Beck

A couple buddies and I went ski touring at Snoqualamie Pass on Sunday. We put in over 1,000 vertical feet of descent (not counting yo-yos)in the North facing bowls from Melakwa Pass down to Chair Peak Lake and continuing down to some benches that led us over to Gem Lake, then caught some great touring in the trees from Gem partway down to Snow lake. 15 miles m/l car to car from Denny Creek trailhead up and around Chair/Bryant Massif and down to Snow Lake trailhead at the Alpental parking lot. Truly a fine day of skiing in July at Snoqualamie Pass. [This message has been edited by Beck (edited 07-02-2001).]

Avoid Buffalo Run on highway 20 if you need to take less than two hours to eat.

Great burgers on highway 20 at the burger joint by the river and in north bend there's a great burger joint with chairs that face mount si and scale burgers of course.

The thread of this post was steering towards the "I've never used my emergency knife except to cut cheese" and my posts reflect this awareness of what you really use a knife for. Yes, I can open a swiss army knife with one hand; I can also whittle a ball in a cage and can shave with my knives. Does it matter? No. What does matter is my opinion that - a swiss army knife is more versatile for your outings- yesterday I used mine to clean a rock out of my car's brake housing- carried it all day on the climb and didn't use it till i got off the mountain- sure am glad I had it in my pocket. So, hey, carry what you want if it makes you feel good about yourself, I've got mine and my two cents worth in, too! Beck

Dan E- what do you do with a big knife? Build lean tos and whittle bullroarers and snowsnakes for the kids? Seriously, I have big knives, too, but in my kitchen- And I've also carried a spiderco mini taped shut on a lanyard around my neck, when the handle snapped and exposed the blade inches from my jugular, i reconsidered. I also carried a bigass kabar strapped to my leg for "protection"- when I was a boy scout! I'll still stick with my knife maxims.

Well, the debate continues. Carrying a knife around your neck- not the best place to hang a razor sharp item,particularily if you're flailing about on the end of a rope, most locking folders don't lock closed. To D. Parker, incorrect, sir, you can open a swiss army knife with one hand, and I guarantee you'll use any multifunction tool, swiss knife or leatherman, a heck of a lot more than a single blade- picking shards of quartzite out of your mitts, popping blisters, TIGHTENING CRAMPONS, opening wine bottles, picking your teeth, cutting tape or moleskin, whatever, it's a much more VERSATILE tool than a single blade Here's a poll for all the respondants here to this thread- Have you ever actually used a knife on a wall in an emergency situation, like you needed it THAT SECOND? Or do knives come in more handy during all the rest of the everyday shit? If you grew up in the woods these maxims about knives seems to always be true. #1- Big knife, small d_ _ _. #2- guy carry big knife, not know much about woods.

Gemuttlichkeit! "Dieses rock ist "chossy" ist ser lame.

Try the Bailey Range Traverse- you'll not see many people, that's for sure, but it make for great high country wandering.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE! medium sized with a phillips head, anything else you want, you'll use and use it and use it- anyone that doesn't carry at least a knife probably doesn't get outside enough!

Live and learn , Bronco. Anyone want to start a gear company? call it ???

Maybe my butter snack sounds like a lot of bull, it's a great thing to bring in the winter/AK/Antartic- Will Steger rationed out 1 stick per person per day, I've dropped it to 1/2 stick /pp/pday, drop it in the morning glop, nibble on it, spread it on beef jerky, toss it in the PM glop, I think it'd be stupid to do major endurance climbs w/o a lot of calories, winter you'll burn 4-5,000 calories a day and that's a lot of food! Sign me up for some vodka shots and lard chasers with the Ruskkies!!

titsmack- if you are intent on using any white gas stove inside a tent preheat it outside and let it "pull up" to full pressurization, THEN haul the thing into your vestibule or clip it in if it's a hanger. A way to try hanging an XGK would be to buy a full frame aluminum stove stand(one that cradles both the stove and bottle) , the folders won't work. Get some wire and crimps and make a suspension for it. A wire "daisy chain" would be a great way to build height adaptability into the system. Hope this can be of some help.

a stick of butter on a chocolate bar-800 calories in the butter and 200 in the chocolate- much better at 20 below!

Some buddies I ran into at the Brick on Sunday 5/10 climbed it over the weekend via one of the glacier routes and said it was in good shape and snow free on the approach for higher than they expected. I don't know if there was snow at the lake.

The golite packs are RUCKSACKS, no suspension(I see they've got a second pack in the lineup this season but don't know any specs) There're also going to be too small for any winter gear needs here in the NW but would be big enough for overnight pushes in the summer. You can beef up a ruk with your bivy pad but there's no more pack there than an old klettersack. You can totally carry 35 in a ruk but it feels like a lumpy hod of bricks by the end of the day. You want light for alpine use, check out Kelty cloud or flight, both under two pounds. Lots of other packs with suspension and stays and a heck of a lot more carrying comfort are out there, picking a golitecould be a bit insubstantial.

Rene Daumal climbed it -MOUNT ANALOGUE

Hanging "the blowtorch" in a Bibler- What a great idea. Better hope it doesn't flare up!!

I'll bet not a lot of women stay as thrillseeking and foolhardy once they hit their twenties as the average climber dude. Go for the easy high meadow alpine stuff if you want to keep the women happy, carry ALL the heavy stuff, and don't forget to pack a)extra socks in her size b) her favorite sweet as a trail food c) the understanding your girl wants to enjoy herself, not follow you to the top of a giant choss pile and call it fun. This is not meant to diminish any of the women climbers out there, YOU GO, GIRLS! ( wish I could find one of you!)'m just keeping the differences of the sexes clear- Maybe WOMEN don't like grimy mountain men that are often broke, drive junker cars and are always gone on the weekends. Just the fact I'm gone on the weekends has cost me more than one girlfriend, and you know what Dwayne, I'd rather be out in the mountains.

I doubt the climbing fees were earmarked for this, rather funds pulled from entrance fees and golden eagle passes.

These fabrics all belong in the category of "stretch woven" fabrics. Different companies have a lot of these new fabrics in their clothing lines, Moonstone, Patagonia, The North Face are all offering varieties of stretch wovens. Look for scholler "SKIFANS" fabric, woven with wool as the inner nap for cooler weather as comprable with powershield- and I'd rate it as a better temperature regulator and drier, too! The scholler fabrics with a base layer can be quite comfortable below freezing. I skied at Mount Rainier all winter long with Scholler and long johns and didn't have to put the shell pants on at all except in a blinding rainstorm. also the fabric sheds frozen precip much better than at above freezing temps. Powershield would probably be too warm for pants in any season here in the NW with the exception of stop and go at high altitude, MEC, ARXTERCX and Cloudwalker are the only manufacturers with Powershield pants, I'd go with Scholler and layer underneath for most conditions in the NW. One more tip- MEC has powershield jackets for 160 canadian and scholler tops for mabye 120- Seems to me Cloudveil and ARXTERX are price gouging us poor folk.

I do wonder which fees these programs at Mount Rainier are coming from. In regards to other NORTHWEST FORESTS PARK PASS funded projects, I will HAVE to state the obvious- climbers are the minority among the fee payers. The forest service has funded a lot of trail maintence and trail building, unfortunately, there's going to be a lot more RV's than climbers putting out an organized voice for their needs in the mountains. What do you all want, a trail to you favorite crag? I say keep some spots hard to get to and underdeveloped- like a lot of the Glacier Peak wilderness.

A very contraversial topic, rescue insurance. If climbers are required to carry rescue insurance, what other groups should be paying for rescue insurance- hunters? ATV riders? canoeists? hikers? The european model used in the Alps works for the Europeans but can it be transposed on the American model of outdoor recreation? A basic tenant of most SAR teams-most of whom are volunteers (Mountain rescue, ATV fast response rescue, 4x4 jeep SAR, Mounted SAR, the variety of SAR teams is pretty amazing) is the rescuers engage in rescue activities accepting the risk and sometimes at considerable personal cost- time lost form work, gas, feeding your search dog, whatever. Having been involved in rescues myself I've "lost" SAM splints, emergency blankets, pairs of mittens, as well as spending a lot of time out in marginal conditions. There's no rational reason why any one would want to do this except a desire to help others. Costs incurred for most rescues are administrative and "bean counting" for agency reimbursments for salaries of involved personnel, and billable hours for equipment use of helos and those types of expenses. The park superintendant was stating a less understood facet of rescue operations at Rainier, the bulk of rescue costs are for nontechnical SARs. The most expensive search to date, if i've got my facts straight, was the search for the missing NYC journalist that went missing while birdwatching on Rampart Ridge. Will birdwatchers need rescue insurance, too? Beck

While climbing a forth class pitch I went for a ledge that had a wasp's nest on it or in it, they got pissed and attacked, and I peeled fourty feet to some lower ledges- not so stupid but pretty freaky, had to do a fast panicky uncontrolled descent to escape this swarm of pissed off wasps!

The FAA does have restrictions against carrying fuel bottles and stoves in carry on luggage, but each airline enforces ALL the FAA regs on a selective basis. as with the preceding respondants, I'd reccomend washing the bottles and letting the fuel evaporate out of any stove you'll be bringing with you. A valuable principle to keep in mind on matters such as these is " Admit nothing, If you're suspected, deny everything, and if you're caught, lie." "I don't have any fuel bottles- oh wait, did I really pack those- I could have sworn we shipped those parcel post!"

A big concern for the larger multiday packs is the carry. Light is totally right, hard to find a nice light multiday pack that's light and carry well, all the cold cold world packs are frameless but light. I look in the gear guides for over 4500 cu inches and 4 pounds or under. I have heard reviews of the Kelty Cloud 4500 (weighs under two pounds!) as a very supportive and comfortable carry. They have a similar pack , can't recall if it's called the flight 4500 weighs a half a pound more and is several hundred dollers cheaper. I haven't talked to many people who carry the Andinista, it's real light for it's size but the framesheet is minimal and it's compression system only allows for two sizes. A basic three strap side compression system, bivy sleeve, two daisy chains and axe loops attached to a a minimal frame system thats' comfy when maxed out are things to look for. I know they're sellouts, but I've carried TNF packs for almost twenty years, bought a spectra fabric alpine pack they made a couple of years ago, they have a great lighweight x frame stay system that works well and you can remove the stays in the field for a rucksack like carry. They've got a Prophet 65 that's light and looks real similar to my older model. The durability of spectra type fabics don't seem as good as standard cordura but it is significantly lighter.