Colin

I'm always pleasantly amazed in the Canadian Rockies at how my crampons and ice tools stay perfectly sharp after tons of mileage on limestone (not the quartzite though...). Back on granite or gneiss they get quite dull in just one day of mixed climbing. How does volcanic choss compare, say on Tahoma, Kulshan, Colfax, etc? Of course the rock isn't solid at all, but that doesn't necessarily indicate a lower hardness. My limited experience seems to suggest that crampons don't dull nearly as fast as on granite/gneiss, but perhaps faster than on limestone. I'm guessing that people who tromp around on Tahoma (Rainier) all summer have a pretty good gauge of this. Thoughts?

Awesome photo, Dru - thanks. Actually, I think this MIGHT even be 3 years of accumulation in these photos. In mid Sept last year the Pocket Glacier was very much still there, and at the start of Sept 2010 it was also still very big. In any event, it seems to be going fast now. I think the ice in these photos is thick enough to actually have plastic flow at the bottom (I think that from one year of accumulation the Pocket Glacier only experiences "snow creep"), which might make the glacier more likely to slide off than when it is thinner.

I'm pretty sure that the Pocket Glacier never slid off last year (it was still completely there, but with tons of crevasses, in mid September last year), and that in this photo we are seeing two year's worth of accumulation. I wonder actually if sometimes having more ice accumulation (for example, two year's worth) makes the Pocket Glacier more likely to slide off completely. In any event, I wonder what this heat wave will do to it. Dru, keep us informed if you catch a glimpse again!

Haha, thanks Hannah! Although perhaps they are more rock climbers than they are alpinists, there's also Chris Weidner (badass rock climber, who now lives in Boulder) and Kevin Newell (lives in CA now, our local FiveTen rep). And yeah, that Bart Paull sure is cute. I'm sure there are lots more. Music-wise, there's Steve Miller and Candlebox! But I'm the only one who still lives at their parent's house! Hope to see some of you guys at the slideshow tonight. There won't be any rockshoes in the photos, but there will be a lot of big, snowy mountains!

Farrgo: Yeah, the "West Face, left side" (I'd refer to it by the FA party, but I don't have my Beckey guide here), went straight up into where the rockscar now is. Based on your line, it looks like "Scarface" is not really a new route at all, but merely a few new pitches through the rock scar. I don't mean to belittle your climb at all, because I think it's super cool that you guys climbed through the rock scar, but I don't think it's really a new route since the terrain above and below looks to be exactly the same. Indeed, that handcrack down low is awesome, eh? Agreed that there is still lots of room for more routes on variations on that quality face. Our own mini version of the Incredible Hulk!

Thanks for the helpful beta, guys. Drew, that TR is recent enough that I should've just looked back and found it... thanks. By the way, Drew, wanna update the Pocket Glacier webcam once more in a week or so? It'd be nice to do one crampon-less lap this summer...

Thanks for all the helpful info, everyone. Yeah, Froodish, those are basically what I'm looking for, although the shape of those ones is not ideal (by making them stackable, the volume of the barrel goes down). Thanks for the link. Kurt, you've got one, or two? I guess they are pretty similar to the ones in Froodish's link? Nice and big?

Long live the best crag in North America! (No, I'm not kidding, I really do think so). I'll be showing pictures from the first ascent of the Torres Traverse, in Argentine Patagonia. I apologize that some of you may have already seen this slideshow a couple years ago in Seattle.

I've been serac-climbing on the lower Coleman Glacier once, many years ago. Can anyone tell me relatively current beta on the best spots, and the best place to descend from the Heliotrope Ridge trail? What elevation is the best zone? (because it's fine to hike in the rain, but I'd rather climb in the snow)

Are any of you familiar with the round, plastic, typically blue barrels that are used by expeditions all over the Himalaya? The European expeditions often bring them there. They are very durable, water-tight, and close with a metal ring around the black, plastic lid. Does anyone know where you can get them in the US? Anyplace in or around Seattle? Thanks.

Agreed that CBR is one of the highest-quality pieces of rock in the Cascades, and with a short, bushwack-free approach. Nice work on the new routes - all look excellent from the photos. How 'bout a photo of the face with lines drawn in, showing both established routes and your new routes? And yeah, new approach beta? Do you mean that you went around the east side of the lake? I've done that a couple times and concluded it wasn't as good. But with a bit of a trail it would certainly be much shorter than going around the west side of the lake. By the way, Scarface, which climbs the rock scar, does not climb where the NW Buttress used to be (as reported in the TR) - it climbs where the "West Face, left side" used to be. The confusion is caused by the photo in the brown Beckey guide, which shows the line of the "West Face, left side" very close to the year date (1984 I think? don't have the book in front of me) that marks the Northwest Buttress. By the same confusion I climbed the "West Face, left side" (now "Scarface") several years ago, when I intended to climb the Northwest Buttress. From the description of Scarface, it sounds like the first few pitches are the same as they used to be - warm-up on an awesome 10a handcrack that goes almost a full pitch!

I climbed the NE Buttress with a friend on Tuesday, Aug 23. We successfully crossed the Pocket Glacier, with crampons and a tool each. It was not simple though, definitely a bit sketchy, and I couldn't recommend it at the moment. Considering that it is already almost September, and the freezing levels are hovering around 7,000ft. the next few days, I doubt the Pocket Glacier will go away completely this year (but who knows?). One other option that I noticed: You could go to bivy below the pocket glacier (just past the notch), and then make a low traverse below the Pocket Glacier to the start of the NE Buttress Direct. This traverse is obviously exposed to anything coming off the glacier, so you would want to be very quick. It looks to be on easy rock ledges though (class 2, maybe a move or two of class 3), and avoids heinous bushwacking to get on the NE Butt Direct. This was my 4th time descending via the Crossover Descent, and I'm pleased that it gets easier every time. It was a casual 4 hours from the summit to the car. The high traverse along the ridge is finally developing a bit of a track (although a very subtle one still). I was also pleased to discover that it is very easy to avoid the one rappel on the crossover descent, with just a short (100m) traverse on the east side of the ridge (although on steep heather). The trail that we built a month ago seems to still be in great shape. Go use it and keep it from disappearing! Also, there is a lot less snow on the Crossover descent than one month ago, but there is still one snowfield where we put our crampons on. But I'm sure it's doable without crampons with a bit of care.

Yes, there have been some ascents of the NE Buttress this season. I know only from looking in the summit register after climbing the N Rib. Keep in mind that the Pocket Glacier is easy to deal with early in the season, gets worse as it breaks up, and then gets easy again when it is mostly all gone. However, considering that it is already August 7, and there is way more snow in the high Cascades than typical for this date, I won't be surprised if the Pocket Glacier doesn't go away this summer. The direct is obviously an option, which I haven't done but supposedly has quite good (but brushy) rock. Unfortunately the basin below the NE Buttress has way more bushwacking than it did several years ago, so the approach to the direct is probably a bit of a pain now. Another option is to traverse the N Slesse Glacier and get on the NE Buttress from the climber's right side. I don't believe this has ever been done, and looks potentially dirty, but I'm sure it's doable.

The weekend before last, some friends and I (officially a CASBC 'adopt a crag' event) spent a long day making a trail that connects the Slesse Crossover Descent with the memorial plaque - what used to be a long bushwack. Since the Crossover Descent is by far the fastest and most convenient way off of Slesse, and since the Slesse Creek Valley (the old standard descent) was recently closed by the Canadian Military, this trail is very necessary. We tried to make as well-established a trail as possible so that it will hopefully last a long, long time. As more and more people begin to use the Crossover Descent the foot traffic will keep the trail from disappearing. From the scree/snow basin at the end of the Crossover Descent, look for some really big cairns on the skier's left side of the basin. They will lead you to some liberal flagging, which will lead you to the trail we cut through all the brush. The entire way is marked with flagging and reflective markers, to make sure that everyone can find it and stay on route (and therefore keep the trail alive with their feet). A good, very-detailed description of the whole Crossover Descent can be found here: http://www.jeremyfrimer.com/visitor/Crossover_Pass_Descent.pdf

Trip: Mt. Shuksan - North Face Date: 3/17/2010 Trip Report: My brother, Booth, and I skied the North Face of Shuksan last Friday, with excellent snow conditions. There are photos here: http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/2010/03/shuksan-north-face-descent.html And a little video here: