DPS

Did you all catch that quote "potentially the most difficult route in the continental US."

I agree with mtnfreak. Leaving the Sat phone on for extended periods would drain the battery quickly. Maybe they have sat linked pagers now?

Hello, I am interested in beta for the Curtis Ridge. If you have climbed the Curtis Ridge I would like to hear how you climbed the crux rock thumb, or avoided it. I understand from reading the Beckey guide that there are several variations for this section. Thanks, Dan

That is what we locals refer to as a sucker hole. Sucker.

Hello Joe, Remember me from NE Buttress of Chair Peak earlier this winter? Was that Einar Osterhaug that you did Chair Peak with? He is a friend of mine. Dan Smith

Jim Nelson's guide book recommends 2 days.

If the two dots in photo taken by climbaround on the 19th, are indeed the climbers, then they did not move much since we last saw them at 3:00 pm on the 18th, suggesting they bivied in the couloir. That is just speculation of course. I am looking forward to a trip report.

I think you might be jumping into the deep end a bit with some of these routes. Why not try NF Chair or NE Slab of the Tooth? They would make nice introductory winter routes.

Apology accepted.

I climbed Chair Peak in my randonee boots once. It was fine.

Ryanl and I shoveled the bridge so it is reasonable to cross now. ww4ever: The road is about 4 miles. It is indeed gated at Bridge creek.

Go to Colchuck Lake and climb Colchuck peak. I think you are looking at a slog.

We experienced constant, large rock fall from the toe of the ridge to Thumb Rock. The spine of the ridge was exposed rock and rocks were not so much falling as sliding down the mountain. We crossed many troughs that were worn into the ridge by falling rocks. We would come to a trough, wait for a rock to slide down it then quickly cross.

I went mid July and had really good conditions, although rockfall was an issue. I used an axe and a north wall hammer, this combo worked well. I think 2 pickets and 4 screws should cover it. We took one day (12 hours) to thumb rock and another day to climb and descend (30 hours car to car.)

Sounds like you want a light single rope. Maybe this one: http://www.promountainsports.com/ropes.shtml?ropes-beal-joker.shtml

Yeah well, I may be getting fat, but at least I'm going bald.

September is a wonderful time to climb in the Cascades, actually it is my favorite month! The only issue is that the glaciers will be more broken up and will require some route finding, but the standard routes on Baker, Shuksan, and Glacier should still be fine. (The other peaks you mentioned do not involve glacier travel.) I have climbed with a number of folks who got their start by taking an AAI course, any they spoke very highly of the guide service and their experience. I don't think you can go wrong with AAI.

I believe there are routes on Camelback mountain, however, the rock is really not that inspiring. I would recommend Pinnancle Peak on the north end of town. For not too far of a drive you get Joshua Tree-like granite with some pretty nice formations.

Oleg, He sounds just like my daughter, maybe the two should meet.

I think it depends to some degree on the manufacturer of the bag as well. a Feathered Friends or Western Mountaineering bag rated to -10 might be warm enough where as a lower quality bag rated to -20 or colder might not be warm enough. My FF bag rated to -15 kept me warm enough at high camp. Jason Martin said it had been getting down to -35 at night.

Is that an invitation?

Thanks, photos aquired.

I am looking for some good, up close photos of the NF of Argonaut in winter-like conditions. If you have such a photo can you email it to me or post it? Thanks. Dan bighurtbob@hotmail.com

Half of the pairs of the shoes that you see in the photo belong to my wife. The old shoes I can't throw out are in a box