dave schultz

+1 ... Wetslide has an interesting perspective, though, a good effort to reduce unnecessary bailing and avoid overbuilding your bail anchor. But I agree with Pete, if you are bailing and leaving gear, its definitely booty. If you leave it somewhere else, where it was a mistake, it could also be considered booty, but you could/should make an effort to return it (and thus buy yourself some good climbing karma).

have you considered punching them?

Badass, way to do it super light and fast. It looks like just about everything got climbed this past weekend.

Awesome!! Great job ticking that one off the list. Looks like lots of good stuff gave it up this past weekend.

I haven't seen an ATC used in the way shown in the pic. Putting the ATC on the end of a runner (or 2, for redundancy) instead of directly on your belay loop is a standard way to add friction for rapping. The longer the runner, the greater the friction. I don't remember when/who/how I learned the extra biner trick. It does push it further away, but it still adds some surface area, and thus friction. I had not considered placing BOTH biners through the belay loop, but you would run into issues with different sized biners (with only one through the loop the sizes are of no importance to the system). I will give the two biners through the belay loop a try next time I am in a position to want added friction. I usually use two biners for 8mm ropes and smaller, or other times when I want a little more control without defaulting to the prussik backup (such as with gloved, cold hands or doing a free-hanging rappell). Adding a sling to the system, as far as I can tell, does not increase the friction - it would only reposition the device further from your belay loop. This can increase control and safety by making it more accessible, and by improving the effectiveness of a prussik backup. The extended rappel device I find more useful in a free hanging rappel, when you will be doing many rappells in a row, tandem rappelling, or other various/specific situations (none of which were encountered by us). Pete_H : Chinese Downhill looks like it has potential. I had to google it to see what it was. How about May 10th or 11th from Camp Muir to the parking lot? I'll throw $100 for the winner. Eric - we had a secret spot to park. We sledded to a sign that advertised no more snowmobiling was permitted.

Pete - rumor is Hood's NF is in skiable condition ... Want to partner up for a single push ski descent?

Dude, AWESOME pics. I am really sorry my photo taking machine crapped itself hard. Thanks for putting up the better half of the TR.

Trip: Mount Rainier - Liberty Ridge with Partial Ski Descent Date: 11-14 April (really, just a long Saturday and Sunday) Trip Report: It started with a big ambition plan, the good luck of knowing a friend with a snowmobile, and a good weather window. The goal was a single push, ski descent of the Liberty Ridge, starting Friday night, 11 April; included in this was an easy transition to a backup of climb/ski over the weekend. I only got three pictures with my iPhone before it got too cold … wtf; thus Alex will have to submit the ones he captured. We got a late start, and started skinning after the snowmobile ride just before midnight on Friday. We made expected fast time to Saint Elmo Pass (just over two hours) and only had to do crevasse avoidance shenanigans once (on the Winthrop Glacier around 7190 feet). Ski crampons were nearly required to make the continuous traverse at around 7200 feet. The drop off to the Carbon Glacier from the Curtis Ridge was spot on at 7200 feet, and no easily identifiable option existed above (as far as I could tell at 530am). We stopped before the toe in order to transition from skinning to technical climbing, we also melted snow and had some lunch around Our climbing up was a little slower than expected, but not bad. The shrund was easily passed, and we opted to cross over to the east side of the ridge about half-way to Thumb Rock. We arrived at TR around noon. Based on our climbing pace, the fatigue from not getting quite a good pre-climb nap, and our overall priority of the ski descent, we opted to overnight at TR and get a good rest, acclimate, and start again around midnight, Sunday morning. We each set at creating our own little snow cave, and essentially had the afternoon to relax in one of the most incredible landscapes on earth - cloudless, bright sun, moderate temperatures, complete silence – except for the clockwork regularity of avalanches from the Curtis and Willis Walls, transition to dusk then night, and a blinding (nearly full) moon. No alarm was set, as it is unnatural to go to sleep at 3pm and stay asleep for more than 7 hours, so at 10pm Alex and I started getting ready to go. We at this point had not met the single-push goal, so we were essentially on a casual pace, with no real hurry, and just a whole lot of mountain and whole lot of time. We opted to go left above TR and essentially continued making left choices until we were forced to go right. We moved slow and steady, taking one large break around 3am to melt some more snow. Shortly after this my Suunto HR Monitor watch’s batteries died, along with my too-cold iPhone, meant I no longer had any notion of time. This “left choice” eventually placed us at skier’s right, and at the base of, an enormous “snowfield” that was actually 30-45 degree ice. Sunrise (Sunday) occurred shortly before arriving at the ice field. Not expecting to do long or continuous technical climbing we only brought a 30m 8mm and a 35m 6mm tag line. From our original vantage point it was unclear is this would be a short section of ice, or run full length. We did a single 30m pitch hoping to reach a better vantage point. Needless to say, 30 meters sounds like a good distance – it’s not! The second pitch we did some pre-planning and discussed the options for simul-climbing should the need arise, and it did; we simuled about 2 rope length to get into a position to fully appraise the situation. The third and final lead was all simul, nearly 5 or 6 rope lengths of the 30m rope, to reach the end of the ice. This put us in position to identify the break in the ice cap where we could climb up through. The gap was simple and straightforward – we soloed it. The climb (death slog) from that point to Liberty Cap was very windy (the windiest of my Rainier summits … this (finally) was the first), and seemed to go forever (hence, death slog). I thought it was right there … then this one … then maybe this one … then I’ll just wait to be surprised. We summated between noon and 1pm (maybe?). Given that our overly causal day put us pretty late on top, we had a short discussion on the summit about the descent options, should we bail down the Emmons or go for the LR descent? We chose to go for the money … We booted back down, choosing not to ski because of the horrendous wind, and made an easy rappel back down the ice step. I transitioned at the base of the rappel, and had probably the best turns of the day for the next 200 feet of vertical (little did I know). The snow turned to unskiable ice (as we experienced on the way up, but failed to make a good mental note), and the art of transitioning from skis to crampons was once again practiced. We down-climbed to the top of the “snow” (I mean “ice”) field and made two 30m rappels. This moved us to skier’s left where we could search for a ski line (in an area we had not climbed up) using the various topos from the guide books. We made another three 30m rappels through the steepest/continuous ice, connecting large sections of easily down-climbable terrain. Once again, we stopped for a lengthy snow melting break, around maybe 3pm. Around 5pm we eventually settled on a line that looked like it would go … and it didn’t … another round of skis to crampons. Some down-climbing and back on skis for a good section of skiing, though with quality getting worse, eventually bad enough to not justify skiing … skis to crampons. There was one more final stretch of good skiing that once again ended with running out of real estate, and skis to crampons. We booted down the remainder of the ridge (sunset Sunday near the bottom), staying skier’s left and making a final 30m rappel through some ice that is climber’s right on the west side of the ridge while gaining TR. Thanks to the GPS track from the approach we were able to ski full speed across the Carbon Glacier with headlamps, transition to skins, and gain the Curtis Ridge without a hitch. Our skin track was still visible enough to follow it all the way back to Saint Elmo Pass (we avoided the crevasse this time). We again stopped to melt snow, about halfway across the Winthrop Glacier. The climb up to Saint Elmo was crappy, the last thing we wanted to do was boot up a semi-supportable, but 99% breakable crust to just below the knee … really fun. We transitioned at the top, and crushed that slope in the dark – mega-bright headlamp skiing is one of the coolest things around. We were able to ski along the White River and to within one mile of the campground (sunrise Monday near the campground). Some snowmobile shenanigans and we were off. 31.5 hours camp to car. Thoughts/Notes: 1) The Liberty Ridge has millions of options. I think people might get wrapped up in doing a specific section, or feature, and lose sight that the entire thing is the ridge, climb what you want and what looks fun. I think this mindset contributed to our “left choice” mentality instead of just going for something, and seeing what you get. I also think that the left options is significantly longer (overall distance traveled), which makes it a much more time consuming route. 2) I generally always follow the mindset to climb it before you ski it (if it is that type of terrain, and I would consider LR to be in the category). We did not follow this, and it cost us. The reason was the that length of time to get through the ice by rappelling would have been too long, and the terrain on the far climber’s left seemed that I would be placing you in a location not ideal for skiers … Next time, I would have put more thought into the up-route, and made sure that we were actively seeking our descent line, and making good mental (or working iPhone) notes. 3) Time and speed, we were really slow. This was hard to quantitatively notice because of a dead watch battery (it started at 100%) and a frozen iPhone. We stopped twice on the climb to generate water, which we would require since we are at altitude, and having going for a long time; I don’t think you can cut these out – maybe carry more water, heavier=faster?. Technical climbing, we did one short pitch (30m), a short simul pitch (60m), and long simul pitch (275m) … that’s not a ton of belays and time sinks … but perhaps it is and I just don’t recognize it as such. I believe that the biggest source of lost time were inefficient water breaks (as previously discussed), and other general breaks that should either have been shorter, or should not have occurred. 4) Snow and ski conditions, is the bullet-proof snow and ice throughout the entire ridge a common condition, or did we gamble on conditions and lose? All in all, this was a good climb, but I don’t think it was a great climb, though I did have a great time. I would round up and call it a partial ski descent. I liked the remoteness, route-finding challenges, and size/scale – I underestimated the overall package of the Liberty Ridge. I thought that there would have been more technical challenges with it, perhaps with a different line of ascent there would be more (the lack of technical climbing is what downgraded it from great to good). I personally enjoyed Mt Hood’s North Face more. Gear Notes: 30m 8mm dynamic 35m 6mm tag line (for making 30m rappels) 6x 16cm screws 1x 22cm screw for v-threads 6x double length slings 3x single length slings 2x screamers 2x ice tools 2x skis 2x ski crampons 30 degree sleeping bag half sleeping pad lots of fuel for melting snow Approach Notes: WRG - Saint Elmo Pass - 7200 feet across the Winthrop Glacier to Curtis Ridge - across the Carbon Glacier to the toe.

Austin - how are the fingers feeling? Did they fare well this winter? Good to see your still out crushing it. I'm going after lib ridge ski descent this weekend. Stby for a TR Monday.

Looking for a partner to ski or climb rock. Ver flexible for options. Dave 239-two-three-three-2002

What was your objective at the elderado TH and how was it?

Yea, there was a moderate amount of activity. The big stuff was falling in pretty consistent intervals in the same area. Only small loose wet stuff came down the stuff I climbed and skied, easy to get to the side and let the small stuff go down the middle. The debris piles indicated pretty accurately the biggest pieces that I saw.

Thursday and Friday look like crappy wx (at least this far out, and on the west side of the crest). How about Tuesday or Wednesday at Index?

Trip: Big Four Mountain's Lower Couloirs - Date: 3/29/2014 Trip Report: My wife and I drove the MLH on Friday to see what it was like, and I was shocked with how close Big Four is to the road. I guess it's pretty obvious when you look at a map, but I just failed to realize that it literally is right there. I immediately began thinking how I can get myself out there, and soon. Fast-forward to the next morning. I got up early and thought I would just go check it out, no real plans other than get to pullout and see how it goes. I left the house at 6:15. It was raining steadily, visibility was not very good, but I was so curious to see what it would be like that I ended up gearing up and heading in. It took about 30 minutes to get to the couloirs, and I chose a fairly short one, just to the left of the steep, vertical lower headwall. This one had the worst conditions, very hard snow, and very little consistency for angle (like skiing a frozen choppy lake). Actual couloir length was about 200-300 vertical feet. The second couloir was further left, and from the approach it looked like a vertical sliver of white. It was pretty tight, between 10 and 20 feet wide, and steeper than the first, with tall vertical walls on both sides. There was a more consistent angle and it was a little softer; making for fantastic jump turns. This was by far the best of the day. Actual couloir length was about 350 vertical feet. I thought I might be finished for the day, having explored a little, but I decided to head up and around to corner to check it out, and found another one, wider and lower angled. I climbed up for probably 500 vertical feet in the couloir. The turns were not as good as the second, but much better than the first. The rain made it a short day, I was back to the truck just after 11, and unfortunately I could not see much else around due to the poor visibility. I had never been to this area, and was fascinated by it. There appear to be tons of technical climbing with ski descents, all within half an hour of the road. I will be back. I feel like I missed out by not ever going to check this place out before. Technical climbing and ski descents abound, and closer to Everett than anything else. I forgot my phone/camera at home, but my POS GoPro was able to capture some of it. BTW, does anyone else have the Hero3 and have a terrible time getting it to work well? The first couloir I skied is visible on the leftmost edge of the photo, going up and right. The other couloirs were even further left. This is looking left, and you can see the entrance for the first couloir on the right. The second couloirs entrance is out of site, behind the mound of snow. I would be on the other side of the rock face in the center of the photo. The third couloir was still further left. Looking at the GoPro, wondering if it is working or not ... I guess it was. I know what you're thinking ... "man that looks like good skiing weather" Gear Notes: -Two ice tools, which were helpful in the second couloir -Crampons, also helpful in the second couloir -30m 8mm rope in my pack -Lightweight harness -1 22cm ice screw and a v-thread tool -Ski crampons, never used (too soft), perhaps would have been useful higher on the mountain Approach Notes: Super easy, 30 minutes from the pullout, then pick your line. Even with the road unplowed, the two miles of skinning would have gone by very fast, 45 minutes at most.

Looking for a partner for spearhead traverse sat-sun (probably drive north Friday) or for the enchantments (couliors if conditions permit or exploring/touring above Asgard pass) Two-three-nine-223-2002 Dave

Hum ... We left the lake around 130pm, there were no other people in the area, and didn't see another skier coming up for quite a while. It's possible someone was climbing it well into the afternoon, but I think unlikely. The heat and sun could have significantly affected the snow in the coulior, though that is only speculation. Several climbers coming up said they were interested in the NBC, to whick we informed them of the deep wallowing snow. I'd like to hear more about this, or if anyone had a report for Sunday's conditions.

I agree that summiting and dropping is definitely easier, especially in the conditions we found. Though having never been on the route at all, I didn't want to do it that way. The snowpack looks like it will support many more weekends of fun descents. I'll certainly be back.

Trip: Colchuck Lake Environs - 22 March 2014 - North Buttress Couloir Date: 3/22/2014 Trip Report: Voytek and I planned on skinning into Colchuck Lake on Friday and skiing couloirs on Dragontail and Colchuck on Saturday and Sunday. I have made this approach before in January and my feet were unaffected, this time they turned to hamburger by the time I got to the lake. We had an uneventful night spent on the frozen lake with lots of weird sounds from the ice. It was colder than anticipated, but the 15 degrees were still not too cold for my 30 degree bag. The morning came and Voytek said he wasn't feeling well, that he was probably coming down with a bug, but was willing to give it a go and see how it goes. We probably entered the NCB a little too early and ended up making a rising leftward traverse to gain the couloir proper. The snow before the couloir was variable between hard supportive crust and a 3-6 inches of powder. The snow changed dramatically once we entered the couloir, it was very deep almost four feet before reaching a crust, and was nearly impossible to make upward progress. With Voytek not feeling 100% we decided that it was not worth the slog up the couloir, not to mention the heavy loading. I hacked out a platform and transitioned to ski what I could and Voytek downclimbed to where we transitioned from skinning to booting. With Voytec in position to watch me make the first turns, I enjoyed what I think was the best run of the season, though it was short. There was significant sluff from the powder, but no cracks and nothing propagated. It went through one choke point and then into the open slope below, where I watched Voytek make his descent. We decided to skin up a little higher to look at the Colchuck Glacier and the NEB. The NEB looked like a fantastic ski descent, and one I will definitely be back for. The glacier skied well on the lower half, the upper have was fairly windswept and hard. With Voytek not feeling well and heading out, and with the couliors having more snow in them than anticipated, I opted to head out as well. The wife and dog would appreciate me being home for a change. The skiing conditions were fantastic, fresh right-side-up snow nearly everywhere. We were really only interested in skiing the couloirs, which were not in the right condition. We did see a lot of people hiking in on our way out Saturday afternoon. It seemed like a late start for weekend climbers, to be on the approach trail at 3pm on Saturday?? Things I learned: -The skin up the road is pretty boring, but goes very fast, and may have been the cause for my feet (or the 50 degree temps); a snowmobile is now in the cards ... -The Enchantments, and specifically the Colchuck area alone, has at least six tight and steep couloirs that I would like to ski. -I have been missing out, every time I skied at Baker or Rainier, I should have been skiing in the Enchantments. -The ski out, after the initial descent from the lake to about the first bridge crossing, is one of the most terrifying rides I have ever done. -Voytek was a great partner, a real champ for getting done as much as he got done while feeling like crap. I look forward to climbing with him again. Instability Notes: -No real instability to speak of, based on several hand shear tests. -There were signs of wet avalanches, but there was also fresh snow on top of the debris, indicating they were probably from the previous weekend's warm weather. Gear Notes: -Ski crampons mandatory in several places where it was windswept, as well as on final approach to the lake. -Open bivy worked again. Saturday afternoon, getting ready to ski out. Thin, possible ski descent between Backbone Ridge and Serpentine Arete. Possible ski descent near CBR. NEC from middle of Colchuck Glacier. Looks like a steller line, can't wait to get back and ski it. The NBC looking up from where we determined it would be a wallow-fest, and not worth it. The NBC looking down. A view from the Colchuck Glacier descent.

I have a mental block in my head that prevents me from doing the gib ledges. Nisqually Ice Cliff, Ingraham, Kautz, ANYTHING other than Gib Ledges would be okay.

bump for different objectives ....

Weekend weather looks to be pretty good, originally interested in heading only to Smith Rock, but now I have some other options, and would need a partner: Enchantments, specifically Colchuck and/or Dragontail. Perhaps Stuart. Could do a day trip or overnight(s). Spearhead Traverse. Either one or two nights (perhaps a single push is someone really wanted to do it that way). Rainier. Any route other than Gibraltar Ledges. Lots of options. MSH, Adams, and Hood in one big, long, tiresome day. Open to any other ideas, and still would love to get down to Smith if anyone is also heading down that way. I can leave as early as around noon, coming from Bremerton. Thanks, Dave 239-two-three-three-2002

The elderado is really bulky and heavy. I bought one seeking the additional room, and sent it back because it was just not worth the weight and bulk; I then went on the hunt/prowl for a used lighthouse, and eventually found one. Like I said before, the lighthouse packs just about as small as the firstlight but has a TON more room ... even at 6'6" and size 14 feet you are probably not sticking out too much.

Partner got the stomach bug and is out for the weekend. We had planned on going into the Colchuck area for Colchuck and Dragontail. I would still like to get in there but that is a lot to propose to someone on a Friday. At this point, just looking for a good plan. I am willing to head as far north as the Spearhead Traverse (though they have a lot of snow predicted on Saturday night), or as far south as Smith Rock (party sunny and mid-60s), and anything in between. Rock, Snow, Ice, doesn't really matter. Hope to hear from someone, Dave two-three-nine-233-two-zero-zero-two

I'll be there, probably both Wednesday and Thursday at 4-ish.

I also agree with the lighthouse. I have both the lighthouse and the firstlight. The extra few inches of the lighthouse keep the single wall off your toes, and if you are taller than 6'0" the firstlight is a really tight squeeze (making the lighthouse a better option). I also got mine by trolling on the forums and waiting for someone to post theirs for sale...