goatboy

I have a betamid and like it very much, however, unlike the older BD Megamid (pyramid shaped, floorless tent) it leaks through the seams. This is nothing that some seam seal wouldn't fix, I suppose. Other than this one problem, I like my betamid very much. Had some fellows admiring it in Boston Basin back in July -- they had lugged a big, heavy tent up that "Beckey-type"(vertical) trail into the Basin and were drooling over the less-than-three-pound betamid. They do look a little bit like a circus tent, all bright yellow . . . but I don't mind.

From yesterday's Seattle Times: The injured party was a nurse, currently listed in "satisfactory" condition at the hospital in Wenatchee. She and her husband were hiking/scrambling on Kangaroo Ridge and she fell down the NW Face. Tough place to evacuate someone from, in my opinion. Sounds like they all did a good job of responding to the incident. Best wishes to any of her friends or family who may be reading this.

I heard that someone had put in bolted rap anchors all the way down Outer Space a few years ago (maybe 3-4 years now?) As if that route needed something to make it more inviting to the masses! Obviously, they are now gone, as they should be. Anyone remember the story behind all that? Just curious. goat-lad

I say bivy at the notch. Great sites (though water-free this late in the season) and in my opinion easy to complete the ridge from there. No need to climb higher to less comfortable bivy to gain time but lose sleep. Better yet, don't bivy at all! I was with Kevin and we really enjoyed the lightweight alpine push -- not having bivy gear allowed us to summit in a day and return to the car in a 19-hour push. Damn good experience, which I recommend. Of course, the high bivy is also unforgettable, with great views of sunrise over Glacier Peak . . . Whatever you do, enjoy!

Teen pornography is what I'd call the Rodden shots from last year. And I see in the new Outside that some fashion designer (I think it's Chanel) is now making climbing helmets and harnesses (super expensive) and ice axes (so precious they're not even for sale??) What the HELL is going on in the world?

Instead of an armed militia, how about climbers arming themselves with trashbags and cleaning up the joint? John Crock sent me the following message last week: "I'm the Eastern WA-N. ID board member for the FCCC (Frenchman Coulee Climbers Coalition). We're having a cleanup-gear-auction-keg of beer on Sat. Oct 13 at the Frenchman Coulee (Vantage) main parking lot. We had a similar cleanup last spring that was not well attended, but we managed to pick up a whole pickup load of garbage. The area is somewhat trashed right now after a summer of concerts at the gorge and unfortunately, climbers get blamed for a lot of the garbage by the WA Dept. of wildlife who manages the land. Garbage bags will be provided and it would be great if everyone picked an area and picked up the garbage in it. We will also have a gear auction to raise money for more permanent toilets. The current toilets are there courtesy of the FCCC and Access Fund. This summer we also bought a gate and had it installed to close off a four-wheel drive/party road that went up the hill from the main parking lot. Also there has been some graffitti spray-painted on some of the rocks and we would like to remove it before it spawns more. Lastly, there will be a free keg at the end of the day to reward your efforts." I hope that many cascadeclimbers will be able to attend this cleanup. [This message has been edited by goatboy (edited 09-13-2001).] [This message has been edited by goatboy (edited 09-13-2001).]

Doesn't seem like the sort of person who seeks out Golden Horn is the sort to be seeking being guided up Everest's summit to me . . . I saw Golden Horn from Black Peak a few weeks ago -- it certainly presents a striking skyline, though doesn't look to be very attractive as far as climbing goes... On the other hand, speaking of traverses, a traverse from Golden Horn to Tower Mtn might be an enjoyable alpine scramble . . . How do you approach that thing, go up the Hart's Pass Road or something?

I saw a climbing mag in canmore last winter called "Gripped" -- great name! It showcases canadian areas, ice, mixed climbing, etc -- good photos in the one issue I bought. They have a site: check em out www.gripped.com I've only seen the one issue, what do others think of this publication as an alternative? Steve

OR gaiters are great, and last a long time, in my experience. Their customer service may or may not suck ... .

Holy shit, Shuksan huh? Maybe so ..... But it seemed relatively flat-topped as I recall, and seemed pretty far north of Baker . . .

As I recall, it appeared to be North and maybe slightly East of Baker. It was big and looked volcanic to me. Certainly snowy and glaciated on it's southern side. That's why I guessed it was Garibaldi. Shows what I know.

Hmmmm. I shot some slides of the distant mystery peak, will try to post them here when they come back -- that might help clarify things. Give me a week or so on this. S

Hey fellahs, I was up there too and took note of the small glaciated peak way to the North. I could clearly see Baker to the North, Glacier (closer and less snowy) and I guessed at the time that the small, glaciated peak way to the north was in Canada, and that more specifically it was Garibaldi (in the Whistler/Blackcomb area, as I recall). Did you folks notice the FLAGPOLE, just to the East, sticking up from below the summit of Pennant Peak? Very cool looking little spire. Any canadians out there want to verify Garibaldi? Can you see it from Stuart?

This weekend: Climbed N Ridge of Stuart (via Gendarme) car-to-car. Great way to go, light and (somewhat) fast -- took us 19 hours. Carried ski poles instead of ice ax, seemed to really speed us up descending the cascadian and slogging on trails . . . Great trip, good weather (though a bit windy around the shady gendarme, brrrrrr.) Regarding having patience with the Mountaineers' learning process: I'm certain that the Mountaineers teach many important skills during their classes -- but I'm not certain that they always teach (or model) consideration to other parties. Good point that we can all check their website and avoid whatever peak they're teaching on... But is tying up the only way off a backcountry peak for 1.5 hours really a good thing for the students to be learning? I have had similar encounters (sat on top of Ingalls peak for 3 HOURS waiting for a huge group of mountaineers to descend -- EPIC!) I could have checked their website and not gone their -- but actually, in my particular case, there were two large parties from two different mountaineers clubs who hadn't even checked their OWN websites, and double-booked the peak that weekend. Grim. My point: Sure, we can take responsiblity for not checking the website of Peaks to Be Avoided, but couldn't the leader of the group on Kangaroo Temple have handled the situation in a way that would have not inconvenienced other climbers to the extent that they apparently did? I fear that in cases like this its a matter of large groups being insensitive to the other parties around them, and modelling that behavior for students learning to climb. I do agree, however, that if this type of behavior is a problem, then we (the general public) can do a better job of checking their website and avoiding them. Steve

I'm trying to imagine a scenario in which I would belay two leaders from one belay stance -- and I can't come up with any that make sense to me. What was the situation? And yes, the Gi-Gi is normally used for belaying two seconds at once. Pretty cool, practical, lightweight device. Steve

I think this is a fascinating topic, one that I think about a lot. I am NOT a parent, but have given thought to how being one would change the nature of the climbing that I am willing to do. I feel that when one has kids, they become your first and primary responsibility. Alex Lowe? Certainly one of the greatest climbers, and from what I've read, greatest people. Although he died reconning a climb, he essentially died while pursuing his dreams and living his life very, very fully. Alex was a very strong, and from what I've read, very safe climber. Dan Osman -- I did not know him, but I would not call him a "very safe climber." This guy died pulling off his extreme bungee jumping routine -- leaving a wife and a kid behind. To me, that's different from Alex did, because Alex only took risks associated with climbing, whereas Dan only climbed in order to take risks. Anyone agree with this distinction between risk as part of your dream and lifestyle VERSUS risk as a goal in itself?

How about "moderates?" Climbing Ragazine uses this word to refer to climbs 5.11 and under . . . Not exactly a "moderate" day for me, but hey, I'm still a sport-climber-wannabe . . . I'm not good enough yet for spandex or a stick clip!!! That said, I do enjoy the tech tips and John Long's articles. The recent issue has a good story about Donini and the accident up in the alaska range. So it's not all bad.

Speaking of yosemite . . . Two words: Braille Book. CRAZY HARD for 5.8, thought I was gonna pitch off that thing, ended up backing off one pitch like a whimpering child. Finished it in the dark, though, cruising the section called "knob mania" by moonlight. Pretty cool route, but HARD for the rating. Anyone agree???

Will strickland: The Joshua Tree route you're talking about is "Buissonier." Definitely STIFF for 5.7 (like many JT routes).Kind of a barn-door sort of affair all the way up -- but the pro is definitely great, all the way. Many 5.7's at JT were put up in the old days, and are harder than 5.9's at JT that were put up later. My sandbag pick: Bale-Kramar on Careno Crag. WAY HARD for 5.10b or whatever they call it. The "boulder problem" start is quite thin, and the crux crack is awkward, balancy, and strenuous to adequately protect in a few spots near the ground. In short, way harder than nearby climbs also rated 5.10. Steve

I think I know WHAT it is . . . but When is it and where is it?

Climbed the NE Ridge of Black Peak this weekend in windy/threatening weather that turned nice as we climbed, then grew windier as we summitted and descended. Apporach: Approach to Wing Lake took 3.5 hours, mostly on trail with some talus. A bit of up and down on the approach, as you climb to heather pass, descend hundreds of feet on the other side to Lewis Lake, then climb back up into beuatiful larches and moraines, arriving at Wing Lake, where there is great camping in impacted sites above the lake. The Climb: The next morning we awoke at 4:30, drank coffee, and looked around at the clouds and wind. It looked pretty mediocre, so we decided just to climb to the col on the NE ridge and re-assess from there. Took about an hour and a half to get to the notch from camp, including a very nice firm snowfield (crampons and ax mandatory for that section). The ridge featured pretty mediocre-to-bad rock for the lower 1/3 or so, but improved considerably as it narrowed, steepened, and became more difficult. It never really felt harder than 5.5, and we simulclimbed all the way to the summit block in two long "pitches" of simulclimbing. A short third pitch (maybe 60 feet) had us on top. The views were excellent: Goode close up and personal, the awesome NE Buttress and very fractured glacier below; the North ridge and East Ridge of Forbidden; Sharkfin Tower, Boston Peak, Sahale and the Sahale Arm; Glacier Peak; Logan, Liberty Bell and Cutthroat and on and on, all the way to Rainier barely peaking up over the southern horizon. It was truly a good day for peak-viewing . . . . The Descent: One word: Dumb. Super loose gully, definitely better to descend than to slog up though! It would be MUCH better in early summer when full of snow, I'd reckon. Here we saw descending parties knocking shit down on helmet-less soloists coming up, not that the descending parties could help it . . . Anyway, it took our party of three 7 hours camp to camp, including some hang-out time on summit and just below summit. I do recommend this climb for the views, though the rock quality itself is suspect. Nelson likens the ridge to the West Ridge of Forbidden, and I would agree that it's similar in places -- a "sidewalk" with big exposure on either side, especially the north side and the big broken glacier over there. It felt good to climb such a massive peak -- Black Peak is listed at 8970, so its definitely one of the bigger ones in the surrounding area. I hope this info is useful to folks, either as entertainment while you're at work not working, or as beta for future trips. Steve

Congratulations, Hakiowa. I have two cents to toss in here: You wrote: "If you go right, go way right. Remember the easy way (we never found it) is suppossed to have an easy 30’ slab to the summit. If you find yourself looking up a crack system/chimney to directly to the summit keep going right!" When we climbed the spire in July, it was snowing, and visibility was poor (like 50 feet at most). We found our way through the little tunnel you mentioned, then managed to go WAY right and slightly upward on Burgundy Ledge, around a corner on a smaller ledge -- and here, we found a straightforward (though steep in places) finger crack that I'd call solid 5.8. Small nuts and aliens would help here, though you could get by without them (as we did). This leads up and left to a large ledge, then up a wide crack on the left side of a big flake (which was full of ice in July). This is the final obstacle, and then you're sitting on the summit ridge about 50 feet west of the true summit. We took one rope, and it was fine to rap off with one. Two would have speeded things up on the rappels, though would have weighted us down on the slog up to burgundy col. To whomever pooped and left toilet paper at the bivy on burgundy col, why don't you consider how your actions affect others and try to be a bit more responsible in the future? All in all, this is a glorious route, and definitely one worth repeating when there's better visibility! Steve

Hey Matt, I'm sorry to hear about the theft of your gear. I doubt you'll get it back, but hope that you do. A question: Since you fixed the rope on 8/6 and posted your message on the 31'st . . . was your rope fixed all that time? If so, perhaps that contributed to whatever poor choice the thief made -- not that this excuses them, but I'm just curious about the details. If your rope was fixed for all those weeks, who knows how someone interpreted that. Steve

Congrats to everyone who climbed some classic routes (DEB, West Face, NW Corner, E Ridge) this past weekend. I'm jealous.... We climbed Ingalls Peak, South Ridge. Simul-climbed it in 19 minutes. then napped on summit. A fine route, but awfully short climb for a relatively long approach. Great views of peaks in every direction, due to clear blue skies and not as much smoke as I expected. Actually carried Beckey's book up there and used it to identify peaks and routes, pretty fun way to spend an hour or so. Two friends of mine ran into Fred on the s ridge of ingalls a few weeks back, by the way... Anyway, a medium day in the mountains is better than ANY day at home . . . Hoping to get back up to the wash. pass area this weekend....

Thanks much for the report, folks. I'm planning on having a go one of these upcoming weekends. Any problems getting a permit up there, you reckon, over a weekend? I know it's not as hectic as the Boston Basin zoo, but they only give out permits for two parties at a time in that area, as I understand it . . . guess I'll just have to try my luck.