kmfoerster

No need to head out in the hills, some kind gentleman gave me the conditions report this morning on my commute.

Thanks for posting that. The image of the color changing fiber with the figure eight is a great visual to how rope is stressed differently because of bends. Whenever you bend a rope, the outside fibers of the sheath and core are under much more stress than the fibers on the inside of the bend. Rope is strongest in a straight pull. Same with webbing, it gets weaker when you introduce twists and bends. Luckily for recreational purposes these reductions in strength are nothing to worry about. I also thought it was quite interesting what they said about knots with opposite twists holding better. I guess it makes sense, just never really thought about it.

I make a lot of my own gear and gear for friends as a hobby and I've talked a bit to Kyle from HMGAR a bit over instagram. Haven't dealt with him personally, but I get the impression he is passionate about quality work and climbing.

Good on you for getting out there and giving it a shot. Sometimes the rope just needs to get some fresh air and go for a walk. They don’t like being cooped up in a closet.

Yeah I've tried those blue atlas gloves on at a fishing store around town. When I had them on my hands I was kind of thinking to myself, "People like climbing in these?" While I'm sure they're warm, they just felt too baggy and plastic-y for my taste. Perhaps I personally fall between sizes so the next size that wasn't too tight was also too loose. But it seems like they would last for a long time. I think I might pick up a pair and wear them for work this winter and give them a shot, make sure I'm not missing something. But yeah I love the orange Showa's. I get them at fishing supply store as well. They are more form fitting and compliant to your hands than the blue atlas gloves. They also make a great addition to a winter ski glove system, since they're not too warm if you want a glove to skin in.

Just curious what everyones taking with them on winter or spring routes in the cascades. Here's my usual glove selection ill bring with me on day and over night trips: https://www.showagloves.com/showa-406?gi=7qbtt5a51oeoh1fpv7l3d8okb1#.XeAUVS2ZPow These are my main lead gloves. They are kind of in the same vain as those blue things that are all the rage now. I would be more inclined to use the blue fisherman gloves if I didn't dislike the feel of them so much. These provide a good warmth to dexterity ratio, but aren't very durable. I'm usually able to keep them on the entire day and have my hands stay warm. Towards the end of the day they do get kind of clammy on the inside. Pros: warm, waterproof, long snug cuff, very grippy, very dextrous, touch screen compatible. Cons: Don't breath that well, grip wears out after 1-3 routes which leaves them not water proof anymore, rappelling in them wears them out even faster. https://www.outdoorresearch.com/us/direct-contact-gloves-268048?cat=68,15,4 A back up mid-weight glove, haven't done too much climbing in them. I like the feel and fit of them, but I just like climbing in the Showa-406's that much more. https://www.outdoorresearch.com/us/vitaly-gloves-268049?cat=68,15,4 https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/stance-mitts-BD801736_cfg.html#start=1 I usually pack either one of those to have as an extra or camp glove for overnight trips. I size the BD stance mitts a few sizes up to fit over a thicker pair of liner gloves.

be bold, start cold.

Yeah I feel like every other day the last couple weeks on Instagram or some other social media platform I was running into a post about the route. I suppose @PorterM and I are responsible for that, even though its in Selected Climbs. The most recent reports I found on this route were from the dry 2015 year including yours, @JasonG. The rest were from a decade or more ago on cc.com and old blogs. I hope there wasn't any actual crowding on the route. As there's quite a bit of shit coming down on you while your seconding or belaying. Would hate to be climbing under another party or two.

Sweet. Nice job making quick work of that. It's definitely my favorite climb of this season.

Nice running into you two, glad some others got to get in on the great weather and conditions.

Unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of either to show you, but the north faces of those looked pretty plastered from what I could see.

Trip: Eldorado Peak - NW Couloir Trip Date: 11/02/2019 Trip Report: Yesterday my friend and I climbed the NW Couloir of Eldorado Peak. Left town early morning Saturday and started hiking around 6:30. Used the log crossing directly across from the parking lot. Didn't investigate any of the others down stream but the recent culvert work on the road might have affected them. Currently snow starts at the tree line and no floatation is needed. Its very firm on all aspects/elevations. Theres an occasional loose dry pocket here and there. Hiked up to the toe of the east ridge and dropped off bivy gear. Started the trek over to the Eldorado/Dean col shortly after. Rapped out of the col with one 60m rap since we brought the twin ropes. Theres currently a two piton anchor at the top of the col with fresh cord. I didn't notice any other existing rap stations on the way down, but we weren't really looking. Dropped down a bit towards the bergschrund and got the first glimpses of the route, which looked to be in really great shape. We climbed it in three pitches followed by one simul block. The first pitch was the thinnest and protection was very sparse. The second and third pitches protected well and consisted of perfect neve with thick, vertical steps of ice. After that the angle of the couloir eased off we we decided to just simul the rest. Again, perfect neve with easier steps of thick ice. We got up to the flat spot below the summit ridge, ate and packed the ropes up. We arrived at the summit just as the sun was setting and were rewarded with a wonderful clear sunset that lasted all the way back down to us arriving at our camp. We were pretty damn tired when we got back. Hiked out this morning without issue, snow travel was still very easy. On the way out we ran into another group of two planning to climb it. This was such an amazing climb. Perfect conditions, perfect weather. Easily in my top ten routes. Looks like its supposed to stay nice for a bit longer, get on it if you can! Gear Notes: Cams to 2" (used mostly .3 through .75), assortment of pins, small set of nuts, ice screws 1x10, 3x13, 2x16 (used every size, would maybe toss another stubby on there). Ice tools and crampons. 60m rope(s) Approach Notes: Trail runners to the tree line. No floatation needed.

Trip: Mt. Triumph - NE Ridge Trip Date: 09/21/2019 Trip Report: On Saturday @willgovus and I climbed Mt. Triumph's NE Ridge in a day, roughly 16.5 hours c2c. Camped at the trailhead and set the alarm for dark and early. Only two other cars there, possibly camping around Thornton Lakes. Approach went pretty smooth through the brush around the lakes, felt like hiking through a car wash. Took about 4 hours to get to the base of the ramp before the notch at the start of the NE Ridge. The only snow travel was a ~50yd patch after the notch above Thornton Lakes. After that it was walking along mostly dry slabs. We made the mistake of staying little too high initially on the slabs only to get cliffed out, but found a mellow mossy ramp down lower on the slabs. I'd recommend staying low on the slabs until after crossing the big gully in the middle of the cirque. Climbing on the ridge was almost entirely done simuling, with pitched out sections at the cruxes. I thought the rock quality from after the vegetated beginning to the high gulley towards the top to be really good. The rock was damp here and there and keeping the soles of our shoes dry was a challenge. The 5.7 "off width" crack was pretty fun and protected well, even though a bit moist in spots. I imagine other, easier variations exist on the north side. After the high gulley we traversed the south side on heather ledges and scrambled up to the summit. The scrambling near the top it quite loose and nerve wracking and doesn't get any better when having to down climb. If doing this again I would bring the rope up to rappel down this section. It took us about 3 hours from the notch at the base of the ridge to get to the summit. It took about 2 hours to get back down to the notch at the base, mostly rappelling and simuling the lower angle sections of the ridge. Cant remember how many rappels we did exactly, though enough to make me glad we were only a group of two. Some rappels with a 60m rope ended up being just short of the next station which we delt with just by down climbing 5 to 10ft. Reversed the long hike out and got back to the car around 6:30pm. This is easily one of the more amazing ridge climbs I've ever done. This thing is long and delivers the false summit effect a few times along the way. Very happy to sneak in one more big outing before things get even more rainy around here! Gear Notes: Cams .3 to 3, set of nuts, 7 alpine draws and 5 double length runners. 60m rope is fine if you don't mind down climbing a bit of easy 5th to get to the next station a few times. Otherwise, if you have a 70m that's somehow lighter I'd bring that. Approach Notes: Approach shoes, aluminum crampons and a light axe

awesome!!!