Mtguide

Rockfall is often worse on days of high wind at Beacon. We've decided several times to go elsewhere because of heavy wind. Take care.

Just saw a news report of an accident in vicinity of Forbidden Pk/Boston.A Mountaineers trip,3 fatalities,1 critical injury,total party of 6.No peak name or route was specified,nor were any climbers named.Accident was attributed to rockfall.

I have a great pair of Lowe Ice Climbing gloves which have removable fleece liners;they've been down to 20 or 30 below with no problem.Some of the newer gloves for ice climbing by Black Diamond,Lowe,and Mt. Hardware are almost too hot. Here's another approach. Depending on your age(younger is better) it may be possible to somewhat recondition your hands to the cold by practicing progressive exposure as the season turns.It may also depend on just how severe the original frostbite was. I badly frostbit my ears one winter in Wyoming while moving cattle.The rest of that winter,and for several years,the ears were very sensitive,but I didn't want to have to wear earmuffs year round,(it's always cold in Wyomimg)so I just put up with it,and eventually normal circulation and resistance to cold was re established. Hermann Buhl,the famous Eiger hardman,was know to ski without gloves,and to walk around carrying iceballs to condition himself to the cold.There are many other examples of this. You might begin by simply refusing to wear gloves in cooler weather,when not in any critical climbing situation,as long as you can possibly take it.This can also go for clothing in general.Don't bundle up all the time, especially not for mild cold.Take it one step at a time,going with less and less as you build tolerance.Don't worry,the body knows how to do it.You just have to get your mind around it.In town I wear shorts and thongs year round unless I will be outdoors exposed to wind and not moving much,or no thongs if it's extremely wet,snowy or icy.Even then I'll push it.It can be very intersting to notice the body's reaction as it begins to get the idea.When I go out to the bus stop on the first really cold mornings,you feel really cold at first,and almost think you won't make it,when all of a sudden you can feel the heat starting to come from within.I've been doing this for over 30 years now,never get cold hands or feet until after long exposure in very severe conditions,or when I haven't been taking enough food or water in serious cold. I used to feed cattle in Wyoming with a team and sled in the winter,and we would often be out there in our shirtsleeves in 40,50,60 below zero.A Blackfoot medicine man in Alberta once told me that the proper mental attitude regarding the cold was not to get all tensed up and scared,(hunching up his shoulders to demonstrate),but to relax,"like this" he said,and he let his shoulders fall,shook his arms,and stood up straight,chest out,head up.Take it easy. Go to the library and see if you can find the biography of Willie Wiley(or Wylie),a rather famous and eccentric character from the 20's and 30's around Spokane.The son of a prominent banker,from a sickly youth,he became a very rugged,hale and hearty outdoorsman who wore little else year round but khaki shorts and sandals,and sometimes a cap.There's a photo of him in the book taken the day of his first plane ride on his birthday in about 1930.He's sitting on the wing of a biplane in his shorts and sandals,with one of the old leather flying helmets,no shirt or coat,with a huge grin on his face.There's snow on the ground,and everyone else in the photo is all bundled up in fur coats,thick gloves,scarves,earmuffs,etc.Only the pilot is smiling besides Willie. This is definitely possible for you to at least some degree of improvement,it's simply a physiological adaptation your body WILL make if you discipline yourself.And of course you will also want to find good gloves and other proper clothing for climbing,because there are certain physiological limits.Just what these limits are,is a little vague,because the climber who first told me about this,(including the book about Willie Wylie), back in the late 60's was a cardiologist who had just returned from a Himalayan expedition where he'd seen porters carrying loads barefoot across the glaciers,very lightly dressed in thin cotton pants,unlined coats,or,if they did have shoes,without any socks.He later returned to do research on these people and became convinced that it was possible to push the limits far beyond what we think of as normal.Think of how Beck Weathers survived on Everest next time you feel a little chilly,and just keep going.And turn down the thermostat,too.Absolutely no need to keep it so tropical in our houses all winter long.You might save enough money right there,over time, to pay for some good gear.Give it a try.

Inexcusable behavior;the only explanation has to be total ignorance(unlikely) or cheapskate/scrounge/thieves.Seems there's yet another "objective" danger showing up in climbing.Here's hoping their karma/justice catches up with them before they do this to anyone else.

I think she's saying that,(as Paul Pritchard himself stated when he spoke here in Portland a couple of years ago)if he'd been wearing a helmet,the force of impact from the TV-sized rock which struck him,would have been tranferred directly to his cervical vertebrae,resulting in massive injury which would have rendered him either hemi- or quadriplegic. As it was,he suffered traumatic brain injury ( the impact was absorbed by the relatively softer skull and brain) and as a result he walks,albeit with a limp,and has limited use of his right arm,both of these disabilities due to damage to control centers in the brain,not spinal cord trauma.Pritchard's physicians theorized that his lack of a helmet may actually have saved his life,as well as sparing him paralysis.

Hi Andy; One the best is the NW Avalanche Center website at: NW Avalanche Center You might also check out links at the Oregon or Washington section of the American Alpine Club OR AAC, CascadesAAC,also the Cyberspace Avalanche Center CSAC.There are also pretty good links on the NPS sites and USFS sites.One really cool site is a Satellite over view of the entire NE Pacific;you can get a big-picture long term idea of what's out there,on it's way in to your locale: Satellite Services Div.GOES NE Pacific.Fascinating when you turn on the loop.Have fun.

Log on to Scott Silver's website ,www.wildwilderness.org,or email him at:< ssilver@wildwilderness.org >.He's the longtime originator,spearhead,clearinghouse and incarnate driving force of the anti-fee-demo(NW Forest Pass) campaign.He will have all the info you'll need to make a clear decision on how to handle it if you want to fight it.And I definitely encourage you not to just lay down and roll over to these bastards.The motto among my friends and I has been for years,that the only fees we'll pay would be fines,and we don't intend to pay those either. Scott can tell you all about the origins of the abusive and greedy Fee-Demo program,which is actually the result of many years of effort by the American Recreation Coalition(a consortium of motorized recreation,commercial development-oriented corporations--including RV,ATV,snowmobile and dirtbike makers,Exxon,Disney,Westin Hotels,KOA-you get the picture)to gain more access for motorized,amusement theme-park type industrialized outdoor rec destinations,and to privatize (in other words,make you pay)access to our public lands.They've been highly organized and pushing hard on this since 1978!! With the aid of both conservative Republicans and Democrats from eastern and midwest states with minimal public lands compared to what we have out here,they've conspired to starve the USFS trails and recreation programs of funding by cutting funds,creating artificial shortages and funding crises,which the ARC is only too happy to step in to remedy with their various and sundry privatization schemes,applicable to a wide variety of sites and local situations.If we don't beat these bastards back now,there will eventually be No place and Nothing you will be able to access without paying,and once fees are in place,they will only rise,as they get things more securely locked up and monopolized. And yes,though I may sound harsh, these people are indeed bastards,greedy pricks and selfish assholes who will stop at nothing to get it all.These are NOT nice people. They have utterly corrupted the USFS,BLM and Park Service,and have many bought-and-paid-for Senators and Congressmen in their pockets.Fee-Demo might seem like a minor,back-burner issue,but nothing less than the integrity of our democracy is at stake.It is but one piece of a larger puzzle in which the corporations are moving toward total control of our government. If this sounds far-fetched,if you don't believe me,talk to Scott Silver.There's also been a fairly regular commentator about this on this website;do a search.This isn't the first time this stuff has come up on this site.So buck up,get informed,and GIVE 'EM HELL!I mean really GIVE 'EM HELL! Oh,and did I mention,GIVE 'EM HELL!!

That's a possibility for me;I have to go to Redmond to see friends sometime this coming week.Check your PM's.

Camalots and other BD gear is first rate;you get what you pay for.And I never try to save money on pro.

Ach,no lederhosen?!Nichts!!

"A ship in port is safe,but that is not what ships are made for." --John Masefield(author of "I Must Go Down to the Sea"

Al Givler,Chris Chandler,Jim Langdon,Jim Madsen,Mike Heath and Ron Burgner,hands down.All hot during the late 60's-early 70's.I think only Langdon and Heath are still alive.

In climbing and in life,a man has to learn to tie his own knots.Usually much easier,more simple to stay on the up and up with the laws.If the laws are unjust,work to have them changed.Insurance,as crooked,discriminatory, and outrageously expensive as it is,protects you from the other driver as much as it covers you for liability.If you can't afford to drive,you may have to take the bus,or walk.Many thousands of people do,quite well. Use the whole experience as an opportunity to look at what you need to do take responsibility for your situation and change it if you're not satisfied with it.Don't give in to blaming,it doesn't change a thing. -------------------------------------------- "Though the law may be unjust,without the law,there is no place for an honest man to hide." -Thomas More "Great difficulty is great opportunity." -Lao Tzu,Tao Te Ching "No Whining!"

This story comes from Ray Lum,who was a well-known and highly respected horse and mule trader for over 50 years throughout the deep South,Texas,and the Southwest.He was famous for his honesty,fairness,and robust wit. Ray was at a livestock sale north of New Orleans one day in 1934 with another horsetrader friend who was Irish.There was another fellow there who had a very unusual looking dog with him.The Irishman went up to him and said,"An' whay koind iv a dog is it ye have there,me good man?".This fellow,who just happened to hate the Irish,gave him a sour look,spat, and said,"Well,he's haif(half) Arrish an' haif sonvabitch."And the Irishman,eyes dancing with glee,flashed him a huge smile and replied,"Well,bejaysus; fait' n' begorra,that makes 'im kin to both of us,then!!".

Man,sharp observation.Wonder if our vaunted Dept.of Homeland Security is thinking as clearly.So what do you make of the claim from the latest Al Quaeda communique that preparations for the next attack on the US are "90% complete? Any projections? Al Quaeda seems to have a sort of sick,savage,"wit" with numbers.Maybe some of the smart guys at the CIA oughta look at this kind of thing.

It's like Warren(Batso)Harding used to say: "DON'T be good."

I'm pretty sure I have it,if so it's in a box in my storage.Can you tell me which pictures or what the article or subject is?If I'm not mistaken that was the issue that had,among other things,a climb of Huandoy Sur in the Andes.If you can jog my memory I'll know for sure if I have it.Got a scanner,too.

The term 'myo-' in anatomy refers to anything involving the muscles;and there's myelin,which is the sheath that covers nerves,especially those that activate muscle.I hadn't heard of mylotherapy,either;wonder if it refers to treatment to the muscle/tendon attachments?Anyone have a better explanation of what it is? If this method actually works,I'm a prime candidate.

I first heard that one as a kid in Texas,stated as a "fresh fucked fox in a forest fire".Little better alliteration for emphasis that way.

I'm completely agreeing with you there,definitely not in the Oregon Cascades,no way.In fact,I agreed with your first post about whatever's N. of the highway. Hm, did I miss something there?

Pargeter's pictorial relief maps has the Alpine Lakes on his North CENTRAL Cascades map,and Beckey's CAG refers to it as 'North Central Cascades(West side)'.Beckey also has Glacier Peak in CAG #2,and,man,if it's not in the N.Cascades,I'd like to know where it is.Pretty much right smack in the middle of everything,I'd say.For sure,Pilchuck is just kind of a foothill,but you can't say that about Glacier.

Wow,man;that(choose one or more:crack/smack/meth/porn/gambling) habit must be gettin' to ya. But I gots 50 bucks if you for real.

Every day is a dangerous day working in the woods.I've done just about all the different jobs there are to do logging,and it does seem kind of spooky sometimes.When a timber sale is cut,a good faller will try to fall the trees all in one direction,laying the trees across the fall line of the slope as much as possible.Sometimes the logs will lay out there for several weeks or even months until the yarding crew can get to them.Every season,loggers are injured by logs that have just lain there for weeks,and then for no discernible reason,suddenly go rolling down the hill and crush someone.But what this guy did was just plain lazy,careless and stupid.I can't believe he's standing there with his faller's wedge in his back pocket.In fact I can't believe he hasn't had an accident or two before this.

Well,as Janet Jackson demonstrated,they can't even handle ONE,and that had a pastie on it.I think the reminder about simply turning off pictures that bother you is just right.And, Scott's av

Check out the November,2003 issue of Climbing mag,p.68 for a very good review of current technical ice tools.And golllee,whaddaya know,Editor's Choice was---CM Quark.Anyhow,it grades all the others reviewed,gives all the tech data.If you can't locate a hardcopy issue I'll bet they have it online at their website: climbing.com. Cheers.