sobo

Has anyone been there recently? What's in, if anything?

... NOT! So Cragg and I decided that we had to go in yesterday. Not content with using the familiar Preston/Nevers approach, I thought we'd give the Motherlode approach a go. There's a bit of compact snow on the roads above the 1201 intersection and past Kloochman's, but nothing a 4x4 can't handle. Be careful on the way down, tho, as ice on the washboards can (and did) cause a loss of control. Oh, the "609" sign is still there, but you gotta be looking for it. It's just under 3/4 of a mile after you pass the "parking area" (looks like an old gravel pit operation) for Kloochman Rock. Anyway, after realizing (too late) that we weren't following geordie's, J-WOO's, and BigWave's footprints from the week before, we endured serious schwackin' that ultimately brought us to the extreeeeme left end of the Motherlode area. So much for the "only 30 minutes away" promise. Our fault. Nothing to the left of First on the Left is in, or even near that. The big yellow drip (Third or Second on the Left??) is forming, but is a long way from touching down. First on the Left itself is very thin and discontinuous. Not climbable at the advertised grade. Sudden Change of Plan is not in. Sab Ce'bu *could* be climbed if you were desperate for ice and wildly serious, but it's not worth the trudge in. It's a freakin' shower, and we got rained on by shit while we were standing under it looking at it and deciding. The shitfall made our decision for us. "Run awaaaay!" Right Stuff: fageddaboudit. Dropline looks the best of all of the Motherlode climbs way up high (the top two columns are forming, but only the upper column has made it to the rest below it), but the first pitch has yet to form. This could be the year for Dropline's FA. Nothing between Dropline and Ice Dreams is in. Ice Dreams is running like a garden hose. It's building, but it's a long way off before it becomes continuous and climbable at the advertised grade. We started over to Split Rock Camp to take a look at First Ice on the Right, but Cragg was bitchin' so bad about the scree/boulder field and all the near-misses of sprained ankles and broken legs, that we bagged it when we were just around the corner from the Septum, so no beta there. Rather than trudge out the way we came in, we decided to follow the published directions for the exit, and headed due north out of Separation Gully and hit Road 609 a bit east of its terminus and a little more than hour from leaving. Lessons Learned: Wait a bit longer (till after the end of this month), and be prepared for longer than advertised approach times due to low snow and a lot of treacherous boulder-picking. As of this writing, leave the skis/snowshoes in the truck. It's a better boot trek than anything with floatation right now. Bring ski poles, tho. You'll be glad you did when you hit the boulderfields. All in all, it was a great day to take the gear for a walk.

Kramar's 1991 guide gives it a 5.8+. His 1996 second edition ups it to 5.9+. No wonder you thought it was a sandbag!

Bullshit, you pussies. You are a bunch of whiners. Index ratings are just fine - everywhere else is soft. I remember the old days when Angel was 5.7, while Damnation, and Outer Space were rated 5.8 -- those were ratings! And whadayameen about Toxic Shock. I see kids going up there, climbing the 5.5 Even Steven start, liebacking the handcrack, and saying they climbed 5.9. Climber's these days... Couldn't resist the temptation, mattp.

The Vikes! Third in the list.

See fredrogers's first post, above. All will be revealed.

Like you, I've made several trips out there and thru there, but a buddy of mine who lived in JH for 10 years said it best when he told me it's "Poverty, with a view." And he worked for a petrochemical company doing siesmic surveys (paid pretty good).

Here it is! Scroll down a little for the pic. GC, directions are included right above the pic. There's also a link to a similar device to teh Freshette, the TravelMate, at this address.

I seem to recall a similar thread on this board a while back that ultimately led to a link to a page that gave instructions on how wimmin could pee standing up. The front page of the site had this wonderful pic of a babe standing in front of a urinal with a shocked male relieving himself in the urinal next to hers. Great shot!

Here's another thread in the Ice Conditions forum that is recent.

Carlos Buehler comes immediately to mind. What a guy. Good point, Alex.

A little more work found this. Tread tramp was the subject. Can't make any conclusions from the info proffered, other than it appears that only the helo crew showed up, and no ground personnel. In this case, it may have been more of a "less risk to rescuer" case, as the attendant on the t-bar would have to ask himself, "You want me to hang on the end of this line as the rotor downwash bashes me against the side of this cliff, is that right? OK, no problemo."

Yes, ideally, it is best to get the subject to a safer area as quickly and as safely as possible so more definitive aid can be rendered. If that is not possible, aid is rendered as best as can be done at the scene, and extraction becomes a more lengthy proposition. But presumably the subject has been stabilized by then. Probably had more to do with the short-haul equipment on the helo, the elevation of the operation, and the operating characteristics of the helo itself than anything to do with less risk to the rescuer. Typically, and almost without exception (except for the aforementioned exceptions), rescue protocol requires that an attendant ride with the subject. And yes, under the right conditions, a jungle penetrator has room for two. I did a search for all of ncascademtn's posts, and the thread titles didn't give me any clue about his rescue, so I couldn't read his account. Maybe it was someone else, or maybe someone else on the trip wrote up the TR that contained the rescue description.

Yes, in the case of a high- or low-angle raise or lower. But from the haul set-up that I saw in the video, it appears to me to be a helo op. In a helo op, there would be a tag line attached to the litter to prevent spinning (if there was a litter). Since there was no litter, there would be no tag line. You would be at the complete mercy of the attendant and the jungle penetrator. It appears that either the attachment link failed at the subject/attendant, or the short haul line failed.

Don't I know it!

Is all this shizz free really? I'd be interested in the bedframe and headboard, nightstands, and mebbe the dresser, DOC. A budoire' set, if you will.

Best road trips, eh? hmmmm... TNTC Seriously, tho, my most memorable road trip was 4 days on a Trailways bus from Houston to DC, and didn't involve a lick of climbing. A story for the campfire or Pub Club only...

Ahhhh, Seneca Rocks. Home of the insipid Seneca 7.

Must be coming my way. I drove to work with the windows down at 9 this morning to a balmy 58F. Just got back from lunch at it was fahq'n 42!

Not laziness, not having to remove your pack to extract your second tool boils down to speed, efficiency, and safety. But what the hell do I know, I'm a newbie. I agree with speed, etc. for extraction. Re: my laziness, I was referring to putting the tools away.

I was noticing that same forecast myself yesterday. I would say that Strobach, of all the places near Yakima, would be the place to be this weekend (el = 4500). I think that FS 19/Little Naches (el = 3300 +/-) would be kinda thin/wet. I got a call into Cragg to see if he can check out FS 19 before the weekend. I'll be in touch thru here. We had 70F here yesterday, and it's about 60F here right now. That makes for about 40+F at Strobach, which is good, as more of our recent snow will melt, feeding the freeze cycle that's due in later this week. Little Naches won't fair as well, and it takes longer for those Chinook pass climbs to form than it does for the White Pass area climbs. My $$ is on Strobach.

The Osprey Finnesse with the Vetor Ice (interchangeable) attachment panel does this as well. The tubes are more set up for straight-shafted tools, tho. I got ss tools, and it's worked great in the past when I've started a route with one tool, then needed the second while on route. I've even got to teh point where I can put 'em back w/o taking the pack off. Yeah, I am lazy.

Bent shafts?

Avy Yes, the initial sweep can seem slow. It takes me about 8 to 10 seconds to sweep through the 120 deg arc to locate the signal and get the initial "beep" and lock. As long as I'm moving in the right direction, I don't need to sweep anymore, just follow the flux line to the subject. If I chose the wrong direction (distance readout increases), I just turn around and it locks back on in about 3 seconds or less without having to "sweep" again. Just turn around and hold still for a couple of seconds. I used a lot of beacons (borrowed or rented) before I demo'ed and bought the ARVA, and I never really got to use anything else long enough to really get to know it. With the ARVA being the first beacon I ever owned, I've had a lot of opportunity to practice with it. I guess that could be why I'm comfortable with it and don't find much wrong with it at all. I guess it just comes down to what you get used to using.