JasonG

If you're going for the NE gully, the better way is to C2C it, approaching from Mountaineer Creek, and descending via Colchuck Col (optional summit of Colchuck as well). I've done that this time of year (TR in the db) and can highly recommend the outing as a fun/interesting trip.

It's going to be really snowy. I'm sure it could be done, but most would find it in sub-optimal shape. July is typically the ticket.

Impressive climbs, fantastic images, and great writing. You make it all sound so reasonable.

Those are a solid steel choice. My preferred summertime crampon in the North Cascades is Al, the Stubai ultralight universal (though I don't think they make it anymore?). Several companies make good full strap aluminum crampons.

Cool. That final bit to the summit was really memorable for me as I remember spotting my friend in his tele boots while he skittered around on the snowy slab. That is a good consolation prize.

Is that Graybeard? From further east than the Easy Pass TH? Doesn't look big enough, but tough to tell scale....

It must be fun when you guys run into each other at Beacon. Brotherhood of the rope, indeed.

Mark- NOT Green Gables...re-read Tyson's post.

Wow, I wouldn't have thought the approach to Glacier advisable with the warmth, but it looked real nice up high. Well done. Great images (Josh is hauling some nice glass these days?) and story, as per usual, too!

Cool, thanks for that link. I hadn't seen it before, but it looks quite useful.

My personal favorite for giving me a sense of the weather: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/gfsinit.html Takes a little getting used to to figure out which products to look at, but I've found it much more useful than point forecasts. You can see the general patterns and extrapolate accordingly. Start with the various 4km Cloud and Precip loops. Good stuff from Dr. Mass's Lab!

I need to make the ski-in one of these years, sounds fun!

Success!! By that I mean not dying, which was a pretty big accomplishment in those conditions. That face has only been climbed a few times, so battling that high in sub optimal conditions is notable. Given the warmth of late, you are indeed fortunate that it all worked out. As you figured out, that thing is pretty serious, even in good conditions. Good writing too, thanks.

AND ALLCAPS IS LETTING YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS?

Sheesh.

Glad you made it out safe, that was way too close for comfort.

They were able to bring John out today: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/05/15/3644219/rangers-recover-body-of-skier.html?sp=/99/101/102/ Many thanks to the NPS, Hi-Line, BMR, and WSAR Rescuers for their work on this mission.

Agreed. I had only interacted virtually with John over the years, but enjoyed his contributions to the site and his images. My sincere condolences to his friends and family. These accidents are the hardest for me, because of how close to home it hits. It sounded like John was similar to me in a lot of ways (like my friends TJ, Dallas, and Henning who also died in the mountains), and each of these accidents cause me to reevaluate my approach to climbing/skiing. I haven't found the answer though.

That's a pretty bold descent with the warmth we've had the past few days. Glad you had a safe trip, and thanks for the report!

Yes, terrible news: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/05/14/3642522/seattle-mountaineer-missing-after.html?sp=/99/101/102/ The avalanche cone above Price Lake will not be a safe spot to recover a body, hopefully nobody else is harmed in the process.

Heard through the grapevine about a possible fatality on the NF of Shuksan today. Anyone have any details?

Most likely those runnels are from wet snow slides from above the crux. Rain typically doesn't gouge a bobsled track.

That was one the most enthusiastic blog posts I've read, and good writing too. Thanks! The only thing you missed was running into Bjork on your last night in town.

Ah, to only have a sled and a truck.....Thanks for posting these adventures Sol, great stuff! Ulrich's has been on my list for some time but I haven't been willing to do the road slog in early season when it's in good shape. You certainly demonstrated the proper approach.

The Nepalese government (and my guess is that it is a few officials with connections) has the highest profit margin on Everest climbs- i.e. the government doesn't provide much for the size of fee it collects. This type of high fee/poor service/widespread corruption arrangement is the way things go in Nepal, despite the Maoist uprising that was an oblique response to such abuses. Old habits die hard. Even at the new reduced rate, the fees charged by the government are probably the single largest expense on any expedition: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/14/nepal-slashes-cost-climbing-mount-everest