Alasdair

Knotting slings of any kind significantly weakens them. That does not mean it should never ever be done, but if you can avoid it you should. In almost all cases there is something you can do other than use a knotted sling. As far as the really good climber thing goes. I would not assume that because a climber is really good that they understand technical systems. Over the past several years I have seen some pretty questionable stuff done by climbers who are on the top of the game in climbing right now.

yep photos are here... http://alasdairturner.blogspot.com/2009/11/mt-foraker-sultana-ridge-photos.html

It can be done car to car in a day if you are fit and dont have route finding issues.

Sorry, no nakedness, just a little shameless self promotion.

Nice! Not exactly climbing, but im partial to this National Geographic photo. National Geographic

FYI the folks in Marblemount are not going to give you the frequencies. They dont want people on them. They are not that hard to get however.

Hey Mark, HAM radios have become a standard tool for the guiding industry. If you need to have an emergency device of some sort and you dont want to pay a subscription fee then HAM radios are the cheapest option for emergency use. I own one of the Yaysu units and it not easy to learn to use, but despite what Rad said there is no where in the North cascades that you cant hit someone with that radio. Truth is if you have aviation traffic you can always contact them (understanding of course that it would piss off the FCC).

This should answer most of your questions. If you have any more feel free to PM me. http://alasdairturner.blogspot.com/2009/03/this-is-article-i-wrote-few-months-ago.html

The D300 works great on Denali. You can get by with 3 new batteries fully charged. If you are really worried about it pick up a battery grip and use Lithium AA batteries as a back up. Cold could theoretically cause problems with the LCD, but I have never heard of it happening, and it is much more likely that a little bump of the LCD while cold breaks it vs. the cold all on its own breaking it. I have used the D300 in temps below -40 and not had issues. Dont keep the camera warm. Cold does not bother electronics, mositure and heat can. If you keep it in your jacket or some other warm place you camera will get moisture issues. Do not keep the camera in your tent. Keep it in you backpack in the vestbule (sp?) You do not really need to take the batteries in and out unless they dont have much charge. Keep one fully charged battery for summit day.

Ok here are a couple... Someone else liked Bolivia, so I will add a couple from my trip down there. Condoriri Base Huayna Potosi And one from back at home.

How long does it take for this stuff to form up. It looks like this week will keep pretty cold. Any chance hubba hubba could be a go on Sunday?

Any idea what the climbs up icicle look like? is there any stuff forming right now? Im looking for some low angle slabs for some toprope sessions. Something 3ish

Best part is being outside. Worst part is sitting in the rain on mt. baker trying to teach things while you are cold and so is everyone else. Money is not great but despite what most people say, you can make a living out of it. You will be pretty broke you first year or so. Flexible schedule depends on who you work for. Your schedule will be more flexible as you become more senior. IFMGA is not a must, but a willingness to get on the AMGA track probably is. Many guiding companies will not hire without some sort of cert. FYI: guiding is not climbing. If you want to teach what you love to others then its for you, but don't expect to be killing it on gnarly routes with clients because not its not likely to happen. That being said I have had some great times in the mountains with clients.

Thanks Dane, I have to say I have always thought you can be kind of a dick in your posts. The truth is however you actually provide useful and worthwhile content to this site which is something a whole lot of other people do not. The totally needless and worthless comments added by people who think they need to post, but don't really know shit is likely the reason some of the more respected members of CC.com have left.

Hmmm, at least in the conditions that I found them in, doing Triple Couloirs with the crux waterfall pitches was miles easier and far less technical (WI 4 when we did it) than continuing up the North Face. From the top of the Hidden Couloir we climbed 3, 60 meter pitches of difficult rock climbing (5.7 in summer was our guess). The North Face bowl was compact rock slabs with 1/4" of snice and zero opportunities for pro until the exit pitches which were more rock climbing (again about 5.7 in summer). I know an accomplished climber who had the same opinion and rated this version at M4 (Darin Berdinka or Jens Klubberud, can't remember who said it). Conditions are everything. It was on par with Colchuck NEB when I did it.

Chair peak Leuthold Colchuck NEB are all good choices. Others might be the coulior route on South early winters. For slightly more advanced you can do Dragontail Triple Coulior 1st coulior to the top and then take the upper north face to the summit. This makes for a really big feeling route, that is not really that technical. (do some of the other routes first) Also have a look at some of the routes on Mt. Joffre up in BC. The north ridge of baker is pretty good also, but get some ice climbing leading in first.

Here you go. This was shot yesterday...

I use a combination of Petzl Sum tech and a cobra for a second tool. You really do need a mountain axe. You need to be able to plunge a shaft and build quick anchors using your ice axe. As a second too use an ice tool. Be careful not to get too long of a mountain axe. An ice axe is not a walking stick. If you buy at a lenght that allows you to use it for that it will be very limited when you try to use it for climbing. Take a look at the Sum Tech or the givel air tech evo with the thumb slider.

I use both. Screws often melt out pretty fast. On hot summer days I will use 2 threads.

Down is totally fine in the cascades. You do need to be a little more careful, but thats life. I am out in crappy weather more than most people and I would not think of buying a synthetic bag. I have done numerous trips where it rained pretty much constantly for 5 days and although it sucked pretty badly, my sleeping bag did not get wet because I was careful. Down lasts longer and is warmer for the weight.

You should have no problems getting across the Colman Glacier. It has been in great shape all year. You can cross the glacier this late almost any year with out too much of an issue if you stay low until you are directly below the ridge and then climb up to it. The majority of people who have problems crossing the colman glacier traverse up too high. There could be some issues getting down the upper colman just below colfax peak due to the shrund that forms up there. it was gettgin pretty big last time I was there.

Pick up a few different lengths of knife blades and you should be fine for pitons.

Here are some photos of the summit pyramid of shucksan alasdairturner.blogspot.com It was warm and rainy the next day, but I would be surprised if all of the snow is gone. There was a lot.

Thanks Joseph. This statement is exactly correct. I work with the folks in the birding community, and they know this, and like it or not the climbers are the ones they blame for failed nests. Thats why we need to be extra careful about being good citizens when we are in area with closures.

So I dont really check the site too often, but I just noticed this. I have no interest in getting involved in the Beacon Rock arguments so back to the original postings. There are two birds the climbers in the northwest really need to think about. The peregrine is the most common, and there is a ton of known research and studies about them. If the bird scientists say 500ft then there is probably a good reason for it. I personally find it enjoyable to see peregrines at climbing areas and the closures are not that big of a deal. If you are super pissed off that one climbing area is closed due to birds you need to branch out a little more and think about climbing some routes you have never climbed before. Golden Eagles are another bird that cliffs are getting closed for. I have done some work with these birds so I know a little more about them. Goldens need a much bigger closure area than peregrines. So its possible the Zion closures are for them. If a golden eagle sees you heading to toward a nest the adult will often leave the nest before you ever see them. They will not return until you are done climbing so it is entirely possible a climber could cause a golden eagle nest to fail without ever seeing the bird. One trip to a cliff with a golden eagle nest could be the end of the chicks. There is a nest at China Bend here in Washington that has failed for the last 7 years due to climbers. There is also a very healthy population of goldens at Tieton, and a couple at smith. I have been working directly with the raptor biologist for WA fish and wildlife so if anyone has any specific questions let me know. Just to clarify everyone elses answers, yes almost all birds are protected under the migratory species act.