Woodcutter

Top quality. Old guys rock - especially old guys with previous form!

...that is the nicest & most helpful thing I've happened upon all day. Rock on!

Top quality photo describing the non-trivial downclimb. Rock on.

Great effort. It's a real shame the rock is so crap up there, otherwise it might almost be fun!

I like Mark Twight's layering: When you're moving: Whatever doesn't make you sweat or freeze & wicks so you don't get wet from sweat. So a synthetic or wool baselayer and a midlayer thin fleece if you run cold or it's cold. Then wear (or carry if the wind is dead) a wind-proof layer which might as well be waterproof but must breathe (Goretex or the like) since this is the PNW & it does rain. You need to be cool, almost cold while moving, this is key. When you stop moving: Put on a big fat puffy coat over the top of it all. Synthetic is cheap & good & not really that heavy, it just makes your bag a bit big. Down, in my opinion is a waste of money if you haven't got much. Add more layers if you run cold, I run very hot so I'm usually under-dressed, but freeze my ass off at night so I wear all my clothes when sleeping. Boots? Scarpa if you have broad feet, La Sportiva if they are narrow. Make sure you can wiggle your toes. Take full gaiters if you get cold feet. NB: This is not gospel, otherwise a bunch of angelic music would play as you read, and it isn't, is it! Ha. Rock on. Have fun.

I splitboard & I own a BD speed40, but I refuse to use it to splitboard since I'm totally convinced that the active suspension would be a nightmare. If you had to use it, you'd get used to it, but the fact that you swing the entire pack around every time you turn is hard enough if the pack's heavy, without the pack also moving independently. I use the BD for climbing only & I love it for that. I use a Mammut spindrift 40 to split with, and it's great, doesn't fit quite as well as the BD pack, but good enough. The Mammut pack has 4 front fixings so you can lash you board on the front as a solid, also it carries split skis well.

Dromlite 2litre It's all I ever use, never leaks (as long as you use a different nalgene screw top or glue up the little stupid spout (that accidentally opened in my pack and ruined a camera body in the Windrivers)), the absolutely brilliant thing is when you fill it up with hot, or boiling water @ bedtime & stick it between your legs to sleep, really keeps you warm at night. Bad taste? Don't put anything in it but water & smoke for 20 years and there's no problemo.

...well I was kinda hoping that Victor would lead the pillar, but he didn't like the look of it. And since it wasn't nearly as well formed as last year & brittle, that saved me from having to fall of it again! Ha. Nice one Danny. Pic below is Danny's from last year, shows the fat runnel well.

Trip: Colchuck - 43rd birthday gully Date: 11/18/2014 Trip Report: At about 7800’ on Colchuck there was ice last year & it was there again this year, on the right lobe of the Colchuck glacier. The righthand big pillar was chandeliered, brittle & seemed mostly unprotectable, plus the Frenchman was worried that the ice on the slabs above was too thin. Looks like a hell of line though. P1: (...is below the idiot in the white helmet) We went left around the back of pillar, looking to get on the big fat runnel, (but the ice was so hard & brittle that my Sarken were bouncing off & tools were not sticking, not plastic, it looks badass, steep). So we went further left up the snice gully, lots of gear in the ice & belayed at a good rock flake off a threaded wire (still there). Lovely pitch. P2: Steep snice, 2 dodgy screws, 1 good wire & belayed off ice axes All in, a nice steady route, easier than the NBC at this time of year, short & sweet. Hiked up to the summit and laughed a lot & did a bit of shouting. There is great potential up here, it was my birthday, old bastard now! Ha Gear Notes: Cams; metolius 0 to BD 3, rack of wires, pins, 8 screws. Vin Rouge from the Rhone. Approach Notes: The night before to the lake

Wrap the upper shafts in carbon, the usual way you lay up carbon fiber, with epoxy, it's all pretty easy You could have an additional thin layer of foam underneath the carbon if you think you'll need more insulation. If you put down a base layer of tape to protect the original shaft, you could cut the whole carbon bit off every season when it's all banged up. Should be light & tough & insulated & look fairly OK I'll do it for you if you're ever heading through Seattle with the tools. Sounds pretty easy. Jake

There's a scarpa boot which looks interesting. The Tech ascent GTX. http://www.scarpa.com/tech-ascent-gtx

Stout effort linking all those pitches. Rock on man!

BD speed 40. The swing arm thing is fine, I don't snowboard in it since I'm convinced it'll do weird things when you shift your weight.but it's really a very comfortable, well featured, light pack. I took it across the Pickets & up Rainier. Lid comes off easy. I have used a cilo 30l worksac for a few years & the real hipbelt on the speed is welcome to hump more junk around.

4 of us attempted the Emmons on Labor day. We got onto the corridor; starting from the Emmons flats, then headed straight up the blank section until the large 1/2' pvc wand, from there we traversed hard left to get onto the corridors right edge crevasse-cliff. The corridor is still easily navigable, just stay on the very right hand edge. We found a boot track at the top of the corridor which led us past the bat feature in the earlier June post. Between the bat feature & the Egyptian pyramids, suspect snow bridges have forced the boot track up a steep section (40 degree) which had some boiler place ice underneath. We rapped down this on our return. We stopped at 12700' due to altitude concerns & worries about being able to descend the steep sections in a timely manner. From our high point above the Egyptian pyramids, it seemed we would have to traverse hard right to the shoulder. Thanks to the excellent climbing rangers who offered top quality route beta at 6AM & also came to investigate our slow progress as we set anchors to descend the steep section at 12300'

That's a really very good photo.

Nice write up, extra kudos for night photo's

Top notch. Also your photos with orange light on the Pickets are superbueno.

Whatever car you really want, a used one so you don't consume a new car and a bicycle in the city as much as you can, thus alleviating the higher mpg deal. Maybe of interest; I think it's coming to the point in Seattle where it's nearly quicker to ride a bike than drive since the traffic is spiraling into hell. ..and it keeps you fit, nonpolluting, sets a great example, sharpens your senses etc etc. use the bike whenever you can & it justifies the higher mpg

I witnessed the true nature of the finish, and it does indeed look most desperate, like teflon aramid boxer shorts in a punch up with a gang of nasty gerbils

I'm planning on using the bog standard Sparks. I appreciate the offer to take a swing with your Superpipes, I'm in Seattle, but I'll heed your warning that they suck for the split & avoid them. Truthfully, I'm keen to split in a modern, lightweight technical boot that offers high ankle mobility as I'll then use the split to access technical winter climbs. Thanks again for the offer. PM'd you. Jake

I like the orange photo, looks like a nuclear war was happening below you. Rock on.

Split-boarding in mountaineering boots. So I want the lightest pair, so (in winter) you can dry the liners out in your sleeping bag. Lightest boots available to lower the swing weight of your feet. Boots with proper soles so you can actually conquer the mountain in whatever way you see fit, not inhibited by the fact you're a snowboarder, and not wearing ski boots, amazing tech though they are.

Seems it might be the Koflach Degre? But I'd be happy to find something lighter. It's important that it's not a ski boot though, I need some ankle mobility, and skiing's not really my thing. Thanks. Jake

Jonny Dawes, you fat bastard!