Alex

I have 00 TCU and aliens. I am pretty partial to aliens - I have taken a long leader fall on the blue alien and there was never an issue. It seems like every climb I do I place blue, green, and yellow aliens. Awesome. I dont place the 00 TCU nearly as often, but sometimes it comes in handy

Looked at Coleman Headwall last Thurs, the direct start looked a bit dangerous and unappealing, while traversing in from the left seemed like it might go but you would still have to contend with a serious looking schrund about 1/2 way up. Get there early, the snow was really soft already at 7am. Alex

hey Roger, check your PMs. My email registered here is not my working email, you would have to remove the SPAMSPAM from the email address (among other things) for it to work.

Someone buy my trangos! My feet dont stink, really!

nice!

FS: La Sportiva Trangos, sz 44 in excellent condition, used only a few times. They are too narrow for my wide foot. Yours for 75$.

I tried NR Baker today with dane, we could not find a way to the base, and turned around at 7300. Alex

hey shane, nice job and TR!

The Chimneys in a day car-to-car is a North Cascades classic tour-de-force, highly recommended! Really a great route in a great setting, with lots and lots of very varied terrain. [ 08-06-2002, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: Alex ]

trad 11s at smith, sounds like sunshine dihdral to me!

Its around 18 mi one way to Glacier Medows, but the first 13 miles are "flat". TG, arent you talking about the 3 Sisters Marathon? Anyone know what the current standing time is? I thought you had to do Bachelor too, to make it official these days... Alex

oh, you can believe what you like I suppose doesnt really matter, as long as we're all having fun! Cheers, Alex

yeah, I was considering this with bikes with pencilneck, but am not sure now its the best use of 24 hours. Klar404, have you done it this way? John Doe

quote: Originally posted by iain: quote:Originally posted by Alex: Oregon only has Mt Hood (which is how I started, and I love Hood) which does offer alot for 1 mountain, but its 1 mountain. So that's why Jeff and the sisters are still so pleasantly empty. Hope that PDX-centric attitude persists. Jeff and the Sisters are hills, son.

As a person who has lived in both OR and WA with a girlfriend from PHX and sister who lives in PHX, I can say both Seattle and Portland have their charms. Portland is a nice town, it still has a small-town feel to it. You can be walking downtown and actually recognize people you have met or know. Portland is just as rainy as Seattle in the winter, but hotter than Seattle in the summer, on average. Access to the mountains is easy from Portland, the skiing on Hood can be epic or suck. Access to windboarding in the Columbia Gorge. Rock climbing in city is limited, but Smith is not far and is a year-round climbing area. As far as real alpine, sorry, Oregon only has Mt Hood (which is how I started, and I love Hood) which does offer alot for 1 mountain, but its 1 mountain. Yosemite, Vegas and the Sierras are 3 hours closer than Seattle. Seattle is a nice town, still small by East Coast standards. Visually and geographically, its very diverse, and that makes it interesting. Wonderful summers, overcast at other times. Nearest rock climbing is an hour away, but there is alot of climbing within 2 hours - very little of it is year-round climbing though. Skiing from 1 - 2 hours away, is usually epic somewhere, and usually sucks at Snoqualmie pass, but thats just the nature of Snoqualmie pass. Access to alpine climbs is unparalleled in the lower 48. There is alot of reliable ice climbing in WA, where these is little in OR. Plus Banff is 12 hour drive. If you can stand the long periods of no sun, you can be very happy in either place.

what chucK said. Its not particularly hard to find from the valley bottom coming from Longs Pass. Cross the creek and go down valley. Soon the trail enters a pleasant medow where there is a climbers path going UP. It switchbacks through the medow a few times, then up the climbers left side of the medow in timber to some benches, then directly into the couloir. From here you climb up the bottom and then the right side of the couloir, steep in a few spots and sometimes wet. The terrain eases off higher up, until the false summit and eventually Sherpa come into view.

when?

I have trip report http://www.mountainwerks.org/alexk/climb/TRPicket.htm pictures http://www.mountainwerks.org/alexk/climb/pickets.htm

or the size of their balls?

chucK, now that was funny!

Oh one last thing. Whatever anyone tells you, do NOT bivy on the ledge at the base of the rap off the Gendarme. It looks comfortable, but when we climbed this, about 3 min after my second traversed the gully a huge amount of ice and stonefall came down the gully and surely would have killed anyone in or near it, including that ledge.

Ryland, there are lots of different ways to notch to summit it but I have found the following 3 work best, depending on your skill and fitness: option 1: camp at Stuart Pass (no water) and do it in a long day camp to camp. You will need very good fitness, and be reasonably fast, but wont need overnight gear. If you are going real light, however, your overnight gear will only be an additional 5 pounds. option 2: From Esmerelda Basin, leave very early day 1 to avoid the sun in Esmerelda Basin, and go as far as you can. Your mileage may vary, but approach time will be between 5 and 7 hours or so to the notch. There is a lot of daylight left, go climb! There are bivy sites all over, but the best one is on the summit. If you are comfortable simulclimbing parts of the route, the route itself will take between 3 and 8 hours to the top. Day 2, finish climbing and descend. You will need good fitness to get high up on day 1, but day 2 is easier compared to option 3... option 3: Camp at the notch. This makes for a half day to approach, which works for some and works well when approaching from Stuart Lake. I thought the mosquitos at the Notch sucked, though. There are some more (I wouldnt say better) bivy sites here than up higher, which makes it more likley that you will get one, but makes for a very long summit day and out. Its a great route, well worth the logistical challenges it throws at you! Alex

Ryland, if you are talking about Notch to summit with rap fr Gendarme, NRS would be a fine solo for the most part. There are only a few "cruxy" feeling sections from a technical standpoint, most notably a short steep 5.7 sequence beginning at about 100 m from the notch, and then up a bit higher a polished slab with a wide crack near the ridge crest. As far as exposure, the entire route is exposed and some of it has crazy ass exposure. If you have any doubts, I suggest you climb the route first with a partner, then go back and solo it for style points at some later time. You are young, don't become a statistic Alex

I cant drink at noon, but I can drink in the evening. Sounds like ... Fiddler's?

YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY BE THE REAL JERRY SANCHEZ!