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Frankazoid

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Posts posted by Frankazoid

  1. Rad, a few days ago I skied vesper, and while on the summit I could hear shouts from Morning Star.. My partner and I were almost convinced the shouts were "help", but shortly thereafter realized it was just climber communication on MS.  So I chuckled just now when reading your Initial post on the SAR team dispatched to your FA..  The climbers were on MHC.

    Really nice looking route; was staring at that exact line on my way to Headlee Pass thinking it could make for an excellent rock climb.. little did I know!  Would love to get on it this season.. (perhaps follow, haven't climbed much since I developed a skiing problem) 

  2. Not sure what the 'tay' is for enthusiasts in that area, so here I post..

    Anyone know of reasonable approaches to good skiing from the westside of the park, with current road and snow conditions?

    This I know:  From west entrance you can drive to lake McDonald lodge, and one can hike the road 12 miles beyond that.  
    Logan pass can only be approached on the weekend when the road crew rests, making it way too big of a push for that 2 day window.

    I'm looking for a comfortable single day approach (8-10 hours of biking, hiking, touring to base of objective X, or less!), that will land me at a good zone to lap on the second day, or just a single, long ski objective with climbing that requires nothing more than steep booting w/axe.

    And if you know of a better forum/info resource for the area please chime in!

    The rangers do not have any info as they don't go out on skis into the high-country, unlike areas around here, so I learned..

    Thanks!

  3. it does seem a bit too warm on sunday night- monday and the no freeze thing is really putting a damper on things.  last year on Ruby was a great example of how spring cornice collapse can trigger lingering deep instabilities...  https://www.nwac.us/blog/2017/03/26/ruby-mountain-low-probability-high-consequence/

    Deep instabilities are present still in central-north as I observed on Pilchuck a couple days ago.. 6' -ish crown @5000' NNE-N aspect from recent cornice collapse.

    I would be interested in going if conditions were better..

     

  4. Trip: Mt. Pilchuck - Summer trail variation up, NW descent from summit to TH

    Trip Date: 05/03/2018

    Trip Report:

    cut n paste from TAY:

    Hiked in from Heather Lk TH, gated; skinned last 2 or so miles to Pilchuck TH.  The winter up-route from the TH is in good shape still but it's going fast..

    Was on top of the se gulley around 10am, a foot of pole pen, and I don't think it would have made a big difference if I had been there at 5am. Little to no freeze.

    I made one ski cut towards the right side, found it tricky to lift the leg and let snow drain; was solo so.. bailed and skied the wnw ridge a ways and dropped onto the N slopes, then NW down the open rolling terrain to the TH- fun turns in the sun all the way to the TH.  The glop is getting faster at least..

    When I got back to the pilchuck TH I looked up and noticed a really large crown, about 6+' is my best guess.. on the N slopes @ 5000', underneath the lookout and east of where I skied on the north slope.  It spanned a huge portion of the slope.  Likely the result of recent cornice-fall.  Deep instabilites still exist in the region, and this is also noted on the latest nwac north-central bulletin.

    Ran into one other skier while walking the road back to Heather Lk th, he was cruising down on his MT bike (bring this!) and slowed to chat briefly.. Never saw him up there but I guess he watched me ski from the ridge.  Nice bumpin into you whoever you are.

    Photos: (rolly ridge photo is Larrison Ridge)
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/9RQNU6PwqZuf9gpW6

    Gear Notes:
    Bring a mountain bike

    Approach Notes:
    included in TR
    • Like 1
  5. I imagine you would want to put the board back together and on your pack when booting the final pitches of your objective? That's common. There are a few good packs out there but the ones I call 'good' are designed for A-frame ski carry.

    A pack for day tours? 30+ Liters. 45+ for multi day.

    I'm in the market myself and am considering this 30 Cilo Gear pack.

    http://www.cilogear.com/30zskipack.html

     

    Airbags could help ya out, But better to learn how to avoid slides all together. Plus the weight.. Knowledge and experience can help you more than a saftey cushion.

     

    Not sure of what bags might be best for intact-non spilt board carry.

     

    I also use an avalung on some tours. Sometimes i'll bite down on the avalung when ski cutting something that has the potential to crack off big. With that, I'd recommend learning how effectively ski cut on small isolated features when the snowpack is unstable. If you don't already know how... disclaimer: small features can also kill you or cause trauma!

  6. Nice work Rad & Kurt. Looks like a satisfying adventure.

     

    So, is the summit that you reached part of long horseshoe shaped ridge that has many high and low points, connecting to the pulpit at some point?

     

    Once upon a time I visited the pulpit, and traveled on this curving knife edge ridge in either direction along the horseshoe, looking down on the shear walls below... Looks like similar terrain.

  7. A few years ago I headed up there to scope for new routing opportunities. I surveyed a lot of the rock up close and came to the conclusion that it was all pretty horrible for climbing. I will say it does look promising from down below.. Super gorgeous place.

  8. Some of you may have already heard about this on MP. If you havent, here you go: https://www.mountainproject.com/v/massive-rock-fall-exit-38-routes-damaged/112108748#a_112108806

     

    I can think of a handful of routes at interstate park/ headlight point that have lead bolts, or in the case of one particular route an anchor in a completely detached block. I remember reaching the anchor of said route a few years ago and choosing to top out the crag after noticing the block the anchor was in. It looked *really bad.

     

    Might be worth eliminating/ altering a few (just a few) things over there.. could save a life.

     

    Thoughts? Anybody noticed some of things i'm talking about? I have a hard time recalling route names, but could point at it in person. for what thats worth...

  9. Yesterday I visited the actual cave at 38 and found a large fire ring that someone has been burning in for a while. My friends and I pitched a large quantity of wood out of the cave (took 5 min to empty cave) and restored the floor of the cave to non-charred rocks. Bummer.

     

    So the hazard is that the fire was underneath many fixed draws with synthetic slings/ dog bones, slings that were a little dated to begin with. Also, the cave is full of loose blocks that are not normally introduced to rapid heating. It did appear that the fires were large. In theory this could make the blocks even more suspect than they already were. Maybe a stretch... Maybe not. And the conditon of the bolts... And soot in the roof..

     

    Just want people to be informed. Thanks.

     

     

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