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Alex

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Posts posted by Alex

    Mt. Maude - Entiat Icefall

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Yes Colin, you can approach the icefall from Maude Jack Col, about 4 hours from the trailhead up Leroy Creek Basin.

    However, that said, the Entiat Icefall does not look all that interesting (IMO, I went up there a few weeks ago), just a short glacial step really. My understanding is that it has lost alot of its character over the years.

    Can anyone confirm or deny?

    Alex

    Alpine Ice Tools

    in The Gear Critic

    Posted

    cmonster,

    If you can find an old used pair that someone is selling (maybe Second Bounce? [or whatever its called now]), the X-15 BRS or bare carbonfiber offers a pretty happy compromise between durability, weight, and performance. I used them for 10 years now on steeper water ice, and in the alpine. I recently went to BPs for the steeper water ice, but still use the X-15s. Straight shaft makes steep snow pluging easy. The naked carbon or BRS doesnt get as cold as metal. My only complaint is that the adze is not as good as the BP adze.

    Otherwise, old straight shaft BPs would be my second choice, though the curved shaft is more comfortable on steep ice. They are heavier than X-15s though

    Alex

    Roadtrip Suggestions

    in British Columbia/Canada

    Posted

    AJ, September is a good time of year to hit the Wind River Range in Wyoming. Go into Cirque of the Towers for a few days, it is an easy 8 mile hike in to a spectacular alpine basin where you can do some easy routes and some hard routes, if inspired, or just loaf around if not. I have the guidebook at my house if you want to come over and check it out some...

    Alex

    Suggestions

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Carolyn, most of us live at sea level, and most Cascade summits are only around 8000 ft. Though that might sound high compared to MN or the East Coast, altitude does not really become an issue until past about 8500 ft, so don't worry too much about altitude. If you do some of the larger peaks, like Rainier or Adams, sleeping in a high camp the night before a summit attempt will likely help you acclimate enough.

    Cheers and enjoy your stay, Alex

    Bad rock? Good rock?

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    I guess I would want to further qualify the question as "whats the worst rock you've encountered on a legit climbing route?" I've found the rock quality on Crooked Thumb in the Pickets to be the worst technical rock I have yet to attempt in the Cascades.

    I *do* find that it completely varies by what you are used to, of course. I've had close friends who climb in Yosemite call Washington Pass climbs choss. Its all relative..

    Alex

    Adams Glacier

    in Southern WA Cascades

    Posted

    If you are doing the climb at a reasonable time of year, you can expect short sectios up to 45 degrees, snow and ice.

    Minimum gear is minimum gear for any glaciated route: ice axe, crampons, anchors and the means to extract yourself from a big hole.

    Difficulty on a scale of St Helens to Yocum Ridge is 5.St Helensd, not 5.Yocuma, or on a scale of 1-10, I found this route around a 4.

    Thanks, Alex

     

    The North Face of Mt. Maude

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    On Monday, my friend Maurice and I went in to climb this in a day car to car as well, inspired by these reports. We left the car at 3am, reached Maude-Jack col at 8am after a long slog on scree, which sucked. Mo had a round of rot-gut going and the route didnt look particularly inspiring to me, so we actually didnt climb it, though we saw Erik, John and Kristins tracks...in fact we probably saw you guys camped out in a minivan in the parking lot when we left in the early morning hours....? Anyway, that basin is beautiful with lots of wildflowers, and we enjoyed lounging and snoozing at Maude-Jack col, scrambling up the N Ridge, and the views really are great! Back to the car by 2pm. This really is a one-day climb from Trinity,

    Cheers, Alex

    Adams Glacier

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Tom Breit and I were the second party you mention, Sunday. We tagged the top and were at the top of the N Ridge going down when you guys hit the summit plateu and were taking a break past the 'schrund. Long walk to that there summit!

    Anyway, should anyone have ideas to go climb Adams Gl. I would suggest you do it soon, as there are already some interesting bridges that, once gone, will make the route a lot trickier.

    Hope you get the Prophet back,

    Alex

    The Ultimate Climbing Rig - Suggestions?

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Thanks for all your input. A few comments, then I'll reveal my choice (made Friday, in Bremerton of all places).

    The Ford F250, Eurovan and Econoline were good suggestions for road tripping/living in, but a Toyota minivan offers the same clearance and better MPG, while allowing you to get into bed without exiting the vehicle (as you have to with any PU truck). But when it comes to commuting to work every day and parking in a parking garage, all these vehicles become a little more problematic, so ultimately I need something a little smaller and with shorter wheelbase. I did have a line on a cheap, large conversion van, but the whole MPG and commuting thing wins out..

    The Subaru wagons are good. I drooled on both the Outback and Forrester, but my budget is arounf 4k, so neither of those two were within range, really. An early 90s GL wagon was in the running, however.

    I couldnt find any decent Tercel 4WD or Corrola AllTrac wagons.

    I couldnt find any decent Totyota LE 4WD vans on short notice, though I see one in good shape occaisionally aroung town. This isnt surprising, as when I bought mine originally about 4 or 5 years ago, it took about 3 months of searching to find a 4WD with manual tranny. But the Toyota van is a hideous maintenance problem, as the engine is under the drivers seat, so since I already know all about this particular cars issues, it wasnt so seriously sought after, either.

    Every MPV owner I asked cursed the car. Even though the MPV seems like it exactly what I wanted, the engine and tranny problems it seems to chronically have made me search for something else.

    I did however find two Honda Civic 4WD wagons. One was in great shape, an 89, with automatic tranny. The other was in similar great shape, a 91 (the last year they were made), with manual tranny but higher miles than the 89. I ended up driving both the 89 and 91, and committed to buying the 91. The reasons were:

    I realized I didnt need the clearance I had with the van, but I did need *some* clearance, and that for winter driving the 4WD would be desirable

    Comfortable for 3 grunts with gear.

    Zippy, good pick up and handling, acceptable turning radius

    Full-time 4WD and larger-than-the-avg-civic 1.6 L fuel injected engine.

    fuel economy - 30s is good!

    legendary Honda relability - I owned an 86 Honda Civic HB and know what it can take.

    Heat, electrical all works.

    Downsides:

    cant sleep in it really.

    not enough clearance to do real damage

    no towing package

    Thanks for everyones thoughful comments, good luck in finding your ultimate rig!

    [This message has been edited by Alex (edited 06-25-2001).]

    The Ugly Secrets of the Wonderland Trail

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    One suggestion, if you have climbing experience, is to to the high route around Mt Rainier....basically involves a hell of alot o sidehilling and glacier crossing...but really nice...I think the traverse is pretty commonly done and is well-treated in one of those fold-out Rainier guides you can get at REI

    otherwise, the Olympics have epic traverses, days and days above treeline.

    Ptarmigan traverse as someone mentioned.

    You could always go to the Land o' Dru and do the Pemberton icecap.

    Or Pickets Traverse, N to S or S to N. I tried in 99, but ran away...

    Alex

    6mm static as secondary rap line

    in The Gear Critic

    Posted

    I use a 6mm rap line combined with a 70m 9.4 single PMI lead line for ultra-light trips where long rap retreats are a real possibility. Only actually rapped on it once..you dont notice the differential feed rates through the ATC until a ways down the rap, and (as you mention) if you have a biner on the rap sling there is no issue. Strength isnt really an issue, but I wouldnt rap on the 6mm for years and years like I do my thicker ropes, either..

    Alex

    The Ultimate Climbing Rig - Suggestions?

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Back in '95 I found what I thought was the ultimate climbing rig - the Toyota 4WD LE minivan - sitting off to the side on a dirt road at Red Rocks. The owner showed me the inside, where a futon mattress was set up, and there was wonderful space to store climbing gear for road trips. I bought an '87 Toyota 4WD minivan shortly thereafter, and have been driving semi-happily ever since...until 2 weeks ago when it died MIDSPAN ON 520!!

    It had some problems...no heat, poor electrical, very light rear so it wouldnt do well in wet weather, and easily the most tippy car I've ever driven, even more tippy than my 68 westfalia...so bad for Banff in the winter and ice climbing in general.

    Its time to replace the rig, on a budget. I am looking for the best combination of road-trip mobile, commuter car (30 mi RT a day to and from work), good MPG, good clearance, excellent reliability, can set more than 2. Not interested in something I can't put alot of crap into, or that I have to put money into..

    After a little research, my "possible van replacement list" includes:

    another Toyota minivan (one with heat??)

    late 80s-91 Honda Civic FT4WD wagon

    early 90s Toyota Corolla All Trac wagon

    1990 Audi 4WD/AWD (pre-cursor to Quattro?)

    Nissan Stanza 4WD wagon

    Subaru Legacy wagon

    old Nissan Pathfinder

    Mazda MPV - I have heard many horror stories about the MPV, so its about the lowest on the list..

    something else??

    What do you all drive? Experiences? Suggestions?

    Thanks, Alex

    [This message has been edited by Alex (edited 06-21-2001).]

    Approach to Sherpa Peak?

    in Alpine Lakes

    Posted

    Just a note about the Sherpa approach from Esmerelda Basin...

    agreed, totally doable in a long day.

    there is little water on the approach, so make sure you tank up before you leave the valley floor. You may or may not get meltwater higher up, but dont count on it.

    Trail is easy to follow to stuart-sherpa col, but once there you have to traverse some slabs. If wet or snow covered, these slabs are very dangerous! Forced us to turn around in October 98...

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