mr.radon

I assume our leaders verified the threat. I turst we didn't go to war on bad intel. If we did, I can't wait for the impeachment trial. Should be good viewing. Will be interested in Al Jazeeras take on the precedings. I would even support a war crimes trial against the whole cabinet if they based the war on lies (doubtful). I've got my misgivings about this war. We're going to take it in the shorts (waves of terrorists). I've been reading a lot on the Al Jazeera web site. Our actions are fermenting hate towards our government, Al Jazeera doesn't help. If we do find WMD the UN is proven impudent. What worries me even more are the other rouge nations. I'm resigned to the fact that one day before I die I'll wake up to the news that millions of (pick one): American/Germans/French/Spanish/Austrians have died due to a WMD. This war may delay or may accelerate this event, but it will not prevent it. When it does, I believe it will herald the beginning of a huge conflict. Maybe a dark age? Who knows? It's all about OIL. When our hydrocarbon based economy goes the way of sailing ships we'll finally be able to ignore the idiots in the Middle East and all its problems. And without the money from oil, they can't afford WMD's.

Word of caution. When we did the Gib Chute I fell into a nice BIG crevasse. It was absolutely hidden since an avalanch had covered any traces of this gapping monster. I'm sure the area at the base of the Ice Cliffs have the same problem. I'd recommend at least 30' of rope out to give your partner a chance of arresting your fall.

Once again I've run into some lightless wonders on Mount Si. Our Thursday hiking group left the trailhead at 4:30, about 10 minutes behind three hikers in shorts and T-shirts. We passed one on the way up and met the other two when we topped out to the most beautiful summit view I’ve ever had from Si. The three shorts & T-shirted hikers enjoyed the view with a bottle of Henesy, now they have taste or what? We headed down as the sun was setting while the three remained at the top. Just before the 2 mile marked the three come hauling past us. We caught up to them just after the 2 mile marker sitting in the middle of the trail, NO HEADLAMPS! Well if we didn’t happen along they had plenty of Henesy to keep themselves warm through the night!

Not to mention the 500 MILLION it cost for the air campaign on Saturday. Money well spent. Do you have kids? They may benefit more from 500M$ spent on education than 500$M spent on war. I'd rather see the 500M blow up parts of Iraq then see it wasted in the failing public schools of America. In Iraq it would have some positive effect. The US pays the most money per student, more money isn't the answer. My kid is currently attending an American public school, what a shame. I was lucky to get a majority of my education in German schools. Until the schools are reformed and the NEA is banned the extra funds will just be wasted.

You want to loose weight? We lost about 15% body mass in 18 days on Denali last year. We were at 14K, at that latitude its about the same as 16K near the equator. I think any expedition where you burn more then you eat will do the trick. We lost about the same body mass while in Peru for 3 weeks. They called us the Peruvian cancer patients when we got back. There was some lunatic who camped on Aconcagua for like two months. He was pretty well emaciated when he got down. I'm sure if you spent two or three weeks on top of Rainier you could burn off a few cells.

But all Liberals are pussy's.

About soloing: I don't know if anyone here remebers Scott Kinkle. He was a young Navy aviator shot in the head returning from Mount Rainier near Anacortes. Jdog and I happened to run into him while climbing LR Memorial Weekend 2000. Well Scott comes cruising through solo while we were camped on the Carbon, asks for a little bit of Beta and heads off. Well we see him go to far to the left on the upper Carbon. About an hour later he came back to our camp looking exhausted. He says, "Dudes, I just wasted a life line." Come to find out he took a 30' fall onto a small ledge (inside a crevass). Luckily he had two good tools and climbed out. He was much less cocky then when he had first arrived. He camped next to us. He said he was low on food and headed back the next morning while me and Jdog made it to TR and the summit. On the summit I fell into a crevass. I would never solo this route, never! Too bad he was murdered, but I keep thinking back to that day I met him. After eating dinner and swaping stories I told him, "Scott I wish I were in your shoes." He made it into the USNA and had just gotten carrier qualified. I'll never forget that remark and it has given me a new outlook in life. Watch out what you wish for....

In addition to my other post: Don't bring 8 bottles. Bring as many bottles as you have stoves. Use the tins for stowing the extra gas. Also, I have all the differenty sizes OR makes for the stoves. The small bottle would be worthless on Denali. You have to pump it up to many times to keep it consistant and doesn't hold enough fuel. We used our stoves a lot. We both liked to drink warm tea or coffee.

First, the one gallon tins are marked when you pick them up in base camp. You are required to turn in your marked tins at base camp before you leave. You can't give the tins away but you can empty it and crush it. Second, you will be hard pressed NOT finding parties willing to give away excess fuel/food at 14K. We would have been short on fuel had it not been for these generous parties. Third, we gave away a lot of fuel when we left. But, not as much as we were given. We planed to climb the full West Rib but due to weather we got stuck skiing at 14K for two weeks; hurt me. We had planed on just filling up our large fuel bottles (2) and going for it in one push. However, we ended up summating from 14K in one long day. Many people camping at 17K (Camp Misery) didn't stay up there much longer then 3 days. Some came down and returned for another try. So I would figure on bringing enough fuel for 3 days. 17K camp is close enough that you can easily return to 14K get food & fuel and be back in time for lunch. I doubt anybody up there would give away a drop of fuel. When we cruised through Camp Misery (17K) on summit day I was shocked to see the condition of the place; looked horrible. You ever think of a one day summit? Parties were pissing, shitting, eating and cooking in their vestibule because of the continuous storms hammering the camp. I don’t have pictures yet but you can check out my report of our trip up Denali at: http://www.mr-radon.com/alaska/Preface.htm Have fun….

1) Spice wheel 2) Variety of food 3) Tabasco sauce 4) Small deck of cards (2) - storm medican 5) small light weight book - storm medican,swap w/ partner (spare TP) 6) Baby wipes (the type that soaps up when you add water) 6) Booze My partner brought a "Spice wheel" - this saved many a meal. It was a small thing with six different spices. He also brought a small amount of tabasco sauce. For washing: pre-soaped baby wipes -light and smell good. We stayed away from dehydrated meals unless needed, we brought just enought to get up the West Rib and back to our cache. Vary your diet.

I brought Scarpa Denali boots with me, our goal was the West Rib. The Denali’s were perfect for everything I did. I’ve summated Baker in them twice; once before Denali once after and I took them up to Muir. Denali’s do alright climbing but they are heavier then regular climbing boots and not as flexible. I didn’t want to buy plastic boots just for Denali and I didn’t want to haul a set of “climbing boots” in. For skiing there is no comparison to any other AT boot in terms of stiffness. If you are going to climb in AT boots try them out prior to leaving. Check fit with your crampons and overboots. Your overboots don’t need to fit your ski bindings. You’re never going to want to wear overboots while skiing. I used Silveretta Easy-Go bindings and they worked well Anyone who caches skis at 11K is really, really, really, stupid! First, you're much faster on skis. We did a load carry to 13K, were back in camp in minutes. When we moved camp to 14K we passed a lot of parties walking. When we retrieve our cache it took just minuites to ski down to it. Second, you can yo-yo ski when it snows. Third, when we left we were the only party breaking trail through four foot deep snow to Motorcycle Hill. Three parties behind us had NO flotation and didn’t help at all. Without the deep snow we would have been back to 11K in minutes. Send me a PM if you want more info. BTW - I could have used mountaineering boots with my bindings but didn't. I skied from Muir to Paradise with mountaineering boots and it was soo hard to control the skis. I couldn't believe it, those old timers were hard core.

Some guy at REI did some testing on pull out strength. They found that placing the screws angled below horizontal worked the best. He also noted that some screws they thought were in marginal ice held better then the screws in hard ice. If it is horizontal or above the screw deforms the ice and pops out. I just happy to get the damn things in. The non-express screws are twice the fun. So much more fun then placing a cam or nut.

Last time in Colorado my sister had a coffee table book, basically a picture book. On one side of the page was a landscape picture from 100 years ago, the other a recent picture. All the recent pictures were taken from the same vantage point and the same field of view as the old photos. If a person or horse was in the old photo a person or car was in the new photo. One amazing thing I noticed! There are a whole lot more trees now all over Colorado then 100 years ago. Not just a few more trees but tons more. Where once isolated groups of trees grew there are now dense forests. I can see why forest fires go way out of control out there.

Thought I'd post a note as to my progress to date: The Good: After surgery I went the Sebby clinic in Edmond for physical therapy. Eric runs the place and is a climber himself. They gave me the best of care and taught me to recognize the difference between fatigue and pain. In addition to the exercises Eric recommended, swimming was an excellent resistance medium to rehab the joint. I ended up going to the YMCA’s pool a lot. The swimming pool and hot tub did wonders for the shoulder joint. I finished physical therapy two weeks ago. My goal is to go to Ouray this February and climb without pain. The Bad: I still had some narcotics for the post surgery pain and used them at Smith Rock this weekend. I did my first four, post surgery, pitches with jdog, Rudy and TheLawGoddess. This was also my first trip to Smith Rock, nice place. After reflecting on what I did, it was stupid. The chance of slipping and torquing the shoulder joint was too high. I didn’t lead, I didn’t fall, but I did use it in ways to cause discomfort. I spent yesterday horizontal, telling my shoulder I'd make it up to it if it would only stop hurting. My shoulder wasn't ready for climbing but it was nice to get out. The Ugly: I finished four weeks of physical therapy. The very next day I was rear ended by an 18 year old driving daddy's new sports car. I'm heading back to physical therapy.

I saw the lady heading out too. Can't say I always tie into the end of the rope when I'm on know short routes, this might change my mind. I heard from one of her friends the next day that she didn't suffer a single broken bone. I'd buy some lottery tickets if I were her.

Yeah I was being tounge in cheek. The GPS saved my ass once in a total whiteout. We navigated by it for an hour at a good pace down an unremarkable snowfield to the Cotopaxi Refugio. Several other parties ended up in the wrong gully and had to hike back up that god forsaken road. Over the years I take it out with me less and less because I'm turning into a minimalist and I hate the extra weight. I like the National Geo. TOPO software and used it to plan my Wonderland Trail trip. I bought the CD almost 6 years ago, the data set is still good and I've gotten free upgrades to the program. I have many hikes saved, and it is a good way to share hike info with others. I don't realy use the GPS all that much anymore. On Denali I brought it to mark caches and as a moral booster. nice to know how far you've hauled that sled!

Yeah, waste of money. I took my Garmin II+ which I had used flying. A GPS weighs too much, dosen't work well in the trees and needs battieres. A compass, not much weight, doesn't used batteries. Map, need that anyway. Also have TOPO program. used to down load GPS waypoints to see where I really was, when I was really wishing I'd like to be back where I was. Save the money and spend more time out in the backwoods not worriing how to operate your latest battery operated gizzmo. Enjoy the views while sighting your compass. (which works real well in whiteouts, )

quote: Stick with a bag that has encapusulated polyester microfiber or nylon microfiber. The fabric takes much longer to wet out and typically does a great job against condensation and perspiration and such. It is also pointless to use a bivy sack in combination with laminated fabric sleeping bag. Talk about zero breathability. Where does all of your perspiration go? Also, when the fabric on a laminate wets out, it takes either direct sunlight or pretty warm conditions to dry it out. Microfibers and encapsulated fabrics dry out as long as you wipe most of the moisture off of the bag. What is left will dry in no time. I have sent more than one person to Denali with the F.F. Snowgoose -40 bag with the Epic by Nextec fabric and the report was great. No need for a syl bag liner (VBL) and the down stayed lofty the whole time. Speaking of loft, laminates also decrease the loft of the bag because of how stiff the fabric seems to be. Somewhat pointless if you ask me. I'm one of the satisfied customers. That bag was damn warm. Brought bivy (wanted to do West Rib alpine style). Spent 18 days on glacier. Would recomend that bag to anyone. Thanks for the good bag FF. You've got a happy customer.

Pain pump is empty. Fuck it hurts. I haven't taken any pain pills yet, but I don't think I can sleep without one... Dreaming about Ice Climbing....

The doctor warned me about what will happen when the stuff runs out. Not looking forward to it.... Its a spring loaded pump, set to empty about 48 hours after it is hooked up. The doctor told me to pull the tube when that happens. I had to put on a sleeveless jacket. The doctor suggested I put on something comfy and stay in it for a few days. For once I'm using my Lazy-Boy. Makes a perfect sleeping platform with the get up I've got.

A picture of my novacain pump...

When we were up there this year I met two of my home boyz from Germany. They hiked the whole way in with ALL their gear. They had been on the move for TWO months. I gave them the rest of our food when we left, these guys were nuts. They carried their skis overland and across the rivers. I think I got their e-mail addresses, but they didn't speak English. They were from Dresden, Germany. I'll forward you the addresses when I find my note book. [ 10-10-2002, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: mr.radon ]

Just had my shoulder repaired. the doctor preformed a decompression of the bone. My rotator cuff was frayed from abrasion with a "lump of bone". Also I had several tears to the labrum. I have the shoulder isolated right now. I'm looking from others who have had similar as to what i'm looking forward to. I know I'm looking at a lot of physical therapy, but how soon did others start climbing. I don't want to miss a season of ice climbing.

Here is my TR of the weekend, been busy with getting ready for my operation. Friday: I got stuck in traffic. However, 30 minutes prior to loosing cell coverage the hospital called and said they could move my shoulder surgery up to today! (10-9-02) was 11-19-02, but I had to come in for Pre-OP on Monday @ 15:30 (3:30PM 10-7-02). I took the appointment! I have a bone spur, the anterior & superior labrum's are torn and the middle glenohumeral ligament is separated. Not climbing related, but hurts like hell on some crack climb moves. Now back to the TR. Friday cont: I left Longmire at 19:35, stopped at Klapatche Park 1:30AM. Trail was wet and slippery going down to S. Puyallup, sucked. (I stopped looking at my watch around there, it started moving slower) Suspension bridge was interesting in the dark, how high is that thing? BD LED headlamp worked great, couldn't see to bottom of bridge. Lots of fog, perfect temperature till I stopped. Looks like Day tripper passed me while I was taken a poo around Indian Henry’s. I got there around 22:50 I thought they had an out-house out there? Where is it? Hit Pyramid Creek 20:45, DD 21:25, IH 22:50 Saturday: Rain during the night, down bag got wet. Left the camp at 7:10 AM hiked North past Golden Lakes, thought it over and turned around. I didn't want to risk not making it back to the car prior to 12:45 Monday so I could make the Pre-OP appointment, not to mention smelling really bad. I didn’t think I could catch a ride from Mowich to Longmire. I back-tracked to S. Puyallup, from there I went West to the WestSide road, took the round pass cut-off and hit the road right at the Marine Memorial. Walked/ran to where WestSide road and the Main road intersect, then back to Longmire. Got back to the car at 7:48PM. Took one break to eat dinner, about 20 minutes. That was on main road, Kautz Creek rest stop. The GU WORKED! Sunday: Soak in hot tub I was glad to get on the WestSide road. I passed two people at Pyramid Creek at 20:40, only people I saw till WestSide road. October is too late. Wet vegetation sucked, got feet wet. Rain sucked (not much) but I wasn't dry the whole trip. GU worked, hydration system (first time I used a bag and hose) worked extreamly well. Had enough food, down bag was damp from condensation, could have used a sleeping pad. I'm going under the knife @ 13:30. Looks like NO ICE CLIMBING this winter for me!

Wait, its not flat?