JasonG

The members of the Mountain Rescue Units in the area would beg to differ. We're not as skilled as euro professionals, but we are quite a bit better than crap. There is a big difference from Ground SAR and Mountain Rescue, in my experience. I think you may be confusing the two.

Volunteers are pretty cheap.

Oh, it was pretty short, maybe 5-10 min. walk from the avy path of Grouse creek to the outhouse. Much shorter than it is now, that's for sure! Yes, the Coleman will be good for many weeks to come.

That traverse pic is crazy! Wow, thanks for posting this, it isn't often you see a TR from these types of routes.

Liberty Ridge is open for business! It's hard enough coming from White River, I have a difficult time imagining the effort from Carbon River! Strong work @Kposaune and Valerie!!!

I hope you are getting submissions @Brian O'Dell!

Oh, and how much snow around Goat Peak still? Heading over with my family on Friday....

D'oh! Thanks for the report, and glad you made it happen despite the suffering. I think with the new site you could just cut and paste the content directly from your blog @The Real Nick Sweeney? You know, for those too lazy to follow your link....Thanks for considering it! Oh, and you saw the views on Sunday. I was going to ask about that. Ouch, that makes it even more painful. In the future, I've found the UW model to be the best predictor of clouds and rain coverage, esp. 24-48 hours out. I use the 4km loops for 1 hr. precip and Column integrated cloud water. It was spot on this past weekend.

Ah, that's what I meant, the chockstone pic you posted above. Looks stout!!

Keep these TRs coming @John Frieh!! Mine the vaults, look under the couch cushions, whatever it takes!

Those are good priorities to take time away for @John Frieh , but we're glad that you're back at it! Spectacular climb, wow. Is that chockstone pic above the crux?

This sounds like an interesting route up Jack, thanks for sparking my interest in heading back!

OK, if we're going to go back to the vaults @Rad....

Yeah, @tobias tillemans keep these TRs coming!! That does sound like a pain to get out in the hills, at least for a weekend trip. Thanks for reminding us that we have it pretty good here in the North Cascades!

@blake_taruscio I think it will depend on if we get a freeze. The snow has transitioned and is fairly well consolidated. It should climb just fine if it is cool enough. I suspect that everywhere except the ice cliff will be breakable crust with solid foot and vertical axe placements. But maybe it will be firmer than I suspect. Citrus based cleaner will remove the pollen, as will WD-40 (or proper ski base cleaner if you're less of a cheap bastard than me). It takes the wax off too, so you'll need to re-wax. Good luck, such a fantastic route!

The snow might be crazy sticky on the way down. It was on Monday. Bring a scaper and a small can of WD-40. Looked reasonable to access the ridge, you can probably drive to less than 1/2 mile of TH. Grouse creek coverage was enough but going fast. A bit of a carry from outhouse to continuous skinning. I posted a TR from the Coleman that has pics.

We have dedicated resources to respond to traffic accidents. That isn't the case with mountain rescue locally. We're all volunteers and there is no guarantees that helo resources will be shaken free. And in this case there was some uncertainty on the urgency of the request. The people at the scene seemed to think he was pretty much OK but unable to walk out on his own power. In that instance a ground evac is often selected as the military doesn't like to put crews at risk unless there is a clear case of life/death on the line. If we want to move to the Euro model, it could get expensive real quick to go on climbs, at least if you want a prompt rescue. And, if we go to that model, would the volunteer mountain rescue units be disbanded? It's a can of worms for sure.

Nice story @kurthicks, glad to hear that the young phenom still has time for helping out mortals.

Trip: Kulshan (Mount Baker) - Coleman Deming Trip Date: 05/14/2018 Trip Report: The pollen is flying and the snow is melting fast. So much so that I think a scraper and a can of WD-40 might be the ticket for those headed up later this week or weekend. I'm not joking. By the bottom of Grouse Creek I felt as if I had velcro for a base (see the last photo). Ah well, the views were great and @sepultura got his annual tick (#29!). The Coleman is nicely filled in at the moment and pretty smooth. We were able to skin the Roman Wall with the aid of ski crampons, but plenty of others thought that was too easy and carried their skis. To each their own. I always marvel at being able to ski up and ride down Kulshan in a day from my bed (I can see the summit from my roof here in town). So cool! Upper Thunder Gl. @sepultura setting his usual mean pace: Don't linger here long: on the Roman wall: The home stretch: Fire and Ice: Across the Easton to Sherman on the way down: Skiing down the Pumice Ridge: Why don't you ski this part quickly @sepultura? Ah, the Twin Sisters: Slogging back to the road: Spring is not for speed skiing: Gear Notes: skis, ski crampons, harness, light rope. Crevasse rescue kit. Approach Notes: Grouse Creek was in, maybe for another week or so. You can drive to within ~ a half mile of the TH

Even if is is cold, don't be surprised if rocks whizz by. I was very nearly taken out by medicine ball size rock on the black pyramid just before dawn (temps below freezing). Spontaneous, not kicked by anyone. It's the most spectacular route I've climbed in WA, but it comes with hazards.

I wouldn't want to camp anywhere near the toe of Liberty Ridge on the Carbon. If you camp further down, the summit day is way too long for someone like me. But I'm sure it could be done by the fit and motivated.

By June the skiing won't be that great at this rate, so the safe bet is to not split the team @Alisse, esp. if you partner hasn't done a lot of glacier travel. While the Coleman isn't terribly gnarly by glacial standards you can easily get into trouble, especially if the weather turns. Also, you'll want him to go over two person rescue and be very familiar with what to do, for your own benefit if nothing else. Getting to the NR is often involved with lots of bridges (looks OK right now though). I did very realistic two person practice last Saturday with a partner who jumped into a glide crack. It was fairly exciting, and I knew it was about to happen. You need to be prepped and dialed to pull it off without incident. I skied the Coleman on Monday and the cracks are starting to open.....I'll post some pics tonight or tomorrow....

I was wondering how the heat treated you guys? For sure you had better weather, but we worried what would happen if it got warm given how the snow pack was still winter like. We really wanted to try the NF of Adamant but conditions were too unsettled. Did you get to some of the bigger objectives @Doug_Hutchinson? Most of those photos above were taking on three days. We had a solid two days of storm. Only one day was totally bluebird, the rest in and out. My first time in there and I can see why they need a lottery!

Yeah @kurthicks, let's hear about your brush with fame.

Trip: Sahale - South side - Ski from the summit tower Trip Date: 05/08/2018 Trip Report: Does the database need yet another Sahale TR? Maybe not, but the views are still as good as always up there. As is the ski down Soldier Boy creek. And if you go midweek, you'll have nobody to disturb your wanderings. Well, except for the locals. They eyed us warily but didn't break from their routine as we glided past. North Cascades National Park turns 50 this year and it is every bit as grand today as it was in 1968. Next time I'll bring enough gear to tag the top. CJ condition photo for you extremo types Hey bear (not telephoto) I bet you knew the CJ was named for Cascade (L) and Johannesburg Mtns We saw some Ptarmigan feeding on last year's berries, clothed in their winter plumage (telephoto) We stopped at the rock of the summit block The dragon was awakened this spring. Gunsight (L) and Sinister in the distance. The Triplets The summit ridge of Spider peeking out Time to go down! Spring is here Gear Notes: skis. Rope and tiny rack if you want to climb to the summit Approach Notes: Road open to gate at MP 20 (one past Eldo parking area).