haireball

there are no-fee sites on usfs land up Eagle Creek, about a mile past the end of the pavement. The black-powder set has a Rendezvous up there every spring. Puts you about twenty minutes from the Icicle Canyon, but there is some lesser known cragging right on Eagle Creek. Plenty of privacy for doing whatever your party thing is, as long as you do it before hunting season opens...gets kinda busy when the deer-chasers are here. Superb mountain-biking, too.

if you're starting in Portland, and want ice in September, then Hood is a no-brainer. Even the "walk-up" from crater rock via the hogsback can yield a three-pitch ice-climb in late fall. Leuthold Couloir is slightly longer / more demanding, and several north side routes, including Sunshine, The North Face (really two routes, both ice-gullies)and the Sandy Glacier Headwall should be good. Don't go near the Elliot Headwall at that time of year - mineral showers... have fun!

if you're coming in September, the bugs will be past their peak - a couple of freezes works wonders on the black-flie population. If you're hoping for ice that late in the season, any glacier will have melted back to ice by then - but be prepared to deal with the "dogturdite" uncovered by that meltout. If you're inexperienced on big alpine terrain, I expect you'd be happier on rock routes at that time of year. Fred Beckey's Cascade Climbing Guides (if you're not familiar with them, they are required reading) are your best resource for selecting objectives. Good luck, and congratulations on your decision to not let that cancelled course keep you from coming!!! Good luck!

responding to the original question: the approach I've always preferred for the lower north ridge is up mountaineer creek from the Stuart Lake Trail. Dayhiker permits for this trail are not limited to a quota - only overnight permits are so restricted. So, in and out in a day solves any permit issues related to approaching from the Icicle Canyon side. By using the Mountaineer Creek variation, you avoid the Stuart Glacier, and the necessity for crampons on the approach. I descended the Sherpa glacier couloir in dry conditions many years ago, using no ice gear other than a 60cm mountaineering axe. If you feel you need a belay, the couloir is narrow enough that rock anchors are easily available. The larger problem is the schrund below the couloir - we jumped it, but conditions change, as well as confidence levels. Another descent option shorter than the south side couloirs is the west ridge. I have not done this myself, but I'm told that once below the summit step, it's straightforward scrambling down to goat pass. If you e-mail me I can put you in touch with a friend who has used the west ridge descent... Good luck

what a thread!!! this argument is not new - Ricardo Cassin, in his autobiography "Fifty Years of Alpinism", describes being vilified back in the 1930s, for using pitons for progress on some of his new routes. I like what John Salathe said the fifties: "Vy can't vee chust climb?" Personally, I was saddened by both the bolting and the chopping. Both activities impressed me as a waste. If climbers would "take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" neither act would have occurred. However, what's done is done. After the bolts were in, I entertained the thought of pulling them, but then thought "No, leave them as a monument to idiocy" (wow, have to remember that phrase for a route name!!! Now that they're gone, let's pray they don't reappear. I hope this is over. disclaimer: opinions are like assholes -- every one of us has one, and every one of them STINKS...

if you're camping in a van, try exploring outside the valley proper for deserted roads that are rarely patrolled. some of my fondest camping memories of Yosemite are those of car-camping undisturbed in the wide-open privacy of the NW area of the park, baking bread in a cast-iron dutch oven over a tiny manzanita fire...

for over 20 years, about half of that guiding, and on expeditions to Denali (twice) and Aconcagua, I've used photo-gray prescription lenses with excellent results. they get very dark in bright light, and clear in low light. I couldn't wear contacts if I wanted to (astigmatism), but I wouldn't have it any other way. The glasses are eye protection when I would otherwise have to wear goggles or glacier glasses anyway. The one accommodation I have made to glaciers and altitude is that I make side-shields out of duct-tape, which I remove at the end of the trip. Since these are my everyday lenses, this means the only change I ever have to make in my eyewear is the tape side-shields for glacier and altitude trips.

David, I have three sons, ages 7, 9, and 13, who have all climbed since they could crawl. I live in Leavenworth - email me at ckhaire@crcwnet.com. With a few days notice, you could have climbing partners and a place to crash. This coming weekend is not good - have a workshop to teach at the Community College which will eat the entire weekend. But let's keep trying - weekdays are ok, too, if your work schedule allows...

well, yeah, but, is anybody out there seriously attracted to anorexic stick-figures? - what about the ones who can't make spandex stretch? why don't we all just wear togas?

I'm a slumlord in Leavenworth, drive a schoolbus during the schoolyear, and build sets for a community theater - never have had a "real" job. Oh, yeah, and play a banjo for a local church choir - go figure... oh, yeah - and teach a community college course titled "re-inventing yourself" - come visit! I can usually adjust my schedule to accommodate climbing partners...

is there anybody else out there who doesn't care for bouldering? I mean, I do it, but as a last resort... usually if I can't find a partner, I'll solo some long easy climb, or jump on the bike and ride hills. Used to run, but found strength training to be more useful for mountaineering - so now I'm in a weight room 2-3 times a week. Yeah, I know it's a poor substitute, but it's the only way I can keep enough meat on me to feel good at altitude - I'm one of those guys who loses weight lying around. as for training mantras, I don't have one, but I'm constantly thinking about wanting/needing and "altitude adjustment"...

in thirty years of climbing, twenty of which were as a guide nearly full-time, right here in our "down-unfriendly" Pacific Northwest, I've never found a synthetic bag to measure up to a top-notch down bag. The set-up I've had for the last 11 years, after my previous bag was stolen, is a two bag system, which includes a Feathered Friends 0' bag with the oversized girth option, and a 30' summer-weight bag. The light bag weighs less than a pound, the heavier bag weighs barely two pounds, and using the light one as a liner inside the larger one yields a less-than-four-pound bag equal to the rigors of Denali or antarctica. the combination gives me three options, at the price of a decent expedition-grade bag. the price and versatility make me wonder why anyone would buy any differently. buy down, and get the best down you can find. it may feel expensive now, but ten or more years down the road, when the bag is still performing like new, you'll realize what a bargain it was.

here's another one: Curtis Neubert - about 1985 or so - this ole red-neck-hippie-climber-skier is out cutting firewood by himself up Colter Creek off highway 2. Drops a big widowmaker which lands on his left leg, breaking his leg and trapping him underneath. Alone, no phone, no radio, Curt knows he's gotta extricate himself or die, so he cranks up that chainsaw and commences to cut the tree off of his leg. Unfortunately, his position does not permit him to cut completely through the tree without cutting into his leg... After finishing the cut, he cobbles together a tourniquet for his leg, drags himself to his stick-shift pickup, and somehow manages to pilot the thing down to highway #2, where he coasts out into the traffic lanes and passes out. A couple days later, I'm visiting him in the Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee - his left leg is now absent below the knee. A year and a half later, he's telemarking double-diamonds at Stevens Pass with a prosthetic leg, and talking about ice-climbing again...

here's 2 for you... 1977 - Devils Tower - one of my partners slips on the approach to a route and pinballs 300' down a low-angle gully. Greg was a week in critical care before the doctors would allow a 50/50 probability of survival "and if he does live, he'll never walk, talk, or feed himself again." Within a year he'd made full, complete recovery, and was climbing a higher standard than before his fall... 2-Northwest Outward Bound School-Twisp River 1978 - A young lady in Geoff Childs' patrol broke her lower leg early in the course. Dr. Bill Henry, of Twisp, at the gal's request, applied the most weatherproof walking cast he could, and she returned to complete the course, peak-climbs, rock-climbs, rappels, and all... interesting thread... now remember folks, only things you've actually witnessed personally...

you're not seriously suggesting there's a difference between the Gym and the Mountains!?!?

whatever happened to "leave only footprints"? the only time I climbed The Nose, my Canadian partner was initially upset that I insisted we bag our shit and carry it off with us. After a few belays on stances that were essentially "the outhouse basement", he came around to my position. Nothing on earth like reaching for that ledge and coming up with a handful of paper-bagged "brown". Today I found myself attempting to explain to my thirteen-year-old son and his buddy why I wanted to remove the alien some dodo had managed to fix on the traverse to Saber Ledge on Castle Rock. It's litter... garbage... trash but I was unable to retrieve it with the resources at hand. Anybody who beats me to it is welcome to it, but don't wait too long...

if you're coming to Leavenworth area, check out the Swiftwater picnic ground on highway #2 in Tumwater Canyon. Good bouldering in the picnic area itself, and on the immediate opposite side of the highway. sorry I can't help with suggestions closer to Seattle... Flagstaff, eh? I climbed the Mace back in '78... welcome to the PNW!

this sounds like more fun than slinging mud over the net- I'd vote for partying in the Icicle, or Mazama (but then, I live on this side) someplace we can actually climb... Twenty-five years ago, I enjoyed the Mountaineers Weekend, hosted alternate years by the University of Wyoming, Colorado College, Colorado State University, or Utah State. Met Warren Harding and "Wee Brian" Robinson the year Wyoming hosted... - even non-climbers had a helluva good time at these annuals... High-climb - if this happens at a climbing site, I'll have my sons, ages 13, 9, and 7, along. As far as I'm concerned, anybody with respirations, a pulse, and an appreciation of verticality is an appropriate participant...

It's been a while since I've looked for them. The kits I used to see were marketed by Five-ten, and were first-generation Stealth rubber,plus Barge Cement. REI used to have them, don't know if they still do. If all else fails, try contacting Five-ten directly.

my brother-in-law once brought me some "Labatts Velvet Cream Stout" which I really enjoyed. next time I got to Canada, tried to get more, and was told Labatts don't make no such brew... go figure... winter time, Paulaner Salvatore is generally pretty good - said to be the most "popular" beer in the world..., Grant's Russian Imperial Stout, and, of course, Guinness summer - I like bitter ales, Red Hook ESB or Bachelor Bitter - but I gotta admit, the one you forgot at the bottom of the haul-bag is always the best - especially if you forgot the Cuban cigar that went with it!!!

unless the kid climbs A LOT, consider renting shoes. when kids are growing fast, I've found this can be even cheaper than re-soling their old tennies. if the kid is climbing once a week or more, the resole route is definitely the way to go. The supply of rubber & glue in a single kit will probably last you to the teen years...

question was raised, is there a difference between 6mm accessory cord and 6mm "static" cord. answer: no. rope manufacturers make "high-stretch" or "dynamic" ropes specifically for belaying a lead climber, where fall-factors greater than 1.0 are possible. all "accessory" cord, as far as I've been able to determine, is low-stretch or "static". interestingly enough, in the test data that I've seen, the stretch differential between low-stretch or "static" line, and high-stretch ("dynamic") rope, is very small at low loads and really only becomes "funtional" as you approach the "impact force" of the high-stretch rope. for the record, I'm a fan of double-rope technique, and have found it to have advantages even on wall routes - three <9mm ropes means if you damage one of the belay lines, you can switch the damaged rope to the haul-bag, and when you''re jugging a line that's running over an edge or two, you can be on belay with the other belay rope. I use half-ropes, and I usually twin them, even though I am aware of the difference between "twin" and "half". I don't worry about the impact force because most modern belay devices allow the belay rope to slip atloads well below the impact force of any "dynamic" rope. To generate the impact force of almost any "dynamic" rope, you pretty much have to take a high-factor fall on a belay that is tied off, or clamped with a mechanical ascender. One question you might ask yourself is how you'd feel about twinning the 6mm low-stretch rope with your lead-rope in the event that the lead-rope were to be damaged and your best escape is continuing upward...

1) stack three thin weight plates and pinch them. hold the stack to failure (that is, until your pinch exhausts and the middle plate drops out. 2) hang to failure from a pull-up bar or hangboard. 3) allow sufficient rest - overtraining is arguably the most common mistake among athletes who train seriously

it's been common practice in Canada and Alaska for decades...not as common in the lower 48 because so much of our high-quality mountaineering is in either formal Wilderness Areas or National Parks or National Monuments. So when we gotta hump more stuff than we can carry, we use horsepackers.

also - what the hell is "pro" ? once upon a time, "pro" meant a guide, or maybe a sponsored climber (yeah, those have been around for a while, just that it used to require going on some remote expeditionary venture...) long live natural language, to hell with jargon!!! climbers haven't invented any processes that weren't previously used by sailors and construction workers for a couple of centuries (or more) so why do we need new verbiage???