genepires

On sunday, got some craggin in at leavenworth after a very cold start to a kinda cold finish. There is snow half way up the valley. no sun to warm the rocks.

above advice is great but her is a few more ideas: crampons rarely get sharpened by guide services so I doubt that short frontpoints will be an issue. Check anyway. local guide services rarely have waterfall ice crampons so getting replacements for frontpoints are unlikely. Some guide services wash there bag after every rental. Some don't. Either the bag is beaten down in machines or smells bad. Either way....uck! You will probably have to replace the down or give it a GOOD washing depending on what they do with the bag. Some guide services rent only synthetic bags cause they wash them so much. Ask them about that. Boots should be fine. Good washing again. Like Dan said, might get a custon liner anyway. If you do that, get the most beat up liner and haggle down even father. American Alpine Institute sold off a bunch of their stuff recently but give them a call anyway. Alpine Ascents sold a bunch of old plastic boots too but I think they still have some around. Could try them (ask for Brent) for a deal on a boot.

secret renton granite? pooty tang tower? so are you saying Mikey that it is not in the wash pass area at all? Not in kangaroo / wallaby area? Not north of the hwy 2 east of the pass?

The earlier reference was for the north face route. The sulphide route should be pretty good. If ever I had to solo a glacier (gun held to my head) it would be that one. For a day trip, get a very early start as there are lots of terrain to cover. It seems most day trips are done on skiis in the spring. Advise your friends to have some rock gear for the summit pryamid which may (or may not) have some snow smattered around. have a good time geno

Can the moderators ban people for bad spelling? Too much makes my brain hurt. Maybe someone could edit Shawn's posts? Is there an english teacher out there to help out?

for my old drytool gloves, I smeared the entire palm with seam grip. Not sure if it is waterproof but it did make the leather last longer. But the seam grip does peal off with use. Thanks for the interesting question that we all can learn a good trick from. (not being sarcastic.) gene

Try this address. It is for the whole western side but you can find the location on the map. It is definately new with pinpoint forcast. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/

OK simple map work shows that the peak Darin was wondering about it peak 5144 and has one route on it in the beckey guide.

The spire that Darin is asking about is not frostbite weber but across the valley from frostbite weber. Maybe two valleys across even as I can't remember exactly were FW was when Darin pointed it out to me. I think FW was due east of us. That peak looks cool too and the photo makes it look even better than our vantage point. The peak that Darin is asking about is at the end of the valley that static point slabs lay in. thanks

If you rely on getting free food on the way, remember that you are getting the stuff they didn't want to eat to that point. Bring good strong spices to make whatever you get palatable or at least edible. Bring big piles of cous cous in case you can't score free food. Would suck to fail cause you didn't feed yourself well enough.

damn...did it like it was a weekend warrior climb...great job!

Sounds like I am going to die by either drowning crossing the creek or riding the big rocks as the moutnain dissloves in the rain.......Good times!

Was thinking of going in (beckey/schmidke) there next week and hoping to get any beta on snow (moat/schrund) conditions and beta for the rock part too. And yeah, I did a search on this site already. thanks gene

hey Ryan, I got a photocopy of some select teton guidebook I'll give ya. I also have a ice guidebook to montana if you need.

who's got the protractor? Let's measure the beyotch!

Yup, get a early start and you should be fine. Stay on the railroad grade and just left of the actual ridge for as long as you can. Pop on the glacier and start out trending left till around the big icefall. After that, just follow your nose which should be pointed to the crater, bypassing nasties of course. There should be a nice little trail the whole way. There is a very nice coverage on the glacier but soloing it is dumb as nasties (crevases) are starting to show. I'll be back up there (with wands) this weekend too. Rangers in the office don't know too much about the conditions. (except what gets written by climbers checking out, which is usually nothing) They don't even know where the toilets are up there. see ya up there

a guide says 1.) "Tourons" are still people and who for the most part are really good people. 2.) A group of 4 is safer and smarter for people who are new to all of this climbing stuff. Catching a falling climber alone is a hard thing when not prepared or expecting . 3.) A few feet difference between people doesn't matter much, but a fast method of splitting up the rope for 4 is a good thing. 4.) Have fun and be safe.

thanks a ton! I will drop them a note soon.

Some nice new toyo forerunner with colorado plates was victim of a smash n grab in the smokebluff parking area yesterday. Lots of broken glass to greet them climbers when they return. There was lots of gear in the car that the thieves didn't want but it looked like there was a purse on the floor of the car. This is really lame to let happen to some visiting climbers. Too bad there isn't a sign for new visitors to warn them of the hazard. Could some squamish local on this site suggest this to the squamish township? Anybody have a suggestion for who I should contact to ask for this to happen? thanks gene

Can't tell how flexible your boots are or will become with lots of use. I the boot is very flexible, there is only one kind of crampon to use and that is a hinged crampon held on with straps that wrap around your foot. (a strap on crampon- enter joke here) I've been using a simond alligator crampon for many years on any kind of boot imaginable. It has a double hinge and made of steel for durablility. The only drawback is that it has only 8 points going downward (with standard 2 front points) so the middle portion of the boot lacks points. Walking with them is still secure but takes getting used to them if you have been using 12 point crampons for a while. I've used them for climbing ice in crevasses and they work just like any other crampon. They sell them at MEC for cheap.

hmmm pizza. boboli personal sized pizza with sauce, shroom, pepperoni n cheese. Simmer on the stove to melt the cheese and heat the goods. When the bread starts to burn, turn off the stove and let it sit for about ten minutes to melt the cheese even more.

I heard from a reliable source that the road is washed out way way way back from the trailhead a month ago. Sitkum glacier and frostbite ridge side. I would call the ranger station to get current details before driving up there.

Hey D, I got a pair of kayland tractions. Kicked up n face maude in them and they are pretty good for hiking. Semi waterproof. pretty light. If you got a size 10ish foot I'll let you try them out. Rumor had it that they discontinued them but I still see them in stores.

tent: If you have a good vestibule, leave the door open or maybe just the netting shut. If you have 2 doors, then leave both of them a little open on top for cross flow. If you have a small awning over your door and no vestibule, then open the door just enough to air flow with out letting in any rain if it is coming down. bivy: don't zip it up if it is not raining. If it is raining then you gotta suck it up and deal with the condesation. either that or stop breathing. You could try to breath out the side and keep rain from coming in but that would mean you are not sleeping.

While on the topic of twin ropes, I got a few thoughts and questions. The impact forces are higher for using two strands than using one strand. So, for the first couple of pieces of iffy pro with high fall factors, would anyone out there clip one strand into each piece. Obviously this would be bad right off the ground were rope stretch might create a ground fall, but how about way off the deck? I got a old copy of Long's "How to" book. He instructs to use two biners to connect twins to pro. Anybody carry enough biners to be able to do this? Ever heard of a rope failure from a fall onto twins and having the rope burn each other?