mountainsandsound

Sorry to veer off topic, but are you referring to Dan Smith? I've been wondering about him.

A government restriction (ban) on research seems more fitting for a country like N. Korea. Scary.

No, it is not too early but it probably won't be as easily done as in July/August. The approach could be more of a pain than usual. Weather is still sort of a gamble. The post-holing could be bad. But it will still be fun! More snow will mean that negotiating crevasses could be a non-issue. I climbed Baker twice last July, and we didn't need to make many detours at all. Most of the destructive avalanches that have killed climbers in the summer were preceded by a brief snowstorm that deposited a few inches and then slid the next day or so when it got warm again. That scenario played out on Baker in the 30s and killed a large party of climbers. Intense warming and big rain events, especially in mid spring, can mean high avy danger, even without recent snowfall. But by the time summer rolls around, there have usually been many melt-freeze cycles to stabilize the snowpack. Climbing in June the snowpack should be pretty stable.

Thank you for helping me put off doing work for a little longer this morning...

I think Pan Dome Falls is in. I say "think" because I am not really an ice climber. Went up with a friend today to get a taste of ice on some rented Nomics (very sweet tools). We opted to climb some small bulges of ice off to the side of Pan Dome on top rope. Where we were, the ice seemed pretty thick, but with a crusty brittle snow/ice layer over the good stuff. Pan Dome Falls proper looked a lot better, there was a thin layer of snow over some of the pitch, but the ice itself looked good, pretty thick, pale blue, sort of translucent (that's good right?) Sorry, no pics.

Dave- I might be into doing something next week. I'm gone Friday-Monday in the Methow Valley for some skiing, but after that I would like to do a winter climb somewhere. Been eyeballing a winter ascent of North Twin via the west ridge, but could look elsewhere. I do not have ice climbing experience. I am AIARE level 1 and not willing to take much risk with snow pack instability. If things dry out by next week and we have a good forecast I am down for something. You can PM me. Good luck with Rainier this weekend if you go for it.

Cool! What a scene at base camp though. A higher density of people at base camp than in my apartment complex. So much for getting away from it all.

Use paragraphs.

It appears as though there is a need for a specific thread designed to satisfy Star Wars fetishes. There was a Hippie drum circle and some Pirates BS category in Spray, sounds like Star Wars would have some takers. Hey, what was the name of that one beast that Luke killed in the 3rd one at Jaba's palace? Gate slammed on his head?

You are totally badass.

Great site, love the Cliff Mass blog as well.

I just recently heard the possibility that running can damage the heart in some cases. Problem is that Joe public likes to see issues of health in terms of black and white, so I could see too many people jumping to the conclusion that running=bad. Not to be a skeptic, but I still think that the health risks posed by living a sedentary life FAR outweigh the risks of living the life of a ultra marathoner.

He is changing his profile pic to not look like a 40 year old boy scout.

I don't have the CAG with me, but I believe Beckey puts the SE ridge at class 3-4. There might be a way to keep it that low, but when I did it in August with a couple friends, we found some low 5th class moves. We simul-climbed most of it, with the leader wearing rock shoes and slinging some horns for pro, with a cam or two thrown in. I was comfortable following in boots rather than shoes. SE ridge is really the way to go. Some people rap down the gully, but we down-climbed. The steeper, more exposed parts seemed solid, I didn't feel like there was any 5th class.

I agree that it is hard, even if you have the know how. I've never been on Hood so I don't know what the margin for error would be as far as finding the exit from the summit, but following a straight line when you can't see anything in front of you and can't pick out intermediate points of reference (i.e. following a bearing in a whiteout) is tough.

I had similar feelings last week. Also seeing Karl Rove implode on Faux News was pretty cool. When he called the election math into question it all made sense. Why stop at climate science, evolution, and reproductive health when you could be the party that disputes the fundamental properties of mathematics and statistics? With enough cash maybe Americans for Prosperity or some other group can convince enough of the electorate that 2+2 does not actually equal 4. But I guess that whole "throw money and bullshit at it" strategy didn't work so well this time around.

During summer BBQ season, I like to chase down a couple spicy brats with 2 or 3 of the extreme-type IPAs. If you want to get back at your sig. other, impress friends and co-workers the next day, or just plain have some fun, it is a great combo.

Full-blown hipsterism has not taken hold in Whatcom county like it has in Seattle or Portland. Mustaches by and large are hipster, but beards are still old-school hippie, college student, homeless, or winter apparel for Mt. Baker. As far as the cool factor, I'm pretty sure PBR is currently the only cool cheap beer right now.

Are anyone else's friends a little too snobbish about beer? I love my microbrews, but in an effort to save money this past summer while not having a job, I began to turn more to the cheap stuff. Usually Ronyay. Was met with dirty looks and comments. WTF? Is there something about living in the NW that makes it not OK to break out a can rather than a bottle? I happen to like Rainier, and the stuff is more thirst quenching than the triple hop destroyer atomic death nectar such and such anyway.

Have contemplated that before. Better to break your ankle than to break your body 1000 feet down slope.

Mostly easier glacier routes. Coleman Deming route 3 times (close to my house), sulphide glacier on shuksan, Bolam glacier on Shasta, Silverstar, etc... lots of scrambling too. I'm at that point where I'm starting to get bored with standard routes.

With that note, what would be a good objective to start with as far as steep snow/alpine ice? N. ridge Baker, N. face Shuksan, N. face Buckner, N. face Maude, etc...? Buckner seems the mellowest. Steepest I've been on for extended periods is only about 40-45 degrees slope. Didn't freak me out too much.

I would think it could, but maybe only in frozen, fully metamorphasized, summer snow. So do you guys just man up and solo the classic north face climbs with a second tool and and call it good? Are there sections where you would consider pitching it out with a full belay on snow slopes? I read that New Zealand article and it got me to thinking. They seem to be pretty confident with the strength of anchors in the right conditions.

I can see that argument. I think splitting the snow into the categories of knife-hardness, pencil-hardness, etc... might be the best bet for that. From what I gather, if you are pounding a picket in and clipping to the top, it better be very solid neve and take a lot of swings from an hammer to get it in for it to be a worthwhile anchor. Not a whole lot of anecdotal evidence with this because, as you said, snow slopes are easy and there aren't too many people falling with a running belay on them.

A lot of climbing practices seem like they could be improved by empirical studies. Climbing steep snow is commonly done with one or two pickets between climbers. Some people probably do this without thinking about the strength of the anchor and just assume it will hold in cases where it probably won't. Or maybe they know all they've got is psychological pro. And I have heard other climbers reject running belays on steep snow outright. There are only a few studies out there on the strength of snow anchors, and from what I have read, if a picket is appropriately placed for the given snow conditions, it can be pretty strong (about 10kn for a vertical midclip, 6kn or a little more for a vertical top clip when optimally placed). I think the climbing community could benefit from some practical, in situ tests simulating big falls on steep snow with only one picket in (since this would be the scenario for lots of people). Tie some dummies to a rope and let one fall, see what happens to the anchor and measure the force going onto it. I would think that the follower giving the running belay is going to take a substantial amount of the force generated by the fall and the force going onto the picket is going to be less than we would first imagine. Maybe even low enough for a single vertical top clip picket to hold. Any search and rescue people, physics grad students, guides, etc... have the means to test something like this? The tests of snow anchors out there are informative, but I think something like this could have good real world application.