nobody

I swear I fart less up high. But I have read this before...one of the Altitude Illenss books (Can't remember which). They call if HAFE. ha ha ha

I take it she was "unprotected" at the time? Or I am I an idiot and missed that part? Is that the "chute" that has a large tree in it...the upper flow of the Rambles? Just curious... Sounds like you guys did a really good job getting her out of a shitty situation. Good training, calm heads, and team work can save the day. U DA MAN

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- The Nepalese government says at least 48 Maoist rebels are dead following clashes with security personnel. The government offensive follows a deadly attack by rebels over the weekend that left 137 people, mostly soldiers and policemen dead -- the bloodiest in a six-year revolt to topple the constitutional monarchy. Kathmandu hopes to extend a three-month-old state of emergency for a further three months to give security forces extra powers to fight the rebels. However, the government does not have the necessary two-thirds majority in parliament to pass the motion. Opposition leaders are considering their position but it is expected that they will approve the legislation. The weekend massacre has set off a political crisis in Nepal, with opposition parties calling for the country's Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, to quit. But the government has urged a stop to what it calls political bickering and infighting, and called for its people to "stand together to fight terrorism." Massacre In one raid alone, more than 49 policemen were killed in Mangalsen town, in the western district of Accham, about 450 km or 280 miles west of the capital. In the four-hour gun battle on Sunday, rebels attacked a jail, raided a bank, destroyed an army barracks, a police station and torched many government buildings in the town. Another 27 policemen died while defending an airstrip in nearby Sanfebagar village. It is unclear how many rebels were killed, but state-run media is reporting that at least 40 rebel bodies had been recovered. King Gyanendra declared the state of emergency last year and ordered the army to be deployed against the rebels after they ended a ceasefire and attacked police and army posts across the country. Economy hit More than 2,500 people have died in the conflict in the landlocked nation of 23 million, sandwiched between giants India and China. The rebels, labeled as terrorists by the government, want to replace Nepal's constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy with a communist republic. The government has repeatedly rejected those demands. Since declaring the state of emergency last November, Nepal has had some success against the insurgents in urban areas. The latest attacks take the death toll since November to over 700 people, most of them rebels, according to Reuters news agency. The rebellion has rocked Nepal's impoverished economy, hit development projects, hurt business confidence and affected tourism, the country's third largest foreign exchange earner after exports and foreign aid.

You know, I have heard that sometimes MSR sells "rebuilt" snowshoes at a discount. A guy knew, in passing, said he got two pair of Ascents directly from MSR that were rebuilt with full warranty...apparently anyway. I know they also used to sell ski poles that way, because years ago I got a set really cheap. But it was a close out one time thing. I do not know this for sure, but it cannot hurt to call them and ask...all they can say is no. Good luck....

Is that what they call tower one gully? How was the climb? I have heard the descent can be a bit tricky. Did you go over to the true summit? Round trip in two days? Wow. Doable yes, but damn good job.

What route did you do on helen?

I have been on the summit a couple of times and I am pretty sure I could not see any roads. I do distinctly remember seeing the Tetons in the distance. And to the east you see those two rounded peaks...looking like the pilot knobs. I was really struck by the amount of other high peaks immediatley surrounding Gannet. The moderate climbing potenital is incredible there, snow, ice rock. The setting is incedible there too. But the long ass approach prohibits spending a lot of time actually climbing, unless you have a horse packer haul in supplies.

Usually getting into the trailhead is the problem with spring climbs of Baker & Shuksan. Unless of course you want to hump that pack up the road? Good Luck

Lambone: "Um, yeah it can be seen from the west on the highway coming south from Jackson" Are you sure the one you see is Gannet? A bit south of Pinedale you can see a large snow covered peak. I thought it seemed like Gannet. When I asked people in Pinedale they said it was not Gannet, but a odd angled view of either Jackson or Fremont (depending on which old timer - both are south of Gannet on the divide and are snow covered from the east) I also think the Bonney book and the Kelsy book say that it cannot be seen from any road. Are you sure that peak is Gannet...I always wondered about this. Who knows? [ 02-20-2002: Message edited by: nobody ]

Gannet Peak is 13,804 ft. and in the middle of the Wind River Range in WY. It is the state highpoint. It is also fairly remote. You cannot see it from anyroad (pretty sure about that). From the east side it is 25 miles one way and from the west it is 20+ miles one way. Dru is right it is kind of chossy, it is a mountainering peak with some cool low-mid fifth class climbs and some snow climbs. It is a beautiful setting with a shit load of other tall peaks surrounding it.

Bingo max. Apparently this was Chouinard's first peak at age 17, solo.

A little help..... Anybody know this peak?

No no no...it is a commonly climbed peak and I am fairly sure the route had been climbed before as well. Just a trivia question about which peak was Chouinard's first peak?

Hints: It was not back east....it was in the west, the rockies. It is a known peak, but not exactly a very well known peak. many here will know of it, I am sure some have climbed it. Not actually sure how he spells his name. I just typed out Yvonne not even thinking about it...it is Yvon...isn't it?

I know that the Koflach Artic Extreme is a wide cut boot. But I don't think the actuall size it as an EE. or really any width. I would call the company directly. Good luck.

This is a trivia question. I was reading through a guide book last night and there was a note about one of the peaks. It said that a certain route, a scramble, was done solo by a 17 year old Yvonne Chiounard. It was his first peak. (I would have thought he would have started climbing at a much younger age). Anybody know the name of the peak? (I know many on this site have a problem with postings regarding well known climbers, so if you have a problem, don't participate in this post.)

Why does AlpineK have a problem with Rod posting a friend's web site? Is it because Carlos is a fairly well known climber? I liked the site and there are some intersting articles there. If you don't like motivational speaches, then skip that part of the site. Hell, most all of these guys do some sort of speach/show.

I found the article a mixed climbing (under publications) to be quite interesting.

KATMANDU, Nepal (CNN) -- More than 120 police and soldiers have been killed in a battle with Nepalese rebels. The Maoist rebels seized the district headquarters of Mangalsen in the western district of Accham (about 450 km or 280 miles west of the capital, Katmandu), setting fire to government offices. It was the biggest offensive launched by Maoist rebels since a state of emergency was declared in Nepal last November. The rebels set fire to the district's government offices in the daring attack, which left at least 27 other police officers seriously injured, police officials said. According to information provided by security services, the rebels raided the district headquarters, Mangalsen, and an airstrip in nearby Sanfebagar at about midnight Sunday. In the ensuing four-hour gun-battle, rebels destroyed an army barracks and a police station, torching many of the government office buildings in the town, a senior police officer said, on the condition of anonymity. Authorities also said that district government's top administrator, as well as an intelligence officer and his wife, were gunned down by rebels. At least 27 other police officers seriously injured in the violence, police officials said. Authorities also said that scores of Maoist rebels are believed to have died in the fighting, but they could not put a number to it. "We are still digging out the bodies from the rubble," a senior police officer said in Kathmandu. A police official said the rebels attacked a jail housing Maoist inmates to release them, and raided a bank stealing 20 million rupees (about $300,000). As the gun battle raged, authorities tried to rush in reinforcements by helicopter from Nepalgunj, a regional town on the southern plains, but were thwarted by rebel fire, police said. Police sources said that about 45 policemen died defending the airstrip and the rest were killed in Mangalsen. After several attempts, government choppers were finally able to land Sunday morning and recover the bodies of the dead policemen and soldiers, authorities said. The attack comes five days ahead of a deadline by the government to decide whether it will renew the state of emergency. The rebels, labeled as terrorists by the government, want to replace Nepal's constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy with a communist republic. The government has repeatedly rejected those demands. Since the rebel insurgency began in 1996 more than 2,000 people have been killed. The government has had some success against the insurgents in urban areas since declaring the emergency. The attack happened as Katmandu mobilizing its police and military to gain the upper hand in more remote regions of Nepal like Accham. Critics of the state emergency saying it is diverting much needed funds from combating poverty that grips most of the Himalayan nation -- instead diverting them to security measures.

Can we still climb with the bullet instead of the ballot box?

"some of us will always know that the bullet is stronger than the ballot." ??? Are you saying we should destroy the ballot box because it is weaker than the bullet? ???

W Quick question, in your experience at Rainier NP and realizing you don't speak for the park, what is soloing on Rainier? In otherwords, does two climbers climbing unroped on a glacier and going for the summit amount to solo climbing? Mike if you are surfing through, I am curious. And yes, Chad Kellog is a machine. Thanks

W, From Ptarmigin ridge? Hahahahahaha

W Nope, not me. Different time of year. Also, I did look at the report in the Ranger station (I think it was on a clip board, it was ahout three maybe four years ago) and it was directly counter to what the Ranger stated. If you didn't say 70 degree ice, it wasn't you. I was with a larger group with about half experienced and half some what experienced. No new coat types in the group. We ended up not climbing on Rainier, and went up to Baker. The recommendation of carrying a screw or two in the chute is common and well taken. I think most, if not all, of the books say so. So telling someone to bring a screw or two is not what I am talking about. The problem I see here is that many beginneing climbers and intermediate climbers look to the Park service for info. When it turns out to be dead wrong or horrbly overstated, the "wolf cry" sinks in and soon a complete lack of respect arises. Nothing personal just and observation. Thanks for the frank response though. It is appreciated. I will say that other parks and forests suffer from the same problem. Almost everyone I know takes with a very large grain of salt what comes out of the rangers mouth, as far as conditions and beta go. Too bad too. Because I have known a few of the Rainier rangers over the years and have found many to be very knowledgable and experienced climbers. The office staff at the point of customer contact just can't or won't keep up. Again thanks for the opinion W. [ 02-13-2002: Message edited by: nobody ]

Question for Mike: Does Mt. Rainier NP purposely give Rangers incorrect information regarding climbing conditions or do the Rangers purposely tell climbers incorrect information regarding climbing conditions just to keep climbers off the mountain? What I mean is that almost everytime I have spoken with a Mt. Rainier Ranger regarding climbing/route conditions I get wildly incorrect answers. One time I asked a Ranger, at the little climbing ranger hut, what the route conditions were like on the Kautz. He proceeded to tell me how I needed to be able to climb water ice at 70 degrees for multiple pitches and that I would need multiple screws, death route, bodies everywhere and all of that. I was familar with the route having done it a few years before, I just wanted up to date route conditions. I walked out into the parking lot and spoke with some climbers that had just come off the route. They said conditions were normal for the time of year, no blue ice in the chute, no problems. I went back in and asked the Ranger again and he promptly repeated the conditions he had stated earlier and the route's difficulty. I picked up his books (I think there was a Nelson book and another, maybe Becky) and read the route description to him, which clearly stated the route difficulty to be NO WHERE near the difficulty as stated by him. He just stared at me in silence. I walked out. I know others have had similar experiences at Mt Rainier NP, as well as other NPs. This was only one of many I have had at Rainier. (I will say many of the RMI guides while a bit cocky, will give decent beta on conditions). Does the park or the rangers purposely overstate difficulties and conditions? Doing so may keep the bundy and the simpons off the mountain, but it has caused a cry wolf view among climbers. Straight shot: I no longer listen to anything the Mt. Rainier Park Rangers tell me. (Yes, I still get a permit and pay my fee)