genepires

look at what the mtn athelete, john frieh, and gym jones folks are doing. Seems like it would work overall endurance and bad ass-ery which patagonia demands. BTW, I have never been there so I really don't know anything about it.

I am a gimp but I got no excuse. Actually if they are gimps, then I am less so, those guys are rad.

Mr John Brookfield is the MAN when it comes to all things grip. (maybe the 2 or 3rd guy to close the #4 coc) He has some good grip specific books and that webpage has sh-loads of exercises. If you could do all of his exercises, you would have a serious popeye forearms. But not really sure it would pay off for climbing. A lot of the time, the grip stuff is thumb intensive which is not that critical to climbing.

you and the other 300 some odd others worldwide who managed to close it in the last 20 years. #3 is a BEAST. unfortunately CoC does not follow the SAID principal as it pretains to rock climbing .

tied up in H o w i t, I believe?

cool to see fred still doing first winter ascents in 1994! yeah it was some 18 years ago but he still was no spring chicken back then. not much action in the last two winters?

Gitmo may be open but it has about 1/4 of the population than it did 3 years ago. (according to a NPR program I heard last year) Isn't 3/4 gone progress?

making assumptions is a bad thing but for the sake of keeping sane, I assume that what I see is real. If it is all an illusion, then who gives a frack? I am not sure if my mind exist either. What is mind? not matter. What is matter? not mind.

that photo on the boulder brings a thought. I have been using a 40 to 50 degree down bag liner exclusively in the non winter months. for the weight of that sleeping bag in a garbage sack, you could have one of these down bag liners and a BD first light tent. A way better option than any bag/bivy combo for any season.

this is not helping me and my fear of taking a lead fall. it's all about me. glad to hear the fellow is fine.

how does one define "cascades"? if baker is in the cascades, why isn't rainier in the cascades?

no good dead goes unpunished. no wait, that is not how it is supposed to go. sorry to hear about the saw. real lame and I wish I could believe in a hell. makes living with these douches around easier. good on ya all for the public service. (except Pat, he has a huge karmic debt to repay. random propane fires and big rock trundles amongst the many)

science is agnostic in nature. When showed evidence contrary to common belief, it changes to fit with the new knowledge. (though sometimes it may take a while) Science does not deny the existence of dinosaurs cause it goes against the time line given by other evidence. It goes back and tries to understand where mistakes cold be made or how it can all still fit together. Religion just dismisses dinosaurs cause it does not fit with a bible timeline. On a positive note, religion puts the fear into people to make them act nicely together. Obey my commandments, act nice or I will give you a serious spanking!

I call Bullshite. How can one say it takes no "faith", yet have no scientific proof (can't proof a negative)? I'm sure in your case, your right. because your mind is not open beyond your own ego (based on your persona here). You have FAITH that you are right and everyone else that believes in God is a sucker (paraphrasing). Call a spade a spade. Atheism takes believing in something you can't proof (faith by definition). "faith" is the belief in god or teachings of a religion. Since atheism don't believe in god, there is no "faith". Faith is also believing in something without proof. Atheism is about needing proof to believe the existence in god. Since none exists (short afterlife experiences and feelings about the nature of the world are not proof), we have atheism and so atheism is not faith based. belief in god requires faith because there is no evidence belief in science requires no faith. Science believes in only things that can be proved. The day that a bigfoot is put in a cage or a skeleton found, science will believe in bigfoot. A simple visit from the almighty would be enough evidence too but are we not worthy enough a occasional sleep over from Daddy?

what fraction of the trail is above treeline? looks like lots of high country time. (acccording to the photos)

is #13 whitechuck? #17 pugh? and #20 sloan? looks like a very sweet trip. 2 or 3 days?

when all is out and wet, go to vantage as last resort. granite falls? Didn't know to many climbers in granite falls. BUt mt erie might be a good place to go when rained out also. bit of a rain shadow from the olympics.

north or south EWS? sounds like SEWS. man I like that route.

leaving them overnight is really asking for it. My only break in occurred sometime between sunset and 11pm when we got back to the truck. freaks come out at night. but 4 days is really asking to have it broken into. How about finding some index local to let you park your car in their driveway? They are generally friendly folk and glad to help out a climber in need. Will PM you a possible contact in town. (friend of a friend)

any idea if or when they will be available in stores? Website says october. maybe they are already available?

and I thought it was spelled Chain Stokes breathing.

harrison camp is a dreary camp in the big trees on the moraine. From the camp, go downhill but still above the moraine till a trail cuts back across to get below the moraine. Head up glacier to a good entry onto the glacier. Pick your poison, either up glacier to obvious choices that are smaller than they look or go down glacier to cracks that are quite large but you gotta belay from above. Wether you wanna lead or TR will decide which way to go.

I would say any guide service that has been working there for a while has got their act together. AMS, alpine ascents and AAI run a good show from what I have seen. I bet the others are good too. (disclaimer....I used to work for alpine ascents) She sounds like a keeper. if you want experience with altitude, go for something with altitude. Maybe do aconcogua the year before denali. That is the usual peak progression. If a month is not enough recovery between denali prep and denali, then maybe you are not ready for denali. The denali prep is not as intensive as you may believe. It is more skills based, not a physical test for competency. (speaking for alpine ascents some 5 years ago....maybe things have changed) It will be hard but no where as hard as climbing a high altitude mtn. A little plug for alpine ascents, you may be able to do denali prep on rainier in the spring. This is obviously a great training ground in the lower 48 for something like denali. sorry about plugging alpine ascents so much but I can only talk about what I know.

be my guide to the basin!

or hire a guide in NH to do the president range traverse in winter . that will teach you some cold weather survival skills.