Titty warmers,sausage & snow boards,a tr ip report

“Couldnt find a specific place for trip reports, so I guess it's here...
This is my first trip report, so if I ramble forgive me.........

The 5th annual, Lassen New Years party was a ball...we had 9 folks stay for New Years.
The weather scared off a few, almost scared me off the way it was raining in Redding just before I left.....but as often happens, we got what we needed. The only time it really rained was late at night (not on New Years though!) while everyone was asleep, in the morning it would quit as soon as someone got up, we even had sunny weather for the 31st.

I finally got to meet a couple TT 'rs in the flesh...Snow Nymph and SnowDude got there on the 30th, snow shoeing in and packing snow boards. They fit right in with the rest of the twisted crowd made up of cops, doctors, climbing bums and SAR folks. Both of them are truly hard core outdoor fanatics (Snow Nymph managed 50 consecutive weekends in the mountains) ...they made there way to us by snow boarding there way through Tahoe, hitting several resorts before packing there boards in the 2 miles to Silver Snag. It was cool to see Snow Nymph's ultra light weight approach to packing, her $600.00 pot and cup (ok, it wasn't nearly that expensive) are works of art, although for winter camping the 4oz pot (ok, ok it was a little bigger) took awhile to melt snow. Watching them eat freeze dried food was just to much to take, so we showed them how climbers eat in the back country....sausage, lots of sausage (4 kinds), eggs, Amy's grinders, Rodney's burritoes, filled with eggs, hash browns and sausage and quesidas (?) and more. Snow Nymph showed us a neat trick with bacon and her seal a meal (I'm getting one) as well as an interesting trick with a Land O Lakes hot coco packet. SnowDude has a wicked sense of humor, must be "that gland thing".....

On the 31st, a couple folks climbed Loomis, Snow Nymph and SnowDude boarded down Silver Snag trail and played around on the side of Loomis and some hiked up towards Crescent Cliffs.

New Years eve was spent in the Tipi, around the stove...eating, drinking, telling tales, eating some more and drinking even more...when midnight rolled around we all went outside to roll in the new year, sipping $150.00 champaign, hugging and watching Rodney set of a couple fireworks.

Most of the beverages seemed to center around 100 proof Hot Damn, Spiced Rum, fine wine (Snow Nymph and SnowDude) and Champaign, including a $150.00 bottle Jill brought up.

The next morning we woke to rain, but as soon as we got up to break camp it stopped, everyone pitched in to haul out the gear....Snow Nymph and SnowDude got their best ride of the camp out on the way down the trail, going over a mile before they had to snowshoe.

Oh yea...the titty warmers...Amy showed them to us ( any pictures, Snow Nymph?) they are made from fine possum fur (from Australia) and are designed to keep those nipples toasty warm in all conditions...she got them from a climbing buddy who got them on e-Bay..look up nipple warmers..she said she has seen them go for as much as $18.00/$20.00...although they were only around $4.75 when I last checked.

Snow Nymph will post the pictures soon, and as soon as I get mine and copies of everyone else's, I will also.

Snow Nymph, if I missed anything (I'm sure I must have) please add it!

Wanderer, we missed ya, I hope everything at home is ok...there will be more trips!”

“wow.. and these east coast guys make fun of me?.. cos I drag wine and cigars up on the trail?

heh.. I rest my case.”

“It was only two miles TD. Remember the cookoff? You can carry an awful lot when it's only two miles.

BTW, thanks again for the beer Buddha Bear!”

“heh.. I dragged a bottle of Australian Merlot wine up the 9 mile approach trail, and celebrated on the top of springer.”

“I hope it was a nalgene bottle!”

“heh.. it was a stainless steel thermos actually.”

“Ahhh.... Titty warmers and champagne.... now that's what I call 'celebrating the outdoors'!!”

“Working on the photos. Should be done tonight.

mtnsteve pulled out a nalgene with a lot of embryos floating in it. He even flips them with a fork without breaking the yolk! I was impressed! These guys hauled in spiced rum, etc in large glass bottles! That Tipi was pretty cool. I really appreciated the heat from the stove to dry stuff out. We're out a lot, but you guys are really hard core. I've never encountered a attack deer. Or carried body parts.....

Snowdude and I got to see a fox in the wild. Got a photo of it. Also got the tittywarmers....and undies.

Photos should be up tonight. I'll post when they're done.”

“Sounds like a really cool trip. Look forward to the pics.”

“Interesting thread title, the pics should be awesome!”

“Did you say they came on snow shoes?
Hey TD bet that champagne was better than the peach wine we had.”

“I'm speechless.”

“I'm really looking forward to the pic's of the titty warmers too!!!

That trick with the Land-O-Lakes cocoa packet didn't have something with the indian gals knees did it? If so, I showed a hunting companion the same trick with the butter package just last weekend.

Isn't it funny how they make those knees look like breasts?”

“pout”

“*GUFFAW*

I've got one of those Land-o-Lakes deals in my guitar case! An old Folkie showed me that trick 30 years ago.”

“Is the Land-0-Lakes thing anything like what you can do to the Queen when a Canadian $2 bill is folded
just so?”

“Steve--How many years have you been doing the teepee thing? I seem to remember this from last year too. Sounds so cool, looking forward to Snow's pictures.”

“I got a couple of tittie warmers.”

“Have you seen the Red Dog beer label? Or the dollar bill?”

“Can't wait to see the pictures and thanks for taking the time to do a trip report.

I'll make a suggestion and probably catch a ton of heat but it's something we sould all consider. Especially since we are so fond of telling newbies to "search the old threads."

It would be great to have the name of where you went in the subject title. That way when one wants to search, they can get close to what they're looking for. I wouldn't expect to find a trip report for Lassen Park by searching for titties. But then again . . . ;)”

“3 oz pot and 1.1 oz lid.... 8-)

heeheehee!

ok, back to the photos...almost done.”

“Mary..been doing this for at least 5 years now, the Tipi thing at New Years that is.

Yea, almost everyone snowshoed, even me....Ivy, Tamara, Cliff and Rodney were on skis.
Rodney used a sled to help haul all the stuff in and out.

Good point ChinaChas..........

Snow Nymph, if you had left the door of your tent wide open, the fox might have crawled in with you...he's done it before.”

“AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!
NOW WEBSHOTS IS DOWN!!!!!”

“I bow down in awe mtnsteve.
What about the red dog label & dollar bill Snow Nymph?”

“webshots is back up Snownymph.”

“and now not working correctly. Sorry.”

“They're not all labeled yet, but if you want a preview of the Lassen trip, go to my webpage

Snow Nymph's Web Page

go to JMT (upper left button)
go to the part that shows all the albums and the new photos should be on the top.

We haven't linked the 2nd webshots account yet.

I'm leaving after work and won't have time to mess with it.”

“Rosey,
forgot to mention, we hung out at Alpine for about 1-1/2 hrs, waiting to see if it was worth paying for the lift ticket. People kept saying "its raining at the top". I think I saw you get on the lift (Roadrunner or something like that?) at 10:00, but I never saw you come back, so you must've gone on some other runs.

We rode Kirkwood Friday and got soaked. The intermediate runs were like glue, and we ended up hiking a lot. After a 1/2 hr break, change of gloves, etc, we went to the diamond/double diamonds thru the trees, and had a blast. We were able to stay warm with the more challenging runs and rode til they closed. In the meantime, Mammoth was getting good snow (26" from the 27th-30th).”

“Couldn't find 'em SN. How was the boarding Tahoe? I got in a couple of days in the slopes but no fresh pow :(

On the Lassen trip, did you snowshoe in in your snowboarding boots or hump all that stuff in on your back? I want to do a back country descent of Shasta this early spring and was curious about the best way to get that gear in there. I've heard of some people towing their boards in before behind them?

Mtnsteve: What can you tell me about about the Shasta descent on the old ski bowl side? Have you done it?”

“til Webshots is up again.

We snowshoed with our snowboarding boots. They have custom liners so they're really comfortable.

But they're still WET this morning!!!
(and I took them out to dry as soon as we got back Tuesday night...er, I mean early Wed morning)

We strapped the boards on our backs. I forgot how tall the board made me, and hit a few branches. After that I learned to duck.”

“Roseymonster....

Yea, I have been all over the mountain......the run down the old ski bowl is a great ride, you can hike in from Bunny Flat (up Green Butte Ridge) and drop in, or you can just hike up from the old parking lot (less elevation gain)...a guy could hike to the summit via Avalanche Gulch, and pop over to the old ski bowl via Lake Helen....Going for the summit from the old ski bowl either means climbing Sargent's Ridge proper (it can be rather technical) or doing the traverse to Lake Helen in Avalanche Gulch. Lot's of options.....

I have a cool map I'm going to try and put up that show's all the routes, I'll let you know when I post it..

Were you going to summit and ride out?”

“I haven't figured it all out yet but you seem to be in the know. I've summited a couple of times from the West Face Gully so I don't really care about the summit so much as I want the best ride I can get. I've heard the old ski bowl described as one of the best backcountry descents in the West, definitely in CA. and thot I would give it a shot. I'm not a badass boarder or anything, prolly just an intermediate (getting ready to move onto black diamond runs at the slopes) and the bowl seemed like it would be a pretty safe bet for my skill level. Do you day hike it from the parking lot or camp at Bunny Flat? I've heard Bunny Flat has spectacular views of the mountain. Is Green Butte Ridge a Class 2? Would I need to be roped in on that route? I think my main concern would be triggering an avalanche on the descent. Does USFS do avalanche control up there?

I'd like to see the map when you get a chance. Thanks!”

“I found her Webshots album.

”

“Lassen New Years

I put the photos in 3 albums
1) Pre-Lassen, which covers the week in Mammoth and Tahoe
2) Lassen Part 1, which is the first day thru the hike on the second day
3) Lassen Part 3, which is New Years Eve and New Years Day.”

“Roseymonster...check this link out..
Shasta Maps

You won't need ropes for Green Butte, just head up from Bunny Flat and follow the ridge between Avalanche Gulch and the old ski bowl, on your way you can stop and do a couple runs in Powder Bowl and Sun Bowl before you drop into the old ski bowl. As long as you stop before you hit Sargent's Ridge, Green Butte is easy, although you may need crampon's and an ax because of the hard snow on the ridge proper.....depends on how far up you head and the conditions that day.

I would hike in from Bunny Flat just because the climb up the ridge is so cool....it's usually not hard to get a ride back to your car. You can check at the Fifth Season for current avalanche and ski reports, I recommend it highly..the # is 530-926-5555 for the skiing and climbing report or 530-926-3606 to talk to a real person.

Here is a great resource for information on avalanche conditions and any thing else relating to Mount Shasta...
Shasta Link
If it aint here, you don't need to know it......




Just kidding....

E mail me if you need anymore info..”

“Nice pics Snow Nymph!”

“SnowNymph.....
Thanks for all the work you put in getting the pictures up, thank SnowDude for me as well.

When I get the photos from the rest of the gang I'll post them too.

Thanks again.....













Is it just me or do some (ok, most) of the people in those photos look kinda WASTED....”

“There were a lot of bottles going around. And a lot of laughing. And falling. And. . .”

“Awesome pics, looks like you guys had a great time! I'm gonna go pout for awhile too.”

“Hey, what's the deal? Snow Dude doesn't rememble Lynard Skynard any longer! That whole stove camping thing is great. I'll be doing snowshoeing in a couple weeks but I doubt it will be as comfy as this one. I just may make it to next years party!”

“Got some great pics there, Snow Nymph”

“The Lynard Skynard look was BEFORE we started dating.”

“Great pics snownymph! Thanks for sharing, looks like you guys had a great time.”

“I just downloaded a few more pictures from the Lassen trip,
you can check them out here.....
Photos
click on New Years in Lassen.”

“Great shots, Steve! I'm already looking at gear for the Frozen Fanny trip (like, replace my ancient leaky booties, and overboots like Tamara's, and OR pants like Rodneys). Did I mention, I LOVE my Patagonia 4R Windblock jacket????”