jja

I found an ice screw and quick draw that were left high on the Paradise Falls route in Leavenworth. If you can describe it and want it back let me know.

Just got back from leavenworth. Was at rainbow falls and it is in and relatively fat. Other stuff looked in too. Was 19F when we got back to the car at 4:30pm.

Like KK said visualizing success helps a lot. also when you get those moments, just focus on one foot at a time. step. next step. and step again. step. step. step. step. focusing on a simple repetitive thing like your footwork will shift your attention away from your negative thoughts. in fact it's almost trance like - think of natives dancing around the fire before going into battle - they do that on purpose to focus the mind and crowd out thoughts of doubt. also don't forget that EVERYONE has these doubts, they just happen at different points for different people of varying levels of experience, and also different people handle them differently .. some push through them and some don't. i can't count how many times I've gone to do something, actually started hiking up, and then said .. "ah, screw this I don't feel like it"

driving past on sunday ...

Great TR .. looking forward to heading up there next week. By the way, I thought THOS was beyond the road closure .. isn't there a mile marker "39" sign before the first water crossing that no vehicles are supposed to go beyond? .. you mentioned you drove right to the base of the climb, so has this restriction been lifted or did you not know/see the sign? By the way 2, how were the snow drifts in the ghost?

I've done this mod. It's not too hard and the results are good. I'd recommend using a really sharp knife, preferably a utility razor knife and taking off a little bit of the grip rubber at a time. Better to take your time than to remove too much.

We went via 90 late last night and returned by 2. This was my first time out there so not sure which ones were Park and Blue, but the best ice we saw was around what we did. The top part of Zenith and Salt n Pepper looked do-able, not by me though. Other than that everything else was delamned, wet, and falling down - even if it got cold they would need to grow in size. On the way back we drove through Leavenworth and looked up the icicle, hubba hubba and drury was in fog, but it was colder there than at Banks and there was lot's of ice that looked "almost there". Icicle buttress looked really fun, both R+D and Chicken gully looked really cool. Crack and friends did Chicken gully last week and he says it was a lot fatter today.

My partner and I were out there today. We looked at the punch bowl in the morning and debated whether to do it or not. It was really warm and we decided against it. The only other do-able option was this little thing hidden in the bushes around mile 10 that we later learned was Brush Bash. Ok I guess, but a long way to drive for 50' of ice/brush climbing. When we went back to the punch bowl the largest of the deathcicles on the right had fallen - and while we were standing there looking at it part of the upper ice on the left completely collapsed and came crashing down spraying both the left and right sides of the climb with ice - yikes, glad we had decided against climbing there.

All that and bluegrass on the satellite radio too, you da man erik !!

Yes, life is pretty good

Map Bearing PDF from Mount Rainier web site

I bought a pair of the new trango S model last week. I've only worn them twice so far. Once walking around town after I got them and once on a hike up to Lk Serene. So far so good. They hike really well, are comfortable w/o any hot spots and are flexible (so flexible that I worry if they'll front point ok). When hiking up to the lake on Sunday I purposely walked through every water section on the trail I could find, and my feet stayed dry and warm (really warm .. which is good for me in an uninsulated boot because I get cold feet easily) The most noticable thing about these boots is how light they are. They look big and burly, but they're lighter than some "light hikers". Taking them to the Tetons this summer and hope to do everything from easy rock to snow and ice couloirs .. we'll see.

Yeah, we were looking at that one too. the approach by canoe looks fun. I'll have to make sure we figure out how to do the double pendulums first though, neither of us have ever done that before.

This is pretty neat too, I can think of lot's of times it would have come in handy.

I used to have a jeep with 33's and locked diffs, so I know what real off road is .. it's just that some of us do really drive sub's the way they are intended, almost 2' deep water crossing in the ghost counts right

Hey Jay sub's rock. Mine goes like a bat out of hell with the turbo motor and 5 spd. Gas mileage is total shit with my lead foot .. not even breaking 20 sometimes. I don't care though, it's fun, goes almost anywhere and is great at high speed on the hwy getting to where you're going. The absolute worse though is everybody thinking that I'm a lib hippie cause I drive one. I swear I'm getting a Hummer next

So we've got 10 days in the park in late June, early July this summer. I think we want to do at least two routes that typically start at the lower saddle. How bad does the hike up to the saddle suck? Instead of doing the approach twice does it make sense to bring a lot of food and fuel up there for say 4 or 5 days and do two or three routes? The books kind of implies that the lower saddle isn't a very pleasant place to hang out. How bad is the valhalla traverse? Is it totally nuts to think I could get away with doing it in goretex sneakers and aluminum crampons on the way to do the north face or north ridge? Speaking of which, if we're only going to do one, which is the better route, the north face or the north ridge of the grand? Italian cracks or do the chimney and slab? Anybody want to predict what the BI couloir is gonna be like in late june ? If the Black Ice is out, what else is a similar climb that is more likely to be in? Is the Enclosure couloir boring? For straight up rock routes, am I right in thinking stuff like the guide wall, the snaz, and irene's arete are the best climbs in the 8 - 10a range, or are those just the super popular ones? Totally psyched for this trip .. here's to ten solid days of sunshine with no afternoon t-storms !! Thanks for any and all beta and/or spray. -john

Just called the Lynwood store and they're all out

30 bucks !? which store, seattle? how many left?

I work for a biggish computer company, and we're trying to backfill some temp/contractor positions and are having a helluva time finding people. Some of the folks we have in those positions have left us recently for more money at MS, Adobe, etc. I get the feeling (maybe just the hope) things are starting to heat up a little ... good luck !!

get a new sheep yet ?

Photo is of gumby ice climber with waaay too much stuff .. Seriously if you're going to carry a pack, these little bullet packs are way cool. As long as you are going to be back at the start of the climb to retrieve your normal pack, I think it's worthwhile to carry one of these tiny packs. That way you don't have to compromise on pack size, carry a normal pack for the approach and a tiny one for the climb.

Thief !! You plagiarized my photo and didn't even credit me

I can fit everything you describe in a small pack like this (although I think my belay jacket compresses a lot better than a go-lite): Carrying all that gear doesn't have to turn into a cluster so long as you access things efficiently. Use an autolocker so when you finish a lead you can set up the belay and start bringing up the second and still be able to put on a jacket or grab a bite w/o wasting too much time. Swinging leads helps too because it means you'll be messing around with your gear (ie putting on / taking off jacket, etc) half as often than if you just follow every pitch. If I don't feel like carrying all that extra stuff - usually if I'm leading near my limit - I won't bring water or food .. I'm fat so I don't need the food, and I'll drink a liter before I start climbing. I'll ditch the camera too or have the partner carry it. The spare heavier gloves will go in the chest pockets of my jacket, and w/o a puffy jacket I'll just freeze at the belay The other option is to just take one pack for 2, and have the second carry it.

I don't have any current info, the last time I was in the ghost was the 27th or so of December. My guess based on the recent warm temps in the rockies is that the river would not be frozen. Based on the river level when I was last there and with good boots and tight gaiters, I think you could make it across the river crossings on foot ok. Might want to bring a spare pair of socks just in case though.