ryland_moore

The guy definitely has some creds. However, he seems like a bit of a media whore, which detracts from his greatest accomplishments, like climbing Everest unguided. Is he doing it for himself or for personal gain to build himself up? You decide. Still, a great ascent of a classic (not hardest) route in NA. I will always remember crossing paths with Steve Schneider (shipoopi) in Punta Arenas, CHile after his solo ascent of a new route (Golazo) on the central tower of Torres del Paine. He was totally laid back about his accomplishment, really quite modeswt, and really didn't want the media to know. He was content with knowing that he set out to do it and did. He did a slide show tour, to help fund his climbing, but you only saw a little blurb in the rags about it, which he did not send in and a clip in the AAC journal back in 1999 - that was it. He was even asking us about our ascents of peaks in Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina, even though they were standard routes, like Polish Glacier, and really nothing more than Emmons glacier type slogs at a much higher altitude. I learned a lot about climbing and see people and how they react to their own accomplishments. Is it a great feat to climb the 7 summits? Sure it is. Does anyone care if you are the 2 person in MN to climb the 7 summits or the 1st person to climb the 7 summits from your business school? I doubt it. It is as if he has to justify himself by placing himself on an imaginary pedestal by creating imaginary categories for his successes. Did you know that I was the first person at my elemetary school to get a thumb tack stuck up my nose? Also the second person that year to accomplish such a feat in my home town. It is unfortunate that this detracts from his accomplishments, but a little bit of humble pie goes a long way. Reminds me a bit of our ol' friend Dan ____........ p.s. Did someone forget to give me the memo that we can't use Mr. ____'s name on cc.com? Mr. H? Dan H.? Danno? Dan the Man Howitzer, Dannimal? You enter his name, and the computer mods automatically strike his last name out Dan your last name rhymes with Dowitt but the first letter is an H? I am just trying to see what the mods will accept here. Sorry for the thread drift.......

Not sure if this has been psoted or not, but fill out if you have the time. Could be some good info. and is backed by Access Fund. http://bonesaw.srnr.arizona.edu/climbing/naclimbsurvey.php

NOLS is pretty solid. I know a lot of folks who have guided for them over the years. Also look at Wilderness Ventures, in Jackson, WY. I used to work for them. They have an awesome course up in Alaska for high school kids where you spend 10 days sea kayaking in Prince William Sound and then another 10 days backpacking in the Talkeetna Mountains. I loved guiding this course. They also have one for older kids that is a 3 week backpacking trip in the N. Cascades/Pasayten Wilderness with a resupply along Ross Lake. They have trips that deal with the Rockies, Tetons, AK, and of course the PNW. Not as international as NOLS, smaller oppoeration, but not as expensive either.

Man, that really sucks. I didn't know him well, but chatted with him often in the summer climbing at the local sport crags in Jackson often. He was always willing to chat with you and answer questions about his latest projects, ski descents, and journeys. Pretty humble man for what he had accomplished. I know he got a lot of people in to steep skiing and ski mountaineering. He will be greatly missed......RIP Doug

I think you have your coordinates mixed up. Cooke City is the NE entrance to Yellowstone, which in my opinion, is the best route in Yellowstone as it goes over Beartooth Pass and is the highest maintained road in the US at over 11,000'. It is also your best opportunity to see wolves and bears. The Boiling River is a subset of Mammoth Hotsprings and can be reached either through the NE entrance or the N entrance. Not from the West which is in a town called West Yellowstone and is really far south. It is also a good fall or early spring fishing spot as the "boiling River" flows into the Gardner River and there are huge cutts waiting for your fly.... Nice TR!

Why not the regular Polish Glacier route? The Polish Direct is rarely in condition and typically is bullet-proof ice up to 70 degrees. Why would you do this or the walk-up False Polish that traverses over to the Normal Route, when you have a great route like the regular Polish glacier right there?

Check her out! Show on the travel channel from 11pm-12am. Dude she is as hot as her pics indicate

Congrats! Won't you have to make an honest woman of her first before trying to get her back to the U.S.? I had a friend who married his girlfriend over in the Phillippines two years ago and his wife is still not back yet!!!! He is so frustrated, but it is now a really big hassle and he is going broke flying over there three times a year just to visit her. Ever since 9/11, things have been really hard getting through all of the red tape. I wish you luck. I'd recommend you get a lawyer asap to help you through this.

I've done the route at the end of May fwiw. This year, if the winter continues, you should have no problem.

Is that why they call you Dirty? Becasue you have the runs all the time?

Agreed. Ashw_justin, like you said, you've never been there, so you really have no basis for opinion. I climbed the WB in 2003 in mid-May and have to say it was more beautiful then any climbs in the N. Cascades, Tetons, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, or Argentina that I've done. There is just nothing like it in the world. And if you think you can walk up Denali like you can the Emmons, then by all means, go for it. I've been alot higher than 20,320' before and that was the hardest "dog route" I've ever summitted. When we were up there Barry Blanchard and crew used the WB to summit for their acclimation for the Cassin, so limiting WB summit permits wouldn't work either. Also, the NPS is doing a lot to keep the mountain clean, but there are still people who disobey and will leave crap and trash on the mountain. It is not a perfect world. The more people, the more trash and crap. Tell someone who is pinned down at 14k or 17k for a week with 60 mph winds and temps -30 to go shit in a pit and see how many out of a few hundred at 14k will do so. When you are worried for your own safety, which can often happen on Denali, WB included, then the last thing on your mind is that you make sure you get your CMC business all taken care of or that you make sure you dig up your cache of trash before you sprint to lower elevations to escape with your life. We had a lot of people when we were there and it wasn't even peak season. Adding another 300 people is a lot. If you do not plan at least 6 months in advance, it makes sense that you shouldn't be going in the first place or just wait until next year. The mountain isn't going anywhere. Our society is so self-centered and about instant gratification. This is one instance where the greatest good is not about you, but about one of the most beautiful places in the world remaining just that. As for people attempting other routes like South Side, I am sure the NPS will have unwritten exceptions. Also, a question posed earlier, the total number is not for a two month window, but for the entire year. The tally starts running on January 1, I assume. There will never be all 1,500 people on the mountain at the same time. I would suspect if that would be the case, they would have to reduce the limit even further. Just having 400-500 people on the mountain at the same time is a lot.

PeakBetty - all of this is good. Asuming you are a newbie climber, I am also assuming you are a newbie backpacker with the list of stuff you are wanting to purchase (tent, stove, filter, etc.). Everyone starts out somewhere and thinks they need all of this gear, when in reality, you can get by with a lot less. I own a filter and bet I have not used it once in the last three years and I am out climbing almost every weekend in the spring and summer. I use iodine tablets or that little bottle you fill up and put a cap full in a nalgene. I've used these on 2 week backpacking trips and been fine. If getting a stove, go lite with the jetboil or something similar. Same with your rack. You will only need a small rack and can combine with partners you climb with. I do not have a full rack and can always comingle with partners. Just make sure you mark your gear or you may end up losing it like some poor cc.comer was complaining about recently. Just remember, whatever you take, you have to carry. If you don't bring it along on a regular basis, do you really need it? Most of the routes a newbie will be doing will not be gear specific and you will have multiple options for gear placements at almost every point you want to throw something in, so no need to buy a full rack anyway starting out.

I think this is a good thing. ALthough, when I climbed it in mid-May, the hordes of climbers had yet to arrive, but we saw what was ahead on our descent with the camps at 14k and 11k tripling to quadrupling in size from when we were there. Although public lands, it is amazing how easy it is to exceed an area's carrying capacity and it seems like the NPS has done a good thing along with the CMCs to keep the mountain as prisitine as possible while also keeping climbers' healths a focus.

Sounds like you thought it through. Not like you are drytooling Smiff tuff on some super-famous manufactured route anyways. Good luck on The Trip!

Damn, I think after RoadHead's post (who I might add also hides behind an anonymous name), I will go out there and chop the bolt again just because he acts like an idiot and seems like a total dick and really just to piss him off........ Sure you didn't lose it your your goatee old man? Or maybe forget that it was never there and you are starting to get a little senile? Relax moron.....

My bad, Tex! I forgot you moved to Vegas to clip bolts and work for an all-male revue pretending you were from Australia. Hiding behind med. school as your front didn't last long!!!

I'd contact Mike over at Backcountry Sports. He has been around those columns for a long time and will know exactly what is acceptible practice there. Are you absolutely positive no one has ever tried to free the crack? Is it over to the right of the main climbing? You are talking about Skinner's Butte yes? If Mike says that it is not a good idea to be pounding in blades, ask him where a good place to do so would be.....Texplorer from this board, although living in Texass, would also be a good resource. Also, once the snow clears head up to Wolf Rock and do some of those aid lines. Pretty spicey!

The southern Pickets are way more remote than the Torres or Fitzroy/El Chalten!!!

I mentioned TC becasue that is about the only place you climb consistently. If the comment was made by DFA, I would have said, "why don't you leave Smiff and head down and check 'er out then?" Or if it were Dru, I would have said, "Why don't you leave your computer and check 'er out then" or if Mikey Layton, I would have said," Why don't you leave Da Toof and head down and check 'er out then".......... So uptight about a place that isn't all that good in a worldly sense.....

markd, the only reason I mentioned TC is becasue A5 is there every weekend, both climbing and cleaning est. routes. No jab, just heard you climb at TC from Chad W all the time and I simply said, check out Patagucci. It is an awesome place when the weather cooperates! Yeah, tough to armchair it from a picture when you can't see what the route looks like above. If it is dangerous and loose, then by all means bolt the crack for protection. I doubt anyone would take the time to place a bolt in an environ like that unless absolutely neccessary, although that does not stand true for the Compressor Route, now does it...

AFIVE, maybe you should go down there and send it in full trad style and take a break from Trout Creek then??

I am relaxed. Just chuckling at the recreational darwinist move you had and had to poke a little fun. Glad you are o.k. and that the ice didn't come down on you while on route. Patience is a virtue.....

Ah, the perils of trying to push it when the ice is not "in". Had two friends out there yesterday looking at it in the morning and said it was definitely not in climbing condition. It is your fault, so drive the measly 20 mins. and go get the rope yourself! At least you will get practice jugging for aid this summer! Doubt if anyone is dumb enough to climb it today with temps getting above freezing.........

A very, very, long ski/skin, snowshoe in

Go check it out and report back! I am swamped with work, otherwise I'd head up there with ya. Shouldn't be too hard to recruit with this weather window. Mountain looked awesome in alpenglow this evening while riding the max across the steel bridge...