AlpineK

Trip: Shuksan - North Face Descent Date: 5/26/2012 Trip Report: The North Face of Shuksan stands out from the Mount Baker ski area. There are lots of lines to ski, but this route seemed within my comfort level; at least judging by pictures I've seen. It wasn't very hard to con friends into putting it on the must do list. Jeff, Christian and I decided to give it a shot on April 21. Nobody in our group had climbed the face, so we decided to climb it from the bottom so we viewed the terrain before skiing. We got an early start from the ski area with lots of new snow We found extreme conditions before the base of the route [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3048/medium/SEL3-2012-04-21_Partial-NF-.jpg[/img] Despite that we got onto the face. We skinned until the slope steepened then climbed. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3048/medium/SEL20-2012-04-21_Partial-NF.jpg[/img] Post holing in thigh deep snow takes it out of you. We stopped climbing about two thirds of the way up the route and switched to downhill mode. The downhill part was fantastic [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3048/medium/SEL32-2012-04-21_Partial-NF.jpg[/img] We had a great ski, but close only counts with horse shoes and hand grenades so we had to return. Jeff and I came back on April 29. The forecast sounded iffy. It rained at our camp site overnight, but slacked off in the morning. We drove to the parking lot and stared at the mountain for a few minutes. Is it going to break? Hmmm. After sitting there for a bit we figured we drove all this way so we might as well go for a ski. This time we decided to ditch face climbing and ascend the White Salmon then traverse the Hanging glacier The upper mountain kept providing hints of views [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3049/medium/1W-Ice_Cliff_Glacier_Panora.jpg[/img] The clouds kept moving back in. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3049/medium/3W-2012-04-29_Hanging_Cloud.jpg[/img] Eventually we got close to the entrance point for the route. Clouds were still swirling [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3049/medium/9W-2012-04-29_Hanging_Cloud.jpg[/img] Since we had not done a complete ascent of the route Jeff and I kept guessing at the right place to start skiing. "Why don't we go up there and look down." ... "This can't be right all I see is a rocky drop off with clouds." ... Eventually we decided to play it safe and ski down our uptrack. The ski down was entertaining since we kept kicking off point release slides but not quite what we wanted. Round three started with me staring at NOAA forecasts. We finely found the forecast we were looking for and left town early on the 26th. The weather looked solid when we arrived. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W1--2012-05-26_N_Face-Suces.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W2--2012-05-26_N_Face-Suces.jpg[/img] Somewhere below Whinnies slide we heard a loud boom sound. Plane breaking the sound barrier or? We got nice view of real extreme skiing Canadian Boarder Peak [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W7--2012-05-26_N_Face-Suces.jpg[/img] We were pretty sure of the drop in point but there was some hesitance. Eventually there was Price Lake. We were at the spot. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W9-2012-05-26_N_Face-Sucess.jpg[/img] We found a skim of ice on the top layer of snow, but overall the snow up high was good [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W10-2012-05-26_N_Face-Suces.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W11-2012-05-26_N_Face-Suces.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W12-2012-05-26_N_Face-Suces.jpg[/img] The snow was thick lower down where you traverse under cliffs to the notch marking the start of the North Face route. We also found some exciting runnels from previous slides. In the end we were at the notch with easier skiing below. On the way out we checked out some Freshiez below the Hanging Glacier [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W13-2012-05-26-Ice-Cliff-Av.jpg[/img] I guess that was the sonic boom sound we heard earlier. On the way out we saw evidence of snow slides a couple hundred yards from Chair-8 at the ski area. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W16-2012-05-26-Ski-Area-Deb.jpg[/img] We also got a good view of an avy in training on the Hanging Glacier [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3052/medium/W17--2012-05-26_N_Face-Suce.jpg[/img] It's nice to strike that from the must do list. The third time was the charm. The route is great and worth repeating. Approach Notes: White Salmon to Hanging Glacier. The point where you change from the Hanging Glacier to the North Face isn't obvious when you are there. You can see it from the ski area, so stare at it before leaving and lock it into short term memory.

Dan there is a forum for partner requests on the board. You should use it for posts like this. Good luck with R

First Off Secondly Hugh have you tried walking into a room with black guys and saying, "I need one of you niggers to help me?" If not what kind of response do you think you would get? Language can be tricky even if you think you're saying something in jest. I like the band Niggers With Attitude for a number of reasons. Recognizing songs from the LPs they mix is one reason. The lyrics are interesting too. Some of the lyrics include the, "N word." That still doesn't make it right or a good idea for me to talk like that.

I've got a first edition Freedom of the Hills. The index lists Leadership but not Leave no trace.

Perhaps we should have a CC lock-down practice drill. I always thought they were fun. [img:center]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YuLf5ean8xk/S8kete2wNRI/AAAAAAAAAgU/SANw7J4hpUw/s1600/LockdownDrill.jpg[/img]

In general I agree Feck. But you participated in this Mt. Fury thread. You posted in it several times throughout the day. I was thinking of some non-spray threads that stayed up for months.

One point to keep in mind is moderating is not a full time job. All the moderators have work and their own personal interests. Some interest are climbing, but you get the point. Speaking for myself, I do not read every thread or keep tabs on all users. The downside is stuff flies under the radar at times. We all miss things, and that can result in a perception of uneven handed moderating. The other issue is users or posts fall somewhere on a spectrum of Good --- Grey Area --- Bad Users don't always stay in one place. When have they gone over the top? Are we being too restrictive? Are we being too lax? Those are all tough questions.

I've heard that too

MySpace is not a valid comparison at all. They never were what FB is today. And yes, they still exist with a minimal skeleton crew. FB has a LONG way to fall to get there. Sorry that's as close as I could come to a comparison when it comes to social networks. Yep FB is much bigger.

Just trying to get the fire to die down a bit. Some heat is fine, but...

Oh I agree they ain't sinking like the Titanic. It's more like somebody keeps poking at the hull with an ice pick. They may go down, or limp along for years. My Space is still here.

FB stock is going nowhere or down. Despite the initial thrill they need to show investors the green. FB makes money from adds. They need more adds to make investors happy. The only problem is folks only tolerate so many adds before they jump ship. Loosing users isn't going to make advertising agencies happy. People did put up with NBC, CBS,... adds for years but the market was quite a bit smaller. Once the next big popular thing pops up on the web bye bye FB. I know My Space is still here, but..

Kick Ass [img:center]http://www.danbbs.dk/~rep/pictures/animation/skianim.gif[/img]

I have to say Van Halen has yet to schedule a concert at an Indian Casino. It's only a matter of time of course.

Canada had SCTV [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dfoVqhQVyQ And Yaksmen [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxg0JfBU2n4

If I remember right they let the US military build the ALCAN Highway without permission then they fixed the shoddy construction job the military did.

What little I know about Canadian politics doesn't make it look like a great escape. Every country is dysfunctional in it's own special way.

And break into your neighbor's houses steal their stuff then sell it back to them. Then and only then can you complain about home burglary and slimy rackets.

The long term future of advertising is to develop the technology used by the Borg and make everybody assimilate. [video:youtube]

Better double the pay package to compensate for the new figures

Great photos

You could post this instead [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxmZWa4hukw

Trip: Ski In 2012 - Silver Star and Cutthroat Date: 5/12/2012 Trip Report: The annual Cascade Climbers Ski In party included skiing, climbing and mountain biking. Dave Parker came through, once again, with a great cabin and camping area in Mazama. Blue skies reigned supreme. Dave and I had to guess at the best date based on the progress of HWY-20 plowing and rely on the good will of the property owners. Fortunately the pass opened a day before our scheduled date. We still worried since the NW Avalanche Center posted a bulletin warning of warm temperatures and possible slides. The Mazama area has some great climbing. We figured if you prepare for climbing and skiing you'll have a good time. On Friday evening we talked about good routes given the weather. We figured south facing slopes were out. A few people were fans of the Silver Star glacier, so we picked it as our Saturday ski destination. The group left Hwy-20 and ascended Silver Star Creek at a variety of paces. Snoboy wasn't familiar with the area but seemed reassured when I pointed out the valley was a single creek. You could get messed up on the upper slopes but as long as you followed creeks downhill you'd return to HWY-20. Some possible options might add some time but you'd make it to the highway. Silver Star [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W1-Distant_SStar_Panorama2.jpg[/img] Up high we ran into a few folks, and the snow continued to look good. Dave Parker hadn't been up Silver Star before. He climbed the last hundred feet to the top. After returning to the notch between summits we all headed downhill. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W2-2012-05-12_Silverstar_14.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W3-Upper_slope_Panorama2.jpg[/img] We found nice corn snow up high, but the snow became sticky at lower elevations. Despite that a good time was had by all. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W4-SStar_wine_Panorama2-cop.jpg[/img] Four members of our group didn't climb past the first headwall. Two decided to head back to Mazama and climb since one is recovering from an injury that ski poles aggravate. Snoboy discovered his new boot had design problems causing constant toe releases. We looked at the boots in the evening and compared how the Dynafit boot toe pockets attached to the bindings as opposed to other boots. All I can say is stay away from Tecnica AT boots. We returned to the cabin and cooked dinner on the bbq grill, hung out by the campfire and told lies. The forecast for the 13th mentioned warmer temperatures on Sunday. Since we put in a descent amount of vertical gain on Saturday we picked a ski route involving a shuttle and less vertical gain than the day before. I had looked at north facing slopes above Cutthroat Lake but never skied them. Instead of skiing to the lake we decided hiking the south facing slopes above Washington Pass then dropping over looked easier. Four members of the Ski In party were part of the group. We met a guy from Salt Lake skiing solo at the pass and invited him along. Beautiful scenery and hot weather climbing the south facing slopes from the pass. Liberty Bell... [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W5-Liberty-Bell-Group_Pan.jpg[/img] Silver Star, Gardner, and Kangaroo [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W6-3Silverstar_Kangaroo_Pan.jpg[/img] At the ridge crest we dropped onto the north side [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W9-6CBasin-DropIn_Panorama2.jpg[/img] [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W10-7ENH29-2012-05-13_Cutth.jpg[/img] Looking back [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W11-9ENH31-2012-05-13_Cutth.jpg[/img] As we approached Cutthroat Lake we had to snake our way through features and obstructions. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W13-11ENH34-2012-05-13_Cutt.jpg[/img] After more skiing through the forest and avoiding tree wells we made it back to the highway and had an end of event parking lot party. [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3050/medium/W15-13A_ENH36-2012-05-13_Cu.jpg[/img] Approach Notes: The slopes up Silver Star Creek off the highway are a little funky but you can ski to the road.

:tup:

I'm afraid I know more than I wish I did about NA beer. If you have to go that route American NA sucks. Germans are better at faking the taste of a real beer. Party on