Stefan

Met with Alex Lowe. He was a really nice person. Couple of days later talked with Hans Kammerlander--that guy wanted to ski from the summit of K2. He is one skinny dude. All he is, is lungs and legs. His torso does look disproportional to the rest of his body. He didn't get the chance to ski down K2 but still made a decent attempt.

Have a friend drive you up the Mowich Lake road with a snowmobile in the winter. It's not illegal unless you get caught. They block off the road at the Paul Peak Trailhead (3500') and do not open it until end of June or beginning of July. In May the lower portion of the road is melted out, but higher up the road become quite deep with snow. For the beginning part of the road use a bike and then ditch the bikes in the trees when snow gets too much for them. You will find that skiers and people hike to Mowich lake on this road, thereby allowing for a well packed and travelled trail thereby avoiding the use of snowshoes. I would take the packed down snow Mowich road anytime over any unpacked snow trail to save energy. In addition, 3500' at the Paul Peak trailhead is the highest elevation you can start at for this climb at that time of the year.

The most controversial part of this plan is the guided climbing. I think it is important to not forget there was also wilderness and alpine wilderness guiding proposals too in the commercial services plan. I thought proposal 3 was the best proposal; however, I recommended they change it slightly. The regulations on guiding/guiding areas/# of guided people should only be restricted from May 1 to September 30th. From Oct 1 to April 30 there should be no restrictions on anybody.

I have seen pictures of the new lake from some people who have been up Goodell..... I am sure that person who sent me the pictures is lurking......

It all depends on your personel priority with your time. Time with your kids? Time with your wife? Time for your climbing? What did I do? I cut back on my climbing. My children are more of a priority to me. It is not bad. It is not good. It is something different that I personally value. I have not stopped climbing, I have made climbing less of a priority.

(No spray from me! Well, most of the time.) I don't bolt. And I don't climb bolted climbs. I know climbing is dangerous and I take the risk. I was not designed to touch every piece of rock on this earth. Nor will I try. Knowing my physical limits and the regard to preserving my life makes me a human.

But what about a bolt ladder?

I am a person who does not do anything! Well....I just climb.

This earth is big enough for everyone. Some people who do not like bolting do something about it--they chop bolts and they have the freedom to do so. Some people who like to bolt do something about it--they bolt and they have the freedom to do so. Some people do not do anything and just write. They just rant on this website about ethics.

IMHO. I like TR's. Even bad ones. I know how difficult it is to write interesting and informative trip reports, the use of adjectives, and adverbs even to make a story compelling. But when you write and put it out for public opinion, you put your ass out--wether it be in a book, magazine, or a website bulletin board. I admire those people who hang their asses out. Even the chestbeaters.

Dwayner showed me this film. I highly recommend it to conservatives.

I know somebody who did the traverse this year. They recommended skis......

What about an Olympic shower after a workout like Mark Twight recommends in his Alpine Light book? Damn, that is tough to do. It is invigorating though, and I do have to say I feel somewhat different, but I don't know if my performance improves because I keep getting older with each day.

I have to agree with MattP. I have been in situations in alpine climbing environments I have chosen to go light with extreme limited pro. I usually place pro at 15 feet (but with big exposure) and then as needed on up. My anchor have been hip belay at the start until the second or third piece was put in. Why a hip belay at the start? If I fell, I would have less of a potential to drag my partner down with me. Good anchor placement is a great thing to know and if you have extra equipment, then definitely use it. But know the basics like a hip belay and the dangers associated with it. Kind of like a Z pulley. You should know how to do a Z pulley with one ice axe, one carabiner, and one runner (the minimum equipment). If you have more or better equipment for a Z pulley, then great!--use it, becuase the minimum amount of equipment sucks--but doable.

My friend was on a class 3 piece of rock this summer by Logan. The boulder he was on moved and caused him to fall several times causing a head injury. Some people have said he should not have gone light. Well, it turns out they dropped their packs just so they could scramble up this little peak. Did they make a bad call? Not in my opinion. Class 3 scramble? Who would have thought? I don't wear a helmet on class 3 climbing....I probably never will. Hell, I worry most about tripping on something going cross country and then impailing myself on a broken branch from a fallen tree.

I suspect many of you who have responded have not had an accident. I have been a victim of a climbing accident whereby I know I am fortunate to be writing this response to you right now. I have seen both sides of the coin. Albeit more positive than negative, but I suspect a lot of folk don't want to talk negative to me becuase that might not be considered kosher. I did receive actual sympathy from people who were personally close to me and not so close to me. I got flamed a little bit here on cascadeclimbers.com for my accident too which someone thought I did something wrong. No big deal, just different opinion. (I will never know what actually went wrong.) I see the same thing with firefighters. If one dies, there is an investigation and usually someone is assessed blame. But if one lives through a harrowing experience, his buddies slap him on the back and make him buy ice cream for the rest of the crew. I now see injuries and death different of climbers. If an accident occurs I have empathy for what climbers and the family/friends of the climbers are going through, and I wish all the lives affected can be returned to normalacy as quickly as possible. After my accident, Dru congratulated me on bagging my summit (the accident occurred after the summit). I will cherish that memory of his congratulations forever in my life.

Everyone should get a passport. Forget about the birth certificate thing....although I think you need the birth certificate to get the passport. Birth certificates don't really work when you travel to Europe to get past the arline security. I sure hope you all visit Europe at least one time in your life.

Mt. Garfield. The road is not washed out.

I would like to keep the Native Americans names for the mountains. Like Tahoma. The names would be a small connection to a history before the white man. Did the Native Americans name any of the mountains along Ragged Ridge?

Drop him as a partner. This person needs to learn a lesson. If they don't learn now, when will they? I have never bagged out on somebody like that. Ever. I know what it takes to make a commitment for time. Hell, I don't even cancel if it is raining out.

I am no expert, but could it be a miniscus tear if not a broken bone? If so, XRAY won't pick it up.

I was at the one in Tacoma......I thought the MRN Park Service employees are doing a good job with the mandates set before them.

Starting at 5:00a.m. will give you enough time. I found this website very helpful. Eric has great information on the standard route. http://www.ericsbasecamp.net/trips/CowlitzChimney/CowlitzChimney.htm

My two cents. I hope Dwayner got a warning before his ban and not just an outright ban. I do however hopes he can return. He provided much insight to me over some middle eastern matters and a different perspective on bolting. I knew from reading several of his posts that he was interested in keeping the quality of this climbing website in check by having the spray section. However, since I am not a huge lurker, I do not know what befell his actions if he was spraying outside of the spray section. I do appreciate spray being kept in the spray section. This will add to the quality of the site.