BootsandPants

Came damn close to spitting water all over my computer laughing at this. Sounds like a good adventure with some fun people. Remember, the worst day in the mountains is better than the best day sitting at home . Thanks for sharing!

Very cool! Thanks for all your hard work. I'll be picking one up when they are in print for sure!

I was one of the climb leaders on the Climb for Himalayan Children this year. It was my first time volunteering with the group, but it was a great experience and I had a ton of fun. I highly recommend considering it if you're serious about going on a charity climb. Since the CHC is run by Red Lantern Journeys, and staffed and equipped by volunteers, there is little to no overhead to divert the funds to. I can attest to the fact that all of the money raised, minus the permits at $43/climber, does indeed go to Mitrata. ~$38,000 was donated to Mitrata from this year's climb alone, which is pretty cool. Here's a trip report and some photos of the climb this year. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me, or I can put you in contact with the man in charge (website seems to be down now) as he will be able to answer anything better that I would.

Possibly. The snow in the approach gully makes getting to the bivy pretty simple. I'm not sure how much it will be melted out in September. There was still a decent amount of snow in it while we were there, so it may stick around. I'm sure you could make it go regardless.

Trip: Argonaut Peak - NW Arete Date: 8/4/2012 Trip Report: Chris, Pierre, Nathan and I climbed the NW arete of Argonaut this past weekend. It's a pretty laid back climb in an awesome place, and was even a little eye opening at times. We got a lazy man's alpine start from the TH at 11am and were soon past the junction and in the clearing on the Stuart Lake TH. If you've ever been up that trail on a clear day, you'll never forget that clearing for the rest of your days. [img:center]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/405230_10151129485652682_2069168100_n.jpg[/img] Stuart and Sherpa A bit later after leaving the trail and tiptoeing across the tree over Mountaineer Creek, we encountered our fate for the rest of the day; lots of mosquitoes and bushwacking. Having never done the Mountaineer creek schwack prior to this year, and now having done it three times in the past few months, it feels to me to be a sort of rite of passage of Cascades climbing. At least I know now where the "faint trail" is which makes the going easier. After making sure Nate didn't lead us up Sherpa, we emerged from the schwack into the endless sea of slide alder and talus below Argonaut's north flanks. We picked a line that would get us quickly through our green hell and onto rock, however loose, that would take us to snow. Much slipping, fighting, bleeding, and cursing happened over the next half an hour, but soon we were on scree, nursing wounds and swatting mosquitoes. "I guess I won't be able to wear a skirt to work on Monday" Nate said, looking at our slashed up legs. [img:center]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/528667_10151129485737682_361004058_n.jpg[/img] Talus and alder Up the talus, over some fun slabs and up the snow to the notch below the arete. We set up camp and enjoyed the warm night and the sunset over Stuart. [img:center]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/625595_10151129485977682_1809214325_n.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/484410_10151129486202682_769797808_n.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/557362_10151129486247682_1927135811_n.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/480324_10151129486552682_1073798607_n.jpg[/img] A little bedtime reading We woke up the next morning at 500 with camp packed up and were moving by 530. After the first pitch we realized that we were not on route. Confident we could get back from the belay, Nate set off in search of the crest of the arete and some big ledges we could see. Conferring at the next belay, we figured we were somewhere in the middle of pitch 2. Good to be back on route and easy terrain, we blasted up the climb in short order. [img:center]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/417315_10151129486802682_1793170847_n.jpg[/img] A few pitches up [img:center]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/190003_10151129487262682_1209497055_n.jpg[/img] The weather was great but we were happy to be in the shade Beckey calls the route a 5.6, but it may be a little sandbagged in my opinion. The last pitch definitely felt harder than a 6. Maybe it was due to carrying camp over, or maybe I just suck at climbing. Once on the summit we were greeted by a swarm of black flying ants. Sweet! At least they kept the mosquitoes away. We also found a little care package for us left by some friends who were climbing the peak by the south route. Thanks so much! In it were a box of gummy peach rings. [img:center]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/189453_10151129487392682_1825989116_n.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/297609_10151129488067682_232230053_n.jpg[/img] Summit shot After quickly consuming the peach rings and getting a nice sugar buzz going, we headed out. Scramble down the east ridge and onto the NE snowslope looking for rap slings. 4 raps down a gully system put us back on walkable ground. We had decided the previous night to traverse over to the Colechuck glacier rather than descending the A-C col and schwacking out Mountaineer Creek again. The way was snow free and pretty easy terrain to move over. It's very pretty back there! [img:center]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/319420_10151129488232682_763002778_n.jpg[/img] Ridge to Colechuck and Dragontail off in the distance [img:center]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/580758_10151129488262682_1966327394_n.jpg[/img] Argonaut from below the D-C col Made it to the glacier in about an hour. The glacier wasn't glissadable and was mostly ice, so out came the crampons and we picked our way down back to the trail. On the way down, a refrigerator sized boulder fell off the face of D-tail and came cartwheeling past me about 15 ft away. Luckily Pierre was far enough ahead that I was able to yell and give him enough warning to dodge the bowling ball. Close call. We kept one eye on the face the rest of the way down. Once back on trail, we booked it out of there, excited to get the shoes off our feet and away from the still hungry mosquitoes. Back at the cars around 2000 and in Leavenworth grabbing some mexican food shortly after. Gear Notes: Small rack to 2" Approach Notes: Snow free until 6400'. Schwack your way there

Trip: Sloan Peak - West Face Variation Date: 7/8/2012 Trip Report: Evelyne, Jeff, Cody and myself gave the west face of Sloan a go last weekend. While wanting to do it car to car in a day, Cody wasn't due back from a sailing trip until sometime Friday night, so we decided to take it easy, hike in Saturday evening, get a good night's sleep and start the climbing early on Sunday. The road to the Bedal creek TH is for the most part clear, although the brush is starting to encroach. There was a large downed tree a mile up the road, so we parked there and walked the road the rest of the way to the TH. It's only about a 10 min walk. We left the car around 1500. The trail is mostly snow free through the forest. It was HOT on the way in Saturday afternoon. No breeze, about 77F and a fair amount of humidity made the going a bit slower than usual as we sweltered in our own sweat. I kept trying to remind myself that the heat was much worse everywhere else right now, but it wasn't much comfort in the afternoon sun. After an hour or so in the sweatbox, we started up the creek bed thankful for some open terrain, a nice source of water, and a breeze! We hit some consistent snow about 15 mins up the creek which allowed us to make good time up to the base of the face. The snow is melting out fast though and I wouldn't be surprised if it was all gone in a week or two. A traverse over heather and snow to a small bivy area at about 5.8k ft and we were glad to be done moving for the day despite the short approach. It was 1830 when we made camp, and we were treated to a wonderful sunset over the north cascades while we ate some dinner. In bed by 2200. [img:center]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7124/7539545478_12d11c7598_b.jpg[/img] Traversing the last bit to camp [img:center]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8015/7539551820_f2dfd5696c_b.jpg[/img] Route from camp [img:center]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8016/7539555636_2216fd8f25_b.jpg[/img] Puuuurty We started up the face the next morning at 530. The beta we had from some friends was great, however they had done the climb much later in the year and we had to get a bit creative with our route. Getting to the first ledge required a 30ft climb up a loose, unprotectable moss filled crack, instead of the easily climbed chimney due to a waterfall running down it. Getting up to the second ledge required pitching out a section of fairly fun 5.7 instead of an easy scramble, again due to a waterfall (see the trend?). [img:center]http://i.imgur.com/8Kq90.jpg[/img] Approximate way to the base of the climb [img:center]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8156/7539556788_29e408867e_b.jpg[/img] First roped dirty pitch, a prequil of things to come Finally at the base of the climb, we continued up encountering more water, wetness and loose rock than you can shake a stick at. We stayed far to the left of the gully proper for most of the climb, only being forced into the water and snow once for a belay. It was cold and wet, and we were in the shade; a perfect juxtaposition to the heat of the previous day. Cody and I swung leads and picked our way up the face fairly well given the conditions and what we had to work with. There wasn't a whole lot of pro around, so it was pretty common to place 3-4 pieces per pitch. Seems a little sketchball, but the climbing was casual and had no overtly difficult sections. We also trundled quite a lot of loose rock that was left on route during the winter. Hopefully it is a bit safer now for anyone else following up this year. Soon we were staring at the top of the gully as it narrowed with one pitch left. It was my lead, so I took off, kicked steps gingerly over a snowbridge and scooted up and out of the gully to the left finish. Toping out in the sun was a nice treat as it warmed my cold feet to the point where I could feel them again. Cody quickly followed, and we both lounged in the sun as Evelyne and Jeff finished up the route. [img:center]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8018/7539559380_36cd6aff87_b.jpg[/img] Last pitch, exiting the oozing gully [img:center]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7132/7539561934_b17c574e5b_b.jpg[/img] Summit pose fail After slipping out of our rock shoes, we took off scrambling towards the summit. There was still quite a lot of snow on the upper mountain, so having an ice axe was handy. On the summit enjoying the views at 1230. Upon signing the summit register I noticed that we were the first group up Sloan this year, unless other parties didn't sign. Regardless, we thought it was kind of cool to be the first one up in 2012. [img:center]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7539564940_f361f3100e_b.jpg[/img] Cody and Jeff on the summit We started down at 1300 and meandered down the corkscrew route. Upon looking at the south face descent route, we had serious doubts that it would go. Large moats, and tons of snow made us very weary of finding any sort of rappel anchors down there, so we made the decision to rap the route since we knew we could make it go and it would be fairly straightforward with little unknowns. We were wrong about the straightforwardness of rapping the route though. While most of the anchors were pretty good, it always took longer than we expected to find those good anchors, adding time to the descent. The waterfalls didn't help too much either, wetting everything around and making it hard to keep your footing while on the descent. After 6 raps, we were back on downclimbable terrain and we cruised back to camp. Packed up and on the trail at 1745. Other than witnessing a massive rock and ice fall coming off the NW face and dodging a few falling massive boulders, the descent was rather uneventful. Boot skied down the snow and hoofed it back to the car by 2100. While not an overly pleasant or amazing quality climb, it was a fun, technical route to get to the top of a cool peak. I'd much rather climb it this way than slog the corkscrew. Plus, gorgeous weather and fun people with some climbing thrown into the mix, you can't ask for much more than that! [img:center]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7258/7539569322_90b9205e1f_b.jpg[/img] P.S. Thanks to Evelyne for the pictures. They're all her's, I forgot my camera! Gear Notes: stoppers, singles to 2", a bunch of bail slings! Approach Notes: Road blocked by a large tree about 10mins from the TH

Red WC Zero Gold link cam Highland Park 18

HAVEN'T YOU HEARD? IT'S CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL!

Yep, we clawed our way up the wet, slippery ridge and were on top around 1030.

I was wondering if you guys were going to give it a go or not with the weird weather. Sherpa went for us, but we were in a cloud most of the day. Rain and a little bit of snow made it interesting. Glad you salvaged the day and had a good time!

Nice talking to you guys on the trail. Way to get after it even in not-so-ideal conditions!

Very cool! Had plans to head out there this past weekend but bailed last minute for Ltown instead due to the unfavorable forecast. Wish we would have stuck to our guns. Thanks for giving that route some needed love!

Ditto; I'm out of town on travel for work for the next three weeks and I'd love to pick one up! Beer, $ for shipping, stories of stupid exploits can all be traded in addition to the cost

I like my Nepals. They've been fine for me over the past few seasons. As they're the only pair of mtn boots I own, the have done standard volcano slog routes as well as technical rock and ice climbing and they've never really left me wanting much more. Flexible enough but stiff enough, light enough but warm enough, a great jack of all trades boot for the Cascades. Can't really go wrong with them

I picked up one of the new etrex 20 models from Garmin 9 months or so ago and I really like it. Smaller than the other GPSMap series units but just as functional, cheaper, and lighter. Battery life has been better than I could have hoped too. One set of rechargeable NiMH lasted 6 days of constant operation doing mostly tracking with the occasional position check in ~20F weather (turned off at night obviously). The new etrex series also uses the Russian GLONASS satellites in addition to the GPS constellation and satellite lock times are fast and accurate. Pretty affordable too: http://www.spadout.com/p/garmin-etrex-20-gps/ Lots of free user maps out there too for the Garmin units, so you don't have to worry about plunking down the cash for Garmin's maps. I found USGS quads for most of the country with a simple google search.

Pic from earlier in the day: [img:center]http://i.imgur.com/rSVBm.jpg[/img]

Holy crap, that's awesome!! Looks like you guys really made the most of the weather

This is the third time in the past two weeks I've heard this debate. It doesn't matter, do what you want to do and have fun. You can tape if you want to, we can leave your friends behind...

Very cool! It's awesome to see a DIY design and manufacturing process that will turn out a very nice product that competes with the big guys. Looks as if the lights will be significantly less bulky than Petzl's offering if the production runs are like the prototypes shown. Thanks for sharing

I've used a 2nd gen kindle and a kindle fire in temps in the teens without any issues. It being a great thing to have on Denali, especially if you're stuck in a tent for a few days waiting on the weather.

Growing up in Philly, I swore I'd never live in another city as I really hate "city life", but I love it here in Seattle. In my opinion, Seattle has all of the culture, amenities, jobs, and social life of a big city without the big city feel. All of that and only 1-3 hours away from some great climbing and skiing makes it a no brainer for me anyway. It allows me to develop a good career, have an awesome variety of things to do and people to see at night after work when the weather sucks, and go climbing/skiing after work when it's nice out. It's a good balance I feel.

Here's my brief overview of what people have said: Canon S100 - Small, light, IQ is pretty good, does RAW, little pricey but that's what happens when you put stupid things like GPS on a camera Panasonic LX5 - little bigger than the canon but great IQ, does RAW. A little "outdated", but LX6 should be coming out soon Nikon AW100 Sony NEX5 - m4/3rds CCS that a few seem to like. Too bulky for my goals though Olympus E-5 - another m4/3 ccs with high praise.

Thanks for the replies guys. Sounds like the S95/S100 is a solid favorite, along with the LX5. The Canon G series also looks promising, although bulky. I'll have to stop by some stores to check them out. That Lytro cam looks awesome as well. I hadn't heard of that kind of technology but it seems like an interesting development that would be able to add a lot of creativity into photos. Too bad the output is in their own propriety format. The 4/3rds cameras look interesting, but I have a feeling they will end up too bulky in the end, at least the one's I've held so far are. Been looking at the Ricoh GR IV as well. Apparently they have some of the best one handed shooting controls and ergonomics in the business, which seems pretty sweet for climbing. Might be hard to find in shops though to test out though. Yep, that describes exactly what I'm looking for. I've climbed with a DSLR for a year and it became more of a chore to get pictures on route, not to mention the fear of scattering a month's worth of pay in plastic and glass on the ground. I found I wasn't taking pictures because of this, and then started wondering why I was lugging this beast around in the first place.

A mobile site would be sweet. Is the process involved or is there some slick converter out there? Seems like lately I get most of my browsing time done on my phone during meetings

I lost my camera up in Yodelin a week or two ago. It's a yellow/green Sony point and shoot. If you happen upon it, please let me know and your efforts will be rewarded with beer. Thanks!