Dylan Colon

I liked Barad Dur a bit better for the whole experience but would be more likely to recommend/repeat Morgul Vale, if that makes sense. I've not experienced anything quite like the exposure on the crux pitches of Barad Dur, and certainly not in Oregon.

Trip: - Kautz Glacier Date: 8/14/2016 Trip Report: My friend Brian Meyers and I climbed Mount Rainier via the Kautz Glacier route last Monday the 15th through Wednesday the 17th. I thought I'd post some thoughts and pictures to let you all know how things are up there. TL,DR: The route is in great shape right now, but will require much more complicated crevasse navigation in the near future. We started from the Comet Falls trailhead, in order to avoid having to cross the Nisqually Glacier, which is a huge mess right now, loose rock, running water, crevasses, the works. This of course means we start at only a little over 3600', but it's cool to see all the life zones on the way up the trail. Falls low on Van Trump Creek. Comet Falls, a real gem. Van Trump Park, like Paradise, but we were literally the only ones there as far as I could tell, as opposed to the hundreds to thousands at Paradise. Climbing the snowfields leading up the Turtle. High camp just above the Turtle, but still several hundred feet below Camp Hazard, and the scary ice cliff. Why people camp so close to it is kind of beyond me. I guess it was less obviously dangerous in the pre-global warming era? Lovely view at dawn of Adams and Hood the second day. We got a bit of a later start than we should have (my fault), and started climbing up from camp at something like 5:30AM. We made it to the rappel down to the Kautz Glacier proper sometime roughly around 6:00 if memory serves. Another team had passed us earlier and was starting up the first ice pitch at about this time. We found the first ice pitch to be pretty moderate, but we started a little to low to link it with one 60m pitch (though I stopped at a stance rather than stretch the rope to its limit). We then belayed a second pitch, which wasn't really that necessary, but helped since I'm not that experienced of an ice climber, and my partner was totally new to it. We then simulclimbed to the base of the second pitch. This looked really intimidating at first, but I got excited to lead it once I was under it. We also waited a while to let the party ahead of us get off it, as a lot of junk was falling down the route from their climbing. The Kautz ice chute in all its glory. View of the second ice step. It looks short here, but was two long pitches. The second step proved to be about 100m or so of 45-50 degree glacial ice. Because we were running late at this point, and the sun was hitting it, there was a bit of a crumbly veneer that was dinner plating a lot, and there was some water running down the thing, but the ice underneath the top 0.5 inch or so was solid and took screws really well. That said, I only had 3-4 screws to place per pitch after accounting for anchors, which made the leads engaging. On the first pitch of the second step, which was the more sustained one, I traversed past a penitente for pro, which seemed solid, if not something I planned to test. Brian climbing the first of two pitches on the second step. After the second step we simulclimbed a few hundred feet more of neve before transitioning to normal glacier travel on the highly sun cupped upper slopes. There were quite a few small-medium cracks to cross, but nothing too dire and the end-runs we had to make were pretty easier. After some time, we caught up to the party of two above us, who had turned back from the upper slope of the Kautz, and they reported wet and deep snow with post-holing past the knees and scarily soft snow bridges above 13000'. This was nothing like the warm but firm conditions we'd encountered up till then, and wanting nothing of it, we decided to join them at a bivy at the top of the cleaver separating the Nisqually and Kautz glaciers at just over 13000'. We waited there until about midnight trying to sleep and fight off mild headaches from our rapid ascent. The upper Kautz Glacier and Point Success. After packing up, we ascended the newly-refrozen Kautz Glacier, now roped together as a party of four for convenience and safety. Big crevasses necessitated going towards Point Success rather than heading over the Nisqually towards the DC. We climbed with good moonlight and barely needed our headlamps, and things went smoothly. We passed quite near, but not straight over, Point Success. I regret this slightly, as I imagine I may not be near that summit for a very long time again. We finally made the top of Columbia Crest at about 3AM. Sorry, no summit pictures, as my flash was not working. Going down the DC route was a completely different world, with a sidewalk-like bootpack for most of it, wands, and several ladders bridging the crevasses. We also multiplied the number of other human beings we'd seen by about 20 compared to the previous day. We only made one small route finding error, following an old bootpack that had been rerouted over a bridge that was getting much too thin for good sense (of course we realized this just in time to have to go back and cross it again!). The views from the DC sure are purty though. Emmons Glacier from the DC. Lower Ingraham Glacier and the Ingraham Flats camp. Brian's opinion of descending 9500' in heavy mountaineering boots in just a few hours. Hard to worry about sore feet toooo much though. Once back I managed to hitch hike back to the car pretty easily for a successful end to the trip. All in all, its a great route, and it's pretty fun right now, go get it while the bridges on the upper mountain make it still pretty simple! Gear Notes: 7 ice screws, a few pickets, the ice screws got plenty of use, I think we placed one picket the whole trip. Approach Notes: Nisqually Glacier is a big mess down low, lots of dangerous loose rock, so we took the longer approach via Comet Falls and Van Trump Park.

Anyone been on the North Face gullies lately? I was wondering if they are nice ice or just a ton of snow.

I thought I'd cautiously appeal to the wisdom of the crowd in deciding whether do drive up to Hood from Eugene for a Sunday summit attempt with a possible ski descent. The weather looks quite nice on Sunday, but I'm deeply worried about the possibility of a big fat storm slab forming on the Old Chute during Friday's storm. It looks like that snow should be accompanied by strong winds out of the west, so I imagine the chute itself at least won't be wind loaded? Worse still, it will be warming up rapidly on Sunday, but I at least imagine that I can make the summit around dawn and avoid melt-triggered slides. I feel like I'm competent enough to dig a pit and decide on my overall likelihood of killing myself up there but I'd rather only go all of the way up there if I felt like there was a decent chance of the entire route being safe to the summit, otherwise I'll look for a place to ski closer to home. Finally, if I wanted to judge snow conditions on the old chute, does anyone know of a good place to dig a pit that is representative but not exposed? Is there a standard spot people look or not so much? Thanks and any advice is appreciated including telling me I'm stupid if I deserve it.

Thanks Ben, that is pretty much what I expected, but was hoping someone would prove me wrong. I'm completely inexperienced when it comes to judging when it might be good to go in the fall; I've only done spring and summer climbs. How much snow needs to be up there in order for there to be a good source of melt for the gullies? How many days of dripping (high freezing level between intervals of low freezing level, right?) need to happen to form protectable, stable ice up there? I'm not in a big hurry to get up there, I realize things are pretty much f---ed after the year we've had, but I was hoping for a bit of insight into when it might not be a complete waste of time to go check it out.

Any one know if anything is forming in the North Face gullies right now? There has been cold weather and precipitation, at least ... I'd love to hear about any hint of early season ice, if anyone is willing to share.

Thanks! May I ask which pitches were updated? Also, does anything know anything about (Chris Fralick's?) route "The Steps of Cirith Ungol." There is a brief mention in Greg Orton's guidebook but I can find nor hear nothing else. Is it remotely safe or is it a bunch of these kind of quarter-inchers?

Trip: Three Sisters, Oregon - Marathon Date: 9/12/2015 Trip Report: Seizing the beautiful weather this weekend, three friends and I made a north to south traverse of the Three Sisters yesterday. The climb was pretty uneventful and conditions were very good the whole way. The nastiest climbing was actually on the north ridge of South Sister, rather than on North Sister, as we had expected. Being a north face, it has held on to a bit of last week's snow, making the rock wet in places. We encountered a fixed rope that led off to the right where the really really bad red rock begins. Climbing alongside this fixed rope proved to be the crux of the route and was really quite nasty. We did the traverse in a very unremarkable time of 16 hours 35 minutes, but with a 3 AM start that still left time to get beers and food in Bend afterwards. Edit: I meant to mention that Thayer Glacier on North Sister was no where to be seen, it seems that any remaining ice has been completely covered by recent rockfall. I wonder if it can be really called a glacier at this point? Top of North Sister. View from North Sister. View from Middle Sister. Sadly South Sister wasn't looking much closer. Definitely the most depressing view of the day. Looking back at North Sister from Middle Sister. Looking back up at Middle Sister. View of South Sister's north face from Chambers Lakes. Looking south from Chambers Lakes. Scrambling up nasty "rock" on the north ridge of South Sister. A pool of water in South Sister's crater. Teardrop pool did not seem to be formed in the usual place, perhaps it drained out?

I am planning an attempt of a Three Sisters traverse, north to south, in the coming week or two. For aesthetic reasons purely, I was thinking of starting with the northwest ridge of North Sister, so as to effetively "trace the skyline" of the three mountains, north to south, climbing the north ridge and descending the south ridge of all three. The question is, is the northwest ridge of N. Sister unreasonably dangerous when not snow and ice covered, compared to the south ridge (which I have been on, and yeah, it's pretty loose)? Is this a bad idea, or not too unreasonable? I was thinking I would not climb the north side of Prouty (that does look too loose, especially unroped), and using the bowling alley for the way up and down.

If it was completely encased 2.5 weeks ago, do you think the recent weather could really get rid of all of it?

I am considering attempting this route this coming weekend. In light of all of the hot weather, I'm worried about nasty unprotectable slop on the summit pinnacle, especially because the freezing level will be at least 11,000 ft. Thoughts?

Another question, any comments on the use of prussiks or ascenders to belay the 2nd person in a party of 3?

To reply to a few comments: ScaredSilly: Thanks for the comment about the crevasse. We did lower into the side, not the more complex center of the thing, and did not lower past any significant overhangs. Nonetheless, I'll be more cautious in the future as I definitely plan to practice that stuff more in the future. Water: a 3:1 was actually totally adequate to haul someone heavier than me in the given conditions. I did practice heading out to the lip to pad the lip with my ice ax also. I agree with you that we should have started earlier, but also you are correct, we decided to have light for our first time on an active glacier. Finally, my friends used hitches and I used spinner leashes, so yeah, we were definitely firmly attached to our gear. I've thought quite a bit about what that might mean in a fall, but I also have a possibly irrational level of fear of dropping my tools, as I'm kind of a klutz. Ben: The 'schrund may have been passable, actually, but the snow was deteriorating and trying for the summit would have pretty much guaranteed that we got benighted on the descent on the Whitewater, which we didn't want given our unfamiliarity with that side of the mountain. Thanks for the feedback, I was mostly wondering if there was anything majorly dumb that I did but didn't know I did, and I am happy that that seems to not be the case.

Trip: Mount Jefferson - Jefferson Park Glacier Date: 8/9/2014 Trip Report: I'm going to open myself up to some criticism here. A couple of friends of mine and I tried to climb Jefferson Park Glacier last August. This is on the heels of a succesful climb by two of us of North Sister last May. As most of you here have already guessed based on the phrases "Jefferson Park Glacier" and "August," we didn't make it. That said, aside from a quick crossing of a slope that was exposed to rockfall, I believe we did so in safety. The main rub is that none of us had been on a crevassed glacier before. I had read the entire Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue book by Andy Selters and the relevant Freedom of the Hills chapters, however. Feel free to tear into me for that, I understand it was a risk, but felt that I had at least learned all that I could without having someone with me. See the post for a bit more about my thoughts on this matter. I'm actually hoping that some of the people here can point out things that I did wrong or should do differently on future trips, aside from the things I identified at the end of the following blog post. I consider myself to be an experienced rock climber, but snow, ice, and particularly glacier travel are pretty new territory for me. Long story short, we spent a day approaching and practicing crevasse rescue techniques, and a day trying to summit. The attempt was stopped by our slow progress over unexpectedly icy and technical terrain, and by a bergschrund that you could toss apartment buildings into. Once again, criticism is encouraged, even harsh criticism, as long as it is constructive. Practicing crevasse rescue. Gorgeous view from the campsite. Base of the glacier at the crack of dawn. The lower glacier was very gentle and crevasses were open and avoidable. Higher up we started running into stuff like this. We had to belay and it slowed us down immensely. Crossing a solid snowbridge. The (completely impassible) bergschrund. Bailing climber's left off the glacier below the bergschrund. Our route. Detailed blog post: https://dylanontherocks.wordpress.com/2014/12/28/n00bery-on-the-jefferson-park-glacier/ Gear Notes: pickets, a fluke, skinny rope, prussiks and pulleys, ice screws, rock pro that was never used, crampons and axes

Thanks, that pretty much confirms my suspicions. I'm definitely no expert in analyzing snow in the field, so it seems this one is a solid no. I'm definitely in no hurry to do a winter conditions ascent of this mountain, so I'll wait for a good safe window, because dying on Mount Hood when I could have just waited would be pretty stupid. I had checked those sites. My one hope was that the south wind was strong enough and consistent enough that the south-facing slopes wouldn't see much accumulation, but I suppose that's a tough proposition for a windward slope the size of the entire south face of Mount Hood.

I have a relatively newbish question. I've climbed Mt. Hood before via the south side, so I'm mildly familiar with the mountain. I've also climbed North Sister and attempted Jefferson Park Glacier, both in relatively icy conditions, so I'm reasonably aware of the mechanics of easy ice climbing, glacier travel, etc. A similarly experienced friend of mine and I are considering maybe trying to thread the weather window that it looks like is happening this Sunday. The one thing I'm not so sure about is what the avalanche danger will be like and I was wondering if I could get some advice from some of the more experienced members of this forum, with the obvious caveat that I am ultimately responsible for my own safety, regardless of what anyone says. I noticed there are currently pretty strong south winds at the top of Magic Mile (30-40 mph). I've been thinking of trying either the south side again or Leuthold Couloir. I'd consider Cooper Spur, but I imagine the approach will be pretty long right now. Any advice or condition reports would be greatly appreciated. EDIT: Based on what I can see it seems like a pretty sketchy proposition, and probably a no go, but I'd still like to hear from some experienced community members about which routes have less danger overall in the winter months.

Trip: North Sister - Southeast Ridge Date: 5/31/2014 Trip Report: Some of you may remember that I asked about North Sister conditions a few months back. In the spirit of better late than never, here's what came of it: http://dylanontherocks.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/the-sinister-sister/ A slow, but successful and fun climb. Gear Notes: pickets and a fluke Approach Notes: Mostly dry approach then snow in the last mile or two up to the ridge.

When I did it I had a single 60 m rope. I suspect you could get past the worst of the climbing with a 40, but it would require some downclimbing steep 4th class terrain after the end of the rope.

The bowling alley was good solid rime, would probably take a screw in a couple places, and the rap sling was melted out and usable.

I summitted yesterday via the SW ridge. We encountered good firm snow on the Terrible Traverse and alpine ice in the Bowling Alley, hitting the top of Prouty at about 12:30 (late because the aforementioned technical bits were harder and longer than expected, and we pitched everything out). On the way down the Bowling Alley was still firm, but the traverse had become very soft, but at that point there were good steps kicked into it by previous climbers going both ways, making it not so bad. Things are still pretty well covered, but are also rapidly melting out, and there was one section on the traverse that was a nasty mixture of snow and loose rock. Overall it was a good learning experience and I hope to be faster and more efficient on future climbing trips. I'll post a few pictures in the next few days.

Ok, I have an actual question. Weather forecasts look relatively stable for Sunday, as far as I can tell right now, but really warm. If it isn't going to freeze at night, I assume the whole thing is best avoided? Or is that relatively acceptable?

I did see that, thanks, I was wondering if anyone had been up there more recently, otherwise that's what I was assuming I'd be in for. It was those pictures which made me decide a rope would be mandatory given my experience and comfort level.

A couple of my friends and I were planning on trying to climb North Sister on Sunday (weather permitting) via the SW ridge from Pole Creek. We were planning on bringing a few pickets and a light rock rack, but would it be a good idea to also have some screws this time of year (I haven't been on that mountain before so I don't really know what to expect)? Also, has anyone been up there lately and can tell me what it's like? Full disclosure: I haven't done a snow climb where I've had to rope up before, and I'm thinking I will do most of the leading this weekend. That said, as far as my experience climbing snow goes, I've done a few unroped snow climbs up to ~45 degrees or so, the south side of Hood for example felt completely casual and I am confident I could climb considerably steeper ground just fine in the right conditions (I have ice tools, and have climbed vertical waterfall ice on toprope many times, though not particularly recently). I'm also pretty confident on exposed and loose rock, having climbed Washington and Three-Fingered Jack (with rope and gear) last summer in dry conditions without undue difficulty, as well as vastly more technically difficult, but safer, stuff at Smith. Thanks in advance for any beta!

Has anyone been up on North Sister lately? I was wondering whether the snowfield that typically covers the traverse to the bowling alley has melted out or if it is still impassible, above or below, without an ice axe, crampons, pickets, etc. I've recently climbed Broken Top, Washington, and two different routes on South Sister, and am looking at North Sister, but would really prefer to wait till it's dry.

Some friends and I are entertaining the idea of attempting South Sister in the next few weekends, depending on weather. I'm relatively new to the Cascades, and completely new to something of that scale in the winter, which is why I'm interested in perhaps the gentlest of the big volcanoes to start. I do have some experience climbing steep snow in spring conditions in the Tetons. I've seen a bunch of Mt. Hood trip reports here, but none for the Sisters, so I thought I'd go fishing to see if anyone's been up there lately. Finally, I am operating under the assumption that the South Ridge Route is the way to go in the winter. Is this probably the safest option? I will cop right away to my inexperience judging avalanche terrain, and I am wondering if anyone can offer a rough assessment of how dangerous this route is during a moderate forecast, with the obvious caveat that conditions can vary considerably. I'm not sure of the angle on the route, because I've never been on South Sister, is it steep enough to avalanche? I'm completely willing to wait till the spring/I get more experience, because the mountain will always be there, and I want to be too, at least for many years.