DPS

Mark Twight wrote in one of his books that his partner created a vbl vest by cutting the arms off of an old wind shirt and putting three coats of scotch guard water proofing agent on the back.

Word.

I have a friend coming from out of town this weekend who wants to do some climbing. Looking at the weather forecast it looks like the east side will be a bit better so we are thinking about the Enchantments. Does anybody know how much snow it got this week? I figure if there is too much snow to rock climb we can just hike up Little Annapurna, but it would be nice to know before hand if I should leave the rack/rope at home. TIA, Dan

I have a pair of Black Diamond vapor barriers that I wear with my plastic boots. It works very well, only my liner socks get wet. I think Integral Designs also makes vapor barrier socks.

Dave Bale?

Yeah, December is a splendid time to attempt that route.

I really like Black Diamond packs. They carry and climb very well for me and have proven to be fairly durable.

They are usually climbed late fall and early winter. I would expect them to come into shape after a couple of storms and some melt-freeze cycles.

Thanks Doug, My interest in doing something other than volcanoes is partially selfish as I want to do something I haven't climbed before. Dan

I have a friend coming in a few weeks from the east coast and wants to get some climbing in. I am considering the following routes: Mesachie Peak Icefall Couloir Maude Entiat Glacier Eldorado NE Face (first choice if the road is open) Can anyone comment on the quality of Mescahie or Maude routes? Can anyone suggest other routes? Will they be in late October? TIA, Dan

Good point.

Synthetic jackets are a great choice for year round in the Cascades, however, the DAS parka and similar weight parkas are overkill, except for perhaps Rainier in February. I would look into a lighter weight hooded jacket like the Patagonia Micropuff, Wild Things EP jacket and similar weighted jackets.

The new wall in North Bend (Torgeson Park) is very kid friendly.

If I take screws on Hood or Rainier it is because I am doing a technical route like the North Face or Liberty Ridge so I take 6 screws. For easier routes I generally don't take any screws.

You are an ass.

How would the Entiat Icefall on Mt Maude be this time of year? Any guesses?

At age 10 my daughter could do laps on Libra Crack and couldn't do a single pull up. She had small hands which were the perfect size for the crack.

Eldorado might be a good option. Is the road open yet?

Nice photos.

I believe what happened was they were trying to raise 150k to build the largest wall in the state but they fell far short of their goal so they built what they could afford.

I couldn't finish watching.

I took a look. It is a nice wall with natural features that remind me of basalt. It is much smaller than originally planned it seems though.

You may find this article helpful: http://www.summitpost.org/article/507227/So-you-want-to-climb-Mt-Rainier-.html

There is always the Tooth, about an hour east of Seattle.

That dude was a colleague of my wife's. She described him as a bit of a hothead.