jhamaker

Let's see, just mountains? Vice President (BC) - very very cold, great ski Gib Ledge on Rainier - very cold, blown off my feet only once. Spearhead traverse - summited all but 2 pks en route. Skied one mtn before the heli skiers trashed it. Sisters (OR) traverse - I would do it again in a minute. The Tooth - in leather tele boots. Matier and something (BC) - "Hero snow" Hall Pk - navigational brilliance Barring - very large spind-drift avalanche Constance wins 3 - I get 0 successes Hood - high wind broke the poles on my K-Mart tent. Hood - Temperatures too cold to sleep. Hood - hacked in a snowcave at the top of the lift w/ an ice axe. Monashees (BC) Unlimited skiing - I'll be back! St. Helens - Inexp'd snowboarder in party took a beautifull line - 15 degrees away from the descent route. We saw him the next morning. Garabaldi and Dome (BC) - carried skis up the crusty headwall to the plateau, carried skis back down. Castle and Pinnacle - a very different climb when you have to brush snow off all the holds. Silver Pk - my first summit using skis (track skis!) If you wanna ski Chinook to White Pass or Shuksan (Sulfide Gl.) nxt wk or wk-end e-mail me **jhamaker@operamail.com**

http://www.turns-all-year.com Backcountry skiing trip reports, weather, snow, avalanche, NWAC telemetry, trail, and forest road conditions for year-round backcountry carving, in the Pacific Northwest.

Aghhhh! God save us from rabid squirrels!

Tell us annother one Matt. http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLocalWide.asp?loc=ksea&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=SevereWeather&product=RadarSummary&prodnav=none http://www.atmos.washington.edu/nnexrad/latest.cgi?ATX/PRETX

DavidW I hear there are two versions of Lock-Tight. One that you can sort of get the nut back off, and one that you can't. I cannot reccomend one over the other. I realy do love Westward Ho, though it has more bolts than West Slabs. I don't suppose everyone is comfortable w/ 1 (bolt) between belays ; ) If avalanches are responsible for the FLATTENED hanger I saw two? summers ago, I think there is also lots of rock involved. Anyone noticed new scars durring the summer? The scars, rock shards and powdered rock I've seen in the summer make me think that mabey the rock came down after any climax avalanches when the snow was melted out. I would like to hear any other theories on how active that open book/gully is.

If you see rain/sleet/snow as just annother perfect opportunity to practice aid climbing. If you own at least one of every modle camming device ever made - and still use them all. If, over time, you bring back more gear than you leave behind. If you look for dates marked on rappel webbing and add the "nearly new" stuff to your rack. If your oil pan has significanly less capacity (due to bashing) than it used to. If your car has more than 5 lbs of rock stuck between the bumper/radiator/frame/exhaust. If you have left your bumper/radiator/exhaust/oil pan - in more than 3 states. If truckers ask you driving times between states and where to find quiet pull-outs "two hrs N of Vegas." If you own enough rope to rappel the Empire State Building. If you can list buildings with "highly climbable architecture" in cities you have only driven through.

When was the last time Westward Ho was climbed? Are there still hangers missing (there were 2, mabey 3 missing as of a few months ago. I notice the hangers that were flattened by rock-fall were replaced. Be aware this route is geologicaly active and has been since Brooks and Whitelaw. ---------------- DavidW, whats up w/ the closely spaced bolts on Westward Ho? This climb is very different in caracter than other, older Darrington routes like the slab rt just to the rt of Westward Ho, and the older pitches of Rubber Soul, Silent Running, and Dreamer.

The area looks too pretty to bolt. Beware the dark side Luke.

The first full moon after an equinox or solstice, I put about a tablespoon of carborator cleaner in the fuel mix - seems to prevent clogs on all my MSR stoves.

It took you 3 attempts to actualy summit? Sad, so sad . . . >>>Chysten and I had just gotten some high tech ultralite aluminum crampons and axes up at MEC<<< What brand/model, and how much. Would you recomend them over other Al crampons?

I climbed this last yr in Nov. You may have to approach from Cold Springs, or the Snow Pk if the Yakimas have closed the gate. The route is probably icy and rocky w/ no hidden crevasses to speak of (no snow). Should be a fun climb.

8 p.m. Program - Snow In The Desert! Join us for a great slide show by James Hamaker. He will showcase climbing, hiking, and exploration of the sandstone temples of Red Rocks and the Colorado Plateau after a surprise snowfall. Tacoma Mountaineers 2302 North 30th Street Directions From I-5: Take Exit 133, signed I-705 & City Center Exit, near the Tacoma Dome. Driving north on Hiway 705, take Schuster Parkway. Watch for signs and take exit onto North 30th Street. After the stoplight, it¹s one block to the clubhouse, on your left, at the corner of 30th & Carr Street.

FF is designing my bag! It will be a beautiful light-weight bag w/ no fill in the floor. Could come out to be less than 14oz! Hound them about it so they will get it into production before next summer.

I like Hepatitis Crack. The overhanging finger crack slick w/ grease, blood and bits of skin. Good short overhang w/ a fun exit. Nothing says "Get your shots" like Hepatitis Crack.

"Oriental Flavor" does not taste like fish fed human at all, but rather more like miso (fermented soybean, very much like soy sauce paste).

>>My Whisperlite is now officially the largest piece of leaver pro in my rack, although it's let me down in so many other ways I'm not sure I'd give it one more chance on a rapp...<< Problem w/ compressed gass stoves: Gas leakage around the seal, or the valve opening while packed. I've lost fuel out of my Camping-Gaz and my white gas canisters - but I've always caught the white gas leaks because they smell worse. The new screw-on canisters seem to have a similar problem. I noticed the smell of gas while removing the 1/2 full canister. Gotta say I love the satisfaction of smashing the old Bluet EMPTY canisters. There seem to be two camps of people w/ wisperlights: Those who find them unreliable, and those who have had them for 15 yrs problem free. Do car owners fit into the same two camps?

>>Hey, just cuz they bolted it don't mean it's a sport-route!<< Tread drift - but what is *your* definition of a sport route? Can a sport rt have room/need for gear? I always see it as a challenge to see if I can find *any* gear placements on bolted sport routes. Best definition I've heard is "You can't get seriously hurt on a sport climb." I would paraphrase by saying "A sport route can maim but not kill." These definitions assume you follow commonly accepted climbing safety practices.

Pashastin Pinnacles after the exfoliated sand has been cleaned off by other climbers. Anything at Red Rocks. Friction slabs like the Upper Apron rts at Squamish. Snake Dike in the valley. See a pattern here?

Track down Hypersud Sports (still?) in Yakima.

I tried temp-ing. Time off is too unpredictable to plan anything. Often temps are needed for emergencies and wk wk-ends. So few of my partners have mid-wk off. I have recently used my climbing skills for a sm job - I rapelled/ascended over a cliff to fix a retaining wall.

Dallas Kloke has a list of 10 most accessable major WA summits. I'll see if I can dig that list up.

I'm w/ you ryland, though I may give differernt connotations to certain words. "New lines never sent need cleaning. . ." Not on Pinto. Very clean rock. ". . . discovering where placements go, etc." I call this "climbing". ;-) FYI I'm sure most of the Pinto Rk pinnacles natural routes have been climbed. If someone threatened to write a guide-book, I'm sure plenty of people would come out of the wood-work trying to remember what "routes" they were playing on what they thought it might be rated, and make up route names.

"I've been hoping someone would go to the trouble of developing routes. . ." Pinto needs "developing" like a fish needs a bicycle. Take a closer look. There are natural placements every few ft! The rock is surprisingly solid for the size of the protruding cemented holds. ". . .so I could just go and climb" There ain't nothing stoppin' ya. There are some fun lines on the N formation as well, though they are realy short (25m and less).

I am very fond of the two smallest lowe-ball or sliders or what ever they are called. I don't use them often, but when I do, there is really nothing else I would trust. Rumor has it that if you fall on them they set up permanently. I used them to good effect on the N face of Vesper last Sat.

Oldest summit register I've found this yr was on N Sheep Gap Mtn - from 1950! Great reading the names of people no longer w/ us. I felt connected, through the mountains, to those who preceeded me.