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mattp

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Everything posted by mattp

  1. Beetle Bailey is at least a letter grade easier if someone has brushed it just before you go.
  2. Erik, are you talking about the first pitch of Beetle Bailey, perhaps? I believe Confetti is in the corner system to the left, and rarely done. Beetle Bailey is the short pitch, front and center, with a bouldery move to a mantel followed by the power-lieback with sketchy feet.
  3. Right on, Trask. A special place to put crampons on a pack is probably the least important feature that one could look for in a pack. Crampons come with their own straps and there is barely a pack around that doesn't have some strap or buckle that allows items like Crampons to be strapped on. "Features" are far less important than the basic size and shape of the pack -- for technical climbing I like a pack that is cut narrow toward the top and does not extend above my shoulders, so I have maximum freedom of arm movement and I can tip my head back to look up. Also, a flexible belt and shoulder straps without a bunch of plastic stiffeners will be less in the way when hauling the pack or taking it off on some small ledge.
  4. There was a trip report here not long ago so you should run a search. But here's a couple of points that I can offer: 1. The approach road was very overgrown two years ago and I bet it is only more so. Be prepared to walk at least a mile further than the guidebook describes unless you have a hummer and want to scratch it up. 2. The trail through the woods has experienced some ad hoc maintenance over the years and is really rather pleasant. 3. After you climb the headwall past the much-talked-about waterfall, I do not agree that it is necessary to circle the swamp in the clockwise manner that is generally recommended. We went that way in there, but on the way out we took a more direct line that would be found by crossing the stream as soon as you enter that basis (there were two forks to cross), and then staying right as close as possible below the small ridge that encircles that side of the basin. There are nice campsites on morainal debris right below the route. 4. We found the direct approach up the glacier quite doable but it probably would be easier to traverse in from the east if you do end up circling the swamp in the generally recommended manner and camping somewhere below that east lobe of the glacier. 5. My buddy didn't like the looks of the schrund below the ice apron, so we didn't do the climb, but I believe that schrund will not present much of a problem. Either climb it directly (it is maybe 40 feet high) or I think you could skirt it on rock to the left. 6. The top of the route is not as shown in the guidebook because a whole ice gully is gone and there is some kind of obstacle presented by this. Search old posts. Redoubt is a specacular place. Enjoy.
  5. Actually, some do. And usually there is a Tacoma representative at a Seattle pubclub as well. But there are lots of folks who have never made the trip because drinking beer at the OFFICIAL event is just not that important to them. I don't know what is wrong with some people!!
  6. That'll be next tuesday. I believe the Tacoma section thinks it is their turn to host it this week so the next Seattle event may be ten days away.
  7. Sterling - I would expect there to be some low-angled snow on the lower section (below the lunch counter), and then some steep snow with very big suncups up to the false summit, followed by suncups that border on neve penitente at the top. I believe a recent post suggested that it had melted out to the point that there was a lot of rock (rubble) showing on that steep climb from the lunch counter to the false summit.
  8. Thanks for the report. It sounds like an interesting route.
  9. mattp

    bushwhacked

    Goat and Greg, I'm willing to concede (as I believe I did in my initial post on this topic) that economic regulation is related to the regulation of "individual freedom" but I do believe they are two different things. Now, about the desireability of regulation and centralized planning ...
  10. The summit rocks are third class in the traditional sense: most people do not need a rope but some do.
  11. mattp

    bushwhacked

    Mr Sexy, I agree that freedom from hunger or poverty are probably the most basic of all personal freedoms, and because I am a naive tax and spend liberal I believe that we should as a society provide better public support than we do for the necessities of life. Even worse I think that we should have a single-payer health care system so that healthcare can be more available for all. But I think Gregw is talking about the freedoms in the bill of rights. It is a "living" document, perhaps, but I do not think that freedom from hunger can be read into it no matter how hard one tries. [ 08-23-2002, 02:21 PM: Message edited by: mattp ]
  12. mattp

    bushwhacked

    Greg, I don't quite understand your bottom line. Personal freedom has to do more with civil rights than with economic organization, doesn't it? Yes, countries that have heavily regulated economies tend to have more curbs on personal freedom, but I don't think these two are necessarily part of the same "bottom line."
  13. I'd go for the Sahale if you're looking for minimal crevasses. Good luck with the black flies -- I've heard they are pretty bad up there right now.
  14. You can learn to climb while living in Atlanta, but it will just be a little more difficult and expensive than if you were living here. I grew up in Michigan and started "mountaineering" with a winter traverse of the Presidential Range, learned to rock climb on a 25 foot piece of sandstone, and then read the Freedom of the HIlls before my first climbing trip to the Tetons. Jason's lists of easy climbs look pretty good and you would do well to try just about any of those routes.
  15. In my experiene, plain old plastic bags are more effective than the commercial vapor barrier socks. The coating on the commercial ones can wear out pretty quickly and, while a bread bag may not last forever, I always have a steady supply of empty food bags over the course of any extended trip and the plastic is so thin that I never have issues with wrinkles. Don't fall for some equipment supplier's marketing hype.
  16. Mike - He asked about the ice conditions. I bet he wants to climb the N. Face because it is one of very few climbs that may offer actual ice climbing in Washington and it has an attractive picture in the guidebook. In other words: yes, he probably DOES want to go that way rather than the non-technical route on the other side.
  17. mattp

    bushwhacked

    Erik, we care. But hey, you can't even spell the most basik words rite. Have some sympathy for those of us who suffer the same affliction of chronic misspelling.
  18. mattp

    bushwhacked

    Mtn Goat_ I don't think many here would have argued that there should be no logging on public lands if we had not already logged so much of what we have. It is the fact that uncut timber (at least uncut timber that actually includes full-sized trees) is damn near non-existent that makes people like me think we should protect what remaining old-growth there is. Greg- Didn't Thomas Jefferson or somebody write that "all men are created equal?" The "players" may not have been the same ones that we are talking about today, but the concept of a level playing field is not new.
  19. You DO have a set of topos there. It is at www.topozone.com (search Agnes Mtn in WA and it should come up). There is no continuation on that imaginary traverse to Agnes -- the mountain drops almost 6,000 feet to the creeks north and east of it.
  20. quote: Originally posted by Dru:
  21. I don't believe there is an easy way to climb Agnes. Though it may not be the most difficult technical climb in the state, it is a rock climb and it is not right next to the road. Also, I believe there is no way to avoid the need to crawl through the jungle for at least a couple thousand feet. Viewed from the air when I flew over to Stehikan one time, it was the most impressive thing around, appearing much more massive than any of the peaks along the Ptarmigan Traverse or in the Cascade Pass area.
  22. quote: Originally posted by Stefan: It was placed in 1906 by Austin Post?? and is still there. Cool!
  23. quote: Originally posted by Lambone: The floor also has several small holes from sleeping on dry bivi spots for just a few nights...weak. I wanted a light tent, carrying a foot print seems to defeat the purpose of a Bibler in the first place. That may be so, but I bet they feel compelled by market forces on the fabric weight and perhaps the zipper as well. With "light is right" being the mantra of today, most shoppers compare grams and not durability. [ 08-21-2002, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: mattp ]
  24. Whiskey, maybe. But Scotch? God intended for us to use a little ice to "release" the flavor. That's why he made ice on the eighth day.
  25. There was an angry bar tendress who came around at about 11:30, slamming chairs back under tables and chastising us for having turned the lights down. If she found it, your leg band is gone for sure.
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