genepires

summer between here and texas can be scorching hot. that limits lots of areas in a straight line but if you don't mind a little longer drive then how about city of rocks (could be hot could be perfect) then off to the sierras area (including lovers leap, toulumne and the valley, alpine rock routes, as well as tons of smaller crags that litter the state) then settle down for the hot drive to texas. can't say I woudl reccomend any gyms on your course cause it seems like there is so much better to do. think about idaho alpine rock, winds and tetons too, not so much crags as alpine goodness. City of rocks has got to be one of my favorite "cragging areas" going.

OK rbw, don't get your panties in a wad, these screamers are not on my rack anymore. Was just getting the winter rack ready and saw these two old screamers. Wasn't planning on using them but was seeing what others thought of older screamers. Maybe discussion on this would make others retire screamers. Good idea with asking yates. Anyone around here got a good testing machine and interested in a free sample?

So I got some old yates screamers that are maybe 8 years old that haven't been fallen on. They get about 2 weeks of use per year that consists of hanging on the harness or ice screws. Yeah I know that nylon degrades with time and so forth. Common sense says dump them. Someone will claim I should give it to them to "dump it for me". But I was just wondering if these screamers are as bad as I suspect they are. Seems like the 1" nylon would make them safe for much longer. Any opinions? Any actual experience on older screamers? Any intersting tests on older screamers? thanks, gene

lots of good advice here but i cringe at the idea that "And assuming you are doing the West Butt, it is nexto to impossible to get caught out in a serious storm without some warning,". Seems like one who is a newbie could walk away with a sense of casualness with denali. People die on the west buttress. Lots of people get frostbite. People get caught out in storms, usually trying to get back to camp or back down to less stormy campsites. Professionals get in trouble too. Denali doesn't care who you are. There are lots of people who climb denali with the expensive high altitude boots like millet. A common saying goes, they are expensive but they only cost $80/toe. Is one of your toes worth $80? With all the costs of getting up there, another $400 spent that will increase the chance of you getting up, is trivial. With that, I can good luck with the arctis expe with good supergators. But I don't wear them anywhere else also so I might as well have bought the overkill ones. Who wears arctis expe in the cascades?

just a little advice. highs are 70 degress this weekend. (in vegas!) But it could get cold real quick. Have a south facing rock list backup if this happens. Most of the canyons are shady for most of the day. Here is a little list of possible cold day climbs: most of the pullout areas olive oil if you start between 9am and 11am. shade follows up solar slab climbs cat n hat brass wall is a great cold weather area. dark rock absorbs light! and there are others that others will suggest. (Jason speak up!) but it seems like most people's tick list all contain shady climbs. just something to think about.

It is good that we make you laugh cause you sure make hundreds, if not thousands, laugh at you.

was on again this friday night at 8pm on discovery channel as well for you that don't feel like staying up that late. Not a big fan of the everest books but i thought that this was a good show. So far not a lot of attitude and "radness" drama that one would expect after "into thin air". They had a rescue filmed of some guy with pulm edema which was informative to see how messed up one can get.

lucky dog, you got to see the sheep. I lived there for 9 months and also made 5 trips to the area before and after, and I only saw the sheep one time. was that deep in oak canyon?

given that you are going though hard times, solo or not, your determination to do that route regardless of whatever conditions are, sounds like a suicide mission. I hope you are kidding about this and if not, then don't drag clueless people to their death also.

knots are good. very very good.

sounds cold, very very cold. dark too.

there are some pitches on polar circus that 70 m would be nice. seems like alpine ice with lots of belayed pitches is the place where 70 m shine. North face of robson, n face athabasca, ect, but they will be gone in a decade so why bother?

No expert on rapid rappeling (unless falling is a criteria) but it would seem to depend upon how many raps you had to do. The more raps to do, the less advantagous pairing up would be. It would seem the advantage is having multiple people rapping and not standing around at the same time. Here is one scenerio three rope lengths up with no simu-rapping. (I come in a t 195 lbs so simu rap is scary to me) first rap is set up with two ropes normally. first rapper takes both ropes with and sets the remaining two rope lengths as single line rappels. second and third rappel normally and quickly as soon as the rope is free. last guy does first rappel normally and uses that two ropes for the rest of the raps and throws down the other two ropes. folks on bottom coil and get everythign ready while the lone guy makes his way down which shouldn't be too bad as long as the ropes don't get stuck, which they will. better yet, just take your time and keep out of trouble.

How about throwing out some ideas that are OK to take dogs while BC skiing? I'll throw out a couple that I have taken hounds on. Sauk mtn. table mtn near baker ski area. right across from stevens pass ski area, forget the name. any other good places for hounds?

Doubt that many will ever hike in that far so the need for secrecy is not that important. If it was, then Darin would never have sent in these photos. I can't speak for him, but I would imagine that he is trying to keep the route one for someone to "explorer-ating". He is down on super topos so why should he create one for this area? It is obvious that there is a climb out there. I'll admit that it is really good. Go find it. go do it. have fun exploring. be ready to shwack. If you really need beta, (I usually do as I am super taco addicted) PM me and I may give it to you.

mabe the 8 pitches circumnavigate the mountain. Maybe a real "corkscrew" route?

yeah the pack seems small, but that doesn't meen there was "no send". maybe there was. maybe there wasn't.

Mt matier, a bit north of whistler is a good alpine ice face that is a reasonable weekend trip from van. no 4wd as you park right off the hwy. Nice trail in via the trail that goes by 3 nice lakes. camping right on the upper lake. climb up through the ice fall for a couple pitches to gain the glacier, then hike the glacier, preferably on the left side which is smoother, then over to the face, crawl through the schrund and up the 40 degree face for 3 ro 4 pitches. good descent down skiers R of the route and back to camp. There is another approach (that I haven't done) which bypasses most of the glacier too. Maybe someone else can help you with that. It is in the select guide. I thougth that this route is very cool, like a mini athabasca.

jump rope. (I last something like 5 minutes, but I suck) bike stand for indoor biking. (not that I have done it, just an idea)

visualizing this rappel accident makes me ill. thanks for sharing this accident report. seriously.

there is a well protected (some say over bolted) climb on goat wall. I forget the name right now but I remember it was mostly moderate (5.6 to 5.7) except for the last pitch (5.9?). It is about 10 pitches long and you rappel the route so not doing the last pitch is not a big deal. really nice position. good for crappy weather days in the hills. The topo was only available on north cascades mountain guide service website but I don't think it is there anymore. maybe someone here has a name and topo? Larry Goldie or Scott Johnson?

ditto as oly said. BTW, are you asking about softshells, belay parkas or goretex type jackets? 1. you will find that your outershell should not be considered in regards to warmth. if it keeps you dry, then it will help you stay warm. your outer wear should have no insulation unless it is a belay parka. 2. if it is waterproof, then it is windproof. windproof is more a function for softshells. 4. cost- you get what you pay for so expect to pay alot. patagonia had a big online sale. see if they still got jetstream jackets.

A little intro to your skills may be in order before handing out recommendations. Can we hopefully assume that you are experienced in trad climbing at the 5.10 level and not a exclusive gym monkey? if you can handle the trad lines, then the west face of NEWS and the west face of SEWS are my faves. (5.10 with a little a1 and 5.8 respectively). north face burgundy would be a good intro to 5.8's up there. if you are a gym rat, then head over to goat wall for some of those bolted lines.

you came back alive so it couldn't have been a "failure", more like a typical canadian rockies alpine trip. silverhorn is fun!

One can use a half rope for technical rock. The pitches will be short. I have used a half rope for short rock pitches with one climber tieing into the middle of the rope (with a bowline on a bight or other good knot) and the other climber tie into BOTH ends of the rope. Then there are two strands between the climbers and you have a double rope system, but you can only pitch out 25 or 30 meters. Viola, half rope on 5th class ground.