imorris

It is also long. Give yourself some time. And do yourself a favor by hauling some skis to the top of Snowdome!

The fact you have thought this through to some extent probably puts you well ahead of most out there, so you should take some comfort in that. WFR builds confidence by putting you on autopilot to some degree in dire situations, but the doubts remain if you have not been tested in a real world accident. Ironically, the WFR actually put more fear in me when I was driving and in everyday life. What if I witnessed a major accident? Odds are I'm the most qualified on scene to respond. Could I sort out the triage and delegate responsibility? Do I have gloves and mask available, etc, etc. I've found the best I can do is review constantly, and rest in the fact that at least I am doing the best I can to prepare for the worst. Sometimes the WFR guys will let you sit in on scenarios in your area, or you can volunteer as a patient. This could at least keep things fresh in your mind and learn from others' mistakes. But you'll never know until the real one happens.

Forget the f'ing spelling bee. It's devolved into a damn game of Pictionary. Here's my contribution. Just try to load this page on a modem now.

...and carry all that extra metal around? Twight insists using the 1/3rd of a whisperlite you're carrying to dig out your buddy. Or use the 1.024 oz of white gas to melt 'em to safety.

From what I recall Life-Link used to only lifetime warranty their "plastic" blades - not their aluminum ones, specifically to address the myth that aluminum is somehow stronger than the plastics. Any of those shovels will bend or snap if you put a prying action on work-hardened snow (i.e. av. debris). The aluminum shaft of many plastic shovels has failed before the blade does. Plastics should be fine. Just chop and dig rather than pry.

Booked up this weekend, but maybe sometime real soon... hope you find someone. -Iain

...and rightly so - how's that triple lutz coming ya pansy

Eugene: host to the once-fun, now-depressing Oregon Country Fair. (Well, near enough to the host).

Yes, let me refine my earlier comment. It works, but not w/o using M$ "technology". gimme quicktime.

I would but those jackasses seem to cater only to PC users. Windows sucks. Let me repeat: Windows sucks.

Whether "early season" or no, the time to climb L.C. is in cold clear, settled conditions w/ a solid snow pack. Your date gives you a good opportunity for these conditions, but you never know. The couloir has seen fantastic conditions in both December and May, but can turn ugly really fast. High winds knock off rime from above down on you, and warmer weather will put you at further risk of getting clocked by ice. If possible, climb mid-week or make sure you beat anybody else over to the start, since a party above you will be bombarding you with ice. I have emerged on the summit with a bleeding jaw and swollen eyes from icefall, even in good conditions, due to people above me. If the entrance is heavily-runneled or the runnels are active, consider a Reid hw variation. This is unlikely in March, however, unless things turn out like last year all of a sudden. High avalanche conditions remain quite possible in March. Good luck.

But when will they have these talks at their new Beverly Hills store? Check it:web page Hilarious.

quote: In my 10 or so years of climbing I have never seen any book, mag article, gear catolog, instruction manual, proffesional instructor, etc... recommend belaying a leader straight from the anchor. Well then I would point to Freedom of the Hills' section on belaying, where it shows someone belaying a leader off a large boulder. Just to point out that the technique is out there, in the rookie's bible no less. While you should be able to escape any belay, it can be a little easier if you have to do so when belaying off the anchor, which keeps you out of the system and from being yanked into a Bad Spot™. That said, I think this discussion involves too many what-if's to make a decent point. So many choices in climbing are made with limited data (belay loops, pickets vs. flukes, avalanche hazard, etc, ad nauseum) that you just have to go on what you have found works for you. Isn't that why you climb anyway? The uncertainty of success is part of the experience. -I

On a mountain rescue mission last year, we returned to our cars to find not only trail park pass violation tickets on our dashes, but tickets on the dashes of the friends and father of the (still) lost subject. Perhaps a misunderstanding, but it left a real bad taste in the mouth. I'm probably preaching to the converted, but the trail park pass system is simply unacceptable. Rec. fees are the gateway to commercial interests from the likes of Disney (I'm not kidding) and others in bed with USFS in DC, and are supported by the boaters/atv/etc crowd (and why not, it funds their boat ramps and they don't hang out at wilderness trailheads). Unfortunately, the only way to voice opposition is to directly confront: get cited on purpose and take it to court. Many of us are not willing to do this, but it appears to be the only way to make some noise. Parking away from the TH doesn't register on their radar. -Iain

I can only imagine the jackasses you'd encounter when you tried to enforce that policy. I still find it amazing that there is a need for that. -Iain

Also, I tend to be paranoid about dropping things, so I take my pack off on steep stuff to get tools anyway even though it has tubes.

As someone above mentioned, it's to get your tools out in situations where taking packs off would be a pain, very slow, or hazardous. You've probably been in the situation where a slope gradually steepens to the point you would like a second tool out for confidence but don't want to waste the team's valuable time. Tubes are nice there. If you break a tool in a difficult section, tubes would also be nice for getting at your backup, though I can't speak from personal experience. I believe Twight mentioned at one time a story of a guy on vertical ice and broke a pick. His backup was strapped to his pack, so the changeover to the backup was rather interesting.

Saw that dancing baby .sig on my fast workstation here at work; what a trip. It's like the kid's on crack or something.

Actually, FWIW, the last time I was there was early Aug, screwed up on that last post. Bergschrund negotiation was rather funky, as this picture shows:

You're going to earn it if you summit this time of year via that route. It's a long trip in there from hwy 22 and the route is one of the more time-consuming ones in OR (but one of the best). There is no convenient way off the mountain. I simply don't have the patience for WW glacier. Following the ridge around Smith Rock down around the head of Russell G. is reasonably short, or descend Milk Creek routes if they are well-covered (there was a classic Mazama-related accident there last year due to rockfall). This requires a light bivy and carryover though. Mohler Tooth should be solid right now; last time I had to work way around it to avoid continuous rockfall. JP is a possible descent, but still slow and round-about. Last time I was there was last Sept. There were two bergschrunds and both were enormous. We started from WW TH at 1am and were back there late by headlamp, and we were hauling. I've approached via WW/russell creek drainages when snow-covered early season before, just avoid getting stuck below several waterfalls and cliffs. I don't know if I would recommend following WW trail this time of year high up on the ridge. Be careful of small avalanche terrain traps in a few creek drainages if you drop down. You'll need several days of solid weather, obviously. I'd save it for the Spring/early Summer, but I'm a wuss too. -Iain

slow times at work? http://www.liquidcode.org/worm.htmlscore to beat is 2319.

For what it's worth, I wound up getting a pair of the denali xt's, as discussed in a recent thread. They are just fine as my all-around ski boot, but I would not want to hike much in them. The lazers are supposedly much better for this. So my setup is now silvretta 500's denali xt and tua mito 192's (discontinued, but cheap now) that works well as a single ski setup for climbing boots, in-bounds and b.c. skiing (at least for someone who is a mediocre skier like me) since I can't afford more than one ski setup. -Iain

I'd recommend you change your nickname. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Didn't I predict this frick'n question would be asked again in a different thread? Anyways... I think that reference to the Silvretta 505 was actually supposed to be 500, was it not? I have the 500's (404-style heel) which take Invernos, but are not step-ins. The 555 is step-in style, but doesn't take the Inverno. The 500 is nice when you eat it in powder, since you don't have to slam your foot down into a binding in bottomless snow to engage. Otherwise, the 500 is a pain in the ass to bend over and snap in each time compared to Diamirs, s555's, older easy-go, etc.500's are lighter and simpler than the 555's, but that's not saying much. Release is not as dependable as other brands. Prepare to take it in the rear when you throw down the plastic to pay for them too (though they did see a price break recently). I've got Denali boots since I need all the help I can get.