DPS

Looking for a partner for a fairly committing mixed winter alpine climb Dec 23-25. Long range weather forecast is favorable, indicating wet weather followed by a strong cold snap just before the climb dates. I have some objectives in mind, but no reliable partners. If interested, please email Daniel-p-smith@hotmail.com or text (206) 276-8991. Thanks, Dan Smith

Thanks Rad. I was up above Source Lake last Saturday with snow shoes. Good to know there is a boot track now.

Looking for a last minute partner for Chair Peak tomorrow, 12/8/2018. This will be my 21st ascent of the peak, I try to do it every year as a season opener. I can provide the rope/rack/4WD car. I would like to leave Issaquah at 5:00 AM or meet up at North Bend around that time. All experience levels welcome. If you are experienced, we can try for the second winter ascent of the West Ridge, or if you are new, we can run up the NEB, which can be climbed in many conditions. If the East Face by some miracle looks like it is in shape, I would consider that as well. I'll be on snow shoes, I have pair to lend. If interested, please text me at (206) 276-8991. Daniel Smith

I think as you get into climbing you will inevitably end up with multiple pairs of ice tools. As an 'older' climber, it took me a few fits and starts to go leash less. I've tried BD Cobras (best swinging tools ever), but the picks are inferior to Petzl and Grivel's forged ones. Tried the Viper (older style, everything there is to hate on the Cobras, none of the great swing), the new ones look pretty nice though. Tried the Quarks, too light for my tastes and were tough to hang onto when going leash less. I decided to go full on leash less for harder routes (Grivel Tech Machine, basically identical to the Petzl Nomic's geometry), and use my Aztars for alpine routes, still the best alpine tool I've found. For moderate alpine routes, I found one full length axe and one North Wall hammer to be a great combo. My modern equivalent is a Petzl Summit Evo and a 50 cm Sum'Tec. Great for routes like Liberty Ridge on Rainier, or North Ridge or Coleman Headwall on Baker where there is some technical climbing but a lot of lower angled climbing as well. If you want an all around tool, look at the Grivel North Machine, although I hear the pommel is tough to hang onto in leash less mode, Petzl Quark, and BD Viper. I find the hammer and adze on the Cobras to be ridiculous for real alpine use, but if you don't mind dropping $700 for tools with a useless hammers and adzes and an inferior pick, they swing like butter.

Hi, I would like to get out on Sunday to take advantage of the good weather. The alpine rock routes received a fair amount of snow, and Leavenworth will be a zoo because of Octoberfest, so I was thinking either North Bend or Index. I am super out of shape, so I can lead only easy stuff, or follow slightly less easy stuff. I have a rope, a rack, and a car. I'm happy to climb with newbies or experienced partners, but I won't be able to follow anything harder than 5.9, if that. Please email Daniel-p-smith@hotmail.com if interested. Thanks, Dan

Sorry for your loss, I hope you get it recovered or at least the loss is covered by insurance. This is not a 'I told you so' but, I've always maintained that TNF duffle bags scream 'Steal me!', while army-navy surplus OD green duffle bags fly under the radar. I also refuse to put any kind of sticker on my car indicating what kind of goodies might be inside.

I have yet to climb with anyone who trains with Crossfit who is more fit that I was when all I was doing was trail running , working construction and bouldering during the week with alpine climbing on the weekends.

Raise $1,000,000 and climb all 14 8,000 meter peaks. Go big or go home I guess. Best of luck.

I want to go on record as having only served briefly on the periphery of this campaign. Additionally, I was only friends with that young Russian woman.

I want to go on record as having only served briefly on the periphery of this campaign. Additionally, I was only friends with that young Russian woman. NO COLLUSION!

Biggest concerns are weather and avalanches. Check both forecasts before going. On the south side as Ivan suggests, you could skin all the way to the bergschrund, a few hundred feet below the summit. As for best month, I suppose that might be late February. A bit longer days than early winter and there is typically a high pressure system that builds around President's Day weekend. Make sure you all have avy gear and training, synthetic belay jacket, extra food and plenty of fuel for the stove.

I did this route a few years ago with very little information and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the pitches after the first rotten pitch. Here is a TR from my trip: You were right to climb it with snow. That scree was among the worst I've experienced: https://www.summitpost.org/north-ridge-of-half-moon-kangaroo-ridge/863616

This route needs a direct start and finish. There are a lot of high quality pitches (more than Serpentine Arete IMHO) but also a lot of 4th class and one really, really, really unpleasant pitch. Following the ridge crest the entire way would eliminate those sections. Also, Ice Cliff Arete needs a direct start. Anybody want to do some adventurous rock climbing?

The past 18 years I have climbed Rainier using a BD Betamid tarp, except for North side routes in winter. Staked and guyed out properly I have rode out 30+ MPH winds in exposed bivi sites with no trouble. Also, consider using the Muir shelter. It gets a bad rap but you can save the weight of the tent. Choosing a sheltered camp site, digging in and properly staking/guying out your Hubba Hubba tent should be fine. I find the parachute style tent anchors are superior in snow to traditional stakes.

If you are genuinely interested in becoming a professional guide, get certified. You will need wilderness first responder (WFR) first aid, leave no trace (LNT) certification, and avalanche training (if ski or alpine guiding). You will need to take courses and exams through the AMGA to work towards guide certification. You can work concurrently for a reputable guide service for a few seasons while taking courses as a guide aspirant before striking out on your own. The days of any Johnny rock jock with a rope calling themselves a guide are thankfully over. One thing I learned from trying my hand at guiding is it is NOT climbing. Guiding requires a huge tool box and skills, both technical and soft, which you would not necessarily pick up from recreational climbing. This is where the AMGA courses, exams, and certifications come in. The two traits all good guides have in common are, from my experience, a mellow, unflappable disposition and a dedication to their profession. Traditionally, only guide services could obtain permits. Now there is the a guide coop for obtaining permits for certified guides: http://www.certifiedguidescooperative.com/. Also, independent guides can piggy back on other guide services permits. I recommend contacting Chris Simmons, a full IFMGA certified guide who has worked all over the world and is the consummate professional guide. He could give you a better perspective of what it entails to go from working for a guide service to striking out on ones own. https://simmonsmountain.works/

Nice work. Aaron Zabriske and I climbed the Beckey variation a number of years ago and came to a similar conclusion. Better than some of the more famous routes in the neighborhood. I've thought about a direct route, starting at the buttress crest and climbing the final head wall directly, even if it meant aid climbing. I think that would offer a pure line without the 4th class interspersed with 5th class pitches. More sustained and solid climbing.

Not to be a jerk or anything, but if you see going climbing as a serious impediment to becoming a mountain guide, maybe you should think twice about your plan.

Butter. Lots of butter. Put it in everything: morning oatmeal, hot chocolate, instant rice. I made a very passable risotto at 14k with instant rice, cheese, salami, and chicken broth. Lots of drinks; instant apple cider, hot chocolate, instant soups. We budgeted 5,000 calories a day based on previous trips to the AK range putting in long days. The days on Denali were quite short with lots of rest days so we ended up eating maybe 3,500 calories a day.

A lot of excellent advice from very experienced climbers here. Late June gives you a lot of options from alpine rock, alpine cragging, alpine ice, and glacier routes. I would recommend having alternate plans in case you can't get permits for your first choice or the weather is inclement. Mountains east of the crest often enjoy good weather when the west side is raining. Washington Pass, Stuart Range, and Enchantments offer a lot of variety, better chance of good weather, and non-permit options. A few specific recommendations: Mt. Triumph. High quality Skagit gneiss, amazing views into the Pickets, and a straight forward approach. Permits are very limited though. Mt. Stuart. Good time for the Ice Cliff Arete, North Ridge, Ice Cliff Glacier as you can still probably descend via Sherpa Glacier making the approach and descent from Mountaineer's Creek straight forward. No permits needed other than the ones you get at the trailhead, which you do need to have. Mt. Shuksan. North Face, Price Glacier both challenging and iconic routes on this most iconic of Cascades mountains. No limited permits necessary. Mt. Baker. North Ridge, Coleman Headwall. No limited permits necessary. I would second the recommendation to start your trip mid week and queue up an hour before the ranger station opens to increase your odds of getting a permit. You will very likely be challenged by a ranger in Boston Basin to see your permit. It used to be that if a ranger caught you without a permit they could issue you one on the spot. Too many people are enjoying our mountains for that now, the rangers have become very strict with permits. 20 years ago, I was hiking out from a day trip up Colchuck Peak with Alex. I was breaking in a new pair of boots and developed some mighty blisters and was moving really slowly so Alex hiked ahead with our permit. Naturally, I bumped into a ranger who asked to see my permit. I told him Alex had it and was hiking ahead of me (a likely story). The ranger hiked all the way out from Colchuck Lake with me to check our permit at the trail head. I would add that in my experience back country rangers are good people and are doing their best to preserve an increasingly burdened fragile alpine environment. They aren't rangers because they enjoy being hard asses, they love the mountains as much as climbers.

That is early, typically the road opens Memorial Day Weekend. Having made the approach to North side routes in winter three times from the Snow Park at Crystal Mountain Blvd. I can attest it adds a long way, around 12 miles one way and full two days for the round trip. I went into do Curtis Ridge the weekend before the road opened, and we were able to drive Hwy 410 to White River road, and then road bicycles the five or six miles to White River campground. That wasn't bad at all. Last time I did Lib Ridge we decided on a leisurely three day trip and we camped right before dropping onto the Carbon on good, flat dirt. We then crossed the Carbon early the next morning.

I think you missed the ice. The first time I went into do TC was 25 years ago, and it was fat in February. Last time I climbed it was not in condition until April, and then only for a few weeks. Now it seams like the window is around mid April and only lasts a two weekends.

Hey Gene, we think alike. Biving below the ice cliff would be a really nice alternative. There is enough flat real estate for a tent or two and you would beat the crowds. Last time I went up to the North Ridge we got a late start from the trailhead and ended up behind 22 climbers.

Wow, looks great! Am I remembering incorrectly, but weren't the Repo crags called something else in Burdo's guidebook. British Isles or something?

Nice work. This is such a conditions dependent route. I've done the North Face variation, which involved climbing to the top of the hidden couloir, then three 60 meter M4 pitches to the North Face Bowl, (NFB). The NFB was covered in 1/4" of snice. We simu-climbed the entire crackless, slabby NFB, myself half convinced we would find gear in the next 5 meters, the other half envisioned my partner and myself lying dead in a cocoon of rope at the base of the North Face of Dragontail. I eventually found a crack in a boulder 60 meters below the exit couloir. I welded a #2 Black Diamond angle piton that my partner was unable to retrieve and climbed to establish a belay below the exit couloir. Three more M4 pitches delivered us at the start of the third couloir and easy climbing to the summit, where we were hit by a blizzard... The second time Chris Simmmons and I climbed the traditional route in fat, WI-4ish condtiions in 14 hours car to car. We were aided by being able to drive to within one mile of the trailhead.

Did you climb up to the big chock stone chimney, which would be the top of pitch two or three? Did you then stick to the ridge crest, the photo of Don appears to be on the south side of the ridge? Did you follow the summer route? Thanks! As an aside, I think it is very cool that FWAs are still happening at Snoqualmie Pass and folks like Chris Simmons are doing a lot of exploration and fitting together really interesting enchainments. Snoqualmie Pass is like little Scotland. When the conditions are ripe, the goods are excellent. I did a Tooth to Denny traverse in the summer which was really cool, if a bit contrived. I think in good winter conditions traversing the NE Slab of the Tooth to Denny Mt. would be a good, long day out. There is also a striking prow on Hemlock Peak (I think) climbers right of the NE Slab on the Tooth that I have seen in climbable, thickly ice conditions. That would be a cool way up Hemlock and could enchain the rock pitches on the north ridge.