surferclimber

here is some info I just stumble on about exit #38 http://www.deceptioncrags.com/Deception/index.htm and then the external links from http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=176583 or of course a summer vacation down to yosemite to run up half dome (even if it has cables) would be a very memorable starting point and I am sure there is something else in the neighborhood you could do with ropes

beautiful trips and great TR thanks for sharing, I've always wanted to do a climb on that side and actaully get away from Shuksan/Baker.... made by day over here in FL at the end of a 99 degree Florida summer day with 3-4' surfing BTW loved the "dayhiker" comment.. nothing like a daypack with a ton of water and 10 GU gels

2nd that!!! sulphide area is great; the views from Shannon ridge alone are to die for Only question it is was said in the original post "before going back to school" is that end of august???? If so I'd pay good attention to the snow pak ( or lack there of ) that late in the season... but if you have somebody with you that knows the ropes I am sure they'll be able to spot & avoid snow bridges / crevasses etc I found this website through nps seems to get climbers updates randomly http://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/climbingcond_shuksan.htm

So we're planning a trip to yosemite for the first time and I want to tick one of them of at least. Initially I looked at the chains up half dome but it looked to easy So El Cap maybe it??? Now, I'm no expert rock climber so most of the routes are out of my league. I'm more of a mountaineer and I do know technical ice (comfortable solo on ice upto WI3).. SO I was looking at the El Cap Gully in winter and found this pic http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=19792&context_id=156460 of it in very early winter ( think Jan).... I am assuming that will fill in with a lot more snow later in the season and I was wondering if anybody has any info and/or stories about climbing that in late winter, maybe even into mayish??? Thank you in advance

genepires thanks I'll look into that company... I'm thinking of either Fisher Chimneys or Sulphide on Shuksan just depending if the roads to the trailhead are snow free; I won't be back out there until may ( or maybe Dec if I'm lucky) so road access might be a problem as this last year (was early may) the only trailhead I could get to was Shannon ridge for Sulphide & it had just melted out a few days prior Thanks again & best regards, Tim

thanks... that what I had before black diamond got from ebay so can't name its details, but it was around 70cm basic but very light weight and I was very happy with it. I goofed and left it on Grand Teton coming down so I can only hope that somebody else picked it up and is putting it to good use... or maybe some animal picked it up and is using it hmmmm

yeah kind of expect most group climbs scheduled those to start as they just never know what experience (and possible lack of common sense) their clients are going to have... do you know if there is any company in northern WA that would you just hire a guide individually for a climb? instead of a "course"

it does make sense as that angle looks pretty low and probably would hit the snow at a weird angle... interestingly though for a tall guy like me on a steep slope that tool with the curved shaft worked really well for step step move the axe step step as the angle away from the body seemed to help..... anyways, guess black diamond is getting some more of my $$$ for that new axe thanks for your time, Tim

And ample mosquitoes too! The WA pass area is the only place in WA where I've had hoards of buzzing bloodsuckers chase me two pitches up a route. yeah... about killed me on Shannon ridge trail (sulphide appraoch) last august during that heatwave. All fine heading up to the ridge but then come noonish and descent miserable + 9000 degrees

switchback trail near mt angles in olympics is nice if you are out there on the peninsula... trailhead is easy to find, on the right hand side about 20?? miles up hurricane ridge road from pt angles, and taking the ferry out of downtown Seattle is neat if never done before

sweet pic!

hey I just wanted to do a quick intro and ask a little question about gear.... my name is Tim; I'm a professor way over here in FLA so naturally I surf etc, and I do quite a bit of climbing ( mainly NH & WA ) with the means of delta & Alaska air... I'm hoping to one day find a job in the Seattle area so I can climb the beautiful cascades a lot more often and withount 6 hour flights! Anyways, my question about gear is pretty simple.... for ever I have been using a regular black diamond standard 65cm ice axe as my "walk up part" and then a black diamond leashed cobra hammer ice tool as my "2nd tool" for when the going gets tough Ok, long story short me and my wife were out for a walk on Grand Teton approach trail on our last vacation...... we left my ice axe up there somewhere So the next day at the local store I impulsed bought the only reasonable priced one they had in stock (we planned to do Raineer a few days later), which was a new black diamond leashless retractor ice tool What is the pros and cons of using my old cobra ice tool as my "walk up part" ... it has a curved shaft, but not so crazy like the new ones leashless ones. So I am pretty confident that I could dig it down in to the snow to do a belay or whatnot. The only bad thing I could think of is that they are both hammers and I know most people carry one hammer one adze??? I've always carried up with the pick forward so I am not sure how the adze would really help me in an arrest; the only time I've had to arrest I dug the shaft and it held me ! I thought about maybe just buying the part to replace the hammer with adze??? Thank you in advance, Tim p.s. here is the picture of that ice tool http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/climb/technical-ice-tools/cobra

agreed with jonesy above that well experienced friends are the best way to do & often the guides charge a little high and/or want you to enroll in a 99 day course when you could easily do the climb in 2 days ( or 1 if you believe everything you read & can live of GU gels) But I will say this... I've been climbing for a while, my first real mountain a few years back I summited fine solo with no real training/experience, been bulding experince since; now no way do I consider to be expert but maybe semi-experienced at best Anyways, I never ever wanted a guide, I am male so probably a hit to my ego right? Untill 1 day last year I was up in Boston and had a free day to go up to New Hampshire & wanted to climb some ice they have there ( short little class 4 right on the US302 road), but was midweek and I didn't have a partner available and I knew it just was not a good idea to climb that unfamiliar route solo. So I paid the guide his $$$ for a one day one on one on the ice cliff. Honestly I learned more in that one session that I probably would have learned in 100 climbs without, little things about technique, little things about snow/ice science blah blah blah...I was very happy with the experience I tiped the guy well, gave him a few beers at the trailhead & am planning to hire him for one day again next march when I'll be back up there Anyways, these guides are experts and if you can afford it is worth it. I just personally think two or maybee three - one is the biggest the ratio should be! but of course I know that comes with a price Best of luck BTW, on a totally separate note does anybody know any guide service does a 2 dayer on Suhksan sulphide... I saw a group doing a course up there when I went for a solo walk upto the base of sulphide a few weeks back, but I can't seem to find anything other that a 4-5 day that must be fisher chimneys

probably info you've already seen but I think the draw of that route you mentioned is the ski descent. I've never actually done it as airlines charge $xxx for surfboard or skis, anyways I've heard it is great & won some awards for longest/steepest alpine ski descent in ???? there are some other technical routes on the other side of the mountain; I was down that area a few months back and was looking at a route that approached from SE side (crazy direction to get to the trailhead... not from the main road where bunny flats, but on the other side 1000 turns on forest roads). We never made it out there though as we did Garfield peak up in Crater Lake & some hiking in redowwds instead... best of luck