Jason4

**I thought twice after posting**

You could get heavy duty heat shrink tubing from the hardware, electric, or auto parts stores. Either get a clear tube and shrink it over a numbered tag at the end of the rope or get various colors and keep records of which color is on which rope. I wouldn't suggest tubing anywhere but the very tip of the rope but it shouldn't be much different than what was originally on there from the mfg.

Wow! Inspiring link up. Well done!

My fiance started out on Friday intending to climb Glacier but got turned around due to unstable snow and failing cornices. She's a very experience winter traveler and decided conditions were not good ski touring. Her party ended up digging out platforms and bivying high on a ridge to get out in the morning when the snow was firmer. I don't have all the details of the trip but that's about as recent information as you're going to find today.

I saw that last night too. It was a relief to say the least.

Here's another article related to the climbing community in the PNW: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/04/27/4263507_three-whatcom-county-residents.html?rh=1 Jeannie is a big part of the Glacier/Mt Baker community and is a strong climber and ultra runner. I hope she checks in soon. **Edited: I talked to her son and he said there wasn't ever a concern, her lack of communication was planned as she was in a remote area and checked in on time. News outlets, as usual, twisted the story for more emotional value.**

I've been doing easy approaches in Evolv Cruzers lately and can continue on up to 5.8 climbing. Over that grade I'll take the extra edge that climbing shoes give but that only gets me into leading 5.9 and following to 5.11. They pack down very small and are comfortable for anything that I'd wear a running shoe for but they benefit greatly from tossing the insole for something more supportive.

If your Raven otherwise satisfies your uses but is beat and showing signs of use/abuse perhaps it's reached the end of it's useful life and is simply due for replacement?

There was a discussion on Mountain Project about the ti axe with some similar comments that generally recognized that "yer gonna die!". I see something super light as being a fairly specific tool that I'd be happy to add to my quiver too but probably not as a general axe. I'd be looking for something in the 12oz range for a ski mo axe, something I'll only be using for plunging or high dagger on snow soft enough that I'd be willing to ski back down it. I've often picked up some of the CAMP axes and wondered if the weight savings would be worth the cost. For a general use axe I carry a Venom too and have a longer Raven that sometimes goes out but not much since I got the Venom. I commonly pair it up with a Whippet but the Whippet doesn't do much in the way of plunging and wouldn't be very reliable as a deadman.

Ivan wins the internet on this one! If you don't like crag dogs might I politely recommend climbing a multipitch alpine route instead? It solves most of the problems with the people too. What really gets me on an alpine route though are the goats. They lick my pee, eat my pack, and walk to the top of my "climbing" route. Can someone please leash the goats?

Like I said, I don't know how many texts have actually been sent from the woods, maybe none yet. The added value with the InReach for me is that it takes the place of a GPS device and a panic button and I had neither at the time that I bought it. I still carry and prefer a paper map (I'll close the door to that discussion before it's open). My fiance is also a runner who likes to do extended backcountry runs. She ran the Wonderland trail in the fall and I would have appreciated an update when her schedule slid one night and I knew she was traveling very light.

I picked up a Delorme InReach in the fall and while I'm not a fan of the subscription fee I do like the option to send messages and potentially ask friends for help before calling in the cavalry. Since getting it we (my partner and I) haven't used the messaging feature much at all but we do appreciate the GPS tracking features so we can keep track of our routes and share the info with others and also keep track of how long it takes us to get places. It's been a good combo GPS/SOS button.

Great pics as always. Thanks for the tourist shot! Stephen and Braden told me about the funky runnel down the middle, it's interesting to see it in the pictures.

It sounds like Headlee Pass requires climbing, why is she a hiker and not an inexperienced climber? I'll admit I didn't click the link.

He has epicly clogged the feed.

What are the details on the DMM nuts? I take it a full set of wallnuts (1-11) and maybe a set of offsets (7-11)? Let me know if you'd split things up, I was going to get the bigger half of the wallnut set soon anyways and might be tempted to go for all of the DMM nuts if the price is right. The rest of the rack doesn't help me much though. If you aren't interested in splitting it up good luck with the sale!

Great shots and a great crew too!

You'll get action resistant and good resolution with a GoPro but not the zoom. Do you want POV shots or handheld?

It looked pretty snowy up there on Saturday. I think I have a picture from the Inspiration Glacier that I'll try to dig out tomorrow after work.

It was good to see you guys too. We ran into your friend in the parking lot on the way out too. Can't wait to see your pictures and hear how it went for you. Good and challenging sounds like a good story.

The road is in good condition all the way to the TH and is gated on the far side of the lot. My little Golf would have made the drive slowly but anything higher could cruise the road at speed.

Trip: Eldorado - East Ridge Date: 2/28/2015 Trip Report: Krissy and I got out on Saturday for a day trip up and down on Eldorado. I was up there in June, 2014 and wanted to get up to the top with her since she hadn't been up yet. I had a meeting that I thought we might be able to get back to in Bellingham but that was wishful thinking. Our day out wasn't as exciting as some of the other recent FAs and hard repeats but I thought it would be worth putting up the conditions that we found. We left the TH at 5am, following the climbers trail was easy. We got onto the talus just in time to see Johanessburg lit up in the morning alpenglow. The wet step mid way up the talus had sheets of ice on it and was a bit trickier than normal. We ran into snow just above the step, it's almost the same snow line as last June but with much less snow now. There is open running water at the top of the talus so it's not worth carrying too much with you from the TH. The snow in the bowl below the Eldorado glacier was close to knee deep but there should be a well traveled boot pack in there now. The wind was howling across all of the high ridges but the bowl was much better sheltered. The snow from high camp to the summit was very boot and crampon friendly. it was easy to cross over the knife edge near the summit. On the way down we ran into some friends settling in for the night at the high camp so we lingered for a bit. Wandering down was easier than the walk in and we got back to the car at 9pm. The Forbidden Glacier looked like it would ski ok to the skiers right of the ice fall. Moraine Lake was frozen but I have no idea how thick, there wasn't much snow that far down. The south end of the Inspiration Glacier looked pretty broken up near the top where I've seen people climb out of the lake before. That's only what I could see from the high camp though. Gear Notes: We roped up but it's really optional if you're comfortable on that kind of terrain. Happy to have had snowshoes. Approach Notes: Watch for frost on the logs and ice in the talus.

Squamish has been good the last couple of weekends and there are lots of great single pitch trad routes in the 5.7-5.8 range in the Smoke Bluffs. Walk offs are easy, there's easy access to anchors if you want to TR a route first, the rock quality is good, and the drive isn't really that bad. I've had generally bad luck on anything that's listed as "great first trad lead" in a guide book, I think it might be code for "doesn't take nuts very well".

Wasn't this drone flight within the boundaries of the National Rec Area? The same area that is usually a snowmobile playground if there was actually snow at the trailhead? This shouldn't be a problem, Baker is hardly remote. I'd be more disappointed if I were 20 miles in and getting buzzed by a drone.

A ban on drones seems to fit with the anti-mechanized transport POV but why exclude hang gliders? That one seems out of place in this list.