genepires

whatever helps a belayer keep their eyes on the climber is a good thing. I wouldn't wear one but I could make my belayer wear one.

oh yeah "you will not lose your health coverage" is way worse than "they have WMD" or "I did not have sexual relations with....." Enough to impeach the guy? Some people have their underwear on too tight. so what is this long history of lies?

awesome!

I stand corrected. I was confused about what the aztarex was. My buddy had a pair of these from a way back and it was his WI tools. I liked them alot. But it looks like the line has changed since then. Looks like they don't even make them aztars anymore, only sumtec for summer alpine use.

sorry, I took your posts as that you were anti-guiding in wilderness. My apologizes for mis-speaking.

alright maybe I was being lazy earlier but I found this further down in the section 4c (6) Commercial services may be performed within the wilderness areas designated by this Act to the extent necessary for activities which are proper for realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes of the areas. If I read this right, it allows mtn guiding as well as horsepackers, hunting/fishing guiding and other support activities. as long as they don't instal permanent fixtures. I would be willing to bet that FW read this part of the code and failed to include it in his discourse cause it does not support his view. Once again throwing gas on the flames to make the world into his desires.

not an expert. but building on the above post, maybe commercial enterprise referenced is just the ones that are not conducive to wilderness environmental protection. Mining, logging and resorts are of this type. Guiding can be seen as being allowed since it is not obviously a hinderance to wilderness. With more free time, it would be good to read the rest of that particular code. There could very well be a section 4c.1 that allows certain types of commerce and fixed structures. The definition of commerce enterprise could very well be defined and exclusions in the remaining parts omitted by the ... in the quote. My only experience with these kinds of codes are the electrical codes and there generally exists exclusions and exemptions to every ruling.

keep petzl tools. I like their picks better which IMO matter more when other aspects are similar. maybe PM Dane or alpine dave for his opinion.

countless hours doing A5 may be more stressfull than having your leg all mangled. it is amazing composure that I would not be able to handle.

from bolting and illegal burning/camping to a civil discourse in 3 pages in spray no less = there is a god.

think about the quality of the ski area. IMO, there is none finer than mt baker ski area. Yes there are larger areas but the "feel" and the vibe is incomparable. If I had to ride in only one area for the rest of time, I would be driving up the mt baker hwy. Lots of backcountry right out of the upper lot and lower lot. Enough trails to keep you busy for a long long time. so with that, town of Glacier if you don't need to work or Bellingham if you need to earn some money but still find cheap rent.

either find slow-shoe friends (they are out there) or learn how to ski in a resort and get some good gear. There is no flat ground in the mountains so eventually you will need to be able to go downhill. Without skilz and good skiis/boots, it will either be miserable or injurious. cheap option is to snowshoe. there are plenty of routes to do that are fine snowshoe routes.

Thanks Mark. I did not intend to dismiss the work that the rainier climbing rangers do. was just trying to highlight a couple instances with climbing permits. If I were more wordly, I would probably have more examples of rangers coming into are area, then access to the area being restricted. Don't know the total backstory on Castle rocks near the city of rocks, but restrictions are going on there the last I heard. On a side note, I think that I climbed with that friend of yours the day before he died on rainier. Blind date through a mutual friend. he was a good guy.

While not road side crag, I remember climbing rainier without a permit. not so now. The rationale for the permit was to pay for the full time climbing rangers. The toilet rationale came a couple years later. Denali is another data point. While a true permit system might be off for the time being, I bet that parking permits will be needed soon.

if I move to leavenworth, can I spraypaint the rock? I while I am not really against the added anchors, I do feel uneasy when I hear that people that live within 30 miles of the crag feel that they have some kind of authority in the area. It is public land, not locals land. This attitude does not serve the sport well.

yeah, will do some mock leads, but I think that the skill best for these two is to be able to set up TR's anywhere and get laps in. they are parents and parents should not be doing silly reckless things like leading rock. sheeesh! I should connect this fellow with you tyson! very eager and fit but needs some mentoring and TLC.

http://unofficialnetworks.com/snowboarding-heaven-earth-holden-village-125678/ good video of local area. who wudda thunk?

thanks y'all. the gear placements can be all near the ground as we would be working on making gear TR anchors. they have climbed before so the level of the rock could be 5.8 or so. they mainly need work on making TR's. (both bolted and gear) Just a day so squamish would be too far. they live in bellingham so index may work. Was hoping to show them places near their town to climb also. maybe use summit crags for setting up bolted TR and maybe a mock lead on the corner just left of the nose. use rock gear wall for gear anchors. Is there a better location than that? once again, ,thanks for the replies gene

been to the upper summit wall bunches. been to zig zag area. I am showing some friends how to set up a TR and do some leading practice. Is there a better area than the summit wall? would like to be able to walk to top for TR setup practice so that kinda puts zig zag wall out. would like some on the ground gear placement practice. is there a better place for these things? doesn't have to be tall, just a good learning environment. 5.9 and less routes preferred. thanks in advance gene

we were at the same campground the last two labor day weekends. And i ran into you at index a couple times. also a couple times in the icicle. It is easy to spot you cause you use your real photo. and sharpie your name on your haulbag pack. I use a strange cat so I understand the difficulty of spotting my name to a noncat face. I am all ninja n shite.

the fridge might be getting older but i saw you out in squish and in leavenworth this last weekend. Always restocking the fridge I see.

kids wearing crampons. that is some scary stuff. Some full grown adults are incapable of using them safely and/or responsibly. I assume that your kids are much better people.

a lot of our alpine routes will be covered in snow right now. The tooth south face (snoq pass) will be a good intro to alpine rock. It should be snow free before winter hits in but after november, it will be a wintery climb. snow climbs near bellingham generally means ski mountaineering or snowshoeing.

renton granite is a inside joke here so don't go looking for it. if you are not a solid trad climber, I would be hesitant to go alpine rock climbing for numerous reasons. Being in bellingham, you will get plenty of opportunities to go cragging at squamish and erie. (weather permitting) Go there, set up topropes and do laps on single pith climbs. erie if you have a foul forecast in squamish or if you have a short day available. Squamish for full day or weekend with a good weather forecast. choose squamish over erie. get real comfortable with rock climbing then hit up the alpine terrain.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10151926843682938&set=a.410480422937.209825.206971122937&type=1 real frosty after the last storm came through. could all melt off quick though.