I was devastated to come downstairs this summer (end of July) to find that I was missing not just one, but two bikes, worth about $10k, from our condo’s garage! I think I was too hungover from the Capitol Hill Block Party for the theft to really register but after breakfast I got online and tried to figure out what to do next… I reported it to the police, logged it in the Stolen Bicycle Registry (but I never recorded the serial numbers!), emailed our condo management to see if the cameras had captured it (oddly they didn’t), bookmarked searches for them on Craiggers which searches all the different craigslists across the country (Ellsworth Moment & Commencal), I then called a bunch of bike shops, no one had seen them. And now months later they’re still missing. Fortunately, All State was super easy to deal with when submitting an insurance claim.

I know I was a dumbass for leaving my bikes in my condo garage, even though it is secure, has video cameras, and they were locked (I watched a documentary on bike theft in the UK and now will never trust any lock again). I normally keep my bikes in my condo or in my storage locker, but (this is another blog post) we had a bit of a flood in our condo and had cleared everything out of the hall… And yes, I should have had the serial numbers. I have the one for my other bike written down. Excuses, excuses.

Now, to the fuckers who stole my bikes…

2009 Commencal Supreme DH – Medium: Be careful! I broke the frame on this bad boy when I cranked the seat post up to high racing Joe after a day at Whistler. Hopefully you’re not a fat ass, you wouldn’t want the frame exploding after you take a big drop. Now I did put a super duper big seat clamp on there to mitigate the cracks in the seat post tube, but you never now… But the rest of the bike is in good shape. It has a brand new FOX Van RC rear shock. I didn’t get the fork serviced though. It still had about 5 more days to go before servicing, FYI. The bike is also sporting a E13LG1 chainguard, the OEM one sucked. The best thing about this bike was the price. I scored it for half price on Chainlove. Sadly, haven’t seen any comparable deals since.

2006 Ellsworth Moment – Medium: Enjoy! The bike frame came from Gords in Winnipeg and then custom built down here in Seattle. The bike was freshly tuned, ridden only once or twice after the tuning and features a borrowed Racing Ralph tire ’cause I was looking for more rear traction and my shop was kind enough to let me try-it-before-buying it (could you please return it to Big Tree Bikes if you don’t like it?). Caution that the stem is a little long, I was going to swap it out, but maybe you have longer arms than me. Now maybe you’re smarter than me, but the FOX DHX 5.0 rear shock drove me bonkers. Way too adjustments. Good luck figuring it out, I’m not going to miss it!

Internet readers, if you ever see either of these bikes drop me a line at matt@mattgoyer.com. I’d love to get em back! My friends are worried I’m too lazy to buy new ones.

Not surprisingly, we had a great time :).

Some of the highlights:

• Renting a loft in Tribeca instead of staying in a hotel
• Joe’s Shanghai for dumplings. Rumor has it you should go in the afternoon, dinner is supposedly a zoo.
• Craft for a fancy dinner
• Grimaldi’s for pizza. Caution, we waited two hours in line!
• Clover Club for fancy cocktails in Brooklyn. Get the punch, it has the largest ice cube you’ve ever seen. But we did ask too many questions about their ice and got labeled “ice geeks”. And skip all the other bars in Park Slope.
• Pride, especially since they just passed gay marriage!
• Nobu Next Door for fancy sushi.
• the Standard‘s roof top: wow. This hotel is ridiculous. If you can’t get in at night, just go before 10pm. Awesome roof top deck. If you don’t bring your swim suit they have a vending machine.
• Highline Park: awesome urban park on the west-side. Ends in a beer garden. They should turn the viaduct into this.
• Weather Up: they brew up 600 pound blocks of ice that they carve into custom ice cubes.

Low lights:

• 10 am checkout! Poor planning on someone’s part :).
• The Bunker wanting $3,000 for a group of five guys to get a table. I shoulda ask if that included two bottles.
• Most other Meat Packing District clubs for not letting us in.

Next time!

• PDT: To check out their spherical ice cubes
• Stay at the Standard

For some Manhattan porn check out this time lapse video:

Mindrelic – Manhattan in motion from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

The big highlight of Crescent Bar (if you’re not into golfing or wine) is the beach at Shasta Island aka Pastie Beach. However, to get there you need a boat, and alas, I sold my boat. Fortunately you can rent one, so we got a party barge from Pro Touch Jet Ski Rental (trust me, boat rental looks expensive but it is so much cheaper than ownership! I really want a fractional boat ownership program in Seattle). I met them Saturday morning, with a slight hangover, as it was just starting to rain. Wait, isn’t it supposed to always be sunny in Eastern Washington!?

Fortunately the rain held off as we loaded up the boat and headed south to Shasta Island.

It was a little mellow because of the weather. But it can get crazy! Check out this time lapse video from labor day weekend last year:

From planking:

To owling:

To games:

To running down sand dunes:

We had a blast!

When you’re not partying on Shasta Island the other place to hang out is the only bar in town, The Sandtrap, which attracts all sorts of characters. And on Saturday night there is a mechanical bull (I’m still bruised.)

To recover from Saturday’s craziness we lounged at the pool.

Thanks to Chels for organizing!

To be on the safe side though I picked up a 60 m half rope at REI before we headed out (we spent most of our time at camp debating whether we should cut it in half, leave it, or do a 40/20 cut.) Shawn grabbed a map and compass.

We left Seattle Saturday morning and I ended up messing up on how to get there so we took the long way via Hood River and ended up at Timberline Lodge Saturday afternoon. We had been planning on camping at the Alpine campground which was closed (likely due to snow), so we had to camp down lower at the Trillium Lake sno-park beside a group of fathers and sons outfitted for a massive hunting adventure (guns, boats, bow and arrows, smoker, the works!)

All our research pointed to a midnight departure but that didn’t really jive with our plan to ski down in spring conditions so we set our alarms for 2 am, packed up our camp site as the party kids were going to bed, and headed back to Timberline. After registering at the climbers cave we headed up the climbers route out of Timberline Lodge at 3:15 am. It was super windy the whole time but clear skies. Kinda eerie with no moon and a ton of snow cats ripping around working on the terrain park. After a couple thousand feet of vertical Shawn was having a tough time since he didn’t have ski crampons so we decided to put our skis on our back and boot it instead. Amazing how much easier skinning is!

When we got up to Hogsback it looked like everyone was headed climbers left, we decided to break against convention and took climbers right around and above the bergschrund, which I believe is the Pearly Gates. It was a fun route!

We topped out around 10 am and napped for a few hours. Things didn’t really soften up top so we climbed down 100 feet of the “old chutes” before putting our skis on and suffered back down some icy snow to just above Crater Rim which is where the skiing got good.

Looks like we were the only fools to carry our skis all the way up. We did see a lot of skiers on the way down. I’m guessing they went up to Crater Rim and then turned around. The skiing was awesome down from Crater Rim through Timberline. We had a blast!

Now if in January when JJ and I skied at the Timberline resort you had told me I’d summit Mount Hood this year, I would have said you were crazy! Glad to see there are still some surprises left.

Next rainy day I’ll need to dig up the helmet came footage and string it together.

More:

• My photos
• Shawn’s photos
• Crazy helicopter crash on Mount Hood
• Summit Post details

Personal Gear

Internal frame back pack – 50 Liter (3100 cu in.) minimum: Osprey Variant 52.
This seemed to be the clear backpack to get. A bunch of my friends have it. I like that it has a pocket on the front for crampons, attachment for ice axe, light weight, and could handle 5 days of gear. My only complaint is that the side pockets aren’t big enough for a Nalgene. (Backcountry, Amazon, REI)

Sleeping Bag – down or synthetic, 15º F to 20º F minimum: 1997 MEC Swan. I opted to go with my ancient MEC Swan down sleeping bag that was good to -20′c. Likely a little heavier than what Shawn recently bought, the Marmot Helium sleeping bag. Also, Martin’s choice (owner of Pro Guiding).

Compression Sack – for sleeping bag: no-name old one. Went with my old one from 1997. Next time I’ll get a lighter weight water proof one.

Sleeping Pad – closed cell foam or self inflating: Z-lite. Andre, Shawn and Martin all recommended coupling the Neoair with a Z-lite. Lightweight and warm. I think the combo worked well. Out of the three of us, I was never cold. However, the Z-lite is pretty bulky. I had a regular sized one, next time I might cut a bit off of it to lighten it up.

Headlamp – lightweight LED recommended: a Black Diamond one. Just grabbed my Black Diamond one. Nothing fancy.

Water Bottles – 1 or 2 liters, wide mouth: Two Nalgenes. Two Nalgenes wasn’t really necessary, one would have sufficed since it was warm enough to put snow in your Nalgene and have your water melt it. Nalgene’s were also good for putting hot water in at night to warm up.

Bowl or Cup – Cheap plastic bowl. I wish I had Dave’s Fozzils ThinkFLAT bowl and Guyot Designs Squishy Cup.

Utensils – spoon and fork. I think a spoon would have been just fine. Never used the fork!

Small Knife – Gerber Multi-tool. My older model is a little heavy, but got the job done.

Sunglasses – adequate for snow travel: Julbo Dolgan. Julbo appears to be the leader in glacier glasses and I went with the cheapest pair. The regular size fit okay. Two problems though, they slipped a little and would require pushing up. When they slipped down a little you could see your eyeball. Wasn’t a fan of that.

Goggles – left them at the car.

Sunscreen – SPF >25, waterproof: Sex Wax Sunscreen. Way too zinky!

Lip Balm – SPF 15+: Nothing special

Lighter: Nothing special

Personal Toiletries – toothbrush, toothpaste, waterless hand cleaner, etc.: Nothing special. A tiny waterless hand cleaner proved to be plenty.

Small Personal 1st aid kit – blister repair (Compeed™), aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.: Nothing special. Didn’t use any of it, which was a good thing!

Ski Gear

Skis – Alpine Touring: Dynafit Manaslus. Love em!

Ski Boots – Alpine Touring – no downhill boots: Dynafit Titan. Love em!

Ski Poles – telescopic poles work well, but not required. My regular poles, Swix Mach CT-1 worked fine (though I recently broke a tip in my Dynafit binding). When I’m ready I’ll pick up a pair of Black Diamond Traverse ski poles and a Black Diamond Whippet for self arrest.

Climbing Skins – I like the custom fit Dynafit Speedskin.

Ski Crampons – THESE ARE REQUIRED! I couldn’t find any Dynafit brand crampons but found a place that makes em, B&D Ski Gear.

Ski Brakes or Removable Ski Leashes: Brakes on my Dynafit bindings

Safety Gear

Transceiver – single frequency, 457 kHz only: Pieps DSP. My trustee transceiver.

Shovel – compact, lightweight, metal blade preferred: Black Diamond Transfer 3. Happy with mine. Though Dave’s has an emergency sled kit built into his K2 shovel.

Probe – dedicated probe only, ski poles do not suffice: Black Diamond Guide Probe.

Technical Gear

Ice Axe – 55-70 cm length, lightweight: Black Diamond Raven Pro. Went with a 50 cm length. Sounds like that’s the length that ski mountaineers prefer since it is on your back most of the time and when you pull it out it is only for really steep stuff.

Boot Crampons: Black Diamond Sabertooth Pro. Recommended by Andre.

Anti-Ball plates – for crampons: n/a. Built into my crampons.

Climbing Harness – lightweight, BD Alpine Bod style (no padding): Black Diamond Couloir. Super light weight harness built for ski mountaineering.

2 Locking Biners – (1) large HMS style and (1) reg. locker. Got some Black Diamond ones.

3 Non-locking Biners – any style, we recommend wire gates. Got some Black Diamond ones.

2 Cordelettes – 6 mm diameter, 6 meter lengths, untied. Just had Martin cut me some rope at his shop.

1 Sewn Sling – nylon or spectra, double-length. Black Diamond Sewn Runner.. I had a double length. Next time I’ll take a single length as well.

2 Ice Screws – 13cm and 16cm. Black Diamond Turbo Ice Screws. Went with the cheaper Turbo. Sounds like the Express ones are primarily for ice climbers.

Optional Items

*We highly recommend these items, but do not require them to participate.

Camera and Film – we’d like some shots for the PGS website! Who uses film? Took my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 waterproof camera. I like that I can throw in my pocket or snow and not have to worry about it. It drives me nuts that I constantly have to wipe the lens before shooting.

Ear Plugs – essential for sound sleep: essential. Everyone snores. The wind howls. The rain, rains.

Thermos- vacuum type: didn’t bring. I don’t drink coffee.

Note Pad and Pencil – Rite-in-the-rain brand waterproof notebook works: got a small one though it seems for tour planning the larger size would be preferable. The list neglected a pen, I brought my Fisher Space Pen. Next time a pencil would be nice since I’d rather write on my map with a pencil.

Compass – adjustable declination a must: Got a Brunton Classic. But I think I need one with a mirro. And I couldn’t figure out how to adjust the declination. I have my eye on the Suunto MC-2G Global Compass.

Altimeter – Suunto watch works well: Found a used Suunto Core on Craigslist. The watch has a learning core and I was bummed at how easily the glass scratched.

Map Case – large zip-loc will suffice: went the large zip-loc route.

Maps – contact guiding office for appropriate quadrangles: got the USGS one not the Green Trails.

Collapsible Water Canteen – good for storing snowmelt at camp: bought a MSR Hydromedary Hydration Bag one but left it in the car.

Warm Socks – to sleep in – had three pairs of ski socks. Glad I had multiple pairs since I sweat a lot!

Lightweight Bivy/Tarp – handy with a floorless tent: didn’t need.

Foot Powder: don’t bring this.

Group Gear Provided By PGS

*Please contact the guiding office if you prefer to bring your own gear in place of any of our group gear.

Tents: Dave and I camped in a MSR Hoop which I really liked because it had two vestibules which is a nice feature when two people have a lot of gear and saves you crawling over the other to go to the bathroom.

Stoves: Dave and I had a JetBoil modified to include a hoop so you could hang it from the top of the tent. It worked great! Seemed better than the MSR Reactor that Shawn and Becky used.

Cooking Pots: Incorporated with stove.

Fuel: 3 oz per person per day.

Ropes: 40 m half rope.

Group 1st Aid Kit: thankfully it never came out.

Base Layer Clothes

1 Bottom – midweight or lightweight: Patagonia Capilene

Non-Cotton Underwear – All sites pointed to ExOfficio Men’s Give-N-Go Boxer Brief as being the top choice, and it turned out to work great!

1 or 2 Tops – midweight or lightweight: Patagonia Capilene

Sock Liners – 2 or 3 pair: Got some silk liners from REI.

Ski Socks – 2 pair: My favorites are Bridgedale’s ski sock.

Mid Layer Clothes

Windshirt, Soft Shell, Fleece – only one of these is necessary: A North Face Summit Series soft shell. Oddly I can’t track it down online.

Schoeller™ type pants – soft shell: Apparently the pant to get is OR’s Trailbreaker pant but they were hard to track down so I opted for the Marmot Scree which got the job done.

Outwear Clothes

Lightweight Waterproof/Breathable Jacket: I thought I could just use my old North Face ski shell but was told it would be way too much weight so I got the OR Helium Jacket one of the lightest jackets you can buy, plus it packs down really small.

Lightweight Waterproof/Breathable Pants – may be omitted w/ Schoeller™ type pants: Again, my favorite Flylow Stash pants would be too heavy so I got a pair of OR Rampart Pants which are full zip making it easy to put on with ski boots or crampons and waterproof for when it was raining.

Warm Hat – should cover ears. I’ve apparently lost my toque so I picked up a OR Wintertrek Hat. Fit well. Don’t know what people on Amazon are complaining about!

Sun Hat – baseball type or visor. Brought a white Livestrong super light hat.

Lightweight Gloves. Bought a pair of OR Stormtracker Gloves. Works great if you don’t use em in the rain or wet snow as they’re not very waterproof.

Ski Gloves: I’ve got a pair of fancy Patagonia ski gloves that rock, though smell a little :).

Down or Synthetic Jacket: I took my old North Face Redpoint Jacket.

What Was I Missing?

Dave recommended picking up a snow picket, a second sling, cheap GPS, satellite phone or radio (Dave likes radios because you can communicate with the rescue crew though you might not always be in range).

Where’d I Shop?

While I had a good amount of the gear, I still had to pick up a ton of gear at Pro Guiding in North Bend. It was great to talk to Martin the owner and walk through buying the gear. Odds and ends I picked up at Amazon and REI. I was also able to grab some pricey items used on Craigslist (ice axe, backpack and watch).

We summited Mount Baker!

And not the ski resort, we summited the volcano. All 10,781 feet of it this past Saturday, June 4th.

The adventure began in February when Shawn, Becky and I all realized we were interested in summiting Rainier. For me, I’ve been interested in summiting Rainier for years but would always decide too late in the year to tackle it. Turns out that starting to plan in February is pretty late, but not too late. After pulling together all the options to climb Rainier we decided to invest in learning how to summit ourselves which would likely mean postponing a Rainier summit to 2012.

To learn how to summit Rainier we called Martin Volken at Pro Guiding North Bend and had him put together a ski mountaineering course for us. Our classroom turned out to be Mount Baker. Our instructor & guide, Dave Jordan.

After hours of planning and preparation this past Tuesday we were packed and ready to go when we got a call from Dave wondering if we’d seen the forecast. For our five day trip we were facing two days of rain and three days of sun. Unfortunately we couldn’t push our trip back for better weather because of Shawn’s work plans so off it was off to Bellingham to crash at Becky’s friend’s place.

Day 1 – Bellingham sleepover to camping at Mirkwood

Alarm went off at 6:30 am, we loaded up the super cruiser [pic] and headed to Glacier to meet our guide, Dave, at the US Forest Service Station in Glacier. After quick intros, a last pit stop at a real bathroom before blug bagging it, we had Dave explode his pack and walk us through everything he was taking. Turns out from a gear perspective we were in good shape but from a food perspective Shawn and I had way too much food, Becky on the other hand had planned perfectly [pic]. I ended up ditching a bunch of food but in the end I still had way too much :).

Once loaded up [pic] we headed east on Mt. Baker Highway 542 and took a left on Glacier Creek Road #39. We traveled about 7 miles before hitting snow on the road. After gearing up [pic] we left the cars behind and skinned (skinning is uphill travel on skis) up the road [pic] to the trail head.

From the trail head we took the Heliotrope trail to Mirkwood which took three or four hours. Parts of the trail were nice and mellow [pic], other parts were tricky because you had to cross a stream on skis [pic] and others because it was steep and challenging on a split board [pic].

As this was my first time skiing with a large heavily loaded pack I was pleasantly surprised to find it easier than hiking with an equally weighted pack.

At Mirkwood we setup what would be our camp for two nights [pic]. As this was my first time winter camping we learned to shovel a flat platform, stomp it out with your skis on to compress the snow, and then once you have your tents up to dig out vestibules so you can sit in your tent and easily put your boots on. We also learned that when our guide winter camps he builds a snow cave with a tarp and bivy. Turns out to be a much lighter and roomier setup, though requires more shoveling. We’ll have to give it a go next time.

Day 2 – Waiting out rain, a little training

It rained throughout the night and when we awoke it was sadly still raining. So much for an early morning departure to go skin over to the Mazama Col navigating our way through the Roosevelt Glacier. Fortunately I brought my iPhone and had downloaded a couple books so I spent the day reading Born to Run. Around 3 in the afternoon Shawn was getting antsy so we geared up and spent an hour or two learning how to setup anchors and self rappel [pic]. It was great to get out of the tent but we were all a little nervous about getting wet and not being able to dry our gear out. Sure enough, when we got back to the tent Becky found that her sleeping bag had gotten wet while were gone as we had to collapse our tents since our poles and ice axes had staked it up but we needed them for our side trip. For future reference, put your sleeping bag in your garbage bag while you’re gone for the day so it doesn’t get wet.

After dinner we crammed the four of us into our two person tent [pic] and learned how to read a map, use our compass and write out a tour plan. Turns out the cheap Brunton Classic Compass I bought isn’t going to cut out. I think I’m going to upgrade to a Suunto MC-2G Global Compass.

Day 3 – Move camp to Heliotrope Ridge, training

We woke up to no more rain and cloud cover that was on its way out. We were even treated to our first view of Baker [pic] as we tore up camp [pic].

We had to gain 2100 vertical feet over two kilometers to Heliotrope Ridge which took us a couple hours. The views were incredible.

At Heliotrope Ridge we were the only ones camping on Friday night so we got to pick an awesome spot nestled in the ridge [pic]. Saturday night, the place was packed with tents everywhere.

After setting up camp we practiced our self arrests, then self rappelled off a small cornice, and learned to setup a 3-1 haul system. After a few hours playing in the sun and snow [pic] we were burnt out and starving.

Day 4 – Summit day

We woke up around 4 am for our 6 am departure. Which wasn’t a problem since we’d been waking up around 4 am each day with the sun. At 6 am the snow was very firm so we broke out our ski crampons for the first time on the trip and started moving [pic]. It was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky, chilly, but I was able to wear just a long underwear top.

Around 9000 feet Becky decided to continue on foot instead of skinning as it was getting steep and technical. She roped up with Dave and Shawn and I continued skinning. Dave had us go off on our own but after a few hundred vertical feet we got ourselves onto a pretty steep slope and were struggling to get onto the ridge line so he tossed me down a rope to ensure if I had a misstep I wasn’t going for a ride. Once we all gained the ridge I decided that the consequences of a misstep were pretty high, so I put my skis on my pack, crampons on my boots (as did Shawn [pic]) and roped up with everyone else and we booted it up the thousand or so feet to the peak. But once you hit the peak you still have a haul until the true summit [pic] at 10,781 feet :).

We summited at 12:16. We had predicted it would take us 4.5 hours of travel so we must have taken a few breaks along the way.

The views from the summit were incredible! You could see the San Juans, Rainier and Vancouver.

We didn’t stay on the summit for long, with crazy winds we quickly ducked by down, ate lunch, boiled water and waited for the snow to soften. A little after one we headed down on skis. The descent off the top is definitely a no fall situation. Given that I had fallen in Alaska I was taking any chances and skied with an ice axe in one hand until we got down to 9000 feet and could really tear it up. Since we were summiting on Saturday and had an early start we were some of the first people down on skis which meant the conditions were excellent [pic].

Back at camp were high as a kite.

Sadly we had no beers to celebrate. Instead we drank snow melt and watched some folks from Turns All Year tear up the Coleman Headwall. We also watched a bunch of hikers struggling up and down (skiing is so much faster.)

Day 5 – Heading home

Sadly all good things must come to an end! After “sleeping in” (okay, not really) we had breakfast, tore up camp, waited until 10 when the snow had warmed up a bit, and then tore it up [pic]. Skiing with a 50lbs pack was challenging, but still a blast. Instead of going back the way we came we followed an old avalanche path to skip skiing through the forest. Along this path we saw a fresh slide. Likely from Saturday afternoon. And sure enough when we returned to the Glacier forest station there was a warning about increased avi danger this weekend [pic].

Skiing the old avi debris was challenging to ski but likely much easier for Becky than fighting through the forest.

Once in Glacier we headed to the nearest bar for burgers, which was closed! But then hit up Slide Mountain.

Conclusion

What an awesome trip! Can’t wait for the next adventure :). Maybe Shuksan, Adam’s, Helen’s or Hood. Then Rainier next year.

Random

• Stove to get seems to be the Jet Boil.
• A tent with two vestibules is really nice. I liked the MSR Hoop tent that Pro Guiding lent us.
• Two Nalgene’s wasn’t really necessary, one would have sufficed since it was warm enough to put snow in your Nalgene and have your water melt it.
• For wet gear, boil some water in your Nalgene and put the warm Nalgene and wet clothes in your sleeping bag.
• I was jealous of Dave’s Fozzils bowl
• Guide services aren’t allowed to lead ski trips on Rainier.

So after months of eyeing them online I got a pair of Flylow Stash Pants in Charcoal, size medium, from Chelsea for Christmas.

After a few months of use inbound, two heli trips, two backcountry trips here’s my quick review…

• Looks: Initially I was worried they were too baggy and was going to send them back but now, I think I was just used to skinny ski pants :).
• Sizing: I wear a 33W 30L Levi’s and I find the waist on them just a wee bit tight even with the waist adjusters let out all the way. Wish I could have tried out a pair of larges to compare…
• Functionality: I love the cargo pockets and cross venting. In windy conditions they’ve held up great. In wet conditions I haven’t been wet.
• Wear and tear: so far so good though there are a few small tears on the cuffs. Perhaps it’d be better if they wrapped the tougher material all the way around instead of just putting it on the inside of the leg.

We got up to Snoqualmie around 9:30 and had been planning to hit Pineapple Basin but Summit West was looking good so we geared up and planned to lap it a few times until security came along and told us we couldn’t skin up even though we saw others coming down Wildside. So back to plan A – we drove over to the top Alpental parking lot and hit the trail around 10:15.

There was a skin track up to the little lake so we followed that. Before the lake there was a fork in the track, we took the right fork to the lake. That turned out to be a mistake as we had to break trail a few hundred vertical feet until we found an old skin track up. What we should have done was take the left at the fork which would have lead to the skin track.

Close to the top we started to see a good number of people coming down. They couldn’t all have skinned up before us? No… We didn’t realize that you could hit Pineapple Pass by traversing off the top of Alpental . With sweat pouring off of us we heard from some coming down that it is only a 5-10 minute traverse over and you don’t need to trek out, there’s a ski out if you don’t ski too low.

We didn’t end up going to the top of Pineapple Pass, instead we went up to the ridge on looker’s left as you go towards the pass and then ripped down. Up top we enjoyed the 12″ of new, down low it got very wet and heavy and we set off a few sloughs in the steeper sections. Also, Martin’s backcountry guide book warns “be aware of the smaller cliff drop-offs—which are characteristic of the whole Denny Mountain north slope.” We were made aware and will be more careful coming down next time.

Now for years I’ve been hearing people rave about Alpental and I haven’t really understood why, but now that I’ve seen just how far and how much terrain you can get to I see what the fuss is about. Might just have to get a season’s pass for next year!

Learnings this time breaking trail is hard work, much easier to find someone else’s old skin track and I really need to bring a bag lunch instead of eating Cliff Bars and I now understand the Alpental backcountry map much better (there is so much terrain we haven’t skied!).

Also, this trip was a lot more fun than Kendall Stump last week…

Check out all my photos.

We parked at Summit West and headed under the highway to get started. In the forest before the clearcut we encountered pretty variable conditions. At times it’d be pretty firm/icy at others you’d be up to your waist in heavy wet snow. Moving the forest was pretty challenging, the trees were thick and we had a hard time getting into a rhythm.

Once we got above the forest into the clear cut we found it tough going for a few hundred more vertical feet until we fortunately stumbled upon a clear section. We switchbacked up through that up to 4800′ (according to Sam’s watch). Having never been up Kendell and in pretty bad visibility we don’t know if we got to the top or not.

The first 200′ vertical feet of distinct was pretty firm. Reminded me of the Chugach a couple weeks ago! But then we got into heavy spring snow which was pretty fun. Once we got back into the thick trees it got pretty challenging again.

We did make the mistake of not going skiers right enough on the descent and ended up at exit 53 instead of 52 so we had to hike back to Summit West. The most dangerous part of the trip was the walk along I-90! :) Next time we’ll park at exit 53.

The whole time it was lightly snowing, at times windy, low visibility.

More photos…

Here are our options as I understand them:

• Guided trip with one of the big guide companies RMI, AAI, IMG
  • 3-4 days
  • ~$1000
  • Notes: only a few dates left with each company, differences between companies not clear, supposedly if you live in Seattle you should really find a guide
• Guided trip with a smaller outfit like Northwest Mountain School
  • 5 days
  • $2000
• Climb For Clean Air (really RMI)
  • 3 days
  • Fundraise ~$4000
• Learn how to mountaineer
  • BOEAlps
    • 14 lectures, 12 outings then arrange your own trip
    • $300
    • Notes: their basic climbing class has already started :(
  • Washington Alpine Club‘s Basic Climbing Class ($325)
  • Bushwhacker Climbing Club‘s Basic Glacier Climbing Course
  • Mountaineers
  • Cascade Glacier School (free)
• Find someone to take us up
  • How!? This is the preferred option but unclear how to find someone to take a few newbies up.

Seattle Times has an article about this too, The lowdown on mountain guides (and a few good tips).

Four who climbed Rainier: Tips from first-timers.