Yeah that feature has been on T Tidbits for a while now, gives a good perspective of how relatively warm the ocean actually is. If the oceans were to warm a few more degrees, would the effects of la nina cease to exist, or is entirely dependent on how warm it is relative to the rest of the planet?

feels like a Mega Nina coming. maybe not, Pacific signature already hinting it

Flew back to pdx last night and am back in sunriver now, 56 degrees currently with a low of 26.8. Had .05" of precip when we were gone and our largest temp spread was a 82/27 day. Was kinda hoping for a week of 70s, 80s, and 90s when we came back, I'm tired of the cold now after having an 8 day period where the warmest temp I felt was -11F.

Yeah, this is great. Can really see the deeply -PDO in place, with the most extreme anomalies on the entire planet in the central Pacific. And warm Atlantic hurricane corridor.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being Mailbox peak and a 10 being K2, I'd place it around a 6. Highly depends on the year and month you go, we were early in the season so the fixed lines above 14k camp were still being de-iced meaning we couldn't use them, and that section is a long 50 degree slope of blue ice. Basically the entire route below 14k camp is spent on highly crevassed Glaciers, but we came on a high snow year and had stable snowbridges the entire way, we were lucky enough to only have 1 group member fall in a crevasse. There's a number of knife edge ridgewalks, where a fall not caught by rope or arrested with an ice axe would mean certain death. And of course there is a lot of Avalanche danger and risk of frostbite in a major storm. Worst part is that you're legally required to carry 2+ weeks of sh*t in your backpack, back in the 80s we were allowed to throw it in the famous poop crevasse.