WildBlue

I'm heading up to Mt Adams, south side, on Friday, and I'm looking for any and all route beta. If anybody has been up there recently, what are the route conditions, parking lot access, camping conditions at Lunch Counter, etc.? Thanks for your help!

OK, so about the butterflies-- I understand they can assist with slowing the rope down as it drags over the lip of the crevasse, but then wouldn't those knots prevent you from prusiking up the rope, and also make a z-pulley impossible? I suppose then if you used butterfly knots you would have to have a second rope, right?

I think I want to try this route. So, there was no technical climbing at all with all the snow melted out? No climbing gear needed at this time of year? Was there any reasonable place to camp along the ridge, so I could make it into a two-day backpack? Thanks,

I'm looking for advice about crossing the lower Nisqually glacier from Glacier Vista, as if you were going up the Kautz route. What is the crevasse situation there? Is it standard to rope up crossing the Nisqually, or do people just walk across it unroped? Thanks

If you use an 8mm rope, then be sure your prusiks are no bigger then 5mm. Anything bigger than 5mm on an 8mm rope won't bite. They will just slide off.

I would recommend against Adams. I climbed it this weekend and it is so melted out that we were just walking up loose gravel all day. No snow. No fun.

Has there been any more news on the body recovery? Did they poitively identify the person?

So, was it the "Spot" beacon that contacted EMS directly, and brought the helicopter, or was there other contact with the rangers or something. I ask because I have long been curious about the Spot, and I have been contemplating getting one.

With all the bad news and fatalities lately, it's nice to hear about a successful rescue. Glad to hear all are safe and recovering, and thanks for the report. Good reminders for all of us.

Well, so I bought the 30 meter, 8mm rope, but my 6mm prusiks would not hold on it for anything. Even with an extra loop they just slid right off. I happened to have a random piece of 5mm cord so I tried a prusik with that and it bit perfectly. But I just can't seem to accept the fact that I will have to replace all my cordelletes down to 5mm to use this rope. 5mm just seems too skinny to me. I think I'm going to return the rope to REI and find a fatter one. I'm really disappointed because that rope is so light and I was looking forward to the big weight savings.

Does anybody ever cut longer ropes down to shorter lengths? I would prefer a rope a little longer than 30 meters, but it's hard to find a relatively skinny glacier-travel rope in anything less than 60 meters, and that's just way too much for two guys on the DC to carry. But I just can't bear the thought of spending $200 plus on a rope and then cutting a chunk off.

Would you use a 30 meter 8mm rope to climb Rainier? Details: Two-man team, Disappointment Cleaver route, late July, summitted via same route before, decent crevasse rescue skills. I am contemplating buying the Edelweiss Discover 8mm x 30m Super Dry Twin Rope that REI sells. It is so small and light and tempting. But I wonder if 30 meters is too short, or if 8mm is too skinny to hold a 6mm prusik. All feedback welcome. Thanks.

Awesome! I had been meaning to call you and ask how the climb went. Glad to hear you made it and had a good time.

No, I thought about it, but I didn't tell the park service. It was right on the main route so I figued SAR folks had already been over that ground a hundred times over the past two weeks. Mostly I just felt stupid...

I'm interested. It seems like Liberty Ridge would be a hard approach with the north side roads closed in the winter. But either Nisqually or Ingraham sound good to me.

I snowshoe'd up to Pan Point on Saturday and the whole time I had the thought of the four missing climbers/campers in the back of my mind. The cloud level was right at Pan Point, and the wind was strong enough to knock me down. I sat down on the ice to switch to crampons and I kept seeing a person off in the distance, from farther up the mountain, who apeared to be slowly coming towards me. The conditions were really bad-- icy, killer winds, and that spot was just enough in the fog of the cloud to reduce visibility without being a complete whiteout yet. I got the impression that the person was struggling, probably having difficulty navigating, so I waited there to see if he needed help. He kept fading in and out of view, but not getting any closer. Finally I decided to go and see if I could assist, but after about fifty feet I found myself at the edge of a cornice, looking out into nothing but white. There was definitely nobody there, but a water bottle was frozen in place at my feet. I was very puzzled. It is possible that I didn't really see anybody at all. Perceptions of depth and direction get really distorted up there in that wind and white. It was very weird. Could it have just been the water bottle that looked like a person in the distance? Did I see what I subconsciously wanted to see? Or maybe the dude fell? Has anybody had their vision play tricks on them like that? Anyway, I really feel for the missing people and their families.

I should have seen that coming!

So I bought some bamboo wands at Home Depot to use for marking glacier routes. They are all five feet long, and that seems kind of excessive to me. It seems like all the wands I see on Rainier are much shorter. Should I cut the wands I bought shorter?

Is anybody still planning to do this winter ascent?

For me personally, January is better than December because I need to be home around Christmas. And I think adding extra time is smart. I live really close to Rainier, so I can be on the mountain quickly if anybody wants to come down and do some preliminary training beforehand in November or the first part of December.

I'd love to try a winter ascent. I don't have avalanche training yet, but I think I have the rest of your list, and your style sounds about the same as me.

What is the guide service you are considering? I have researched a lot of them, and I have waivered back and forth on the idea of a guide service vs. independent climb. I know I could do it cheaper, but I think in this case a service might be worth it because it saves you a lot of hassle with logistics. There are some companies that you can pay to only support you logistically up to base camp, leaving the climb itself up to you. They will cover lodging, transportation, mules, and food in basecamp. That way is cheaper than a full guided climb but you still get most of the advantages logistically in a foreign country.

I'd love to go. I live close to Rainier so I can be on the mountain any time. I am happy to do some trial climbs with you beforehand too. Hood sounds great to me.

Icescrewhold- what is the cost you have come up with? Can you provide some more details about what you have in mind? Thanks,

Both. It was my first time to Muir so I have nothing to really gauge my time against. I am wondering how fast other people do it. It was a complete whiteout fog so I couldn't see any of my surroundings, and it's hard to get any kind of perspective on distances or speed like that.