bedellympian

@olyclimber and @JasonG thanks for the help! Pictures are now posted.

Views from up on Mt Brown... Views from Avalanche Lake basin... Sprague creek pillars... Lake Macdonald...

Trip: Glacier NP - multiple Trip Date: 11/22/2020 Trip Report: My buddy Lucas and I went to Glacier NP for Thanksgiving because, well, Canada is closed and we're supposed to avoid other people. We were pretty successful in avoiding other people, but the exploratory nature of climbing in Glacier, along with some heinous snow conditions, made getting to/on climbs hard. What I learned about approaches on this trip can be summed up this way... North Cascades bushwhack + maritime snow pack = no problem. Dry inland shrubbery + continental snow pack = some work, but doable. North Cascades bushwhack + continental snow pack = YER GUNNA HAVE A BAD TIME!!! (this is where we spent a lot of the week) We did get on a couple good climbs though, and I would recommend going to this area (though maybe when there are different snow conditions). The first climb we did was a gully on the NW face of Mt. Brown which rises over 5,000 ft right off the road. We climbed 3,000 ft of rolling WI2 steps interspersed with wallowing and capped by a nice 70m rope stretcher of WI4. This took us to the summit ridge and our only clear day at altitude with great views. The second climb we did was an ice flow called The Pig (1,000ft WI4+) in Avalanche Lake basin. The approach was pretty heinous despite the short distance due to the aforementioned snow over logs, boulders, slide alder, and devils club, but the climbing options are numerous and high quality up there. Both of these routes are in the Big Sky ice guide by Brunckhorst. We spent some more time hiking/skiing around but between snow pack and weather did not get on any other climbs. I would highly recommend this area to folks who are looking for an adventurous ice climbing venue. The approaches can be long but are not bad by North Cascades standards. We un-lucked out with the snow on our trip which did not come down to the road but was unconsolidated in deep wind pockets a couple thousand feet higher. This made approaches difficult whether you brought skis or chose to walk. I would look for drier early season conditions or full snow coverage in the future. That said, the booter to Avalanche Lake wall is in and the gate is open all the way to the TH until Dec 15. Let me know if you want beta! Gear Notes: Standard ice kit, plus some pins/nuts/slings if in doubt. Approach Notes: Wallow like a snow hippo.

Trip: Mt. Hood - Somewhere on the left side of the North Face Trip Date: 11/08/2020 Trip Report: Sunday was the best looking day so we went; the weather was a fair bit worse than predicted. Gate is now closed but trail is in good shape and a good booter exists to tree line. Lower Elliot is pretty nasty with wind drifts over boulders. Cloud layer between 8,500 and 10,000+ made navigation difficult. We climbed an easy mixed buttress off the glacier that ended in a gully below two easy ice steps. We thought is was L gully but now I'm not so sure. We climbed several short ice steps but mostly just perfect neve slopes to the summit ridge in two simul blocks. Above the cloud layer the wind was brutal. Summit was surprisingly calm. We down climbed the Cooper Spur in high winds with multiple dead ends and much GPS checking as the light faded. Once down on the lower spur it was easy going though still windy. It took us 16.5 hrs car-to-car. Gear Notes: We took the whole enchilada, but there is not much opportunity to place except occasional screws. Approach Notes: TJ sno-park normal approach to N side

By PNW I think you mean the Seattle/WesternWA area... Various spots in Oregon and Eastern WA have had this going on for a while

Funny thing I've noticed is that Shuksan's image gets (mis)used quite a lot. My mom visited Glacier NP a couple years a go and got me a tshirt at the gift store... it's definitely a picture of Shuksan on it and says "Glacier National Park" right above it.

Today (Sat 10/3) Smith was the busiest I've seen it since last fall. Seems like the park has thrown out all COVID precautions, even the grass overflow lot was open and mostly full. Still weirdly warm and smokey though.

I recently bought this. It was on sale on Backcountry.com and I needed a new belay jacket. I had heard some good things about Norrona in general being a high quality brand from the Euros I climbed with in Canada last winter. It's one we don't see much of here so its kind of an unknown and I figured I'd give a run down as it is a very nice piece, well suited to Cascades winter climbing and a resonable price too. Pros: light weight, warm (relative to other 100g primaloft jackets I've tried this feels very warm), lower cost than some other high quality options like Patagonia or Arcteryx ($260), has several large pockets (2x chest outside of insulation, 2x hands inside insulation, 1x mesh inside jacket), double zipper, and MY FAVORITE... the hood is awesome (best single draw cinch i've seen, has a brim to shelter from spindrift, zips up to the nose, really seals in the warmth). Cons: I would prefer a second mesh pocket inside the jacket, the giant uninsulated chest pockets don't seem very useful to me at this point. Overall: I think this is a really well designed and quality belay parka.

Bump... anybody got experience with newer extra-breathable/stretchy hard shells?

If you read the Uphill Athlete literature they would advise you to save the money (and energy wasted sleeping like shit in your own bed) and just do way more easy aerobic volume. I find this helpful personally and have had a strong correlation between having lots of endurance and well rested/hydrated and doing great at altitude up to 14k'.

If you're really looking for coaching and interested mostly in aerobic development I recommend Trails and Tarmac https://trailsandtarmac.com/coaching/ as an alternative that is a bit cheaper. They mostly train ultra runners but I have a couple mountain guide friends who have worked with them and seen significant results. One of their owners Ryan Ghelfi is a former mountain guide and still does a lot of skimo stuff.

You could purchase an uphill athlete training plan. Paying a monthly fee is for people who really need hand holding... either because they aren't willing to put in the effort to read and learn themselves, they are lazy and rich, or they are really pushing their limits and need someone with lots of experience to hold them on that edge without going over. If you've read TFTNA and played around with training already you're most likely going to be able to coach yourself and see significant gains.

Assuming it was from the plane that seems highly unlikely. Is it possible the chemicals in drugs could break down and yield a negative test after a winter and good portion of summer out there? Either that or it's a thinly veiled attempt to get those involved to incriminate themselves? What else could it be? Illegal shipment of cane sugar?

I have a lower quality Showa knock-off. They're durable but moisture builds up inside and kills the warmth too quickly for long days. I save them for wet leads. I've typically climbed alpine routes in the OR Arete which is good but less durable than I'd really like. I bought a variety of gloves off steepandcheap (you get what you pay for) the other year to try. Two were OR and they both wet out and then fail to dry... pretty terrible. One was BD, not super durable but stayed dry longer and dried out sooner. I would really like to support OR over BD but BD does seem to be doing a better job on the gloves right now. Cowolter I'll be trying those soloists and looking into the new Showas.

With some of the next generation hard shells (stretchy, breathable) coming out (NF Futurelight seems to be the most advertised) I'm curious if folks have tried them or seen good unbiased reviews/comparisons. I've typically worn softshells in true winter conditions as much as possible and pulled out the goretex for wet ice or technical climbing with spindrift/precip only when I really need to. Curious if this new new stuff lives up to the hype and could be a quiver-of-one outer layer...