Beck

Matt, I'll be ordering a copy of the Access Fund's Climbing Management book and will loan it to you when it arrives,this could be something they address.

Okay, dudes and dudettes, I'll have to admit, those ladies are HOT!!! but part of what makes them so sexy is they are confident, accomplished and driven in the pursuit of what they love, not a couch potato in the bunch. I think active, vital, passionate women are hot regardless because,as we all know, true beauty is in the heart. A nice set of legs doesn't hurt, though!

The snow out here in the NW is FAB, I haven't had a problem finding powder MOST weekends out here; Look for powder in glades of big trees, small stuff, too(you just have to be real snappy!) north facing slopes and terrain traps(although I urge caution to those of you who try that) If it's slushy, GO HIGHER! even at snoq pass, try the back sides around Nordic/ Windy pass, not at the lifts. And I am biased, but to fully enjoy the freedom of the hills you must free the heels.

Ya Ya I'm sure it's UIAA spec so strength isn't the issue, I thought the tooth pattern extends way too close to the shaft on the Grivel Air Techs, maybe a real rope chewer...IMO. I've got a Grivel Pamir I use sometimes, seems plenty light, I don't own the Ushbai but picked one up at Nelson's shop and thought, DAMN this is lite!

Ushbai Titanium axe feels NOTHING like a toy, I wouldn't want to do much boot axe belaying on a Grivel race but thats's just IMO. Plus, no spike! wierd... weight savings, albeit minor... smallest diameter cord for prussiks, get an actual webolette for slinging belay stations, 9/16" webbing vs 1", use gear sling as sling, also prussiks as slings if not on glacier (not vertical rock but snow/ice)light boots, no gaiters(get pants with good leg openings)etc' etc' Chounard said something like "...when packing, take out what you can, then take out more...till nothing can be left behind."

Cavey, come join me one weekend this winter on backcountry ski patrol down at Mount Rainier, it's hella fun! We'll be having a free ave seminar sometime this fall, I'll let you know about when it is...We'll teach you how to interp a hasty pit and do a rutschblock, safety first, bro!

If anyone wants a current copy of the American Safe Climbing Association's latest newsletter PM me and I will send you one, I've got some leftover from the Fall Ropeup. Their mission is to REPLACE deteriorated bolts and rap stations at ALREADY BOLTED climbing areas, they've replaced thousands throughout YOS valley and Smith Rocks, as well as Devil's Lake Wisconsin. as far as I know they DO NOT advocate new bolting, rather keeping the Vert world safe from unsafe bolts.

"Hey, I must have left the stove in the car.. here, try some cold instant coffee..."

Aluminum crampons, Ushbai Titanium ice axe, buy a light, light pack, get that 9.4, and forego the stove if it isn't winter, you'll eventually get used to the taste of cold instant coffee, albeit calling it coffee at that point is really a stretch of reality. Who cares how much it costs? Eat Ramen at home and go to the food bank to help further your gear budget!

Well, okay, Geordie, umm, it's with Teddy Ruxpin, alright... I've got to get some action somehow!!!

Just a note to all of us climbers out here who might bre interested in giving something back, there is a Mountaineering Oriented First Aid Instructors' course being offered in Seattle at The Red Cross Office, Oct 23 thru Nov 27, Tues and Thurs nights 6-10 at a cost of only $40- call the Red Cross at 206-726-3534 or respond to this thread if you have any ??? Beck

I've got a date at Thirteen Coins at Seatac, if any one wants to join us!!! Sorry, maybe next week for Beckey boy.

I think all climbers need to approach the vertical wilderness with a bit more conservation minded action...people complain about permits in the Enchantments or blue bags and restrictions on the volcanoes, but how long would unregulated use take to totally trash those alpine environment? I beleive it's selfish, self centered and very unfair to future climbers to assume what we're doing now is going to be okay and acceptable to FUTURE generations of climbers.

get real drunk and fall off a roof, helps keep you limber for falls at the crags.

No kids for me yet, Dru.. most chicks fall for Teddy's flirtatious gaze and the sparkle in his eyes and drop me like a hot potato!! I still love him though, just wish he'd share the booty sometimes!

thanks Cavey, it's a lot more than just that, sometimes you get coffee and a doughnut if you're lucky!!!

Let us not forget about the next generations of climbers...

Isn't the mer de glace up in Greenland 1000 feet thick, David?

My mistake on the decades, it was only twenty years ago so that makes it the eighties, right? (My, how time flies...) I suspect these are the same two climbers, they found this tube sock sling above the Mazama Glacier on ridge, my beta's a bit second hand as I'm just a SAR lunkhead..."How high do I need to jump, sir?" The sherriff's office organized a search earlier this summer as well, don't remember the names of the missing, one of the fellas there was on the original search, he thought the prevailing winds would have pushed them in the direction of the Mazama Glace, as we all know, you get pushed away from your intended direction when the winds are howlin' and the spindrift feels like needles. Philfort might know more about the specifics, he was up on the August search as well.

I'm sticking to writing about my good pal Teddy Rux, you might have climbed with him, Dru! With the low snow year in the NW there was more evidence found on Mount Adams that (in)conclusively showed the last resting place of these two climbers missing from the sixties... sling made with tube socks(!!!) on a nubbin above a cliff band off the S ridge, head band, remains of (probably) tent material melting out of 'scrhrund.. but nothing at all like the evidence found in NZ... mostly the search team I was on walked around on refrigerator sized blocks of unsettled boulders as more popped off the cliff above the glacier... I think theie bodies are under 30 feet of rockfall and will not be found but the family still grieves.

Mount Analogue reveals itself only to those open to the thosophist nature of mountaineering, usually hidden from ordinary view by rational doubt. Problay twern't.

... Yvon Chounard's fundamental reason for developing chocks and stoppers( as well as Frost, etc..) was the environmental impact PITONS were causing at the crags- flakes were dropping of the big walls in YOS and altering the nature of the big walls. He saw much more intrinsic environmental climbing styles in the Brits, who used natural protection, chockstones, slings on chickenheads, tape assisted slinging, also not running out a rope but using belay stances if they were even 40 feet apart. He mentions classic British climbs as having polished holds but no human damage vs. piton scars ruining American rock. The issues of sport vs. trad is not a black and white issue, but generally, I think with any wilderness area, it is not US who are the end users, it is our children, and their children,etc. The most important thing we can do as climbers is... protect the vertical environment for future generations. "Fostering stewardship of the vertical environment" Was it Aldo Leopold who said " The true value of wilderness lies... not in Daniel Boone's time, or ours, but in the future." sorry about the lousy paraphrasing, I don't have any of my lit at work.

Ice dam burst under the glacier, prob. Glacier settles, active calving.

I think it's giardia from all that untreated water everyone's been drinking!! Freeze dried food is a definite culprit, shouldn't be eating this overpriced styrofoam unless your trips' going to be more than 5 days, pack good stuff instead, I've usually got fresh veggies for the first three days, always accounts for the heaviest bulk weight in my pack.

Imitation Bac-os for salt replacement with snickers bars, peanuts or sesame snack crackers,oatmeal or granola, tang and cold instant coffee for breakfast