genepires

I was not trying to defend him. he is a serious douche head. He obviously didn't do the right thing on prior days and didn't even come up with a decent lie to cover his ass. Professional criminals always have a exit strategy. My prior post was just a couple of thoughts came while reading this. One question...what would one do with dozens of draws? Is there a quickdraw market on ebay? The payoff for this crime is minimal. Me thinks he is mental.

I got scared just looking at the second pitch photo. Very good job gents.

what would happen if he was stealing draws from a easy route? What if the bunny face had fixed draws? Is it ok to remove draws from a easy line? I would think the "rules" would be the same but I think the reality is that this dipshit would not get the same scolding if he was stealing from a easy line. (whatever easy line means) Another thought. Would or should this douche waffle get a scolding for removing the draws and leaving them at the base? Like removal on the grounds of visual esthetics? (it is a state park)

national ridicule for 25 draws. (about $250) yeah that is worth it.

it is just running! why make a basic human function so complex? lets see some chi digestion and pose pooping. no matter what the running technique used, your knees will be shot someday.

when did facebook not suck? it has always been more of a blackhole for time that this site.

Just because a bag is rated to -30 doesn't mean it is the same as another bag rated to -30. I find it hard to believe that any -30 synthetic is the same "warmth" as a down -30. That bag would fill any backpack. some companies use "survival" as a measure. Some use comfort as the measure. If you are buying a -30 bag, I think you need to need a comfort rating. Multiple nights at -30 in a survival rated bag could mean non-survival. Synthetic bags really only belong on a big wall. For alpine climbing, all this jibber jabber about "what if my bag gets wet" is ridiculous. Sounds like too much marketing, selling you that you need to have 10 sleeping bags. So yes it does matter. If you get a synthetic bag, you will be buying a down one before your next trip. So save yourself the money and just buy a quality down bag up front.

I lived in southern maine for a couple of years. I thought there were quite a few hippies living in NH and Maine, especially central to northern maine. What is the bostonian take on those birds? I think I might be a wanna-be-hippie. There is a town in BC near fernie, maybe it is fernie, that is full of honest to god, woodstock looking, greatful dead, dirty stinky hippies. The real deal that doesn't exist in any measurable level in the states anymore. Just some cocktail party trivia.

Hippie volume increases as you travel north and south of seattle and culminates in portland and bellingham. Seattle is still a Hippie area. If you hate hippies (whatever that is), go east of the mountains. zero hippie factor in all of eastern washington, especially as get away from the eastern foothills. Look at spokane for the jobs and conservative attitude. what is wrong with hippie areas? And from the sound of what you say, you are looking for a hippie area. If you are really against hippies, then maybe the passive aggressive nature of the PNW is not for you. Bostonians are a special breed and probably don't fit in with most of the west coast. I like in your post you write "waRshington". You'll fit right in.

actually, everyone's opinion (regardless of skill level) is moot. climbing is a personal journey and others opinion don't amount to anything when you are getting after something, whatever your skill level or objective. Like, just have fun and be safe. F$%^ the ethics police.

awesome looking place. Could you please describe where this peak is? How do you get into there?

stellar looking line! something you can only get in AK.

washington ice is so fickle that you have to be very confident with your skills to be able to get up. Being able to "manage wi3 with enough screws" says to me that you need to be climbing wi2 or easier in washington. And there ain't that much of that around. Ideally, you have to be confident at wi4 on good ice to be attempting wi3 around here. so that leaves you with steep snow climbs which there is plenty of. maybe nbc of colchuck is a good choice for someone from spokane. But you have to have your avi skills in top form to be out in that neighborhood. Maybe you should spend that time practicing avi awareness and rescue. or drive to banff for some good ice. You could probably get two good days of climbing from your three day window. And ten times the tool sticks than in the cascades.

how do you call man-on-man gay love "resting from a cold"? sweet photos and climbs.

hell that is fairly good for washington ice.

how would you know it was good if you did not read it? "no picnic on mt kenya" is another good book. a group of english POW escape a german prison camp to climb a peak that they can see from the prison. Who stuck in a office building with a view of rainier hasn't thought the same thing. Only a climber would escape a prison but not go home.

Goeff Childs Stone Palace is a very good book.

side note.....Bens blog is great! Super photography and some of the best climber writing.

for anyone interested in taking your young-uns out to the mtns this weekend, the big 4 trail is still in good shape. lots of down trees but nothing that can't be crawled under. a few photos [img:left]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/thumbs/DSCN1855.JPG.pagespeed.ce.ti3UCnvekW.jpg[/img] [img:left]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/thumbs/DSCN1849.JPG.pagespeed.ce.nIPqIBJ7qi.jpg[/img] we don't need no stinkin crash pad for some winter bouldering. With sneakers and mittens no less.

there is a wilderness EMT program that might be more beneficial than the WFR class. WFR is a minimum standard but the WEMT would put you ahead of others with similar skills but only wfr training. It also takes longer and costs more. EMT is geared towards having a ambulance there. There are quite a different kind of guide services out there. Just because you don't have alpine experience doesn't mean you can't guide in other areas. Rock guiding at smith? Troubled youth in the wilderness? (hoods in the woods) Maybe you should find an area that really interests you (for guiding) and focus on it for a year or two. (like coldfinger suggest) Volunteer in any leadership and teaching capacity. (county and university rec program come to mind) Many companies will train you in the hard guiding skills (American Alpine Institute has a new guide training program that is very good) but the people skills have to be there first. So you have to demonstrate that you can lead a group of people, teach concepts and skills, and be able to handle emergency situations. If you could do those 3 things, I would feel good about giving you clients in the wilderness. You don't need to be a climbing bad ass to be a guide. Trust me, 5.11 and wi6 is not a minimum. More like 5.9, wi3, a1, full glacier skills, and maybe a single foray into the thin air. I think the average weekend joe with a varied experience who has been doing it a while has the climbing skills for guide training. It is the people and emergency skills that make a guide. (this does not apply to the upper end of guide population like house, blanchard, ect) If you want resume help, why not just call the offices of several guide companies and tell them your story. Ask for advice. Call them in the slow part of the day like the early morning or mondays.

I believe that workmans comp pays some fraction of the wage. I don't know how much but a fraction of guide wage is not much. Might be better off rehabing behind the counter at mcdonalds.

picture of grace my stinky ass! this is a picture of stupidity and bad guiding! This "guide" was working but not guiding. The day will come when he makes an error and takes a huge fall, injuring himself or worse. Best case condition is that he looks like a fool in front of his clients. While it may impress a client, it is a bad example for them and a just a real dumb ass move. If I owned that business, that guide would be fired. Business insurance rates! And if he was certified by the AMGA........ there are to many examples of guides running it out on easy ground and taking big falls, breaking hips and other thick bones. or worse. Guides are always teaching when with clients. What would these yos clients be learning?

"Mountaincraft" by Geoffrey Winthrop Young

yvon. his climbing ice book was a big visual inspiration for ice climbing when I started. JoJo for making the guidebook to my favorite ice climbing destination.

OUCH! lets keep this photo from circulating around our significant others.