DPS

Does anyone know of a retailer that still sells the old style Camalots? Thanks.

Word on the street is they moved to Pike Place Market.

There are some areas that are popular for winter mountaineering due to reasonable access and good climbing routes. Look into Colchuck Lake (Dragontail and Colchuck Peaks), Snoqualmie Pass (Chair Peak and The Tooth), and the Tatoosh Range (Pinnacle Peak, Lane Peak, and The Castle) for starters.

It did not take all that long, certainly not more than half the day. Rappel anchors were easy to come by, either using vegetation or ice anchors. The ice was unually fat though, in less than ideal conditions it may be harder to find anchors.

I have descended both the C-J coulior in winter and the NE Buttress from the snow arete (our high point) in winter. Descending the Buttress was not bad, we did it with a single rope using bollards, v-threads, threaded icicles, and vegetation for anchors and down climbing. Near the top of the CJ Couloir there is a bowl sort of thing that likes to collect spindrift from the flanks of Cascade and J'Berg. I have been there when the entire couloir is neve and ice but that bowl is waist deep snow. Scary. When Colin climbed the NE Buttress in winter, he did it in really shitty conditions and descended by traversing West over multiple sub peaks until able to drop down to their car.

crazyjz, I found no local dealers of satellite phones when I looked last year. I ended up renting through Satellite Oufitters (look for them on the Web). I was able to speak with a sales rep on the phone who was pretty knowledgeable. I would recommend giving them a call.

I have a SARC built with pack cloth, it is plenty tough, I think the Cordura is overkill. I went without the zippered bag access. I also had him put the smaller Zero SARC hipbelt on to save weight and improve mobility. I am impressed with how well the set up carries. I have carried as much as 60 lbs on training hikes with no discomfort. I agree with mattp, longer side straps would be nice for strapping down thick winter sleeping pads and the like.

Hi John, I definitely ehjoyed the trip. I would recommend the route. Dan

Maybe the Mountain Hardware EV-24 (or whatever that thing is) would fit the bill? Light weight but roomer than an I tent. We camped next to a couple of guys who had one and used it with three people on technical routes.

I think siping definitely improves traction in snow and ice. Used tires can be siped, Les Schwab will do it for $15.00 per tire, I think.

We did not downclimb the main gulley, we downclimbed a chute to the skiers right of the main gulley. Much easier looking.

I'm too old for alpine starts.

We did the main face, to the left of the left gulley, in the interest of saving time. The ice was good, snow was good, the rock was crap.

Thanks Marcus. I did the route with Nick Strait, he has come out of retirement.

Bear in mind that Dan McHale's pack volumes are very generous. A 5k McHale is often much bigger than other companies' 5k packs. I used a SARC (4500 cu in) on Denali and is was just about right. For most things you do, a 5-7k McHale pack will be way overkill. A SuperSarc would serve you much better and be big enough for Denali. Consider getting your pack built with the light weight fabric options, it will save a lot of weight and be plenty tough.

Climb: Mt Hood-NF Date of Climb: 11/19/2005 Trip Report: Climbed the NF of Hood on Saturday. Left the car fashonably late a bit after 4 am, summited a bit after 4 pm. Descended South side, but descended a chute a bit to skiers right of regular chute and did not have to resort to any rappeling, just easy downclimbing. Hitched a ride back to our car. Gear Notes: 2 pickets, nuts, pins, screws Approach Notes: Approached from sno park, Cloud Cap road pretty snowy.

I would like to go on record and say that I turned Alex onto the 'new' drytool spot in Issaquah. Alex did all the work of putting in the bolts though.

I'm going bald so every hair cut is worse than the last.

Bump

Can anyone report on the current conditions of the Cloud Cap road? Is it gated, snowed up, accessible, or what? Thank you.

What about NF Hood before the crowds hit it this weekend?

I bet NW Ice Coluloir on Eldo is in good shape.

Kadyakerbob: Is the Cloudcap road snowed in and gated? If so, what is an alterante approach?

I have a FF with Epic. Seems to be breathable enough.

John did a terrific job both buying and selling for us. We could not have been more pleased!