CascadeClimber

Can you say powderlicious? Seriously, though, the pattern while we were there was nighttime clearing (and hence cold), clouding up in the early afternoon, snow late afternoon and graupel nastiness in the evening, before clearing again. The south facing slopes had 6-12 inches of fresh, wet, isothermic snow on a firm base. A bit more depth on the north facing slopes, but staying dry and relatively light. The Stuart and Sherpa Glaciers seemed stable to me. We some recent spontaneous slides on the south faces. Be safe.

You folks got an early start! We climbed it on Saturday and were camped up on the moraine. It looked to us like two parties in three tents down there in the trees. Did the other make it? Congrats- fun climb. We had to hunt a bit for the top of the Sherpa, and we'd been down that way once before. -L

Ha! Me too. We used to walk to the games. It holds 107,501 now. A2 is a nice little town.

Climb: Mt. Stuart-Stuart Glacier Couloir, Upper West Ridge Date of Climb: 4/18/2004 Trip Report: Easy: Mountaineer Creek approach: No brush, no boulders. Hard: Wallowing in thigh-deep freshiez below the couloir, very snowy rock on ridge. Fun: Perfect ice and neve for half of couloir, thrilling rock climbing with gloves and tools, spicy weather, Sherpa Glacier glissade. Assorted pics: Argonaut Stuart Sunrise on Seracs First pitch from the notch: Airy belay on north side South side traverse pitch Sherpa Balanced Rock Spectre of Gaper Great climb. Props to Jens for leading the hairball pitch. -L Gear Notes: Almost full set of nuts, a few medium cams, lots of slings, a couple pins. Approach Notes: Parked one mile from TH. Trail mostly snow covered.

The crater rim of Rainier. Mirror Lake in the Trinity Alps. The Daniels/Cathedral Rock area. Alta Mountain. Drury Falls in winter.

Jberg has to be in there somewhere. It's somewhat unique, as the summit is only a horizontal mile from the parking lot, and the approach is less than 20 minutes. I suspect it's also high on the unplanned bivies/successful summits ratio. My favorite Jberg quote; "I'd rather be dipped in shit than climb it again." -L

You didn't happen to find a lexan Nalgene in a purple OR pouch on the ridge below the false summit, did you? The skiing looked really good. Got any more pics? -L

Yes, there is, but IIRC it doesn't go to 9000', or to the crater where I've seen them every time I've been up there.

I know they aren't supposed to be at 9000' on Baker, but they do it all the time and Johnny Law just seems to look the other way. I guess they are too busy writing Northwest Forest Pass tickets to hikers and climbers at traileheads. Good riddance to the idiot's sled.

feh

The back frame is lag-screwed to the house frame, and the rest was built on from there. 4x4s and 2x10s, mostly, with *a lot* of five and six inch lags. AlpineDave was a huge help. More info and comments here: My wall spray Jens has the killer indoor wall in his two-story garage. Post some pics, dude! -L

I just heard it's opening today: Thursday, April 8.

You can call me Imelda from here on.

I'd prefer a shorter wall inside, but I don't have any place inside that would get clearance from the tower. -L

It's hilarious! Anyone have an electronic copy?

I think Rainier is much more enjoyable when done in three days. The elevation is a butt kicker, and having a short day before summit day makes the slog to the top less work and more fun. We may live at sea level here, but we have lots of hills on which to train: West Tiger 3 (2100' gain), Si (3200' gain), Granite (3800' gain), Mailbox (4200'? gain). There isn't anything like that gain or steepness in Florida. Besides, living here makes it less significant: If we feel like shit we descend and go back the next weekend. It's a different story when you're burning vacation time and flying in from 2000 miles away. My Dad came out from Michigan in 95' and we climbed the Kautz together. We took three days and made high camp at Camp Hazard. The result was that everyone had a good time and got to the top. A 3200' summit day from Ingraham Flats isn't too bad, especially if you take two days to get there. There is an alpine zone at 12,500(+/-) on the Emmons where I've seen encampments. Just remember that you'll likely have to do some work to make a flat spot if you get away from the usual camps. My advice: Take your time, enjoy every minute you're on the mountain, and let the summit be secondary to an overall positive experience. Also have a backup plan in case the weather is awful, which it can be at any time of the year: When the weather is bad up there a tent provides a means of survival, not comfort. Have fun, climb safe. -L

Are they talking about the lower bridge, about 1 mile from the TH? The "bridge" just before you reach the cabin was just a log with a makeshift railing, which was falling down anyway, and the creek was easy to cross elsewhere. I'm sure any new trail will feature 287 new switchbacks and add five miles to the five mile hike to Kennedy...

IIRC, there is a major washout about ten miles from the White Chuck TH. Kennedy Hot Springs got wiped out, too. The approach will be long even after the snow melts out. The TH is at 2200'. Do a search- there was a thread on this last fall with some pics.

The attachment system on the newer Ascension skins blows chunks. The older system with the original green stretchy (not the 'improved', breaks in six outings one) in the front was better.

Yeah, Bush's "War on Terror" is looking a lot more like a war on peace and civility. This guy and his administration full of repressed-anger hate-mongers is a train wreck in process, and the whole world is on board. Everyone needs to vote this Fall. And everyone needs to make sure their friends vote. VOTE!!!! -L

I'll take some of that! You think $100 is a reasonable price to replace the battery in a $220 product?? Sure, all batteries wear out. But I don't have to send a $2000 laptop in and pay $1000 for that new battery (1/2 the cost of the laptop). It's just another example of how they take a near perfect product and F it up with one moronic decision. Don't get me wrong: I was a Mac fanatic before you were walking, and lasted longer than even Guy Kawasaki. But they've been doing the same dumb things since 1984. -L

Style: A Features: A Cost: B Battery Issue: F. It's a show-stopper for me. No excuse whatsoever for building this thing with a finite-life battery that can't be *easily* replaced by the end user. Stupid Apple, again.

We skied to just below where the summer trail crosses the main gully, which is 1800' up from the trailhead. There was scattered snow on the trail below that. Some really wanting to maximize turns could drop a couple hundred more vertical through patchy snow and brush. -L

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