Alex

If snoq is open in the morning, I am heading over for a look. I bagged on plans for strobach due to the new snow and avy hazard, which according to nwac is at a 20 year climax cycle the next 24 hours.

Yes, def not harder than 3

Borgeau Right Hand is a great suggestion! Two pitches of 4- followed by a bunch of 3. But avy hazard pretty significant, so do only when conditions are very stable

"We were actually looking to do 2 to 3 long "quality" routes in WI3/4 range." Doesnt really get much better than Professors at that grade. But, depending on avy hazard of course: This House of Sky with its upper pitches is a very nice long quality route that you only have to belay the last few pitches for. Murchison, first n pitches. Just climb until you want to turn around. Popular route, can be very cold. Polar Circus. Climb up until you want to turn around. Only the last pitches are what you might call hard, the rest is pretty moderate. Shades of Beauty (and Stanley Falls Senior if you finish early). No av hazard. Nice setting! Sinus Gully p1, rock p2, casual 50m left traverse p3, and final pitch of Killar Pillar (WI4) for a pitch 4 of morderate, mixed climbing on the Stanley Headwall

"Overall, fun trip but we definately did not get the "mileage" we were looking for." Nice trip. Curious, though, why not? Getting Proffessor's with (only) 10 people seems like a pretty good day, and some of the other things you looked at were certainly pretty standard classics and look totally in: Massey's is a one pitch wonder of a 4, but there is more moderate ice above. Did you not actually climb Louise or the other stuff? For real mileage, a trip up the parkway to do Bridal Veil, Panther Falls, and Snivelling Gully/Weeping Left gives you 8-9 pitches of moderate ice. Also, This House of Sky is a long moderate day for mileage. And you can always go up the David Thompson and do something like Elliot Left Hand and Two Oclock Falls in a day for 5 pitches of moderate ice with only 1 pitch of WI4.

Bottom part of Champagne in two pitches is aid.

I've owned the old Cobra for years, old Viper for 2 years, Quarks for years, and other tools on and off (Quark Ergo, Prophets, etc) I now own the new BD Cobra, and have been using it for the last few outings with a Quark in one hand and a new Cobra in the other. All leashless, all the time. For both mixed and ice, the Cobra beats the Quark. It's hard to actually describe why, though. The balance is just...different. The curve of the shaft is ... different. The stick is ...different. Climbing mixed, the pick and shaft "lock in" better than a Quark. Climbing mixed is nice with the cobra, until you have to drive a pin. Then, when you miss, you whack the CF shaft and cringe. I am using the Quark to drive pins, for the forseeable future. Climbing mushrooms with the tool is comparable to climbing them with a Quark, and better than an old Viper or old Cobra. Climbing hard ice, **VERY SURPRISING!** was dead EASY, despite the weight of the tool, which is light. I am used to the old school of thought that you need weight to drive them into hard ice better. Not so. The new cobra places in hard ice like a friggin DREAM. Better than a Quark. I've been climbing only leashless, and the grip on the new Cobra is better than a Quark for my hands (large). They are a quantum leap up from the old Viper (which is why I sold my vipers and went with the new Cobra). I think that the Quark is still one of the abs best tools out there today. It's very difficult to beat. So, if you are already a Quark-wielding savage, the improvements you will find are only small and only in certain areas with the new Cobra. Any other tool, you'll feel a marked difference By the way, if you shop around you can get a discount on pairs of tools. I've seen them for 539$ the pair. I was lucky and got mine even cheaper. If you wait til next season, you may even see the price come down, or some used pairs start to float around

Of the big climbs from Ephrata to Electric City: Champagne - in Scotch on the Rocks - not even close for the upper bit Clockwork Orange - nope Children of the Sun - looks in from the road but as Dave says sounds wet. Cable - touching down, but super chandeliers H202 - leadable I guess. It was our backup plan if Salt and Pepper sucked. Salt and Pepper - Very pleasant outing. The upper pillars are very-hard-but-not-brittle ice that takes a very long time to place a screw in. Double v-threads in place. Use 60s. Shitting Razorblades - as someone else said ealier, no where near the shape it was in last year! Not in. Zenith is in 5 shape, but its a complete drenching shower even yesterday when it was pretty cold. There is a bail sling just below the few crux moves on the left (not ours) and lower down in the mushrooms on the right (that's ours). The ice is pretty good, though. It needs some real extended cold to not be so wet. (I know that Weekend_Climberz has scrambled around to the top of Zenith before, so if you do have to bail off a screw you can always retrieve it.) Punchbowl/Trotsky's/Folly - all in, with lots of traffic Saturday Don't know about Electric Avenue, didnt drive that far. Driving conditions in Eastern Wa are pretty challenging right now.

Up the road: the only thing really in inbetween the Cable and Champagne is Children of the Sun, which sounds like its wet from another thread. Scotch on the Rocks et al all not in. The desert is pretty starved for water in alot of places, looks like, this year.

All the water that fed Shreddie last year is going to Rambles Right and Rambles Center this year. Oh well.

yeah, that's one of the (few) troubles with the place. Just gotta commit to washing the crampons after an outing.

Maybe they were placing the screws on steeper ground for practice? Since the pitch is only WI3, maybe they should just solo it, like the rest of us?? I am surprised you didn't mention the penalty slack that would have caused the leader to deck no matter how many screws were in...

I will be there, if its on a weekend.

If you are not new to climbing, but just new to the area, hooking up with folks at Pub Club might be better than hitting the Mountaineers Basic Course. The Mountaineers Basic Course is, well, basic.

nutz

hear hear! "Tens of thousands"...I'd still only make like 5$...

Not a trivial lead by any means. The ice quality is usually low. But easy to set up as a TR. There is also some ice up at Table. I will update the page further today.

updated the site. http://wastateice.net/Conditions.aspx and http://wastateice.net/strobachcurrent.htm

You guys are getting permission, right? If the ranch owner drives by while you are on that thing he might get pretty pissed considering the conversations we had a few years ago about his land and access to the climbs around there.

210 + shipping

See http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/760194#Post760194

I've been bad and not updated the site in a week. Of course, it hasn't stopped dumping in the mountains for a week, and work crushed me,...again. I think I need a new jorb.

Thanks for the PMs, I beieve the vipers are sold, just have to verify shipping details.

Just what I've always wanted! Man, it's like Christmas!

yeah yeah one of many Ryobi EH1930 gas powered drill. While this IS an impact drill, it does not have an SDS chuck, it just has a normal chuck. Which means you won't be able to use SDS bits effectively for this drill. It's been used to drill holes in rock nonetheless. But not the most effictive tool out there: my Hilti is better, which is why I am selling this. You can use it for other things. I leave to your imagination. Runs on mix. Runs. Has a manifold mod to prevent both banging against the rock and prevent some burns if you happen to be dangling it from a harness. 150$ firm.