KeithKSchultz

Oh. Are you suposed to wear descent shoes there?

Right on Andy! I didn't even know Index was an issue. Thanks. Keith

Perfect. Thank you! Keith

Great advice. It is not a teaching/learning environment. Everyone is well trained and very experienced. We are getting together to climb together because not everyone has met everyone else on the team and we don't want to find out about personality problems on Denali. We are hoping to summit. I will look at Gib ledges. Thanks. The trip to Ingraham flats would have been to set up for the summit in a place that has lots of big crevasses. I have told everyone on the team that avalanche danger is the most likely reason we would not summit. That is why we would look for a crevasse lower down. Steep walls are great and all but there's something more exciting and realistic about being in a crevasse while practicing crevasse extraction techniques. If anyone has skied down by the frying pan glacier or elsewhere and noticed a clearly visible crevasse that would be easy to find in marginal conditions, please let me know.Thanks!Keith

Hikerwa,Thanks for the hot tip. I will be listening. I have a Perception Overflow for sale for $400. Also a pair of booties with felt soles, size 11 for $25. Happy surfing!Keith

I'am looking for a good crevasse to throw myself into near Paradise Feb 15-17. Some friends are flying in from all parts and we are practicing for Denali. If you have been up there recently and can think of a good place to point me, I would appreciate it. There's a good chance that all we'll see is the fog on our goggles so a general location by map coordinates would be especially nice. We are not an organized club and would be happy to share whatever crevasse we find. If weather permits, we will go up to Ingraham flats and hopefully even summit. But most likely it will be a slog in the fog to a cold hole. Keith

Just a vague memory but........ Six or so pitches up a thunderstorm from the north arrives. Wind, lightning and pouring rain drove us into a nearby cave (maybe the gallery cave) which seemed more like a microwave oven with all the electrical action going by. This story reminds me of something that happened on El Cap about 20+ years ago. I don't remember the details, maybe someone can help me out, But a few climbers were hiding from lightning in a cave somewhere on the wall when a bolt came down the crack that formed the cave. One guy was jolted pretty hard and fell backwards off the wall while clipped only to the end of a 150' rope. He popped a few anchors and I think pulled another guy off. The survivor(s?) had to be rescued.Electricity travels in realativly straight lines and seeks the path of least resistence which is the path with the most positively charged ions such as metals or conductive gasses. A crack full of air is likely to be more conductive than granite especially with a little sodium mixed in. If you are going to hide from lightning in a cave, don't fart, belch or breath and you will probably be OK.

Daisy is right. Take the whole family to Yosemite and learn to climb on a user friendly dome. Leavenworth has a lot of user friendly domes too.

Regardless of which method you choose, make a few thousand placements somewhere anywhere, before you get on the sharp end. When you are to the point where you feel you know wether or not the piece is going to hold (in granite anyway)you can start leading. Before that you are just playing with your own head. Index is steep and there are not many TR oportunities. But once you get to the point where you are ready to lead on aid, Index is crack city and the granite is bombproof. If you can't get anywhere, send me a PM.

Only an east coaster on a schedule would get testy when you save his life. I was up on Mcdonald peak in the Missions in Montana one December when a low pressure system moved in and dumped 3 ft with winds at about 35. Perfect slab setup on a styrofoam base. My east coast buddy wanted to go for it and got really bent when I persisted in not going out there. he finally talked me into going up to the top of Sheeps Head which is on the ridge up to McDonald. Once we got up there he said we might as well keep going. I said OK but for this first part off the rock, I'll belay you. He begrudgingly waited for me to set three bomber anchors and then headed out into slabsville. It cut loose before he was 30 ft out and I thought I was going to get pulled off. It ripped the rope through my overmit and pulled me onto my hip hard. When the avalanche finally passed him by he was bruised but not injured. He came back up to where I was and said " There. Now its gone. Let's go." I told him to F off and he never climbed with me again. That's probably why I'm still alive. Gotta hand it to that guy though. He is still alive and still an asshole. Persistence counts.

Keep it in a sack. Kids are the real problem. Not that I don't prefer to give them little buggers what they deserve mind you. It just takes a whole shitload of time. Watch your mags though. Olivia is a natural on skiis and topropes. I've already warned her about guys who climb too much. Her mother just nods.

First, read the books you can find. Then go do some aid climbing with clean gear. Just pick a crack that looks like it goes all the way to an anchor and start pluggin gear. Don't worry about style or grace. Put in a zillion pieces. If you think you are going to run out, place four or five pieces, weight them equally, and rap off and clean what's below you. Prussic or jumar back up and keep going. I have been climbing since the seventies and have helped a lot of people get started leading. IT IS THE MOST DANGEROUS TIME OF YOUR CLIMBING CARREER. Devote at least a few climbing days to aiding with a clean rack. Do a variety of routes. Wear old shoes, knee pads, and a helmet. You will want a fifi hook or at least a daisy chain. If you can find someone patient enough to belay, you are in fat city. If not, set up a top rope, or a fixed line and tie figure 8s as you climb and clip into them. Have 2 locking biners so you are clipped into one figure eight in the fixed line at all times. With a fixed line you can rap and prussic at will.After you have gotten bored with aiding and are ready to put your ass on the line, do something very easy so you don't have to worry about falling. Get used to the way leading flows. Establish a system you use at almost every placement--- establish a good stance where you can get a piece in, remove the piece from your rack, place it, test it, clip a runner or quik-draw to it, pull your rope up, clip in, test the rope running, screw up your courage and move to the next stance............... Very few really ballsy climbers live to a ripe old age. At least not without injuries. Statistics catch up eventually. Be careful. Progress slowly. Focus on having fun, not on what other climbers might think about your style or abilities.

I am looking for someone who has done the West Rib. My major concern is the avalanche danger on the NE fork of the Kahiltna. If you have been up there I would appreciate hearing from you. So far I am planning on going up there May 17. Keith keith.schultz@premera.com

To lose oneself in the 'here and now' is my goal. My best moments in climbing are when I make a move or series of moves that come not as a thought but only as action. The loss of self as the rock projects me upon its canvass is what keeps me coming back. My favorite memmories are from the days I was doing 1st ascents in the Bitterroots. It seems like everything else is just a reminder. It wasn't about the grades or the guide books. I go back now and find routes I did and then forgot. In a little more time I will go back and do them as first ascents again. Eventually, I will just keep climbing.

After 30 years of climbing I realized that what was holding me back was climbing.