jakedouglas

Arrived to find the road gated. Hiked up the road in steady rain and hung out for a long time under the toilet building roof at the TH waiting for the rain to pass. Eventually started up the trail and it started raining steadily again so we headed down. It seemed like more precipitation than I had expected from the forecast and we could only imagine that there would be a lot of new snow up high. Another party started up the road as we were packing up the car. Best of luck to them.

FWIW, we canceled our motel room and stayed home. Without anyone local telling us otherwise, our interpretation of the forecast was too uncertain to gamble on such a long drive and taking time off of work.

We have plans to head to Hyalite tomorrow through Monday, but the Bozeman forecast has a fair amount of rain and snow. Should we show up and hope we're able to get some climbing done, or save the trip for another time?

North Bend is closer to Snoqualmie Pass and Leavenworth than Issaquah but further from the city and has fewer jobs, stores and amenities. It has a small community of trail runners, climbers and skiers, but not many people who do more than one of those. Issaquah has plenty of high quality trails, but I personally think the trails further east are a little more interesting. It really just depends on how much you want to live in the city vs. a smaller town and whether you are going to be commuting to a job. I moved to North Bend from Seattle a year ago and I love it, but it doesn't work for everyone.

Pretty much. I think a good indicator for snow climbs that a beginner could figure out without someone else leading is whether the route gets skied on a regular basis. The easiest one on Lane Peak and the Colchuck NBC probably fit the bill. If you find yourself in over your head with what people are recommending, make something up. Walk around, find a gully that looks like the right angle for you, climb it.

There are a few new synthetic insulated jackets on the market this year marketing exceptional breathability, notably the OR Superlayer and the Patagonia Nano Air. Breathable insulation is not new. We are used to this idea in the form of a fleece, such as the R1. It does breathe fairly well, but the caveat is typically that a shell must be added when stopped, or the substantial air permeability allows the heat to be sucked out by the wind. The claims seem too good to be true: How can this be? Isn't it inherent that more air permeability will result in more heat loss? Can't I obtain similar results by poking holes in my current jackets? Does anyone have experience with these pieces?

I read the whole thing yesterday. Very cool.

Nice job. The flake is a bit grim as you are looking at a substantially long fall onto the deck if you whiff it. I disagree that the easiest way up it is harder than 5.4 though, and I have even seen it referred to as being 4th class. I think it feels more intimidating but the few real moves earlier in the climb are actually more difficult. Maybe you took a harder variation. Your first pitch is commonly done as 2 pitches. You can do this route in as many or as few pitches as you want, but I prefer to do it in 4 simply to reduce drag and maintain communication. You can also bring less hardware that way.

Awesome climb, congratulations. I was a little surprised to see the #4 and #5 cams on your rack, as they tend to be left behind by many climbers unless they are known to be necessary for a route. Can I ask what prompted you to take them, and did they end up being useful?

It's "Repo I". Worth an afternoon (just one, no more) after work to mess around for a couple hours.

In the Icicle, these are all good places: Playground Point Mountaineers Dome Roto Wall XY Cracks R&D for multipitch The difficulty of the climbing may be laughable for your friend, but they are all good areas for placing gear and are close together so you can get in many hours of practice in a day.

Pretty hard to argue with that, especially on steeper/more sustained terrain like Rainier.

It's clear that not many people are dragging their beacon/shovel/probe up Rainier by late June or July, but my observation has been that wet slides are still not super uncommon, at least on steep aspects, by that time. ~3 pounds is a lot. What's your criteria for bringing it vs. leaving it at home?

There are people who do this for a living.

Who got to sleep in the tent?

Well there you have it.

So you went around the back of the thing you "had to get around", but stayed high. Going around the back like that is the standard approach, but when it's dry you can get around without losing much elevation or getting out the rope. There is a move or two but they are easy and not exposed. For what it's worth, people seem to have all different ideas of exactly what "Pineapple Pass" is. I've seen it used to refer to the whole general area at the top of the bowl, the spot you skinned to and have labeled as "Pineapple Pass" in your photo, as well as the gully below the point you labeled as "Start of 3 pitch climb". Did you rappel down this gully or go around the back again to exit the way you entered?

Nice work. Bare feet is interesting. Can you further describe the "2 pitch traverse"? I'm not sure exactly what you mean.

These pieces were there on Friday evening, 4/25. There was a group of 2 climbing there and we assumed the gear belonged to them, but when we came down they had left and the gear was still there.

I use the Stigma skis and they are fine if downhill performance isn't super important. Light enough that they are very nice for going up. The price is also right so you can beat them up without feeling bad about it. I don't think I would ever buy a boot without being able to try it on. That said, shops are usually very low on sizes at this point in the year, so I don't know if that's an option. I would at least try, if you haven't already. The One is also a bit heavier than you need if you are using this as a primarily uphill tool. The TLT is the standard for people who care about uphill/climbing in their ski boots.

Last year my group spent a night around 9k just below Muir and then moved up to Ingraham for the day, before leaving for the summit that night. We felt damn near normal all the way to the top and we will probably use this plan again for taking my girlfriend up this year.

I have almost always found FF down garments and bags to be lighter, with more fill weight of a higher quality, and cheaper, than any big brand. Look at the numbers and you will probably find little reason, if any, to go with something else.

When I learned I rented gear at the resort about 5 times, bumping up the length of my rental skis each time, until I was able to use skis of nearly the length I intended to buy. Then I went and bought a pair so I could stop spending the money on rentals and get into the backcountry. At the time I was probably able to ski blue runs OK or easy black diamonds. I definitely recommend picking up the gear now and throughout the spring as you see the deals. I bought my first pair of skis/boots/bindings at full price during the winter and I doubt I will ever do it again. The spring sale discounts are enormous. If you have any plans of spring/summer touring, be aware things like bindings and skins often sell out. Last spring, I waited a bit too long to put together my volcano touring setup, and had to order the bindings from France because all of my local shops and online stores were out of them for the year.

I saw a guy heading up to Muir with these last spring. They seemed to be able to go up stuff about half as steep as our BD Ascension skins could, in mostly firm but thawing corn. He kept stopping to take off his skins, talking about the benefit of getting the weight off of his feet, only to have to put them on again 10 minutes later when the slope pitched back up. They would be super useful for those flat or slightly rolling approaches and exits, letting you avoid wasting time messing with skins. I think they can be a bit slower on the downhill though. I haven't heard enough about this yet to be convinced to try a pair. You definitely still need skins.

The Vector looks good and has excellent reviews. Looks like a pretty good price here: http://skimo.co/voile-vector-skis