DPS

I checked Cliff Mass' blog and the bottom line for me was 'no reason not to buy a season ski pass'.

Does anybody know what type of winter to expect this year (e.g. El Nino, La Nina, Pineapple Express)?

Where are you located? Check your PM box.

Shuksan is a great late season suggestion and IMHO one of the most iconic mountains in the Cascades. While you cannot summit Shuksan without some rock climbing, the last time I climbed it we found an easy 3/4 class route that was more solid than the usual gully system and easier than either of the 5th class ridges. I personally prefer the Fisher Chimneys route to the Sulphide, however, you would be well advised to bring a second ice tool and a couple of ice screws for FC if you decide to climb that route. Sulphide has no steep climbing on it, other than the summit pyramid. On Baker, the Easton, Boulder, and Park Glacier Headwall (in order of difficulty) are all good late season climbs. Or used to be, have not been on that side for a few years. Personally, September in the Cascades means alpine rock, not volcanoes, but it is your trip. If you are mainly interested in glaciers, perhaps Eldorado would turn your crank and would be in good shape. The elegant snow arete summit is really quite unique, and the climbing pretty straight forward.

HAYDUKE LIVES! A former Green Beret would certainly have the skills to pull this off. Mystery solved.

A little C4 would do it. You can buy military grade plastic explosives in Canada, right?

Plenty of guide services happy to do that for you, because that is what you are really asking for.

Totally agree, YDS ratings don't mean a whole lot in the Cascades. I did a Google search trying to find information on a recent accident in the North Cascades. Google returned three pages of accidents on Forbidden Peak. I also agree with Gene. Push your technical ability at Leavenworth, Index, Squamish, not in the mountains. Plenty to do in 5.4 - 5.6 range around here in the alpine, you just need to dig a bit, they won't all be covered in a Selected Climbs guide. West Ridge of Sherpa has not been mentioned, or the upper North Ridge of Stuart with the Gendarme bypass. Both with 'easy' YDS rating, but with non trivial route finding, approaches, and descents. Washington Pass has a lot of moderate routes with easy approaches and probably a good bet now through September. Obviously LB and SEWS, but look deeper into Kangaroo Ridge, Half Moon, and that lovely little valley. Or the wine spires, some have relatively easy routes to the top.

I totally agree with Gene. Long rappels in the Cascades are tough due to the ledgy, vegetated nature of the climbing here. 50 is plenty, and rarely come up short while leading, and like Gene said you can always simu-climb. needto climbalso made a good point: "You also have a lot of experience to go with a 50m so can "go back" to it. Trying to give the guy advice so he only needs one rope and not having to worry about if his 50m rope is long enough to get him down on routes that are mainly put up with 60's now days. " I do have experience, and no fewer than six ropes at this moment. There is no one ideal boot or pack for all objectives. Climbers will ultimately end up owning different footwear and packs for the wide variety of climbs they will encounter. Ropes are similar. The OP wants a rope to climb Mt. Baker. 50m in an 8ish mm diameter is a great choice. If the OP wants to take up rock climbing, as in cragging, I agree a 60 meter, ~10 mm, single rope would be better suited. FYIY, 8.5 mm is my choice as well, in Edelweiss, Sharp, Everdry 50 meters. Had to special order them from Pro Mountain Sports, but they are totally worth what they cost. They are probably 11 years old, well past their freshness date. I should retire them, after all I have a fresh pair still in plastic. Anybody have use for two, 50 meter dry half ropes, one green, one purple? Rug art? Tire swing? Tie lumber down in the back of your pickup? I would personally still climb on them, especially just for glacier travel, but at 11 years old (never been set on the ground, never fallen on, stored in a giant plastic bin), I can't endorse anyone doing the same. The purple one is considerably newer with much less mileage, maybe joecav is interested in a donor for glacier routes, free of course.

This reminds me of the guy who wrote that Petzl Aztars can only climb WI 3, when my partners and I were climbing WI-5 with completely straight shafted tools 25 years ago. Similarly, I have to disagree with the notion that 50 meter ropes are worthless in the alpine. When I started climbing 50 meter ropes were all you could buy. When 60 meter ropes came out, I jumped on board. 60 meters is still my go to length for cragging. For alpine climbing I went back to 50 meter ropes and I know a number of very strong, experienced guides and climbers who have done the same. Steve House and Vince Anderson climbed AND DESCENDED the Rupal Face with one 50 meter half rope and one 55 meter, 5.5mm tag line. A 50 meter 8-9 mm rope will be a very versatile rope for glaciers as well as for alpine climbing, ice climbing, alpine rock climbing when used with a second rope. Compare ropes using the weight in grams/meter rather than by diameter. Rope manufacturers fudge the advertised diameter by 0.2 mm (that 9.8 mm rope may actually be 10 mm), but cannot fudge the weight. Also, a really thin rope may seem like a great way to save weight, but don't go too thin or it will be harder to ascend and haul on.

Hayduke Lives.

Jason, One of your more memorable trip reports, and as always the photography is amazing!

Would a public/private partnership that uses donations funneled through the LMA and Access Fund to pay for expanding the parking lots, installing additional toilets, and installing additional garbage cans be a viable solution? Or is the FS simply trying to reduce the number of visitors and are using this as a backdoor?

During the ~30 years I have been using Dave Page to resole my rock shoes and mountaineering boots I have only had one sub-par resole. That was mostly my fault because I had worn all the way through the rand and leather, leaving a hole where my big toe is. All the other resoles have been good to excellent; no delaminations, minimal change to the fit of the shoe. I do buy board lasted, canvas lined leather shoes, which stand up to resoling better than slip lasted.

I agree with Jason. Cardboard and duct tape will do the job nicely.

Good call on OR, I really like their garments. I have a wind shirt I really like and a down parka that have been really great pieces.

Depending upon the route conditions there can be a fixed line from the Ingraham Glacier to the spine of the Disappointment Cleaver as well as with ladders that have been placed across crevasses. Not worth bringing in my opinion, however, you do need some way of ascending a rope, be that an ascender, Prusik slings, WC Ropeman, Petzl Tiblocs (keep meaning to buy a pair), Petzl Micro Traxion, etc. I was pretty excited when an REI went up in my town. The mountain shop we had was awesome, but like so many independent retailers went out of business. My crack about REI is because the REI in my town sells more women's clothes and shoes than anything else. Their climbing section is about 8' x 8' and they are 'not allowed' to sell any ice climbing gear, like screws and ice tools. They don't sell pitons or even proper mountaineering boots, other than lightweight boots like Scarpa Charmoz, LS Trango….

Own a lot of dresses and clogs do you?

Ascenders can be used instead of Prusik loops for ascending out of a crevasse and in z pull systems and on fixed ropes. Easier to use than Prusiks, but much heavier and not as versatile. (Prusik loops can be used in anchors, as V-threads, replacement boot laces...)

So, my take. For Rainier, you could take exactly what you have now and be fine. In my opinion, you are likely to be very warm on the approach. I would add a short sleeve, lightweight tee shirt as that wool base layer will get hot. The Fortrez and Proton more or less serve the same function, so you could ditch one, or bring them both and just use the Proton as your belay parka. If you want a dedicated belay parka (Dane Burns coined the term 'climbing sweater' to define garments like the Proton), a 100 gram Primaloft Gold or similar weight proprietary fill, hooded parka is what you want. The BD Stance is a good choice, Patagonia Micropuff is another good choice. Don't forget to look at what Marmot, LL Bean, NW Alpine, First Ascent and other, lesser known brands have to offer. Key features you should be looking for: - Cut - large enough to fit over all layers without being too bulky - Hood - helmet compatible - Fill - 100 gram Primaloft Gold is the gold standard. Other brand may use their one proprietary fill. I would not recommend down in the PNW. Bear in mind the old approach to layering is wrong. There are only two situations you need to dress for: heat generating movement and heat loosing statis. On summit day dress so that you will be just warm enough while moving. You should be cold while you are waiting around and zero dark thirty for your rope mates get their act together. Put your belay parka on over everything while you are waiting, having a lunch break, or when it is really cold and windy towards the summit.

If your toes touch the front of the boot when kicking a stair riser or even pushing your foot forward in the boot that means they are too small. After a long day of climbing at altitude your feet swell. Walking downhill in a pair of boots that are too small, especially after climbing all day, is misery.

Yeah, I think I just changed my next trip from Bolivia to Peru.

I could not find a proper 30 liter climbing pack to replace my Serratus Genie, a model of simplicity, weight, cost (~$65.00) and durability. Made of inexpensive polyester ripstop it weighed 12 oz and lasted over 40+ seasons of mountaineering, alpine rock climbing, winter mixed alpine climbing, ice climbing, and ski mountaineering. I decided to replace it when I was rooting about for an ice screw and realized I could see sunlight filtering through the fabric. I had worn the fabric threadbare, but not a single stitch had failed. I purchased and returned packs by Gregory, Patagonia, and Mountain Hardware before having Randy build a custom 30 liter alpine pack. Built with 210D Dyneema ripstop (different animal than non-woven Dyeenma) with an ice tool attachment system, crampon straps, and vertical daisy chains on the sides for strapping pickets, pads, skis, trekking poles, etc. Total cost was $180.00, less than the cost of an off the rack 30 liter CiloGear Worksack, HMG 2400 Ice Pack, Arc'Teryx FL 45, or 25 liter WT Guide pack, the only comparable production packs. I have used a CCW Chaos, and it is a great pack, but like the WT Andinista you cannot comfortably carry more than 35lbs. Not a problem if you don't have to suffer a long approach or are using pack animals to carry your stuff base camp. I think it would be easy enough to build a frame sheet from HDPE and an aluminum stay which would greatly improve the carrying capacity of big, frameless packs.

FYI, HMG knocked $50.00 off the price of their packs.

I wouldn't buy a CiloGear pack either. My fully custom McHale pack that I had built in 1997 with the lightest materials available (420 pack cloth) and a small, simple one buckle hip belt from a day packs ("It will work better than a WT Andinista or some such shit" - Dan McHale"). I drug that pack all over Alaska, Canada, and North America. 20 years later it is still in perfect condition. The retail price was $350.00 20 years ago (I paid the friends and family rate of $300). Not expensive considering I fully expect it to last literally for the rest of my life. You would be hard pressed to get two years of hard of climbing out of either an HMG or CiloGear. So, $350.00 for a pack that will last you the rest of your life I don't find expensive. Buying a $350.00 pack every other year, or sooner, is expensive.