Wopper

My wife and I climbed Mt. Victoria a couple years ago and stayed 2 nights at the Abbott Pass Hut. Chic Scott was the care taker during our time there. He was a cool guy. Very mellow, had a lot of interesting stories to tell and was obviously, very knowledgeable about the area. Didn't read his book or Dru's review, but Chic is allright by me.

I am down with Down. I have had The North Face Snowshoe (which I only paid $18 for thanks to Rodchester) and currently have a Moonstone -5 down with Dryloft. I to have never had a bag get soaked. When it rains or otherwise sucks I am sitting on the bar stool next to Rodchester. Out of curiosity Eric, where are you getting a decent bag for $100?

Pencil Pusher - Everything is going to be allright. Kris and I are personal friends. Kris knows who the smartass disguised as Wopper is.

Why do you care?

I will be digging ditches for a sprinkler system in my yard. Any and all are welcome to come over. Swinging a pick is good training for the back and shoulders! Hopefully you guys will be having more fun than I.

I generally agree with the posts above about not picking up strangers. I would not pick up a stranger in the middle of a route going up. The consequences of incompetence can be to unforgiving. I would do everything in my power to help someone down though. My wife and I climbed Mt. Victoria in Lake Louise with this really cool guy from Calgary. We also had the opportunity to bs with him in the hut the night before and my take was that he was a quiet, unassuming, knowledgeable climber. My gut was right because he was all the above and sent us some great pictures he took of us for letting him rope up with us. My point of view, no hitchhikers unless I feel comfortable.

I was with Rodchester when we did the Owens-Spalding. The ice definitely made it a challenge. I lead the entire thing in a pair of OR Windstopper gloves. It is a fun, fairly easy route that I would recommend to moderate climbers w/o any experience in the Tetons. I would also agree with the posts about taking a few days and enjoying the area and the Tetons. It really is a beautiful place. We did not have any problems with the permit system(it was early September) that others spoke of. Remember to make your reservations for the Climber's Ranch as soon as you get there. It is cheap, clean and the people we met were very cool. Enjoy!

When we did the O-S there was only one guided party ahead of us and they had a good lead on us and were moving pretty quickly. I do not remember seeing anybody behind us. We had the summit to ourselves and were up there for 45 minutes or so. However, we did it the week after Labor Day and a few days before we arrived the area got 18" of snow. The crowds had thinned and apparently, a lot of people did not want to deal with the ice/snow. Like the other posts above state, there are a lot of routes up there. There is a decent book with a blue cover and I believe the name is 50 Classic Climbs in the Tetons. I forget the name of the author. Prioritize some that look appealing and then talk to the rangers for the local beta. The rangers can be a bit stand-offish at first but if they realize you aren't a total gumby they warm up and have loads of good info. They truly are climbing rangers and know the area very well.

Kris Boskoff slept on my living room floor.

Rodchester - When we were there the waitresses were not worth the wait. They did have a pretty cool dog on the back porch though.

OK, we have the best burger joint, how about the worst? What establishments would you recommend avoiding like the plague? My wife and I came off Mt. Adams a couple weeks ago and stopped in at the Big Horse Brewery in Hood River. It took and hour and a half for them to serve us a burger and philly cheese steak. The place was about half full, so I would hate to see it when it is busy. We could have been half way home by the time our food arrived. Needless to say, we will never return and unless you have lots of time to kill I would recommend staying away. How about your experiences? What places should people stay away from?

If you are referring the restaraunts, the chicks are skanks. If you are referring to Hooters in general, I am with you. Long live Hooters! [This message has been edited by Wopper (edited 06-27-2001).]

I will second Gustav's in Leavenworth as having good greasy food at reasonable prices. There is also the Deschute's Brewery in Bend. A little more spendy/trendy but good food and good beer.

Glad to hear it is working out for you. Climb high and climb safe!

Dan - You may be a persistent cuss and it sounds like you pursue your goals, however, as Will Strickland stated in an earlier post, you need to mellow out some or you will be pursuing the majority of your goals solo. Sure, the people on this site flip each other a lot of shit but they also have some well thought out, experienced knowledge to pass on. I wish you luck on finding partners, from what I have seen/read you are going to need it.

I am with you on that Spray Lord. The whole Donna Rotten Crotch thing is way old. Pope and Dwayner, you need a new name for your other personalities. Now that I think about it, are you two the same person?

Gear loops are great for tying into. In fact I think they should rename them "tie in loops."

I have never "had" to use a knife in an emergency or life threatening situation. However, I have wished I had a knife with me when cutting rap slings to length and trying to get the most out of my webbing/6 mil to ensure I got all the way down without leaving hardware. Oh yeah, there was another time I wished I had a knife. I was in the North Cascades and a Canadian Grizzly was charging....

Belgium Rocks!!!

Mike Adam - Donna Two-Step can't be Lynn Hill. She is already the Pope!

Dwayner - My sincerest apologies. From reading the various posts I thought you were there on vacation. I hope you eventually get a chance to at least view the beauty of the locals. And best of luck with Donna Rotten Crotch. Don't let her ruin your trip across the pond.

Dwayner - You are in Spain on vacation and you have nothing better to do than read and comment on this board???? Come on, man. Go outside!

Remember, a ranger can tell other folks all the stories he wants but never lie to another ranger or an officer. There is an army depending on us. Oh, wrong type of rangers. Yes, I agree, the man can come up with some ill informed advice bordering on bold face lies. Rodchester, I am not sure if they lie more than attorneys though. I have heard some of your stories! Though they seem to be somewhat skeptical until you prove to them you have a clue the most well informed rangers I have encountered are in the Tetons. They are out there climbing and seem to know the Park and the routes incredibly well. [This message has been edited by Wopper (edited 06-20-2001).]

We were at Adams over the week-end with at least a 100 of our closest hiking/climbing friends. However, the camping was plentiful at the Lunch Counter and we were not stacked on top of one another. There was more snow/ice pack than I was expecting and people were carving up the south spur on boards and skis. There were some patches of barren rock/scree but you can ski the entire upper section down to about 7000 feet with only taking your skis off once or twice. The road is snow free but rutted and bumpy for the last 3 miles up to Cold Springs. I would suggest a 4x4 but I did see a guy in a Mazda Miata up there. I guess that is up to you and how much you value your exhaust system. I would also suggest an early start. The parking lot and the route were crowded. Enjoy!

The wife and I are going down to do the South Spur on Adams. I know it is a long slog, no ropes or harnesses etc. But has anybody been up lately? If so how, are the snow conditions? Thanks for any info.