genepires

"Jason Martin" book?

the best pack is the pack that fits you best. So you gotta try on lots of packs before finding the right one. You are right though that a med pack won't cut it on aconcagua due to the need to haul everything in one load on the way down. The advice on limiting the gear you haul up is good, just fit everything in a big pack and resist the temptation to bring everything like a camp chair and such. I used a old terraplane way back when on acon-choss-ua. It was a good sized pack. I like the MEC packs as they are cheap and built pretty good. I would think 5000 cubic inches is a good volume. 4000+ is also good. You probably won't need to haul boots in your pack as you should have them on from where the mules drop you off and pick up for way out. enjoy teh mtn!

hmmm. plastic nuts!

wear it till dry. (layers near body) don't get wet. (outer layers) carry home wet clothes and carry extra dry clothes. (gloves and socks) DO overnight things with a hut nearby. Do things in dry environments like the canadian rockies where things dry out easy. Casacade areas are day trips. I know this doesn't help at all but us all I got.

http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/product/product.asp/imanf/Mountain+Hardwear/idesc/WindStopper+Tech+Pant+-+Men%27s/Store/MG/item/340015/N/0 a windstopper fleece pant which look good. where have all the fleece pant manufacturer gone to? I bought one from feathered friends years ago but it looks like they don't do that anymore.

your list looks pretty good. Does the rei fleece pants have full side zips? Makes getting into and out easier. If it is difficult to put on, you won't ever use it so it is dead weight. I don't know about the Talus coldavenger expedition balaclava, but coming back from denali, I wanted to get the OR gorilla one real bad. It has lots of coverage and a normal opening for the mouth. I can't breathe through those ski masks (lots of small holes) ones. FOr your thermal tops, I have been liking the hooded types. MEC makes a good one for around $60. Nice to be able to throw the hood up real quick. http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302699173&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442627307&bmUID=1255574107504 You should drop your gear list by your guides way and get their opinion.

why not buy the new walmart brand of camming devices? I heard you can buy some rope in the hardware section too.

It probably gets climbed every year but the evidence falls out every winter when she sheds another layer of rock.

not that I am much of a BC ski expert but I have a couple ideas for you. (maybe if you posted this in the ski section, you would get expert ideas) Just outside of the mount baker ski area, there is really good BC skiing and you could head out as far as you liked, camp and do some laps. Maybe being within striking distance of the parking lot is not a great camping place, but it is a good starting place. In the mt rainier park, I would think you could find some good places in teh tattosh range. Fairly level ski approach in on a closed road and then you could camp and ski around the tattosh peaks. As far as avi goes, go when the conditions are good. Avis happen everywhere there is snow so any "low avi" locations will kill you in wrong conditions. I thought that the trail to source lake was low avi location till someone I knew died snowshoeing that way, in the trees no less. Not meaning to get all down and serious. Just stay safe. Enjoy and let us know how your trip goes.

they don't sell NF gear for a good reason. I worked there at teh transition away from NF. They started to screw with the retailers and their designs were drifting away from quality.

you are still an ass. I would rather have a heavily used inexpensive rental tent than a POS from walmart. And, AAI (or any retailer) doesn't have too much flexibility in their pricing. Their pricing is based on "suggested retail" from the manufacturer. So if it is overpriced, then it is not the retailers fault. But I suppose AAI could sell POS walmart sandwich bag tents and send them off with no care for the clients like walmart does.

A lot of good info above. I started my climbing on mt washington and spent many a horrible day there battling the winds and snow. The advice I would give is to not have any exposed skin, at all. It is always windy there and it will make frost nip in a hurry. Since you are going on a fixed days, chances are the weather will be blowing hard and you will be suffering, which is why it is such a cool place. so based on your questions I would answer. The primaloft sweater is the best idea when compared to the 300 weight fleece and soft shell jacket. complete windproof. I am not a big fan of goretex jackets but they are the best in the high wind enviroment. Puffy? Anything big enough to fit over the other bulky layers and with a hood of course. I am fond of the pataguchi stuff but you got wild things right there. If I remember right, it is fairly dry there so down would be a good choice. If not dry but wet like around here, synthetic may be a better choice. what I think are essential small things: real serious balaclava that covers all skin like the OR gorilla balaclava goggles to cover the eye balls. I froze my eyelids once and that is not fun. thin, med and thick gloves with a mitten to fit over these. You can't carry to many gloves as they get wet and then worthless. good boots with the overboots over that. There can be some wallowing in the snow and overboots can help keep your feet dry. light or medium weight thermal tops and bottoms with some kind of nylon windshirt and pants for getting around in kind conditions. Are you doing the presidential traverse as part of the trip? That woudl be rad.

I wonder what route he did? Any Udall fans know? Uhh... never mind. It says he did the cassin. That is really cool for a senator.

sweet!

a big thermos with your favorite drink inside. real ice climbing gloves. they are worth the money. good boots. matter of preference. But I would bet that lake superior ice climbing is colder than west side ice climbing. Colder than banff too. Is it cold and high humidity? (then you need real good boots)

sorry to hear about that. But wow, getting after it being 71 is really ambitious and cool. I hope to be half the man he is when I am 61. or even 51. or even now.

It seemed like the victim was breathing too regularly to not have an avalung on. He was under for over 5 minutes and had fairly deep breaths. I think the weird sounds were him trying to talk or cry. Damn scary stuff. In bounds, stay in bounds. His buddies did a great job getting him out. good friends to have.

Unless I am confused, there is no rap needed for descending off of dragontail. When you say the south side, I am assuming you mean from teh summit, down towards little anapurna, than around to asguard pass. There is a nice snow hill to walk down it you walk to the skiers right a ways. It may be hard ice right now, which would explain the raps.

You shouldn't need to pay to get them back. Climbers should be an honorable lot. Hope you get them back soon.

you could also just go to ouray with some buddies, a book on ice climbing and have a great time doing lots of top roping. figure it out by experimentation.

AAI ice course is a summer course. They may have some classes in ouray though. A better bet may be to go to canmore and get a guide there. That way you could personalize it without the basic stuff that you obviously have mastery of. Seems like a class would be full of stuff you already know and may be a partial waste of time.

Wag bags do a fairly good job of keeping the feces stink in. BUt it has its own particular smell though that is strange enough to make you question. I haven't used one in 5 years though so maybe it is different. Fairly durable though. I have hauled out LOTS of poop and never a busted bag.

The photo of the banana head is spot on for a self description of marc le-banana brains.

being bitch slapped by croft is not such a bad thing, possibly a noble thing. Being bitch slapped by me would be a disgrace. Awesome job on getting it done! Especially the gendarme.

how far could you drive up the road and how far was it from the parking lot to the base of the mtn? What kind of day (total time wise) was it? I was up on it in the winter but never in teh summer.