dbconlin

We also took the right/standard line. The left line looked really good and intriguing - at least one team maybe two took it on Sunday. I was going to do it too, but although the climbing looked good, the pro was pretty thin so I backtracked and went right.

Trip: Mount Rainier - Paradise Glacier Date: 1/18/2009 Trip Report: With the great weather and lack of snow, we hoped to get a little spring skiing in above the inversion. Nick, Chad, Luke, and I headed up the Muir snowfield intent on skiing the Paradise Glacier, which is reputedly more sheltered and receives more morning sun. The ascent was treacherous - only one of us had ski crampons and there were some sketchy icy traverse sections. At one point Nick took a spill and self-arrested with his bare hands, resulting in some minor wounds (see pics). When we got to 8600' right below Anvil Rock, we took a nice lunch/potluck break where we passed around homemade granola bars (Dave), Cocktail pepperoni (Chad), Terra chips (Luke), and - the biggest hit - horsecock , er dry Italian sausage, with crackers (Nick). WE watched the hordes go on by ascending to Muir. It felt nice to bask in the sun and watch them labor with the contented notion that for us, from here, it would be a short traverse and then DOWN. The upper slopes were horribly wind-scoured/sastrugi. We persevered until the slope rolled off a bit more, where it was more sheltered and lower elev, and found pockets of decent corn. At one point we came to a very steep headwall that led to what looked to be excellent chute-skiing in better snow conditions, but decided to traverse to less extreme slopes due to the firm snow conditions. After a sketch traverse across a steep section, we found perfect corn for about 800' of skiing. This was followed by some more traversing and navigating the complex terrain of the lower glacier while trying not to end up too far from Paradise. None of us had been there before, but it was a good learning experience. Once we found the way it was pretty straightforward. Pics: HERE

Nice work, dudes - I don't know how I missed the obvious choice of going for the summit last weekend, and that route looks fun. I was skiing the Paradise glacier on Sunday and the conditions were marginally better than what you describe. I think with the heavy packs and climbing boots, the way to go would be to just boot it all the way.

VERNICE!

I believe that has been done - oh, wait, on small section was rapped.

a single private lesson is what I would recommend.

I agree helmets can be more comfortable than a beanie. The most important things are: fit, light weight, ventilation options, music input (?) -Fit goes without saying -Light weight - it is suprising how much difference this makes on your neck when resort skiing and hitting it hard all day. In the backcountry it is going to be in/on your pack during the ascent (probably), so important there too. There is a huge range in weight of ski helmets. -Ventilation - some helmets have removable vent plugs, or a slider switch to allow or block airflow. Very nice if you will be in a range of temps. -Music input - personal preference. The Giro Nine.9 is a classic (is it still made?) and has all of these features.

The DAS is probably more warmth than you need in most conditions...I have one and am now looking into getting something lighter for 3-season use. Except today. Glad to have it.

Crystal today:

Wow, ICE! That looks fun...I miss the frozen stuff.

Yeah, what she said. Softshells range from very thin, very breathable to full wind protection with bonded fleece interior and some even claiming fully waterproof (not a softshell therefore?). I tend to wear the thin/breathable variety. Under it anything from synthetic t-shirt to expedition weight undergarment...but never fleece.

Beautiful.

Wow. yes, let's see that TR and some more photos!

Au contraire, mon frere...I do it all the time. Why not?

Spring conditions: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=676112

Unless you climb with Androids AND umbilicals, you still risk dropping your tools...especially while unclipping/clipping those pesky things.

Old skool!

One advantage to clipping with biners rather than tying or girth hitching to your tool is the ability to move your clip point from the spike to the head when you transition from steep ice to plunging.

I saw a sweet map display in a colleague's office - the map was "laminated" but not in the way I usually think of. It looked like it was imbedded in some sort of resin, or something, that was adhered to a backing board that mounted to the wall. It looked really professional and a little out of the ordinary. It was not framed in the traditional way, nor covered in clear plastic all the way around like you see some posters - I can't explain it. He said his neighbor, who owns a framing shop, did it for him and it is usually a couple of hundred dollars to mount in that way. He no longer works at the company or I would ask again. I tried to find it via google and came up with vinyl or lexan lamination (used at trades shows) as possibilities, but I cannot be sure that was it. I think a pro shop would be able to come up with this, among other, attractive options.

I too was with Phil at the base - each member of our party had some reservation about continuing up the route for various reasons, even though the route looked to be in (and quite good) to me. Our reasons had to do with party ability, fitness, and size. In retrospect, it may have been smart to split into two teams of two - with only two climbing the route and the other two doing the long glacier tour/traverse that we all ended up doing. Four in that couloir is too many climbers. Personally, I was having some reservations about doing much front-pointing and step-kicking given that I had forgotten my boot insoles and had quite a bit of slop going on in there...oops!

Thanks for sharing - I have done the spider gap area twice, once as a day-hike and another as a backpack where we continued on to Lyman lakes and points further, then circled around on the PCT re-route near Glacier Pk and down Jack Cr (?) drainage - highly recommended backpack with gorgeous scenery. But I have never been there in fall and that is extra-spectacular! Those colors are amazing!

I skied the SW chutes on 7/12 (saturday) - the snow was ok there - no suncups but not great. Some friends skied the next day (sunday) and had stellar views of the fire burning below (which put a lot of concern into their heads while they were headed straight toward it to return to their car).

Thanks so much to you guys for putting this together and keeping it running! What ever happened to Cavey? Climbed with him a couple of times...definitely a strong personality!

NF Buckner?

Hi, I am looking to meet more climbers and skiers in the Tacoma/Seattle/PierceCo/KingCo area. I live in Tacoma. I have a preference for alpine rock/ice and b/c skiing. I have 15 years experience at trad leading, moderate ice and mixed, mountaineering, steep snow/ice, traveling in avy terrain, route-finding, etc. I have availability on weekends, primarily. I am hoping to meet people interested in making the most of available time to spend in the mountains. I am happy to get out with people with a range of experience levels. Please PM for more info and to connect. Cheers, David