(Part 3) Top products from r/Mountaineering

The Mountaineers, like you already mentioned, may be your best bet. Washington Alpine Club is another option, though they are also passed the registration period for classes this year. You could certainly continue climbing and gaining experience on things you feel comfortable on, lots of snow climbing around here doesn't require glacier travel or even much experience, just use of ice axe/crampons and a love for long walks. Examples include Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens in early season, and basically anything in the Washington Scrambles book (highly recommended) during early season.

You could also try posting over at Cascade Climbers for partners - the only thing I recommend is being very upfront about your level of experience (or lack thereof). If you overstate your experience, trust me, your partner will know, and they'll likely decline to climb with you again.

My recommendation is that you should get your own systems dialed before asking for partners/team. You mention you have steep snow (and ice?) experience? I'm going to assume you don't have much glacier travel or crevasse rescue experience, and likely no alpine rock experience either. Lacking these skills, what you are asking for is essentially a free guide service, or someone to teach you all the technical stuff while assuming all the risk.

That said, my recommendation is to actually hire a guide for a 'skill session.' You can often find one, two, or three day crevasse rescue courses, and then supplement that hands-on knowledge with some old fashioned book reading, as well as tons of practice on your own time. Once you get everything dialed, then post on Cascade Climbers, and I bet you'll have good luck with someone willing to take you out.

My personal recommendation if you are new to mountaineering you will enjoy and get more out of a trip out in the Rockies. More chances for route finding opportunities and a more gradual transition into snow travel and the ability to do more mountains in the same amount of time!. I've done Shasta, Rainier, Glacier NP, Grand Teton NP, and CO 14ers for a frame of reference. You could

1.) Pick up the bible of moutaineering in Glacier NP and pick as many mountains and routes as your heart desires. MAP One itinerary: fly into Kalispell, drive into Glacier NP (the best NP imo) to Logan Pass and start with one of the best mountain vistas I've ever witnessed on Reynolds Mountain the first day, there's so many to choose from but Chief Mountain for the 2nd day, Allen and/or Wynn the 3rd, big day including Iceberg Peak, Ahern and Swiftcurrent for the fourth.

2.) MAP Fly into Colorado Springs, drive out to Lake City and do Uncompaghre and Wetterhorn the first day; Red Cloud, Sunshine, and Handies the second day; Ellingwood, Blanca and optional Little Bear the third day and; the Crestone Peak and Needle the fourth day with a not too far drive back to Colorado Springs.


I would choose the second one because I would save GNP for a trip when you have more time.

You’re probably looking at high winds at best and white out at worst if it turns.

As soon as you leave Muir you’re in glacial terrain. The guides keep a trade route pretty well established throughout the summer and that’s what makes it easy for people to just run up behind them but their last runs usually end before Oct so their routes are probably out by now. The route can change frequently so having route finding skills is a must unless you piggy-back some climbers that know what they’re doing (which again, I don’t recommend). There’s a reason Rainier is a training ground for US climbers. It’s a long day, can get technical, and I’ve seen people who thought they were in good shape turn around before DC. I think climbers that grow up in the Swiss alps would think Rainier is pretty mild but I wouldn’t discount it. You can drive to the visitor center but getting to Muir is like 5k ft of hiking itself, most people need 2 days to summit.

If you’re serious about climbing it I’d recommend getting this guide and asking yourself if it’s within your skill set. I’d also recommend calling RMI or IMG and see if they’re willing to share route info with you. Gonna need a solo permit too so look into that if going solo.

Mount Rainier Climbing Guide 3E: A Climbing Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/159485842X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KtnXDbKC35YQY

Did the mountaineers route from Chamonix to Zermatt last year, followed by a successful Mt Blanc summit. I don't see any reason why doing it in the Zermatt -> Chamonix direction would be a problem.

We found it easier logistically to use Chamonix as a base. We were flying into Geneva which is a short bus ride away to Chamonix. We stashed our travel and some extra climbing gear in a hotel in Chamoix while we did the Haute route. Took a train back from Zermatt to Chamonix for the Mt Blanc climb. If we did it the other way, we would have left our extra gear in Zermatt and would have had to go back after the Mt Blanc climb to retrieve it. Also we had a couple extra contingency days for the Haute route, which we didn't end up needing and it was cool to spend them in Zermatt.

We mostly stuck to the route described here, you could easily do the sections in reverse:
http://cosleyhouston.com/haute-route-summer.htm

This is the definitive guide and served our unguided party of two very well. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1871890217?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

The 2018 Accidents in North American Climbing put out by the American Alpine Club goes over quickly, efficiently, and effectively protecting 4th class and low 5th class climbs.

I've roped up for an easy and comfortable 5.easy slab route in Yosemite, and I'm not ashamed to say that. From the slings left from previous rappels, other people have too.

Insert something about old and bold climbers here.

I loved 8000m: Climbing the World's Highest Mountains by Alan Hinkes. He describes his journey on each of the fourteen 8000m summits. The pictures are beautiful.

I love dromedary bags for sure and both Nalgene and platapus have large 2 L bags, but you may need something larger than that:

Coghlan's Expandable Water Carrier, 2-Gallon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EGM1UM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_F5poDb1YME14Y

That is a good shape for keeping close to your back in a pack.

Yes, it is really that great. Also get the Training for the New Alpinism Training Log.

I love Platypus and/or Nalgene soft bottles. Fill 'em when you need 'em, roll 'em up when you don't.

https://www.amazon.com/Platypus-2-Liter-Ultralight-Collapsible-Bottle/dp/B000J2KEGY/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=platypus+soft+bottle&qid=1563996588&s=gateway&sr=8-4

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https://www.amazon.com/Nalgene-Wide-Mouth-Cantene-32-Ounce/dp/B001J4NDXW/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=nalgene+soft+bottle&qid=1563996615&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Not sure of the podcast but it sounds pretty close to this story - https://www.amazon.com/Exposed-Tragedy-Triumph-Mountain-Climbing/dp/1555664598

If WA isn’t out of the question- pick up a copy of Cascade Alpine Guide far too many mixed ice and rock routes out here to narrow down to just one, but the “Beckey Bible” is a good resource to start planning a mountaineering trip to the cascades.

> I'd love to find a good Denali book.

https://www.amazon.com/Mount-McKinley-Conquest-Bradford-Washburn/dp/0810936119

I would argue that there is no pair of people more qualified to write a book on Denali than Washburn and Roberts. They are both absolute legends of the range.

I really liked Snow In the Kingdom by Ed Webster. It tells about his experiences on a few different Everest expeditions .

A good textbook would be Alpine Climbing: Techniques to Take You Higher by Cosley & Houston. It's targeted to that middle ground between pitching out a climb and going without any protection. (I'd also suggest understanding the basics of technical climbing as a pre-req, such as the climbing and anchoring books by John Long.)

If I personally wanted to protect a summer scramble, the specifics would depend on the route but I'd be thinking harness, helmet, 30-40 m half or single rope, a few 'biners, some sewn slings, and a few stoppers and small cams. (Everything listed after the rope would likely remain unused except for specific cases e.g. a rappel.)

There's a really good series of cartoon books about lightweight backpacking and mountaineering by a few guys from NOLS which really helped me adjust what I thought was "necessary".

Mountaineering

Ultralight

General Backpacking

I had a really solid mountaineer once tell me that the key to success on the mountains is camping like a champion. If you're poorly rested, poorly fed or angry with your partners because of a crappy camp setup, you're less likely to achieve your goals.

I mostly do ski mountaineering with some summer stuff thrown in for kicks (I'm in the Canadian rockies so "Summer" is relative). Typically I'll have my ski touring day pack 35L+ and my wife carries a 45L+ bag (she tends to carry but not wear more layers) on any trip where I'm based out of a base camp or hut. We'll drag our gear in on a pull sled or we'll both bring our 65 or 85L bags (depending on trip length) to camp, then ditch em.

https://www.amazon.com/Mount-Rainier-Climbing-Guide-2nd/dp/0898869560

This book was a good read about this: https://www.amazon.com/Altitude-Illness-Prevention-Treatment-Mountaineers/dp/0898866855/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505943371&sr=8-1&keywords=altitude+sickness+book
. However, this was printed quite a while ago and there wasn't much research done on AMS at that time. There still isn't much research on the topic to be brutally honest.
I was prescribed 500 mg twice a day (12 hours) if I needed it, but that was for me, and my doctor just prescribed the standard dosage amount. Basically I told him how much I needed, he determined that I didn't have any contraindications. Many people are now taking it as a prophylactic, I don't know much about that side of it since I've never actually taken any.

I'm with hypothermic2, find a doc who knows, research the guides and see how much they ask people to bring. If all else fails, descend. Descending is the only known "cure" for altitude sickness at this point.

In that same theme, I highly reccomend the book Not Without Peril. It is very well written and talks about the dangers of hiking and how hubris and ignorance has killed many people by describing past disasters in great detail. It is also fairly appropriate for someone in the Northeast since you'll very likely be doing Mt. Washington and others similar as you work your way up to the 14'ers in the rockies and other mountains all over the world.