[i feel so warm inside! dedicated to pope]

I wonder if it is really the grid bolting. I can't say I'm totally against bolting. I think repel anchors save a lot of trees, not to mention lives. But what if Black Diamond or metolius came out with some new super easy to place face climbing pro. Like a suction cup or a magnet. Something that was as easy to place as to clip a bolt. That would blur the line a little between trad (can I still use that word?) and sport.

Would that change any attitudes? People would still wear pink spandex and climb at exit 38. I'm guessing no. I think the arguement is much more about the culture, not just a few shiny pieces on stainless steel.

[Mt. Rainier]

We tried. We made it to 13,000 on the Emmons route. Conditions we're pretty good. The route had a thin layer of firm snow with ice in patches, but not too bad. The route had a lots of small crevasses down low, but most we're well wanded. The route wonders a lot. A bunch of groups made it. The weather started comming in at about 7:00am. It looked to be getting bad, so we turned back, but it cleared up in the end.

[calories]

Pop Tarts! $0.249 a piece. 210 calories.

[Emmons this weekend]

Myself and a few friends are trying the Emmons route this weekend. This will be the first time up Rainier for me. Given the recent weather I'm looking for thoughts on avalanche, crevasse and route finding dangers. Any thoughts? The weather looks to be clearing up a tad for saturday and sunday so I'm hopeful.

[Avalanche at 13,000 ft on Lib Ridge on May 28, 2001]

It's probably worth noting that many of the Search and Rescue crowd are also climbers. Anyone hear about the massive search for a missing police dog last week? I'll bet a large minority of the search team are climbers.