swissman

Now, that was quite funny. Switzerland having a lower crime rate has a lot more to do with the fact it's a police state with a serious law enforcement presence rather than to gun "ownership". We don't truely own our firearms for the most part. We have our assault rifle at home along with a small amount (2 cilps worth) of amunition. That's part of being a member of a militia army. We just store our kit at home. Now, the amunition is sealed off and severly controlled (meaning, tempering with it is the surefire way to get a couple of weeks in the jail when gettting back in service every year or so). Sure, one can get amunition one way or another, but almost nobody bothers. The rifle is stowed away, often disassembled, and not bothered with until it's time to get into another (annoying) refresher course... It's not a rifle folks cherish and enjoy playing with... However, because of the army, most guys have been through a good deal of firearm safety. Now, that helps eliminating a lot of accidental shootings within the home. Folks just had drilled in them how to manage firearms.

I'm sure you can carry them a lot longer than they want to be strapped in the thing. With my kids, we stopped the carrier when my son daughter was 4.5 and my son 2. My daughter would complain so much to have to hike while her brother was carried that I just stopped taking the carrier along and he stated walking all the time... Hard life for the boy, but he's tough. They could go about 4 miles from the get go. But we almost exclusivly hiked to lake, river or waterfalls (throwing rocks in the water is a good goal it seems) and bribed them shamelessly with candy and junk food. They might have liked hiking only because they'd get food they never would at home. No problem with me, I got to get out. Enjoy the little bugger.

Has anyone been up there recently? I have a day this week-end to go mess in the hills. Providing the avalanche forecast is ok, is it still possible to get down the slot couloir or is it just a stupid idea at this time of the year? I don't have randonnee gear at the moment and was just going to hump on snowshoes and carry the skis. BTW, if anyone's interested, I'm going solo, but a partner is always welcome (Saturday, early start, I'm located in Issaquah). Olivier

RuMR, don't think you'll mess up the kids much with a year of home schooling. Check out that book, "A Year Off", should be comforting you in taking your sabbatical. One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children by David Elliot Cohen (http://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Off-Round- World/dp/1885211651/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211379303&sr=8-1) Chamonix's a fun place. Cheaper to live on the italian side though. Olivier

Another fun one around the 4th of July trailhead. Leave alone Arapahoe peaks and go to the other side for a real neat cross-country/scrambling/lake cirque hike. From from the 4th of July trailhead. Go to Arapahoe pass, then go up the ridge to Mt Neva (wrapping around lake Dorothy). It's a class 3-4 scramble if memory serves me right. Follow broad right south towards Mt Japser. Down from Jasper to Upper Diamond lake, then Diamond lake and follow Diamond lake trail back to trailhead and beers. It's a really fun cross country cirque hike done in a day. Loved it. Some info on Mt Neva climb in the Roach Indian Peaks book. What I loved about CO was the dry weather and the ease to stitch together great ridge cross country scrambles. Cheers, Olivier

You MUST check out this site!!!! Some of the bests are: 'knee' (for woman), 'love' and 'kiss' (for man, mostly...) and 'beer' or 'jug' (both sex)! Let's see what you guys can come up with orders that do funny stuff. Click Me Note: Some orders might not be worksafe

Yeah, Catbird, I'm sure that when people read my post, their eyes rolled up so high they could have seen their own brains. I know that it sounded totally silly, but I wanted to get some reactions about the current conditions. I didn't have the time to drive down there to see how looks now 1st hand. I read Gauthier's book, great info, very clear, everything is there. But I have no problems looking foolish every now and then and the post was to get other people opinion and I got it. The beginner has climb ice and has been on tough terrain to get his turns in unskied couloirs. He's a novice as far as straight mountain climbing is involved though but I was confident that he'd be able to tackle the route's difficulties. Now anyways, (we had settled for Kautz Glaicer BTW), we're not going anywhere anymore. We went to do Baker this week-end and the other one in our party twisted his knee bad on the trail heading out and we have can the climbing plans for this time. My two friends I planned climbing with live on the east coast and have to head back next week. I guess that I'll be more careful on how I ask for beta next time. Baker is in great shape and was fun.

Hey, what do you know, I've got myself some reactions. Thanks for the input. I'm totally aware that for all the routes listed above, August is pushing the envelope (especially this year, with the recent heat). But hey, I just decided to throw it out there to see if I would get some 1st hand data from whoever might have been this or that way recently. Long shot, but worth the try.

Boy, I know how this kind of "need beta about bla bla bla" sounds: Gumby in training.... Still, not a real lot of replies (Thanks Donn for your pm). Please, don't tell me that noone on this site has a clue about the routes I'm talking about. Is there anyone who climbs Rainer without using the common DC/Emmons/Kautz/Lib Ridge routes???? They're fun, but hey there are many other routes up there. Is there one or two less conventional climber out there? Let's see if I can stir some shit..... hummm, I'm not sure I was insultant enough considering this site's standards. Cheers, Olivier

I've got myself a couple of days to go have fun in the hills. Main goal is 1-3 routes on Rainer (in one trip probably...). I have a bunch of routes in mind that could fit my party and was hoping to get some beta. One of us has little climbing experience, but he's a good skier and solid physically. Has anyone any beta about length, exposure, fun factor or suitability for this time of the year (trip planned in the next 2 weeks), for the following routes: Especially has anyone been there recently? At this time, the NP web site gives only very limited data or none at all for these routes. - Fuhrer Finger - Success Cleaver - Success Glacier Headwall (called also Success finger or Success Glacier Couloir in Becky) - Russell Cliffs Thanks guys! Olivier

Just read the thread. Funny, still the same arguments against going fast and light . Still I havn't seen anyone bringing up the time question! Well, for me, it's not for chestbeating or even looking into physical challenges (for that, I'm adventure racing and I have a kid, who, after 2 years, still doesn't sleep the nights through, talk about not having good night sleep...). See Josh, for me, it's a time question. I have little free time to climb and have limitations on how many days I can take off at a time. So, if I'm not climbing something like Olympus in a day, then I can't go at all, sucks! I would also enjoy taking some more time, it's cool to hang out in the hills, but given the choice of going in a day or not going at all...., there isn't any hesitations, I go in a day. One advantage is to enjoy the scenery too, even going long and fast, 'cause since you're going light, you're not looking at your feet half the way crushed under a 60lbs backpack. So, I'll stay in shape in order to still go climb real good stuff even if I don't have enough time to do it the "traditional" way. I'd do it again, it was fun, but I'll go elsewhere instead. Cheers, Olivier

Went up there on Tuesday last week (the 20th?) via the usual Monitor Ridge. Snow was great. Still a good pack above the treeline, but getting really soft and melting fast in the afternoon. Last week, you could still ski in and out of the Climber's Bivouac, there was only a couple of dirt patches on the trail (it is worse now for sure). Snow was hard enough in the morning to boot your way up very easily. No real need for either snowshoes or crampons. Take skis or a crazy carpet for the descent, slooging in half melted snow sucks! Have fun.

Thanks for the info. I've seen about the lottery, but since it's held only at 6pm on the day before the climb, that means leaving Seattle way too early in the afternoon. I think I'll go on a week day and try to fly under the radar Olivier

Planning a quick trip to climb/ski St Helens before all the snow's gone. Because of scheduling, I might not be able to get a permit for the climb. How much do they check if you have a permit and what happens if you get caught without one? For speed, I'm thinking about the regular route via Monitor Ridge since it's the fastest drive in. Any input?

All right! Glad that you got to do it PP! How did you like the walk back out, long and boring enough for you guys? I think that I thought this damn trail would never end, but it is sweet to be up on top of Olympus, isn't it? Anyways, congrats to you all! Olivier