DPS

The choppers were involved in the search of an overdue party on Liberty Ridge. They were found, unharmed, at the Liberty Ridge/Columbia Crest saddle. They were simply moving very slowly and missed their scheduled flight home. The Chinooks were part of a planned military training exercise. BTW, I kept Nick up all night snoring - karmic retribution? You would not believe how much the route melted out between when you, Nick and Oleg were up there and a week later. Crazy.

Does anyone know about the snow conditions in the gulley leading to the West Ridge of Sherpa? Are boots advised or will approach shoes cut it?

Probably the closest shop would be the REI in Tukwila which is at the intersection of 509/I-5/I-405, I'm guessing that is the one you are looking at. For a climbing shop you'll need to drive to Bellevue (Marmot Mtn Works) or Seattle (Pro Mountain Sports or Feathered Friends).

I've climbed Mt Stuart many times using both approaches and descents. I wouldn't consider descending Sherpa Glacier from the summit of Stuart to be too awful and I wouldn't consider the Cascadian to be painless. Both have their ups and downs. Descending the Sherpa requires boots, an axe, and crampons while in late season you can get away with only approach shoes if you descend the Cascadian.

My buddy has the K2 Mt Bakers which are pretty light. I think there is a lighter version, the Baker Superlight? The Shuksans are pretty sweet too. Any of these would be my choice for a light ski if I was in the market for new skis. G3 makes some nice light skis too, at least for women.

I found your quick draw at Exit 38. I don't recall which route, but it was on the Far Side side. PM to claim.

That looks like a beaver to me. Check out the tail and the teeth.

Hi Mark, I am available mid week to climb. Good solos include Ruth Mountain, Sulphide Glacier on Shuksan, Cascadian Couloir on Mt Stuart, Colchuck Peak via Colchuck Glacier, Dragontail, Whitehorse, Three Fingers.

This confuses me as well. My thought was if in poor weather the climber mistakenly climbed up left of the Leutholds he could have ended climbing up onto the Yocum.

Good! Use them in good health.

To add to that list Colin Haley's Skagit Alpinism, Dane Burn's Coldthistle, and Ade Miller's blog which has a lot of winter climbing on it.

Hi Matt, Thanks for the invitation. My wife and I are planning on spending some time together on Sunday for a change. Der Tigerhorn is on the menu. Dan

I'm up for easy trips mid week. Easy alpine routes like the Tooth or Ingall's Peak would be up my alley. I don't have the guns for Index right now except for maybe the Great Northern Slab. Also I don't have a car but I am conveniently located off of I-90 on the way to Snoqualmie Pass, the Stuart Range and Leavenworth. I have ropes and a rack to climb trad or alpine routes. Please email softwareninja@live.com if any of this sounds good. Thanks, Dan

Try this: http://mountrainierconditions.blogspot.com/2013/04/fuhrer-finger-2013.html

Just out of curiosity, how much are you asking for the Grivel?

Thanks for the link. The post was very informative and well written, putting the recent attacks into the larger histo-politcal context.

The thing would run across my chest every time I nodded off. It felt like a small dog.

It depends on the weather, if its a weekend, if the clubs (Mountaineers, WAC, Boealps, etc) or guide outfits have courses or climbs planned. You can pretty much be assured you won't be the only party at the party. If you want to avoid a circus, the Boulder Glacier route will probably have fewer parties, and is a cool route.

Bushy Tailed Woodrat, Neotoma cinerea.

The West Face is good. 5 pitches, 5.10, only one slightly dirty/loose pitch that is not worse than anything on the North Ridge of Thomson. The 5.10 section is short and can be aided via an in-situ piton ladder.

I wondered how Jello Tower got its name.

I've done it. Right about 11 years ago I went up for a quick solo of Der Tooth and ran into friends Peter and Kim Chapman and Michael and Kris Stanton. Michael wanted to climb more, everyone else was heading home, so we ran the ridge to the top of Denny then bombed down the ski area right to the parking lot. High fun factor, very novel with a few fifth class pitches on good rock. There is a lot of route latitude, the technical pitches can prolly be avoided, but where's the fun in that? http://www.mountainwerks.org/cma/2002/datoof.htm

...

I think the same Snaffle chewed the snot out of my new pack on the T-F Traverse.

...