mhux

mine says she's not 'coordinated' enough and that the one time she tried indoor bouldering, she sucked at it...I keep telling her I suck too ...any tips?

Sick pictures Dane, good to see you're out and about again! Which climb is the 6th from the bottom, the steep one with a tr on it?

rocky butte yeah!! wait..

I think we need more pictures to round out the decision

Went in there last January, first time into the area for both myself and my partner, started at 12am and had no problems finding the lake...we made it back to the car around 11pm that night, the slog out on the road was a soul-crusher though! So yes, a car-to-car first time is very doable (though camping at Colchuck Lake would be a great way to spend a day!)

What was that about seasonal farm labor in leavenworth DPS? Sounds like a fun summer...

Oh man, they make a hooded version?! I always wondered...surprisingly rain has never been a concern- even after a short deluge, the jacket is soaked, but I'm not...of course a good dwr treatment never hurts

I use a marmot driclime windshirt for most everything, and if its cold/really windy I'll put on a membrain shell (the hyper). Though it's a 'shell', its stretchy and super breathable like a softshell, but has the wind and precip blocking properties of a hardshell (and only weights 13oz too)! My nano-weight (60g synthetic) hoody is just too warm to move in over that combo, unless its really cold out. Whatever works for ya..

Nice job, looks fun! What would you rate it in conditions that dry?

Hmmmm...It took us 8.5 hrs from the car to the base of the North Face on deep postholey snow through the T-line, down and up the Eliot gl. 8.5! in high winds and spindrifts - as opposed to 4.5 hrs back in December! Would you go and get on a grade IV route after that? We did not. 8.5 hrs!? That's insane! Good to know, too, my partner was about to trick me into that, saying the approach was a breeze in December...at least you got some ice though

Got out yesterday (well started up Friday night), skin up to the top of Palmer was good, a little ice crust (sometimes breakable) near and past the top we tried Reid headwall but despite the lack of sun on the rime towers, chunks were still falling down(!) so we headed to the west crater rim variation and encountered either styrofoam snow, breakable but solid ice crust, or pretty solid (almost) alpine ice sticks.

Also got first tracks on the (butter smooth) groomers, albeit Friday morning...funny looks abound from people in the parking lot! Anyone have beta on how the NF gullies are holding out? I'd imagine a wallow-fest, if not wind-loaded and dangerous! Seems windward (NW-S) aspects are the best bet for the time being...

I-rock was pretty windy, maybe 10-15 constant with 20 gusts? At timberline it was 14 degrees at 12:30am, probably sub 10 (especially with windchill) up higher...almost better to keep moving than take breaks! Also a note on avy, the left side of the bowl above crater rock had a good sized crown going on, I forgot to take a picture or I'd share the photo beta- almost from the left side of the bowl to the right, and potentially a higher up crown too (that triggered the main slide?) Go up and see for yourself, I guess...

south side stuff is wind blown/sastrugi mixed with icy (breakable) rain crust, the higher up you go the better it gets. Skinning/skiing down was a bitch with the icy rain crust, but its great if you can find continuous sastrugi fingers either going up or down. Only made it to illumination saddle but I figure the windward sides just get better higher up...definitely not pow!

Nah got a friend who's also looking for some thursday night alpinism...soloing in anything but low avy terrain sketches me out! good luck with that clutch

Yeah considering the 'moderate' avy rating that gear is a must, as is staying on windward slopes. I'm headed up tonight so I'll let you guys know how it is. On the south side I'd say above crater rock, as far as the other aspects of hood, wherever its steep enough to slide...all those (steep) headwalls and gullies would be death traps in the right (wrong) conditions. But I'm no expert, either

Anyone know from experience or speculation how hood is right now? I figure the snow from last week/weekend should be (semi)consolidated by now, at least the windward stuff should be sorta scraped clean, right? Thinking about a climb up there but don't want to wallow if its not consolidated yet... thanks

Awesome, that's super helpful! That was the thread I was talking about actually, guess I should have just googled it... anyway I'll look for the scratch marks in addition to what you guys posted, thanks!

I remember seeing something about drytooling at rocky butte a while back (in fact I think there was even a mixed climbing party there?), and I'd love to get out and practice there. Any suggestions on ethics/routes/ratings from those who know?

Are those wind slab crowns or crevasses?? Yikes

Awesome, good to know. Stoked not to leave a ton of slings, in that case!

I was refreshing my knowledge of v-threads and I remembered reading somewhere (Colin Haley's blog I think) that mentioned making v-threads without using slings, that way you never leave any trash on the climb. (Using other people's v threads...sketch) Any experience with this? Sounds great to me but I have concerns of the rope potentially freezing enough not to pull through, which would be a pain in the ass. Maybe the colder the ice the better?

I know this is a pnw forum and all... but I'm back in salt lake for winter break, our snow (what snow?) is shit and the ice is great! if you're around the area let me know, I'd love to get out and climb. send me a pm and we'll arrange something, I'm doing nothing so I'm free when you are. Max

So basically in situations where you're not going to fall, but its nice to have a rope anyway- aka moderate alpine? Seems that the stretch montypiton mentioned would put it out of use for toproping and/or easy cragging (no big falls)...makes sense just to buy a skinny single in that case. Interesting, thanks for all the responses

I think you mean a half or a twin rope? No way there's an 8.1 as a single. You're using both of these half ropes as singles then?