mattp

Catbird- I think you may be a little mixed up here. I doubt most parties that climb Ptarmigan Ridge go anywhere near White River. I agree that an ice tools is not the best thing for glacier travel, though.

What is with you folks? Are you not getting laid lately or something? Everybody wants to hop on the bandwagon and bash Michelle, then Lambone, and now its Allison who is taking a beating. This is getting rediculous.

I don't think you will get a clear answer as to what is "standard." I am sure the route was done originally without any technical ice climbing tool, and plenty of people have done it with a single ice axe whereas others bring two water ice tools. It is going to vary depending on the climber's personal style and background and also on the conditions....

There were four or five of them eating a dead deer on the roadside over near the Squirrel Tree Sunday p.m. Maybe they were hoping for some dead climber over in the Icicle.

That is basically my point, Ed. Light-and-fast is only one style - it is not the only commendable style. While it has its pleasures and may be a good choice some times, it may be a poor choice other times and nobody should be embarassed to admit that they camped at Colchuck Lake the night before and after their climb, for example, or that they actually carried a pack on Outer Space.

I think you guys are right: the City of Destiny is damn nice and we owe you a visit. But what's with everyone staying in Leavenworth when the Spring Party was in Mazama????

Allison is not the only one who whines about pubclub every week and tries to change the venue at 4:00 pm the day of the event.

In the interest of fairness and the American Way, I should report that the snaffles' get a bad rap around here. I recently left some hiking shoes along the roadside in Eightmile Creek for two weeks and when I went back to get them, the little bitty cutie critters had only chewed me a nice new fringe around the edges.

Ohh, but it is such a yuppiefukfuk place, too expensive, smoky, with no parking, owned by a jerk, and ALL THE WAY ACCROSS TOWN!!!!!!! I won't go there.... I won't .... really I mean it .....

Dryad - Didn't you notice when I changed the topic of this thread to "May 7, Seattle CC.Com Barbeque?" I'll call the parks department and reserve it -- Shelter #3. I'm going to sign up as an avatar. Greg - There are two barbeque grills in the picnic shelter. If it looks like we'll have large attendance, I can bring another.

Juan- I have a similar concern about the effect of the current fad for car-to-car and light-is-right speed ascents. I believe folks are talking each other into running up and down some fairly serious mountain routes without taking adequate gear to even survive a night out should they suffer something as benign as a sprained ankle. And I think all the chatter on cc.com may be causing folks to take even bigger risks by doing this alone or when pushing their ability levels. I'm not commenting specifically on Stefan or Paco's climbs, but on a general trend.

How about a "we don't need a poll" option. There was one person who indicated they would prefer the 8th, I think, and at least one who would prefer the 7th. Nobody has said it matters all that much either way, but I believe that, all things being equal (weather) there will be fewer other people there on a wednesday night than a thursday night. For a successful barbeque, the main thing is to pick a date and a location and NOT to have the usual stupidity we have over discussing where to have pubclub each week. That way folks who have a life other than cc.com can plan ahead. We might even see some new faces there.

I know I sound like a broken record here, but I just went down to the basement and checked my old pairs of skis that I have neglected for years and years. To my barbaric eyes, my 1983 Karhu XCD's, my 1987 Karhu Extreme's, and the old downhill boards with the mountaineering bindings on them show no signs of cracked, delaminated, or shrunken ptex. And I'm sure they've each gone without any base wax for literally years at a time. But if you saw me ski, you'd probably conclude that I ski as if I'm driving that old truck rather than the sports car....

Fleb - You should have just skied the logs. That last one we crossed was the perfectly calibrated anti-tuning device.

Thanks, Carl. I've always wondered about this. So I've let my bases dry out and, it seems, and my skis are now a little slower than they would otherwise be. I guess I just don't care that much because I have never noticed this to be a problem. But if anything, I guess, I'd rather have skis that are too slow than too fast for ski mountaineering where I'm not racing anybody but I may be worried about being able to turn tightly enough in a narrow gully, losing it over a cliff, or running into a rock or tree.

As far as waxing goes, what's this business about keeping the bottoms coated or you'll dry out the p-tex? Every ski tuning manual I've read has said this, but I have never really worried about it and the bottoms of my skis have gone bare for years at a time with no apparent problem. Don't take a freshly hot-waxed pair of skis in the back country without adding some kicker wax if you want to be able to stand up or walk around, though! The manuals don't often point this out, but I much more often wax my skins -- to prevent them from clogging when there is dry cold snow over wet - than I do my skis. Similarly, even on the icyest of slopes I can only think of a couple of times when I thought my skis weren't sharp enough, whereas I can think of lots and lots of times when my buddies with their freshly tuned skis were catching edges left and right.

While it does seem kind of funny to think that some biologists are worried about snails being killed by rock climbers, they pointed out in the discussion of the Niagra Escarpment that it is only now that the vertical cliffs are seeing any traffic whereas every square foot of flat land in the East has been logged and stomped into submission long ago. I'm willing to believe there is something rare and special about the White Cedars on the Niagra Escarpment, or that maybe there are some snails who like the cliffs around Devil's Lake. At Little Si, I know that the DNR or whoever it was (State of Wa. I think) asked Brian Burdo not to set climbs ascending to the top of the main wall because there were some relatively rare plants growing up there. I believe he honored that request and this was seen as a showing of good faith that did a great deal for the relationship between climbers and the local authorities.

I don't know about "raging" and "party" -- I was thinking more along the lines of some kind of very respectful celebration of nature and maybe some "sharing" about our inner climber selves at the spirit circle. But you'll find us still there at 9:30, I bet. Hell, ChucK doesn't ever even show up until then.

Welcome back from wherever you've been, Dwayner.

ZONE FORECAST, CANADA, MAY 7-8 NOTHING BUT CRAP.

ZONE FORECAST, MAGNUSON PARK AND VICINITY, MAY 7-8 CLEAR SKIES AND GENTLE WEST WINDS; DAYTIME HIGHS 75; NIGHTTIME LOWS 55.

Friday night, I drove over to Mazama, via Darrington, and did not see a single cop after Everett (apparently they were maintaining a heavy presence in Concrete, though). Sunday night I drove back from Leavenworth, leaving the Bavarian village at 7:00 pm, and did not see a cop until Bothell. I guess I AM lucky.

Maybe I'm just lucky.

For the most part, along highway 2 you'll find the speed cops watching the open road during the day, and this happens to be the same time that those RV folks are tooling along at 45 mph, too. Drive over or return at night, and you'll most likely see them only in Sultan.

Crusty: I haven't gone back so, yes, I would have to say that part of what made it cool was simply getting up those peaks that I've driven by so many times. But for the last couple of years I've been looking at some different routes on those peaks that look interesting to me. I take it you wouldn't likely be a willing partner.