JasonG

Thanks for pointing out the broken link. And yes, when you are hanging out in the lodge Après-ski, you have to look marvelous!

Late July will have the best weather and glacier conditions, on average. Especially in a low snowpack year, which we may see in 2014, given the slow start to the winter. Early August and late August would follow in order of preference, on average. This assumes you want to find the routes on Baker in the easiest shape with the best weather. If you are looking for more ice, crevasse avoidance, and pumice, go later.

After going head to head last year with a bunch of modern, digital, three antennae beacons, I quickly bought a Mammut Element to replace my old Ortovox M2. Total newbies were schooling me, and it was obvious that the new beacons are far, far superior to the old ones, not matter what your ability. Especially with deep or multiple burials. I'm very happy with the Element, but I know that there are less expensive options as well that will perform nicely. From what I gather, THIS is probably the best value going right now: IMO, it isn't worth using the old analogs if you spend a good bit of time in avalanche terrain each winter. I'd highly recommend taking a look here for more in depth analysis on a wide range of beacons: http://beaconreviews.com/transceivers/

Like an iced version of D-town slab dancing! Thanks for posting Eric, that looks a better time than chattering around on skis.

Very cool! That looks like some fun climbing, and not as hard looking as I was expecting. Certainly something to aspire to.

Everybody's guessing this far in advance. The NWS (Portland) long term fcst dicussion is probably as good a guess as any this far out: .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. THE EXTENDED PERIOD BEGINS WITH AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DROPPING DOWN THROUGH THE REGION ALONG THE COAST. AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY ALONG WITH PRECIPITATION IN THE FORM OF WIDESPREAD RAIN AND CASCADE SNOW. SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER BEHIND THE FRONT WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND SOME SHOWERS WILL LINGER INTO THURSDAY UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE CASCADE FOOTHILLS AND COAST RANGE MAY ALSO SEE SOME ACCUMULATING SNOW...THOUGH THIS WILL DEPEND ON THE FROPA TIMING AND MOISTURE EXTENT. BY THE END OF THE WEEK...THE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE IN THE PACIFIC IS CENTERED NEAR 140W KEEPING THE REGION UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT MAY BE DRY AHEAD OF THE NEXT DISTURBANCE THAT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTH ON FRIDAY OR FRIDAY NIGHT. FORECAST MODEL AGREEMENT DECREASES AT THIS TIME...WITH THE 12Z GFS KEEPING THE BULK OF THE MOISTURE TO THE NORTH WHILE THE 12Z ECMWF MOVES THE SYSTEM INTO THE AREA FASTER AND WITH A MORE WIDESPREAD AREA OF PRECIPITATION. WHILE THE DETAILS REMAIN A BIT UNCERTAIN...THE EXTENDED PERIOD GENERALLY WILL BE COOL AND WET ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. CULLEN

Ah ha. Right on track then.

Thanks so much for posting this Mark. Amazing story, history, and adventure.

Thanks for your efforts Kurt, much appreciated! If I catch num1mc's drift, I don't think he is questioning the glue-ins, but the type of glue-in as maybe being less than optimal. I am too ignorant to have an opinion, but you guys may be talking past one another.

I will have to check that out, sounds pretty ideal.

Stills from video, or remotely triggered cameras mounted on the exterior of the plane? Or some of both?

Seems like two harnesses are in order? You probably shouldn't be taking whippers in the winter and could go with something light with adjustable leg loops. This is what I've done and it is nice not to have to pack a huge harness in the winter. More room for warm clothes!

Sounds fairly typical for new parents of an 8 week old. Sleep deprivation does strange things to a person. Or so I've heard. I think I would've pickled the arm though.

Nice blog! Went back thru it - great images, your ability to self edit is unusually spare, in a good way.

Sounds like many folks are for background checks, which seems reasonable to me, and doesn't sound like much of a hassle from what Rob describes with his sale. However, I'm curious. Is there good, recent data out there on how felons and other criminals get their firearms? I guess I'm wondering if background checks will really do much to reduce the gun violence rate, or it will mostly make law abiding folks go through a few more hoops with little change in the violence. One source seems to think that cracking down on rogue dealers (via a robustly funded ATF?) is the main way to stem the flow of guns: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/guns/procon/guns.html And, just to keep the car/gun debate going, check this out: Given the advances in auto safety I guess it is only a matter of time, but I was surprised that we are almost there.

I'm curious how folks envision background checks working with a private sale. Would the seller be held responsible for verifying that the name/spelling/DOB/SSN/etc. was correct? Would people be comfortable with giving this type of info to some stranger when they want to buy a gun? Or, perhaps the background check would be run through the local PD?

If we move to a single payer system, we're going to have to keep a close eye on those Russkies.

I agree that the spacing is closer than most of us North Americans use, but these folks knew the fall was coming so they were somewhat ready. Although, they tested the downhill pull, which is worst case. However, I would think that in most cases, the lead person is the one that is going to go in, and the arrestor would be facing them. But, I have never been involved in a full crevasse fall (roped, one time I fell all the way in unroped - D'oh!), just the occasional leg punch. Two people roped together on a tricky glacier is certainly cutting the margin thin, unless there are other teams nearby.

http://gearjunkie.com/crazy-crevasse-falling-video Yowza.

Actually, yes. Greed is a powerful motivator. And this is not some fringe idea - most companies are adopting financial incentives (or "fines") to encourage employees to adopt healthier lifestyles. More importantly, it works: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=183047 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0806819 http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2012/08/08/more-companies-offer-perks-to-lose-pounds-as-incentives-to-stay-healthy-increase/

There will always be bad things that happen to healthy people, but according to the CDC 75% of all health care expenditures in this country are related to chronic illness, many of which are preventable. I think it would certainly be a good idea to put some financial incentives towards eating well and exercising, but I suspect that most would think that this would be too intrusive on the part of gov't.

Did anyone's opinion change through this fun exchange?

"As I went walking I saw a sign there And on the sign it said "No Trespassing." But on the other side it didn't say nothing, That side was made for you and me. "

Leland Windham and others have put up some lines on that SEF of Bears Breast. 4th and low 5th from email exchanges with him, though basically they are free solos as they didn't put in any bolts. Slab with limited gear. I think Pablo from AAI took a client up that Mac Spires gulley in 2009. We ran into them up in the basin and he described a line which may or may not be what you are talking about. The traversed around Little Mac to drop in to the North Side. Sounded a bit spicy, and they got back to camp way late- thankfully all in one piece.

Just like your Eldorado trip, impressively fast!