Xerinae

Great beta, thanks. I was wondering why no one seemed to begoing up the gates lately. Might go check it out tonight.

Alpine: Hood

I don't blame them, I would've done the same thing (re: glissade down from summit). I just did not appreciate their cavalier attitude. I probably would've volunteered to help too, but that's me.

Happened late Saturday afternoon at about 4,800 ft. Came from a ridge above our climbing party and built up momentum as it came towards us. Took out one from our climbing party of three (we were staggered a couple hundred feet apart). Person in the front was on a ridgeline and avoided it. I ran out of the way of it (I was in the middle). Last climber couldn’t maneuver out of its path in time. Took her down some 500 ft of elevation, she stayed on top. I kept my eye on her so I’d know where to dig, luckily I didn’t have to. Only minor injuries sprang ankle, bruises, and minor abrasions. I lost my ice axe in the chaos, so did she (it was not leashed, probably for the better). 5-10 minutes later we saw a party of three glissading down from the summit. It tried to explain to them there had been an avalanche. They told me they had been seeing them all day and were “well aware of them”. I elaborated that one of our party members was in one. They asked if she was OK, and said it was very likely they triggered it and were sorry. They then continued to glissade down. Luckily it was a wet sluff avalanche, hence only the minor injuries. We helped carry her pack out of the 6 mile “trail” that is The Brother’s bushwhack. Lesson Learned: We DEFINITELY should’ve hit the mountain earlier and were making bad time. Already planning a return visit, luckily she is in high spirits and is determined to give it another go. P.S. if you see a Petzl Summit and/or BD Raven Pro up there, let me know! Pictures and a more detailed account to come, possibly.

Wow, what timing. I was needed at work so didn't end up heading up there. Thinking about going this weekend if weather cooperates.

What was the snowpack like up there on Ellinor? Thinking of doing The Brothers on Wednesday, wondering (roughly) what to expect.

Hope to gain some insights, days on Denali sounds better than weeks...

Good stuff in there for sure, love the Rainier tips! Not sure I'll ever be able to go that light though :-/

I was fine in July with non-insulated leathers (Asolo makalu), but it was unseasonably warm from what I can gather. I'll probably take insulated leathers (Scarpa Mont Blanc)this year just to be on the safe side. For reference: I can only climb Hood in the winter with the Asolo's if I put toe warmers in, feet get cold otherwise. The Scarpas seem to be fine so far.

These are both outstanding, I just sent a friend your way; I think she's picking up both. Also: love ALL the stuff on your website seems you’re a jack of all trades AND a master of them. Your 360 degree pano of Camp Schurman really took me back there. What lens do you use for those? fisheye? 14mm? What software? This is something I have just begun to experiment with but it’s frustrating to tweak when it takes hours to render.

Thank you very much! Occasionally it's the only way to get everything into one shot.

My photo site...most of the photos are climbing-related: Andrew Holman, Photographer Hope to get more this season on spicier routes!

Wow, good find, it looks quite a bit different up there in that shot!

Some photos from that day:

Also: nice shots! It is rare that I get to see pictures of myself climbing!

Agreed Bvail! Hampton: we had a chat on the way to crater rock, he hadn't been out in a while and wasn't feeling it (physically), waited for me at the car.

Went yesterday morning with an unexperienced friend. Was on the hogsback around 9am. Went up to the bergschrund. Conditions: Weather: was perfect. May weather (a “good” may, not last year’s) with January crowds. No wind most of the time. Parking lot to top of Palmer: super easy, follow the cat tracks, no need for crampons or snow shoes, the best shape I've ever seen it in. Palmer to Crater Rock: lots of scattered ice (both clear and blue), but extremely manageable with crampons, much better than the posthole hell that area can sometimes be Crater Rock to Hogsback: nice firm consolidated snow, not icy at all really, easy climbing. Hogsback: this is where it gets interesting. The hogsback was firm and consolidated, easy to walk across, not icy. EXCEPT, the left side was coated in chossy ice. Not really thick, just a bit awkward to get on, kind of like an awkward rappel. The right side was snow. The bergschrund was open, it was about 6 feet wide at the widest. More on that: There were some other teams up there, they turned back because they were freaked out about safety, mainly avy related. But weren’t really giving specifics. I took a break to put on crampons watched the first person to start across the hogsback (no one else had even tried). He went up to about 10 ft from the bergschrund and stood there…then he got out a second tool and traversed parallel to the bergschrund. I he stopped there, stabilized himself and started doing something, I couldn’t tell what. Well, I met him as he was coming back. He dug a pit on the slope that you’d traverse to go from the Hogsback to the Old Chute and did an Extended Column test. He said with one tap a hard surface slab sloughed off. Revealing a crystalline powdery layer underneath. Said he was done after that and didn’t trust the slope. Told me I should go check it out for myself. He seemed like he really knew his stuff, and was more experienced than I. So I did, I traversed the schrund until I could safely cross it. Took out my second tool, then I started going up towards the Old Chute, but it just didn’t feel right. Every once in a while I would punch through a surface layer and into powder that would crumble out. Then I noticed a large crack running along the rocks above me. I down climbed to back below the schrund and then traversed back to the hogsback. On my way I check out his pit and made one of my own, crispy outer shell under unconsolidated powder. I decided not to go up, especially since I was alone at this point (Avy guy had left and wished me luck and safety) I was suprised at the apparent avy danger on this slope, especially since I had heard reports of it being a slick slab of ice days ago. Pictures: eventually, still running on empty

What spotly said

I wish, big meeting tomorrow or else I may or may not play "hookie"

Awesome trip report and photos, thanks for posting! It was our goal to do this route Sunday, the weather had other plans

Thanks Max! Photography got me interested in mountaineering but now I’m starting to think mountaineering has become the bigger hobby. Thinking of going up Leuthold Monday morning, if I’m not too sketched out I should have more pictures!

Hey folks, long-time stalker, first-time poster: