CascadeClimber

Steve, the crags there are on public land and in view of non-climbers. Either of these things makes the opinion of any user of that land valid. The attitude that you represent creates a lot of problems for climbers. What it takes for you to climb a route that's hard for you is no different than what it takes someone else to climb 5.6, if that's hard for them. If you can't climb 5.12 and place your own draws, then maybe you could work harder at it? I'm pretty sure people were climbing 5.14 well before fixed draws were a 'tradition' and leads on pre-placed gear were seen as a second-rate effort, which is why clean ascents on pre-placed gear used to be called 'pink-points' rather than red-points. You might not have any idea what's involved in clear-cutting a mountain, but I bet you'd have an opinion that you'd think was valid if land managers announced that Mt. Si was being closed to public use so it could be safely clear-cut or mined.

I've been climbing off and on at Little Si since 1995, and there was no "tradition" of fixed draws then. I saw you all coming down the trail in the downpour on Saturday and while I appreciate the effort in crappy wx, I also think fixed draws create visual clutter that doesn't help the sport with non-participants and some participants, creates extra maintenance and risk, and is completely unnecessary. So not "everyone" expects fixed draws there, or even wants them. And the position that an opinion doesn't count unless it's given while sending a route of proper difficulty just exacerbates the problem that the sport climbing community has with the larger land-use community: There are plenty of people who will see bright blue-clad permadraws hanging off a cliff along their hike and complain directly to land managers. You think their opinion doesn't count or affect policy? In the same light, walking down the trail while drinking beer doesn't do anything to help our position with the non-climbing community, either.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012089516_avalanche12m.html Don't be stupid.

I got my solo app back from Stefan two days after I emailed it to him. Same has been true every year I've applied. Dane, I bet you'd get a better result with email than postal mail. As I mentioned in the other thread, less is more as far as NPS presence on the mountain goes, in my opinion. More red tape = less fun, less adventure. The summer permit process could probably be improved to accommodate climbers doing single-push climbs. I've done this several times and I always leave well after the official registration centers are closed. To his credit, Stefan brought back winter self-registration, which is very helpful. I don't want or need NPS staff to assess and report conditions to me. I'm happy to ask around or just go find out myself. Nor do I expect NPS staff to be minutes away if I get in trouble on the mountain. Relying on others for this sort of thing is partly antithetical to what mountaineering is for me. And requiring the NPS to assess and report conditions would likely result in 'official' closures of the mountain due to someone's definition of 'unsafe' and their lawyer's concern over liability. Mike did a better job with the blog and made significant improvements to the training and equipping of the climbing ranger staff during his tenure. I can't imagine anyone being a better advocate for non-guided parties on Rainier than he was, and though I miss his presence at Rainier, I'm hoping his current gig will result in him getting a bigger NPS role in which his climber's advocacy will be even more benefical.

Dane, for what it's worth, I got my solo app turned around in two days in January. Emailed it in, got an email reply from Stefan. I have no issue with the ranger staff being cut. There is functionally no staff in the winter, and in the summer they rely on guide service staff for SAR anyway. I'm not sure what their stated or actual role on the upper mountain is, and I know I've never missed NPS staff when there weren't around on my Rainier trips. But my idea of a great Rainier trip is seeing no other people outside my partner(s). I certainly don't want the NPS or anyone else CLOSING the mountain due to conditions, which is where I think we'll end up if this silly talk about "where were the rangers?" and "why isn't there a helicopter on standby at Paradise?" talk continues every time there is a serious incident on the upper mountain. People sometimes choose not to register because registration is closed when they start their climb. I've done several one-day solos and the stations are closed when that sort of a climb begins. Stefan brought back self-registration in the winter, which helps in these situations without causing overcrowding in the camps. Maybe there is a way to do something similar in the summer for single-push ascents, or those on uncrowded routes. And again, this thread should be split in two.

All the chest-beating in this thread should be moved to another thread or deleted. I don't think it has any place in a thread about a missing and now presumed dead climber.

Sending thoughts and energy to those missing and those searching. I've been saying for weeks that this spring's weather pattern has set us up for unusually high spring avy danger (for around here). Be careful out there, folks.

Exactly. First you screw up the signage, then you make a big public/media deal blaming people for not paying attention to the signage that didn't actually exist, then you find out what really happened. Ready, fire, aim. All I'm saying is make the same effort to get the word out that WADOT made an error that contibuted to the situation as they did to blame climbers before they had all the info. And yeah, they do a lot of work to open the road. But that's pretty much their freaking job. Just because their job is to plow a road that gets us early access to that area doesn't make them immune from criticism. And personally, I think it's a big-ass waste of money to clear that particular road so early. I know that won't be popular here, but my daughter got detention yesterday for bringing her mathbook home. Apparently there aren't enough books for each student to use one. And if I could choose between effing math books and plowing and then shelling the hell out of Highway 20, well, that's an easy choice.

Heads up: If last Saturday is any indication, good luck trying to find a parking spot at that TH at Noon on a nice weekend days.

Anyone want to clip some bolts at 38 this afternoon (5/12)? 5.8-10a or so. I'm in shitty rock shape, but can lead in that range. I can probably escape around 2-3 PM. Newbies welcome, as long as you can belay safely and clean an anchor.

Ready fire aim on the part of WSDOT for blaming the climbers before they had all the info. How about issuing a public retraction?

Good, humble TR. Had an adventure, stayed within your limits, and came home safe, if a little frost-nipped in unfortunate places. Thanks!

I climbed Castle and Pinnacle last Sunday (along with what seemed to be the entirety of the BoeAlps). The road has been cleared past Reflection Lakes and was mostly dry, but still gated. Skiing was mostly wind-packed powder with some heavier stuff near the lake. The couloirs on Lane looked to be in fine shape, in fact we considered heading over to Lane after Pinnacle. There were snowshoe tracks at the bend in the road that appeared to be headed to Lane- my guess is that it got climbed last weekend.

Stupid humans. We yearn for wilderness and adventure, but when we find it we immediately begin destroying it. "What a beautiful, remote place. If only it had a hut, gondola, cell service..." Adventure and guaranteed safety are antithetical.

They plow the Cascade Lakes Highway, but they do so from the other end, so the section from Bachelor to the South Sis TH is the last to open.

It was almost seven years ago; I remember a small basin area just below the top and bleeding all over the place, and not a lot else. Sorry.

I've never added it up, but I bet more people have died between Paradise and Muir than everywhere else on the mountain combined. Nav is straightforward when vis is good, but it turns into the Bermuda Triangle in a whiteout- so very easy to get lost and/or into a very bad place.

Cell phones calls to 911 are handled differently than calls to order pizza, in terms of routing through towers on which your provider has no roaming privileges. There is a big glide crack that has formed below Muir at the end of the last few summers. In August it's been big enough to fall into, but it would be disconcerting if it was open now. I talked to a ranger last weekend who was involved in the incident but didn't think to ask him exactly where they fell.

Yes. Not enough coffee yet. Thanks for the correction. Gash caused by sharp talus and operator error 200 yards from the start of the route.

Jens and I climbed that route on July 20, 2003. I don't remember thinking any of it was remotely classic, but I was distracted by this little gift that the approach gave me: Our first aid kit was one band-aid and a bottle of ibuprofen, so we employed the the socks. Had blood gurgling out of my left rock shoe every step up the route. A couple more: Old 1/4" bolt with ring piton and tat Jens on the route.

That's the correct one. The gully at the top of the NF is WRONG. You have to go up and over one hump (toward the NEB route) to get to the correct descent. Simply walk down the gully in this picture and you will end up at the top of the second (steeper and corniced) gully that has the two-pin rap anchor. There is no reason to leave the first gully; it ends at the next one.

You're comparing one smallish mountain with a road to the top to the entirety of the Cascades? It's an different scene out here: Trails without railings, roads with unguarded cliffs, huge wilderness areas with few rangers, and entire mountains without gully by gully forecasts. If you want more of an amusement park experience (i.e. highly managed risk), this is the wrong coast. If you want opportunity to be self-sufficient in big, wild areas, then welcome to and enjoy the Cascades. NWAC gives us a general idea of what's up, but the truth is that you can be entirely safe on one slope, then go around a corner and get whacked. That's the nature of avalanches and that's why experienced people get caught- it's just not an exact science.

To finish this route without roped climbing: 1. Approx 100 vertical feet below the headwall/highpoint of the snowfield, leave the snow and gain the ridge crest via a short (30ish feet) class 3/4 scramble on climber's left. 2. Follow the ridge crest (class 2/3) until you can exit climber's left onto slabs. 3. Scramble the slabs (class 2) to the summit. In a normal winter the brush below the couloir is completely snow-covered and you can ski the couloir all the way to the trail.

Just a reminder about these two popular routes: The descent route is very prone to sliding, especially after you exit the second gully into the broad basin. Indeed, the tallest avy crown I've ever seen was in the basin, well over 15 feet in places. That day there were truck-sized blocks of snow not far from the Thumb Tack. I've also heard, but not seen first-hand, of the lower part of the north face fracturing and sliding to the rock below. Lastly, though the new approach route that goes right into the trees above Source Lake before the bottleneck in the gully is safer (used to go directly up the gully), that gully slides into the flats just above the lake with some frequency, across the approach. Have fun out there...and be safe.

To quote Don Serl, "The worst possible style is to fall". Better to rap that be the subject of a SAR. Period.