ryland_moore

I think the hardest thing to do is not necessarily arresting the fall, but setting the anchor while in arrest position. You will have to get out your picket, set a deadman and transfer the weight from your harness to a prussik on the rope. If you've never done this before, you will need to learn. Remember that time is everything when someone is down in the hole and injured. Hypothermia can set in quite rapidly if you are unable to extract your partner in a reasonable time (assuming he/she is unable to extract themselves by prussiking back up. Also, I have heard, but never visually observed, people tying butterfly knots every few feet in the rope when travelling in a two man rope team. The theory is that when one partner goes in, the knots will catch in the snow on the lip of the crevasse and reduce or prevent your partner from going further in. This of course would only theoretically work if the glacier was not dry. In August, this may be a moot point.

Anyone done the Emmons route in August? I've been on the route plenty of times but only in April, May, and June. Is the glacier typically a dry glacier? Tough crevasse negotiating? Icy? Or is it better to do the DC this time of year? WHat's Interglacier like? Every time I've been on it there were no crevasses visible. Thanks for any general info.

Ptarmigan Traverse. Nothing else needed to say.....

Are any of those even boobies? I know the first one is a frgate bird and the last is an albatross. At least put some real boobies in there!

Depends on when you want to go, but the Elliot Glacier on Mt. Hood is awesome for ice bouldering, lowering down into crevasses and practicing crevasse rescue. It opens up a little more later in the summer and is usually dry by August/September.

I climbed it in January 1999. Getting onto the route was a bit dicey, but after that, it was straight going. I have heard that it has melted out considerably. I would call the local guides down there, but if you are going with an expeirenced climbing partner, then it is no more difficult than doing the FInger on Rainier. When I was down there it was more like the Emmons with less crevasses and higher altitude. Acclimating will be more difficult. Acclimate on other volcanoes like El Cayambe and Cotapaxi, then stay at the lower hut and move up to the upper hut. There is also an amazing estancia built back in the 1700s that you can stay at for around $15, but then again I was there when the revolt occurred and they switched to American $ and shut down all of Quito. One of my fraternity brothers owns a hostel and internet cafe there in New Town Quito called The Magic Bean. Cool place to stay when in QUito with a lot of trekkers and internet cafes......Also, after climbed Chimbo, head to the town of Banos for some soaking in the hot springs. Just outside of town, there is a bridge (near the zoo I think) across a dep canyon. Just on the other side is a little farm. You can pay the farmer 50 cents to let you hike down across his property to some awesome sport climbing down in this deep gorge. Crazy basalt (no cracks) and quartzite in the area with a raging river cutting just to the right of you.

Don't forget that Erik (previous mod here) and his partner did the complete N. Ridge car to car in a day (a Loooong day!), so the complete N. Ridge is doable in two days for sure.

I am assuming the fall occurred on the way down???? Might be the first fatality on this route if it were on the way up. Anyone have more details? My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends....

Anyone know any more details?????

Great pic of Anabelle dropping the kids off at the ice rink! As for sleds, do not buy a $500 sled. I built mine for $50 and it works awesome. I took it to Denali and even attached a Back Off Yosemite Sam mudflap attached to the back. It was a long orange kiddy sled. I took aluminum 1/2" conduit poles and used a bar bender to bend them at the end. I drilled a hole on each side of the front of the sled for the aluminum stays to slide into. Then I attached the two ends of the 1/2" poles by sliding them into a 9" piece of 3/4" aluminum. I drilled two holes for each side and bolted it on. Then for the straps up and down the sled, I just drilled holes in the side and attached buckles on 1" webbing. The poles going up to my harness were fixed w/ biners and wrapped with wire and duct tape to hold them to the poles. I did not have a single problem skiing down with it, even when fully loaded after we summitted and headed down ski hill. It tracked well. I'll post pics soon.

Yeah, we heard about this before heading up there, so we just put little bottles of hand sanitizer around. In the butt tape bag, in the pots bag, in my bowl and spoon bag, and it seemed to work. It's not like you could ever really wash your hands while you are up there, so the study does make sense. We also didn't eat that much freeze-dried stuff though, until we went above 14k. We also went earlier in the season when there were not as many climbers on the mountain, so that may also have had an effect on our results...

If you could do either, I'd say do the ID as it is more aesthetic..... I'd actually scrap both of them and do the Emmons for a better glacier experience. It is easier, I think than DC or ID and is the largest glacier in the lower 48.

wfinley, well said. Sure "dog routes" will attract a lot of people, but if you go earlier in the year , like we did, the crowds are no worse than Rainier on the EMmons for a weekend. Boring? Being in one of the most beautiful ranges in the world boring? Maybe I have a different perspective, but I've climbed in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Mexico, not to mention all over the western U.S. and find that the Alaska Range is by far the most beautiful I have had the pleasure to be in by FAR!!!!!! So, if you think this image is boring, then maybe you should stick to your local crags and leave the Alaska Range to me and my friends. Sounds more like sour grapes that you didn't summit so you have to make yourself feel better by putting it down as not that big a deal. I had an awesome experience with good friends, up and down in 15 days and stellar weather. Also, maybe if you slowed down a little and took some time to acclimate and enjoy your surroundings, you'd have a different perspective........Boring? Let cc.com be the judge!

I guess nobody has ever accused climbers of being good spellars (Muffy), but if you are going to talk about a climber as your friend you should at least spell his name right as it is Shipoopi and Schneider.......

I will start off by saying congrats to Danielle and think it is a great accomplishment to climb and experience those mountains. As having climbed Denali and Aconcagua, I would not take those experiences back for anything in the world and find it awesome that she is putting her energy into something like this. However, I have a real problem with her using ADD as if it were some type of physical deformity or terminal illness. As having been diagnosed with ADD back in highschool, I can say that yes it does have some attention issues, but in no way hinders my climbing. If anything, I focus all the more. I only took meds for less than a year before a friend of mine died from a ritalin overdose. Since then I have learned to deal with it, which was not very hard after a while, (and feel a little like my doctor was blowing ADD way out of proportion)and my grades were never affected. Danielle speaks on her website like she has been diagnosed with some serious disease or serious life-threatening illness (almost like someone told her she was "special" and made excuses for her at an early age)when in reality, it is not that big of a deal - at least like many doctors and the drug companies have made it out to be. Danielle should just stick with climbing for climbing's sake and forget about whatever ailment plagues her. Being blind and summitting E and the other 6 summits is a huge deal, a female 20 year old with ADD is not, but a cool accomplishment that I'd love to experience none the less.

Congrats bone! So does this mean your Yos days are over and you will now be a plastic pullin', Smiff hoe?

Sounds like everyone behind the slow party who is bitching is at fault. Who cares if they were over their heads? Are you pompous asses telling me you've never been over your head on any climb? And if so, then how the hell do you ever improve? I always try to push myself on harder climbs and try to climb above my abilities and with people who are better/stronger than I am. Screw anyone else who is behind me and refuses to pass, but then bitches about it later. Get up earlier, climb something else, and quit whining like little pussies and look up for a moment and actually enjoy where you are. If not, stay inside at the gym and pull plastic. Good work to the "slow" group and I think it is awesome you are pushing yourselves.

I ran into Eric at a wedding yesterday at Smith Rock and he said he was doing a slide show/video of mixed climbing and alpine climbing from the Canadian Rockies and Andes next weekend. Highlights include a video of his climb of the Emperor Face on Robson. He stated that the night will be filled with "Epic Tales, Humerous Times, and Mtn. Culture." It is 7:30pm on Saturday night at Mountain Supply, 834 NW Colorado St (Mt. Bachelor exit from Hwy 97). He is requesting a $5 donation at the door which will be given to the Ben Moon (www.Moonfoto.com) Cancer Fund. As many of you know, Ben was diagnosed with colon cancer and had no way to pay medical bills. There was a very successful fundraiser last fall at Barcelona's in Bend for Ben, but there are still bills he accrues as he deals with ongoing radiation treatment. So, if you all are climbing at Smith, come down to Bend for a few beers, dinner, a fundraiser for a good cause, and what looks to be an amazing presentation by one of the best alpine/mixed climbers in the world. Ryland Eric and Phillip Pellet on Robson

Thinking of taking 7-10 days off at the end of July for a climbing trip. How's the weather in the Bugs typically that time of year or is it better to wait until later in August? Other suggestions if the Bugs are wet this time of year?

So, is this near Milton-Freewater or is it in Washington? Maybe the pass heading from Pendleton over to Wallowa? Near that little ski resort? I work over in Pendleton and Lostine/Enterprise on a regular basis and would love to break up the drive from Portland!!

Just for the future, 9 times out of 10, when there are high winds down low, AND you have clear weather above, the winds stop at around 10k or so. If you can just push through the lower elevation winds on the S. SIde it can be really calm up high. Just a comment. At least you were outside with beautfilu views!!!

Smith was awesome weather! (well at least to the north of it about 45 mins. was!)

I wouldn't want a bag that light in early May. Maybe if you were going in early June, but it is regularly much colder than that higher up in early May. Your call though. The Millet Everest one sports should not need a special liner or they may already come with them..

Re: Fixed anchors up Denali Pass: It depends! In 2003, there were a ton of fixed pickets you could clip into on the way up. That was late May and I loved having them there. Last year, my roomate summitted in early June after 7 days in a storm at 17k. No signs of any pickets, but they could have been buried after the storm. SO, go like they are not there and bring the gear necessary to protect this section and get lucky if the gear is there. My two cents.

AK, just use regular lightweight polypro from REI for your top and bottom. You will be in this up to 11k or 14k depending on temps and time you will be there. Then adda medium weight layer on top of this. The union suit from Feathered Friends is the best I've seen and all AK vets swear by it. As for boots, look into getting intuition liners to see if the added warmth will be enough.