genepires

I hope you are right. But there is a tendency in humans to "see" trends when the concept is imprinted on the brain, as in this case the post about declining population of climbers. Then while you are thinking about it, you notice all the evidence to support the claim while ignoring the contradictory evidence. All unconscious and this tendency is brought up in court cases when dealing with eye witnesses. If I said the crags were all crowded (and I was a reliable source) then I could bend the common perception such. Only quatifiable things can be used to support a rising or declining population. (such as permits, maybe gear sales, mag subscriptions, ect) With all that though, I would agree with you in that it doesn't seem so crowded anymore. But then maybe it is because I steer clear of smith, hood, DC cleaver, and Baker on the weekends. Also, the guiding industry localy has slowed down a bit (maybe 20%?) after the heyday of the late 90's. whatever the reason, I like it. I hope the rock routes stay clean though.

read "freedom of the hills" cover to cover. (after that book, there are other ones too) You got the time. If you aren't commited enough to read the book, then maybe you aren't commited enough to be out there. Then you should be able to make up your own determination of risk which is specific for everyone. You will also learn about equipment. (another very specific set for different people) For me. when the weather is nice, it is a very safe place to be. But people die up there in bad weather. People slide out of control on the snow and crash into rocks. People manage to get themselves into all kinds of trouble. It is a good goal though. Read up, get in shape, come out here, and have a backup plan if the weather turns foul. But no need to fear about ice worms devouring people, they are vegetarians.

Solo ascent of rainier required a permit. Application for permit was meant to weed out the unqualified. I hope your friend is aware of this and has gone through all the hoops. Maybe they are done with this process. Maybe a rainier climbing ranger will reinform us of the rules.

haven't been on it, but clean break? the formerly mazama guides shack (in mazama, duh) had several photocopies of new routes, free. There are outside the front door. The guides shack can be found right next to the mazama store. They had route topos for spontaneity arete (looks like a nice 5.7) and gato nego (5.10+ on the west face of silver star or whine spires). They also had two topos for routes on goat wall which while technically is not wash pass, they are good destinations when it is raining in the pass. The routes are 10.c ao (11a) and a 5.8 or 5.9 depending. Did the latter and it was fun and pleasant. maybe they have new topos now? (marks line on burgundy?) Maybe one can download them from their website? There is a large potiential for new stuff also. Look on all sides of silver star for unclimbed rock. (or at least unpublished new rock) hope that helps

neutrinos are fine. all this detailed analyse of biners and their correspnding weight (difference by a 10 grams or so) and functionability is a bit funny. A difference in 10 grams for 30 biners comes out to .6 pounds. Huge deal? Functionability. You will learn how to use whatever biner you buy and probably like it. I got hotwires and regular biners (enduro and light d) and I really like them. As far as I know, there are no safety issues with any modern biners, wiregate or regular. (except for a kong biner, I believe, that is very small and has a small rope bearing diameter) So I would reccomend just buy whatever is on sale and they will be fine. have a couple solid gate biners (oval or closely symetric) for biner brake rappels. Not sure if wiregates can handle the sideways loading.

To answer your question "sky ledge is a hiking tent but what's the difference?" The difference is when the weather turns where you can expereince winter in the summer, then a 3 season tent may not have adequate strength to withstand the winds. Hiking tents are for below treeline where winds are not a issue. Some 3 season tents have pretty good strength though. I used one such tent (MEC tarn 2 ) in pretty tough wind, snow and rain and it survived. -Look for at least 4 (better yet 6) guye lines attached to midway up the side of the tent. Low guye lines and ground corner loops for staking are worthless in wind. (think torque and lever arms) -Also the amount of netting that comprises the body of the tent matters in storms too. Winds will blast moisture under the fly and up the body. Excessive netting will let that moisture inside. (look at 4 season tents and you will find very little body netting for this and temperature reasons) -Also, demand that your tent have taped seams, especially in the fly. (except for the firstlight which you must seamseal) "why use a single wall tent in the summer?" You get 4 season protection for 3 season weight. (except for 3 season single walled of course) Single wall tents have bug netting that allows you to ventilate keeping it cooler in summer. Four season tents are not like a down jacket. Easy to ventilate. SO the questions you must ask yourself is What conditions will I be exposed to? (mostly wind) Will my tent be able to withstand it? (guy lines, strength of fly) What will happen if the tent fails? (simple walk out?)

check out the tatoosh range. specific names elude me now but I remember a very cool little snow climb. best in spring. sauk mountain in spring would be good too. snow climb. while it is a "hike", mt dickerman on mtn loop highway is very good this time of year. has a summer trail under the snowpack. mt vesper has a mellow side (south side?) which is approached via another buried summer trail. there are climbs for you but my brain is dome for the night. gene

there are still ice routes in canadian rockies. don't blow off there yet. N face of fay and athabasca should be good. If you want, I could email you some info for them. I heard (rumor!) that humble horse wasn't in very well due to climatic conditions. If I was going in there, I would talk to a local (will gadd has been very generous with advice) about the condition of the route. while up there you could do some alpine rock routes also for a grand 10 day adventure.

Did skyladder in august years ago and I would NOT reccomend going down that route during that time of the year. We had lots of rock fall from a bit of exposed (melted away snow) terrain above the ice face. You would be dodging those rocks especially inthe afternoon. The "selected book of lies" descent is crap. epic in the making. We did a long glacier descent to the north (I think) and then came back on the main glacier with all the tourist bus. Way long but managable. Haven't done it but it seemed like v thread rapping down the north face/bowl ice route would be a quick, reasonably safe way to get to the base of skyladder or any other route on andromeda. If skyladder is all snow covered, then that would be a good one too. Last time I looked at the route in question was many years ago but it seemed to have melted out alot from the guide photos. Would expect it to be less ice this summer than the photos.

the straps are long so that you can stuff things underneath. The largest thing I can think of under the compression straps are foam pads and maybe ski boots. So, put those under the straps and see if there is extra strapping. If so, then you could cut the straps down to a reasonable level. Leave 6 inches of extra webbing beyond the buckle. those extra straps will fly around in the wind and they will hit you in the face many many times. and it hurts. lots. To tame the extra, you could roll them up and tape the roll so it won't unravel.

from monroe today, it looked like it was raining hard in the foothills. I would guess index is soaked.

ask for $20 off due to the rust. make some BS about it needing to be changed out or some other crap -ola.

Didn't look for a kitten as we have two cats already. Also, I wouldn't want to make the glove unhappy so I will leave it "lost".

are we to assume the best way to get it is to order it on line in the 26 serving bottle? If you have a better way, educate us please.

tard? retard?

check Pm's

If you are asking about snowshoes, I would agree that they are not needed due to the fact there should be some traffic before you. Doesn't take too long for a decent trail to be made. But if there has been fresh snowfall, they might be very helpfull. Might be a good idea to take them in the car and make the call at paradise. If your question is about boots, plastic or leather, well I would say plastic for that month. crampons? always. enjoy up there!

When the knots become an issue, it is time to use those rescue coils and drop another line down to prussik or haul with. This new line should be on a mega prepared lip. No overhang or rope cutting in. padding too.

Just finished a book (post cards from the trailerpark) written by Cam Burns. Good stuff and worthy of a read. Very funny. Less about hard core climbing and more about making fun of himself and meeting cool people. Lots of off beat articles like spray painting gear and such. If you are a sno-isle library card holder (snohomish and some island counties), you can get the book with that library system. On a side note, I requested the library get this book and they did. This library system works! If you feel your library system lacks good climbing books, request a few. (for example, Monroe library has a AK climbing guide and a sky valley rock guidebook)

bump.

I found a rei left mitten. don't know the name but it is the warmest one they make. with somekind of primaloft insulation, size large. If you need one, let me know.

Koflach arctis has been a good boot for me on denali. (with super gaiters below 14K and overboots above 14k) Like most warm liners, they can only take a limited number of expeditions. So using them for general beating around in warmer times is not recomended, as well as too warm. Arctis don't have the thermoform/intuition type liners, last I looked. But you mention higher peaks than denali. For something higher, you should really look at boots like millet (everest or something like that). Scarpa and la sportiva have similar models. They are pricey they are much wamer and ends up only costing $80/toe. Plus in the grand scheme of cost for these peaks, it is trivial.

mammut is a good beacon as are most modern beacons. But the best piece of gear for avi protection is to not get caught in one. I know this obvious, but looking at getting caught in an avalanche on any mountain that contains rock cliffs, crevasses, ice cliffs and such will probably result in death due to trauma. So don't let the knowledge of a beacon on your person give you a sense of security, because it shouldn't. Just my little speel, 2 cents. ect.

Good job sticking to it Justin! Sucks that you had to go through all that crap. Maybe you should send this post as a message to corporate rei as a comment on the mangement at that store. (bellingham right?) Hopefully that kind of bad management doesn't exist in all stores. Glad to see you are back.

there will be snow on the ridge. it will be deep. snow will fall off the willis wall. you will need to cross snow covered glaciers. it may snow on you. and honestly, it should be like normal conditions which is pretty good in may. Wouldn' bet on it in june though.