mattp

Perhaps I should clarify, and say that I'm not critical of someone who asks for beta but, rather, I'm suggesting caution in basing your decisions on someone else's "beta."

quote: Originally posted by JoshK: Due to lack of recent beta I think we're gonna bail on trying price glacier this WE. Dude - I think you may be relying too much on the availability of "beta." If someone on cc.com had posted that they were there last week, and the route was a no-go because of a big crevasse that blocked the route, would you have taken this as gospel and decided not to go? How would you know that they weren't gapers or had not just taken a wrong turn somewhere or something? Conversely, what if they said that they climbed it last weekend and it was awesome, and that the key to the climb was taking the low traverse even though from below the higher traverse, above the large crevasses at mid-height, looked better. And waht if they also said that no rock gear is needed because it is doable all on the ice. Would you rely on that assessment, either? You are eyeballing some good climbs and the weather forecast is (currently) looking good. Go out there and have fun and rely on your own judgment rather than some unknown stranger you meet on the internet!!

Dave- I'm not sure what "stupidity" has to do with it. It is certainly my impression that the F.S. in general is not a very user-friendly outfit and that the Leavenworth District in particular is unfriendly towards climbers, but they probably have their reasons for closing certain campgrounds and I bet it has to do with maintenance costs. So far, two out of two have been told that EightMile is closed, and previously Beck or somebody was told that the group site at Bridge Creek is also closed. So we better try to get as many people there as early as possible, and hope there are plenty of sites available at Bridge Creek.

Cool. Do I get a tee shirt?

See you there, Ivan (I'm not sure whether they'd let me in the KTK or not).

I have heard speculation on this, and I've also heard that it will cause the runs, but I've never had much of a problem. Whenever I have the chance I do, however, let it sit in pots so that the rock will settle out. It is pretty amazing how much silt there is in a milky pot of water.

Jay - Take the "ropeup cam" with you and send us some pictures to look at while we're in the office tomorrow.

quote: Originally posted by iceguy: Called ranger to verify--all open except 8-mile and J-Creek. This may mean that campsites will be in high demand with other users. I hope somebody can get over there early -- like today ???

quote: Originally posted by erik: LAST WEEK THERE WAS A SIGN POSTED AT 8 MILE SAYING THAT IT CLOSES ON OCTOBER 14 How about Bridge Creek? Might this one be closed, too? Do they mean "closed" with a gate or do they simply mean that the campground host will be gone? Has anybody checked with the ranger station?

sorry, double post. [ 10-17-2002, 10:50 AM: Message edited by: mattp ]

quote: Originally posted by Beck: A bribe for the campground host is probably in order. Smoked salmon and a fifty. I'll take care of that part. Beck, thank you for your thoughful planning. However, in my opinion the "bribe" may be unnecessary and might even be badly misunderstood. Just being friendly and respectful toward the campground hosts, considerate of our neighbors in the campground, and careful when it comes to our dealings with Larry the Tool, is probably more in order.

quote: Originally posted by Greg W: You gonna show, Mitch, or do you have to work? Yeah. You gonna show?

Its shaping up as if I may have a conflicting obligation, but I may be ready to climb with you on Sunday, which would be my preferred day for a Castle Rock climb. Yesterday, LawGod and LeeJams indicated interest in doing something on Castle Rock, and there are a whole host of good climbs 5.9 and under. It'll be one of those clusterf*cks that are your biggest nightmare when you run into them on a crag, but I figure I can safely take as many as four climbers who haven't done multipitch routes before. We can make short pitches of it to stay in contact and the belay ledges are huge and if we are careful not to drop anything, those who run into our traffic jam will have little right to complain. Castle Rock is a public place.

Lee- That is Leavenworth, all right. We did that one with a party of five at last year's rope up. A good time was had by all except the person who got hit in the head when one of our members dropped their shoe off the belay ledge! I don't know what my itinerary is, yet, but I might be ready for a repeat.

I've always used the term "cragging" and referred to something as a "crag" when I was going rock climbing and was going to focus on the climbing itself as opposed to trying to climb something like a mountain peak or some big wall where simply getting up the thing is more or less the objecive, and to me the term generally refers to cliffs that were small enough that one might make several climbs in a day and which is not on an isolated peak. So Snow Creek wall is at the upper end of what I'd term a "crag" in terms of size, but it is "cragging" when I walk up to something like that and climb/descend without concentrating on the summit. Yes, the South face of Prussik can be treated in this fashion, but my feeling about it is a little different and I wouldn't call it a "crag" but I might go "cragging" on it.

I put this in the other thread, but it is more on-topic here: A couple of things that come to mind are whether we want to attract attention to ourselves with somebody's sub woofer blasting late at night, whether we can select a more isolated campsite for the main social area as opposed to the one that may be easier to unload into or whatever, whether lexan water bottles can be used as drinking cups rather than red plastic keg cups and who is or isn't going to be allowed to drive into town on a chip run after they get smashed. With some thought about things like this, we may avoid problems.

Everybody loves Mount Shuksan, but despite it's place in Fifty Crowded Climbs, the Price Glacier is not necessarily the route that everybody loves on that mountain. The scenery is fantastic in the Price Glacier cirque, but a climb of the Price Glacier itself requires one to spend a lot of time in harm's way. Having said that, this may be a relatively safe time of the year in there because most of what is going to fall down this Summer already has done so although the seracs can topple any time. Be careful, move fast, and have fun! Take pictures and post them for all of us to enjoy.

I don't think I'd want to spend a whole day on this, but I'd be interested to see his system.

Look for me at the campground. I'll be the one running around with his helmet on, preaching peace and love and respect for our neighbors.

quote: Originally posted by leejams: mattp, Better to be knocked on the head by a falling shoe than a rock ehh. Not sure why anyone would one to take there shoe off up there. His feet were hurting. quote: Originally posted by leejams: Eric, Must be a great route if you's guy's want to do it once again. Was looking at the pic in selected climb, and that is one pucker corner to get around. Lots of the routes on Castle Rock are very scenic and exciting for their grade. That one is no exception. The picture doesn't quite do it justice.

Yeah -- Condormorphine ... Mr. Tremendous ... whatever -- as long as it is fun. And while we're lining up partners, I should state that if somebody who hasn't climbed multipitches before wants to make the leap and try some "real climbing" I might be up for taking up to four people up something on Castle Rock.

quote: Originally posted by chucK: "Planning" for contingencies ... have some people get there real early with a warchest and reserve every damn site at Bridge Creek for the weekend. That would be cool. But also, there could be some thought put into whether or not we want to have music playing, which campsite is chosen for the main social area, whether plastic keg cups may be less subtle than drinking beer out of lexan water bottles, and who is or isn't going to be allowed to drive into town on a chip run after they get smashed. Things like that.

That should be a very nice hike. What are you thinking for Sunday?

BRIDGE CREEK CAMPGROUND. How many people can go over early (like today or tomorrow) to reserve us some campsites?

Not exactly, ChucK. Planning for contingencies and going to bed early are two different things.