Colin

Thanks for the info, guys. And of course, any other reports of successful calls wouldn't hurt. I realized after making my initial post that I meant to write, "Rogers Wireless," so that is the service provider in question.

I'm curious if one can find cell-phone reception on the North/East aspects of Mt. Slesse. Have any of you successfully made a call while on Mt. Slesse in the past couple years? Whenever I'm in SW BC my phone connects via "Edge Wireless," so I think that is the service that's in question. Thanks for any input.

Hugh, when you say they have have "non-releasable snowboard-type bindings," do you mean step-in (hard boot) snowboard bindings, or strap-on (soft boot) snowboard bindings? The strap bindings are too heavy and bulky, and I imagine would have too much lateral slop for use on skis. When you say you can try to dig them up, do you mean that you have a pair? I'd really like to find a pair of Figl-type skis (like in Lowell's photo), so if you remember any brand names or other info that might be helpful to find them, please let me know!

Just saw this thread. Bart and I climbed the NE Butt of Goode in July 2002. It took us 12 hrs. car-to-car from the Chelan side. We carried a rope and rack (but never took them out of the pack), and weren't particularly trying to move super fast. If someone wanted to it wouldn't be hard to take several hours off that time. Jens, I'd say you didn't make an attempt on the Croft Traverse, but the second ascent of the Croft Traverse. For sure, solo and in a faster time is more precisely what Croft did, but if you climbed the same terrain you climbed the same terrain...

I have done the Slesse Creek descent once, and now the Crossover Pass descent twice, and I absolutely recommend the Crossover descent. The first time I did the Crossover descent was two years ago, and we were going off the description in McKlane's guidebook - we took quite a while, did some sketchy downclimbing in places, and some horrendous bushwacking at the end. I did the Crossover descent again a couple weeks ago, this time armed with Jeremy Frimer's description, and it only took a few hours to get from the summit of Slesse to the car. Jeremy's topo is very well done, and if you follow it closely (print it out and bring it with you) the descent can go very easily. The only place where we were not able to follow Jeremy's description was on the descent through the forest - we saw no flagging for a long time, but then picked it up again near the basin. The last part of the trail (back to where it joins the official trail, just below the memorial plaque) is much better now than when Jeremy wrote his description, and thus involves no bushwacking. For this reason, I absolutely recommend following Jeremy's description rather than taking the 4th-class gully that Buckaroo suggests. Yes, the Crossover descent is more complicated than the Slesse Creek descent, but it gets a bit easier to follow with every party that takes it. At first I was bummed that the Slesse Creek Road was getting closed, but now I think it is a wonderful thing because it will force more climbers to take the Crossover descent, and soon there will be a well-worn trail all the way, without the hassle of extra bikes or cars.

Would you mind posting those pictures of Hell's Highway? I'm thinking of heading up the Fischer Chimney's on Sunday, and it would be great to see a photo of Hell's Highway beforehand. I don't mind having to climb some steep ice, but a glacier-width crevasse 20ft. wide would be annoying...

Lowell, those figl's look almost ideal, especially the bindings. Are you able to adjust the length on those Salewa bindings to accomodate different size boots? Yeah, I know that Hagan's aren't especially light for their length, but as you say, short is important. Anything longer than 100cm is a serious nuisance on your backpack when climbing hard pitches. These short skis are all over the place in the Alps, but hard to come by over here. By the way, Lowell, why have you marked these skis right and left? Did you mount the bindings a bit to the side to make edging in your climbing boots easier (on the inside edge of your outside ski)? Darin, that's not a bad idea, and perhaps what I'll end up doing. The hardest part I think would be to make them adjustable for different size boots (for example work with a pair of Baturas, but also with a pair of Spantiks), but maybe not too difficult.

Unfortunately, the Silvretta 404's are much too heavy for this application. I already have a pair of Silvretta 500's, which are lighter than the 404's, but I consider those to also be too heavy for this use.

I'm looking to put together an ultralight ski descent setup to use with mountaineering boots. For the skis, I'm thinking 100cm, although maybe even 80 or 90. Probably I'll need to buy a pair of Hagan's over in Europe (can you buy them in the US?), but are there other options available? I think the shortest TRAB skis are 157cm. More importantly, I'm looking for binding suggestions. The old-style Emery bindings are perfect for this application: http://www.wildsnow.com/backcountry-ski-museum/emery-chrono/emery-chrono-ski-binding.html But I don't know how to find them. Anyone have an old pair they want to sell? Another option would be a binding setup with no tour mode, and no release capabilities. It would basically just be a wire toe bail and a wire heel lever, like on a step-in crampon. Certainly "snow-blade" bindings are similar to this, but all the ones I've seen are actually quite heavy. Anyone know of a super simple, light, binding system like this? Thanks!

I like to use rap rings whenever rappelling with ropes of vastly different diameters (usually a 9.1-9.7mm single rope, with a 4.5-6.0mm rap line). If the knot is always set to pull the skinny rope then the rap ring prevents the knot from moving, and, if the rap ring is small enough, it is a safety backup for the chance of the super-skinny rap-line getting cut (because the knot jams against the rap ring, and the main rope is still intact). However, for it to work as a safety backup, it needs to be certain that the knot cannot pass through the rap ring, and with the skinny ropes these days I feel that is not 100% certain with the standard size rap rings. Thus, I am trying to find smaller-than-normal rap rings. I remember bootying an oval-shaped rap ring off of Snow Creek Wall years ago that would have been perfect, but I have no idea who manufactured it. These Omega ones I believe have a smaller than normal inner radius (http://www.omegapac.com/op_climbing_rings.html), but at 34 grams they are heavier than a good carabiner! Anyone have any good recommendations? Thanks.

And just in case some of you are curious about the subject matter more than simply "sending the madness," this slide show will be about two 6,000 ft. routes on the North Buttress of Mt. Hunter - the Bibler-Klewin (AKA Moonflower Buttress), and the harder but less-known Grison-Tedeschi (AKA French Couloir) - and about heading up them with just daypacks!

Drew, Speaking of snowed-up roads, how 'bout some cross-border information reciprocation: How far can you drive the Chilliwack Lake Road right now? I presume there is no chance of driving UP the road to north side of Slesse, but can you at least get to the turnoff? And can you typically get there most of the winter?

Trip: Mt. Stuart - Upper North Ridge Date: 5/26/2008 Trip Report: Dan Aylward and I climbed the Upper North Ridge of Stuart on Monday. It was fun - mostly rock at this point, but still with some mixed flavor. The Teanaway River Road will probably be drivable to the trailhead by next weekend, and the North Ridge will probably be all rock-shoe terrain in 2-3 weeks. Some photos in my nerdy domain: colinhaley.com

Trip: North Early Winter Spire - Early Winter Couloir Date: 5/11/2008 Trip Report: Mark, Dylan, and I had a fun time on NEWS on Sunday. None of us had climbed the Early Winter Couloir before - it is much more a snow climb than an ice or mixed climb. There were a couple short steps of AI3, but it's mostly just steep snow. It is a fun route in any event though, with a short approach and nice ambience. The upper ridge was snowy rock climbing; a bit slabby in one spot. In the warming temps the couloir will get dangerous from failing cornices. Some photos and whatnot: colinhaley.com

Trip: The Tooth - East Face Date: 3/15/2008 Trip Report: Wednesday Night Alpinism: colinhaley.blogspot.com Approach Notes: A desk job, or university classes.

On April 24th I'm going to give a second Seattle-area slideshow of the Torre Traverse, this time at the Wilde Rover in Kirkland. The slideshow is about a ridge enchainment of Patagonian summits Aguja Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger, and Cerro Torre that Rolando Garibotti and I completed this past January. The event is organized by the American Alpine Club, and our local Cascade Section chair, Al Schumer. The event is free for both members and non-members, and is a good opportunity for non-members to learn a bit about the AAC. The slideshow will start at 7:30 PM but come early (anytime after 6:00 PM) to get a good seat, buy your own dinner and beer, and visit with friends. There will be a brief Cascade section meeting before the slideshow. Wilde Rover Irish Pub, 111 Central Way, Kirkland, WA (see www.wilderover.com for directions).

Hey Panos, I used to work for Jim for several years at PMS, and asked him about Nooksack Tower a bunch. Jim and Chuck Gerson made the first ascent of the Nelson-Gerson route in May 1982, and then the foursome went and made the FWA of the Tower the following February, VIA THE SAME ROUTE, THE NELSON-GERSON. I'm sure of this. In Selected Climbs Vol. 1, Second Edition, on page 298 there is a photo of Kit on the FWA. That is the first pitch above the col on the Nelson-Gerson. Ade Miller and I went and made an early spring ascent of the Nelson-Gerson a few years ago (Must've been April '04), and I'd recommend the route. I think we posted a TR, but I wasn't able to find it during a quick search. Hope that helps.

Couldn't resist chiming in here... As for whether or not to use wrist leashes: I at first thought that going "leashless" was totally contrived and stupid, just a silly style game. Now I never use wrist leashes - and it has nothing to do with 'style.' I don't climb without wrist leashes because I think it is more 'pure' or better 'style' (after all, anything with ice tools is aid climbing in a sense), I climb without wrist leashes because I think it is EASIER. It is easier to place pro, easier to de-pump, easier to match, etc. And in the past when I used wrist leashes I always had them set loosely, because otherwise they messed up my swing, so going 'leashless' is not harder for me to hold onto my tools (and the new breed of tools are much, much easier to hold on to anyways). As for whether or not to use umbilicals: On serious alpine routes I really don't want to drop my tools, and using umbilicals is the best solution. It is absolutely true that they sometimes are annoying and snag on things - but, in my opinion they are overall less annoying than wrist leashes. Even for simple waterfall cragging I sometimes like to use umbilicals to prevent dropping a tool (This is especially the case if your pick is stuck and you are hitting your palm against the bottom of the hammer - it is easy to lose your tool when it finally comes free if it isn't attached). As for what kind of umbilicals: I think that the commercially-manufactured umbilicals that Grivel made were superior to the home-made variety because they are stronger, and the bar-tacks are lighter and less bulky than water knots. It's a shame they aren't made anymore. Just today I got a prototype of the umbilicals that BD is working on - they seem really promising, with a strong, built-in swivel and good mini carabiners to clip to the tools (it is nice if the 'biners are big enough to clip to the head of the tool, for when you are plunging the tools on lower-angled terrain). They will probably be on the retail shelves in a year, and in the meantime I think that Dave's directions are the way to go.

This Saturday, Nov. 17, my friend Freddie Wilkinson is giving a slideshow in Issaquah, at the opening of the new REI. The slideshow begins at 7pm. If you haven't heard about him already, Freddie is based out of North Conway, New Hampshire. He is, in my opinion, one of the best alpine climbers in the US these days, and, perhaps more importantly, totally hilarious. He says his show will be about the past year of climbing trips, which should include new routes in Patagonia and new routes in the Miyar Valler of India. If we get him drunk enough, his inhibitions should disappear (if there were any in the first place) and we'll be treated to full-on F-Bomb entertainment.

Roger Strong and I went and climbed the Cosely/Houston route on Tuesday. I was really impressed by how high-quality the ice was, especially so early in the season. Really nice route in general I thought - the nice waterfall curtains surrounded by amorphous choss were quite reminiscent of the Canadian Rockies. Conditions were almost identical to the photos that have been posted - Cosely/Houston in good shape, and the Polish Route not touched down. Considering how much ice was formed, with only relatively small snowfields feeding them, I have a suspicion that Colfax Peak is creating great ice routes because it has a particularly high geothermal heat flux. Just a theory...

Anyone looking for a ride down to Yosemite? I'm planning to drive down from Seattle, leaving either early Monday or Tuesday morning. I already have climbing partners lined up, and I don't know when I'll be driving back north, but it'd be nice to have company and share gas costs. I have a seat for one person, and plenty of room for your gear. colinhaley1@gmail.com 206-334-3512

Perhaps you guys have already seen this, but pretty damn cool stuff on our local volcano:

The double bag was awesome! We actually used it for 3 nights - a night at 14k on the way down. It was a bit tight with Mark's MOGness, since I was originally planning the dimensions to use with Jed, but it was still plenty roomy to sleep. And like I thought, it was really warm - definitely way warmer than we needed it to be, but that is good security for when the down gets frozen on longer routes. The specialty-cut foam pads in the bottom worked really well. Using a double bag requires you to tweak your normal bivy operations a bit, but overall it worked really well. Combined with the firstlight, our whole bivy system was really light and quite comfortable. Feathered Friends will hopefully do a full production run of the bag (the "Spoonbill," although I prefer the simpler name of "homo-huddler") if they get enough interest.

Hey Doods, Yep, it went. Weather was great while on route, and then has shut down pretty bad since then. The climbing was really high quality on excellent rock - sometimes quite hard, but never scary. We climbed the rock wall in 21 hours, and then slogged above for a couple hours, super dehydrated, until able to dig out a bivy ledge at around 16,500. We didn't leave our bivy the next day until 2pm, and eventually summited at around 9:45 I believe, making a shrund-to-summit time of I think 45:40. akicebum is correct about the number of ascents. I think it took Ian and Chris 44 hours rather than 60 though? Great you meet you and Evan, John, and thanks for lending us the nice gear. We never would have made it up if Mark had brought his lead-filled mittens on route!

At my parents' house, posting on cascadeclimbers, just out of my geochemistry final! Gotta finish packing, then off to AK in 3 hours...