CascadeClimber

The first time we made belayed downclimbs. There is a large rock that appears to be (relatively) solid that we slung and equalized with a picket. I pulled the gear and Hannah belayed me down from below. So yes, you can get gear in the crux of the Bowling Alley, but I didn't see anything in-situ. Thanks again for the shuttle offers, Tim. -Loren

Beware advice from this man: I overheard him tell a 12 year old that his head would explode if he ate too many Chips Ahoy.

The video feed showed the second person being flown out in a cargo net. This sucks. My condolences to friends and family. -Loren

It was totally melted out two weeks ago. Either freeze/thaw, or the storm caused it to reform. -L

Wow, it was a circus over there on Sunday. We went over Saturday afternoon and had no line at all. Great route.

Damn. That's pretty dramatic.

Climb: North Sister-Thayer Glacier Headwall Date of Climb: 5/31/2004 Trip Report: Dave and I were trying the Triple Traverse/Three Sisters Marathon. We got spanked by snow conditions, but had fun on North anyway. Climbers on the Southeast Ridge Dave downclimbing from the summit. North is in great shape right now: Lots of snow, minimal choss. Long winded TR with more pics Gear Notes: Walking axe, helmet (a must), skis and rando boots for descent. We skipped the rope, though I wouldn't advise unless you're very comfortable on rimey AI2+ with exposure. Approach Notes: Trail is dry to Soap Creek. Firm snow at night to the moraine. Awful postholing on the headwall.

They aren't waterproof by any stretch, but then neither were any of the three pairs of Makalus I had before. I wear a Goretex oversock with them. Overall I like them a lot. They are comfortable and very light. They walk well, rock climb well, and I've comfortably climbed AI2+ in them.

My Trango S' are fuzzing up. I'm going to try some seam grip on them.

Ben.

Saturday: Got up at 3:00 AM after staying up until 12:30 to watch Return of the King. Drank much coffee and Red Bull on the way to Smith. Thrutched up 7s, 8s, and 9s. Was very happy for partly cloudy. Spiderman is a cool route. Drank too much beer with other cc.com'er that night and sang happy b-day to AlpineK. Much talk of Cialis and red skis around the fire. Fell asleep in a cush camp chair while watching the fire burn out. Sunday: Set a new anti-speed record for Moscow when we started up unaware that approximately 231 Mouties were sieging the route above us. Got back to gear about four hours later. Back to Grasslands for more fun with fire. Monday: Left Grasslands for Pole Creek at 11:00 PM. Hiking by 12:30 AM, post-holed up North Sis, down the south ridge, and then decided against the Triple Traverse. Skied 3000 vert back to the creek. Dinner at the Deschutes brewery where the 20-something waitress wins my heart forever by refering to me as "a kid". Home around 11:00. 2.5 hours sleep in a 44 hour stretch. Who want to go do the Triple Traverse soon?

http://www.smithrock.com/aboutsr/maps/sh_camp_map.html

Mike, if those were taken on the first dates you mentioned, you may have answered your own question.

Old saying: Men marry women hoping they won't change and they do. Women marry men hoping they will change and they don't.

We're leaving butt-early in the morning, Mr. Rocks. You can ride along if you like. But we have alpine plans for Monday, so you might need to hitch a ride back. -L

That's what I think. I weighed about 135 when I carried 70 lbs into the Bugs and I just about died. I think 60 is extemely heavy, like having both of my kids on my back at once. But who knows, maybe Carlson is a work horse. I used to train with 85-90 pounds, mostly on West Tiger 3. I carried that much up Si one time with Roman, who had to wait for me repeatedly. 85 make 50 feel like a day pack.

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Well, it's looking like a big-ass Smith conclave this weekend. We'll be down Saturday morning. I'll trade beer and firewood for a spot to put up a tent at the Grasslands on Saturday night. Gray 4Runner, unmistakeable pink pinstripe (used to be the wife's ride). -Loren

WOW Weather Put out by Mike Fagin and company. IMHO, he does a fantastic job predicting mountain weather- superior to the local newsies. -L

Ye gads, guys, my intent was to point out that just because it's late May, and the snowpack mostly consolidated (or disappeared), with this recent weather it's worth paying a little extra attention to conditions. The numbers are from the WOW Update this morning. Here is a portion: -Loren

Thank you, Mr. Alpinfox, for the synopsis, and for spending the time and energy to be there. -Loren

I'm jonesing bad to get out this weekend and avoid the throngs, thongs, and Prana tops at Smith, but the avy danger in the hills is pretty scary right now. It sounds like there's been as much as 18" of new snow in the last couple days, on a very firm base. Let's be safe out there this weekend, folks! -L

Matt, perhaps it's your attitude about this site that is causing problems then. I've been to enough non-climbing meetings to know that "irresponsible spew" takes place everywhere, it's just usually couched in more socially acceptable language. Here a suggestion for starters: Publish the minutes from the meeting(s). That way the big "we" can see what the little "we" is up to. The big "we" might be less suspicious and more supportive that way. And it sounds like we (big) could really be helped by some alignment on this one. -Loren