Dave A.

Just saw this posted on Wenatchee Outdoors. The Pettigrew Foundation is putting on free avy classes at Mission ridge, Stevens Pass and Alpental. This weekend at Mission, Saturday is terrain, weather, slope, aspect and that kind of info. Sunday is beacon, probe, shovel training. Info can be found at Pettigrew website or the ski area website. This is too good to pass up if you haven't had a class.

Got all excited seeing pics of Fugs being climbed and figured Banks ice should be doing OK. Drove up Sunday and really found nothing climbable. Lots of ice starting but not up to where I could think of climbing it. Devil's Punchbowl could've worked but deathcicles and a fair amount of water running didn't seem worth it. Another week maybe if temps work out.

The rescues in the alps are paid for by taxes. Americans don't like to pay taxes for services they don't use. So climbers have to pay their own way. Denali is heavily used and this is the only way to get the kind of service you appreciate in the alps. As far as insurance goes, try calling for help from some isolated peak in Alaska or even here in Washington. I think you will find your insurance agent doesn't have professional rescuers standing by, nearby, as in the alps.

Twight says that helmets are the one piece of gear that is actually made too light. Those foam things are better than nothing for cragging by the road, but useless in the mountains where falling rocks are typically followed by more falling rocks.

Thank you for the informative write up. I''d be interested to know what brand the beacon was.

The GPS info from the beacon and the phone put them at the base of the couloir at the top of the ice cliff glacier. If anybody knows either of the climbers I would be interested to hear what kind of beacon they had and how close their location was to what was reported.

I usually take med. or large depending on the glove, the large ocuns fit perfectly.

I used a friends pair on Saturday. They were comfortable, far nicer than any others I've seen. I spent an hour on the internet when I got home and couldn't find any anywhere. This is great timing.

You're welcome. Nice meeting you guys.

Thanks, Verticolorful, for the new anchors. Appreciate the work you and others are putting in at Castle.

Well said, Curt.

My Marmot Dri-Clime was my favorite jacket until I wore it out. I replaced it with the Rab Vapour-rise Lite Jacket. It is my new favorite jacket.

3/8-16. 3/8" nut, 16 theads per inch. You should probably get stainless and standard both and use what matches the bolt. A magnet will stick to the standard bolt but not the stainless. Tighten firmly with a 9/16 combination wrench. Do not over tighten. Use a flat washer of the same material as the nut, a lock washer is not needed. Dave A.

Second hand info so take it for what it's worth: I was told the victim was in the gully between serpentine and backbone arete, about 200 feet below the fin.

Last weekend there was a large group of mounties at 8mile CG. Lots of empty sites on Wed. afternoon. Road was barricaded .3 mi. past 4th July TH, but with the warming that will be moved or removed soon.

Eightmile and Bridge Creek CG are now open, and collecting fees. The campground host is in place at Eightmile CG.

Almost everything on the south-facing side (above the road) is pretty much dry and climbable. Pearly gates, which is higher up and north facing looks dry and climbable from the road with my little 10x scope, at least the whole left side. It has rained the last few days, its raining right now, but a few hours of sun makes it all good. Been lots of cars at the popular mountie and church group crags for at least a month. Cars at the bouldering spots as well. Weather looks good for this weekend. Watch for the ticks, some areas are infested. I klled 6 at Catt Crag while my partner led a 50 foot climb and 6 more while we threw our shit in our packs. I only saw 1 a couple hundred yards away at Toon Town while we did 4 climbs.

Wenatchee National Forest website lists closures for Midnight and Noontime Rocks 4-1 thru 7-31. There is a note stating that if the exact locations of nesting raptors can be verified other portions of the rock would be reopened. I saw no notices regarding Snow Creek Wall as of this morning. I don't think that closure is automatic like Midnight Rock. My memory is closures there occur only if nesting raptors are spotted.

Condorphamine Addiction near Leavenworth seems popular. 8 or so pitches, up to easy 5.10, all bolted. I haven't done it but those that have say it's worth the hour or so hike up.

Easy is relative but I'm guessing the OP wasn't looking for Air Guitar. There's really very little at Vantage that qualifies as easy and top-ropeable. My suggestion, grab a copy of Kramar's Leavenworth Rock and head for Leavenworth. Lots of exactly what you're looking for.

If there's a market for it somebody will jump in and make some money selling it. Nothing wrong with that, if you don't like their crap, don't buy it. If you haven't noticed there's an even bigger market for even crappier products, which has made the family that owns wal-mart extremely wealthy.

The three most important things to look for in a boot are fit, fit, and fit.

Either this guy is trolling for something or he's the dumbest poster we've had here.

I have a Trango Junior full body harness for the grandkids and I have found it to be quite suitable. Easy to put on and adjust. I also have a B-D regular style harness for the kids. The kids need to be a little larger to wear it. It's easier for the kids to lean back and lower with the tie-in at the waist instead of the chest. At 40 lbs., I'd go with the full body.

OK, here's my two cents worth. The amount of time you have for hiking and travel can make a difference in where you go. The Cascade pass area is popular and would give you a few good options. If you're not totally committed to north Cascades I would recommend spending your time in the Chiwawa river area. Central Cascades but absolutely as scenic as the North. Mt. Maude mentioned above, two other peaks over 9K (Fernow and Seven Finger Jack), numerous peaks over 8k such as Buck and Chiwawa, and tons of good hiking (Buck Pass, Little Giant Pass, Spider Meadows, Carne Mt.). Campsites are usually easy to find. A couple good guidebooks would be Selected climbs in the Cascades Vol.1 and 2 by Jim Nelson and Peter Potterfield and Climbing Washingtons Mountains by Jeff Smoot. The info in the books should let you decide on some possibilities that would fit your comfort level, you could get more info here on specific routes. All three books should be readily available from Amazon.