Ade

"She Go!" means we did it on the 19th to 22nd. Pretty much perfect weather and nobody on the route. The lower glaciers were OK but soft, lots of postholeing, no real problems with crevasses. The lower part of the ridge is OK but melting out. I imagine with the continued hot weather things have only gotten worse. On the descent we were wading knee deep on some lower sections. Above Thumb Rock the route is pretty icy. I can't really say how icy as I've not done it before but comparing it to other descriptions it seemed so. The majority of the route was front pointing with some sections of windslab/neve. We made it up and over the top and part way down the Emmons on the third day before bivving in sight to Camp Sherman. This was slower than expected but from most of the accounts I've read doing the whole thing in three days car to car requires good conditions. For the most part we were postholeing or front pointing. Ade Thanks to whomever it was who decided to not use a blue bag at Thumb Rock, and the guy who "forgot" his full bag there. May you forever melt yellow snow.

Wilderness sports is another good bet if you want to help the little guys. 425 746 0500. They rent stuff but I've not had boots from them. REI in Redmond rents stuff, I've had boots from them before. The number is: 425 882 1158 Alas, this weekend is already taken, but thanks for the offer. Ade

REI rent them. I think it's about $10 a day. Ade

Emmons is fine I think. We met a team of two on it so there should be boot tracks all the way to above 12,500. It looked pretty straightforward above that. Very soft snow below 11,000' so start early.

I was up looking at the Ptarmigan in mid-August last year. It was in pretty bad shape the lower section of the route was covered with fallen rocks and a bergshrund ran right across the face. I'd guess this year would be worse as there's less snow to start with. Liberty "She Go!" but the warm weather is going to make the approach much more like hard work but most of the glaciers are still in reasonable shape - no huge holes to fall in yet.

Even mid-week this is going to be pretty busy. I was leaving the park on Tuesday afternoon and there were three parties setting off to do the Liberty. I would also avoid the flamethrower. Everything below 11,000' was mush yesterday and probably getting worse if the hot weather continues.

Probably... When I saw him he was wearing the (obligatory) Mumu and talking utter gibberish.

Isn't Guy supposed to be traversing the whole of the Coast Range or something?

I'm told (by a third party) that Bryan Burdo has put up some "Alpine Sport" routes in that area. Maybe he can shed some more light on this. Before anyone dashes up there to chop them, or ranting needlessly on this site, maybe they/we should find out exactly who did what, where and why. The Access Fund's position would also be worth a read. As would the delicate state of the fixed anchor negotiation with the USFS. Maybe a happy medium can be found. Ade BTW: I've taken the liberty of mailing Andy Fitz, the local Access Fund representitive about this so we might get some input from him. [This message has been edited by Ade (edited 04-12-2001).]

Me too, went in the post just now! There's still time to write today. Ade

Before you rush out and buy a Startech or Halfdome you might want to check out the British Mountaineering Council technical articles. They mention recent research/testing that has bought the safety of both these helmets into question. Ade [This message has been edited by Ade (edited 04-11-2001).]

OK... you've convinced me. A small project for this weekend. I knew those massive trees would come in handy for something. I don't suppose anyone has any tips on how to actually walk along the damn thing?

Doesn't it require a lot of snow to come into condition? This has been a low snow year.

So the first part of the system would be a seriousness rating and the second a technical grade. Isn't this the same as the R/X postfixes to the YDS system? This is pretty much what we have already. Ade

Is there any way to make posts to this not appear in the most recent 25/40 posts pages? Ade

We didn't go further than the Snow Creek Wall trailhead lot but there seemed to be very little snow around. It snowed there on Tuesday but cleared pretty quickly apparently. Saturday morning it was raining but cleared in the afternoon. Alas, we couldn't stay for Sunday... Ade

As promised more testing took place... With a pair of Androids... Personally I'm still totally sold on them but here's a list of minor stuff worth knowing: My only gripe is that the clip can catch on things when your hand is free and trying to place gear. This is annoying but minor and can me minimised by bending then end of the clip down to reduce the gap for things to snag in. The clip attached to the side of the shaft also makes it harder to slide into a tool holster or gear loop. Two really is better than one. You can start screws off with your better hand (my left hand isn't dextrous enough to set a screw) and then swap quickly to finish it with the other hand. Dropped tools? Never even came close. Personally I think you're just as likely to drop a tool while trying to get your hand in or out of a traditional leash. I always carry a third tool anyway. They're expensive but in the grand scheme of things not really. After all a pair of Androids will set you back less than two screws. Climb a lot and the cost per day/pitch makes it all seem OK. Mine are currently about a $1.30 a pitch. If you're like Illimani94 and really take your hand out of a mitt to place gear then these aren't for you. When an Android is on it's not easy to get off. I used to use mitts but switched to gloves when I changed leashes. Ade [This message has been edited by Ade (edited 03-27-2001).]

This is one of the pictures on the CC homepage. Can anyone shed any more light on this route? Mitch perhaps? Ade

Was up in Lillooet for the final fix of the season... The season is pretty much at an end now although there's still stuff to do as some of the bigger lines are still around especially if they're sheltered but anything exposed so the sun is pretty much gone; Carls Berg etc. Beware of serious avalanche danger on some seemingly safe routes. Loose Lady looks to be still climbable but is threatened by a huge slide area above. This is NOT VISIBLE from the road. When this goes it comes down across the road. Ade

Did anybody get out this past weekend (Mar 22/23)? If so what were conditions like? I'm looking to get out next weekend, weather permitting. Ade

Lets not forget Warthogs... great in frozen turf or those stupid Selawa (sp?) screws which might as well have been drive ins.

They have a web page: North Cascades 2001 Opening

They're thinner and made of harder metal (the same stuff they make the tail hooks for planes landing on aircraft carriers or something like that). BD stopped making them because it trashed their machine tools as it was so hard.

The new XGKs have legs that cross in the middle rather than sticking out (two wires not four). You can buy the new style legs and they'll fit on your old stove. I found this a great improvement. I never worked out why the XGK has such long rigid tube. I always pack food in the pans and keep the stove in a separate bag, it's dirty anyway. My friends who use a hanging gaz stove use the BD/Bibler one. There was a stove review in Climbing that might be worth checking out. You can use a flattened copper tube to conduct heat from the jet of your gaz stove to the cylinder. You can also insulate the cylinder with some closed cell foam and sleep with the cylinder to keep it warm. I've seen several others suggesting this approach but the usual disclaimers apply, this is not without risk, I told you it was possible, not that you should do it. Ade

I've always used an XGK on major climbing trips. On several of these we've taken other stoves so these are direct comparisons... Both the Peak 1 and Whisperlite seem more susceptable to clogging than the XGK, especially if the gas you're using is of poor quality. It is actually worth filtering really crap gas, as it can save time in the long run. The Peak 1 we had didn't seem to like white gas either. It actually got so hot the welds on the flame spreader started to fall apart. The Peak also seems to have more trouble at altitude (over 5000m) but we never managed to work out why. The XGK is only (full) on or off but that's OK for melting snow and basic cooking if you have decent pans. The thin steel MSR ones are light but rubbish in all other respects. The steel is too thin and doesn't conduct heat well causing hot spots when cooking. I've not used a Ti pan but I suspect they're similar. We had some Steel inside and Aluminum outside composite pans on our last trip and these were excellent. I'm not sure if they're still made or by whom (sorry). The only real problem with the XGK is that the metal base melts into the snow. I use a couple of cork table mats (mug size) to insulate the bottom of the stove. A lot cheaper than the funky thing MSR sell. Ade BTW: I also know people who use Gaz stoves all the time and are very happy with them, convenient in tents etc. I've not used one but they might be worth checking out. You have to modify them for high alitude or cold weather use.