James

vege... call me when you go man

i've heard that the dates have been moved to jan. 25th-27th, but i can't back that up. i consider the guy who told me this to be reliable, and he is planning our trip to the festival, so i hope he's right just wanted to pass that heads up to everyone out there planning to go. cheers.

hey dru. last time i was at whistler for a ski trip with my wife i brought my tools and crampons in the hopes of finding something to boulder around on. although i wasn't looking aggressively, the few people i asked about ice climbing in the area looked at me like i was from another planet (or maybe just the US so where is the good climbing up there?

this is a great topic to bring up will. from the little ice climbing i've done i've found that my hands get absolutely frozen. the warmest system i have are some big wools mits with a shell (and liners of course) but the dexterity sucks. i find that my hands lose alot of heat to the ice just from contact, and so those $$$ gloves with knuckle pads are attractive. however, i've held off on buying them since i've never heard anyone say they are worth it. so terminalg., i'm wondering if the padding helps with warmth or just bashing? and also freeclimb, are you serious? if you stand behind those things i would spend $15 just to give them a try. anyone else like padded gloves? bd ice glove, or the moonstone sauvage which you can now get for $80 online? suggestions please!

West Ridge of Prusik on saturday. Cavey, too bad you couldn't join us. My partners did Cannon and Enchantment on Sunday while I had a look around the area. It was so windy sunday that there were whitecaps on Colchuck Lake.

eric. 2 friends and myself did this route in august. we were able to follow the route according to becky's description, and also found ourselves w/ 15' of slabby rock to reach the summit. from that point the down climb to the ledge below (on your right when facing the summit) looks bad, but is very easy and comfortable w/o a rope. once down, cross the ledge and follow the easiest path the the summit, the hardest stuff is behind you at the exposed step over to the chimney. we descended by leaving the summit to the west toward stuart and into a steep, but solid and narrow gully. no raps were needed, and it was a very fast way down. this took us to a large bench above cliffs from which we moved to the left and down again into a gully that took us back to the trail exactly where we had left it that morning.

aidan. in addition to frequent hydration i strongly recommend that you bring your vitamin I. what is this you might ask... Ibuprofen. I have been up Rainier 3 times, drank plenty of water each time, been in very good physical condition each time, and only been comfortable when i had taken my ibuprofen. some people just do not have the physiology to compensate for sustained oxygen debt. you will probably not have a problem with the altitude, but if you do you will be glad you brought some chemical relief. (disclaimer: for any naturopaths out there, ibuprofen is not a vitamin

what disgraceful mess on lundin?

ouch! what caused the fall if i may ask?

John, What about taking your brother-in-law up the couloir on a rope with a few pieces of pro? It would sure add to the experience for him! And should he slip, you could return home w/o fear of the wrath-of-the-wife!