Kyle

Ha! Sorry she's not for sale.

Matt- it's hard for me to say, because I'm not good enough to do that sort of skiing. Above 9000' (Roman wall), it's fairly icy, below that it was quite soft in the afternoon. I'd guess it wouldn't be the best skiing... I didn't see any ski tracks or skiers up there, if that tells you anything. Cheers,

Climbed it over the weekend via Coleman-Deming route; good fun, nice weather, no crowd. I'd expected to find the route much more broken up & out of condition, etc, but it's still fairly direct & in good shape, w/ no significant crevasse problems; best conditions I've ever seen on the route actually.

The 2 largest ones have the hex bolt, and are in the best condition. All the others are button heads. It is kind of tempting to hang on to them for collectible value, but my basement's filling up with this kind of stuff.

Old-style rigid-stem friends, medium wear, probably need re-slinging (there's nothing wrong with them; I just don't use them anymore because I have newer stuff now). Sizes 1, 1.5, 2 (x2), 2.5, 3.5, 4. Don't know if anybody's even interested in this kind of gear... make an offer (& no I won't just give them to you

Pine Martins are great... once while rapping down from Mammoth Terrace by headlamp, we looked up to see 2 beady red eyes looking back at us from a blank section of rock just a few yards away. Scared us at first- we thought it was a huge rat, but when it moved we could see it was a pine martin about 3' long. It ran across a near-vertical slab and dove into a big crack. The bats on el cap are cool too, I liked falling asleep to the sound of them squeaking and fluttering around just above my bivy.

Yeah Capt, that bear was booking too! He was flying thru bushes & over ridges like nobody's biz. We were a little spooked hiking down later that night (sans flashlights), just knowing there was probably a mama bear rooting around not too far away... all the way down we were hooting & hollering so we didn't surprise her on the trail.

Oh yeah, and last February, seeing the clearest and starriest night sky ever, from a campsite high in the Fiordlands region in New Zealand, was a high point.

One of the coolest things I've ever seen was a series of lightning sprites while camping in the Enchantments this season (see http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000497.html for my earlier raving about this phenom). Last summer my brothers & I saw a half-grown black bear cub running away from us as we hiked up to Snow Creek Wall (we were on the switchbacks, about a mile from the parking lot). The bear disappeared down the snow creek ravine. First time I've seen a bear in WA. This past weekend I was in CA, touring the coast, & viewed a handful of full-grown elephant seals on the beach near San Simeon, which was way cool. Everyone should see the gorgeous coastline between SLO and Monterey at least once in their life.

Flagyl (metronidazole) is strong stuff, with potentially very nasty side effects... I wouldn't take it so lightly. Sure it's not brain surgery, but hey, it's your gut- do what you want with it.

Your friend should start with a visit to his Dr, as his foul symptoms could be caused by something other than giardia, and there's almost no way to know w/o doing a stool smear (I thought I had it once, but the smear revealed an acerbacter infection, which didn't require treatment). There are several prescription meds available for giardia, such as Flagyl; not sure if there are any effective OTC meds for this.

Will, in this photo you almost look like Lance Armstrong's evil twin! But then, I think Lance looks a bit like Tim McVeigh...

People suffer heart attacks while doing all kinds of things- running, sleeping, shitting, driving, flying planes, having sex etc. It's almost a certainty that someone will occasionally have one while climbing, possibly aggravated by the combined effects of exertion, hypoxemia from altitude, lack of sleep, and mental stress. I recall hearing about a poor guy (he may have been a client, but I'm not sure) who died a few years ago on Rainier from an asthma attack. These incidents don't always make the news, and happen more often than you might think.

Just keep moving, so they don't mistake you for a rock formation. Otherwise you'll be brushed, drilled, bolted, hang-dogged, red-pointed and chopped before you can even cry rape.

This has been a fairly interesting thread (aside from all the boring filler & posing of course). There's been a lot of talk about restoring this route. I'd submit that this route can never be "restored", which would imply that it's somehow returned to its original natural condition. It's too late for restoration...despite everyone's best efforts, the filled bolt holes and crowbar scratches will be visible to the discerning eye for years to come. The best we can hope for in this case will be a halfway decent repair job, and it sounds like our choppers did the best they could (& no I haven't been up there to see it yet). What's really sad and discouraging is that this whole discussion was preventable... if folks could learn to respect the natural structure of the rock, and exercise enough personal restraint not to bolt it in the first place, it would never need to be repaired, restored, or even argued over. It could just continue to be climbed and enjoyed in a near-natural condition by those with the ability and desire to do so. Don't be a wanker, and don't bolt natural lines! Just my 2 cents...

Mr B, Thanks for tip (OS, thanks for nothing). I'm not familiar with the Mountaineer's publications... are you referring to a book that they publish, or is this a magazine that you have to be a member to get? I suppose I could visit the Mtrs library & check it out there...

... [This message has been edited by Kyle (edited 09-27-2001).]

Thanks Mr B, I work in Bellevue & might want to take you up on your offer, if it's not too much trouble for you... watch for an e-mail from me. OS, I'm already quite familiar with the negativity that runs rampant on this & other internet forums, and I usually go out of my way to avoid getting into flame exchanges and bad-mouthing. Of course I'd still love any info you have to offer on the climb (in fact, now that I think about it, that's the main reason I posted this message in the first place).

I've been eyeballing this attractive line for a while, but haven't heard much about it (other than Beckey's description). Anyone here done this? TIA,

Three Stooges Beer! A buddy gave me a can he picked up back east... I'm sure the brew's nothing special, but it's a cool can, deserving of its spot on the shelf next to my unopened bottle of Revolution Brainwash Cola. http://www.pantherbrewing.com/intro.htm

Last fall I hiked up to Lake Edna via the Chatter Ck trail, and along the way, my eyes were drawn to a nice little granite crag on the left, near the high point on the trail... if I recall right, it was sort of at the base of Grindstone Mtn. We didn't shwack in close enough to scope out routes, but I saw what looked like some attractive 1-pitch dihedrals and slabs. I might have to go back for a closer look... has anyone climbed up there- is it worth a visit? Or more likely, is it already climbed out and documented in some guidebook that I don't own yet? TIA, BTW, if you've never been up that trail, it's stunning in the fall, with red shrub maple and golden Larches everywhere. We went there because we couldn't get a permit for the Enchantments; hardly saw anyone else on the trail, and were the only ones camping at beautiful Lk Edna.

Haiku very strange type of communication. Not sure I grok it.

Weather might be OK on the east slope... I often get lucky in Leavenworth or Vantage with this kind of forecast. If you don't want to drive to Smith, you might check out Skaha... it's not the most stimulating climbing around, but a little closer to Seattle & less obnoxious a scene, and can be dry when it's wet everywhere else.

They use a standard EVA foam liner, and seem warm in the store, but it's hard for me to tell just how warm they really are ... probably warm enough for mountaineering & ice climbing in the PNW.

I tried on a pair today, they're light, comfy, and and the fit was incredible... they almost feel like leathers. I'm close to buying a pair... is anyone out there using these? Any rants or raves to report? TIA,