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Sobo- Thanks, I am not very savvy with the photo posting codes. If I wanted the images to appear in the post, would I just re- edit my post and reference the URL of the attachment then, correct? Re: bivis...while there are some stretches absent of good bivi sites, when the sites appear they are plenty comfortable and require very little chopping or digging. Cassin Ledge is tight but flat and has a good anchor. At the top of the knife edge ridge at the hanging glacier is the best bivi on the route, a huge, flat, protected area where it is safe to unrope; we didn't camp here as it was only a few hours out of from Cassin Ledge. Between the first and second rock band are chopped bivi possibilities, but not very much work required.Some decent boulders and cliff features exist in the 2nd rock band that would offer some protection. Upon reaching the end of the technical difficulties at 16,700, there are infinite places to find a level site from here to the top, but indeed, nothing offering any decent protection from storms.

Attached is another photo, this one looking down the crux rock pitch in the second rock band at 16,000'. Looks a little intimidating as you approach from below but is actually very straightforward with good protection. There is nothing truly difficult on the Cassin, there is just a lot of technical climbing stretched over a huge amount of terrain with all the attendant issues of Alaska climbing--- most of all, luck with the weather. Good luck!

Attached is a photo of the first rock crux- steep, and somewhat friable, but good protection. Felt like 5.8 with a pack, but probably more like 5.4

Jesse, The A Strain is a fine outing. While there is some heady climbing in places, the majority of it was surprisingly well protected and/or straightforward with good rock. A notable exception was the "Direct" chimney variation (Golovach Gash) we took instead of doing the traverses. This pitch was difficult and dangerously runout. Forrest led this and made a remarkable lead of it. The exit traverse pictured on the guidebook cover is also spicy but not nearly so much as the chimney. In between is a lot of climbing that is just plain fun. Go do it. Attached is a photo of Alberta nf in August, 2000.

The north face of Alberta has apparently not been climbed since 1993; the word is that the ice has drastically receded from the foot of the upper headwall making things much harder. A number of people have speculated this route may now be more feasible as a winter or spring outing instead. September might be good if it is cold and the faces are showing a lot of ice, but be sure of it because the trek in there is quite a hump. I climbed the A-Strain in mid September a few years ago. This was a good time to do it (that year, anyway) as nightime temperatures were well below freezing and during the day not much above. The risk you run is that snowfall is also possible which would make things much harder. An advantage of being there that late was that the summit cornice was much smaller than it is earlier in the summer. There is a good topo of the route in the Icefields visitor center.

Crampon: The entry level grade for "Park Ranger" as a climbing ranger is usually GS-05, which requires a 4 year college degree. At the time I worked there, there was no official medical training requirement, but this may have changed, and in any case it is strongly recommended (both by the park, and by me...) that you go for a WFR at minimum. Climbing rangers deal with some very advanced trauma incidents along with occasional altitude problems. Not only that, it's not uncommon to get involved in lower mountain incidents such as vehicle wrecks, visitors having heart/asthma issues, on and on. If you are really interested in emergency medicine, then go for the WEMT, and you will almost certainly get to use it. As for climbing qualifications, I think this is a gray area, but certainly prior Rainier experience and/or a demonstrated experience at altitude on other peaks should be considered a minimum. You'll need to have a climbing resume in order. Obviously, the ability to demonstrate proficient use with ice axe, crampons, and technical glacier travel skills including crevasse rescue is also expected, as is a high level of physical fitness. The park does provide high angle SAR training each year, so prior proficiency with complicated, technical roped rescue techniques is helpful but not expected. My experience is that there are rescuers who are short on climbing skills, and then there are climbers short on rescue skills. Generally, I would expect the latter will be favored in the hiring process.\ The rangers are issued all technical climbing gear: axes, crampons, boots, harnesses, helmets, hardware, screws, pickets, etc. Clothing issued also includes jackets, pants, capilene and gaitors. Also issued are backpacks, first aid kits, headlamps, shovels, beacons, you name it. It wasn't always like this! The rangers, but more importantly the public, have Mike Gauthier most of all to thank for getting the park to budget for these items a number of years back. When I started work at Rainier, the SAR cache was an abomination. The gear which was not already broken was at least 15 years old or more and long past its usefulness. Climbing rangers generally used (and abused) their own gear while on duty and while earning low wages. This has all changed. Typical summit climb packs for the rangers would be a basic 1st aid kit, all personal clothing plus extra warm layers (for victims), pickets, extra water, extra food and lots of webbing for rigging. Light enough to climb fast, but enough gear to initiate a rudimentary rescue and treat moderate injuries on the spot. Obviously it's not practical to be climbing around kitted out for a full trauma incident, that's when helicopters and extra ground support get involved. Hope this helps.

Don't forget, Joe, at 25 hours round trip you could also theoretically claim a "one day ascent". You know how long those Alaskan summer days can be. Otherwise, to quote Benny: "hmmm...25 hours. Sounds kinda like...2 days..." WORD my man.

At Rainier: Housing is not free. Seasonal quarters at Longmire run over $200/mo for a shared room. Also, as of a few years back there was no per diem stipend. You might want to recheck your references. While you are working (the 8 days that you are on, you can get housing there. I know one guy who is staying at the old visiter center in Paradise in a dorm room. As for the stipend, they do get it. Whatever though, not a big deal either way. Perhaps you are talking about volunteers, of which I don't know anything. I was a climbing ranger from 1995-1999, and have worked intermittently for Mike G. w/the climbing program during the winter on a few occasions since then. We always paid, and paid well, for our housing. In fact Chad Kellogg and I paid over $200/month to room together in a rodent-infested closet in the basement of the Jackson Visitor center one summer.And we never received any sort of stipend. Perhaps that has changed, but I'm in frequent contact with Mike and am friends with several of the current staff and haven't heard anything of it. VIP's may have a different situation though.

At Rainier: Housing is not free. Seasonal quarters at Longmire run over $200/mo for a shared room. Also, as of a few years back there was no per diem stipend.

Have to agree with Mattp- I think the Index Traverse is kind of a must do for the dedicated Cascades climber. The climbing itself is admittedly not very aesthetic for most of the time (wear pants!), but where the climb is worthwhile is for the exposure, position, and the commitment. Halfway along the traverse, on the Middle peak, there's the road seemingly right down below you, yet you feel very committed and 'out there'. The rock is loose, you're on this sharp, exposed ridge, and retreat options are poor, especially after the north-middle traverse. It's a wild place to be yet so close to civilization. The pitch out of the north/middle notch does seem harder than 5.6 (especially in tennis shoes) but mainly it's just steep and loose with not the best protection. The only other area of any concern was this horrid dirt/choss gully on the Main peak which we crossed probably a bit too low- this involved surprisingly hard downclimbing on very loose rock and then picking carefully across steep, orange mud and dirt with a lot of exposure, and sparse protection. Going very high before crossing this gully probably would have avoided the worst of it. It looks like it is continuing to erode and only will get worse. Colin and I went 15 hours r/t from the car. There was no water until a beautiful pond near the top of the descent gully. And then, the best part- handful upon handful of plump,ripe blueberries just above Lake Serene, to ease the sting of the B5 bushwhacking. A classic outing!

Colin and I climbed this route last sunday. The spring was still dripping enough to moisten the top 25 feet of the big corner but I'm not surprised it is now dry. We did not free or even pretend to be freeing the hardest bits of the route, but two guys behind us appeared to be giving it a good go. I don't know if they actually got it clean but it did look from above like the guy nailed the 5.12 section. A word on the last pitch: the chimney itself is not harder than 5.8 in my opinion, but definitely agree that the entrance moves into it seem far harder- very awkward, in any case. Feels more like hard 5.10. At least pro is bomber. Overall, awesome route and position.

yeah right. the "other" side is always worse because you disagree with them, but the behavior from your side is "OK" because the ends justify the means. This whole business of "well your side did this too once" is a tool of distraction keeping people from looking at the issue objectively. It may very well be questionable whether an actual crime was committed, on the other hand, Bush is on record long ago saying anyone involved would be dismissed. By this, I would reckon that the implication is that whether something illegal actually took place, such behavior would be considered at the very minimum, unethical, and therefore worthy of dismissal. So, is what occurred here unethical? That is the question, and not whether conservatives "would do the same thing if it was a liberal administration" or whether "liberals have done this before". If it's wrong, it's wrong.

For you, I recommend the omelettes.

A) It was early April- Roadhouse is not open daily until May 1. B)Back then (1996)I'm not even sure the Roadhouse was doing breakfast regularly anyway. Trisha bought it right around then and completely revamped the place.

Drink there if you must, but don't eat the food. I was poisoned at the Latitude about 9 years ago- Ham and Cheese Omelette. Sick for 2 days, nearly unconscious 6 hours after ingestion. A year after that, a friend of mine went there and ordered a steak. It looked and smelled funny, and one small bite confirmed it was rancid. She sent it back to the kitchen, and the waitress returned a moment later stating: "yeah, he's gonna cook you another one, he thought that one was kinda marginal..." Several other people I know have been sickened by the food there since then. This March, with few other breakfast options open, my climbing partner and I went there (reluctantly for me; I figured it's hard to get sick from pancakes). After I told him the above stories, he promptly found a hair in his orange juice, and his silverware was crusted with chunks of old food. Just say no.

The word is that it is not one single incident but an entire series of events, including several drunk driving incidents initiated by the bar serving inebriated customers who then got into accidents (and the lawsuit is apparently from the people who were hit by the driver, not the driver). Also the Fairview having served underage customers on more than one occasion and getting caught. Not 100% on all the facts because it is being kept under wraps and not even those close to the Fairview seem to know or are willing to divulge what is going on. But the common word is that it likely will not open this year.

You mean like three of my friends getting ejected from the Rib last week for getting into a mustard fight?

Good times. I haven't tried Crack of Doom, but I did try to do Entrance Exam once...Pitch 1 is reasonable, but pitches 2 and 3 are a more or less unprotected chimney. We got an 'F' on our Exam.

No knock to Russ Mitrovich, but I'm fairly sure that it was Jimmy Haden was on the sharp end for that pitch. Name dropper! Sorry, it fell out while I was cleaning up after you!

No knock to Russ Mitrovich, but I'm fairly sure that it was Jimmy Haden was on the sharp end for that pitch.

I have made it to the top of the Big Hill in a front wheel drive vehicle w/o chains and have walked to a number of climbs from here. Make sure to carry chains, however, and be aware there is one overflow creek about 1/3 of the way in that could be a problem if temps are warm. From the Big Hill, you can walk to the GBU area in about one hour and a little change. House of Sky isn't too far from there. If you have a 4WD, you can drive to the foot of GBU. Other approach times from Big Hill: Sorcerer: 2:45 Wicked Wanda/Malignant Mushroom: 1:20 Weathering Heights/Anorexia Nervosa: 2:00 +/- The latter four climbs, if you have a 4WD, are 45 minutes or less from the farthest driving point.

-20 bag in early June should be fine, and should prove to be far more versatile in the long run for other objectives. I've used a -10 on Denali in June, and it was more than adequate, not to mention lighter and cheaper.

Mike- Selenium is a fun climb. Pitches get progressively steeper- WI3,WI4 then WI4+ or 5. Crux is cranking from a cave out onto a curtain (nice and exposed) then about 70 feet of 85-90 degree, high quality ice. Definitely avoid it if the snow is bad or avy hazard is up.

"You Nexus, huh?...your eyes! I made your eyes!" "Sure...if only you could see what I've seen with your eyes."