genepires

so many options out there. how about getting a start with something like outward bound or NOLS? they could have a pure backpacking programs that you could get your foot into the guiding experiences. meanwhile work on the technical climbing skills. (fellow guides would most likely go climbing during off days) I started guiding on the path described by your conversation with the guide service but some other guides came in from NOLS and OB. As far as building rock skills, get a rock gym membership, get out on weekends with others and maybe join the mountaineers for their budget freindly climbing course. will meet fellow newbie climbers as well. It is really about finding partners, making mistakes but surviving them, learning in the field, reading from others and getting after it. I don't mean to be a downer but I think the request for mentors is a bit of a put off. Most people have very busy lives and can't really afford to be able to invest that amount of time. But most people have time to take someone out for a day rock climbing if the other has the ability to belay. At least for me Mentorship implies a pretty long time commitment but I come from a apprenticeship background so maybe our concepts of mentorship are different. I must say that I really enjoyed my time as a guide. I have plenty of coworkers who moved on to a really successful career at it also.

you are right in that there are always lessons to be learned from bad situations. I just sensed to beginning of a blame game about to happen. without the full facts of what happened and what led them to their choices. Monday morning quarterbacks are usually quick to blame and slow to listen. Probably the best to learn from is the ANAM journal.

not sure if it is ever valuable to question (in hindsight) the choices of individual or groups in mountains. the only safe choice is stay home. We make choices and sometimes they are bad. I will say that I have been on top of baker in a cloud cap a couple times where I was completely turned around. Had to pull out a compass to find the way back to the roman wall as the steps were completely gone after a couple minutes of blowing snow. Kinda funny but one of those times luck saved me. I was holding my axe and compass in the same hand and the metal axe was giving me a false compass bearing. (very rookie move) Luckily the clouds parted just long enough me to realize I was bearing down on the coleman headwall. Without a compass or experience on several routes on that mountain, hunkering down on the summit in a cloud cap is a good idea.

not to dismiss the efforts of the rescue personnel. Seemed like a nice flat landing and walk over to the victims. but i read later that they had big clouds and wind. sounds like it was a tough flight in there.

http://komonews.com/news/local/2-boy-scouts-2-adult-trooper-leaders-missing-on-mount-baker

i think it is india. you can see a little Ballywood going on in there.

i see you have no bites on this. I don't own one but I have some thoughts. if it is not warm enough, wear clothes in sleeping bag. I usually use way inadequate rated sleeping gear and make up for it with wearing clothes while sleeping. Patagonia has a very strong return program. I doubt that it is not durable and if there is an issue, I suspect that it is easy to have them repair or replace. I doubt any sleeping bag is non breathable. if you have plenty of money, maybe you need a regular sleeping bag for camp and a half bag/down jacket for unplanned bivy. I have a really oldish down sleeping bag liner (I thinkit is rated 40F) that use pretty much all summer. super light and compact. I bet there are similar products out there as well. good luck

maybe with some pre planning, you could find another pair of people going for the north ridge that you could make a team of 4 for the approach, then split into two teams of two for the climb and descent. I have been on that part of the glacier (approach to n ridge) in different seasons and I can say that you will be walking over Monster crevasses. That place is so broken up under the winter snow pack. the crevasse patterns sometimes don't make sense either. definately a place to be prepared. The last time I was on it, we did a different than usual tactic. instead of stumbling around on a crevassed glacier in the dark, we approached the ridge in the afternoon, being able to work the way through the maze in daylight. Yes the snow bridges are weaker in the afternoon, but being able to see where we were going was a bigger benefit. (I got a pretty good crack radar) We climbed up the ridge to about a couple rope lengths below the ice cliff where there are several dirt campsites and bivied there. good long restful sleep and climb the cliff at sunrise while the groups are just approaching the ridge itself. not so bad if you can keep your bivy kit light, like light sleeping bag, pad and small stove. the ambience and experience itself is worth the extra weight. ditch the skiis and bivy on the ridge instead.

buying directly from author puts more of that money in authors wallet. authors don't really get compensated for the hard work when all they do is sell through merchants. did my preorder. thanks Kurt!

you were able to get Honnold to check out the book? I wanna hear that story!

Hike up your skirt a little more And show the world to me

I was thinking of broken ski pole. May not work depending on your pole. You can always use it picker shut your partners lips if he/she is talking too much smack.

here is one thing every tour should bring in addition to duct tape, hose clamp, zip ties, first aid and your brain.

Nothing good has ever come out of me in water. does not matter if it is a canoeing a normal river, inner tubing a small creek or even swimming in a damn pool. Water is out to kill me. snow is nothing but water waiting to kill me. Add the patience of a mountain with the vengeance of water and it is always a dance with death. Chris, on the risk prob aspect you mentioned. they are calling a low risk high prob for the one trial, that being the day you are on the slope. your comment of several trials can not be calculated over many trials in the forecast. Not sure where you are going with that concept. not sure why you are bringing up that ruby mtn avi as an example and using that quote. that quote was for that particular avi which was cornice initiated. they are not saying that ALL low prob/high consequence can not be human triggered, just that particular instance. And towards your expectation that the forecast is not specific enough for different users? Are you suggesting that Snowmo guys putting more stress on slope need a different prediction based on their loading parameters? How about users base their own risk knowing that they forecast is based on single person skier loading? Maybe you are expecting too much from the NWAC?

if you can't find what you need, maybe try wearing socks inside rock shoes? that would work better than wearing socks on the outside of rock shoes.

yesterday was a very very good day to be on a single plank. classic cascade concrete. 6 inches of new @34F.

in the depths of winter, can you usually get to the silver star gate or do they close a gate farther down the road like at early winters CG? I know some people snomo around in winter to get access.

How far up the hwy can you drive? Never been over there in the winter.

Mods. Please move this to spray. Chris. For your own well being, you need to drop whatever beef you have with anyone else. This ongoing tension you have and inablility to drop it and move forward is only going to reduce your overall life expectancy. Chill. Relax. Have fun. Live. This is is a free site. You are not privileged to say whatever you want The owners can say and do whatever they want cause they own it. Not you and not me. There is no freedom of speech here but only the graces allowed to us by the owners. The administrator has spoken and it would be well advised to take heed of what was asked of you. This is a community site. People have varied experiences and generally act well to one another. So far as I have seen though, you are a one trick pony whose only contribution is this constant attack on NWAC and TAY. There has to be more to you than this. Share the other parts of your life and make some friends here. When you are hanging out with your friends, do you bombard them with this NWAC conspiracy thing? I doubt it. Share some good photos. Tell inspiring stories. Let us live vicariously through your adventures. and if you can’t stop, there have been others who did not listen and were removed. Do not be surprised. This is not a conspiracy spreading website. peace!

thank you Jon. I appreciate the work that NWAC does.

Defense Department Base Budget DoD requested $597.1 billion. It seeks to: Increase manning levels for all four branches from 1.314 million in 2018 to 1.338 million. A 2.6 percent pay raise for military personnel. It brings total compensation to $61,700 for enlisted personnel and $113,500 for officers. Those figures include tax-free allowances for food and housing. Continuing the Missile Defeat and Defense Enhancement initiative Increase procurement of preferred and advanced munitions. Modernize equipment for the second Army Armored Brigade Combat Team. Buy 10 combat ships. Increase production of the F-35 and F/A-18 aircraft. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program cost $400 billion for 2,457 planes, mostly for development and testing. Modernize the nuclear triad too enhance deterrence. Enhance communications in space. Increase the use of technology innovation. don't see the large amount of civilain employees working for DOD. but there are quite a few things we cold do less with in that budget. but there are a few good things in there. Increase procurement of preferred and advanced munitions. Modernize equipment for the second Army Armored Brigade Combat Team. Buy 10 combat ships. Increase production of the F-35 and F/A-18 aircraft. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program cost $400 billion for 2,457 planes, mostly for development and testing. Modernize the nuclear triad too enhance deterrence. Enhance communications in space. Increase the use of technology innovation.

a good question is the makeup of the defense budget. I think a good chunk of that 600 billion goes to peoples wages.

Would one be alone if the hike was somewhere without cell coverage?

saw one of our own's photo in the interwebs. nice job! http://unofficialnetworks.com/2018/03/27/mt-baker-has-the-deepest-snowpack-in-north-america-top-10-deepest-snowpacks-right-now/