JasonG

Filmed locally in Darrington, but finding a copy may be hard. I haven't actually seen it, but it looks to give Vertical Limit a run for its money.

For a mostly trail ascent to a spectacular viewpoint, I would put a plug in for Ruth Mtn. Very easy glacier travel, to the point where most don't bring a rope. You will want an ice axe, however. Medium day. For something that you probably won't even need an ice axe for by August, how about Crater Mtn.? The old LO site is accessed via a trail that gains 6200'. Some scrambling near the top. Long day. 2nd the Black Peak suggestion. Also, for a good scramble near Easy Pass, try Kitling Peak (~8000'). You won't find that name on any USGS map, and will need to get the Green Beckey book. As a matter of fact, you should probably pick up the green and red Beckey books and look at them this winter before going out. Here is a good mapping site where you can turn on topos, satellite photos, etc.: http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=41.310824,-102.041016&z=4&t=m And lastly, you can probably get the views you are looking for without ever leaving a trail. Try: Sourdough, Sahale Glacier Camp, Hidden Lake Peak, Hannegan Peak, Mt. Pugh, etc., etc. Pick up some used copies of the 100 hikes series (north cascades, glacier peak region) by Harvey Manning and you are well on your way. Have fun, just don't show anyone back east your pictures upon your return!

Here, here! I have really enjoyed climbing the fruits of your labor, Chris. Many thanks!

Wow, that is an impressive solo!

Did you go? The only beta I have is look climber's right at the waterfall. A great winter scramble!!

Cool! Hood is in pretty good nick right now, eh?

I just checked on my machine. Picasa will rotate .mov files just fine.

I think you can rotate videos in Picasa, also free.

The parts that would have taken pickets didn't seem that steep or sketchy so we pretty much just climbed without pounding pickets. We were hoping to simul-solo most of it, but the water ice had us keeping the rope on.

Thanks everyone! Here are a few answers: -5 screws -Canon T1i -OK solo if you are solid on WI, though beware of falling debris. Easy glacier travel right now.

Trip: Mt. Hood - Reid Headwall Date: 12/5/2011 Trip Report: There are enough TRs on this route in the database, so I don't need to bore you with the minor details. What folks do need to know, however, is that the route is in stellar shape right now! Trent and Mr. Sepultura rendezvous at my house on Sunday afternoon and we make a leisurely trip south to Timberline in Trent's trusty Vanagon, Speedy. The wind was pretty strong upon our arrival and we endured a fitful sleep in the van, hoping things would calm down. Serenaded by yahoos honking horns and spinning donuts in the overflow lot, we didn't get a lot of sleep and the 2am alarm was a bit of a shock. We got hiking about 3, and it was cold, though not horribly windy anymore. We reached the saddle a little before six in the dark, and were pretty excited to find Adam's cave. This meant we could chill out of the wind, eat some food and gear up for the long day ahead. Emerging from the cave, we dropped to the Reid and traversed over to the start of Leuthold's. A few years back, I had climbed the Reid variation that ends up on the West Crater Rim, and wanted to go for the longer variation that tops out on the summit ridge. From the base of Leuthold's we went up and slightly right to gain a gully, then mostly went left when presented with options. There was a lot of ice, water ice, and we probably could have left the pickets and brought a few more screws. Weaving through rime towers, it was spectacular climbing that went on and on! We topped out on the summit ridge a little before noon and enjoyed the new found warmth and strange lack of wind. Glorious! We followed the tracks from the weekend down, going a bit west of the regular route (I think). Strangely enough, we had not come across another party on the entire mountain! A short ski back from the top of the Palmer lift finished the day, and we began the long trek back north. We stopped in Kalama for dinner and were treated to quite a show by the local drunks. Playa Azul!! Good times! Gear Notes: Skis to the top of the lifts, screws, 60m half rope, second tool, helmet!

We climbed the Reid HW on Monday, and there is no problem getting to Leuthold's. Easy walking, without any crevasse/'schrund shenanigans. I will try and post a TR in the next couple of days.

Thanks for the cave! We crashed in it for a half hour or so yesterday while waiting for it to get light. Considering how cold and windy it was at the saddle, we certainly wouldn't have tarried as long without it. Four people must have been tight, though much better than a shredded tent. Did you have to dig it in the middle of the night? Sounds like an adventure.....

Thanks Dave, I will certainly buy the android version when it comes out.

Good point. I have noticed that the LCD on my SLR is not visible in the vertical orientation with my polarized glasses.

Great, thanks for the feedback! They are on the list for next summer...

Worth the $$$$? I'm interested in what folks think about these. I am in need of a new pair and my Julbo Cat IV lenses are often too dark when switching from snow to rock....seems like the newer photochromatic lenses would do the trick, but am interested if they really work as advertised. Thanks!

I have a friend who has had them for a couple seasons and thinks they are great. Of course for him the major selling point is that he can use the same pair of boots on his fat tele skis in the winter and switch to his ultralight AT setup come spring and summer. If you fall into that category then I think they are pretty cool.

Bravo! One of the better written TRs I've seen in awhile- entertaining, exciting, and engaging. Thanks.

Ah, the good old days- when middle class folks could own 1800' of waterfront. It is hard to not subscribe to the crotchety Manningism that it all went downhill as soon as they built the Space Needle. Of course the tribe I work for would push that date considerably farther back

C'mon guys.... :kisss: Maybe back to Layton's questions?

As matt pointed out, early to mid December is typically a harsh time on the mountain. On average, between Christmas and New Year's is somewhat better but the best weather of the winter is typically in late January and early February (days are longer also). Here is an graph of average precip in Olympia that explains the trends better: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/cgi-bin/data/usclimate/city.pl?state=WA&lane=fast&itypea=1&loc.x=166&loc.y=191&.cgifields=itypea Of course, this being a La Nina year, all that could go out the window. The main thing is to keep an open mind and not be afraid to pull the plug (and don't try and force a poor forecast). Generally it takes folks a few tries to bag a winter ascent of Rainier (for me, 3). Good luck, and be sure to post a TR (even if it isn't successful)!

To bring it back a little more local, there aren't really any resources worth extracting from non-wilderness lands in the North Cascades except timber, correct? At least it seems like everybody lost their shirt in the whole mining thing.... But maybe my impression isn't correct?

I don't know (from my limited experience, it is important whether or not we are talking about wilderness or not), but I do know that you can do surprising things if you have the mineral/gas/oil rights. I would imagine that most resource right holders would love to get incorporated into a national park, as their blackmail price has probably increased significantly. In-holders have whomever over a barrel, thus the extraordinary sums agencies pay to consolidate ownership. No matter the details of how a right is developed, that fact that it is developed in a wilderness area or national park, is the bigger deal in my opinion. Less bad is not good. This is still a thorny issue on NPS controlled land: http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/oil_and_gas/ http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/mining/index.cfm Of course, I have no idea how many resource claims are in the lands proposed for the Legacy project. We wouldn't want facts to get in the way of this debate....

Interesting article, but it doesn't matter who holds the land in the case of mineral right inholdings. NPS would be in a similar boat, mining interests are like the RR- they pretty much hold all the cards as they were there "first".