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CascadeClimber

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Posts posted by CascadeClimber

  1. This conversation is starting to remind me of the "(fill in the blank) is aid" thing that went through this site years ago. I still truck that line out on partners every once in a while, usually to a bewildered silent stare: "What? You have boots? Boots are aid!"

     

    Hey, when we first crawled out of the ocean we didn't have legs. Legs are cheating!

  2. Twight is the Madonna of the climbing world. He's done a lot of amazing things over a long period of time, but he's also willing to do or say just about anything for some attention.

     

    So bottled oxygen is cheating, but he sprayed all over about how after climbing the Czech Direct in a single push, he was too tired to carry his stove down the mountain, so he left it when he ran out of fuel.

     

    Whatever, Mark.

  3. CC,

     

    Congrats on your winter summit of Rainier. It's a real accomplishment. Great that you were able to take advantage of the weather window.

     

    Aside: I remember being shocked by how much the icefall has receded from Sept 1981 when my little brother and I climbed the DC, and June 2011 when I climbed the Gib Ledges route and descended the DC... The icefall as I remembered it was all but gone.

     

    d

     

    Yep. I don't go back that far in the Cascades, but my first route on Rainier was the Kautz in 1995. We walked up and down what is now several pitches of alpine ice. The exit chute at the end of the Ledges has exposed rock now, too, including a couple giant boulders that I thought would tumble down Gib Chute last summer.

     

    The places Jens and I used to serac on the Nisqually in October just ten years ago are now just piles of dirt.

  4. I'm working on a full-blown TR for my web site. In the meantime, my partner posted some pics over on TAY:

     

    http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=27095.0

     

    We did ski the ID, but chose to downclimb the bottom 1/3 of it; through most of the icefall. It was skiable, but a fall would likely have had severe consequences, so we put the pons back on and downclimbed.

     

    It was windy on Columbia Crest, but we were able to tuck out of it just below. We also had some significant gusting down on the Ingraham.

  5. Scheming for a 1.5 day climb/ski sometime later this week, any time for Wednesday afternoon/Thursday to Friday/Saturday, depending on weather and whether the park management opens the park on Wednesday. I'd like to simul-solo Gib Ledges and ski the Ingraham Direct.

     

    On this trip I'm not interested in a winter or Rainier newbie, someone who doesn't ski well, or isn't in shape (3-ish hours to Muir). Sorry! I have a long-standing goal to summit in each calendar month and January is one I've yet to tick.

  6. Hey John I was about to post up for getting out on Monday. Im really mostly into going to exit 38. To the mix crag at the east side of the exit above the RR grade. It should be in great cond. now for lots of climbing right there.

     

    let me know

     

    It was really thin when I drove back from the Pass yesterday afternoon, not nearly as much ice as I expected.

  7. I soloed the North Face of Chair today. It's in excellent shape and the approach is as easy as I've seen it (I was 60 minutes lot to Thumbtack). A windless, sunny day and the only other climbers I saw were going up the descent gully. Where is everyone??

     

    Notes: The first pitch, which is the crux, is in great shape and will take some short screws. Most of the rest of the route is neve, so pickets would work better. The upper part of the NE Buttress route looked to have a good bit of unconsolidated snow on it and no tracks at all. I was able to downclimb the entire descent- no rap required.

     

    Important: The schrund that forms at the start of the first pitch was entirely covered with just a little sag to note its location. The bridge isn't strong enough to hold a person, so use caution crossing.

     

    Go get on it!

  8. The authorized guides for Rainier have likely summitted dozens or maybe hundreds of times and can tie knots in their sleep and will keep you safe. You have been around the wrong people.

     

    Guided climbers have died on Rainier and I've had poor experiences with guides on the mountain. These are not, perhaps, likely things, but they are not out of the question, either.

     

    For my first Rainier climb in 1995 we used a non-sanctioned guide. For us it was the best choice for reasons of cost and personalized experience.

     

    The situation has changed in the intervening years, as the park now nets a huge amount of cash from the guide contracts (the park Sup. solely sets the fee and the percentage that the park keeps) and uses this cash to subsidize other things all over the park (the new visitor center at Paradise and the park radio network to name two). Park management has become much more protective of the sanctioned companies in order to protect their money pile. When massive floods closed the park for months a few years back, they let the guide services use the back entrance to Longmire to get paying clients onto the mountain, while the park remained closed to the public. They went out of their way to keep this information from the public as well.

     

    I'm not saying the arrangement is all bad, just that it isn't altruistically setup to provide the best possible situation for guided climbers.

  9. Not surprisingly Alt. 3 was chosen. However, no crushed rock will be imported.

     

    Hello - please see the attached letter from Randy King announcing the issuance of the Finding of No Significant Impact for the Camp Muir Rehabilitation Plan Environmental Assessment.

     

    The EA, Errata and FONSI may be downloaded directly at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/muirea

     

    Thank you for the time you took to comment on the EA - your participation in the planning of activities at the park is appreciated!

     

     

    FWIW I am not surprised that Alt 3. was chosen however a few of the reasons behind it leave it a lot to be desired.

     

    "Thank you for you input. We're going to do whatever the hell we want anyway."

     

    Wilderness loses, guide services win. I certainly hope this means they stop erecting that damn tent in the wilderness area.

  10. I dont know how to add pics but posted in the gallery the only existing photo of the climb. I sent the rest to Mountain Magazine with a story and it was not printed and the photos never returned. Repeat the rout and you will find three fixed pins that I can remember and three slings on horns that we rapped from along the route. Thanks for your interest!

     

    Matt

     

    The loss of the pictures is awful (I have no doubt you climbed the route). I have a bunch I've taken over the last few years from both the north and south sides and can see my way all the way to that last headwall where you bivvied. From there it looks like a whole lot of hard.

     

    Here are two I took from near the top (we actually finished on the West Ridge) after Gator and I climbed the south face.

     

    IMG_2137-Medium.jpg

     

    IMG_2138-Medium.jpg

     

    I wonder how much of the rock you climbed has peeled off in the intervening 33 years...

  11. Climbing this route in mid-winter in 1980 with an on-route bivy stands, in my book, as one of the most significant mountaineering accomplishments in the Cascades. The climbing difficulty, route finding, length of route, logistics issues, short days, and cold combine to make this route...well, it's unrepeated for a reason.

     

    I've studied it pretty extensively, as it's the kind of route I really like. I've always wondered whether you used snowshoes to approach and return, and how you descended and returned to Muir.

     

    Props to you for having to vision, skill, and courage to send this thing. And thanks for posting this TR.

  12. I agree with Cascade that trucking in gravel sucks, but I don't know an alternative.

     

    Easy: Don't.

     

    Erosion is a natural process. Let it proceed naturally. If it causes issues with buildings, remove them. If the tent platforms erode, people can camp on snow.

     

    There is no real necessity for any permanent structures at Muir. I am against adding more structure (gravel, rock, buildings, antenna, etc) in the name of preserving what's already there (see above post about more leading to more leading to more).

     

    I do respect and appreciate and understand your positions. I just don't agree. It's nice to be able to disagree respectfully.

  13. I believe that historical and current traffic of the Muir corridor has made this area a non-wilderness, in fact if not in name, and that we should do everything we can to minimize that impact. Someplace that gets 500+ day hikers, sleeps 100+ at night and another 72 on the Muir snowfield or Ingraham flats is not a wilderness. Wild - for sure. But not wilderness.

     

    I'm pretty certain that crowds on the Muir Snowfield during three summer months are not sufficient reason to deem it a non-Wilderness area contrary to a Congressional declaration. I have mixed feelings about efforts to reduce use of the Muir Snowfield (the easiest way to minimize impact), though it's worth noting that park management has chosen to effectively concentrate use there by abandoning the West Side and Carbon River roads.

     

    *Fixed shelters preserve what wilderness character still exists by concentrating impact into a smaller radius rather than dispersing it over a greater area.

     

    Camping on snow in tents that stay in place for only a day or two seems much less impactful that permanent structures that require maintenance and whose foundations are being used as a reason to fly loads of non-native crushed rock to the site. The problem with infrastructure is that it's almost always used to justify more. Which attracts more people, who are used to justify more infrastructure. Ad nauseum. The guide services operate everywhere else on the mountain without a building or semi-permanent tents, so I'm pretty sure it can be done at Muir, too.

     

    As it relates to Camp Muir, none of the options would disperse users, everyone would be within a 100 meter radius regardless of their sleeping accommodations. As such, arguing fixed shelters would be better in that regards is specious.

     

    Bonus points for using the word 'specious' on a climbing board. I agree with concentrating use. I don't believe that concentrated use calls for more staff and buildings and other stuff that is contrary to Wilderness.

     

    Good conversation.

  14. Cogent analysis, and I agree with your suggestions. The saddles on which the Muir and Schurman structures exist are inside small slivers excluded from the Wilderness designation, but that does not mean it shouldn't be managed to wilderness guidelines as much as possible. The large semi-permanent tents the guide services have been allowed to erect each summer are IN the wilderness area and are, I believe, illegal.

     

    My fear is that this, like most of what is done at MORA, is just checking a box (public comment period) before they proceed to do whatever they want (again).

     

    There is now talk of cell phone boosters and Internet access for park staff at Schurman. It seems that current management is all about more staff, more structure, more fees.

     

    Despite my cynicism, I did submit feedback and urge others to do the same, regardless of your position. The direct link to the online comment form is:

     

    http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=48847

     

     

  15. Cogent analysis, and I agree with your suggestions. The saddle on which the Muir (and Schurman) structures exist is technically outside the wilderness, but that does not mean it shouldn't be managed to wilderness guidelines as much as possible. The large semi-permanent tents the guide services have been allowed to erect each summer are IN the wilderness area and are illegal.

     

    My fear is that this, like most of what is done at MORA, is just checking a box (public comment period) before they proceed to do whatever they want (again).

     

    There is now talk of cell phone boosters and Internet access for park staff at Schurman. It seems that current management is all about more staff, more structure, more fees.

     

    :(

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