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Posts posted by kmfoerster
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Brand new ski-centric version of my 30l. Added a removable hip belt, adjusted the dimensions and added separate sleeves for the shovel handle and probe. The side compression straps can get looped through the lash loops on the back of the pack to accommodate ice axe or diagonal carry options.
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On 12/25/2022 at 9:29 PM, JasonG said:
...Hoping for Sunset Ridge on Rainier, Lincoln Peak, a trip to the Sierra, ski trips to Roger's Pass and Waddington, etc. Talk is cheap though!
Lincoln!
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43 minutes ago, Alisse said:
Looks like weather will be good enough to ride! @kmfoerster ride bikes with me? 😁
Can't make this one! Next time!
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Congrats to the two of you and excellent photos as always Jason!
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I will say that the toebox on the tx guides is very narrow, go figure with sportiva
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I like my La Sportiva tx guides if I need an approach shoe. Or I just use one of my eight pairs of old trail runners.
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I know of a fun ride that circumnavs White Chuck. Lots o' big cedars.
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Im going to start a petition to get Jason to publish a coffee table book.
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I think the views on the way to the NW Face are good enough to disqualify it from being a slog. Only getting to look at the snow slope you're on and volcanic moraine on the other hand...
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1 hour ago, Bronco said:
Sounds like a lot of walking for a couple pitches of ice.
Hah! I know what your gettin at, but in truth (my pics might not do it justice) for better or worse there was a good amount of low angle ice throughout the route.
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Trip: Liberty Cap - Ptarmigan Ridge
Trip Date: 07/01/2022
Trip Report:It was a Wednesday afternoon. @The Real Nick Sweeney made a post about partners for Ptarmigan Ridge, Thursday through Saturday. I had never climbed with Nick before but we've chatted a bit over the internet and his climbing resume checked out. He just got back from climbing the Cassin a month or so prior so I figured he might be into Alpine climbing. Luckily my boss and his wife's anniversary was that weekend and we had already planned to shut the company down for that Thursday and Friday. Realizing this might be the last full weekend I had left before a last minute trip back to the motherland, I shot Nick a message with a brief climbing resume and cover letter telling him I was down. We hashed out logistics that Wednesday night while packing and planned to meet at the White River TH the following morning. A quick snatch of permits and we were shortly off on the trail. Not much to say between the Trailhead and the 10k camp. Other than sections were slogs and I realized the slogging cortex of my brain has gotten weaker over the years. We found running water just before the ridge to the 10k camp and I dropped the stove down the slope while filling up. It felt like it was going to tumble forever. Luckily it stopped in some sun cupped snow. Maybe the the perfect thing to do with a new partner before hopping on a technical route with them for the first time? He had mentioned his previous outing the weekend prior was a shit show, to ease my grumbles. We got to the 10k camp and set up shop. We both heard serac fall in the middle of the night. We woke up at two and didn't hear anymore come down. We chatted about it and decided to proceed with caution. I think things like that are tough to gauge the severity of in a dark tent. We skirted the avy path wide. It was nice to see all the debris that we walked through was pretty old. Nick led the schrund pitch onto the initial slope. We mostly simul'd the route and belayed at a steep spots and at the usual "rock step". That step was for us was not rock but in fact fat ice. The entire route was either firm neve or AI2 or 3. A real calf blaster. We had spoke the night prior about what we cared to summit and we both decided just Liberty Cap. The final slog from the top of the last pitch to the summit of Liberty Cap really tested my slogging cortex. Soon enough we were up there. Paused to take a couple photos and began our long hike out. We said we'd head out until we wanted to crash but we ended up just making it out to the trailhead at a decent time. I was even able to make the 2 hour drive in the light and spend the night in my bed. Which is always a bit of trip when you're just laying there before your fall asleep thinking about where you where that morning. Thanks Nick for taking a chance on me. This was the technical route on Rainier I wanted to do the most after getting disenchanted with Liberty Ridge over the years. Now I have an interest in Curtis Ridge.
The usual photo dump. Hopefully Nick will post his blogpost here. I included some of his photos as a teaser.
Gear Notes:
60m rope, some nuts and pitons. 6 Screws (We agreed 8 would've been nice for us for longer simul blocks). Picket
Approach Notes:
White river through Saint Elmo's and beyond.-
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Trip: CCR - HWY 20 - Isolation Traverse
Trip Date: 06/26/2022
Trip Report:
Catching up on TR's, which is unusual for me. I usually get them done the following week. I'll have another after this too. Life's been busy and I'm going out of town soon back to to the mother land. Anywho, @willgovus and I did the Isolation traverse over two days, 6/25 - 6/26, on what was the hottest weekend of the year so far I think. Not Much to say other than the views were killer and the skiing was okay. Will went up Eldo to ski the face down to the Tepeh Towers. I didn't feel the need since it felt like I was just there, even though it was 2019. Time is funny. I just Sat and had a snack and aired out my boots while I watched him go up the E ridge. The rap out of the Mcallister for us was about 5m tops. The snow was sloppiest on the S facing slopes on the traverse across the Marble Creek basin. So sloppy in fact I took a slip down a runnel and rode a bunch of wet snow until it oozed to a halt. I was okay, just shook up. That wet, reactive snow was actually short lived and from there northward the next day we just had to contend with the pollen. The Ice Elation Couloir was great, after that was when the pollen started to get worse. It was just as bad as we had experienced on our 2018 Ptarmigan Traverse Ski. The snow remained sticky through the Neve and Colonial Glacier. We met with Julie on the trail down just after Pyramid lake. She had beer and snacks for us at the car while we drove back to get mine at the Eldo TH.
Gear Notes:
Skis
Approach Notes:
Eldorado TH, out Pyramid Lake-
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6 hours ago, dberdinka said:
A supreme trundle
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Awesome! Its a really fun trip on great rock. I agree on the blue blazes on the climbers trail. Probably a good idea to get a trail more beat in to avoid having a more impactful spider web trail network, but by now they're not necessary (interesting word choice) I don't think.
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Thanks! Great resource.
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Awesome Jason! I needed these summer scenes on this rainy spring day. Hope your thumb heals up fast!
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Awesome! Love that route.
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I took it as he has the bell bottom blues not too much length
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Could hem the bottom of the leg in a bit on and existing seam and seal the new seam with seam grip and or tenacious tape.
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Thats a great response, thanks. While I certainly don’t view it as a beginner skill, I would admit that I don’t practice it regularly and have only had to do it a few times. I’ve never been in a formal mountaineering educational organization. How often is self arrest practiced on a slope steep enough that you would likely want two axes or tools? In the context of nols, mountaineers, etc. My point wasn’t necessarily that self arrest techniques don’t work, it was that they aren’t maybe as viable as slope angle increases or if you take a fall from a steeper section onto the slope. Think of a skier tomahawking.
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Pow pow!
in the *freshiezone*
Posted · Edited by kmfoerster
First time back to the Snoqualmie environs since 2019. It was a Snoquality day. Great snow on all but direct S. aspects, which were about of 10" of powder on a stout crust.