geordie

I followed someone else's bootpack up towards the climbs across from the snowcreek lot. rainbow falls and maybe pivotal moment. both were thin and wetter than expected (it was -9 last night!!) I doubt they got climbed.

Tom- I know this as the Isolation Traverse. NOLS has done variations of this in the past. It gets done more often than you might guess. PM me for more. PS - saw you in trafffic in t-town back in November, small world.

Jason- on p. alpamayo is it the SE Face (directissima), SW ridge (via normale) or is the SW face a route not in the Brain book? g

Did a drive by today. It's icy enough. now get out there...

yeah well, we didn't climb "ice motherfuckin tea, bitch" when we were in the Icefields Parkway last winter. (that's MFTs route name on the topo, it's "Ice T" in the book.

Hoping to head to bolivia this spring. I've had some success with Diamox in the past (and some nasty AMS without it). Wondering if people have had success with Viagra or other drugs/herbs?

Anyone climbed this thing? Is it closer to 5.0 or 5 hard?

Trying to put a trip together for spring. Knowing a few cc folks have likely been, what were your favorite climbs, why? Thinking about spending most of our time in the Condoriri area, but might do some acclimitization in the Cord. Occidental.

A Google Search found this from the KPQ site. The print articles seem to be harder to get. I remember some classic quotes though of Posse members saying stuff like "the sheriff can't tell us what to do, we don't work for him." Also seems like they were an old boys club - had issues with women and new members in general. CHELAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S POSSE DISBANDED THE CHELAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S POSSE IS BEING DISBANDED. CHIEF CRIMINAL DEPUTY MARK MANN SAYS SHERIFF MIKE HARUM HAS TRIED OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS TO WORK THROUGH ISSUES IN TRANSFORMING ALL OF THE SHERIFF'S VOLUNTEER GROUPS INTO A "CITIZEN'S CORPS" UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE. MANN SAYS A FEW IN THE POSSE WERE VERY RESISTANT TO THE CHANGE. HE SAYS THEY WOULDN'T ALLOW THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE TO AUDIT THEIR BOOKS, AND TOLD THE SHERIFF THAT HE WAS NOT IN CHARGE OF THE POSSE. MANN SAYS WHILE THOSE FEW WERE LET GO, THE REMAINDER OF THE VOLUNTEERS WILL FALL UNDER THE CITIZEN'S CORPS UMBRELLA. MANN SAYS HAVING SEVERAL VOLUNTEER SEARCH AND RESCUE ORGANIZATIONS LED TO FRAGMENTATION, AND THE NEW ARRANGEMENT WILL LEAD TO BETTER COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION.

"ICY ENOUGH"- Not sure what that means, but I think you could probably get the answer you need from the L-worth discussion from a few days ago. Hubba Hubba sounds marginally in, but we've betting getting new snow. Snow creek area had some stuff that was climbable. Yes it's been cold - warmer and snowier the last two days (20 degrees?). Has it magically turned into Canmore - not likely. Recovering from a minor injury otherwise I'd be out looking.

Some clarifications for y'all: The Wilderness Act of 1964 created a new class of protection for federal wildlands managed by 4 agencies - USFS and NPS (as mentioned previously) but also US F+W and BLM. Much of the Wilderness in Washington came from the first Washington Wilderness Act (1984?) with additions, including the 3 NPS Wilderness areas in 1988. Matt asks a common question. Why do we need Wilderness in a NP? The NPS has two main missions to protect/preserve special places and to provide for public enjoyment. Since 1916 the NPS has battled with these two ideas and sometimes the public enjoyment has won out over preservation - look at all the roads through our NPs and the grand old lodges. What the wilderness act does is prevent development in these areas - keeping them as places where "man is a visitor". Without the Wilderness protection we might have a tram up Ruby mountain in the N.Cascades (a very serious proposal. In the current search for ways to collect fees we can all imagine new roads, trams or backcountry lodges if the wilderness act didn't prevent them. As for chainsaws- like any good piece of Federal law, there are plenty of exceptions. Many of the wilderness act exceptions are for the "administration" of the act. The land management agencies have interpreted the act differently- the NPS allows chainsaws and even helicopters in wilderness when they are deemed the "minimal tool." The BLM sometimes drives ORVs into wilderness to manage grazing allotments. anyhow, hope that helps..

Poked around looking for ice since I've been gone for the few weeks. No suprise - Hyalite DOES have better ice. Things are headed in the right direction though. I think the White Pines area holds the most promise. The road is getting plowed regulary- no need to ski in. Studly M climbers with cool nicknames like Bubba, Jo Jo and Farm Boy should find something of interest right now - take some pins, huevos, and a little creativity. If this week is as cold as it should be we might get something to put screws into. The Icicle isn't much to write about, Rainbow Falls isn't as wet as I've seen it, but I wouldn't call it "forming". Didn't check out Hubba hubba- with this much new snow the Funnel seems like a bad place to be. The mixed TR spot a mile after the road closure might be worth a look.. Anyone with a snowmobile wanna go to Strobach?

For all those looking for ice climbing partners, mentors etc who aren't heading north or east (which is what you would be doing if you really wanted to climb ice) If you find some ice worth climbing, you will have no problems finding partners. It's like bringing a keg to a bonfire - instant party and lots of new friends. So where's it going to be - White Pines? Icicle? Strobach? Banks? Secret Olympic Pennisula stash? Oh yeah and Goat Mtn.. those B-ham boys better finish up their projects cause the cat's nearly outta the bag.

This is probably a better deal than it sounds. Thinking of going for it myself. Hotels in Lilloet are dirt cheap, and you're paying for half the gas anyways. Probably climb harder/ more than you can imagine with Bob as your ropegun.

Yes, the Posse is going away. There was an article in the L-worth Echo a while back. SAR folks will be part of the Sheriff's new Citizen's Corps or some such. Sounds like the Posse boys needed to be reeled in, probably a good change. I'd expect you can find more info on the Chelan SOs homepage.

went looking for you today at the PC lodge, but couldn't figure out which toddler at the childcare was you. seriously though, I'll drop in if I know better where to look. The pizza place? on a related note- Is Big tuna closer to plain or merritt? -g

If I wanted to know info about a climb that is unlikely to have been climbed lately I might preface my comments with some hint that I knew what was what..Perhaps like..."Colin, Mark Twight and I are thinking about doing a trip next week. It sounds crazy, but has anyone been up the Big Beaver Trail or up the Access Creek approach this time of year? I expect it would be unpleasant, but any recent beta (unlikely) would be nice"that's my two cents..So here's a related hypothetical- If you were to climb NF Buckner in the winter how would you approach? NF Buckner winter approachSahale/ Boston via Boston BasinSahale/ Boston via Sahale ArmSharkfin ColRide bike on 20 to Colonial Creek, Ford Thunder Creek, Thunder Creek to Thunder Basin and Boston Glacier

The weather has been rotten for weeks now. Of course no one has been up there. Conditions are bad with poor visibility and lots of unconsolidated snow and avalanche danger. The point is even if snow conditions are good, getting a weather window long enough to climb at this time of year is pretty tough, not impossible, but it's rare. This is what I would have said if I was working, or answering in an "official" capacity. But I'm not. I'm just a another punter who doesn't climb as much or as hard as he wants to. Instead I was replying in the same manner we've(the CC crowd, not the NPS) always replied when someone asks about Buckner in the off season. As for Matt's question about why this question is "dumb" (which I implied, but never claimed). Where might we have seen the NF from, the top of Forbidden? I think conditions are often different on Buckner than they appear from Forbidden and the best view is from the base of the NF, certainly there's no view from BB. And although it's sunny today in T-town, there hasn't been great viewing weather lately. My advice, wait until after Dec 20 so you can get a FWA of the NF. It's been skied and Buckner finally got a FWA last winter, but the NF is up for grabs.

I wasn't losing my cool- I laughed a lot reading that question. I'm not working these days, so maybe I should change my "friendly" photo. should I start using an avatar so I can unleash the spray that some of you deserve? Layton if you're suddenly the nice guy, why don't you go up to BB for him? I'll be in PDX this weekend..

Sure, no prob. I'll just run up to the basin and check things out. Should be nice and sunny up there right now. I'm sure the NF Buckner is in "classic" shape. Seriously though... oh wait this is a troll right... Go for it bro'. but don' t expect a TR from someone who's been there lately. Why don't you tell US how it was?

Well, there's plenty of snow now. They closed the highway today. It's safe to assume our little climb is buried.

So we were jonesing for ice and not content to sit on our hand and decided to see what what recent snows had done to the Motherlode. After a morning of oatmeal and leftover haggis we donned kilts and googles for the windy snowy march in. This time around it was me, Bigwave, J Woo aka Texwood, Shorty and as always Taddy, the super schwacking mutt. JWOO has been "adjusting" to the retail gig and was in serious need of a climbing fix. Dropline was looking great except for the Musashi style approach. Although Sad Ce'bu looked a little less appealing than earlier in the week, Woo decided to give the first pitch a go so that he could inspect the ice above the cave. Could it go with a few pins or was it just a thin verglassed nightmare? The nightmare turned out to be the first pitch. The "good" ice ran out about the time Woo climbed far enough above his only screw to make it worthless. We could see the ice crack and detach from the worthless mud and muck below. Rocks, mud, turf and ice soon hammered down upon us. We could see running water on the "route" amongst the mud and rocks. Woo was climbing scottish style frozen mud and turf was no protection available. However, there was one minor problem. It wasn't frozen. How to describe the mess he was in? WI2X ? Wet Loose 4th/ 5th? Finally he managed his way up the mess, found real ice and then made himself safe. Did anyone else want a go? HELL NO! was the cry from the crowd. Kids let this be a lesson- No matter how much you need to climb ice remember ... IT'S STILL ONLY NOVEMBER!!

"good weather, bad weather, any weather's good for climbing.."

We went over White Pass Weds. Checked out clear creek, hiked into Motherlode then drove FR 19 and Chinook Pass. Went back to ski on Thurs. Climbed instead.

So Big Wave and I finally got rollin at 10 from O-town hopin to get some turns in at Chinook pass. While I was wrestling with Jwoo's POS skins the friendly NPS ranger stopped by for a chat. "not enough snow to ski without damaging the veg" was the official word. Looked good enough to protect our skis, so we figured it was good enough for the plants, but looked for Plan B anyhow. No snow to speak of East of the park, so maybe time to peak around Skate creek road and check out the backside of the Tatoosh. Wait , what's that, could it be.. Let's check it out.. We parked the car below the major switchback below Tipsoo Lake and hiked to the switchback and then postholed 100' to the base of the ice. Covered with snow on the low angled bit, but well formed and took screws well enough. Steep at first, then backed off and steep again at the end. Interesting Cascade Mixed/'schwack getting through the branches at the finish, but nice BFT to belay/rap off. Perhaps a FA? Ain't No Nookie 30m, WI2 (+?)