DPS
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Posts posted by DPS
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ice screw length for winter alpine ice climbs in the cascades?
10 cm. But you'll end up tying them off short
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Discuss....
in Spray
This clearly calls for a preemptive nuclear strike against Iran.
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Sorry, that was my first thought though. Apparently pocket rockets are some type of ski as well?
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I would not wear tights with lycra. Lycra holds water, a bad thing. Go for 100% polyester base layer. As for hats, fleece ski hats and balaclavas work well.
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Why would you put skins on a stove?
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Hi Marcus.
Nick and I were just talking about you. Good to hear you are still around.
Dan
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Thanks for the well wishes guys. My feet are pretty abraded and scabby after 36 hours in plastic boots. It still hurts to walk.
I was pretty surprised as well by the reaction of the rangers and SAR. They were simply very happy that we were ok. We had a cell phone but could not get reception. I definitely wished for a sat phone.
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WI 6 was climbed years ago using straight shafted, curved pick tools. The Aztar is so much nicer than tools of even 5 years ago. I'm sure they will serve you just fine.
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Nice work fellas! That route is one of my all time favorites.
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Climb: Mixup Peak - (Cascade Pass)-West Face/Ridge
Date of Climb: 11/12/2004
Trip Report:
On Friday Peter Chapman and I had planned to attempt a couloir on Cascade Peak that I thought might be in shape. We slept in the back of my truck at the Eldorado Creek trail head Thursday night. Shortly after falling asleep I awoke from a nightmare screaming like a girl when Billygoat pulled into the parking lot. Billygoat, Bug, Ken4ford and Alpinedave were meeting Friday morning to attempt Eldorado.
Peter and I left the truck at 2:40 AM and hiked to Cascade Pass. Seeing that our intended route was not in shape we changed objectives to the West Face of Mixup Peak. The climb followed a 50 degree snow couloir to the ridge crest, then a long ridge scramble over multiple false summits. The ridge narrowed to knife edge with big exposure down the north and south faces and was pretty loose. We reached the summit a little after 10 AM. After summit photos, we descended a couloir on the south side and traversed east across multiple ribs and gullies. This was very difficult travel, much of it loose, 3rd class terrain.
We eventually worked our way to Gun Sight Notch, arriving at 3 PM. We down climbed the couloir on the north side until a rock step forced a rappel. The only rock anchor option was a thin knife blade crack so we opted for a large snow bollard backed up with a tool driven in. Peter rappelled first and made it half way down before the anchor failed, loading the backup just as he reached a ledge. I reset the anchor using two partially driven knife blades which thankfully did not pull.
We needed to traverse the glacier west to Mixup arm, then down to Cascade Pass. To do so we had to drop down and skirt below the North Ridge. The glacier had melted out quite a bit exposing large rock cliffs so we spent a lot of time working our way back and forth, making end runs around the cliffs. Peter did a fantastic job navigating. We continued moving well past dark, knowing that our wives were expecting us back home that night. We eventually decided it would be prudent to bivi rather than risk walking off a cliff.
We stomped out a small platform below some rocks and did our best to make it comfortable. Peter got the rope for insulation; I pulled out the foam pad from my pack. A slow trickle of melt water from the rock provided much needed water which I collected with the Glad Ware container that I packed my peanut butter sandwiches in. The cloud cover kept temperatures bearable, unfortunately it also brought snow. Inevitably at an unplanned bivi one person has something the other person wished they had. Peter had rain pants; I had a foam pad and a Primaloft jacket. Hid leather boots were soaked so I gave him my dry socks. Peter had never been overdue from a climb so as uncomfortable as we were, we knew our wives were even more miserable.
We awoke the next morning to very poor visibility. At 6:00 it was light enough to move so Peter took the lead again and we continued west, eventually reaching what we thought was Cascade Pass. We spent some time wandering around until we ran across our tracks from the day before just as the weather broke at 11:00 AM.
From the pass we could see down to the parking lot and the search and rescue vehicles. We hurried down the trail where we ran into a ranger hiking up to look for us. In all, three Skagit County Search and Rescue folks, two NPS Rangers and a Skagit County Sheriff responded to the search for us. Big, big thanks to these folks who took time out from their weekend to look for us. We filled out some paper work and got a ride down to our car in the back of the Sheriff's vehicle. Bug and Billygoat got quite a kick out of the spectacle of two wet climbers being delivered in a cop car.
Finally, a big apology to our wives who were worried sick when we did not show up on time. Thanks for calling Search and Rescue and for taking care of each other.
Photos will follow.
Gear Notes:
Rope, pitons. Shoulda had a satelite phone.
Approach Notes:
Cascade Pass trail to Mixup Arm.
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Story and photos coming...
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A guy I work with said he saw a guy die this way ice climing in New Hampshire in the 70's. They used to use a keep cord on the ice tools clipped to a shoulder sling.
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There are maps available at both the Wilderness Creek Trailhead off of SR 900 (Renton-Issaquah road) or at Red Town Trailhead.
Or try this interactive map. Requires high speed internet
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Hi Jarred,
I think you will find that most grants are indeed for cutting edge and exploratory type ascents. A trip to Huntington is really quite cheap. Your biggest expenses will be travel (assuming you have the gear) which will cost less than 700 dollars. You could put that on a credit card.
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The pain in my shoulder is in a horseshoe shape, sort of around the socket. It hurts most when I reach across my body, not so much pulling straight down. I have not had a chance to see the doc yet.
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I like my Petzl Elios. It is very light, fits well, and adjusts easily.
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I have a friend that washed his fleece jackets in Nikwax waterproofing stuff. He liked the effect.
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Smart people have always been in the minority. The majority of Germans stood by while the Jews disappeared. You can proudly count your self among the majority, just like those Germans.
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A woman I work with is in charge of that trail. Should make running out my back door to Tiger very cool.
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The majority of us think you're bonkers.
Yup, us whack jobs that want clean air and water, women's and gay rights, a good economy, and a decent foreign policy are bonkers all right.
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Molly, sweetheart, do you actually climb, or do you just post your right wing propganda on various message boards?
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Ohhh, I get it now Scott. You are one of those right wing christian kids, aren't yeah?
Breezy D's cover photo
in Climber's Board
Posted
I got a copy of UW Medical Center's magazine in the mail and the cover photo is of Breezy D's pop on top of Rainier. A couple of photos of her and her Dad are inside. Nice work!