created a short vertical step. We reached the top of the coulier at around 1300 wishing we had worked our calf muscles a bit more during the fall. The final climb up the summit block looked too snice covered and unprotectable for my taste, so we opted to traverse Lane's South face and descend by the pass east of The Zipper. We were back at the meadow in the valley by 1500 and managed to haul our sore and tired selves out to the car before dark. Gear Notes: Ice ax + second tool Helmet Crampons Snowshoes Brought but didn't use: 60m rope pickets Approach Notes: Pretty simple and short route finding. Chains or 4x4 were required above longmire.

Judging from the amount of snow at Paradise (~70" at 5500 ft), some of the routes may be in. I will probably be up there in a couple weeks.

I have at times used more than 5 waypoints, but it has never been crucial. 2 or 3 plus a good paper map and compass skills work great. Several times I have used downloaded maps, but I was never impressed enough to fork over the $100 to get a good set of maps on a CD. The screen can never show enough area to be useful for navigation. If i even remember to bring it, my GPS has become more entertainment so after a trip I can download my route into google earth and show it off to my friends...

Ok, point taken. I am used to seeing the normal spray and it pisses me off at times

Provided that was a military helo involved in the rescue, it wouldn't have affected your taxes at all. They fly every day, rescue or not. I have spoken with NAS Whidby pilots and they consider civilian SAR missions to be great training. As for the cost of the ground SAR, it is pretty minimal (with the exception of the police officer on duty). I am a SAR member and I pay for everything related to me going on a search. And for the record, as a SAR member, I don't want anyone to be charged for a rescue.

Mount Jupiter might be a good choice. Fairly challenging and good views.

From what I could see of the route early in the morning before the clouds moved in, it would be relatively choss free route this time of year. Pretty much solid snow above 4000 ft. Maybe in August after the snow melts it would be a choss pile, but that goes for pretty much anywhere in the olympics.

Trip: Mt Washington - NE Ridge Date: 5/29/2010 Trip Report: Very brushy route. It doesn't appear that many people have been up the NE Ridge in recent years. Snow started at 3500 ft at around the same time as the clouds moved in. Pt. 4457 was much more difficult to navigate around in the fog than I had originally anticipated. That, combined with the poor avalanche forecast, prompted us to turn around. Despite the limited success it was still a fun and very wet Olympic bushwhack. Gear Notes: Ice Axe Helmet Crampons (didn't end up using) Approach Notes: One small washout on the road past Jefferson Lake. Easily crossed with four wheel drive.

You might consider taking a course in compass navigation. Getting down from Camp Muir is not too much of a problem with proper map and compass skills. I think the reason you got kicked out of the climbing group was for continuing on to Cathedral Rock. It is against National Park regulation to travel on glaciers and to go above camp Muir without a climbing permit. Climb Safe

Thanks for the good news! I was afraid that it would be closed much longer.

Trip: Mount Washington - Route 1 Date: 2/15/2010 Trip Report: Started at 8:30 AM with my dad under clear skies. Snow started pretty soon after leaving the road and was thick by 3500 ft. It had been pretty cold the previous night, so at times it was pretty icy, but anywhere the sun touched turned to slop. We were not making very good time due to the slushy snow. At times the slush was over 15" deep not very stable. We were hoping that conditions higher up would get better, but they just kept getting worse. By 4000 ft we were postholing up to our thighs in places. We turned around at 4800 ft when the we felt the avalanche danger had gotten too high and we were tired of wallowing about in the slop. It took some pretty ungraceful moves to get up the steeper sections. We were back at the car by 1:30 PM. It was overall a good day despite our limited success. There was no one else on the mountain and the views were superb. Gear Notes: Ice Axe Helmet Approach Notes: Big Creek Rd is clear of snow with the exception of a large patch about 100 yards past the lower Mt Ellinor trail head.

The majority of the rescuers were BoAlps members and instructors. It wouldn't have been successful without them. I developed a lot of respect for that organization.

I just ran across this thread. I was the climbing partner of Jake, the injured climber. This took place in the Southeast Gully route. I am not 100% sure that we were on route, or it is severely underrated (which is quite possible). I found no evidence of anyone attempting this route aside from the guys who wrote the description in the guide book and the FA party. And just for everyone's info, Jake is doing fine and has fully recovered after a month in a coma. Quite a miracle, considering the doctors never thought he would survive!

Are there any first ascents left in the Olympics. It would appear that everything has been done, but there are some spots that see few visitors, if any each year.

Does anyone know of a successful winter ascent of Mt Olympus? The Olympic Mountain climbing guide states that there are no known summits, but several attempts. Seems like a worthy objective.