CascadeClimber
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Posts posted by CascadeClimber
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Agree with sobo: Carrying winter survival gear on a day trip isn't practical.
However...not getting separated from the group you are LEADING is a basic thing.
It's winter. Ending up alone and/or disoriented for even an hour can have severe consequences.
I hope the guy is found alive, and after two nights it would be a miracle.
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Is there a broom or anything in the shelter that could be used to clean it off?
A baseball bat would 'fix' it more permanently.
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Based on my experience with the for-show-only public comment meetings on the climbing fee increase, I am not at all surprised by this.
That this was allowed to happen, Dave's "I didn't read what I was signing" excuses, and expecially that he was later promoted to a position with more contractual oversight and given a raise to $153k/year is, in my opinion, unconscionable.
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Lots of variables here. I've skinned from Paradise to Muir in 2:16. I've also spent six hours to make it to 8000' in a whiteout and deep snow.
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I'm down to November, January, and February in my long-standing goal to summit in each month. November may well be the most challenging, with poor weather, short days, and marginal conditions.
That said, I'm looking for a motivated, strong partner with prior winter experience on Rainier and a flexible schedule. To get these months you have to be willing to go when the weather and conditions show up. Someone who skis is preferrable, but not required. At this point I'm not particular about route. The DC or Gib Ledges offers the best chance of success, though.
Email me. loren ( @ ) cascadeclimber (dot) com
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"I think we may have the one and only summer ascent of Willis Wall, ironically."
Dude, wtf have you been smoking? 'cuz obvioulsy you need to get out more.
Best route on WW isn't. Thermo is a better line. As far as lines go...between the ridges and walls on the north side I think there are more fun and more beautiful climbs. But WW does have some appeal if for no other reaon than conversations like these to gloat on
But I wouldn't go as far as "only summer climb". Silly but more importantly a grossly inaccurate comment.
Certainly no challenge in the climbing. Decent level of snow pack or decent snow conditions and some cold temps is all that is required. Being well acclim. between 10 and 14 will help obviously. Conditions can be good in Spring and in Fall. Having been there both seasons I prefer the conditions/approaches on the N side in the fall.
I would expect the conditions be spectacular this year. YMMV
I said "I think" and "may" because I'm not certain. It's a good idea to provide some supporting evidence before you label something "grossly inaccurate".
Yours is perhaps the most passive-aggressive chest-beating post I've seen on this site since joining in 2001. Classic. And a good example of why the traffic here has dwindled so much.
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I'll say it: I don't get it.
I guess if the perfect condition/weather window came together then sure but still... why? It's been climbed before and your chances for getting hit by rock fall and/or getting squished are respectable. Are you really willing to stick it out for the Willis Wall? If you don't mind sticking your neck out for some objective hazard I can think of a few unclimbed lines in Alaska and Canada that would be much more deserving of the risk.
my 2 cents
You don't have to get it. Just like I don't have to get some people's desire to lift weights and climb inside on sunshiney days (or any days, for that matter). For me, that people enjoy climbing on overrun, overmanaged routes like the DC in summer is equally nonsensical. It doesn't make this empirically wrong or right.
What's senseless to one person is a perfect desire to another. This makes the humanity interesting.
So if Mr. Wallace is jonesing for a remote, seldom climbed, whispered about location in the Cascades, I say all the power to him. Looking back 15 years, that's how routes like Girth Pillar, the Ice Cliff Glacier, Jberg, and Drury Falls were regarded. Most of these have become overrun trade routes now, so where's a person looking for untrammeled adventure close to home (i.e. the Cascades) to turn?
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Jens and I summited on July 1, 2006. I think we may have the one and only summer ascent of Willis Wall, ironically.
We climbed three roped pitches, but on one the rope was unnecessary, repeating the first ascent route: The East Rib from a bivy on Curtis Ridge.
The rock, obviously, is pretty crappy. The first belayed pitch, which was near the center of the face, we climbed in the dark and Jens described it as the worst pitch of rock he'd ever climbed. The higher we got the better the rock got- the areas under the ice cliffs are scoured of anything loose.
That said, the lack of unconsolidated snow on the face allowed us to move very fast between points of relative safety. We did find a few spots where we weren't right in the firing line, but not that I would describe as outright 'safe'.
I understand your obsession. Willis Wall got under my skin like only one other route (our Jberg FA), from the day I first read Fred's description of the Traverse of Angels back in the mid-90s.
Sorry I haven't finished the TR. I sort of lost my muse for writing TRs before I got it done.
Get'er done!
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In nylon sack in the glissade chute. Left them at the White River ranger station.
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So the AAC wants non-members to donate trip reports which it, in turn, will not allow same contributors to purchase in book form?
Whoever came up with this idea is not very sharp. As long as this policy is in place I won't be sending anything in.
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I got an email from Michael Chessler today that says the AAJ will not be sold at retail any longer; you must be a member to get a copy.
He's of the opinion that this is a misguided attempt by the board to drive up $75/year memberships. If so, I tend to agree with his assessment.
Anyone have additional info on this?
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As we passed through Camp Curtis on our way down yesterday, a Chinook came in, appeared to land briefly on the summit, then took off again and was hovering over the DC route.
Anyone know what was up?
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Gear would cost 1/3 less than it does now if the industry stopped giving it away to the people who use it most.
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Low=very bad.
Middle, across the top of the snow finger=good.
Upper seam, with snow along half of it= location of old ledge that fell away, and spot that is easy to end up at on the way down if you aren't paying attention.
Some of these pics are from December 2009 and some are from May 2009.
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I was up there years ago on a day when a dude rode the range from the top of the exit chute. He somehow walked away with minor injuries and ended up just a couple hundred yards from Muir. 12,700 to 10,000 in 30 seconds...
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Gib Ledges:
1: Start of Ledges
2: Balcony
3: Rib
4: Upclimb
5: Exit chute
6: Top of chute (about 12,700')
Eyebolt at entrance:
Balcony and rib from eyebolt:
Balcony (looking back toward the eyebolt):
Climbing up to rejoin the base of Gib Rock:
Exit Chute:
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Great! Thanks for the info. After reading some trip reports it seems navigating the ledges without protection is common.
It is. And for most of the actual Ledges, falling would result in serious injury or death. So either rope up *and* place running protection, or simul-solo and don't fall.
The route up to the entrance to the Ledges most often stays on the climber's left side of the Cowlitz. I've seen descriptions of routes that stay near the crest of the cleaver and also on the south side of the cleaver. Cracks and moats form just a few yards above Muir, so be alert.
At the entrance to the Ledges you'll descend a few feet, passing the famous giant eye-bolt. From there you walk along the section I call "The Balcony", which has minimal exposure. You go past a rib and the exposure starts. Here you may descend just a bit to pass the spot where the old route fell away decades ago. When possible, climb back up on snow to the base of Gib Rock...DO NOT continue downward. Once back up against Gib Rock follow it to the exit chute; it's not far.
In this pic the Ledges start above the large rock buttress with the near-vertical left edge. The pinch point along the green line is where you step across the rib. The Balcony is to the right, and the spot where you climb back up is to the left, nearly directly above where the red ski line leaves the fall line of Gib Chute.
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and boohoo there is pee behind the shelter. how many extra feet are people going to have to walk?
About the same number of extra feet the offenders would have had to walk to piss in one of the three shitters up there.
Poor form to not use the established facilities. Good show towing a keg up there and back.
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What annoys me is the desire to turn wilderness into an amusement park, and the misleading way the need to increase the permit fee was presented.
The camera and telemetry into are useful and that is not the same as creating a better experience. Adventure, which is why I go to Rainier, requires by its nature an unknown outcome. Having more info before I go doesn't add to adventure, it degrades it.
Rainier was climbed and enjoyed for over 100 years before there was any telemetry, website beta, route conditions reports, or anthing else. If people wanted to know what was going on, they just went down to see. In fact, when I first started climbing here in the mid-90s, it was still that way. And I don't find that my experience is at all enhanced by all the additional information that is available. The operating premise that 'more is better' when it comes to structure, staffing, ancillary equipment, buildings, fees, regulation, statistics, etc. around the climbing program, and that 'everyone' feels this way is problematic for me.
And wherever the money came from, I doubt that it paid for Stefan's time to install the camera. And my opinion is that installing a webcam is not the best use of the time of the supervisory climbing ranger at the park, ESPECIALLY in the wake of him telling people at public meetings that the program was so dangerously understaffed and underfunded that climbing rangers were forced to climb solo and this led directly to one skiing into a crevasse.
As far as not wasting a tank of gas, I think that's what places like Crystal are for: They are highly controlled, managed environments with cameras and patrollers, and avy control and heated lodges all over the mountain. And I have no problem with this. What I dislike is the growing treatment of Rainier in the same way.
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So somehow the climbing program couldn't afford to safely staff itself due to budget issues, but now it can afford stupid webcams at Muir?
SOOOO irritating.
It's a mountain camp, not an amusement park.
Maybe next year they can bump the fee again and build a frigging gondola to the summit.
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Because it is probably the take home lesson, I'm reposting this section:
If people are going to get angry at someone, I suggest you direct your ire against the insurance industry which heavily lobbied the WA legislature to pass RCW 4.22 and those lawmakers who are shills for the industry. As I state above, REI likely has no control over whether or not to appeal. . . . This is America, where the powerful blame the victim and obscures the truth.
I might suggest you read your home and auto insurance policies to see how much control you have if there is a claim against you......
The law only comes into play when parties can't amicably reconcile between themselves. I've been involved in at least two car accidents where the offending party just paid for repairs instead of involving said scummy insurance companies.
And I'll repeat myself: If REI signed a policy that grants major management decisions to an outside company, they are still accountable.
You can quibble about the languange and intent of the law all you want. It doesn't change the fact that REI is refusing to make whole a person severely injured by an REI-branded product for which they tout (loudly) a lifetime guarantee. I'm not buying the "Poor REI is a victim, too" line.
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I don't accept that REI is not responsible for this situation. I see two possibilities:
1. Ignorance: They purchased an insurance policy they didn't understand which has resulted in an insurance company making major decisions for the corporation. The net here is gross incompetence by REI management.
2. They carefully chose a policy that would leave them looking like a victim in this situation (poor REI can't do the right thing because of their insurance company). The net here is Evil REI.
This situation, made by REI, does not absolve the co-op of accountability in my eyes.
Also, can you imagine the precedent this case could set? Corporations are not responsible for products they sell under their own name if they don't actually make the products. Consumers who are harmed due to defects in said products are obliged to determine which part failed, who made the part, then sue that company. And if the company is off-shore, as most of the actual manufacturers are, then the injured party is essentially SOL. Your iPhone caught fire and burned you? Oh, you'll need to sue Foxconn Technology, a Chinese company. Good luck, have fun.
We're getting to the point where corporations have more personal rights, protection, and freedoms than actual persons.
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This is a disgusting situation.
Maybe it's time for a "Take Back Our Co-op" campaign where we get some decent people on the board and steer REI back to its roots.
Regardless, I'm writing in my board votes this year. No one currently sitting and up for reelection gets my approval.
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Anyone been up to the sisters and know if the trailhead is accessible? Any info on current snow conditions?
Considering climbing north sister this weekend...
Me too. Last word I saw was the Pole Creek road not melted out the whole way, adding a mile or so on that end.
FYI: Snowshoer missing on Rainier
in Climber's Board
Posted
Apparently he's been found alive in the Steven's Creek drainage.