JasonG

I blame the internet and, because he created it, Al Gore.

If the viz is decent, buy a one ride ticket for Blackcomb and head out towards Decker, Pattison, etc. I know this isn't really what you are asking, but the best terrain is pretty high above the valley, esp. early season, and you'll spend way too much time getting to treeline.

Even for Spray, this is getting pretty whacky.

Condolences to his friends and family: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/12/search_for_missing_portland_cl.html

FRED, IT'S OK. WE KNOW IT'S YOU.

The problem, as Ivan pointed out, is that dead is dead and our tax dollars have killed a lot of women, children, and old people over the last decade. You know when you go into a country and overthrow it that lots of innocents will get caught in the crossfire, but hopefully that the collateral damage is worth the cost. For many of the radicalized, this isn't a good excuse and we're now caught in the cycle that the Middle east knows so well. I'm not condoning the actions in CA yesterday (or implying motives), but I think our hands aren't nearly as clean as we would like them to be when talk turns to terrorism. It's a mess.

Trip: Little Devil Peak - Standard Date: 11/29/2015 Trip Report: An inversion is always a good excuse to hike up to a high ridge and escape the gloom, ice, and fog of the lowlands. Even more so when you have to work off Thanksgiving Dinner. And work it off we did- it is close to 6k from the cars to where we camped on a scenic knob overlooking Marble Creek Cirque. The night was long, but not too cold when infused with enough Hunter and we were close enough to the peak that we could get a lazy start the next day, letting the sun warm us as we ate a leisurely breakfast. It was good to catch up with friends and talk of future adventures. The climb itself would be of little interest to most of you- Little Devil is a straightforward walk up, but has fine views. You could probably do it in a day with an alpine start, even in the wintertime, but that would mean you would miss out on spending time in the lonely high country of Teebone Ridge. Given the forecast for the next few weeks I thought a few of you might enjoy some photos with that golden orb in the sky and some fierce peaks of the North Cascades in wintry conditions: Gear Notes: Crampons, ice axe Approach Notes: Monogram Lake Trail

BECAUSE IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND AND KILL YOU WITH ITS SHEER AMAZINGNESS.

But that was, like, a long time ago.....

I was 9,500 of those page views. I've been on pins and needles for more than a year! This is going to be bigger than the pyramids. Hear that Raindawg?

As you found out, the first (unwritten) rule of cc.com that giving people a hard time is mandatory. The second is that it is you never apologize. The third is to never take yourself too seriously, otherwise you'll run headlong into rules one and two. We're a strange and cantankerous bunch. Glad it all worked out and that you found the right audience. Maybe I'll go hurt myself there someday.

Sounds like a great guy, hoping for the best.... http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/12/search_enters_2nd_day_for_port.html

THE AMERICAN ALPS PROPOSAL WILL KILL YOU AND EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT!

Good question. I was turned on to the column-integrated loop by a Cliff Mass blog entry several years ago. He says that the various modeled outputs for the different elevational bands aren't that accurate (maybe due to the forcing by terrain?) and to use the column integrated loop (at least that is how I remember reading the post). In the column integrated loop, the gray is thin high or low clouds (i.e. won't mess with your climbing viz) and the white is thicker where you will likely be in a whiteout above treeline. Pair it with the 1 hour precip loops to see if you will be getting rained on by those clouds and you have what I've found to be the best weather predictor around. Especially less than 48 hours out. What I really like about this is that it gives timing of the weather (by looking at the time stamp) so you can see if you can squeeze something in or not. You don't get that with any other site I've found. You can see if clouds clear out fast or slow after a rain event as well, something that NOAA tends to be overly optimistic about.

NOAA has a bunch of models that they use (and blends), depending on the event. That said, I typically use NOAA for the coarse story (fcst discussion mainly) and rough precip amounts and verify it with the UW WRF-GFS 4 km products: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/rt/gfsinit.d3.html For short range (less than 48hr), you can step it down to the 1 1/3 km grid model outputs. Pretty amazing stuff. The 1 hour precip and integrated column cloud water loops are especially helpful. Note that this site takes some study to understand fully, it isn't like the sites others have discussed above. And, it is much, much better. I've found the UW model to be the best for fine scale resolution of weather, hands down.

This route is probably in good nick right now.. Of course the weather is due to crap out tonight......

I think it does, if as only as it relates to the duration of the fight. Having a foe that welcomes death as a matter of destiny is not so easy to deal with. ISIS fully expects to be whittled down to 5K across the whole globe before Jesus comes back to march with them to victory (Yes, I typed that right). Not quite as easy to re-program as the Nazis or Khmer Rouge.

I think for much of human history this is correct. But I also think ISIS really believes they are carrying out the will of Allah If you haven't read the Atlantic article linked above, it's pretty chilling. We're in for it.

The markets don't seem to agree that we're heading to WWIII. I have to admit I've been a bit surprised at how they've shrugged the past few weeks' events off.

Cool! Thanks for the conditions update and nice work on these short days.

This is the problem. Within the US, about all you can do realistically is put significant restrictions on immigration from areas where radical islamists are common- something you are already seeing happening. Of course that doesn't protect against home-grown whackos as was evident in Paris a week ago. No easy answers, you can't exactly bomb an ideology. Our experience over the last few decades in the Middle East is more akin to Whack a Mole. I view calls for us to whack more intelligently with a hefty dose of skepticism.

Impressive, and painful looking. Thanks for the great read!

I've found that two packs will get me through most overnight options, whether they are technical or kid oriented. My normal pack for 2-4 day technical outings is something in the 50L range. I have an older BD pack, but something like this would work well for Rainier (and for long backpacks sans kiddos): http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-packs/mission-50-pack-BD681154_cfg.html#cgid=packs&start=1 For week long technical trips (or trips where I am carrying the whole family's gear), I have a pack in the 75L range. I have an older version of this Gregory Pack and love it: http://gregorypacks.com/en/GM748_cfg.html?dwvar_GM748__cfg_gmp_color=basalt_black#start=7 Given how light and small modern gear is, you can really get by with a much smaller pack than you used to need. Of course, this may mean upgrading your sleeping bag, pad, and insulation layers as well. But a 90+l pack just seems like no fun to me. Something to think about is how much the actual pack weighs, empty. Those huge expedition packs are usually tanks, not something you want to be hauling up to the summit of Rainier.

If you're looking for off the beaten path FAs and ranges, you should probably do your research in past AAJs and not listen to any of us armchair mountaineers. If you're looking for classic mountain trips you really can't go wrong wandering around New Zealand, Patagonia, the Cordillera Blanca, Nepal, etc.

Don't forget Pete Doorish.