wrench

Thanks, Sobo, I appreciate those comments. I think the ranger expects that most people on the route are inexperienced, which is probably true, but honestly it wasn't that we were concerned about our safety -- we thought it was a good chance to try it out... see what it felt like and judge its usefulness... and waited until there was no one above us. I agree, I prefer soloing it. But it was good to see a lot of T-slot pits on the way up - apparently people learned, if only for a day, that pickets placed vertically won't hold too much of a fall. I'll also put a plug in for the West Crater variation -- it's a nice route & thins the crowds out.

btw, anyone know how the injured parties are doing?

I realize this is getting to be old news, but I was up there in a team of 3 the day after. Conditions were still quite icey and a ranger at the Hogsback strongly suggested short-roping. We had never done that before, and felt a little silly because it seemed like something only guided groups do (what's-her-name, the "New York socialite" on Everest in 96 immediately comes to mind), but we tried it and it did seem to make some sense as you could move quicker than you could roped up normally placing pro, but still (in theory) arrest your 'mates before they pick up too much speed. I think we still probably would have soloed if it wouldn't have been a direct affront to the ranger's advice (and we felt he deserved that respect considering all he'd been through with the fallen climbers the day before). I wanted to bring it up because it was interesting that the ranger suggested it and it's not an option I normally (okay, ever) consider. Anyone think that's a good technique for this route, or could have prevented this accident?

It doesn't matter whether or not the service provider "supports" analog or not if the phones don't receive analog signals. As far as I and others I've talked to can gather, Verizon is the only company in our region that still sells phones that receive analog. Here is a good source to check if a phone you're considering will receive analog: http://cellphones.about.com/od/allcellphonespecs/

[found this old thread while searching for other reviews so i'm resurrecting it instead of starting a new one to report on the alpinelite 30. TMI, sorry.] Just used my new MEC Alpinelite 30 pack this weekend as a summit ski pack. Loved it. My SO has the old Genie and she loves it, too. So similar, with only minor improvements (IMO) in design, so it's probably not worth upgrading. But I found all the new design features to be well thought out and worth the slight increase in weight and slight decrease in compressibility (in terms of stuffing it into an overnight pack). I was able to fit a 1st aid kit, binding repair kit, down coat, rain coat, avy probe, shovel, extra clothes/gloves/goggles, food and water with a little room to spare. Highly recommend it, especially at that price. Still a little unsure of the long-term durability of the fabric, but it's dyneema, so I'm hoping that means it's good for the wear. that is all.

anyone tried the MEC Magma jacket? looks like a similar piece to the dolomitti, but no reinforcement patches, about 6 oz. heavier, and $205 canadian.

Cobra's summed it up as well as you can. There are infinitely varying scenarios, but it all boils down to the fact that one rope is designed to hold a fall, but in re: Plexus, I would just place two pieces close together and clip them alternatively at the crux. and of course there's always the fact to consider that clipping alternatively will reduce your fall slightly if you fall while pulling up rope mid-clip.

I assume you were refering to the quote from Mammut you posted? But I think you may be reading this too literally. By left and right, I believe they are just designating the individual ropes, not describing where on the route to use them. The salient point is if you fall, it will be onto one rope. whether you have clipped that rope in an alternating fashion or consecutively along one side of the route is completely dependant on the route, and (in a vacuum) not going to determine whether the rope fails or not. hopefully someone will correct me if I'm way off.

Cool thanks for the responses, everyone. Paul, thanks for the link -- good info there. Hope we get lucky with the weather -- last time I was in that general area we got rained/snowed on for 4 straight days.

Sorry if this is too late for your trip. According to CIPA standards (whatever that is) the SD500 can take 160 pics on a full charge. Some advanced math reveals that would give you a little under 10 pics per day, which might be a good way restrict your shooting. Turning off the LCD is a good suggestion for extending your bat. life, but you definitely should consider buying a second battery for this long of a trip.

Heh, yeah I've heard -- we aren't heading up there until July 30th though. Hopefully things warm up/melt out between now & then.

Has anyone ever done this traverse up in the Bugs? I searched the archives for the past 3 years and came up with nothing except a post about piton hammers. Just curious what you thought of it -- how long did it take, did you have a good time, anything strike you as noteworthy, etc. Thanks! (I'll report about it if we end up doing it)

Not sure if this is the kind of thing you're looking for, but this is the website i used many years ago to teach myself html. I think it's very good and it's free and the tutorial you can do online or download and do offline. I only had to spend a few hours on it to get a pretty good working feel for writing html. www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/lessons.html Then, for slightly more advanced html writing tips I often reference this site: html goodies

yeah, i was pretty surprised by that weight... i just checked the mtn hw site tho, and they say they weigh 1 oz, so who knows. i don't own a scale, so i can't weigh them myself, but i'm pretty sure they're not half a pound.

I was on their web site the other day and this irritated the f&*k out of me: insulated jacket selection yet they have two pages of long-sleeve button-up travel shirts Still, if they make lots of money off traveling yuppies and turn around and keep giving to conservation, climbing, environmental causes, etc. and in general make more people fans of the environment, then I try not to get too annoyed. Lord knows we don't have enough 'corporate allies' out there.

I really like these: snow anchors I've got friends that have made the same thing out of sil nylon (that's silicon-impregnated nylon), which is a cheaper and lighter way to do it. But the Mtn Hdwr ones still don't weigh much and are extremely durable. The make bomber anchors, but are easier to dig out than a stuff sack.

I went end of January and yeah it was hot, like 90-95 every day, with a lot of humidity, but there are always shadey crags to be found (unless you are going there to climb at Tonsai Wall every day), and the sea nearby to cool off in. I didn't find the heat to be too much of a problem and I bet if you're there that long you'll aclimate pretty well. Personally, I thought the mosquitos were way worse than the heat.

here's more info. the pictures a little clearer and very sad. i'm imagining a pretty horrifying series of events. "It appears the men may have attempted to pitch their tent, because it had snow and food inside when rangers removed it from their pack. The men were also wearing headlamps, suggesting it was dark when they put the tent away." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002287906_climbers25m.html

That's a good point -- I guess "bend, but not break" is far better than break. Good clarification. In that sense my tent came out of it in great shape, although I wasn't too convinced it would at the time.

1/2 dome: I would also add that the velcro tabs on the roof vent are sewn to the fly after it's been seam-sealed, and the stitchings in the tabs can leak, so they need to be seam-sealed by you (2004 version). After doing this, my tent handled rain and even a little snow very well during a 3-day period of crappy weather on the ptarmigan traverse, staying very dry inside. Wind, however is a totally different story. I staked and guyed the shit out of the tent and it still tried to buckle under every big gust. I would highly discourage using it anywhere with high exposure to wind.

Well, Kirsten and I decided to head down this Saturday and climb it Sunday despite the less than ideal forecast. Weather was brilliant on the way up, but when we reached the hogsback, suddenly it looked like this: But we summitted and the ski down was good except the first 1000 feet of icy crud below the hogsback.

Hey there, I guess I'm responsible for that -- Thanks for the props! credit for the idea belongs to some friends of mine though, I just gave it a home. It's awesome that people get it and appreciate it! We did this first issue for our own amusement, but we have all agreed it would be a HELL of a lot of fun to put out more "issues" of the mag. but unfortunately we suffer from being slightly disorganized people. At the risk of crushing rejection, if any of you have a great story that fits this vein (I've definitely read some here) and you'd like to contribute to this "magazine" (or "ezine" i guess...) we would love to read it and hopefully put up another issue sometime in the next decade. You can just email me at nate@evilfungus.com. ... Dave, thanks for clarifying your 'funny' comment. -Nate

Good snow report -- thanks for the info! I'm glad conditions were pretty stable. Ivan, I don't know what to tell you -- you raise an intriguing philosophical question, and one which I won't dare touch on this bb.

Nice job! I'm sorry to say I was one who decided against it due to the "dubious weather forecast." It pains me a little that it turned out to be decent, but good for you! So what were the snow conditions like? How much new stuff from all the precip on Saturday? (Doesn't look like too much from your pics)

Some friends and I have been looking for info on this climb, but there's not much out there. I came across this old thread here, but wondering if anyone has climbed it since. Any new beta on road conditions/approach? Has anyone done the route? Is it worth the time? Thanks for any info...