ajpederson

I think we saw your headlamps from our camp by Ingalls pass.

We were on snow from just before Ingalls pass to the base of the route. The lake was just starting to show some blue around the edges.

The squeeze with ice tools was unique, and kind of fun.

Top of Lovers Lane involves a rappel down into the Zipper to finish up.

Trip: Lane Peak - The Zipper Date: 11/21/2015 Trip Report: Lina and I headed down to Rainier park with ice gear and touring gear with the intention to decide on what we would do when we got there based on how things looked. From the parking lot at Narada Falls it looked like there was snow and ice in The Zipper, so we headed that way. The snow on the approach in was thin, so there was a lot of exposed boulders and brush. Hiking in. Bushwhacking to the base of the route. Once we were in The Zipper we found a few short pitches of ice, which were great for getting Lina her first leads with ice tools. Further up we got to a point where I've usually climbed around a big chock stone to its right. There wasn't any ice and my dry tooling skills are limited, so we had to get creative. I was able to climb a short bit of ice then squeeze through behind the chock stone. I then hauled up our packs and belayed Lina through the hole. It was kind of a fun way to get past that obstacle. Rope going up through the hole. After that it was just nice steep snow to the top of The Zipper. We wanted to make sure we made the gate closing and to try beat the rush of people from Paradise down the road, so we headed out rather than going for the summit. The hike out was interesting, as the normal descent gully is a stream and frozen rocks right now. Descending the frozen stream. The rest of the hike out was uneventful and the day was capped off with burgers at Bruno's. This was the thinnest conditions I've ever climbed this route in, and it added some unique challenges on the approach, descent, and on the route. Overall a lot of fun and a great day in the mountains getting Lina her first ice leading. Gear Notes: Brought a couple short screws, and some rock gear. No screw placements, maybe could have found a couple spots for a picket if we brought one. Approach Notes: Bushwhacking and barely covered boulder fields.

Yeah, South Brother is stupid without snow.

Sweet, thanks.

Anyone know if there's water at the bench camp part way up to Burgundy Col? I've found it there in October on normal years, but this year isn't normal. Thanks

Climbed this on Saturday, and it is really a lot of fun. We were mostly able to stay below the snow on the traverse to the start of the route, except for one spot. It won't be too long until you won't have to be on the snow at all. If you're comfortable at the grade, I'd recommend simul-climbing for a bit and combining the first two pitches to get to the nice bolted anchor. I have no idea what those blocks are attached to on the fourth pitch, but they sure are fun to pull up on. Also, the belay before the last pitch is pretty wild to hang at for a while. We also saw a helicopter land at the beach on Copper Lake for a while, then leave. Its always weird to be above things that are flying.

My dad had a hip resurfacing when he was in his early 50's. Climbed Rainier a little over a year after that. Coming down was rougher on it than going up. He lost some hip mobility, which is challenging with rock climbing sometimes. But overall he's much more mobile and happier than before he had it done.

I was through both of those spots yesterday and didn't see anything.

I asked this exact question a few years ago here.

I can't speak to this specific piece of gear, but can give you some insight from a previous job designing and testing parachutes. Stitching is usually designed to be stronger than what is being stitched. The failure point during testing is almost always the point where the material goes from double to single thickness. On this piece of gear, that would be just toward the center from the stitching. That, combined with knowing that knots are weak points, would lead me to believe that the stitching should be the strongest of the three you have listed.

Trip: Mount Baker - North Ridge Date: 7/27/2014 Trip Report: Three of us headed out to climb the North Ridge of Mt Baker on Saturday. We made short work of the hike up to the 6,500 foot camp with great views the whole way up. Hiking up. After having some lunch and setting up camp we decided to scout the route across the glacier. We crossed the glacier, investigated a few different start options, and then headed back to camp. Glacier scouting. Back at camp we decided to go with the hourglass feature as our approach if we could get bast the bergshcrund. We were up early the next morning and ready to go back across our scouted route. We made good time to the bergschrund, passing a few groups along the way. Morning climbing. We got through the bergschrund by entering it on the climbers right side and using a ramp to get into the hourglass. We wet up a belay at the bottom of the ice ridge, opting to climb the lowest angle route possible. Andrew led up the 2 pitches of ice, his second time leading ice. The angle backed off not far into the second pitch and was perfect for pickets and moving quickly. Andrew leading the first pitch. Above the ice pitches Ilia led us up two long running belays before transitioning back to standard glacier travel. Steep snow above the ice. Based on a recommendation from the team behind us we decided to traverse out left toward the top to get to the summit. This involved a traverse across a steeper slope, and then a little crevasse navigation. Traverse. We reached the summit and relaxed a bit before heading down to pack up camp and get back to the car. Took 3.5 hours from the summit to the car. The Coleman-Deming route was in great shape, and there were quite a few people skiing down. Me, Ilia, and Andrew on the summit. Descending the trail. *All photos taken by Ilia. Gear Notes: 8 screws - would need less if more comfortable ice climbing 3 pickets - nice for the steep snow above the ice Approach Notes: Trail is in great shape. Glacier crossing is pretty direct at 6,500 feet.

If you can hit it on the way down, it's in on the way up.

This news article makes it sound like its just the water access that's closed. "The portions of these wildlife areas above the ordinary high-water level remain open to the public."

I heard someone call it the birth control helmet, because nobody will sleep with you if they see you wearing one.

Would probably still be pretty fun right now, but the snow in the forecast could turn it into just a snow climb. Luckily, Lover's Lane is right next door if The Zipper has too much snow.

Pro Ski said they would do inserts when I asked a while back, but it seemed pretty expensive. Apparently its a very labor intensive process.

Here are some more pictures from the climb. Album 1 Album 2

Trip: Lane Peak - The Zipper Date: 11/23/2013 Trip Report: A group of us headed up The Zipper on Lane Peak. With the warming and freezing the last few days we were thinking we'd find some good snow and ice for climbing, and we weren't disappointed. We drove down and got to the gate just after its opening at 9. We packed up quickly and got on the trail. Great view of Rainier. Hiking the road. Approaching Lane. The last bit of climbing up to the base of the route had slid some time during the warming of the last week and was more like climbing a boulder field of ice than snow climbing. Once at the base of the route we roped up and were on our way. The first part of The Zipper had great firm snow and a few fun little ice steps. Field of ice boulders. Looking up the start. One of the little ice steps. About half way in we found the crux of the route. It was a thin little bit of ice around to the right of a large chock stone followed by a little squeeze between a couple more rocks. The snow above the ice held great tool sticks and made pulling through this part easier than it looked. Looking up the crux. Once we were above the crux section the rest of the route was firm snow. Sara leading to the top. Once at the top of The Zipper, Luke and I headed down so I could run him up to Paradise so he could skin up to Muir and sleep in the hut. The other 4 in the group headed for the summit along with 2 others that followed us up the route. The route up to the summit was thinner soft snow in the sun and they did a double rope rappel to get back down the gulley. Approaching the summit. The descent was a little thin over a little stream going down the gulley to the valley floor. Heading down. Sunset. Glowing Rainier. It was a great day to get out and really fun to get some steep snow and ice in this early in the winter with a great group of friends. *All pictures from Alicia and Sara. Gear Notes: Used a couple pickets and some small rock gear. Could maybe find a spot for a short screw if you looked hard. Approach Notes: Good firm snow, no flotation needed.

No idea. I think she snapped the pic right as she was starting up the route.

Trip: Tatoosh - Assorted - Unicorn, Castle, Pinnacle - E Ridge, and 3 walkups Date: 9/7/2013 Trip Report: Justin has been getting in to rock climbing over the last year or so, but had never been on a summit. We decided to change that this weekend. Rather than just one, we decided it would be better if he got 6 in a weekend, and the Tatoosh sounded like just the place to make that happen. We headed in to climb Unicorn and Boundry peaks on Saturday. Having only been in the Tatoosh with snow on the ground, this was a completely new experience for me. The boulder field and choss on the way up to Unicorn was a pain compared to the snow the last time I went up there. Once we got up to the summit block, Justin led the standard 5.6 route up to his very first summit. Choss. Justin leading up to the summit. Unicorn summit. First of 6 summit selfies, don't worry I won't post them all. Next up we headed over to Boundary Peak. This was a quick walk across the ridge and around to the backside. The way up was a simple walkup. Heading to Boundary Peak. We then hiked back across the ridge and down to the car by our ascent route. We grilled some sausages for dinner and spent the night camping at Cougar Rock. After day one of two summits, Justin was a bit skeptical that we would get four more on day two. The next morning we headed up to Paradise to check out the views and take some pictures, as Justin had never been there before. After that, we headed down to the trailhead by Reflection Lake. We made short work of the hike up to the Pinnacle-Plummer saddle and then did the walkup summits of Denman then Plummer. The quote of the weekend was Justin saying the trails made it feel like we were cheating after yesterday. Heading up Denman. Pinnacle and Castle from the summit of Plummer. Back at the saddle we had some lunch then headed over to Castle. There is a climbers trail that leads to a gully that accesses the back side of Castle. Once at the base of the rock you can climb it pretty much anywhere and they all looked to go at low 5th class. Gully that accesses the back side of Castle. Heading up Castle. Next up was the last peak for the weekend. We decided we had time and had carried gear so we had might as well do the east ridge of Pinnacle. East ridge of Pinnacle from Castle. Summitpost had this down as 3 pitches, but it can be done in one. We scrambled what is described as P1, as it is loose and pretty easy. Our pitch combined P2 and the beginning of P3 of their description. Alicia go the lead for this one and started in the group of trees and headed up the ridge. She then traversed across the notch and up to a big horn a few moves above it. Justin and I followed. Not knowing if we actually had a third pitch to do, she took off on lead again but quickly realized we were at the scramble to the summit. We followed and packed up the rope and gear and headed up to the summit. Looking up our pitch on Pinnacle. The east ridge of Pinnacle. Pinnacle summit, the last of the weekend. We scrambled down the standard route on Pinnacle and then quickly hiked back to the car. Overall it was a pretty fun weekend and a great way to introduce Justin to some exposure and climbing some peaks. *All pictures from Alicia. Gear Notes: Nuts (didn't use), Cams .4-2, half rope. Approach Notes: Choss to Unicorn, nice trails to the others.

I'm heading to Tieton this weekend with a couple people that lead 5.8 or under on gear. We've been to the Royal Columns a couple time and have climbed most of what they can there. Are there any other areas around Tieton that have a decent number of routes in that range?

Trip: Prusik Peak - West Ridge Date: 9/2/2013 Trip Report: We were able to get Snow Lakes camping permits for the long weekend and decided to head in to climb Prusik Peak from Sunday to Tuesday. This would make for a nice way to extend the weekend and spend a little extra time away from work. After a day of cragging in Leavenworth on Saturday, a night of drinking, and breakfast in town, we started up the Snow Lake trail later Sunday morning. This made for a hot approach. Snow Lake Trail None of us had been into the Enchantments without snow, so it was exciting to see all the lakes and peaks. Enchantments We hiked around the lakes for a while and then up to Prusik Pass and to the start of the route. Prusik Peak Now for the climbing. From the balanced rock, the first pitch went up and left to a dihedral and then up to a belay station made of webbing. Looking up P1. Pitch 2 gained the ridge and followed it to the unprotected slab, up the slab to a belay before the exposed traverse. Coming up the slab. Belay at the top of P2. Pitch 3 was a short one across the traverse. We stopped right on the other side so we could watch people cross. Leading across the exposed traverse. We had a short easy pitch 4 to get to the base of the next harder pitch. This was really just to move the belay. Our P4. Pitch 5 included a nicer corner, then a hand traverse, then a squeeze chimney and went all the way to the summit. It would probably be better to stop below the chimney and add one more pitch as the rope drag got pretty bad. Alicia led that pitch and somehow squeezed the entire length of the chimney, there was no way I was fitting in that and had climb to up the start of it and walk across the top. Start of P5, the nice corner. Hand traverse. Sprinkles the Stegosaurus on the traverse. The squeeze chimney. After a short break on the summit we used 3 double rope rappels to get down and walked back to our stuff at the balanced rock. We got our stuff and hiked back down past Gnome Tarn and back to our camp at Snow Lake. Prusik view. We spent Monday night at Snow Lake again and headed down Tuesday morning, avoiding the 50% chance of rain in the forecast somehow. That pipe that shoots all the water out of Snow Lake was pretty crazy to see. The water level in the lake dropped noticeably in the time we were up there. Pipe shooting water. Prusik Peak made for a great way to spend the holiday weekend. *All pictures from Alicia and Matt. Gear Notes: Set of nuts and cams from .3-2. Approach Notes: Snow Lake Trail.