CascadeClimber

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/couple_stranded_3_days_in_east.html First of all, I'm glad the people were found and are safe. I suggest everyone contact the Oregonian/OregonLive and ask them to treat this incident as they did the Mt. Hood incident. This is an opportunity to shed some light on the fact that climbers are not the only ones who get lost and need SAR and that these services are provided without charge to motorists, hunters, boaters, etc. In this specific incident, they turned onto a forest service road at the behest of their car-GPS and proceeded to drive 35 miles up the snow-covered road until they got stuck.

What I should have said is that things like cell phones and MLUs take away from *my* experience, or rather, the experience I desire, which is wild, untrammeled wilderness. And the difference between cell phones and MLUs, and an avy transceiver and GPS is that the latter two make backcountry travelers more self-sufficient and the former two tend to make us less self-sufficient. I don't want to carry an MLU, even if it weighs an ounce, which they don't. Just like I don't go near the south sides of Hood or Rainier in the summer. I detest crowds as they take away from the wilderness experience *I* desire, as does some technology. These are my choices and preferences and I'm not saying they do or should apply to everyone. And *that* is my overall point: What is a good choice for one person is a poor choice for another. "Safely" equipped parties have died on Slipstream while "unsafe" parties (Twight) have soloed it in a few hours. There is no one 'right' rule here and trying to force one won't result in anything postitive. So those of you who want MLUs go get them. I for one understand and do not begrudge you that choice, but please also try to find some respect for people who make other choices. For what it's worth I feel the same way about seat belts and motorcycle/bike helmets. I choose to use them, but also believe it should be a choice, not a mandate. Lastly, if we are forced to use MLUs then the damn hunters and ORV people ought to be included in the requirement, too.

I don't see how 'body recovery' is salient to the MLU mandate discussion. I'm not aware of any public money being spent to search for bodies once the initial search has been 'suspended' (at least missing bodies of climbers). It might sound macabre, but if I'm dead, I'm done with my body and if it remains on a mountain I'll have no argument. Personally, I don't want to use a locator. I don't want to carry one, buy one, or deal with yet more red tape by being forced to rent one. Nor do I want any sort of expansion of the in-person registration systems used at Mts. Rainier and St. Helens. I already carry a cell phone and often a GPS and avy transceiver and those things take enough away from the experience. Requiring heavy equipment in an activity where speed often increases safety and weight always decreases speed is a mistake. Yes, we expect some form of rescue effort if we have incidents in the mountains. Just like tourists expect a rescue if they drive off a narrow mountain road. Fire, police, and paramedic services are provided free (funded by taxes) for the public, even when the public makes a mistake...in a car, a boat, an airplane, skiing, snowmobiling, paragliding and yes, climbing. And just like those things, medical services are for-pay. I have several friends who've had climbing incidents turn into medical bill approaching $100,000. The incidents in our sport tend to be sensationalized and therefore act as a lightning rod for the criticisms of the La-Z-Boy nation. We're not going to change that because they don't understand our behavior, just like we don't understand theirs. Also, we tend to be poorly organized and so we don't do a good job on lobbying and PR like the snowmobilers do, so our public image just flaps around in the wind. But to the folks here advocating for mandatory equipment, I am telling you this is a very, very slippery slope that, if implemented, will not end with MLUs. Before long it will include shelter, sleeping bags, stoves, ropes, etc, even for one-day ascents. We'll be required to adhere to someone's idea of 'safest', and I cringe at what that will do to climbing. Lastly, there is simply no way to mandate or legislate safe behavior into climbing. Trying to do so just creates a significant burden without tangible benefit.

I'm glad to hear that Alex, Dan, and the other two are okay. It's a tricky crossing no matter how it's done and not to be taken lightly: I've done it three times in an inflatable raft.

A few years ago Snoqualmie Pass started telling back country users they couldn't use the Alptenal "back country" return route that follows the climber's left side of the creek that drains the Source Lake valley. This is the primary winter access route for Chair Peak and the other area climbs. When they struggled to enforce this rule, the announced that only people with lift tickets would be allowed to use their parking lots. This revealed that there is *no* public parking area on the north side of I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass, so during that time if you wanted to climb around Chair Peak, Snoqualmie Mt., etc, you were expected to park on the south side of I-90 and then walk over a mile on the road to the summer trailhead. I requested a copy of their lease, from which the forest service redacted all the financial information, and it does indeed include a clause that allows them to remove or exclude anyone for any reason from the area of land leased for the skiing operation. Thankfully they quietly relented on this issue, so it didn't come to a court fight, but these leases are really getting out of control: Private companies should not be allowed to deny access to public land for 'any' reason.

I've been trying to piece this together, too. Some pertinent info is yet to come out; I think it will be more valuable to try to sort it out after a bit more time passes, both out of respect to those still involved, and because we don't have all the info yet. For now, keep sending everyone involved some good energy- there are still people putting their lives on the line down there.

The lower tier, which looks short but is actually more than a 60m pitch, looks super thin in that pic- you can see the rock showing through most of it and it's open in the middle. The upper section (2.5-3 pitches on a 60m) look okay, but definitely not fat- you can see the dark rock showing underneath still. The top pitch, even in fat conditions, usually has a thin section with a high volume of water running behind it. I'm not saying it won't go, just that it's not fat. On the up side, the avy risk appears to be nil; the gully can be a death-trap, not unlike the Night-N-Gale approach in Lillooet. Some pics from 2003 here: Drury Falls 2003

Trip: Mount Rainier - Gibraltar Ledges Date: 12/3/2009 Trip Report: Gavin and I summited December 3 via Gib Ledges. The weather was great and the route is in fine shape: Firm snow, direct. Still important to be careful of thinly bridged crevasses- we had one minor incident at about 13,000. Skiing the lovely breakable crust from 7500 down to Paradise was especially fun after I had to put on my headlamp at the top of Pan Face. Great climb- my first successful December ascent. Nov, Jan, and Feb left to go. Gear Notes: Roped up at the top of Gib Rock. Didn't have or need screws, rock gear, or flotation above Muir. Approach Notes: Tshirt, no gloves, no hat going up to Muir. Didn't put on a hat on summit day until 12,600. Route to Muir is beaten in well enough that flotation is optional (until the next storm cycle).

I talked with Holly earlier this week, after the incident. She has a few more things broken that her orbits and she's going to be sore for a while, but she'll be fine. And yes, it could have been much worse. They were still low on the route, her partner is a skilled medic, and she got to the hospital quickly. Send her some warm thoughts and healing energy! L

Onto to some useful conversation: Does anyone have an update on the Pole Creek road and the Cascades Lakes Highway?

It took Dave and I 7.5 hours from Pole Creek the the summit of North Sis via the Thayer Glacier Headwall. The last 1500 was in utterly miserable breakable crust over powder- we crawled up most of it. I was in plenty good enough shape to do the traverse that day. I can see three hours running/jogging the lower section on dry trail with a light pack. It would be pretty tough in May if the snow wasn't perfect.

I left the car at 8:00. Nice to see you too, Tom.

Not as many as you Not nearly as bad as I expected or made it look. There is some fresh light snow on the crust, though the wind has moved it around some.

Trip: Chair Peak - North Face Date: 2/15/2009 Trip Report: Where the heck are all the climbers this weekend? Oh, maybe one of the many places I could see basking in sunshine while I was pummeled by wind and spindrift under cloudy skies on the North Face of Chair. The bottom third is amazing, consistent neve. The middle third has some neve with a good bit of sugar snow and crusty fun-ness. The top third was better than the middle. The descent it is in good shape. The cornice is small so no rap is required. A small ice plug at the halfway point is an indication of how little snow we have right now. Gear Notes: None. I scored a nut, two pickets, and myriad unnecessary slings on the descent, though. Approach Notes: Easy to Source Lake on skis. Glad to have my ski crampons above that. Rumors of easy approaches with no floatation are exaggerated, though a pair of curious folk made it to the Thumb Tack in their boots. More fresh snow that I expected with more coming down as a departed.

Great route- it just keeps going and going and going. I had a belay just like that- standing on a narrow, deep frozen pool wondering how thick the ice was, and sweating profusely trying to clean ice off the ropes and pull them through the device, wondering if I was about to plunge through the ice into the water. My shoulder was sore for days.

It's along 410 (on the way to Crystal) about six miles past Greenwater. Two of the three are visible from the road, but not the one we climbed. Great climb. Pretty tough to make the third (supposedly top) pitch go on a 60m rope; we split it in two for a four pitch day. Here are some pics: Climber on the left side. I don't think anyone climbed above the first pitch yesterday: Alpinfox crossing the White River: The route we climbed, on the right and hidden from the road: Alpinfox reacts to getting gassed: The pitches, as we climbed them, were 55m, 50m, 50m, 25m We were able to rap the top two pitches together, with a bit of downclimbing.

Here are a couple of Dave leading the first pitch of the route above the black ice crag. This is the route that's clearly visible from I-90 when it's in: Edit to add: I believe this is the route called 'CYA' in Washington Ice. For what it's worth. I think there is enough opportunity for gear to protect the mixed section and that it does not need to be bolted. There are several other potential lines there that could use some bolts, but the ice comes in so rarely...

It was so fun that my tools wanted to lead it without me, right Dave?

The slope immediately above the top of the moraine, which is fairly steep, was 80% exposed glacial ice last weekend. It was not too bad going up, but was extremely dangerous coming down. I commented to Jens that it was the most dangerous part of our entire day. We chose a longer route down that let us walk more on what little snow was left. I'm not at all surprised that people fell here, though I am surprised that no one was seriously injured.

The start was fun. The two cruxes were stout for an old man (me) in early season shape. Go get it! Oh, and I keep forgetting to say- we had one picket and it was quite useful. I rarely carry one any more, except on low-angle glacier routes, but we used it at the belay below the 2nd crux and as a running piece on the pitch above.

Here's a shot of the hard route, just in case anyone is wondering: You can see the party on the Cosley-Houston to the right. The leader is on the upper pillar. Here is the full-res version so you can figure out pitches and screw placements www.cascadeclimber.com/misc/colfax/IMG_4372editedlarge.jpg

>32F

There is an unusual amount of running water on the first pillar, given: 1. It was 20F and the night had been quite cold. 2. There is no creek or stream above. 3. The second pillar was quite dry in comparison and in the same gully. 4. It's on a north aspect and only the last 50 feet of the route gets any direct sun this time of year. But we digress: It's a fun, long water ice route in Washington state and it's in. In October. Go climb it. Just watch out for those gear-stealing ravens and don't climb directly under another party.

Yes, I hope I'm wrong and the ravens stole both his shoes, his socks, his crampon pouch and a trekking pole.

The first pillar had a short section that was vertical. My measure tool of choice for such things is my hands, which became mostly useless for things like cleaning screws and holding tools. They voted again when I reached the belay with a nice early-season bout of the dreaded thaw. The sticks on the first pillar were okay, but it was running wet, which was something of a mystery to me given the temps in the low 20s and the lack of any creeks or streams on Colfax Peak. I agree with 4+, mostly because it was short. The second pillar was brittle and dry with crappy sticks and gear, but defintely off-vertical and with decent feet. 3 or 3+ with fat plastic ice. Agree with 4 as it was. It's a great route with lots of climbing like on the North Face of Chair, but with two spicey zingers tossed in and a better view. The most dangerous part of the day was walking down the toe of the glacier at dusk after all the exposed ice had frozen hard and smooth. Falling there would be very painful and likely fatal. Whoever stole Jens' shoes, trekking pole, and crampon pouch from the bottom of the glacier is an ass-clown. May you be cursed with 1000 soaking wet unplanned bivies. Edit to add: This may be the first time I've climbed an alpine ice route in the cascades where the was absolutely no sugar-snow-over-rock crappiness to deal with. The entire route was either water ice or great neve. My calves are screaming today.