genepires

weather permitting, a long ski tour through the snoqualmie pass, enchantments or cascade pass area would fit your request. south side of mt baker ascent (ski) DC route on rainier (ski) The last two have obvious crevasse issues but should be minimal that time if year. enjoy!

I am on the fence with sizing for these. I heard they stretch a lot so I would want them to be real tight at first. But I need to know if these shoes stretch much lengthwise as my toes are curled up on size 9 but not on 9.5. If they stretch along the length (which I doubt) then I would need a 9. For those of you who use the mythos, how do they stretch and any advice on sizing? thanks gene

I have a pair of the iceflow from cloudveil and they are so nice. I baby those things and only use them for leading, never ever rapping. Should get another before they catch on how good they are and discontinue them.

that is some cushy living at 14K! 3 people per 8 person tent. You could have dropped the one 8 person tent and brought a LOT more scotch. The scotch wouldn't weight anything other than the empty bottles for the way down. And a plus, with that much scotch you wouldn't have made the summit due to too much hangovers.

so the snow should be melted off it by then. With a high of 52 on thursday, it should be good on south facing areas. Anyone interested in getting out there? Looking at 8's and 9's and some easy 10's.

Back when alpine ascents had fewer rainier trips a year (I think it was around 6 trips per year on the emmons) those trips would sell out in less than a couple hours. The limiting factor was how fast could the office workers could write names and previous expereinces down. Even with the expanded user days they now have, it is not unexpected that they would be all booked up after a month of offerings. (I think they used to accept bookings on a set date in february) It might be a good thing that they are all booked up so early. It gives the climbers a chance to get prepared for it. I would be more concerned (as a guide or client) about the climbers that signed up a week before the scheduled summit trip. too bad about your friend not getting on this year. If they are interested in doing it next year, they should inquire about the time the companies start taking names for 2010. Maybe do baker in 2009? Maybe you should take them up rainier with $50 for being their friend?

For the money, the skills learned on baker along with a summit of baker will be superior to hood. I don't know the costs but I do know those mountains and there is no comparison. Baker is a real mountain with much better glacier climbing. (plus the hood zoo factor makes it one I wouldn't want to go back to) Like Dan stated, you are spending good money to get here. Spend the extra whatever hundred dollars and have a great time instead of a good time. Learn and summit on baker (mid to late july) from pros then go do hood on your own, maybe even solo. enjoy our mountains on your trip!

where did polish bob ever say that hanging on tools is different than hanging on protection? I don't think he said anything to that point. From what I read, all that he is saying is that people got up hard stuff a long time ago before people had fancy names for it. That people today stand on the shoulder of the people before them and can't really "invent" anything. We all learn things and techniques and styles from others so how can anyone be a sole creator of a style? Well, maybe Gill could be such a man inventing "bouldering" as he was way out there, all alone. Maybe I am wrong as I am not a climbing historian.

ve25 is a sweet tent, probably the best things NF ever made. Surprising they didn't fuck it up. You might want to try some test runs with the andinista with all your denali gear. It might not carry so well. I knew a guy who did it with an andista and he suffered. And he is a "hardman" too. I am sorry if I suggested that you didn't have respect for the mountain. I didn't mean to imply you so much as others who haven't before. It is easy to dismiss a trip up the w butt but people die there every year. ( I don't know which route you are doing) Enjoy the route! it is a real good time and something to remember.

Looks like friday is the one good day for getting out. ANyone want to hit some south facing rock at exit 38 or erie? (moderates) I got to be in woodinville by 4pm though. That still leaves 6 hours at 38! otherwise I may hike into abiel to check that out. gene

monkey fist for getting ropes over branches. check out caving books or boating books for crazy knots

just an opinion but for me, I have not had luck with drying boot liners in the foot part of the bag. I usually sleep with them next to the thigh or stomach. Same with the water bottle. Seems like items in the feet part just get cold, then my foot gets cold. Plus with a long bag, the body must heat up more space (with larger surface area to volume ratio). So colder feet might be an issue. Based on that, I would suggest getting a bag that does not have excessive room in the foot. Denali deserves much respect and I shutter every time I read someone trying to save money on gear that goes up there. You can save money now but regret it when you get up there.(or worse) You can spend the money now and enjoy yourself up there. things worth spending the money on: boots and overboots (lots of miles) tent (your life could very well hang on this purchase) sleeping bag (how many cold nights can you suffer at -20 in thin air with many hard days previously before you bail prematurely) pack (every day this pig will be on) stove (your life could also hang on this small item if it doesn't work) the tent should be in very good shape, better yet new. High camp can be brutal as the snow walls are hard to make and the winds can be high. If I didn't have a sleeping bag made for denali, I would go rent one from feathered friends instead of buying a subpar bag on sale. (there is a reason why it is on sale) You won't regret it. p.s. I have only used FF bags but I am sure that others can suggest other good manufacturers, like western mountaineering.

maybe too long of a drive but regular trails to peaks are dog friendly. Ex pilchuck, mellow side of vesper, dickerman in the mtn loop hwy area

it seems like the entire snoq pass would be doable for you. Maybe the walkup of guye peak and or snoq peak. Granite peak mclelans butte. for the leavenworht area, what is the peak that you see from colcuck lake? The one above 8 mile lake and use the TH that you pass to get to stuart lake TH? I would bet that trail is dog friendly. I think it is out of the dog restricive area. Cannon Mtn?

I am interested in what "other" means. Maybe it means "lame" which is where I fit in.

I would think that it won't matter if there is a little rust on it. It is on the inside so it should rub off next time you use them. Hopefully they get used so much the rust never stays on for long. Should probably dry out the liners after each trip to keep the "funk" from growing at least.

exactly! bugaboos are very similar to knifeblades, just a little longer. My previous post was more about lost arrows which are relatively heavy. I checked the BD website and the weights for lost arrow and similar sized bugaboos are about the same. #2 short med LA and the #5 short medium weight same at 70 grams. (granted the bugaboo is 50% longer) The knife blades come in at around 20 grams and small angles come in at around 50 to 70 grams. http://www.bdel.com/gear/detail/knifeblades_detail.php#knifeblades So what do all these number crunching means? Nothing really. What does a few ounces here and there mean? Nothing really. Go get whatever is on sale and smack them into whatever you seem reasonable. Plenty of cracks that no one will mind, if you hike into the mountains for a couple of hours. Smack the hell out of them. Careful getting them back out!

True that some cracks will need a lost arrow and in some situations, like on a big wall granite face or sketchy mixed climb, you don't have many options. But my idea was that the mountains are full of cracks and if the KB or angle won't fit in that one spot then looks around a little and another spot will be available. Much like when you got the wrong nut size for the crack constriction you were looking at and instead of getting the right size, you plop that little guy in another constriction nearby.

just an opinion, but I think the lost arrows are a bit too heavy for alpine use. Seems like if you need a lost arrow pin, then just looks around for a second or so and you will find a KB or small angle placement instead. I don't have the specs, but it feels like you could have 2 or more KB for the weight of one lost arrow. Not that I have placed many pins, but my ideal pin selection would be about 3 short KB and a couple small angles. (in addition to a decent rock rack)

check the forcast. rain to 3800 ft. maybe you should go for saturday.

attach that to a kong frog and you got a real zippie stick clip.

Layton gets style points for his 2 broken ankles, crawl out through the cactus, in red rocks while rope soloing.

if your forcast is fine, then your garmonts are probably fine too. (especially if you have been using them in the winter) If the weather is not fine, stay at home. If you are concerned about the temps, look into getting supergators glued onto the garmonts. I don't know about the asolo boots, but koflach boots are not too bad for hiking in. If you decide you need to rent, I would look around for them. That may be difficult as they no longer distribute them in the states.

how could it have taken 2 weeks for that quote to come out. slackers we be.

what about big snow mtn? mclellan butte? there was a winter alpine guide that dallas Kloke made years ago. Prolly out of print but has lots of smaller winter things to do, for mortals. Mostly snow climbing. He has some ice climbing in it.