Fromage

If you can climb 5.5 in mountain boots and hold onto enormous fixed lines, the Hornli Ridge is an accessible route and reasonable to climb as a private unguided party. Hence the crowds. If you have a higher level of skill and ambition and you are going to hire a guide, then it makes sense to attempt a less traveled and more challenging route like the Italian or Abruzzi Ridge. Don't just go for the Matterhorn. There is so much more to enjoy in the Alps than this one beehive. It's like people who fly to WA from all over to climb Rainier and don't even know about the N Cascades.

MGA, you sound like the ideal candidate for a guided Rainier climb. Going with a guided group gives you the opportunity to achieve a dream, learn some new skills, and whet your appetite for more climbing. If you are not experienced enough to go on a private trip then obviously going on a guided trip will increase your chances of summitting exponentially. As for the other factors that can prevent you from reaching the top (bad weather, poor acclimatization, injury in the party, slow team, etc.), those are all part of the enchilada and are impossible to predict. They are also part of the mountaineering experience, and many people find that they learn more and have a better time on trips where they don't summit. I encourage you to also check out Alpine Ascents International. They, along with IMG, are recent recipients of Rainier guiding concessions. They run small trips with a high guide/client ratio and take excellent care of their folks. Some friends of mine went with them last year on the Emmons and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. If you want a lower stress, less crowded, and more aesthetic experience, then taking a 4-day trip up the Emmons will be the way to go. If you have less time and don't mind climbing among more traffic, then the DC is an appropriate choice. Whichever you choose, try to book your trip for the second half of June or early July. Weather and conditions are usually quite good during this time period. Those trips also fill the earliest. If you have the money to spend and summitting Rainier is worth it to you, then you will get full value. The extra $400 or so it costs for a 4-day trip is definitely worth the extra time on the mountain and the slower pace can improve your chances of summitting. Good luck, and have fun. Link to Mount Rainier via Emmons with Alpine Ascents

I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.

Mark, I have a laser for you. "Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die."

Yeah, the folks across the way on the slopes looked to be having a good time of things, and I wished I had skis to get far up the valley fast. At least I had the small consolation of being the only group there.

Trip: Alpental - Alpental Falls Date: 12/3/2006 Trip Report: Strolled up to check out the falls on Sunday with my homie Jeremy and my fiancee. From below, Alpental Falls/Alpental I looked to be in shape. Owing to my excitement at the first ice climb of the season I gave it a go. The ice was hollow, poorly attached, and was forming thick ice lenses and onion skins over a layer of snow. Perfect conditions! About halfway up I placed a mediocre screw, moved up and left a ways, found a better screw, and took a closer look at the top of the first pitch. It was glassy, chandeliered, dripping with water, and small snow slides were starting to come down off to the left. The sun was out and warming the place up. I downclimbed, pondered gear retrieval, and decided I would just climb back up, clean gear, and downclimb again. In the short timespan this took, the quality of the ice went from worse to even worse. We tromped around in the snow for a while scouting the other routes in the neighborhood, but didn't feel motivated to try anything else. Went home and drank beers. Gear Notes: Total jing. Best left behind. Bring alpine crampons and tubular picks. Approach Notes: Snowshoes helpful for the last 40 feet.

Let me know once you get your 0-degree synthetic bag. I have a 6,000 cubic inch backpack you can have for cheap to carry your sleeping bag in. who have to carry the synthetic insulation. My prediction is pain!

Said pack for sale. Used a handful of times, in excellent condition. Capacity is about 4,500 in3. Eggplant/black color. Stout suspension, this pack is probably better used for hauling big loads than for alpine climbing. My girl picked up an Osprey Ariel 55 (learning to bring less stuff) so this pack isn't seeing much use these days. Original price $349. PM if you are interested.

Paclite sure is light, but it doesn't breathe worth a damn. If you are buying this jacket to leave in the bottom of your pack and only wear it while bailing, then it is fine, but if you actually want to wear it the rest of the time you will be frustrated with its performance. I have a Moonstone paclite jacket that I have been disappointed with. The first time I used it I thought it leaked I got so wet, but then I realized it was me making me wet. If you have a pro deal then get the Alpha LT or the Alpha Comp Hoody (best jacket in the universe), but if you really want something that will breathe and be waterproof you should wait until somebody makes a jacket from eVent that has a decent pattern (Integral Designs uses the fabric but their light eVent jacket fits like a garbage bag).

"A Night of Lies?" I get all the lies I need right here on cc.com but if there is ....

So, uh, is Feathered Friends in Madagascar? Those skis had better be pretty rad if I am going to travel all the way there to buy a few raffle tickets.

I am selling my trusty approach vehicle. 1995 Nissan Pathfinder XE 115,000 miles 4 door, 4WD 3 liter, 6-cylinder engine new tires (very nice Cooper light truck mud/snow treads) new shocks (KYB) single disc CD player antilock rear brakes converts to 4,000 pound single wall tent suitable for two climbers up to 6'4" includes Yakima roof rack (4 rail rider towers and 2 bars) This truck is about as mechanically sound as they come. I have owned it for 4 years, driven to Lander and back several times, Banff and back, and countless trips up to Lillooet. In four years of ownership I have only had to perform routine oil changes, replace the tires, and replace the shocks. It is extremely reliable and has lots of dependable life left in it. This truck is great in the snow and will fit four people plus gear no problem. There are a few cosmetic blemishes, like a cracked windscreen, a couple small dings, a cracked fog lamp, and a little peeling paint in inconspicuous places. Nothing that couldn't be easily and cheaply replaced if you wanted to. Mileage is about 19 on the highway- I routinely get over 320 miles per 17 gallon tank. $4500 seems fair given the excellent mechanical state this vehicle is in, but if you think otherwise I am open to entertaining other offers. Send PM if you are interested. This truck lives in Capitol Hill if you want to check it out and take it for a spin.

Tipping on a guided trip is not expected, but it is appreciated. A lot. I have guided on rivers and in the mountains for 9 years and seen a lot of different tipping practices. I have had large groups of Microsofties leave me with naught but a wave, and I have had a team of impoverished waitstaff from a restaurant heap cash upon me, buy me dinner, and drink me under the table. In the mountains the trips tend to cost a lot more as a participant, especially international climbs, which results in a group of clients that tend to be in higher income tax brackets. It takes about a minute for guides to pick up on this, and to some degree the prospect of tips influences how far a guide is willing to go for you. I think to be fair to both client and guide, the decision to tip and how much should be based on how the guides affect the quality of your trip. In my observation, some things that contribute to the quality of a client's experience include 1. Does the guide make a genuine effort to befriend you, learn about you, listen to you, and understand you? If your guide centers the conversation around him/herself and stories about how "this one time on Denali...," that is not the best way to take interest in clients. 2. Is the guide committed to your safety? The best tips I have ever received were on a trip where the guides decided to back off from a summit push because we determined the conditions were unsafe. This was a more valuable learning experience for the clients than if we had just gone for it. Client safety should be a paramount priority at all levels of guiding, but you never know. It can vary among companies and guides. 3. Is the guide committed to your personal success? Does the guide ask you what your personal goals are and work to help you achieve them? 4. Is the guide patient with all the clients? Will he or she stand around for 20 minutes in crappy weather working with you until you have mastered the ______ knot, adjusted your crampons, fixed your tent, etc? 5. Does the guide volunteer to do additional work if someone is struggling physically? This could be taking weight from someone's pack, setting up a tent, coiling ropes, whatever. 6. Does the guide make the trip fun for you and the other guides? This might be the most important thing to consider. If you had crystal clear weather, perfect snow conditions, and everyone summitted, but nobody smiled much, that trip might not be as enjoyable as the one with 60mph winds, a whiteout, cold temps, and all the other ingredients for misery, but where everyone laughed the whole time because the guide knew how to extract the fun out of even the most unpleasant situations. 7. Is the guide a good teacher? How much did you learn about the mountain, history, climbing skills, etc.? How much to tip is a totally subjective issue. If you feel that your guides have done a worthy job and deserve a tip, then it is entirely your discretion as to how much to give. Tip according to your willingness and ability. I have had trips where the clients all get together near the end of the trip away from the guides and discuss how much to tip, sort of reaching a consensus, and I have also had trips where people act of their own accord. It can be hard to put a value on the work of the guide staff, so use your best judgment. Here are some more guidelines (no pun intended) you may want to consider- 1. Tip all the guides the same amount unless you have a good reason not to. 2. If there is local or nontechnical help like porters, tip them as well. You may want to ask the front office about the best way to do this before you leave on your trip. 3. When you return home, take the time to write a letter to the owner or director of the guide company telling them what you think about your guides. This kind of feedback is valued by everyone, and if you have good things to say it can help secure future work for your guide. Have a great trip.

FF Vireo, purchased this spring, 72" length. Exterior and interior fabrics are Flite, their new 0.9oz/yd ultralight nylon in crimson red. One ounce of overfill, 800+. Includes original stuff sack and storage bag. Excellent condition. This is a beautiful bag and has kept me warm on a handful of alpine climbs this season. Weighs a hair over one pound. Retail price for this is $248. I'm selling it for a bargainous $120. PM if you are interested. Word.

I'm holding off on buying these until after they are recalled.

I have a Cold Fusion model softshell jacket custom made by Beyond Fleece in OR. It has been a fantastic jacket, but I find it is a bit heavy and warm for my clothing needs. It is in great shape. Slate blue with black side panels. The only extra option I had added to it was a watertight front zip. Since all their clothes are custom made it is hard to put a size on it, but I wear XL in most companies' clothing, except for Arcteryx where I take a L. I have a 22" torso and 42" chest and long arms. With the options it cost me $189 new ($174 base price plus $15 zipper). $100 takes this home. Fair price for some quality local threads. Here is the website so you can check out their products in detail: Beyond Fleece Cold Fusion Jacket PM with questions.

Expect a bag that weighs at least three pounds and fills a good chunk of your pack.

Best jacket in the universe. I have had mine for two years and I hardly ever take Gore Tex into the mountains anymore. This jacket is the closest thing to the Holy Grail I have found yet. Great breathability, great fit, great function. It is worth every penny.

MH "Chill Factor" 200-weight Polartec fleece pants for sale, size XL, black. I am 34-34 and these fit me well. They have nylon reinforcements on the knees and seat, two hand pockets, front fly, full separating side zips and waist drawcord. I never wear these things and I can't think of when I will ever use them for anything other than lounging around the house on chilly winter nights. If you are going to climb Rainier with RMI this will be a perfect match for their "fleece pants" requirement on the gear list. $50 takes them home, I can ship anywhere in the US for an additional $5. Send a PM if you want them.

I have spent many golden hours using satellite phones in remote alpine settings as a NOLS instructor and mountain guide. I have had both positive and negative experiences with them. My views are shaped by my experience in the institutional settings of guiding, not personal climbs, so keep that in mind. With NOLS I find the sat phone to be enormously helpful, in fact I would call it an indispensable piece of equipment. I typically go into the field (Wind Rivers, WY) with a sat phone that has about an hour of prepaid time on it. Some courses we'll burn up the whole hour, other courses it never comes out of the case. When you have a student whose abdominal pains are difficult to diagnose or you need a quick evac or need to consult base about a behavioral issue, the sat phone totally saves the day. Without a sat phone, I feel I would have made a couple decisions about my courses that, in retrospect, would have been poor. Having the phone gave me the ability to consult a medical authority or initiate a backcountry evacuation almost instantly. On a personal trip, having the ability to summon help almost anywhere is a big advantage if you need it. Guiding, however, has been a different experience. Most of the places I guide in the Cascades are close enough to the road that someone can go for help pretty quickly, and cell coverage, although spotty, is useful enough to just bring along a cell phone. On a trip this spring I had a client bring a sat phone into the mountains with him- unbeknownst to everyone until it started ringing. He made no effort to limit his use of the phone, and it got out of hand. I'd be trying to teach crampon technique and this guy was off on the side making real estate deals on the phone. Pretty annoying. Then he'd complain about how expensive airtime was after closing a multi-million dollar deal. As for my personal trips, I think the only kind of situation where I would consider a sat phone is if I was going somewhere like the Pickets for 10 days. The weight and the cost of a phone make me think twice about taking it. You can rent phones now, so that would be more cost effective if you shared it among a group. All the same, you have to have a lot of other skills and tools with you to make a sat phone useful, like the ability to know where you are. "Help, I fell down a ravine in the Terror Creek Basin" is not as useful to a rescuer as being able to say "I am at Y degrees latitude and X degrees longitude." It's even better to have all the phone numbers with you that you would want to call so you can talk directly with the ranger station or sheriff's office or your buddy instead of relying on a 911 operator to spread the word. As an inexpensive safety alternative to a sat phone, I make sure to tell a trusted climbing partner (who is staying in town) the details of my trips. I will email a friend with my route description, intended climbing objectives, intended campsites, dates of my trip, what gear I'm taking (tent color, food, fuel) and predetermined Freak Out Time, after which he or she calls the cavalry if I haven't made contact. I keep my WFR certification current and climb with people who I trust to stay cool and make good decisions if I am hurt. I don't think a sat phone is a crutch in the wilderness, but it depends on who is using it. An experienced climber calling for help after getting clobbered by rockfall is one thing, a gumby hiker who takes the wrong turn and didn't bring enough fuel for his stove, that is another.

I had a pair of G-14s for a while and got rid of them because they caused some problems I hadn't anticipated. For waterfall climbing I found they vibrated too much (wire toe bail/Crampomatic), the secondary points didn't engage the ice as well as other pairs I have used, and my partner had a near accident caused by his G-14s when we were on an alpine route. The curly-cue toe bail snagged a sling on a piece of pro he was leading past on a M6 section, and he was totally trapped hanging from his tools and trying to kick his foot free from the sling. He managed to wriggle out of it before I could escape the belay to get up to him, but it was pretty hairy. For waterfall ice I have yet to find a crampon better than the Charlet/Petzl M10. That crampon has more adjustability than anything else on the market, and while it is not the lightest, it climbs really well and connects very securely to Koflachs, Scarpas, and Sportivas. Horizontal frame crampons tend to be lighter, but vertical rails are stiffer. I disagree with Don's point about needing anti-botts. If the snow is balling up on your crampons, that is a big flashing neon sign from the mountain telling you it's time to take your points off. Crampons are hazardous in those snow conditions, and I have seen more than one accident caused by this situation. If you are looking for one pair of points to do everything, the Charlet Sarkens are light, climb ice pretty darn well, and work great on alpine routes. Plus they are priced reasonably.

Jack Johnson is the greatest musical luminary of the past 400 years. Never before in the annals of human history has a surfer dude with an acoustic guitar written songs of such profound meaning, of such compositional complexity, of such powerful cultural import. Jack Johnson is a musical zeitgiest- the likes of which we have not seen since Ben Harper- yet so much more than "music for the sensitive guy." All of Jack Johnson's songs are pure, original, and so clearly distinct from one another that it is hard to believe he wrote them all. Who has done a better job of extracting deep meaning from mundane routine of daily life? Who can make a more astute observation about the subtleties of the hardworking blue collar surfer tribulations? And truly, who can lay down such unparalleled rockin' guitar riffs? Page? Hendrix? Slash? Van Halen? Waste my time not with these mere triflers. Rank amateurs in comparison to the sheer greatness of Jack Johnson. All bow down to Jack.

It seems a little strange that you think the FF staff are not great for fitting boots, yet you bought a $500+ pair of high end mountaineering treads there. It sounds like they had something you wanted in a size you wanted, and you liked them enough to lay down a lot of money. Sounds like good service to me. It also seems strange that you want a lighter and softer boot than your Vasque, but when Marmot recommended one of the best boots on the market that matches your description, you rejected it. You don't say why you didn't like them. I don't know if that means your expectations are too high or if your mindset is about as flexible as your Vasques. If you take a defeatist mentality into boot buying you will be defeeted. Be open to suggestions, a lot of folks at the better shops (FF, Marmot) know their shit because they get out and use the gear they sell. If you go into the process convinced you won't find a good pair of boots, then you are probably won't. Since you seem to have no substantive complaints about your Nuptses, maybe you should go back to FF. They carry stuff you won't find elsewhere.

That's some good tongue-in-cheek humor there. Anyway, about your tent. I have one, bought it after being indoctrinated into the school of thought that maintains - all your gear should be tough and durable - you are more of a man for carrying such gear - waiting out a storm in a big tent is high alpine drama. After owning said tent for many years and using it once on Rainier, it now lies dormant in my gear closet. Once I bought a 4.5 pound single wall tent I lost all desire to use my Trango. Thanks for the reminder, I think I'll sell it. If you can carry the Trango, or afford to pay someone else to carry it, the tent is great. Roomy, strong, and it has a window. This sounds like a cool feature, but picture this scenario: Climber 1: hey dude, is it still raining? Climber 2: I don't know, dude. Look out the window. Peanut gallery: hey dumbasses, if you're in a tent you don't need to look out the window to know if it's still raining. If I want a tent that has at least the space and strength the Trango, I think I will upgrade to a Hilleberg Nallo 3 GT. For 6 pounds I can have a 3-person tent with a vestibule that has its own zip code and still save 4 pounds over my Trango. But for $230 you have a sturdy, big, durable, green tent. I think you paid a little more than what it was worth in my opinion, but if the thing has never been used then at least you know there are no lurking problems. You might find yourself relegating it to car camping after a couple fatiguing trips and start saving for a Hilleberg or single wall, but maybe you'll take it to Denali and it will totally kick ass. Be sure to seal the seams.

P-C Vasak. Lighter and better.