Jedi

Arc'Teryx Black Ice harness. adjustable leg loops, haul loop size medium. $35 ($75 retail). BD XX woman's harness. Size 6, $30 (retail $80). OR Croc gaitors, size large, used on several trips $18. BD GTX Frontpoint gaitors, size med $30 (retail $50). like new, used once. Glacier gloves, neopreme, size med, $20. Salomen Super Mountain 9 Snow & Ice. size 9/10. used a couple of times. $275 (retail is $375). Stephenson Warmlight 2R 2 person double wall tent. 2 pounds 10oz packed! That poles and stuff sack. Email for details & spec's or check Climbing issue 191 Feb 2000 for it's review (one of the best) and certainly the lightest. Used once on Rainier. $405 (retail was $522. has vestibule dam and large door. Snargs 1 8" & 2 6". excellent condition $30 for all ($97 retail). Email me for pictures and/or more info on anything. Price includes shipping in the lower 48 states. PayPal & Money orders. Thanks [This message has been edited by Jedi (edited 06-14-2001).]

when camping at Camp 4, you will hear a window or 2 break EVERY night. When I was there in 97, there had been 250+ break-in's. Think about it, there are'nt many people there during the off season so most of it happens during the spring, summer and fall. They love toothpaste! Jedi

Anyone have any info on this route? Will be out that way around the 1st of June. Approach for fun than a barrel of monkeys? Finding the start of route easy? Recommended route? Route finding on route? Thanks for any info!! jedi

If anyone does find that info, I would be interested. I have 4 or 5 ropes that would make good rugs.

Geeze what is not crowded nowadays? You have to find something that reqires a great deal of suffering. Not that others will not be out there suffering also, there will just be less of them to trip over and bump into. Nudist camp at the north pole? Sledding down talus fields? Laying on rail road tracks on dark, rainy nights? Running through thickets of devils walking sticks in a speedo? There is much solitude to be had, you just have to give it some thought. Hope this is helpful. Since my bigger climbing trips are way too far apart living in the mid-Atlantic region, I took up something that is fun, exciting, is not an x-game, yet. Motorcycle road racing! It can be crowded in turn one and two at the begining of the race but you get a little space after a few turns. at 130mph, draging your knee, back end sliding about, life's problems drift away. Much like being in the mountains but at the speed of a nasty whipper. You won't see anything faster than 160mph or slower than 50mph. It can be a good workout, depending on the length of the race. Ski diving is fun but over too quick. Scuba is a little slow paced. Bungee jumping- over way to fast and could get boring doing over and over. Surfing-ya gotta have waves and it's cold out your way. pengulium (sp?) swings are fun but you gotta have something to jump off of. Running from the police in a fast car or motorcyle-fun but scary and generally look down opon, but fun none the less. HEY! you got that big space needle! that would be fun to base jump off of. probably looked down on by someone. Snowboarding or skiing is great but seasonal. O oooo, I got it (haven't tried it myself), buy that Vertical limit movie and watch it more than once. Have to mix in a little Cliffhanger to spice it up. Other than that, I am not qualified to make any other suggestions. Sorry have fun!

I called MSR and they don't recommend bending the fuel rod (big surprise there). The person I talked to said it could reduce the fuel flow. It could clog easier when traveling internationally when using "not so ideal fuel". I asked why they do not put a flexable braided line on the stove like the other stoves. The reason being is, it has a very small base so the stiff rod connected to the fuel bottle make it much more stable. If you are using a stand (like the Trillium) then you do not need the ridgid rod but I guess not enough people dislike the rod to make a flexable line an option. Other than that I like the XKG, it has served me well. I think I am going to try to make a fiberglass stand tomorrow for the XKG for light weight applications when alpine climbing. Will be covered with a sheet of tin foil tp refect heat and weigh 2oz less than the Trillium. I wonder if the fiberglass get hot enough to melt?

Forrest, I had thought about trying the soda bottle thing. I have stored some fuel in a Gatorade bottle in my gear closet to see if the plastic "melted" or contaminated the fuel. The liquid fuel has not been in direct contact (like it would sloshing around in a pack) with the cap and the cap has not become gummy. It has been over 2 months. Guess I need to lay the bottle on it's side. Still I think this idea is better (if the cap melting problem can be resolved) than the big heavy metal fuel containers. I think I will contact MSR today and try to find out more about bending the fuel rod thing. That sure would be nice if it fit in the pot! The trick would be to bend it without putting a kink in the rod thus restricting flow.

Just a little insider info: waterproof zips are not really "waterproof". Not saying they are not better than regular zips, do not cut down on weight & bulk or cut the wind better but the "H2O proof" is just mismarketing. This fall, Patagonia is coming out with a EncapSil (breathable water resistant) pant and jacket like the Inferno. The Inferno is too warm so they will be using a lighter weight insulation. The insulation with stop where your glove gauntlet starts and where your gaitors start. Saves weight and cuts down on bulk. Twight wore this system on the Czech Direct. This might be to warm for the Cascades in the summer though. Schoeler pants work well and when it is cold, try put a wind resistant pant like the Driclime or Zephur under it. That way the layers slide avoiding the added resistance. Most of the time, people get wet from the shell not breathing well vs precip. This are just my opinions so take them with a grain of salt as I live on the east coast.

The problem I had with the Ecrin is that it sits up kinda high and I have a small head. So it has a tendancy to tilt to one side, especially with a headlamp unless I was wearing my balaclava. I have the Half Dome on the way as it has a lower profile so it should not be so top heavy. Should fit under hood better also.

Well here are a couple: A fella fell from the top of the 3rd pitch of Ecstacy (5.7) at Seneca Rocks WV a few years ago. He holds the record for the longest fall (survived) at Seneca. Landed head 1st in talus. Chipped teeth, concusion and a few broken bones. He told his belayer to belay him without a belay device. Friction of melting palms and rope traveling through gear helped slow his decent. 2. I fell half way up the 1st pitch of my 1st solo aid route. after a couple RURPs, I could get nothing in. I decided to free out of my aiders to go for a ledge where gear could placed. I had paid out what I thought was enough rope and re-tigtened my clove hitch. I couple friction moves to a ledge and "OH SHIT" not enough rope. I could not hold on with one hand long enough to loosen the clove hitch and surmount the ledge. After trying as long as remaining strength would allow I pitched off. a second later my rack clanked on the rocks below. I was horizontal looking up inches off the ground. I finished it the next day (Invisible Airwaves A4 at Looking Glass NC). 3.I took a 15 footer in a crevasse on Athabasca. Only to take a 70 foot ride in slide an hour later. We had just unroped (4 roped together for glacier travel but 2 climbing parties on the face) and I was completely covered but my upper torso was sticking out when I came to a stop. I think I prefered the crevasse fall over the avalache. Avalaches are much more scary.

Go with down because it is lighter, compresses better, it is more durable. Stay away from Dryloft as it traps the moisture in the down more than a nylon shell. Also why NOT breathing into a bag while sleeping is very important. No need for Dryloft unless you are careless with pee or water bottle tops or you are sleeping in the open. Dryloft is also slightly heavier. -20 degree bag should be fine anything else is overkill. If you get cold at 17,200, sleep in you expedition wt underwear and balaclava. Still cold, throw on your fleece jacket. Sleeping bags are rated with 1 1/2" of insulation under them. Every half inch less is at least 10 degrees. Take a ridge rest and a light weight thermarest. Shaving weight? ditch the thermarest and sleep on you rope and ridge rest. Like the others said, dry your bag out on a sunny day by stetching it accross the tent for a couple hours but clip a carabinner to it and anchor it so the wind does not take it away. I have a black bag (F.F's) so the sun will heat it up fast and dry it faster. The sun will heat you tent up to very warm temps at 14K so leaving you bag open also promotes drying. All bags absorb moisture but down more so than syn. Get good down. You can get 800+ fill with some companys. The higher the number, the more durable the down is. You also have higher loft with less down,which equals less weight. Hope this helps.

Good info! Maybe that means less hidden crevasses to fall into on the Carbon but more to finess around. When is the earlist that anyone heads in or when the rangers will have any info on conditions of that area? Sounds like we wouldn't want to head in much later than the end of May. Just an off the wall question, do you guys think the earthquake not too long ago dropped any nice sized seracs off or made any minor changes to any routes (opening up crevasses, schruds,etc..)?

As far an mountaineering, I have only been up Disappointmnet Cleaver, The North Face of Athabasca in Winter and the West Buttress. My parntner an I wanted a nice route to dial in our gear and do some more climbing before we head up to Alaska next May to take a wack at Hunter and the Moose's Tooth,hopefully the Cassin the year after that. So the Carbon should "interesting" this year if the trend continues. How much ice did you encounter the low snow year (above Thumb Rock)? Thank you for all advice and helpful hints, you can never have enough of that. Anyone? how is the descent off Liberty Bell?

Hi Fella's! We are planning to head out west to take a crack at Lib Ridge at the end of May this year. I have a couple questions for you guys. How long does it take (at a modest pace) to from White River parking lot to Curtis Ridge? Then how much longer to the base of the ridge? We'll probably be humping 35 to 38lb packs in that far. Probably try to get to the base of the ridge that same day. How will the low snow year probably affect the Carbon and the ridge? I know conditons change on a daily/hourly rate but I am educated guesses. thanks