mwills

the bag is rated to +30F. matt

copy of the rage's..... yeah, the shape is similar but who isn't using that geometry these days. i'm glad grivel finally went these designs - something in between the rambos and machines. where does it say the shafts are rubberized? it looks like the light wing may be rubberized, but i'm not sure. if they are, i think it makes sense: you don't have to worry about the grip delaminating from repeated plunges (x-15). it also acts as a shock absorber - when clearing a bulge. perhaps if the rages had rubberized shafts, they would not be snapping.

gloves are size medium

has anyone out there been fortunate enough to try the new line ice tools from grivel (specifically the alp wing or light wing)? grivel product homepage the look pretty nice - good eye candy for sure maybe if we are lucky barrabes will have them soon....... matt

ok, grab-bag of gear i have for sale: -moonstone red rock sleeping bag: rated to +30F regular length with right zipper (i think), 650 fill, 2lbs. in great shape, been used lightly for about 1.5 years. ~$50 -grivel mixte (mixed) pick: two brand new grivel picks for the machine/light machine or the new grivel tools (tech wing, top wing). this is grivels t-rated pick, which will take much more abouse than the cascade pick. ~$20/each -granite gear parabolic gloves: size medium, great alpine gloves been used a few times this year (fingers are too long for me). ~$40 i'll be up in seattle this weekend and live in portland right now. pm/email me if you are interested or have questions. matt [ 06-18-2002, 11:08 PM: Message edited by: mwills ]

i have the sportiva cobras and miras - and have ordered another with boards. these slip-lasted shoes are great for sensitvity, but as erik said they need to be resoled often. each have been resoled twice. i suppose, the number/type of shoes you have really comes down to the type of climbing you do. for me, i'm jack-of-all king-of-shit - happy on cracks, faces, slabs, etc. after a stress-fracture in my foot from too much edging on dime-edges with slippers i've decided to try out some shoes with a board. i oreded a pair of boreal ballet gold. these are a classic board-lasted shoe (similar to the sportiva mega). I ordered them a size larger than normal, which will allow for a thin sock. Although you do lose some sensitivity, i would opt for comfort over sensitivity on something like the north ridge of stuart. another shoe worth looking at is the venerable mythos - if you only buy one pair of those, get these. matt

i'm in. how does wednesday work for everyone? we could do westside this week and then east side in a couple weeks. winter - which route up rainier?

chocolate covered espresso beans are a must (or tylenol for the ensuing headache due to no caffiene), something tasty for the summit (muffin, nutty bar), snyders pretzles, some gu for emergencies, something simple to cook for dinner (rice, no cous cous, pasta, etc).

did the south route on 6/2 and had to park 5 miles below cold springs. however, i wouldn't be suprised if it is opend up to morrison creek by now with the warmer weather. cold springs probably has a couple more weeks. matt

FunGuy, The Dude, and I climbed the north face of Shuksan (car-to-car) on Sunday (6/9). we had hoped to climb Saturday, due to the expected warm-up on sat night/sun morning. instead, we spent the time sleeping in the car due to the new snow on fri night/sat morning. this was the first time on Shuksan for all of us, so none of us were sure about the approach. With the free time on Saturday determined our approach. using Colin's advice from a previous report, we decided to take the cat track from the White Salmon Lodge. this track runs parallel to the White Salmon creek and allows easy passage through the timber. eventually this track ends, and then the bushwhacking starts. be careful with recent heavy snowfall as this slope is prone to slide. with the heavy snow pack now, it is easy to stay up high and drop down into the valley late. however, it was dark for us and we dropped down too early and had about 1.5 hrs of unnecessary creek crossings and alder climbing. we made it to the base of the north face at about 5:30 am, making for a 4hr approach (which could have been shortened considerably with better route finding). the sun was out and it was starting to get warm. the freezing level was very high the night before (~7000ft) and rising. the conditions did not look very promising, with fresh snow on top of a hard spring pack and throw in the warm temps. we took a short break and headed up the nf. we had very little trouble skirting around the crevasses below the face. the lower section of the face had been in the sun for a while and was very soft, but allowed for great steps. the fresh snow on the nf was surprisingly stable. the views were spectacular, with only a few clouds in the sky you could see for miles. the alpine setting combined with the exposure gives you a euphoric feeling. we skirted around the bergschrund on the right and found vastly different snow/ice for great front pointing the rest of the way up. the route up the nf is very straightforward, just a couple holes to avoid and be sure to enjoy yourself. from the top of the nf, we trudged clockwise around to the southeast side of the summit pyramid only to find what looked to be an everest base camp. there were two rope teams (3 or 4 people on each rope) heading up to the summit, and one rope team descending. all were in each other’s fall line, and this was taking place on a ~55 degree slope. i will credit them with running belays, but there were just too many people. although it was nice runout below, it looked like the possibility for an ugly accident. it turns out it was the boeing alpine club and they had two groups of twelve people. one woman was injured while glissading down - she lost her axe and went head-over-heels a couple times before stopping (they were talking about a dislocated shoulder). The Dude opted to stay below and even out his tan while FunGuy and i went up to catch a glimpse of the summit. it took us about 2hrs to get to the summit and back down due to the traffic. we started descending about 2:30 and took the white salmon glacier descent. we dropped down to the upper curtis glacier via hells highway. because of the high snow pack, the hourglass would also be possible here to cut some time of the descent and eliminate having to ascend ~800' of the upper curtis glacier. we then dropped down to winnie's slide where FunGuy and The Dude rapped down, while i pulled the anchor and down climbed. then we plunged our way down the white salmon, looking for a short cut and trying to minimize dropping too much elevation. but eventually we ended up on top of rock band with no chance of rapping off, and had to back track and drop down to the bottom of the white salmon. from the bottom of the white salmon, we followed a trail left by some nice climbers (thanks you guys) through the trees and back to the lodge. we were back at the car around 8, making for about a 20hr round trip. without the route finding errors and the delays on top, i would say with good conditions this route could be done in under 15hrs at a moderate pace. i know there are some superstars out there who could do it in a fraction of that, but for us weekend warriors this would be a great time. so, all in all; a great route, in spectacular setting, with outstanding weather and throw in some bushwhacking on the approach and you get a true alpine experience. matt [ 06-13-2002, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: mwills ]

maple shouldn't be too bad, there is a good majority of the routes are in tight canyons and have good shade. although, it is heavily forrested and can get buggy. if you climb super hard you shouldn't have a problem. little cottonwood and big cottonwood would also be options in the slc area. the temps there would prob be 5-10 degrees cooler than in slc due to the elevation. have a good time.

i have a bibler hooped bivy, but wish i would have went with the id south col. both use the same fabric todd/integraltex. the hooped bivy is great - once you are inside of it. due to the one fact it only has one half-moon zipper, the hooped bivy is difficult to get in/out of. the south col uses the same half moon zipper along with a ~20" size zipper. so, while it might not be as weathertight as the bibler (and only 2oz heavier) it is easier to cook in and get in/out of. if you want something very analogue, take a look at wild things bivy sack.

ah, 6:30 at the Dublin Pub - works for me. Lisa, maybe i saw you on Adams - i went up on Sunday. I was a lone tele skier on the south spur. see everyone tonight. matt

were you still planning on doing either of these? i'd be interested this weekend. cheers. matt

anyone up for doing any of these routes this weekend? i'd prefer to do the reid glac hw on sunday or the sandy sat/sund, but would be open to other ideas. pm if interested. cheers. matt

MtnHigh, i remember the wind you must have experienced early sunday am while sleeping in the car - must have been hell because it was keeping me up. we headed up sunday am with intentions of climbing the reid glacier hw. we were optimistic on our way up, but decided to turn around at illumination saddle. wind was strong and visibility was terrible. the could level seemed to rise as the morning went on, but i'm glad we descended. good to hear you made it out all right. did you get a look at the sandy? we are thinking of doing it this weekend would welcome any input. cheers. matt

I posted this earlier in the Online Retailers board, but I thought I would try this board since it seems to get more traffic. I'm looking at ordering a few things from MEC but I'm curious about import duties, taxes, etc. I checked the US Customs website - specifically the NAFTA section. From what I could piece together, the US and Canada should have free-trade (duty-free) as of 1998. However, on MEC's site (www.mec.ca) they still mention possible import duties, taxes, and custom processing fees. I understand that the NAFTA only applies to items FROM Canada (those manufactured in Canada, not Taiwan). So, if I buy a jacket from MEC that is made in Canada should I expect any "additional costs" other than the shipping? Any advide on this would be appreciated. Cheers. matt

I'm looking at ordering a few things from MEC but I'm curious about import duties, taxes, etc. I checked the US Customs website - specifically the NAFTA section. From what I could piece together, the US and Canada should have free-trade (duty-free) as of 1998. However, on MEC's site (www.mec.ca) they still mention possible import duties, taxes, and custom processing fees. I understand that the NAFTA only applies to items FROM Canada (those manufactured in Canada, not Taiwan). So, if I buy a jacket from MEC that is made in Canada should I expect any "additional costs" other than the shipping? Any advide on this would be appreciated. Cheers. matt

i have two brand new grivel mixte picks. for use with the machines. asking $30/each (which includes shipping). matt

anyone out there know where i can get a misty mountain summit harness? misty discontinued it and i haven't been able to find one anywhere. thanks for the help. matt

here is a an almost new pair of trango extremes - dwr from the factory is still on the leather. size is 41.5. price is 170ish. let me know if you are interested: mwills@iastate.edu. matt

robbie, does the x-15 have the brs shaft? if so, what kind of condition is it in? let me know, i'm interested. cheers. matt

looking for a Misty Mountain Summit harness. size small or medium. this has been out of production for a couple years, but i thought i would try my luck here. matt

mikeadam, which model were the silverettas? do you have a number for the store in banff? i'm interested but would need them shippped elsewhere. let me know. cheers. matt