Stefan

I have done Maude and 7FJ in a day from the trailhead. Doing these two peaks in a day is doable—however combining all three in one day would be a significant feat. I recommend on day one make camp at Leroy Basin and climb Maude. Day two go up 7FJ and then follow the route description for the SW that Beckey says for Fernow. Fernow is 5 hours from Leroy Basin. Staying on the ridge proper of 7FJ towards Mt. Fernow would be very time consuming and tedious. All three are definitely doable in two days depending on the routes you take.

Another recommendation: Replace the inner footbed of your boot. I have these really nice cushy ones that were $10 from Walgreens. Some people use $30 Superfeet brand but I don't think they work that well. There were about 15 different choices at Walgreens. The footbeds they provide you in the boots always suck.

Heres another option KIWI. Offer to pay somebody on this climbing board for $150/day to teach you something for 4-5 days. It appears that a lot of these guys on this website are either unemployed or have a lot of time on their hands and wouldn't mind the extra dough. Plus you get 100% personal attention. Downside is that you might get a jerkwad who knows crap and all he wants is your money.

Walmart started out small just like these other small businesses. They did something right--they offered something the community was willing to pay for. They have stuck with their business model for many years, and their business model has allowed them to grow. These other small business that are being left behind have had the exact same opportunities, but they were just not smart enough. I do agree with AlpineK. Walmart will close down--someday. For example: KMart. I don't think KMart is going to be able to survive its bankruptcy comeback. No business lasts forever--except for European Breweries.

the smiling in the pictures says it all....

I still don't get it. Why are SO MANY small businesses are going out of business becuase of Walmart? Small business in small communities must be offering something for the community? Or maybe those small businesses are missing something? The common theme I am seeing is that even small communities are voting for Walmart with their dollars. It's not just one or two, but many. And why is it that MANY small communities are voting for Walmart? It appears the few people against Walmart shout louder than the majority supporting Walmart.

I have done it in a day and we simulclimbed and rappelled a lot. Even got the rope stuck once where I had to climb back up to get it. The problem was the couloir. The earlier the start, the less rushed you will feel and enjoy the climb.

I was happy. My girlfriend and I had been dating for over a year, and so we decided to get married. My parents helped us in every way, my friends encouraged me, and my girlfriend? She was a dream! There was only one thing bothering me, very much indeed, and that one thing was her younger sister. My prospective sister-in-law was twenty years of age, wore tight mini skirts and low cut blouses. She would regularly bend down when quite near me and I got many a pleasant view of her underwear. It had to be deliberate. She never did it when she was near anyone else. One day little sister called and asked me to come over to check the wedding invitations. She was alone when I arrived. She whispered to me that soon I was to be married, and she had feelings and desires for me that she couldn't overcome and didn't really want to overcome. She told me that she wanted to make love to me just once before I got married and committed my life to her sister. I was in total shock and couldn't say a word. She said, "I'm going upstairs to my bedroom, and if you want to go ahead with it just come up and get me." I was stunned. I was frozen in shock as I watched her go up the stairs. When she reached the top she pulled down her panties and threw them down the stairs at me. I stood there for a moment, then turned and went straight to the front door. I opened the door and stepped out of the house. I walked straight towards my car. My future father-in-law was standing outside. With tears in his eyes he hugged me and said, "We are very happy that you have passed our little test. We couldn't ask for a better man for our daughter. Welcome to the family." The moral of this story is: always keep your condoms in your car.

They are selling the Cassin Raid Light here for $54 http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi 1) Go to the "Search by Store" 2) Select "Sports, Travel, Toys" 3) Put in the word "Light" 4) Select "Go"

Was it those LifeLink helicopters? Or was it a tourist helicopter? It is the tourist season......and those Japanese sure like taking pictures of climbers. I tried out for RMI one time. We were doing our explanation of techniques and this large group of Japanese comes to watch us. We were about 50 meters away from the parking lot on snow doing our own private thing. Well, they didn't really want to watch us. Some people got within 2 feet of us while we were talking, so their buddy could capture a photograph of them with a mountain climber in polypropelene and goretex with an ice axe.

Liar story. True. I was sent off for a consulting job in Redding, CA that involved a transfer of company to Dallas, TX. The process took 8 months. Policy of the company I was working for said, "Employees are allowed to return home for weekends during work outside of their hometown." I was with 3 other people. We asked the supervisor, about the travel, and he said, "You can come home every weekend--it is in the contract." Well, the supervisor of the job after about 2 months, ordered us to stay in Redding, CA and Dallas, TX on weekends to save money for the business we were consulting becuase all travel, food was paid for by the business we were consulting for. We were all pissed off. After one month of not travelling home, I said fuck this and started coming home on my own without informing the supervisor. The supervisor was a totally hands off kind of person. Guess, what? I found the contract after the job was done. The contract did not have a clause in it saying we could come home. The three other people on the job quit about halfway through due to this episode. The man is a liar. He works at T-Mobile now.

I'm married. I don't have the creative juices to think like that anymore.

....and lame fucks who never show up for a climb

I have only done Sheep. Sheep can be done in early season becuase it is not that far away from the gate, so bikes are not that necessary. We crossed the bridge over the South Fork of the Sauk, went directly up, and then went into the drainage shown on the map at 3400 feet. You cannot get into the drainage at 3200 feet or 3600 feet due to mossy cliffs. We continued on the north side of the drainage until about 4400 feet where it widened out and up to the col at 5720+ and traversed over to the summit. I have no information on the other peaks.

Ha!

If Walmart sucks so bad, why does it do so well? Thumbs up to Walmart in my opinion. People decide with their money. The market dictates.

At popular trailheads I now take off the cables connecting to the battery. Not that my car would be anything anybody wanted.....but maybe just a joyride..... Looks like you had fun on the trip! Good to see!

Tell me where you lost it, what type it is, and I will tell you: Thanks!

Does Brent Bishop live/work in the Seattle area or is he still in Montana?

I don't agree cjf001f. Most discussions on this board are in the "SPRAY" area. Posting this informs others, just like a bad movie, or a good movie. We have people posting positive information on this site about good customer service at worthy locations. Recent example: Cascade Crags in the Shops forum. In addition, if a customer service rep catches this thread, maybe they will bend over backwards to correct the issue; and thereby getting back a future customer.

I do think the gym in the Kent to Tacoma area would be a good thing. However, the only problem is of course as someone stated--the age group. Younger people without the responsibilities of a house or children have more time on their hands, and therefore can spend the time and money at an indoor rock climbing wall. If I was to look into it, the key would be the amount of softball, soccer, and other intramural sports in the Kent-Tacoma area compared to Seattle. If there is a huge following of these sports, then the idea might fly because it gives an indication of the potential. The indoor gym would also have to be near a large population center of apartments (after all a lot of single people live in apartments). In addition, you might be able to Backpacker's Supply to move their store next to the gym. If there was a location, best location I can think of is just off of I-5 near the Portland Ave exit with the population center of Tacoma being the strongest pull for location.

I hope you heal quickly.

Funny thing. You never hear about the stories about the rope teams on extremely sloped terrain that never make it from a fall. Well, maybe that isn't so funny.

I'm not sure, but wasn't that famous self arrest on K2 where everybody was roped up and one person saved them from a self arrest? I believe no pro was placed then. I guess they were all experienced folk.

Ditto with me too.