bedellympian

Can you summarize the 3x3 concept for us Trogdor? I was Googled it and got lost pretty quick. Also, while I agree mining accident data on a large scale is useful, I think that its important to compare against the number of successful ascents and the caliber of climber that is attempting. For instance I don't think that the South SIde of Mt. Hood is nearly as dangerous as a meta study of accidents would make out. On the other hand, despite having zero accidents and several successful repeats I would argue that the Slovak Direct on Denali is pretty darn serious and has some major risks involved.

Hey guys, thanks for the good discussion. I've posted on and off here for a few years though I wouldn't call myself a regular the way some people are. I avoided reading this thread until after I knew the outcome of Marc and Ryan... burying my head in the sand I fully admit. I recently had an accident myself; I was returning to the car at Smith Rock and in my haste I chose to solo/scramble a short chimney through the basalt rimrock. Long story short I did not notice that it had one or more detached blocks at the top which caught my pack and then came down on top of me. I took a 30+ footer and managed to self-arrest on a small ledge. Luckily I had friends in the vicinity who were able to get to me quickly and keep me stable while we waited for 3.5 hrs for SAR to extract me. I'm super lucky to be alive and with intact head/spine. My knees took most of it and I will be several months repairing and rehabbing the various broken bones and torn ligaments but should be fully functional again. While I will never be close to what MA Leclerc did, I have engaged in my fair share of solo outings and dicey alpine shenanigans. I'm sure some of you have read my TRs on here about a few of those. For a long time I justified this bullshit by thinking that the variables in the mountains are rational and predictable things that I could assess logically and therefore avoid danger. I used to quip that driving my car to a climbing location was more dangerous than anything I did climbing. The loss of Marc and Ryan on top of my recent accident has really made me reassess what I can (and what I'm willing to) get away with. I realize that while mountain variables are predictable to a degree they are not always predictable. Also, as much as I would like to consider myself rational and focused, I am a fallible human and if I put myself in these positions enough I will screw up. One of my climbing partners and I discussed risk a lot over this years ice trip to MT/WY and he gave me this article which while focused on avalanche avoidance is also applicable to most of the hazards we face while alpine climbing: http://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/issw-2012-501-505.pdf With that article we've discussed a lot about how low probability but high risk outcomes are still bad, and asked how often do you have to take that risk before you actually have a high risk of that bad outcome happening one time and really screwing you. There is also some research to suggest that when we put ourselves in a risky situation and get away unscathed that can incorrectly reinforce the idea that such a risk is actually safe. This lets people get too comfortable and drop their guard as well as allowing them to make similar risks in the future without really understanding the probability of f#$%ing up. I would say my accident was in this last category. Anyway, this all got me thinking that maybe it would be good to try get some actual numbers. It would be good for people to be able to say, well I got away with this 3 times, but statistically if I do it ten times I'll die on one of those occasions so I probably should stop doing that. Or, I know someone who f%^ked up and got hurt doing that once, but statistically that's a 1 in 100,000 accident and so I should be cautious but can do that carefully on several climbs in my life and feel good about my risk tolerance. I have started making a Google Form survey that I'm thinking of sharing here and on other forums and want to know... What QUESTIONS should I include? Thanks, Sam

After Image is in WI5+ shape apparently... Anyone got conditions on I-Rock?

Like most responses I'm a selective filterer. However, unlike most responders I filter LEAST in still water. The idea that flowing water is clean is actually total bull. Unless its coming directly from snow or a spring it's more likely to contain a high microbial load. Clear surface water of a lake in direct sun at altitude is one of the safest sources as the sun's UV rays is doing the same thing as those steri-pens all day and scrambling small critter DNA. The USFS has a webpage for the Sierra (of all places) that recommends this practice. But then again the Cascades do have some pretty low elevation and swampy lakes.

Don't pay for an air taxi at all. You can climb White Princess and other peaks in the Delta Range (eastern Alaska Range) with a 10 mile hike up the glacier from the road. Park on the side of the Richardson highway, lots of pullouts. You can also climb a ton in the Chugach, approachable at the W end from ANC or the E end from the Richardson near Valdez. Then there is also driving into McCarthy and climbing stuff in the Wrangells and St. Elias. Finally, you can take the bus to Wonder Lake in Denali and hike overland to the N side of the AK range (a full day, probably two if carrying lots of gear). You can get on Denali itself or other peaks. Check the N ridge of Mt. Mather, Jed Brown had an article on it in the AAJ.

Done already... -tick a bunch of multi-pitch wi3+/4s -plane tickets to india To do... -tick a bunch of mixed gullies on the local crag -climb a bunch of mixed routes in oregon cascades -go to mountains somewhere in march and climb some mixed alpine routes -ski off the remainder of the cascade volcanoes on my list -spend a month in the ladakh region doing some "sight seeing" with the wife, aka scrambling up and scoping some stuff, doubt there will be any real climbing on the trip -tick more lines at trout creek -el cap route if the weather holds through november

I use the CAMP Lift with my Microtraxion which works great. Can't comment on the Ropeman.

Trip: Broken Top South (9094) and Main - Left Ramp Direct + High Noon Trip Date: 12/10/2017 Trip Report: I wanted to share a little about a recent excursion to Broken Top's Crook Cirque. This is a good venue for winter climbing close to Bend in terms of the routes available. However, it is a long approach (7 miles on rolling terrain) and the Cirque is S facing making it a solar oven in just about any sunny weather. The bad news is that conditions are fickle and hard to nail (this was my 6th time going out there to try climb and only second trip climbing something). The good news is it's a great backcountry ski zone when climbing is out. Hopefully others can learn from my beta and have success/fun. Approach: If overnighting or snow machining park at Dutchman's, Bachelor has started towing unattended vehicles at night. Fastest skin track is the snow machine access road and you might be able to hitch a ride but its not pleasant. The other two options are following xc ski trails or going down to Todd Lake and then through that way. Expect at least 2.5 hours for a fit person on the move nailing route finding. Conditions: This has been the crux for me over the years. The south facing cirque gets way too hot in the sun and the ideal climbing aspects get windloaded and corniced by storms. Luckily routes are generally short and quick so you have three options. 1. Ski out and climb it in the evening, then camp or headlamp it back to the car. 2. Camp out and climb it early. 3. Climb in spindrift on the front end of a storm cycle. This past weekend many small ice flows were in but temps were dangerously high as soon as the sun hit. Route Recs and what I did: -East face of 9094 has plenty of options that are somewhere between Devil's Kitchen Headwall and Eliot Headwall in length and difficulty. Most stuff has been done unless you are into futuristic x-rated choss climbing. Can be badly corniced. -South Face of BT gets the full sun effect, the two routes worth doing IMHO are 11 o'clock couloir to the summit and High Noon Couloir. Both are in Oregon High. High Noon, which I finally did this weekend, has surprisingly good rock. There are possibly other options doable up the main buttress, difficulty hard to determine. Here are some grainy iphone pictures from this weekend to entice those looking for a slog-worthy objective... Crook Cirque , BT S face center, E face 9094 on L E face 9094 (~800ft) Saturday evening Three short but fun ice steps lead into the L of two ramps on E face 9094. L ramp couloir goes through arch to steep snow top out. Views from summit of 9094 Sat evening: top pic L-R N Sis, Jefferson, BT main w/ Hihg Noon Couloir obvious, bottom sunset, walk off on scree to the SW and E down snow gullies. Approaching BT main south face and High Noon Sunday morning. Sketchy ice flow L of High Noon Couli, exposed scree traverse and wet moss top out, solid sticks though and AI3-, traversed into main couli above this. Traversing steep snow into High Noon from top of ice flows. Solid rock at top of High Noon. T-shirt weather at 8am mid December on the south facing aspect. Bare hand rock climbing with pons ensued... a good time. Looking down the crux step (low 5th). Many options on these upper steps. Nice summit views south to 9094 and Bachelor; and north to the Sisters. Gear Notes: Light and climbable AT boots, tools/pons, sun shade hoody and tshirt for the ridiculously hot weather. Approach Notes: Dutchman's through snow machine road, xc trails are slower but less stanky.

This was mine. Rock falling on foot soloing in Pickets. Pretty obvious lesson... don’t onsight solo choss.

Doubtful, the approach and the fickle conditions will keep this a rarely visited enigma, same as all the goods in OR.

So Chamonix does look incredible but its not in the cards, neither is AK. Obviously conditions are fickle and that will ultimately determine my destination, BUT what are some areas where there is the potential for alpine MIXED climbing in western North America that time of year? Rockies, Cascades, and Tetons are on my list of places to watch.

It's in right now. Follow @markhauter on Instagram.

Chamonix? Where? How big?

gavinj4 - Trout is closed end of January thru mid-May at the earliest for raptor nesting, please do not abuse the self-enforced climbing ban that the community has worked out with the BLM. Aside from that I live near Trout and climb there weekly in the fall so it's not exactly what I want to do with a week off.

I have one week off at the end of March and want to go swing/scratch up something in mountain-y terrain outside of Oregon. Where do I go? Thoughts so far... Colchuck/Stuart zone - I've been before this time of year so it would be familiar but still lots I want to do. Plus its a short drive. Tetons - chance of high avy danger? good skiing if stuff is bad, long approaches in winter Banff/CanRockies - chance of high avy, ice could still be in low, don't know much about it, long drive Sierra - sunny mixed on granite, minimal ice?, long approaches alternative ideas? Obviously conditions/weather/avy danger at the time will probably be the concluding factor but I'm curious what other folks have done/would want to do? Specific routes? Thanks!

Obviously I'll have to wait until closer to the time to see how conditions are but what are some good places to ice climb over New Years? I was thinking Lee Vining would have more daylight but might not be in much at that time. Hyalite is another option. Canmore seems like its usually way too cold. I have friends going to Ouray but I only have 10 days and it's a REALLY long drive. Other options?

If you haven't yet checked out the Training Beta podcast I would recommend taking a gander at the various episode topics. I listened to all of the ones with PT Esther Smith after tweaking a finger this summer. There are some free videos linked on the Training Beta website with exercises and she discusses a specific finger protocol for injured fingers in the episodes. I've been following the finger protocol and it has been working great so far. I was also using her exercises to try address what I thought was elbow tendonitis but eventually resolved to medial nerve irritation stemming from the shoulder. A friend showed me Dave McLeod's book where he recommends a "shoulder slide" exercise with your back to a wall for shoulder antagonists which resolved 90% of my shoulder and elbow issues almost overnight. Both these rehab regimens have been so effective for me I felt like I should share them with people here... hopefully someone can benefit.

Thanks Marc. Did the deed last week. Got my 2WD Hyundai to the TH with minimal shenanigans but slow going (not recommended unless you don't care about your car's appearance and are comfortable driving rough roads). Pocket Glcier is still there at the very top in a very small but tall segment. The Crossover Descent had two sections that I felt there was not much detail in Blake's guide: 1. The raps off Parke are much closer to the summit than what the topo map suggests. Scramble up on top of the thing and find the shoulder between the two highest points, from there you will see the rap station. 2. Make sure you get to the meadows where you pick up the trail with lots of light. We got there as light was fading and never found the trail. We assumed it was way downhill and after way too much bushwhacking got cliffed out and had to head back up and over to intersect it by headlamp, not ideal. 20.5 hrs car-car seemed like a relaxed pace having not done any of it before. Hike in was 4 hrs, route was 8 hrs, descent with route finding errors was 8 hrs. Make sure you're comfortable on steep snow, loose rock. Stellar route.

Thanks G-spotter. I'll just walk. Leaving my truck in Oregon will save me 50% on gas... not worth the trade-off!

Can anyone speak to the road conditions? I want to get in there but I have a 2WD vehicle.

Thanks Jason

Heard the pocket glacier slid... can anyone confirm? Also, anyone driven the road this season? Clearance and conditions on that? Thanks...

Anyone know where to find info on routes and conditions for alpine ice/mixed routes in the Sawtooths or nearby area? Got any recommendations? Considering potential of early spring/late winter trips. Would also be interested in skimo beta. Thanks, Sam

Muscular endurance is one of the things stressed at the end of the base period in the Steve House Training for the New Alpinism book. It's basically just doing a lot of (insert muscle taxing activity here). The reason for the change is that my goals for the summer are long endurance climbs, not hard red points. I'll do some more of this conjugate stuff in the fall and try push my hard climbing farther then. Plans for muscular endurance workouts are... TR solo laps on pumpy thin hand cracks Jug a line in a tree with a pack a bunch of times Throw in some hangboarding, campus boarding, bouldering to maintain grip strength and try some of the harder cracks and multis now that my redpoint sport grade is higher than them. Hopefully will be nice and fit when I get off work in late June.

Thanks Sol, I'm taking a week off of training and just climbing fun stuff if the weather is nice. I will be refocusing on muscular endurance training with crack climbing and multi-pitch days on the weekend. Plan is to hit Yosemite and Sierra in late June once I get off work for the summer. Hopefully some stuff in Canada later in summer.