Ax Man

Next year? June, not May? 22nd May was last week.

Hey! We climbed it on May 2nd. We made it to the Pioneer Gulch trailhead no problem, but no dice on the Rickpile Trailhead. We needed snowshoes about 1 mile in, and the Western bowl was alllllllllllll avalanchy snow. It might be good now, but I bet there is still a decent amount of snow in the trees. Hope this helps!

Trip: Diamond Peak, Oregon - Pioneer Gulch Trip Date: 12/10/2017 Trip Report: My work weekend was pleasantly interrupted by an invite to try Diamond Peak on Saturday. I, being the goodie-two-shoes, still had a stockpile of unused sick pay (thank you Kate Brown) and called in with low-altitude Edema; the only cure being a sharp increase in elevation. We were hoping for good snow, so we brought the snowboards with us. The road to Pioneer Gulch trailhead had some moderate coverage but we made it to the trail head with no problems. Once into the forest, the snow disappeared until about 6500ft, so we had to bear the full weight of the snowshoes, crampons, and snowboards on our backs. There was a crazy temperature inversion, so it was T-shirt Weather up until about 7500ft. I only brought 64oz of water, so I was constantly packing my half full water bottles up with snow. Finally hit some snow on the North side of a ridge. Trees started thinning out and the snow was like spring conditions. We tried pulling the snowshoes off and went about 10 feet before punching through some meltout around some boulders, so back on they went. Almost to the summit ridge - Looking South at Thielsen. Manny packing up the ridge. We ditched the snowboards just below the summit ridge, and switched over to crampons. There was more ice and crusty stuff, so we definitely were glad we brought the spikes. Summit! Looking North at Hood, Jefferson, the 3 Sisters, Bachelor, and Willamette Pass. Heading back down the ridge. Sun starting to set, snowboards out, and Joe with his 9000 lb pack. Finally hit the flats, so no more snowboarding. Final mile in the dark. Left the car at 7:30am, back to the car at 5:20pm. We went slow, but we blame that on the conditions and the weight of all the gear with the snowboards. Overall it was great day to be on the mountain. This was my first fall/winter climb and felt more like spring. Gear Notes: Snowshoes needed from 6500ft to the summit ridge, but hit bands of bare rock. Put some new scratches in my Lightning Ascents. Crampons used once we got to the summit ridge. Snowboards to increase descent speed only worked for 1.5 miles until snow was too thin to continue. Hit several rocks that were hiding just under the surface. Approach Notes: Dirt trail for the first 1.5 miles, patchy snow afterwords.

PM Sent

Here is a photo from July 2nd from Mount June in the Cottage Grove Ranger District (from the West, looking East).

I've always had copious amounts of knee pain on descent. I only weigh 157 lbs and I am 6'3", even with a high protein diet and working out regularly. What helps me is doing slow walking lunges with dumbbells in my hands, focusing on the downward part. This works a lot of the muscles associated with downhill walking. I also mix this with leg extensions afterword. I'm no physical therapist, but my knee pain completely goes away on shorter descents (4 mile hikes) and is manageable on longer routes (Middle Sister, OR descent + 7 mile hike out) when I keep up on my routine.

http://www.kptv.com/story/30628266/teams-work-to-rescue-two-oregon-climbers-on-mt-jefferson Crevasse Fall on Jefferson Park Glacier. Be careful out there folks.

http://res.cloudinary.com/bdy4ger4/image/upload/v1447703421/PRIMETIME10_2_o72vmz.pdf Coming up in February it looks like.