Conditions Report - January 26 2011

NORTHWEST:

--Looks like a large part of road the has been washed out on the Mountain Loop Highway, and is down to a one-way road. Click here for more info.

--What's up with this warm weather? Saturday brought some nice sunshine to the PNW -- What did you do? One person went to Erie this weekend. Another party did Dragontail but woke up to sunny conditions Sunday. Yet another party's climbing excitement was replaced by skiing excitement as they made a decent of Leuthold Couloir on Mt. Hood. 

--Forecasts are in the high 30s and low 40's in the Baker area this week. 

--Forecast for the West Slope of the Cascades.

--Forecast for the East Slope of the Cascades.

--Webcam for Leavenworth and the Stuart Range.

--Forecast for Mount Rainier.-- Route and Conditions Report from Mt. Baker Rangers: Mount Baker Climbing Blog.

--Forest Service Road Report for Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

--Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams conditions and recreation report.

--Webcams for Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, Leavenworth.

--An up-to-date ski and snow report for the Northwest may be found here.

--Up-to-date Pacific Northwest ice conditions may be found here.

RED ROCK CANYON:

--What's the road like to Black Velvet? The last comment on the page is note worthy. Click here. The last time that road was graded was in 1999.

--The scenic loop drive now closes at 5pm. See this thread and the BLM site for more information.

--Forecast and average temperatures for Red Rock Canyon.

--Webcam for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

--The late exit and overnight permit number for Red Rock Canyon is 702-515-5050. If there is any chance that you will be inside the park after closing, be sure to call this number so that you don't get a ticket.

--The entrance to the scenic drive had a parking area for those who wanted to carpool up until approximately April of 2009. That lot has now become employee parking and people who want to carpool are required to park at the lot outside the Scenic Drive exit.

--The scenic drive currently opens its gates at 6 in the morning.

JOSHUA TREE:


--Forecast and average temperatures for Joshua Tree National Park.

--Webcam for Joshua Tree National Park.

-- As winter use in Joshua Tree is growing, camping can be difficult at times.  It is not a bad idea to come with a back-up plan if the park campgrounds are full.  Here are the NPS Campground Details. Some people like to stay at the rural campground often referred to as "The Pit."  And lastly, there is a campground available at Joshua Tree Lake.

--The Joshua Tree entrance fee is currently $15 per vehicle.  Your receipt will give you access to the park for seven days after its initial purchase.  Rangers check this receipt at each of the major access points going in and out.  Annual passes are available for $30.

--Here is a link to a website dedicated to the events surrounding Joshua Tree National Park's 75th anniversary in 2011.  Check it out for up-to-date news on the park and the things going on to celebrate this historic park "birthday."

SIERRA:

--For up-to-date avalanche and weather reports in the Eastern Sierra, click here. Avy conditions are still considerable in some areas.

--Webcams for Bishop, June Lake, Mammoth Mountain, Mono Lake, Tioga Pass.

--Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are now required seven days per week when the cables are up. This is an interim measure to increase safety along the cables while the park develops a long-term plan to manage use on the Half Dome Trail.  A maximum of 400 permits will be issued each of these days (300 of these permits are available to day hikers).  To read more, click here.

ALASKA RANGE:

--Conditions in the range are not currently available.  But we are taking reservations for both Alaska Range Ascents and Denali trips.  To learn more, click here.  We will begin regular conditions reports in the Alaska Range in late April.

ALPS:


--Chamonix and Mont Blanc Regional Forecasts may be found here.

--Webcams for Chamonix Valley, Zermatt and the Matterhorn.

Vegas

Check out a post I put together for the Mountain Hardwear blog on my trip to Vegas. I also edited a video that you can find there.

http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Blog-Post/BlogPost,default,pg.html?bpid=2011_1_14_MattWilder_RedRocks

Retrievable Fixed Line

Canyoneering tricks are often extremely applicable to rock and alpine climbing. The little trick featured in this video could easily be used by a party setting up a toprope on a sketchy edge or -- as in the video -- by a party rigging a rappel on a weird lip.

This technique is most applicable with a larger group that needs a fixed line. With a small group, the first climber could just belay the second climber down to him after building the anchor.

The crux of this trick is played out in the video very quickly. Watch closely at the 1:50 second mark.



I'm not sure that I'm all that excited about the ratty sling and the quicklink shown in the video. Before committing to anything, it's really important to make sure that your anchor is completely solid.

In review, the steps are as follows:

1. Belayer belays climber out to edge.
2. Climber at edge builds an anchor and fixes the line.
3. The climber at the top converts the line by running it through the quicklink and clipping a carabiner to a clove-hitch on the backside. This could also be done by running the rope around a tree or a boulder. If you do it through a tree or a boulder, be sure that there isn't too much friction and that the line could still be retrieved.
4. Once the line is fixed on both ends, a climber could clip in with a sling to a carabiner to descend or the climber could put a friction hitch on the rope. A friction hitch would provide a higher level of security.
5. Only one person should move on the fixed line at once.
6. The last person will bring down the backside of the fixed line, the end that is not running through the quicklink.
7. Once the rope is released from the anchor, it will be able to be easily pulled down.

--Jason D. Martin

Mazama Bowl Snow Pit

Well here it is...a snow pit featuring the infamous 'MLK crust'. As of January 19th, the crust has yet to freeze solid, and with the recent and forecasted warm temperatures, its unlikely to do so any time soon.

Stability tests performed on Sunday, Jan. 25:
Alta Vista, Aspect 90o; Slope 30o; evel 5800'.


ETCX
CTH(22) @ 30cm Q3
STM @ 10cm Q3


Also, there were 4 to 5 loose snow slides, (sluffs), off the south face of Panorama Point. These point releases resulted from the intense sun melting and weakening the top layer of snow and occurred on  Saturday, Jan 22 around 'high noon'.


Tuesday and Wednesday (1/25 and 1/26) should be mostly sunny and warm, so come on up to Paradise and enjoy some spring skiing in January!

The Ethics of Leaving Fixed Ropes, Caches, and Draws

The ethics of leaving gear in the mountains or at the crag is complex. Some might consider anything left behind anywhere, akin to abandoning gear. Indeed, some National Parks and the Bureau of Land Management identify any gear left behind for any reason at all as abandoned.

So under these draconian policies, if you leave a tent up on a mountain, hike down to your car to do a resupply, and then bring your food back up, a ranger could decide that you've abandoned your tent. And while resupplying is not a common tactic, it definitely happens to some extent in every mountain range in the country.

There are three tactics that climbers regularly employ that require them to leave equipment unattended for -- potentially -- extended periods of time. These include fixed ropes, caches, and fixed draws. And unfortunately, not every climber is educated on the ethics of these issues, so sometimes gear is stolen.

Aid climbers commonly fix lines on big walls. They will climb as high as they can, fix ropes and then rappel to the ground and return to camp. Their ropes will remain fixed in position. The following day, they will climb up the rope with mechanical ascenders to reattain their high point. These lines are regularly unattended at night and sometimes during the day.  Obviously, these climbers are trusting that the equipment will not only be there when they return, but also that nobody will have messed with it creating a dangerous situation.

Mountaineers fix lines on steep and exposed snow or ice slopes. These types of ropes tend to be set-up by guides or by large expeditions that need to get a lot of people through a dangerous section quickly. Fixed ropes in a mountaineering setting are almost always left on popular trade routes that require them. However, occasionally a person will leave a fixed line on a less popular route to help facilitate quick movement early in the morning.

A Fixed Hand-Line Employed by Guides to Assist Beginners on Exposed Terrain

Photo by Jason Martin

There are numerous places throughout the country where fixed lines have been left permanently to help facilitate safe movement. Most of the areas where such ropes have been left don't provide many other alternatives.  Some of these are employed on sketchy rock sections, but others are used to bypass steep mud

Occasionally, large groups will set short fixed lines at cragging areas to help beginners safely move up and down a sketchy section. Unlike the other examples, these lines are unlikely to ever be left unattended for more than a couple of hours.

Obviously in every example, the loss of a fixed line could result in a dangerous situation. It's pretty unlikely that somebody straight-out abandoned a rope in decent shape that is clearly tied off for a reason...

In many mountaineering and expeditionary settings, a food or gear cache is an important part of a team's strategy. Commonly these cache's are buried in the snow and marked with wands or an avalanche probe. If such a cache were to disappear, it could mean the end of an expedition...it could also be very dangerous for those who were expecting it to be in place.

It is the responsibility of those who employ the use of fixed lines and caches to clean them up when they are done. If they don't, this creates a negative impression about climbers with land managers and the public. If land managers know who abandoned a cache (in a place like Denali National Park), they will impose a fine.  Additionally, climbers who permanently leave these types of things behind provide a better argument for the ethically challenged to steal your cache or your fixed line. 

A Climber Confronts the Thief Responsible for Stealing Draws Off His Route in Smith Rock State Park
Photo by Ian Caldwell

Many high-end climbers (5.11-5.15 climbers) regularly employ the use of fixed draws on their projects.  In other words, they leave draws fixed on hard bolted sport climbs so that they can easily come back in order to continue working on the ascent of their routes.  Many sport climbers will come back to the same climb over and over again, sometimes logging weeks or even months, working to successfully complete their climbs.

This technique of "working" a climb used to be looked-down upon, but has become the norm for people trying to climb very difficult routes. The technically hardest rock climbs in the world are now regularly being climbed this way.

The issue with this technique is that it is now common for climbing draws to be almost permanently left on hard climbs. There are two problems with this. First, some land managers don't like the nearly permanent installation of these draws. And second, the fact that these draws have been left behind provides a major temptation to individuals who don't know any better and for thieves.

In the Winter of 2010, three climbers confronted an individual who was systematically stripping draws off of hard climbs at Smith Rock State Park. Instead of physically attacking the individual for stealing draws, the climbers kept level heads and educated the individual about what he was doing and how it affected them. Luckily for the climbing community, these climbers elected to film the confrontation for educational purposes. A video of the incident can be seen below:


Picnic Lunch Wall Draw Thief from Ian Caldwell on Vimeo.

There are many climbers out there who don't like the fact that there are bolts in the rock. And there are many climbers out there who really don't like the fact the bolts have draws permanently affixed to them.  But when all is said and done, regardless of your beliefs about this issue, if you know that the draws have been set to assist in a climber's ascent, then taking them is stealing.

There is controversy around each of these three topics.  But fixed lines, caches and fixed draws are an important part of many climbers experiences and it is important to respect those who choose to employ such tactics as long as they do it in a way that is in line with a local climbing area's ethics.

--Jason D. Martin

January and February Climbing Events

-- Jan 27 -- Seattle, WA -- Altitude Illness Seminar 

-- Jan 27 -- Bellingham, WA -- The Biology and Ecology of Winter Tracking: Wolverine Behavior and Track Identification. For more information about this event, please contact Dave Moskowitz by phone 425-891-4745 or email davem@wildernessawareness.org. 

-- Jan 29 -- Truckee, CA --  Lost Trail Lodge Ice Climbing

-- Feb 4 -- Munising, Michigan -- Michigan Ice Fest

-- Feb 5 -- Mammoth, CA -- (Ski Mountaineering) Mammoth Chase  

-- Feb 12-13 -- Alpental, WA -- VertFest sponsored by OR

-- Feb 12 -- Seattle, WA -- Northwest Collegiate Climbing Challenge (UW)

-- Feb 18 - 21-- Cody, WY -- 13th Annual "Waterfall Ice" Fest

-- Feb 26 -- Seattle, WA -- AAC Annual Benefit and Awards Dinner

FOR MARCH: Red Rock Rendezvous....Don't forget that there is a lot going on in Las Vegas in mid to late March. Following is a quick breakdown of everything that is happening:

• March 12-15 -- Learn to Lead: An Introduction to Traditional Rock Leadership
• March 12-14 -- AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course
• March 14-17 -- Basic Rock Camp
• March 15-16 -- AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Exam 
• March 17      -- Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour in Las Vegas
• March 18-20 -- Red Rock Rendezvous
• March 21-24 -- Basic Rock Camp
• March 22-25 -- Learn to Lead: An Introduction to Traditional Rock Leadership

 

Weekend Warrior - Videos to get you STOKED!!!

Well, this weekend warrior's videos will bring you back to the 80's.  Pull your neon track suits, your tights and your high-tops out of the back of the closet and dance along to the following videos...



The next one will be sure to get you moving!



Grab those music tapes, dust them off and ski this weekend to your favorite oldies- but- goodies! I know exactly where my Paula Abdul tape is, now I just have to find it...

-Katy Pfannenstein
Program Coordinator