mattp

It probably the most easily accessed climb on an 8,000 foot North Cascade Peak there is at this time of the year. The brush in the basin below the basin below the glacier will still be mostly covered, and if you're having trouble side-hilling on the snowshoes it is little problem to drop down and proceed up the flatter terrain on the valley floor. For more discussion, run a search for old threads.

Doolittle, Like Stephan, I've been there. I have made arguments similar to yours in the past, but I believe you are not entirely correct. That CAN be the reality, but it is not necessarily so. There are a variety of climbers who go to climb large mountains for a variety of reasons and choose to do so in a variety of styles. There are a variety of guiding services, too. Yes, self-contained alpine-style climbs of big Himalayan peaks, and planning one's own expedition, are both admirable accomplishments. They are fairly rare, however, and in fact I bet the truth of the matter is that most people who do this are independently wealthy or sponsored or both.

I realize that you folks are talking about harder climbs, but Midway, at 5.6, has 4" and 12" cracks and is a good beginner's primer on the subject even though they are customarily "cheated" by face climbing around them.

By the way, the author has bought a house in NE Seattle and is looking for a roommate in his 2-bedroom pad. He'll be gone a lot, but every once in a while you'll be able to ply him for the beta (good luck getting any useful information, but he's a great guy and definitely good for grins).

That approach up Silver Star Creek is pretty much always nasty and Delaney Ridge is usually a little bare. Don't worry, folks, for those who want to ski, there will be plenty. Negativity is bad for our sport!

I think I'd rather had the Whitaker doll that is on display in the Paradise visitor's center. Its a collector's item - something you could pass down to your kids.

Nice attempt to corner me, Fairweather, but I did not and I have never said "all's well in Kosovo." As I have said, in at least three posts now, I do not pretend to know all or even really very much about that particular episode in our history. I am only trying to understand why the right wing keeps waving it as exhibit number one as to how Bill Clinton was a terrible president when, based on everything else I have ever heard about it, it was not an utter failure in American foreign policy or even a mistake. (Let me say for at least the fourth time - I don't pretend to know all that much other than what I have seen in the mainstream press.) You have not answered my question.

Welcome back, Mr. Fairweather. Now please explain to me WHAT IS THE BIG PROBLEM YOU HAVE WITH OUR INVOLVEMENT IN KOSOVO? (And how would such reservations or criticisms NOT apply to our actions in Iraq?)

That would mean that it'd be pretty full for Greg's April 7 date, too. Maybe we should have a warm-up event somewhere. And then a weekend in Mazama, another at Smiffy, .... we could all quit our jobs and abandon our families and it'd be all .com-all the time.

I have no problem with a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday. I'd push for a few weeks later so that we'd have a little longer daylight and better chance that it will be warm outside.

Icegirl - May 4 would be about right. We did it in early May last year, and the daylength was about perfect. We held it on a Tuesday night, on the theory that nobody would want to devote a weekend evening to such an event and that space in the Park would be easier to come by then. We had a barbeque and then slides started around 8:30 or so if I remember correctly. I've cruised by Woodland Park and they have power outlets and a sink in some of the picnic shelters there, so that might also be an option, but last year we decided that the picnic shelters at Magnuson might be a better place for us because they are more remote.

Scott, thank you too. Putting together this and Murray's posts, I get a picture of a messy situation in a messy part of the world, where it is hard to figure out who is who. With the support and general agreement of pretty much all our allies, we intervened, although it is a messy situation in a messy part of the world and it had at least some unintended consequenes and everything didn't come out perfect. I still don't get what the big right-wing beef is here.

Murray - Thanks for the history. Like others, I don't know the history of that particular conflict. I still don't get what the right-wing beef about it is, though.

Yeah. Let's dump some of those tom-ay-to's and overcount the tom-ah-to's and we can have our guy move into the White House instead of theirs.

For pick--up partners, I find that I usually do well to look for parties of three. You still gotta ask about what their interest and experience level may be, but I tend to do much better checking out parties of three who are obviously headed off to climb something than asking lone climbers who are just hanging around.

Nobody bagged on Dwayner for being overzealous.

Lets see: were there two or three people in that "mass?"

That crook Nixon wanted to set up a national health insurance system and he was into appeasement with his China policy. What a scoundrel.

There is not yet a more favorable government place there but, like you say, time will tell. Can you explain what the big travesty about our Kosovo policy was? Did we kill more people there than we have in Iraq? Is that it? I seriously don't understand the constant cry of "remember Kosovo?"

He's right. The guy's most frequently attacking him are far from the strongest climbers around here.

JoshK- That's what I don't get. What is these guy's beef with Kosovo? (1) Not a single American soldier died. (2) The bad guy's gone and there a more favorable government in place (?). (3)It appears that we stopped lots of bloodshed. These statements don't apply to Iraq.

I thought it was kind of cool that you could drive to the foot of Johannesburg, and look up at that monster of a face - that and Shuksan are just about the only alpine things you can see from the car in the North Cascades. I'm sorry guys with all your bravado, but I don't agree at all. The temporary closure of that road is a temporary loss. If you wanted the same kind of "solitude," all you would ever have to do is to hike that same extra four or five miles, whether or not from that same parking lot. Open your minds, and you'll see that there are other peaks in the Cascades besides Sahale and Forbidden. The drive up and smoke a cigarette people, or the day-hikers who make it to Cascade Pass only, deserve just as much of a North Cascades experience as you do.

I find exit 32 plenty interesting for an evening after work. If we're talking about something along the lines of "pubclub goes climbing," which we did last Summer, it'd be a good choice (better after daylight savings go into effect). Leavenworth, Vantage, Darrington, or maybe Squamish would be better choices if we're talking about an overnight - and of course Smith was loads of fun last Fall.

Thad, if you hate to be a dick there is nobody forcing you to be so. In my opinion, a one-post interjection by Distel is an unnecessary distraction in this thread, but a snippy retort from you just makes it worse. Darin- A several thousand foot rise in freezing level is generally not a good sign but, as you point out, there will not be a lot of new snow. Particularly if it is clear overnight, and you make your climb early in the day before the sun gets anywhere near your climb (assuming you're not heading for something east facing), you'll probably be OK. On such a forecast, it might be a good idea to pick a route that is well within your abilities and from which you could make a speedy retreat if you find that it is getting warm on you.