genepires

Yeah they are big but the suunto are realiable and accurate watches. I have used mine for over 5 years now with no problems. Get your nice small watch but don't be surprised when it busts on you while you are navigating in a white out. Avocet were nice n small but notoriously unrealiable. And Nike? They make shoes. How reliable could their watch be? Consider how long the watches have been around.

Done Francis (crevasses along ridges and a little bit on low angle ice, good times!), kahiltna dome (great wind scoured broad ridge climb) and point ferene. All great little climbs. There are some good climbs up the se fork of kahiltna as well. PM if you have any questions

if you are refering to the gullies that you can see from the highway, (no guidebook here) then the climbing is pretty moderate. The snow max angle is about 45 degrees for a small bit and is all flat footing for the rest. The rock is pretty rank above though. There is a crappy traverse across the other gulley entrance. It doesn't get much better farther on but is managable. It is probably standard rock quality but with good granite nearby, it seemed sketchy. We didn't use the rope. Enjoy though! It is a good route especially if you have done all the other classics in the pass.

All the above plus a very good and small fist aid book (I like "wilderness and travel medicine" by Weiss) because when bad things happen, memory can come up blank. It also has a very good recomendation for med kit also. For anything oversees or 3 days from a car, I would bring some drugs like Immodium. Diahrea can wreck you up if it goes on too long. safety pins vicodin (fun fun) compazine

man that sucks. Chances are they will dump all your climbing gear as it is too hard to sell. There is a chance you might get the climbing gear back if they dump it all together. I got some stolen stuff back once when the thieves dumped the stuff they didn't like in some bushes. They were probably hoping to get things like your ring and maybe cameras and other fancy electrical stuff. Come to think of it, I gotta congratulate the thieves up in squamish. Maybe being typically canadian, they have broken into my car a couple of times and taken only those nice electrical/sellable items, and left the rest of my climbing gear alone. Never any broken glass and they even locked the door! Very professional!

man. those ticks are insane! we were out there wednesday and had a tick fest also. I don't remember there being that many ticks around in may. Anybody have a guess as to how long the tick season lasts?

the NF is probably not in good shape is it has been very warm for the last week or so. wouldn't waste the time to hike up there. TC (triple c) should be good though, as it is higher in altitude and should freeze solid every night. march n april are good times for TC.

was up there all this week. One could drive to within about 1/4 mile of the trail head. The trail is mostly all snow covered to the clear cut. You will have ot remove the skiis about a dozen times for bare spots though. Obviously above the clear cut is all deep snow waiting for your skiis. We got about 4 feet of good light snow there last week. There is a nice snowshoe/sled track that should be good for skiers. We didn't make it up to the saddle though (lots of wind loading during the week) so you are looking at lots of trail breaking to get to the glacier. We were up to our knees with snowshoes on. yum-yum.

I seem to remember a tr by jayb this last fall going up to those ice flows off to the right of the summit pryamid of shuksan. (they must be at about 7000 feet though) You asking about those?

yes it is there. Is it ice or super steep neve with bits of ice? Probably. Good times!

why are you selling and for how much $$?

Still going out to l-worth this week? I would like to head out that way so send me a PM and we can arrange the ride.

EDK is the euro death knot which is a overhand knot used to tie two ropes of similar diameter together.

If you ever find yourself in the same jam as simon, lowering using multiple ropes and having to pass euro overhand knots, I have a nice simple solution to the problem. Use a MUNTER hitch. Major note is that this only works on the EDK. No struggle with the EDK as it simply worms their way around the hitch. There is a little "pop" that must be done (try it and you will see what I mean) but it passes on its own. For those of you who think this is a unsafe practice, I learned it on a AMGA rock guide course. This is something that I think everyone would benefit from knowing. Try it at home.

It is a short 10 hour drive to banff, so pack up the bags, drive all night and beat up the junkyards n grotto. A wise man that I greatly respect once said, "If you want to climb ice, go to where the ice is". I think he was implying that I get the heck out of washington.

Couldn't get the website up but I have a POS computer. Anybody else have problems with this link?

cascade crags "fake ice" is always "in". Yeah it is steep, but it is a TR.

I always liked those small "haloween" sized snickers candy bars. Just the right size and caloric content for while being on the go. Lots of packaging yes and rock hard when cold, but it is cheap and power packed. The highest calorie to price ratio.

Call the company you were thinking of using. They should have the most updated info. Unless they lose all their user days, then your plans shouldn't change. If the company has a half way decent office, then they shouldn't book trips they can't offer. (unlike the airlines)

Anybody out there ever use a BD viper? Heard that there may be some flex in the shaft due to the unique shape. Any opinions on this flexing or general comments? thanks gene

It must not have sold well last year cause this year they are calling it the "mixmaster". Hoping to catch a ride on the swelling mix climbing rage. Maybe "stretch speed ascent" was too many words and confused our simple brains.

If your buddy is up for some rappeling, then you can have a rad adventure by spending some time in the canyons as mentioned before. Most canyons there are basically hiking and rappelling. Few involve bits of downclimbing, usually chimneying, but you can choose easier routes to avoid that. (kolob and imlay canyons are serious routes) Here is a website that has tons of info on the topic of canyoneering in zion. The site also has info on other places. http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/utah/zion/ I would recomend: keyhole canyon - easy, short and narrow. good intro pine creek canyon - good fun, easy acccess, standard narrows - no rapping, just plain stunning hiking heard tons of good stuff about mystery canyon and subway too. Nice thing about canyoneering is that you rarely hike uphill. Most canyons will need wet or dry suits for march. But they are cheap to rent in town and they will let you know what kind of gear to get. I think a dry suit costs about $80 for three days. My friend Darin Berdinka has done more routes than I have, so if you are interested, try to get a hold of him. SOme canyons have quotas so maybe a reservation might be a good idea.

Would like to leave next monday to go to the sierra's for some alpine rock climbing fun. Would like a week and a half stay. But I am flexible with time. Hoping to do 5.8 and 5.9 alpine rock peaks down there. Also some t-meadows slabs. Leave PM. gene pires

Got all week off and would like to do some alpine climb if you got the time off. Possibilities include: Buckner N face forbidden n ridge clean break colchuck ne buttress joffre central couloir (is it in?) goode ne ridge nooksack tower early morning spire/dorado needle not alpine but interested Yellow brick road university wall or cannibus wall leave PM's if interested.

I thought that since dragontail is in the alpine lakes forum, and they share the same highway approach, that it would be here. But I guess it is on the north side of the highway. Is the highway what seperates the regions? I assume that the moderators would do the forum change. thanks. The approach is very nice. Easy trails and cross country work. One has to get off the trail at around 6400 ft where the main trail does this huge traverse to the right. Look for a faint step trail going straight up to the right of a small creek. That descent that was later decribed, is that the south shoulder ascent route? I could see the trail from a distance and looks very nice and safe but longer. Would do it next time.