DPS

Good point Jason. The Roman Wall is often hard and icy when the rest of the mountain is softening up. Also the only exposed spot on the Coleman Demming route, prolly don't want to bone it there.

wow!

I haven't, but if you carry an extra set of poles, wouldn't that increase the weight of the Firstlight up to an inherently sturdier tent such as BD I Tent of ID MK1 Lite?

I've used my BD Betamid, a floorless shelter, on Rainier and Baker many times. July typically has very stable weather. Invest in some parachute style MH sand/snow anchors. If the weather is bad enough to flatten a well staked and guyed out floorless shelter you should go home anyway.

With just a hint of hantavirus.

This is the stuff alpinists dream of. Nice work you guys/gals.

LS Nepal Evos are kind of the gold standard for leather mountaineering boots. If LS fits your feet they are a good choice. If you have wider dogs Scarpa may offer a better fit. The comparable boot would be the Mont Blanc. You will probably appreciate leather boots later in the season and you already have warm plastics for cold, early season trips.

It is not ridiculous. Wetslide is at that stage of development where he feels the need to denigrate other peoples' accomplishments to boost his low self esteem.

I declare this post to be ridiculous.

Not sure if I read this or someone related the story, but a dead mouse was found in the water barrel once.

If you do get a second tool, I have seen a number of Charlet Moser Pulsar and Grivel straight shafted hammers for sale here and there. That would be an inexpensive way to go and would be plenty technical for your needs. Maybe check out Second Ascent's selection when you roll into town.

That's a shame. Having climbed Hood by 8 different routes, Shuksan by 4 different routes, and Baker by 7 different routes I can confidently say Shuksan and Baker are much better choices for moderately technical routes given the time frame you mentioned.

I have a Lumix and have been really happy with it.

I think the Pearly Gates can easily be avoided by following the 'Old Chute' variation climber's left of the Pearly Gates. Only one tool should be necessary for this variation. I haven't been there for a while though.

For Camp Muir or Camp Shurman I would say a shovel is optional, but having camped below FF twice I can say flat real estate is a rare commodity.

+1. also with some shovels you can fit your ice axe shaft into the blade and can leave the handle at home. One trick with T handled shovels and old style ice axe loops is to drop the shovel handle through the ice axe loop, flip it up like an axe, attach the blade and secure it with the ice axe strap.

Strap it on the outside?

Great choice! The camps are nice up there and you avoid the massive crowds too. Bring a shovel, you will most likely need to excavate your own platforms. Z-Man and I spent a crappy night on a half assed platform made with our ice axes once up there.

You could be correct about the name of the glacier. It might be labeled as the Wilson by that point.

We did carry wands a few wands for between Denali Pass and the summit ridge. Lots of guys on this site who can give you better info, I've only climbed the West Butt once. Gene, Jason Martin, Kurt Hicks and Chris have all guided it multiple times

Having two ropes is a good idea. The FF drops onto the Nisqually, which early season the crevasses are well covered and would be an easy ski, but requires some uphill skinning to get back to Paradise. Rockfall is possible on FF, but I've climbed it once and desdended it twice and did not experience any significant rockfall into the couloir, but have seen some big releases on the cliffs bordering the couloir. There are no crevasses in the FF couloir itself, but there are some big cracks above it. I would personally climb the FF, because it is a good climb, you can camp below it and pick up camp on the way out, and it is a good idea to ascend the descent route to get to know it and id any hidden moats, crevasses, etc. You will likely have to boot the FF couloir.

You mentioned skiing into Muir so I assume you plan on skiing the DC or Ingraham Glacier Direct. The DC IMHO, is not a great choice. The cleaver itself is exposed and is a high traffic area. The Ingraham Glacier Direct is viable probably only early in the season. Emmons Glacier makes a lot of sense, there are not too many bottle necks, it is less steep than other routes, but it is a high traffic route. The Fuhurer Finger strikes me as a natural choice for a ski descent, and it is less crowded. Since you will be essentially soloing and depending on the greater weight distribution of the skis to provide safety, you should plan your trip when the crevasses are most strongly bridged (ASAP). Should someone take a full on crevasse fall you will likely be extracting a seriously injured if not dead partner. Think about how you plan to do this. If your party brings one rope and the person carrying it goes in, what then? Just some food for thought.

My understanding is that as long as you are in a group you are not considered solo whether you are roped or not. I don't know how strong a skier you are, but the Emmons would be an easier ski than the DC. Another route to consider is the Fuhrer Finger route. Also, skis afford limited protection against crevasse falls, they are not a particularly safe substitute for roped travel.

He's still around but no longer climbs. He broke his back on the job as a high rise window cleaner. Coach is okay once you get to know him. That would be the guy. He was friendly and engaging towards me because my daughter would tape up and run laps on all the cracks at the UW wall when she was quite young. "She's so macho!" He would slink up to me, look around to make sure no one was eavesdropping and say "I'm telling you this because I trust you" and then divuge his highly secret climbing objectives.

I'm a third generation carpenter. I own mostly Hart hammers, and a couple specialty Eastwings (roofing hatchet). My grandfather, a SeaBea stationed in the Pacific theater during WWII, was a man of considerable predjudices. He worked with a carpenter whose name was Vaughn and did not like the man and for the rest of his life refused to buy Vaughn hammers as a result. He also felt bricklayers were of poor moral character. He also had strong opinons on scaffolding. (He was pro scaffolding). He had only an 8th grade education, but after seeing a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller, he designed one entirely on the back of a 2 x 4 and built it as his workshop. On another note, my father employed quite a few climbers, friends of mine, including one prolific route setter. He gave him an Eastwing roofing hatchet as a gift and said climber used it for years to clean new routes. My father was rather horrified a fine tool would be used for such work, but apparently it was the shit for cleaning new routes.