philfort

The thing I don't like about the Andinista is that it is too high, and hits your head. However, I've learned to compensate for this by shoving the entire top section into the main section (still leaving them attached) and cinching it mostly shut. Then it's almost like a day pack. If there's not enough room to shove it in the main section, then you've probably got a heavy pack, so the lack of head maneuverability probably isn't such a big deal. The other thing is the straps seems to undo themselves more easily than on other packs (the compression straps, and the waist belt).

Das ist verbotenhorn? Welche Kante ist, welches? (translation provided by babelfish)

Is that Mt Triumph with the NE ridge on the left skyline?

It's the route up the weakness on the right side. My guess is the guy is under the big roof thing. The std rap route is on the left skyline.

The correct spelling is: "Eeyore"

I recall that couloir looking like a really nice winter line, but I don't remember looking to see if it was continuous snow top to bottom - it seems like it might be difficult to get into from the bottom - most of it is hidden in the photo. I think this is the "east gully" route in Beckey or something.

You're right. You caught me. I faked the photo. This was the original unmodified version:

From the standard winter closure (MP 134) to Rainy Pass is about 22 miles I think? Then maybe anotehr 5 miles to washington pass. but Robertm said it's closed at MP 148 now. I didn't know they had a "gate" there. In any case, there might be some dry pavement beyond the gate, before you'll be able to ski.

I like Big Bosom Buttes. The red Beckey also lists a "Squatter Peak" next to Old Brownie, but I guess those aren't official names.

yeah, I actually blurred the "boring" parts of the map to get the jpg to a smaller size so it loads faster.

To get an idea of what the weather is doing "cascade-wide", I made a map of washington web cams with clickable thumbnails: cam map There needs to be more cams in the North Cascades... Something seems to be going on in Leavenworth right now. I've only tried this on IE, so things might look messed up in Netscape...

Cayuse pass is now also closed for the season.

MntnrMichael, a topo map would probably be the best person to answer your questions: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=10&n=5198064&e=613942&s=25&size=l

On www.turns-all-year.com there is a trip report from Chinook Pass yesterday... they said turns were good.

I bet coverage would be ok, but I doubt it will corn up given the forecast this wknd. It will probably be icy.

Sure. In Alex's example, Joe falls with force T when tied directly into the anchor, falling from height X above the anchor. If sally belays him through a draw, and Joe falls from height X above the draw, he's not going to put force T on the draw, since the belay will slip a bit. But say he puts force 0.8T on the draw, Sally will feel an upward force of 0.8T, give a total force on the draw of 1.6T. Whoa! You're right bolt_clipper!

Hmm, Loren is right here, assuming "ideal" conditions, that is, no friction, yadda yadda yadda... If Joe falls with force T on a draw, and Sally is belaying him just below the anchor, she will also feel force T upwards, and the draw will have a force of 2T on it. So it definitely doubles. Tie a string to your finger, pull down on it with a force of 10LBS. Your finger feels 10LBS. Now, instead, loop that string around your finger, and pull on one side with a force of 10LBS. In order for the string to remain in a fixed position (i.e. equivalent to Sally holding the climber in a static belay), someone else has to pull on the other side with 10LBS. So your finger will now feel a force of 20LBS. Of course, in the real world there is biner friction, and the belay isn't static, so then things get really complicated, and the force probably isn't doubled...

Agreed, the approach is "easy"... a lot of elevation gain, but it's on nice soft trail or meadow or glacier. Except for the stupid talus field. Go for it. But could anyone who was up there last wknd give a guestimate on snow depth (there was about 1-2 feet at 6000ft in Terror Basin last wknd, though it was patchy, so I assume something similar?). I was thinking about going into Boston Basin for some turns...

How deep is the snow up there right now? The website says the road is gated at MP 20. Is that at the Eldorado lot, or the steep switchback?

PS.,I've ordered paper ones from maptown before. They arrived quickly to Seattle, like in 2 days or something.

I've heard from a couple of different sources that this high pressure thing is expected to break down by mid-December...

Try http://toporama.cits.rncan.gc.ca The maps are actually identical (contour-wise) as the 1:50000 paper maps, except: they're squished horizontally, the names of peaks or towns aren't on them, and there are no elevations marked. They kind of suck. They also have aerial photos of some mapsheets, but again, they suck compared to what you can get on terraserver for the US.

I find it hard to believe skiing down the backside to 410 would ever be an issue. I don't htink you'll have any problems. But just going along the closed portion of 410 is only about 5 miles to the White River turnoff anyway, so I'm not sure it gains you much. (although parking might be hard down there, compared to the ski area). FWIW, I think snowmobiles are allowed on 410 and White River rd, to the campground.

quote: Originally posted by RobBob:

I think the only way without bushwhacking is via Burgundy Col. I've done part of Silver Ck in spring, and while it was fine on skis, it seemed it would be brushy w/o snow. However, it would seem to me that Silver Ck is more straightforward route-finding, since you follow a valley bottom; whereas with Burgundy Col, it's easy to end up at the wrong col (which may or may not be a problem), and there are misleading paths. Also sometimes its hard to pick up the climbers path from the valley bottom, although the forest is quite open, so not such a big deal. I've also done the Willow Ck approach, which may be the quickest way up, but this has bushwhacking and route-finding.