Alex

Man, with the weather and that approach, you cannot go up there and NOT go to the base of the route. Its definitely in.

So I am trying out a Petzl Meteor III in REI today with my 2 year old and he is trying out every helmet too. Except, none of them are going to fit him for years. Do folks climbing with toddlers or toddlers++ (4-6 yos?) climb with bike helmets or what?

It really depends on what you are shooting for. For qualifiers, though, I wouldn't call the routes you've mentioned hard. There are alot of very committing routes in Washington, but I am not sure there are alot of hard routes in Washington. Here are some things I guess I would consider more representative * Complete Bonanza traverse - (http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=2&Number=233768&Searchpage=4&Main=15957&Words=bonanza+&topic=0&Search=true#Post233768) * N Face Colonial in Winter (Watusi Rodeo) * N Face Index in Winter (choose any route) * The complete Silverstar Ridge Traverse including Wine Spires that Mark Allen and Mike Layton did a few years back * Dolomite Tower on Baring * Walking the Fence (Southern Pickets) * Mox Peak routes recently done and reported here There is alot more in southern BC, too "The Pickets seem like an obvious destination but I just can't find any beta on the climbs there." Not sure where you've been looking, but the Beckey guide is full of beta on the Pickets, and this site has a very large amount of info as well. But moreover, what kind of climbing do you think you'll be interested in once you've ticked whatever Washington has to offer you? There are some obvious and easy destinations, depending on your tastes, that can serve up higher difficulty routes: Granite? Wind Rivers, Bugaboos, Valhallas Snow and Cold? Alaska range. Granite, snow, and cold? Waddington, Ruth Gorge, Little Switzerland Often nervy, high-standard "normal routes"? Canadian Rockies. In my own limited evolution, I went to Alaska Range first, Wind Rivers and Bugaboos next, then the Canadian Rockies later. I still haven't done much worth mentioning in those places, but those ranges definitely give you perspective on the Cascades. Given a choice today and some time (with 2 small kids though, uh....time...yeah...), I would head back to the Canadian Rockies on a heartbeat. My own goals are more "all-around" than Alaska-stylee or Bugaboo-stylee climbing.

I use canister stoves usually about 3 months a year, including pocket rocket and Markill Stormy hanging stove. Sometimes in Winter, depends on the trip. Cold weather: you need to define cold. Is cold to you 0 C? Cold to me is -20 C or colder. You rarely see these temps in Washington, unless you are on Rainier in the winter. You see them regularly in Canada. In -20 C I use a white gas stove. Canister stoves performance depends on what's in the canister, not the stove.

Martin Volken's shop in North Bend, Pro Ski

There's a few PDX based climbers who get out fairly regularly during the winter, but it's a LOT of driving for Oregon based ice climbers...

For sure, and with good reason: the route is there all season, but the approach isn't going to be this easy until like next April!!!

I cannot believe I got my late breaking Ms news on cc.com! Too bad Ng didn't get the job, but Jack Z sounds like a decent hire. Someone who is able to "recognize talent" sure was needed, at anyrate.

http://www.mountainwerks.org/alexk/climb/TRprusik.htm Scroll down, click for route overlay.

nice, i'll start the ice conditions pages

I see your search for a new partner is getting off to a great start.

The Mountaineers Books were ok to work with, but in hindsight I probably would have gone with someone else.

Two ideas for you: 1) Baily Range traverse, Olympic park 2) Buck Creek Pass loop through the Entiat

The entire valley is covered in Washington State Ice. The route that comes in most often is probably Falling Falls, it's a pretty nice route!

1) I think you'll have to wait a couple months for any ice to form on the East side of the Cascades. It's not THAT cold out there right now. 2) The Palisades are very touchy as the entire valley is pretty much private land, and are basically closed to climbing. Please see Washington State Ice guide for more details.

Alpine: Upper N Ridge of Stuart from the Notch. Slesse NE Buttress is a great GF route!! N Face Burgundy Spire Sahale is pretty good especially if you both ski

chances are it just joined the other 8 pieces in there as fixed aid/panic pieces.

Agreed that Index is it when it comes to West side trad climbing. Castle Rock and other spots in Leavenworth rule too. Rad and I have been putting up some multi-pitch trad and trad/mixed routes at exit 38 the last two years, but while there is one easy route (.8-ish), most pitches are seeing about a 5.10c to 5.10d consensus. PM me if you are interested. This time of year it's getting very questionable as to whether anything will remain dry enough.

It's still on the stack of things to do. I *did* work on the website recently and update a bunch of stuff, including more pics of routes etc, but was unable to upload via FTP for some reason that day. I will get to the drytoolings stuff soon.

really cool, i didnt realize those areas and summits were so infrequented

This might sound terrible, but I blame it squarely on sport climbing and gyms. The bar for entry is SO LOW now, that one doesn't have to make much of a mental, physical, or financial investment in climbing. As such, there is little ** committment ** I used to think "Wow, look at all the climbers getting exposed to the sport now!" as I hung out at Smith, Red rocks, or even in the Icicle. But with rare exceptions, these days I think the masses of people climbing in the gym venture outside only rarely; those that are outside who are actually clipping bolts rarely venture over to trad climbing, and even fewer venture into the mountains. I mine craigslist every so often, and am always surprised at the sheer number of posts of people selling off a pair of shoes and a harness and a few 'biners. These are people who climbed for an outing or two, or a year or two, but are moving on. Why? Perhaps as the previous poster says cost, but there are so many other factors...climbing is about as selfish as an activity as you can find, and most people are raised on team sports so the isolation of climbing can be unnerving. There are alot of other reasons. Like everyone here, I've known alot of my climbing partners to quit once they got married or had kids, etc. Now, that might not be bad. For sure every insanely croweded day at Exit 38 is balanced by an empty day in the mountains, and for those of us in the mountains not waiting in line for a route (unlike Cham) is awesome! I *like* that when I've done neat trips in the mountains, I didn't encounter many other people... But in the longer term this trend doesnt bode well for the stewardship of wilderness areas, or climbing. Land managers tend to manage their resources for those users who are most likely to visit: which means (something like) funds for trail maintenance will go to trail crews working on Cascade Pass trail leading to Cascade Pass, but not beyond. Will Stehekin road ever be fixed? Hell no, the only people heading up-valley were climbers.

Craig et al, I think the decline in backcountry use, wilderness use, and the decline in climbing in general is very real in Washington, and was thinking about it the other day. If you lived almost *anywhere else*, there might be only climbing, or only some other activity, to pursue. But in Washington there is SO MUCH to do. So people naturally move on over time. One hint of what I'm talking about: look at the web pages of some of the well known the Internet Alpinists in recent years: myself, mvs, AlpineDave, Phil, sverdina, mikeadam, Alpine_Tom - lots of folks are starting to have trip reports that are like "Pacific Cup" or "kite-boarding in the Gorge" or "mountain biking near Olympia" or whatever. There is alot to do in Washington and not that many skilled alpinists, and even lifers do other things after a while. I also think that alot of people are getting more dispersed and so harder to track, as the ease of information makes it easier to have a successful trip where before you pretty much just had to be unemployed and commit alot of time and alot of failure. The amount of info is astonishing, I'd say we're seeing the end of a time in our history where printed guidebooks have much of a role. The Internet, and sites like this and summitpost, make objectives harder to pick (so many!) but easier to succeed on once chosen. Also, while I don't want to say the Cascades are climbed out, the range is actually pretty small and there are very few "hidden splitter granite alpine climbs" out there that can be done in a weekend, let alone that are new routes. Most climbers have jobs, and the Summers here are recently as short as the Summers in the Canadian Rockies, so having 4-6 weeks of stable weather to play with doesnt really raise the proability of listing off a long list of new routes every year. Finally, I think climbers are mostly unrepresented on this board, and likely alot of them just climb standard routes. Those that do not either don't care to report their endevours, or do so through very traditional channels, like direct mail to Fred. That said, for those of you posting on this board, it's awesome! It's much easier to track whats going on for new routes (like, oh yeah that was on my list to try but Layton did it last year so let me move to the next thing on my list to try) as well as to get a glimpse into new areas likely not yet explored, through the pics that others have taken while on their own journeys.

Congrats on being a dad!

I've heard mixed reviews of Reactors. Tvashtarkatena has/had a pair. I've tried them just once and didn't like. If between Quark and *older* Viper for same price, I'd go Quark hands down. I have Quarks and new cobras now.

I already know I'm going to get screwed, and am making my own arrangements, not relying on government to watch my back.