philfort

Dave and I, and two others, climbed the SE ridge of Fisher Peak last summer. It's extremely obvious and imposing from highway 20, but not climbed often (there's a mandatory rappel off the false summit, where the only rap sling was marked "1991", faded to white and crusty). The rock is really pretty loose, but the route has some extremely exposed, exciting ridge traversing, especially the downclimb from the false summit to the rappel spot - quite spectacular and scary. Most of the route is 4th class (simulclimbing), with several mid 5th shorter sections, and a little bit of 5.8 climbing out of the notch after the rappel. Expect a longer, more serious climb than the Grade II 5.5 rating that Beckey gives it. Took us 7 hours from camp to summit (about 1400ft ascent), and 3 hours down (via loose class 4 down-climbing on the S face to a snow gully).

I have no idea about the Enchantments, but there was about a foot at the 6000ft level around Rainy Pass, so probably a little less in the enchantments?

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm buying a randonee setup for climbing mainly - it sucked having to carry two pairs of boots on approaches to climbs in alaska! And I've had to do that here several times too, or else go with snowshoes. Snowshoes generally suck. So skiing performance is secondary. But would be nice. I saw a super cheap lightweight ski made by Hagan, and I thought maybe I could have it both ways - get a dynafit setup with stiff boots that would provide good skiing performance and would be ok for ice climbing, and then try to find a 2nd-hand silveretta and pair it with the Hagan ski for a super cheap combo, and put my climbing boots in that, for when I want a low cut boot where i can flex the ankle. Then I saw the dynafit mountaineering boot (if that's what it is). That would be a good sol'n too. 2 pairs of boots, one pair of skis. Supposedly some of the telemark companies are designing a new "nordic norm" that will eliminate the toe tab (by attaching to the boot at the ball of the foot) - interesting.

[This message has been edited by philfort (edited 10-12-2001).]

quote: Originally posted by Matt: Many years ago Chouinard (Black Diamond) used to make a plastic piece that could be fitted on the toe of ice climbing boots to allow them to be used in tele bindings. Anyone have this accessory? Ahh,, some kind of strap-on, eh? Never heard of it, but it's hard to see how that could stand up to the rigors of today's equipment. I bet I would break it right away. Not because I ski hard or alot, but because I have a penchant for breaking tele gear. (I destroyed 3 pairs of bindings and two pairs of skis in about 3 years - When I broke my CRB toeplates, Voile replaced them w/o question, but asked for the bindings to be sent to them, because they'd never heard of them breaking before)

Ok, I realize this is a long shot, but has anyone heard of the Dynafit "Mountain Lite Tech 4" boot? (not TLT4) I see it listed at barrabes, and one other european site, but nowhere in north america, and it's not listed on life-link's dynafit website. It _appears_ to be a mountaineering boot that's compatible with dynafit bindings (it's a lace up, no buckles), but they only have a few sizes, leading me to believe it's no longer made or something. Anyway, anyone heard of it?

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF12/1257.html

Washington Online Weather says: "New snow on Wed.: Central Cascades at 6000' & above over 15" of new snow" yowsa! wonder if that's a typo... And I will argue that last year's dry winter made for some great skiing. When the freezing level rises high, and it always does, if it precipitates, it ruins the snow everywhere. But if it stays clear and sunny, then the north-facing slopes retain their powder. I think almost everytime I went skiing last year, we found powder.

quote: Originally posted by nolanr: Watch out for the killer bees alongside the trail near the TH, they were stinging people left and right. Also, near the Coleman high camp, people were having problems with scorpions in their boots, left outside overnight. Times ain't what they used to be...

I forget if it was last year, or the year before, but the feature film at the Seattle showing of the BFF was one about 2 kids travelling across the US to go to visit the basketball hall of fame! c'mon!!??? what crap is that? They legitimized it by saying it was about adventure or something... And every year there is a film about people paragliding in weird paragliders around chamonix. ok, enough BFF-bashing...

quote: Originally posted by offwidthclimber: http://www.stevenspass.com/webcam/webcam.htm Ah yes, that looks like high-quality wet, "transparent" Cascade "snow".

I was there a month ago. Best bet for crossing the glacier was to hug the rock wall below the east face. Some rockfall potential, but it was straightforward.

Was anyone in the Cascade Pass area last Saturday morning, and did you see the huge avalanche that came off Johannesburg? From our vantage in Eldorado creek, it looked like it was an avalanche of water! We'd heard several booms earlier in the morning but there wasn't much to see - this one was louder however, and when we looked over, there was a raging torrent flowing over the 800ft cliff at the base of the north face. Hard to tell if it was snow or water, but it was producing spray, wasn't chunky, and didn't seem to be accumulating in the run-out zone (although the run-out zone was partially hidden from our view). It continued with a huge (like niagara falls size) noisy flow for about 20 seconds, then at a lesser rate for another couple of minutes before stopping completely. Biggest, noisiest thing I've ever seen coming off of Big J. Could it have been water released from the glacier? Anyone get a better view of it?

quote: Originally posted by Terminal Gravity: I entered Canada on sept 13. A drivers license was all I needed but I guess our freedoms are already changing. Bummer. Technically, you always need more than a drivers license (license doesn't mean anything - I have a WA license but I'm canadian), so I don't think any "freedoms" have changed. Although it's very rare that I've ever been asked for any ID.

Yes, they are easy to duplicate. However, keep in mind, that if you use a duplicated one, 1) the forest service won't be getting any money, and 2) they'll think you support the program. I think most people here want the opposite of that?

I think it was a whiteout when we were on it. But I'm sure the views are great. The scrambling near the top was fun. Crater was a backup plan when Jack mtn didn't work out. We also climbed the east peak, which had one 4th class step. Yeah, there are remains up there. Not much left, but I do remember a large metal pole. trip report: http://praxis.etla.net/~philfort/Jack/Jack.html

Crater mtn route is well-traveled class 2 (steep though), solid from what I remember. Very well-marked with paint on the rocks :-( No glacier travel. It's basically a 6000ft hike, with some scrambling on top. [This message has been edited by philfort (edited 09-28-2001).]

Hey Jens, check your private messages ....

I haven't been up there, but I bet the NE face is in fine shape right now... In my very humble opinion, it's a nice variation to the standard route, but that's about all it is. Not very long - about like Observation Rock, but not as steep. Not really "two-tool" territory, unless you play around in the bergscrhund/crevasses.

The center line on the Coleman Headwall still looked "do-able" as of last Saturday (not saying I would do it :-). This from looking at it from the coleman glacier icefall "cragging" area. Anyway, it has a small bergschrund at the top, a big one at the bottom, but in between looked like smooth ice, other than one cliffy thing halfway up. Who knows what its like gettin' to the base though. Fresh snow near the top too. The "serac'ing" in the lower icefall is decent now. Best quality ice I've ever seen there, actually.

I'm thinking of going against my tele roots and purchasing some randonee gear. Planning to use it mostly for approaches to winter climbs, so I'd like it to be as light as possible. So obviously that means considering the dynafit tourlite binding system. But I'm a little worried about climbing in those boots potentially damaging the attachment system - those little holes (I'm not even sure exactly how they attached, I haven't seen one up close). Does anyone here climb in those tourlite-compatible boots, and have any info here? Any suggestions for tourlite boots that are decent for ice climbing? Phil

No, but obviously you have.... I was on Adams, Mazama glacier last Saturday during a thunderstorm, and we saw a lightning strike ignite a section of forest near Bird Lake. It appeared to go out, but then there was another area that started smoking just to the north. Haven't heard anything since then though.

quote: Originally posted by Dru: vertical rise is about 600m. thats 12 pitches with 50m ropes or 10 pitches with 60m ropes. even with additional length due to not being vertical that does not add up to 23 pitches especially because you wouldn't pitch out all of the 600m. understand why I question the 23 pitch statistic? Assuming an average angle of 45 degrees, that's 17 pitches with a 50m. Probably more like 18, since you don't have the whole 50m at your disposal. Then, figure in some long traverses, maybe up to 21. Then a couple steep technical spots where you don't use the full rope length, and you're at 23. Not toooo hard to stretch, is it?? :-)

But really - take any beta with a grain of salt. You thought it was in, he thought it wasn't. That doesn't make his beta false, anymore than it makes your beta false, in his mind. Also, perhaps you're not clear on this, but these kinds of glaciated/snow faces generally tend to deteriorate as the year goes on. So if you were there 2 weeks ago, and he was there last weekend, there could be a difference. I don't know what would make you think it would be better now. Or perhaps you are hinting/spraying about how you must be a better climber, since you were able to climb it and he wasn't. [This message has been edited by philfort (edited 09-14-2001).]

Wonder if that fire was the same one we could see from Kangaroo on Sunday. In the morning, the view over to Mt Goode was clear. It got hazier and hazier due to building smoke (maybe from winds?), and by afternoon, Mt Goode was almost completely invisible. You could also smell it. The smoke, not Mt Goode.