mneagle

After a few very uncomfortable experiences with wet down bags in the Cascades, I decided to go synthetic with a Mountain Hardware Ultralamina +32 bag. I am very satisfied. It's extremely compressible to a little larger than a Nerf football and weighs 2lb 2oz. I like the zipper system as it allows you to easily control temps by folding down the front in warm weather rather than trying unzip the side and bend it back. With some warm clothes I'm sure I could take it down to 15-20 degrees easily. I am not a "cold sleeper", though.

I agree with the others about living locally. Commuting around Utah is a total drag. If there's one thing Utah doesn't need it's more smog. Biking to work would justify a drive to Moab for weekend (or preferably mid-week) forays.

#1 on the Terrible Traverse of Mt. Constance in winter #2 at about 19,000 feet on Sajama in Bolivia (on our honeymoon)

Very superior

As stated above, well done population based studies have shown no link between autism and the MMR...ever...with or without thimerisol. So why are people still blaming the vaccine? I think it has to do with the history of how western medicine used to explain (and some still believe explains) autism. They blamed the mother. The classic description of autism included a "refrigerator mother" as the cause for the child's affliction. The mechanism was emotional damage to the child caused by the mother not giving the child adequate love and affection to develop properly. It only makes sense to me that we are now experiencing a backlash from mothers who are turning the tables and blaming western medicine (vaccines). Unfortunately, I believe neither is a correct explanation and both have diverted attention away from the core issue of understanding, preventing and treating autism.

I take care of an elderly lady who has suffered her whole life from chronic lung disease following an episode of measles pneumonia as a kid, before the vaccine was available. The last time I saw her I had some extra time and I asked her about what she thought about people worrying about autism from the MMR. She actually started to cry while describing what it was like to live during a time when the vaccine wasn't around and so many kids were sick and some ended up dying or having life-long illnesses like hers. She couldn't believe that anyone would be cruel enough to not vaccinate their children.

How to...

Temple Crag - Sun Ribbon Arete 5.10a. I wish I could have lassoed the horn. After several tries we just decided to rap into the notch and climb the other side.

A guy I met in Vedauwoo last summer just sent me a link to some climbing he did in Southern India. It sounds like climbing is just getting started there and he had a chance to snap up some new lines and inspire some locals. Karnataka Climbing

Well, if you're interested in more than towers... Lone Creek Cirque has loads of fantastic granite climbing. It's also got pretty comfortable temperatures during the middle of the summer and no crowds. My favorite routes were Vertical Overhangs (linking best pitches of Vertical Smile and Triple Overhangs) and Out of the Question. Both are solid 5.10 on stellar rock. The Golden Wall was OK as well. Awesome camping in the cirque beneath towering granite walls. A stock photo below. Question Mark wall is on the right. The Summit Wall is the spire-ish feature on the left. The Golden Wall is climber's right to the Summit Wall. The San Rafael Swell has some really good stuff too. The ratio of quality climbing to crowds is the most favorable in the state and free camping to boot. I've been to the Dylan Wall several times on weekends and never saw another group of climbers. It's mostly single pitch sandstone crack climbing but there are a few multi-pitchers in the area. If you can climb Bob Can't Climb then you can climb any 5.10b in the state. Not my photo but this shows some guy on Planet Waves, one of the best 11a cracks around: Closer and easier to access from SLC is Bell's Canyon. Arm and Hammer on Middle Bell is an amazing route on awesome granite that goes at 5.10 with 2 A0 moves over a few blank sections of slab (or 11c free if you are a slab master). I recall it being about 6 pitches long. Here's a photo I found. After clearing the huge roof towards the right you then make your way up and left across the polished slab. Don't lean back to much when you reach the "Zion curtain"...it flexes uncomfortably. When it's super hot down in the valley, head up to the Hellgate Cliffs up near snowbird and check out 'Til Hell Freezes Over or go all the way up to Devil's Castle and try Black Streak. They both have some choss but still enjoyable multipitch climbs. All you need is a set of draws and a few small cams for either one. Belay on Black Streak: Hope that helps.

This would be the biggest at any rate: Link

Canyonlands: Monster Tower Moab area: all of the above but I still think Sister Superior is the finest of the bunch (haven't done Honeymoon Chimney, though) Sister Superior 10c:

I went to Belize in November which was at the end of the wet season. September would likely see daily rain showers. There are, however, some really affordable and beautiful resorts that would be great for a honeymoon. In the Pine Ridge Area, there is the Five Sisters Lodge, which is a really beautiful place overlooking a waterfall. There are some excursions to Mayan ruins and some modest hiking. We also stayed at the Lamanai Outpost Lodge. This involves a 30 mile boat ride to get to. It is much more expensive but it was in an incredible jungle setting with easy access to some really cool Mayan ruins and nice boating. Check out the websites below. Lamanai Outpost Lodge Five Sisters Lodge I hiked the Inca Trail from the "kilometer 88" starting point back when you didn't need a guide. The first day involved a lot of elevation gain. There are other starting points that are easier hikes but if she is in good shape, the 4 day from km 88 is the best choice. Keep in mind that you would be there during a transitional month and expect some rain. If you are looking for a relaxing time with non-commiting hiking and some cultural excursions, I'd go with Belize. If you are looking for a more adventurous honeymoon, then I'd go with Peru.

I just poached this from RC.COM. I wish I could go, it sounds awesome. Jeff Lowe and OGDEN CLIMBING PARKS announce Cassar Jewelers ClimbFest - Ogden, Utah 2008 A Celebration of Mountain Adventure Art, Literature & Environment. Exhibits from April 3-17 Main Events April 18 & 19 We are hosting a Literary & Arts Festival where attendees can get up close and personal with climbers, authors and artists. Call for art, literature and photo submissions. There will be cash and product awards for literature, art and photography. Please see our website for more information: www.ogdenclimbingparks.com or call us at; (801) 392-9181 An example of some of the featured presentations: Dick Dorworth will be reading segments from his latest book “Night Driving.” There will be celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Pat Ament’s “Master of Rock,” a biography of pioneer boulderer John Gill. Ogden Climbing Parks instructional staff will be running a clinic for the public to teach the basics of bouldering. We will have a cocktail hour at the Grand Ballroom of the Union Station where the winning art will be on display and available for purchase (if not already sold). Books will also be available for purchase. There will also be a silent auction. Dan Schroeder, Chairman of the Ogden Sierra Club will present an idea to preserve open space by securing designated wilderness for the mountains east of Ogden. John Bachar, one of the world’s greatest free climbers will present a slideshow. Get more information and tickets at: www.ogdenclimbingparks.com (801) 392-9181 anastasia@ogdenclimbingparks.com

Deseret News Article I had heard a few years ago that he had some health problems and had quit climbing but I didn't know that is was due to multiple sclerosis. Very sad.

Ken continues to climb hard as an orthopedic surgeon in Fort Collins. He still styles up 5.12 with skills only matched by his modesty. Congratulation on your acceptance. I remember getting the big envelope myself and whooping at the top of my lungs in my apartment stairwell. (For those that don't know, the "Wait Listed" letters always come in regular sized envolopes that really spoil your day.) You're about to enter into one really protracted epic. There will be fun, there will be pain and in the end you're going to have a hell of a story to tell. As for leaving the cc crowd, forget about it. Since leaving Seattle in 2002 I've spent 3 years in Salt Lake City and 3 years in Fort Collins, CO but rarely does a day go by without checking in on cc.com. I just can't get into mountainproject.com. It doesn't help that most of my major climbing objectives are still in the North Cascades. Damn those beautiful mountains.

A -15 synthetic bag doesn't make a lot of sense to me. A synthetic bag that will go that cold will be bulky as all hell and take up most of your alpine pack. Also, if it's that cold it isn't going to be raining, so why buy a synthetic bag? For both of the above reasons I would recommend a down bag for temps that cold. If you're looking for a 3 season bag for the cascades then a bag to 15-20 degrees is usually fine. A synthetic bag works well for these temps, as you're more likely to get rained on and they are still able to be stuffed to a reasonable degree. I recently bought a Mountain Hardwear Ultralamina 35 but they make one for 15 degrees too: Ultralamina 15 I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but it has gotten rave reviews and seems very solid and comfortable on my living room floor.

I lived in Sugarhouse until 2005 and thought it was OK. It's probably the best area as far as vicinity to the stuff you are looking for goes. You could probably find some cheap housing close to the University of Utah as well. The Front is a bouldering gym not far from Sugarhouse where you could easily hook up with climbers. It's a pretty friendly bunch. The other gym is Rockreation, which is down by Black Diamond. A bit of an older crowd and a little more elitist (by some accounts). I never met Brittany, but some of the Blurr-Team babes climb at the Front. B-Team If you are into bouldering, it's year round in Utah. Try to get out to Ibex if the temps are good. If you want to ice climb, here's a link to the conditions: Utah Ice Conditions Did I mention that it was 25 minutes from my doorstep to the lift line at Alta? Don't forget the skis. If you are a brewmeister, be sure to stop by the Beer Nut. Despite the access to the outdoors, I still found their slogan appropriate: Helping you survive Utah! One other thing, if the inversion is in full gear, be sure to bring a gas mask. On a light day... On a day when kids aren't allowed to go out for recess...

This was as close as we got to the ridge: I've heard from others that it is a lot of loose, moderate climbing in a stellar position. Route finding on the North Face was a little tricky but not too bad. We used McLane's Alpine Select mostly and found the topo and description to be pretty good. Getting to the two 5.9 pitches up high was a little confusing. This is a close up on the route with an arrow pointing to the super chossy ramp that wasn't very well described in the book. Traverse around on a ledge to get to it and then tip-toe over loose rock for a full pitch and belay as high as you can in the high right hand corner. Then head out right around the blind corner and straight up to a larger sloping ledge (short pitch) with the next 5.9 pitch in front of you and slightly to the left. (see photo of 5.9 pitch above)

Trip: Nooksack Tower - North Face Date: 8/25/2007 Trip Report: I've been meaning to post this up for awhile but wasn't able to get it done until today. The correct date should be August 2007, but the TR format won't let me use last year's dates. Anyways, on to the story. On my first foray to do Nooksack tower, I was still a North Cascades noob. After a full night of listening to rockslides coming down the glacier, we made it to the edge of the snow before my partner declared he wouldn't be climbing that day. He was right, we really didn't have any business being there at that point in our climbing careers. On the way down I lost both big toe nails from poorly fitting boots and walked the last 2 miles in socks. On the second attempt I never actually left the living room of Sam "Spinal injury" Warren's house. I had decided that after being denied the tower once that we should now add the traverse of Nooksack ridge and tag Shuksan as well. After shouldering the pack necessary to accomplish this feat I immediately dropped the pack back to the floor and we headed off to climb Liberty Crack instead. The plan of climbing Nooksack still smoldered in my mind for years. Not willing to let a mountain beat my ego I eventually conviced myself that I needed to up the ante. I would not settle for the standard Beckey route on Nooksack but would instead take on the North Face and, of course, still plan on the ridge traverse and bagging Shuksan to boot. I needed a victim to dupe...er, I mean inspire! into taking on this challenge. My buddy Rich who is a wiz at hard desert cracks was the perfect person (Moab trip) . I still owed him for the time he fooled me (as well as several other people including both of our wives) into doing a mountain bike circumnavigation of the Henry Mountains in Utah. Only after we crawled back to our cars did he inform us that we had just completed one of the top 6 "climbs from hell" in utah mountain biking. We had kind of figured it out by that point anyway. The fact that Rich really had minimal alpine experience and recently moved to the Omak made it perfect. We arrived at the trailhead to find ourselves in matching orange and black. Team-Nooksack had arrived. We headed off carrying pretty large packs, proceeded to miss the trail down to the river on our way in before backtracking and eventually locating the infamous log crossing. For those who care to follow in fools footsteps, this is a pretty accurate representation of the bashwhacking involved in getting up the wooded slope to the lake. Finally we had our goal in sight. The North Face is along the right side of the tower, starting just left of the snow tongue. We intended on bivying somewhere over the summit near the notch with Nooksack Ridge and then complete the traverse the next day. We made camp just before the snow slopes/glacier crossing to the tower. Running water and a bed of heather made things very comfy. The next day we managed to avoid most of the rocks and ascend over mostly snow to get to the glacier. We traversed to the rocks just below the start of the route and then solo'ed up the choss to the start of the route. Rich is standing on the bivy ledge mentioned in Nelson. Personally I thought it would be pretty exposed to rockfall. The opening pitch had decent 5.8 climbing with good pro. We ran the first few pitches together. There was a lot of fun, moderate climbing. Rich on lead. Still smiling. This is several pitches higher. You can see the faint approach trail along the ridge, just below tree-line. It's best not to descend to the lake at all. Up to this point the climbing is still pretty straight forward and mostly solid. There's a traversing section similar to Mt. Stuart's below the headwall. Soon after this section there is a seriously chossy/shitty traverse up and right that really sucked. From that point Rich led out right around a blind corner and found the first section of 5.9. We both managed to send off car door sized chunks of rock and began to take the route a little more seriously. This is a view of the gargoyle studded ridge which was our next day's objective. This is the next 5.9 pitch, which was longer and quite strenuous when carrying a large alpine pack. There is a bomber blue camalot placement that makes up for some of the dicey smaller placements along the way. Finally we came to the last traversing pitch to the summit. To our surprise, as we came over the ridge we realized we had been shielded by the tower from the gale force winds howling in from the south. We could barely stand up and only spent a few cursory moments entering our names in the summit log before descending towards the notch to get out of the wind. The weather didn't look good at all, but fortunately there are 2 very nice bivy spots about 100 ft below the summit that were well shielded from the wind. We got out our bivy sacks and waited to see what the North Cascades would throw at us. My spot: Rich, still smiling: I apparently really offended the mountain gods, because they threw a wind and rain party for hours before finally deciding that snow was in order. We had run out of water the night before but had no trouble rehydrating off of the 2-3 inches of snow that covered us and everything else. That was the end of our aspirations to climb the ridge and bag Shuksan. We were more concerned at the time of how to climb a hundred feet of verglas encrusted rock and find our way down the Beckey route with about 100 feet of visibility. Rich's bivy the next morning (probably not smiling): Me on belay, while Rich prepares to tackle the verglas: Through our disorientation we ended up descending way climber's left. After several raps off of a single 70m rope we had run out of pitons and found ourselves above an overhang looking down on the Nelson route. After swinging leads, traversing across wet ridges, Rich finally spotted a red sling in the distance. In what seemed like hours later, we finally had the comfort of knowing at least we were on the correct chossy descent route. No pictures were taken for a long time as we made our way down the hundreds of feet of wet rock and then descended the slippery couloir. Lots of crevasse hopping later, we finally made it back to our camp where we shivered in our soaking wet bags through another night. The next day was beautiful and we got one last look at the monster before heading down. The long bushwhack through the now wet foliage was tempered somewhat by the copious blueberries that had somehow been overlooked on the way up. Though denied the grand plan, getting up (and down) the North Face of Nooksack was still a pretty awesome experience. Gotta love Washington climbing. Gear Notes: 1 set of nuts and 0.4 to #3 camalot single set was more than adequate bring pins if you are going to set rapel stations Approach Notes: The trail down to the river is just after the wilderness area sign nailed to a tree. After the log crossing trend up and right to find the "trail". Stay high above the lake and follow the top of the morraine to a good bivy spot before the glacier crossing with running water.

Jens, you could have a real problem. I'm an actual lung doctor, so I know what I'm talking about. If there's anyway you could send me a copy of your x-ray I could give you more specific advice but I would doubt they have the ability to digitalize their x-rays down there. When they say you have fluid on your lungs that could mean 1 of 2 things. Either they are referring to consolidation within the lung from an infection or they may mean that fluid has accumulated outside the lung (between the lung and the chest wall) which is called a pleural effusion. More specifically, if the fluid accumulates due to an infection in the lungs it is called a parapneumonic effusion. This fluid can be very inflammatory which can cause big problems. The worst case scenario is that the fluid itself is infected in which case we call it empyema. This would be extremely bad. The antibiotic that they gave you is very broad spectrum and should cover most bacteria but it was a good idea to use the azithromycin to cover atypical bacteria. Unless you are immune suppressed it's unlikely that you have a fungal infection. If you have an effusion and the fluid is still present then it should be drained. If you let inflammatory fluid sit in the chest for too long walls can form in the fluid and form multiple pockets that can be difficult to drain. A fibrous "peel" can form around the outside of the lung as well. We call this a trapped lung and it can often require surgery to fix. Here's what you should do: get your ass home. If you can't get home right away then get the x-ray and if a pleural effusion is present find a local lung doctor or surgeon and get them to drain it. They should do a fluid analysis and if the fluid looks infected or very inflammatory they may put a tube in to drain the fluid for a few days. If the fluid is already walled off they may consider putting lytics (streptokinase, urokinase or TPA) to try to chew up the walls but they may not have it. If lytics don't work then surgery is usually needed. If there is no effusion but just consolidated lung from pneumonia then the antibiotic and rest may be all that are required, so a lot depends on the x-ray. This is what an effusion looks like in a kid (R=right side): In an adult:

Few have beheld it's mythical splendor...

Depending on how much I can boost my fitness level, I may be willing to make a trip back to the PNW for a shot at this test piece... IZMctuJ_p-M

Next to Laphroaig and Ardbeg the Scotch you recieved are some of the "peatiest" of all scotches. You might see if you can trade them in for some highland scotches that are a lot less peaty than the island/coastal varieties. Glenfinich, Glenlivet and Macallan would be good bets based on your staed preference.

If it's good enough for Men at Work... "I said do you speak'a my language? He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich." n577vbu_Gds