ashish

I will be in Seattle area July 4th to 7th. I am interested in one of the following climbs: 1. Mt. Hood 2. Mt. Baker 3. Mt. Rainier I am reasonable fit climber familiar with snow travel with ice axe and crampons, and have taken a basic crevasse rescue course.

Sorry Ferum if I was not very clear. I am looking for snow climbs where I can practice the use of crampons and ice axes and if needed, may be some class 3 scrambling.

Thanks! Any couloirs where I will not need ropes or where it does not involve technical rock climbing?

Any couloirs (less than 45 degree slope) to climb in the cascades around late April to mid May? I am not from northwest so any info will be really helpful in planning my trip. Thanks, Ash

Sent Personal Message to billisfree, NWben, gen8787, ElectricEric, hobson1, and climb 21. Lets share our emails so that we can start an email chain and coordinate. My email is: ashish.waghray@gmail.com

Some of us (including myself) are new to Cascades here, so if you are not aware, there is a day use pass required for the trail head parking for Adams: http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6IeDdGCqCPOBqwDLG-AAjgb6fh75uan6BdnZaY6OiooA1tkqlQ!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjJNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=fsbdev2_027009&navid=160100000000000&pnavid=160000000000000&ss=110603&position=Not%20Yet%20Determined.Html&ttype=detail&pname=Gifford%20Pinchot%20National%20Forest-%20Recreation%20Passes This is different from the climbing permit, which is not required after September. I was thinking of Camping at cold springs/morrison creek campground, but it's going to be cold! unless others have better ideas

Also, Forest Service website says all the streams are frozen, so snow melting or carrying all the required water is necessary.

looks like most people are doing an alpine start on Sat. Gary, if you are ok, let's join Hobson & Co for an alpine start Sat. If the weather doesn't allow summit on Sat, we can re-attempt on Sun. I know somebody (Hobson?) had inquired about hiking/plastic boots. Looking at the temperatures, hiking boots may be quite inadequate for the cold. Leather/Plastic Mountaineering boots may be more suitable. I got a scarpa inverno plastic for $12.00 in a REI garage sale last weekend and I got a new Scarpa Mont Blanc for this trip. So I will be getting both. Not sure which one I will wear. I have a synthetic jacket and a 800 fill down jacket. Thinking of leaving the down behind and carrying only the synthetic. And of course got my axe and crampons. Any last minute ideas/tips on gear or clothing from the experienced Cascade climbers?

I have a GPS, one person tent, and will not be able to make it to the trail head before 5:00PM Friday.

yes... i am keeping my fingers crossed... Sat/Sun prediction is partly sunny... hoping that gets better... I usually find the NWS forecast reliable up to 2-3 days ahead. so will wait and watch... http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=46.19599270020596&lon=-121.50398254394531&site=pdt&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text Here is the hourly forecast... http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?w0=t&w1=td&w2=hi&w3=sfcwind&w3u=1&w4=sky&w5=pop&w6=rh&w7=thunder&w8=rain&AheadHour=48&FcstType=graphical&textField1=46.19599&textField2=-121.50398&site=all&unit=0&dd=0&bw=0&AheadDay.x=66&AheadDay.y=3&AheadDay=96

The weather seems to have gone south for now, it has been snowing quite a bit at least since yesterday... ranger station says snow above 5000feet and there to stay. I have been checking the webcam and the mountain can be seen completely covered in snow, which was not the case a few days ago. http://www.onc.org/node/237 this may not be a bad thing, as long as we get a good weather window to climb. More snow means more fun.

Gary, I have put a car on hold, but besides that I would need transportation on 16th for site seeing around seattle, so I would prefer a car at hand. Anyways, since there are a lot of people who have joined in the discussion over the weekend, may be we can start forming groups based on the start times and climbing plans. I will be able to make it to the trail head around 5:30PM on friday. So I may have to hike in the dark to cover some distance on friday or do the whole climb on sat. If anybody is in the same situation let me know. Another option is to climb to lunch counter on 15th and summit on the 16th. Who are planning to make an earlier start on friday, please go ahead. I may try to join you later in the night hopefully and join you guys. I know I am all over the place, but it's kind of hard to plan from 3000 miles away and limited time slot.

As I said earlier, I will be landing in Seattle from Houston around 10:30AM. By the time I pick up my rental car and get out, it might me about noon. Looks like its about a 5.5 hour drive to the trail head. So it will be about 5:30PM by the time I get there. So I may not have much daylight left to hike. I may be able to get up the trail only a short distance. I may have to do most of the climb on 15th. If you guys want to start early on 14th, I would not want to hold you back. So please go ahead. However, if anybody is in the same boat as I am, may be we can even hike a little bit in the dark and make some distance and camp on the 14th. I dont mind hiking in the dark as long as I am not alone.

I am fine with a group... it would be more fun...

Matt - I am not new to outdoors. I hike and backpack, but I am fairly new to mountaineering, alpine starts, and long days. I have been training for Mt. Adams for a couple of months and I seem to be in decent shape. Also, I live at sea level in Houston. But like Eric said, the south spur route is not technical, and a good climb for beginners. Eric - Yes, I plan to do the south route. I will land in Seattle at about 10:30 AM on Friday, Oct 14. So I am not sure how much I will be able to hike on the 14th - it will depend upon when I get to the trail head and how much daylight is available. As such, I am expecting a most of the climb to be on the 15th. If I have company, I dont mind hiking in the dark on the 14th so I can have some head start for the summit on the 15th. These are just my initial ideas. Let me know what you guys think.