Rootsman

The gym around the corner from me has one. I dinked around with it for a few years but, yeah, it got boring. That is until I talked to the owners and they cleared me to start bringing in my own holds. I have since put up 50+ holds and regularly move them around. Of course it's not as exciting as "real" climbing, but I can walk up the street and climb for an hour in any weather, at nearly any time, without needing a partner or any gear besides my shoes. I actually enjoy climbing on the treadwall, but it does usually require tunes and perhaps smokables for long sessions. It's a great way to be able to train to exhaustion without any exposure. I'd love to have one of my own but they can run 5-10K and you need a room with at least 10' ceilings, so having one at the gym is ideal.

Damn, that's tough. My old guy went on Feb 18, 2008. I still think of him often but manage to cry about it less these days. As Bart told Lisa at the burial of Snowball 5, "no kid wants to outlive their pet..." I hope that the passage of time brings you some peace.

Update... As of Tuesday, we were able to bypass all of the snow fields on the way up, but still had to downclimb the snowfield below the false summit. My partner had an ice axe, I used a ski pole with the basket off, and we were able to kick steps without too much trouble. The snow was pretty soft by the time we were on our way down, so I don't think that crampons would have been useful even if we had brought them. Early in the day they might be nice, but probably not necessary as there is a pretty good line of steps developing in the snowfield.

Wondering if anyone has been up recently, we'd really love to leave the snow gear at home if possible... Thanks (Edit to add) If anyone else is interested, I did find a TR on TAY that has a bit of a conditions update in one of the responses to the OP. http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=21627.0 but this beta is getting a bit stale...

http://www.kgw.com/news/Portland-man-dies-in-Beacon-Rock-fall-126112949.html Condolences to all involved...

Go on a weekday and you shouldn't have a problem. They can generally only afford to have rangers out on the weekends, and usually only the busy ones. That being said, I skied it last Tuesday, and on the way down there were two women in what looked like FS uniforms camped at Chocolate Falls. We took an alternate route around the falls, so we were basically past them before they realized we were there. One of them shouted something as we skied by, but I just waved, pointed to my ears as if I were listening to tunes (still had my helmet on), and we skated like madmen down the gully. I don't know if they were checking permits, but we didn't feel like finding out... The above should not be construed as an admission of poaching...of course we had permits. Of course.

Trip: St Helens Dec 2 - Worm Flows Date: 12/2/2009 Trip Report:[/b Longer version posted on TAY. Short version: The skiing wasn't great but the snowpack looked bomber. At higher elevations we found both boilerplate ice and a 1/2 inch, wind-polished, breakable crust which covered 1-2 inches of softer snow. Below this was a solid mass of well frozen snow, apparently all the way to the deck. We made a couple of ski cuts at the top of the steeper bowls to no effect. There were also a couple of small releases from cornice collapse but nothing propagated. Lower down it was just a solid mass, hard frozen. Good coverage on the route and approach trail after the first trail junction. The usual exposed rock on the ridgelines higher up, the gullies are all well filled. The road to Marble Mtn is currently dry, but the parking lot is only partially plowed at the moment. Approach Notes: Stomp through woods.

Trip report from Dec 2 posted at TAY and in Freshiezone here. http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=14707.0

I previously posted this on TAY, but I thought that this crowd might get a laugh out of it as well...

Has anybody been up the WR lately? Wondering if there is any accessible snow left on the N side of the ridge... Thanks

I was up there last week. Multiple feet of snow at trailhead, the road doesn't look like it will be opening anytime before late June. The fires from last summer did open up some really nice glades on the upper part of the ski trail.

You know the one, where he's flying on airforce one discussing the economic downturn... The "opening shot" shows the plane flying in front of what looks like a volcano. My guess is that they are showing the east side of Adams, it looks like you can even see Avalanche Valley and the Ridge of Wonders. Anyone else with Tivo (and obsessive/compulsive mountain identification disorder) care to weigh in?

Roger. Thanks for the info.

The plan was to head in via the Whitewater trail. My partner is planning on taking slow shoes, but I would rather avoid these if possible. I was thinking about using my back country xc skis, since I won't be doing any skiing on the mountain itself, just hoping for a speedier exit, if not approach. What do you think, having the fresh beta and all...? We're thinking about the Russell glacier to avoid the schrund and such on the JP Glacier. Did you happen to get a look at the Russ? Thanks

Howdy, Has anyone been up to Jeff Park since the "Pimpin" TR? Would love to know if its worth it to bring skis for the approach... thanks