daylward

Forrest and I didn't get going until 9:00 on Saturday morning... We didn't have to stop anywhere on the way up there though because we thought we already had all the stuff we usually have to stop to get at times like that - food, batteries, gas, etc. The Mtn. Loop Highway started being snowy in places just outside of Darrington; that was surprising to me given how little snow there has been this season. We drove all the way to where the road was closed for the winter, just past Bedal township, then realized that was actually too far instead of not far enough (the USGS map shows the road to the trailhead on the south side of the creek, whereas it actually is on the north side), so we backtracked about a half mile and turned up this little logging road. I'd been up there before, several years ago (in the summer), but Forrest had actually never been into Sloan that way, but I assured him it was familar (aside from the snow. but that was understandable). The road was not plowed nor were there any car tracks up it (only old snow machine tracks); there were probably 6-8 inches of re-frozen snow on most of it. But my Subaru with its 4 studded tires basically blasted right through it... though there were a couple places that were a little sketchy! We finally got to a flat spot before a corner that was really drifted in, so I decided to stop there. It was about noon when we loaded up our packs and started hiking... about a mile up the road (two more switchbacks) to the trailhead, then 4 (?) miles of untracked trail (which we could identify by cut logs poking out of the snow here or there). Soon the sunlit W. face of Sloan came into view, and we saw on it some glorious ice! From our angle we couldn't tell if it connected all the way to the bottom though. We'd have to see what it looked like when we got there. The sun was just setting when we finally reached a suitable campsite right beneath the face. My yellow Dribbler was soon erected, followed by the standard satisfying meal of couscous-curry-parmasean, mmm! Forrest took up more than his share of the tent. Bastard. We waited for the sky to become light before we got up. Maybe we should have gotten up earlier in retrospect, but then again maybe it wouldn't have made much difference. I hadn't brought breakfast. I guess I thought Forrest was going to take care of that, silly me. But he had two packets instant malt-o-meal so he gave me one (for which I thanked him; that made up for his hogging the tent), and I tore up some tortilla to augment it. Then, on a whim, I decided to sweeten it up a bit by squeezing a packet of GU on it. It was really good! After that, we spent an hour getting up to the base of the face. As we did so, more of our potential route came into view, but it was still unclear how we would gain the great ice pitches higher up. There were some ice smears down below, but they weren't formed up enough to be climbable (at least without being Will Gadd). We soloed up some easier ice/snow/rock slopes, through a gully, across a snowy bench... and traversed to the right until we found a way that didn't look too hard to get up to the next tier. It didn't have much ice on it though... it was mostly rock, with tufts of frozen moss and grass. I led it. Rock pro was sparse, and there wasn't enough ice to use ice screws, so I had to run it out quite a bit. The most troublesome thing, however, was that my crampon somehow became very loose & rattly on my foot!!! I was not pleased. I was able to get a piece in and sort of hang from it while I took off the crampon, adjusted it, and put it back on again. Very strange. After that I had to do some pretty sketchy moves on slabby rock and then a slightly overhanging traverse on a tuft of frozen grass, then I got to an ice flow and it got a lot easier. We were on another big snowy ledge, so when Forrest finished following, we traversed more to the right and sort of around a corner to where the sun was shining, where Forrest started his scary lead, similar to mine in many respects, but with even less ice. By the time I finished following that one, it was 2:15 in the afternoon! Where had all the time gone??? We were nowhere near the fat ice, in fact we were way too far right, and there was no obvious way to get back left and up to the ledge where the good ice started. Crap. In one last vain attempt, we went even farther right, then I followed a ledge system up and left again, until it petered out and I could tell there was no way to get there from here. Time to bail. Fortunately it was 3 easy rappells down the ridgline to where we could take a snow gully all the way back down to our camp, so that was a piece of cake. We packed up our camp and made it back to the car in the bright moonlight, right at 8:00 pm. So, it was a fun weekend out, we got to see what Sloan looks like in the winter, and now we know that it needs a lot more ice to be good! But you guys already knew that. Forrest might post some pictures if he gets around to it...

What tire tracks? We got freshiez up that road! BTW, a full report of our grass-whacking experience on Sloan is forthcoming. Dan

Anyone been up Dragontail or Asgard Pass recently? How are the snow conditions? Most importantly, are spikes & ice axe still a necessity, especially for the terrain between the summit of Dragontail and the top of Asgard Pass? I suspect so, but I'd still like to hear any recent firsthand accounts. Thanks! Dan

Ok fine, but you're missing out!

You could be right. But that's not devoid of engineering difficulties either. If you were to have bigger spikes on the spiky, they'd have to have a sort of platform to prevent them from just bending the rubber all over the place when you stepped on them. And if you had such a platform, then the thin rubber may not be enough to hold it in place while you're running around on the ice, so the rubber might have to be thicker. Pretty soon, in order to achieve the performance already there in a spike shoe, you're getting pretty close to the weight of my soles, I would think...? Another simple consideration was that I thought it would be easier to make soles that fit over spikes than the other way 'round, in my garage. Dan

Yeah I was intrigued when I first saw these, but the spikeys are so stubby that they're only good on bare ice and don't help much on snow.

More answers: Stefan, I tend to agree with you that they aren't marketable in their current form. That is why I have resisted when people tell me I should patent them. I think very few people would consider buying a sole that they'd then have to make work with whatever running spike shoe they could find... different shoes have different spike patterns, etc., so they'd have to drill the holes themselves, and if they're going to go that far they may as well make the whole thing. I think the best hope it would have would be to sell a shoe & sole system together... In that format, it may be possible to sell it to more people. Willstrickland, very good points, but I have given much thought to all the factors you bring up, and I tend to disagree with most of your conclusions. First, if you're approaching through any sort of mud whatsoever, the spike receptacles will fill up with mud and dirt and make it nearly impossible to screw in the spikes when you get to the snow. Second, it takes about one minute to strap on the soles (much quicker than putting on a crampon), whereas it takes at least ten minutes to screw in all the spikes (I've done it many times), and you have to carry a tool with you and risk dropping one of the little things down between the boulders or into the heather, etc. So really, screwing and unscrewing spikes is not a feasable option in the field. Third, I originally felt I ought to have spikes on the heel area, but in years of use I have not missed them one bit. In fact, I prefer to have a spike-free zone that I can step on if I have to cross some boulders in the middle of a snowfield. On the snow, the spikes only being on the front is not a hinderance at all. If I'm going uphill, all my weight is on my toes anyway. If I'm on the flat, it makes no difference. If I'm going downhill on soft snow, I can plunge step nicely with them. If I'm going downhill on ice, I just turn around and crab-walk backwards (all my weight on my toes), which I've found to be quite efficient. Fourth, there are many different styles of track spikes, some with stiff soles and others with soft soles... the ones I found (pictured above) have worked wonderfully. They are cross-country spikes and actually have a lightweight & flexible foam midsole, so they are constructed more like a standard running shoe than most spikes. They support my arch (which isn't very high) well. In terms of torsional/lateral support, I prefer less. It gives more freedom of movement, and I can usually recover from ankle-rolls before they cause injury, unlike with heavy boots (indeed, the only times I've injured my ankle have been in heavy boots that theoretically have a lot of lateral support - now I've given up on them entirely, except for ice climbing). Of course everyone has different preferences and needs in terms of foot support, so I'm sure it won't be adequate for everyone. But I have absolutely no complaints in this department. And finally, in terms of durability, there are no problems even with the lightest-weight spike shoes. On snow and ice, very little wear occurs (unless you step on your toe with a spike, which I've done once... ow!). I've walked miles on glacier with them, all over the Bugaboos, the Eldorado/Inspiration/McAlister glaciers, in the pickets, to Triumph, across the Enchantments in springtime 3 times, etc. and they just don't wear out on icy/snowy terrain. Where they would wear out is on boulder fields and bushwhacking, but the sole strapped to them protects them quite well. You can impregnate seam grip or aqua-seal in the lower part of the fabric of the shoe to add some durability if you want, but I haven't with mine and they're working great after 3 years of hard use. That's more than you can expect out of many approach shoes... I hope I'm not sounding "contrarian, argumentative and defensive", I just intend to partke in constructive discussion!

To answer some questions... Re. Hiking with them: For me, they are extremely comfortable the entire time, except once when I got a very small rock under my foot (which I quickly dispatched). No hot spots, no blisters, nothing. Forrest had a bit more of an issue with that, but I don't believe it stemmed from the placement of the buckles. The spike shoes he was wearing were of a different style; stiffer and less ergonimic - I think that was the main source of trouble for him. But even so, it didn't affect him much 'til right near the end. Re. Stitching staying together: There is no exposed stitching on the straps except for a little bit right next to one side of each Fastex buckle, an area that does not get much wear. I have had no problems with wear on the straps. Re. golf shoes: I don't know, wouldn't be surprised. I know Chad Kellogg uses javelin shoes, which are very similar to track spikes except they are a bit more durable (and heavier) and they have some spikes on the heel too. Chad checked out my system and was interested in me making some soles for him too, but it'll have to wait 'til he's back from K2. Re. How much do they weigh: Actually, I haven't weighed them. My only scale (the one you can see in the picture above next to the molds) has a 300g limit, and they definitely max that out. But they feel light. Maybe the shoes & soles together weigh just a bit more than a pair of standard Brooks running shoes. Re. Strap-on spike plates: That's a good idea, though I think different enough that it would be a different patent. That's more like a mini-crampon. I haven't seen the product you mention, but all the lightest-weight crampons I've seen (like in-step crampons) are significantly heavier than my system, and not nearly as nimble or stable. With track spikes, the spikes don't move around at all relative to the shoe, and I could imagine that a spike plate would at least move a little... I can't think of a way to attach it that would prevent any movement at all. When my sole is attached, the embedded spikes pretty much prevent it from moving around even when smearing on rocks, etc. Dan

Ok, I posted a thing about my spike soles: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/372591/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

Now this may be foolish to post this here. Many people have told me I should patent this idea and sell it to some company and get royalties. I admit that would be nice, but from what I understand, it's a fair bit of work to get that sort of thing to happen, and the market for this product would be fairly limited, so I have never been quite convinced that it was worth it. But since I have not patented it, now that I'm posting it on a public web site, I guess I have to prepare myself for the possibility that some intrepid or nefareous soul will steal my idea, apply the proper marketing, and make millions without me getting a cent. Well, since I don't want to keep this a secret and I'd like to spread the fruits of my engineering genius to the masses, I only hope that if someone reads this and sees the possibility and has the ability to bring this to market, that they have the honor and ethics to contact me and respect me as the original inventor and we can work out a deal. Ok? I'll keep this short. Well, maybe not super short - just not extremely verbose. Near the end of the 90's, I was tired of carrying heavy boots and sometimes even crampons up rock routes, just because I needed them for a bit of snow or ice on the approach or descent. My brain started working, and soon it came up with the idea of using track (or cross-country) running spikes as approach shoes. This in itself is not a new idea... Anatoli Boukreev (sp?) used them for certain phases of his Himalayan antics, and I'm sure others have as well. They work very fine on hard snow and even ice; in some ways better than crampons. Of course you can't front-point in them, but even ice up to 40 degrees can be managed with the help of an ice axe. They are very comfortable, extremely lightweight and nimble. Not quite as warm as plastic or leather boots, but that can be remedied by using neoprene or gore-tex socks. I have found that no other footwear is as comfortable, versatile, or allows me to move anywhere near as fast as spikes on most relatively low-angle snow/ice terrain. And wow, when you put them in your pack as you start up a rock climb, they just weigh nothing. For alpine approaches, however, they have a big problem. Normally for snow you'll want long spikes in them, but those don't work so well on hard dirt or rocks. Here's where my invention comes in: I've developed a sole that straps onto the outside of the shoe. The spikes embed in the sole and prevent it from slipping around, and the sole protects the spikes and provides cushion, traction, and support. The idea is to wear the soles on the trail and on rocky terrain, and pull them off when you get to the snow & ice, and repeat as necessary. Here's me modeling them: Here's how they fit together: Here's them together, apart, and on the right there is an unfinished sole that shows the tread pattern: To make them, I first use molds made out of Sculpy to form the sole out of 2-part castable urethane. Here's my set-up, with the jugs of urethane in the background: After that, I take a cheap pair of flipflops, cut them down to the shape of the urethane sole, and taper the toe up a little using my grinding wheel. I sew the straps (using a single-strap configuration that starts from the big-toe side, under the toe and up the other side, folding back on itself and going under the arch of the foot and up by the ankle bone, then wrapping back under the heel), and put two fastex buckles on, one at the toe and the other around the ankle, leaving enough strap so they can be cinched down tight. At this point, I press the spikes into the top of the midsole to leave marks where the spikes go. I drill holes big enough for plastic grommets to fit in - the grommets prevent the spikes from slicing through the cheap foam. I put the grommets in the holes and glue them there, and grind off the bottoms of the grommets so they're flush with the bottom of the foam. To finish it off, I super-glue the strap to points on the bottom of the flip-flop foam midsole, then I glue the whole midsole to the urethane outsole, sandwitching the straps between. Finally, I wrap the flap of urethane sole over the top of the toe, to keep it from unpeeling. Well, there you have it. There are some improvements to be made (mostly in terms of durability), but it works quite well. They're comfortable & cushy, good traction on rock and mud and snow. They have a narrow profile to save weight, so they're slightly less stable than your average running shoe, but not enough to be bothersome. I've been using them for several years very happily. Finally I was able to convince Forrest to try them, so I made a pair for him and we used them to go into the Pickets over 4th of July... 40 miles of trail definitely took their toll, but they did the trick, and it was so nice not to have to bring multiple pairs of shoes or heavy boots or crampons. I'd love to hear your thoughts & suggestions. And I'd even be happy to make a pair or two for people who could really use them. But I'm not set up for huge volume production, so if that's what you think is needed, then just let me know and maybe we can go into business. Dan

I did this a few years ago and I found it to be acceptable: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB2&Number=50211 However, I've never been down Triad col... Forrest may be right that this is faster.

Looks like you guys did the same two climbs in two days that Forrest and I did a few years ago, just in the reverse order: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB2&Number=49093 http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB2&Number=49096 A great combo! Now I'm waiting to hear about a same-day linkup! :-)

Ok, I'll see if I can put something together. Might not be 'til next week though.

Yeah, this might go in the gear forum, but if anyone is interested in this invention, let me know... There are still a couple kinks to work out, but overall it works very well. I mean heck, I didn't even get a blister on the entire trip, using the same shoes for trail, rock scrambling, bushwhacking, and glacier travel. Forrest wasn't so lucky with the blisters though... but then he has the bargain basement track spikes... :-)

Jeez, I'd like to appear as if I whipped up the thing without thinking, but that would be pretty far from the truth. Right at that point where the "runout on dikes" picture is taken, I hemmed and hawed for probably 20 minutes. There was a solid 5.9 move there, sort of a mantle onto a sloping dyke, and it just did not feel secure, and it was very obvious to me that a fall would be bad bad news. On the other hand, I'd already done some moves I didn't want to reverse to get up there. It was a total mind-bender, just like Forrest said. I finally was able to corral my fear and put my creativity in gear... I found another couple features I could use as a handhold and a foothold, and it turned out to not be so hard. Even so, after I pulled the little roof you can see above me, there was still no gear for another 20 feet or so. At least the climbing was a bit easier. And the rock was super solid and clean and the climbing was sooo fun... if I could concentrate on it instead of deathfall! Definitely one of the more memorable leads I've ever done! Dan

Last time we went into Luna Cirque (also the first time for us) was in '99. Four of us (Tim Matsui, Marshall Balick, Forrest and I) hauled huge heavy packs (food for 9 days and a Himalayan Hotel for shelter) up there in late July. There was much more snow then than now, even though it was later in the season - the winter of '99 was a huge snow year. The weather was beautiful during our entire 3-day approach. However, once we set up camp, we got hammered by rain all week long. The only thing we did was a traverse from the Challenger/Crooked Thumb col (we followed the snow couloir up to the col) toward the summet of Challenger. Simul-climbing as four people on a single rope, we went slowly, and then the rain came once again. Before reaching the summit of Challenger, we rappelled down to the west side and followed the valley back up to the top of the Challenger Glacier, then wrapped back around Challenger Arm to our camp, arriving at about 11:30 at night in the pouring rain. Halfway through our stay, we transferred camp over to Luna Col by dropping all the way down to Lousy Lake and going back up the other side. On the day we had to leave, the weather once again returned to bomber blue skies! We ran up Luna, and then headed out Access Creek, which was enough of a bushwhack to leave the strong impression that coming in Hannegan Pass was the better way to go. In addition, the trail out Big Beaver was much longer than we expected (somehow, 6 miles was in our minds... we couldn't understand how 6 miles could take us so long!) It was interesting that our climb last weekend allowed us to finish the traverse that we started in '99... :-) Dan

Jeez, it's getting to be a crowd in the northern Pickets these days! Haven't done the 1968 route, but Forrest and I just did what we believe to be a new route on the E face of one of the southern pinnacles of Challenger over the 4th of July weekend (trip report composed and waiting for pictures, hopefully will be ready tomorrow). We managed to find a line that had great, solid rock nearly all the way to the ridge crest that provided plenty of interesting and "challenging" (5.9) climbing. When we were there in '99, we saw another party do the 1968 route (we were camped just below it). When they came back down they didn't seem very impressed with it... sort of crappy rock, if I recall correctly. Right now the impasse has some snow in it, but it is already melted out enough to where it is of little help in crossing. On the way in, we did some sketchy soloing up one wall of the impasse, into the moat, and actually crawled underneath the snow before climbing up the other side. On the way out, we crossed the impasse above where the snow ended and then traversed onto the buttress climber's left of the impasse, which was slightly technically easier, but longer and more exposed. Dan

Holy crap, you guys heard/saw the serac go twice? That's more active than I thought. As far as I was aware, it didn't make a single noise the whole time we were there... but Mark told me last time he was in there it had strewn huge debris all the way down to the Ruth, so there's really no safe spot 'til you get almost to base camp! Scary. Yep, we were there when Matt, Karen, and Carl tried it. They started the same morning we went down to the Rooster's Comb, and retreated the following day (which was a rest day for us). They rappelled the gully from the first notch - we could see them from time to time from base camp. It took them all day to get down that way, and from our vantage point it looked like snow waterfalls were scouring them constantly. That is a sketch way to come down if you ask me, especially in the heat of the day! We were already in the sack by the time they rolled back into camp trying to get some sleep before our alpine start, so we never actually talked to them. By chance were the NW locals you teamed up with Eric Murphy and Kevin Kanning? I saw them in Talkeetna before we flew in... they were going to try to fly into the root canal, but I haven't talked to them since I got back so I don't know what they did... Dan

I should have them developed and hopefully some of them scanned by Thursday...

Had a short but sweet trip to Alaska. Mark Westman and I flew into Kahiltna Base on the 30th of April and helped Lisa set up base camp, then we shuttled over to the west fork of the Ruth on the 2nd of May. Paul picked up Jedi and his climbing partner when he dropped us off, so we got to nab their fab tent platform. Congrats Jedi for finally succeeding on 11,300! The Rooster's Comb (Colton-Leach route) was not in good shape; we got about 10 pitches up and it was all just loose unconsolidated snow at about 80 deg., with spindrift swirling down on us the whole time. The rock protection was sparse, and we were only able to get three screws in. After 7 hours we decided we were going too slow for our style and beat a retreat. We probably would have had slightly better luck if we'd tried it later in the trip, but I'm not sure if it ever gets in much better condition... To do it in a single push, you definitely have to be able to simul all the lower "easy" pitches, and we weren't quite comfortable enough in the conditions to do that the whole way. It's a sweet line though, I think I'd like to go back and try it again someday! Peak 11,300 was a piece of cake by comparison. Joe Puryear and Dave Gottlieb were on the route when we flew in, so we pumped them for beta when they got back. They brought 3 days of food and bivi gear and had to break trail, and they still made it to the summit in 13 hours - they just bivied on the summit and came down in the morning. Mark and I decided to single-push it... so we simuled the whole thing (except for one pitch where rope drag was too great) in 4 swaps, summited in 7 1/2 hours, got buzzed on the summit by a TAT plane, and descended in another 5 hours... in time for a leisurely and social dinner at the big tent! WAY smaller than I expected. But it was a super fun climb, nothing scary, nothing very difficult, just snow, rock, snow, rock, on and on. The descent was all fixed, easy to find the rap stations, they even had biners on them. The only scary part was running under the hanging glacier on the way down. It didn't seem very active, but it was definitely looming. But it's only a half hour from the base of the rappells to base camp, so you're not exposed for long. It was hot & sloppy when we left. Rather disturbing to see that this early in the season. Oh, and we saw one of those blackhawks land on the summit of Huntington. That's sketchier than Foraker if you ask me!

I have talked to Tim (actually on the phone immediately after they got back to the car) and he hadn't seen it. Also talked to Gary Brill, who was ahead of Tim, and he hadn't seen it either. I'm pretty much convinced that it fell off beyond Snow Creek Wall... Thanks!

My sister and I did the Echantments traverse yesterday (Sunday April 25). About a half mile up the trail, she got hot and took her fleece off, and under my not-so-thougtful advice, she rolled it up and stuffed it in the shockcord on the back of her hydration pack. By the time we got to Nada Lake, we noticed it was gone. I don't know if it fell off before or after Snow Creek Wall, but I suspect after - we had to duck under a bunch of fallen trees and it probably got caught on one of them. It's a light blue North Face sweater, in pretty much mint condition (at least it was last time we saw it). If it fell off after Snow Creek Wall, it's quite possible that no one else has been through there since we were, so it might still be just where she dropped it. If someone out there with a kind heart finds it, could you please PM me? I'm leaving for 2 weeks in Alaska on Wednesday, so don't be disheartened if I don't reply for a while if you message me after that... Thanks so much! Dan

Haven't been on in a while, hope you guys weren't lonely! My friend Hal and I are flying up to Calgary on March 3. We plan to rent a car and base ourselves out of Canmore for 5 days. We want to finally get up Polar Circus, but we'd also like to get into the Ghost. Although one person told me we could get to the top of the "Big Hill" in a compact and then hoof it the rest of the way, multiple other sources have piled on increasing skepticism that that course of events is possible. I checked out renting an SUV and zow, not cheap - about triple the price of a "full size" car. So my question is, does anyone have any alternative ideas for getting in there? An ideal scenario would be someone who lives in Canmore who has a burly vehicle and who wants to go in there as well... we would pay handsomely for the chance to hook up! Well, we'd pay for gas & food & beers at least; that's pretty handsome, eh? Thanks for any ideas! Dan

I'm driving, and it appears that I'll be alone, unless someone replies & saves me from that fate. I'm meeting people down there. I know it's short notice, but I thought I'd ask anyway... Dan

Last Sat/Sun Colin and I climbed the Price Glacier by moonlight. We did not do the direct start. It looked dangerous. And difficult. And foolhardy. We shuffled over 200' of rock under Nooksack Tower, and stayed on ice the rest of the way. Routefinding was easer than expected, though the glacier is pretty broken. The part that worried us most was the final bergschrund, which appeared to be a 50' overhanging wall barricading the top-out, but once up there we found a ramp leading from the lefthand prow of the wall rightward with relative ease. There was evidence of new snow from precip earlier in the week, though it had largely consolidated by that time. The ice was good, not too rotten. Our descent was, um, wrong. To start, it began to rain at 4:00 am as we crested the route. Then we took one too many right turns going down, and ended up going down the hanging glacier to the right of the Curtis glacier and didn't realize it 'til we got to the hanging part (PONCHO&LEFTY's picture shows it I believe). We found a choss gully to bypass the hanging glacier and went down another small glacier & slabs, which were OK, but of course we ended up in the wrong valley, so we were relegated to 6 hours of the very finest of wet Cascade bushwhacking to make it out to the new ski lodge, and then a hitchhike to the Lake Ann trailhead. A very interesting first Shuksan experience for me! I'll have to do it again sometime though to tag the summit... -Dan