bedellympian

Hey Bill, I think we met on Illumination saddle... you were camped up there going over to do Cathedral Ridge, this was years ago. I have two Black Spider Hoodies, they are my favorite mid layer for alpine/winter climbing. I also have the old softshell jacket and pants which I won at the Craggin' Classic at Smith... in maybe 2013?! They are still going strong, especially the jacket which I love. Glad to see NWA continuing to do it the right way!

I don't know of any ascents but looks like it would be a straightforward ice route up those gullies in the right conditions. The face is only 800 ft. of gain. Western Montana Climbers Coalition would be a place to ask. They have a newsletter that sometimes publishes TRs and the members would know.

I tried to cross the barrier in August 2015, but not by the way you describe. I did not see any obvious snow gully and my guess is that snow/glacier recession has left it nonviable... but I could be wrong.

Someone just asked about this earlier this year. Sounds like lots of folks in Seattle area have one. Give more info about your location and goals and people will definitely help you out. Worst-case scenario: try Inter-Library-Loan at your local library, guaranteed there is a copy you can get your hands on.

Yeah, REI is just another corporate behemoth, coop or not. I've been disappointed for years in how and what they have to offer. In Central Oregon we have Mountain Supply near down town Bend which is awesome. Also, near Smith there is Redpoint, though that is more rock oriented. Also near down town Bend is Gear Fix which does resole/repair, consigned used gear, and some new options. If anyone is down this way they are great options. I've also had good luck ordering from quality establishments like Climb On in Squamish (Canadian guidebooks, G7 gear, etc), Fixe in Bishop (not just bolts), and Mtn Tools in Carmel (aid/big wall stuff). Finally, ordering direct from quality companies like Beartooth Alpine in Bozeman, G7 in Squamish, Edelrid NA in Redmond is great. You can usually call them up with questions or stop in if you're in the area and want to try some stuff out.

Reddside and Muffin Top at Trout are obvious candidates for the rainy months. Most of the other basalt cracks (Vantage and Lower Gorge) have too many features to resemble true Utah splitters. Boogie till you Poop in Squamish if you're headed north.

Your questions are flawed... need to be able to check multiple boxes. It's not always a one-or-the-other thing.

I've climbed Gerber-Sink end of March before in good conditions. I've also bailed off of a few things in there during that same time window. (End of March is my spring break, work in education.) I think the most important thing is to be flexible, as mentioned. You can get out in pretty marginal weather if avy hazard is low and you are prepared. Some other spots that should be on your list to check depending on budget/travel time available... Rogers Pass, Canadian Rockies, Glacier NP, Bitteroots, South-central Idaho Ranges, Tetons, Rocky Mtn NP, Oregon Cascades, Elkhorns, Sierra, Wasatch, Great Basin NP. I've had great luck in the Canadian Rockies that time of year. Ice is fat and sticky, huge variety of routes, alpine is just coming into condition depending on the year, cheap hostels and lots of partners to be had if you're solo or your buddy needs an extra rest day. One year I climbed 4 days of ice including routes up to 1,000 ft of climbing, then did an 800 ft limestone sport climb on a south aspect, then did a solo ski tour to scope an alpine face which wasn't in, so went mixed cragging the last day... pretty fun. Also, very different from the Cascades in-terms of rock, avy/snow, types of routes. A great contrast to what we get here.

My wife is due with our second in March and with the new Oregon law I have paid paternity leave for three months... ideally I'll get a little rock climbing in between changing diapers and taking care of the family before late July when I'm going to the Cirque of the Unclimbables for 2 weeks (my wife is so kind to put up with me, and my mother-in-law will come help out). After that I have no idea... maybe I'll get back into bouldering in the fall. There is plenty of easy access boulders near my house and it's easy with kids.

Trip: Columbia River Gorge - Various Ice Routes Trip Date: 01/19/2024 Trip Report: Snuck in some final pitches on Friday 1/19 and Saturday 1/20 with Damon and Angie before the rain came. See pics below... Starvation Creek area Archer Mountain area Ainsworth area? Rapping off trees to avoid tedious down climbing on hard rain ice. Climb near Archer Driving home was super fun... NOT! Gear Notes: screws... stubbies not needed! Approach Notes: AWD w/ chains

If it's plain water then it's probably fine. If there is a chance anything is mixed in... oil, cleaners, battery acid then I would retire it. Maybe call the company who made it just to double check. Wait for it to dry completely before you use it. If you're still worried have a friend's rope setup to catch you if it fails and take a lead whip on it.

What does that actually mean? Is there going to be a climbing ranger at 9500' teaching people in the line how to self arrest? I have no problem paying for a permit, but I think really the Federal Govt should pay the FS for the work they have to do so they don't have to try run things like a theme park business and can actually enforce rules... like the dingbats who leave their hard iced tea cans all over the lower mountain... why aren't we ticketing those people? Instead it's, "let's make the respectful rule followers pay so we can keep scraping by."

Trip: Mt Hood - Elliot HW Trip Date: 11/25/2023 Trip Report: Climbed Elliot R-hand w/ Collin on Saturday 11/26. Conditions are good but pro is limited. Hero sticks the whole way and mostly AI2 with a couple short bits of AI3. Bottomed out most 13cm screws I tried to place... only placed 2-3 screws per 60m pitch due to limited options. Early season conditions add some distance... we climbed the face in 4x 60+m pitches (some simuling). We approached from the S side. Pearly gates are currently a more serious ice route than DKH1 usually is. I stepped on my phone with a crampon so no pictures. Guess you'll have to take my word for it. Have fun! Gear Notes: Some stubby screws. Approach Notes: Over S side and down to Queens Chair. Traverse in to the upper glacier.

Had an encounter on Mt Hood this weekend that made me think of this thread. Feeling frustrated and curious what others think or would do. I was heading down the S side route just below the Hogsback and I heard a drone. I saw a person standing still below me. He suddenly sprinted up hill and raised an ice axe in the air. At first I thought he was trying to wave the drone off but it became obvious he was posing for the drone. He then went back down to where he had been standing and picked up the controller and started making the drone swoop back and forth. I noticed he did not have a helmet or a few other things that would be standard fare for going higher on the mountain, he was also not Caucasian so I consciously tried to give this person the benefit of the doubt (thinking about how people of color have often stated they feel unwelcome in outdoor spaces in the US), maybe he just didn't know better. As I got closer to him on my descent I asked how he was doing. He responded with an accent but in a way that suggested he was a fluent English speaker. I said, "hey, just to let you know, the upper mountain is a wilderness area and flying drones is illegal in wilderness areas." He responded that he had not seen a sign that prohibited drone use. I said that it was a nation-wide law for all wilderness areas. He shrugged and continued flying the drone. I then mentioned that there was an injured person near the hogsback and SAR teams were heading up the mountain, which could include law enforcement and that I wouldn't want him to get a ticket. He said, "thanks for letting me know." At this point I continued down the mountain and he continued flying the drone for as long as I was in earshot. I feel really frustrated with this encounter. Part of me wanted to yell at the guy to land his toy and put it away. Part of me wanted to ask him to explain himself. I doubt either of those things would be productive, but wish there was something else I could do. Didn't help that on the way down I passed through the usual tourist horde at Timberline and picked up multiple empty alcohol containers that had been left since the start of the day in snow where people where posing and sledding. It's tough to have a special experience on a mountain that you have returned to many times and finish the outing watching others do things that are not just illegal but also infringe on the ideals of protected natural space that brought me there in first place.

Trip: Illumination Rock - Skylight (though now it's skylight-less) Trip Date: 11/20/2023 Trip Report: Artem and I took advantage of some high pressure to climb Skylight on the N face of I-rock Monday 11/20. We found the route to be longer than anticipated (perhaps due to glacial recession or lower snow pack in November?) and climbed to the ridge in 4 pitches. The first pitch was lower angle but involved thin verglass at the start and facet snow with a thin rime crust perched on the rock slabs above, the unstable snow layer on any low angle rock continued for the rest of the route (50m M3). Second pitch was fun and had a fair bit of rock exposed as the angle increased (50m M4). Third pitch climbed lower angle terrain to a physical corner and finished with insecure snow on rock meandering to below the final crux where I stopped as I was already low on gear (30-40m M5, doubles from .5-3 would be nice here). The fourth pitch was a short but strenuous up a corner and then stemming through steep stacked blocks to the top (10m M5). We declined the traverse to the summit as it was south facing sun baked rime mushrooms on slab that were collapsing. We rappelled from a horn on the ridge that had a lot of tat. One double rope rappel and a little down climbing got us off via the South Chamber. Overall, this is a fun route that I would recommend, a little shorter than NY Gully but higher quality and more sustained climbing. Also of note... the rock arch that formed the "skylight" that is the routes namesake is gone, the East Skylight which has a slightly harder route to it is still there. Based on observations we think this fell down in the past year. Here are some pictures... Nice shots of the S face from the approach: Reid Glacier: The route from the start of the roped climbing: Perspective from the first two belays: Looking up at our P3: View of Castle Crags and Reid HW: Reid Glacier / Yocum Ridge / St. Helens / Adams: Belay below the last bit of climbing: Artem approaching the penultimate belay: Summit of I-rock on the right and Reid HW behind: Artem on the final moves: Rap horn on the ridge: Pulling ropes in the South Chamber (luckily the rime was slush at this point and we weren't too worried): Walking away, one last view of the S side of I-rock: Gear Notes: Double from fingers to fists (hexes could be nice for the second set in the often Scottish conditions), lots of nuts, slings and a few pins. Approach Notes: Hike to the saddle and drop down to the North. Look for the obvious weakness in the face.

Done Peregrine Traverse and thought it was very chill, Where Eagles Dare would be a possibility, though its pretty chill too. Can you tell me more about the SW Butt on Spire Rock? A couple other possibilities I found that are in the Oregon Cascades... https://www.mountainproject.com/route/117564379/limpy-express-line https://www.mountainproject.com/route/111746750/the-prize

I'm 36 but I work with 13 and 14 year olds... a few years ago I realized none of my students from my nearly decade long teaching career were born when 9/11 happened. Also baggy jeans are back in style. 😱 Everything is relative.

Mine are probably a bit more recent and some of these are not really PNW, but some of my favorites in the greater region… or by people from it… that are not standard fare I think? or at least getting rarer and out of print.

Trip: Wolf Rock - Barad Dur Trip Date: 10/21/2023 Trip Report: Climbed Barad Dur with Scott Saturday 10/21. Plenty of beta out there and no significant story to tell, but I will say that this is a great adventure route and should be on any Oregonian's list. While not as consistently quality as say Index or Snow Creek, it is still very high quality movement on steep rock with these lovely grippy incuts. I would recommend it to anyone who likes steep rock climbing and alpine-esque adventure climbing. Weather beta: Watch for dry spells with cool weather and a high cloud layer in fall. Route faces SE at 3500-4500'. Pics... Gear Notes: 1x 0.3-3 w/ doubles 0.4-0.75, lots of draws and slings Approach Notes: Check with FS for road closures this fall due to fire clean-up.

I would say climbing 5.10 would be helpful, though not 100% necessary to do the Cassin... but climbing 5.9 onsight comfortably on gear would be mandatory. If you are driving don't go all the way to Colorado for ice. It is mostly picked out and a long way. Go to Hyalite and then move onto the more obscure routes in the area. If you can go to Canmore that is great too. Some routes in Hyalite to do: Dribbles, Silken Slot, Thrill is Gone, Twin Falls, Cleo's, Black Magic, Zack Attack Greater region routes to do: Beehive routes (any and all), California Ice... all the way! Note you may not be ready for any of those this season. Some alpine ice/mixed routes that are easier to access... Reid HW, Elliot HW on Hood, NY Gully on Snoqualmie. Reid and Elliot you can probably do this season. NY Gully is probably a season or two out, but maybe not. If NY is casual then you'll be technically fine on Cassin.

You mean 5:25 mile pace? If so your math is off. It's 11 minute miles. 5:25 would be 100 mile world record pace on the track.

There is snow on the ground at 5k'. Let the games begin!

Waddington is at least as long a commute as AK. The season is different, that's it. What have you done so far? That might help with suggestions. Based on your list it sounds like you have limited experience with alpine climbing and mountaineering? Maybe, just my perspective and you just want lots of training climbs? All your ice mixed training routes are super mellow in standard conditions. Not that that is bad, but you should be climbing WI5 with no problem. Fresh WI4 with an overnight pack is harder than picked out WI5 at well known crags for most folks, and you need to be able to climb that with absolutely no problems or concern while you're super tired. I had some friends do Cassin last year. It was their first AK trip. They also had the best weather in history, but still impressive. They all climbed WI5 easily on trips to Hyalite and other places. They had several years experience climbing alpine ice/mixed in the cascades. They also had experience in Peru on higher altitude peaks. Finally, they showed up super fit.

Real bummer people died. Is it bad I don't care? Think of all the people who died in Ukraine or Gaza today. All the homeless people and drug addicts. Who has time to give a crap for wealthy tourists? Also this got me good... "Gina Rzucidlo set off before the Elite/Imagine team reached the mountain, but stopped at Camp 2, because there was no open trail and no ropes, Naila Kiani said." Still kind of odd to me that these tourists get press for their accomplishments. If this were running terms it would be like if Kipchoge or another elite marathoner from Kenya ran the Berlin Marathon at record pace twice to "set" the course and then jogged it with some trustfunder who paid him, but then the headline is "_____ (trustfunder) finished Berlin Marathon, might be first white woman (or other category) from _____ (country) to finish all marathon majors in the world!" Obviously not an exact metaphor but you get the idea. So odd, so unfortunate. Really appreciate Metcalf's attitude in the explorers web article.

Already got that. They aren't soloing. They are using a fix and follow or TR solo method.