ryland_moore

Yeah, and so is Lee Vining! Better ice down there than Pac NW this year!

Sorry, Mt. High is Pete, but I was out with Pete_A, another Pete, and just happened to meet Mt. High Pete while skinning up.

Headed up to top of Palmer twice this weekend. Poor conditions in a whiteout on Saturday and Sunday windy down low but beach bum weather higher up! Got to meet Mt. High and Pete and I got in a good sufferfest Saturday in chilling winds. You gotta love skiing in a whiteout when you feel like you are moving, but you really aren't and all of a sudden you fall over for no reason even though you have been standing still for the last 20 seconds? You all know what I mean! Pete_A dug some test pits Saturday evening and we couldn't even separate an area before the slab released! Saw some natural avis up near Devil's Kitchen on the S. Side as well. Should settle soon with this weather I assume.

Hope the wind dies down and the snow settles a bit. Pete A and I were digging some test pits late Saturday night and things were definately not settled! Saw a natural avi that released near Devil's Kitchen on Hood Sunday morning. Two sled necks were killed in Idaho in an avi over the weekend. Enjoy the climb and be careful up there!

Pete A and I will be up there Saturday and Sunday.

I guess we'll find out!

Heading to Missoula next weekend for a wedding. Know anyone needing a partner? Ever bump into a guy named Brad Condra? Is it worth trying to find some ice around Missoula or better to head south to Mt. State country?

I am not as much of a fan of the rings as I am of the fingerboard. Since you already have a membership at the gym, I would use theirs. I also find that bouldering gives me the confidence to make moves while on lead thT I may not otherwise have tried. It doesn't do much for my endurance though, and have found myslef getting sucked into the comraderie and social side of the bouldering scene at the gym, only to find out that I can't lead anything longer than 60 ft! Finding the mix is best, building strength, endurance by doing laps and a little bouldering and also traverses (similar to laps) until you can no longer hold onto the largest buckets in the gym......Then repeat everything above! I'm right there with ya Jason. See you in the gym Monday?

Music Museum, IMAX, SPace Needle, etc.

I agree with RuMR on this. Polish Bob has never to my knowledge talked Twightish. There are a lot of climbers out there who are bad-ass in my book, yet you've never heard about them b/c they don't say shit. For example, there's a guy down here in Eugene named Kimball, but you'd never know he can climb 5.14 and you've never seen him or heard about him unless you spend time at Smith, Mt. Charleston, or Rifle. Also, two years ago, some bad ass ice climbers were doing some mixed routes in CO, and a guy walked up with really used looking gear and sporting a Star Trek t-shirt. He walked right up to this sick climb and proceeded to boulder out a V-5 with gloves and crampons over a thin ice covering a freezing cold stream and then sent the hard M8 problem when the others couldn't do it. There are a lot of these folks. They just don't send their info in to quick flashes. I guess you can talk a big game and not perform which is what PB is getting at. I've even found myslef guilty of this from time to time. Wishing and wanting to be able to do something and actually doing it are two different things. I do disagree with him on what people out there are doing. I think, because of this mentality of being humble, a lot that is going on is rarely heard about until it happens. Anyone done that hard 5.13 trad line on Monkey Face yet from the ground up or has it still not seen a first ascent without pre-paced gear? There's a proj. from someone. Not me as I was throwing myself at .11s last weekend, and left more frustrated than ever before. My two cents.

I think a WA man tried to solo it last year and never showed up at the trailhead of S. Sister when his Dad came to try and pick him up. Never found his body if I recall. Iain, got any comments?

How about tracking Erden's progress to Denali?

I am still not clear if these folks were "hikers" or "climbers". I think the media sometimes portrays climbers as hikers and vice-versa. I always think of a hiker as anyone who is on a trail and in relative safety, and a climber as anyone who is on rock or ice. If these folks are climbers, then they definately new about the weather coming in and should be equiped for a Rainier storm. If they were actually attempting a summit, they have larger cajones than me, as I tucked my tail b/w my legs as soon as heard about the weather for this weekend. Even if these folks were generally knowledgeable about the mountain, and happened to be up near Muir, they might know about the hut and are hunkered down in there or at least a snow cave, waiting for the storm to pass. Hope they are well, and being an eternal optimist, I am sure they are fine, just miserable in this snow dump. Best of luck and sending warm wished their way.....

Or tell those od us training for Denali that it would be good for them to strap the keg to their sleds as part of their training!

After skyline ridge (with the sky dive?) finish, we headed over to play on Chicken McNuggets, Bluelight Special, and finished off the day with the 10c on river face to Solar link-up. Good day, but crazy drive back over Santiam Pass with all the cars and SUVs flipped over! Sounds like an awesome weekend John!

I know jja was heading up there, but doubt if they are back yet, being a 3 day weekend and all.

Muffy, you getting your feathers ruffled over another woman moving in on your men?

No snow at all until just before Santiam Pass. I was up at 5,000k last Saturday off Highway 22 X-C skiing and we actually had to take our skis off in sections because of the lack of snow. Depending on how cold it gets the next few days, there cold be snow down at McKenzie Bridge.

Yellowstone is in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, but just barely.

Got a used pair of Dynafit TLT 4S that you don't want or want to bump up a grade? Let me know!

Hey Bone, not to be picky, but Cook City is in Montana at the NE entrance of Yellowstone and on the other side of beartooth pass from Red Lodge, MT. As for ice in Jackson, there is actually some decent waterfall ice in the area. Also, Jackson right now probably has more descent snow than almosty anywhere in the Rockies except maybe Snowbird, unless you go to Snowshoe, WV where they are getting dumped on. CHeck out this PDF .

My Bad!

Bone, it comes down to priorities. You can ditch school to climb at Hyalite for a 4 day weekend but not a winter ascent of Rainier, is that it?

He lives in Telluride-Home of avalanches! I woulod still prefer to climb down there a little later, or earlier depending on how you look at it......