pindude

KF, thanks for the report. Glad you were okay. Your post makes me wonder about many other things, in addition to exactly where at WP. - What was elevation? - Aspect(compass direction) slope was facing? - And very important, slope angle? - What type of tree (like spruce with boughs that anchor in the snow, or like a pine or birch tree with bare trunks that avalanches easily pass around? KF, my post here is in part a response to you, but is also for others who may not be very experienced in the BC. I'm not sure exactly what your BC experience is (# days, # years) and I'm wanting to be helpful without sounding too harsh. But I'll say straight up that if you like to do that type of BC skiing, it's obvious you need to RUN to the next Avy Level One class and get some formal training yourself for starters. If you haven't read it, there's one book any BC boarder or skier should read: Tremper's "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain." If that's too much to chew on for now, something smaller to supplement it, and quicker to digest, is Fredston and Fesler's "Snow Sense" or Jamieson's "Backcountry Avalanche Awareness." Avy awareness is an on-going, life-long process, and is learned both formally (through classes) and informally through experience in the BC with others, both of which are valuable. Any boarder or skier venturing out into the BC owes it to themself and those around them to take at least a Level One class (RAC in Canada), which usually costs less than a transceiver. Avy guru Jill Fredston says that from 3 to 5 clues are overlooked in the average avy accident...I would suspect that yours had some clues too, and that if you were more aware of them, you may have avoided what you went through. Here's to rippin up the BC pow, and staying safe. --Steve Reynolds

One of the few things I brought back from across the border last year. Saw them in Nelson Snow-Pack; guys and gals in that town are pretty hip to what's happenin. Still haven't seen the torch lighters in a US outdoor store, but I don't get around too much. Sure beats the old Bic. When headed outdoors, I don't leave leave home without it now.

Sitting here at home in the NW, knowing that OR is happening right now and the beer consumption rate in SLC is going way up this weekend, and reading the "new BD gear" thread...I got to thinkin (dangerous, I know). For the cc.comers at the trade show, what is the newest, latest, greatest gear that we won't be able to live without?

BD Termigaiters are good. Whatever happened to OR AT gaiters? Went to OR's site, but don't see those anymore...I still have an older mostly unused pair (wanna buy for cheap?). My pants cover my boots pretty well too, so have had no need for gaiters for many years, even for the fresh. Carhartts, yeah Lummox, they work great. And of course there's Levi's and Wrangler Boot Cuts, too.

Timing is everything.

The New York Times January 18, 2004 You Think That Other Mountain Was Cold? By BRUCE BARCOTT OT long ago I asked a friend who climbs mountains for a living to name his favorite climbing movies. He paused. "Man, they're all so awful," he said. "It'd be easier to give you a list that started at bad and went down to very, very bad." When movies meet mountains, bad cinema results. Consider "Vertical Limit" (2000), which finds mountaineering so dull that it adds nitroglycerin into the mix. Or "Cliffhanger" (1993), the Sylvester Stallone vehicle propelled by evildoers and stolen loot. The 1997 television adaptation of Jon Krakauer's classic Everest book, "Into Thin Air," proved so unwatchable that the rescued climbers probably outnumbered the audience by the end. The singular exception remains "The Eiger Sanction," Clint Eastwood's 1975 spy thriller set on the north face of the Eiger, a sheer Swiss alp that is one of climbing's most deadly proving grounds. Mountaineers revere the film, which was released on DVD last year, because in the third act Mr. Eastwood climbs the Eiger himself. The action was so real that a falling boulder killed one of the movie's climbing crew on the second day of shooting. What makes "The Eiger Sanction" respected by mountaineers also makes it compelling to the rest of us: the actors didn't act; they climbed. That, it turned out, made a pretty good movie. It's only taken three decades to make another one. In "Touching the Void," which is to open Friday in New York and Feb. 6 in Los Angeles, Kevin Macdonald has stitched together elements of documentary and dramatic re-enactment to create a film that should satisfy both moviegoers and the crampon crowd. Mr. Macdonald, who won an Academy Award for "One Day in September" (2000), his documentary about the 1972 attack on the Israeli Olympic team in Munich, did it by employing the Eastwood rule — put the climbers on the rock. "Touching the Void" tells the true story of a harrowing climb that has become part of mountaineering legend. Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, two young, fit, cocky British climbers, set out in the spring of 1985 to scale the unclimbed west face of Siula Grande, a 20,800-foot peak in the Peruvian Andes. Previous parties had attempted its near-vertical wall of ice and rock and failed. "My feeling was, well, we'll just do it," Mr. Simpson says in the film. "We're better." After a two-day hike from the nearest road, the climbers made camp with Richard Hawking, a new friend they'd met in a Lima flophouse. Mr. Hawking wasn't a climber, but Mr. Simpson and Mr. Yates invited him along for company and to guard their tents while they climbed. For his part, Mr. Hawking just wanted to see the Andes up close. The climbers made the summit in three days. Soon after beginning their descent, Mr. Simpson fell and broke his leg, the impact driving his shinbone into the knee with a sickening crunch. With no way to summon help, Mr. Yates began lowering Mr. Simpson down the mountain one 300-foot rope length at a time. Whenever the rope ran out, Mr. Simpson dug into the steep ridge face and waited for Mr. Yates to climb down. Then they repeated the process. In the dark of night, Mr. Yates accidentally lowered Mr. Simpson off a cliff. Dangling above a seemingly bottomless crevasse, Mr. Simpson could neither climb the rope nor reach the cliff wall. Mr. Yates held the rope for nearly an hour. The constant pressure slowly eroded his anchor. "I was being pulled off," he later recalled. "I slipped a few inches. Stamping my feet deep into the slope halted the movement. God! I had to do something!" What he did is still debated around cookstoves and base camps 18 years later. Mr. Yates took out a knife and cut the rope. Mr. Simpson not only survived to tell the tale, he told it extraordinarily well. "Touching the Void," the book he wrote partly to exonerate Mr. Yates in the eyes of the climbing world, became a surprise best seller in England. Water-warped copies can now be found in climbing huts all over the world. Movie producers optioned the book soon after its publication, in 1988. But nobody could figure out how to make it. "The problem is, most of the book is a monologue," Mr. Macdonald said by telephone from his home in London. "It looks like an action adventure story, but actually it's very interior and psychological." Mr. Macdonald, 36, thought its moral and philosophical questions might speak to a nonclimbing audience. But moving the story to film was difficult. There were not enough firsthand images to support a documentary and not enough opportunities for dialogue to support a drama. The climbers were alone through most of the ordeal. "There are ways around it," Mr. Macdonald said. " `Cast Away' did it by having Tom Hanks talk to a volleyball." Mr. Macdonald's solution was to combine drama and documentary. He filmed young actors re-enacting the climb, then cut in contemporary interviews with Mr. Simpson, Mr. Yates and Mr. Hawking. The outcome is an existential drama straight out of Beckett. The jug-eared, happy-go-lucky Mr. Yates agonizes over his decision to cut the rope. The intense, ambitious Mr. Simpson confronts his own atheism and struggles to live even when there seems no point. Mr. Hawking, the outside observer, is a one-man Greek chorus. In preparing to film "Touching the Void," Mr. Macdonald screened previous mountain movies and noted all the ways they could go wrong. "The crevasse in `Vertical Limit' doesn't even look cold," he said. The two films that impressed him were "Eiger Sanction" and Werner Herzog's "Scream of Stone" (1991), about two climbers battling to notch the first ascent of Cerro Torre, a terrifying granite spire in Argentina. It isn't much as drama, but its final reel contains some of the most breathtaking climbing sequences ever shot. The Herzog film highlights the quandary of every mountain-movie director: whether to hire climbers to act or actors to climb. Mr. Herzog cast the great Bavarian freeclimber Stefan Glowacz as his leading man. He climbed spectacularly, acted woodenly. Mr. Macdonald decided to cast actors who could climb. That ruled out established stars — not that his $2.7 million budget could have accommodated them. After a long search he found Brendan Mackey and Nicholas Aaron, two British actors who "knew about rock, weren't scared of heights and were very keen to do it," Mr. Macdonald said. The crew decamped to the Swiss town of Grindelwald (where "Eiger" was filmed), trekked into the Alps and shot the climbing and crevasse sequences during the worst local snowstorm in 10 years. Mr. Macdonald spent weeks tossing Mr. Mackey (as Simpson) and Mr. Aaron (as Yates) down steep slopes and dangling them in crevasses. "I kept saying to them: `Don't act. Just do it,' " Mr. Macdonald said. The European Alps couldn't entirely stand in for Siula Grande, though. To get authentic shots, Mr. Macdonald left the actors home and took Mr. Simpson and Mr. Yates, along with a few crew members, to Peru. Even with a stripped-down crew, it took 70 donkeys and seven porters to haul cameras and gear to the mountain's base. Once they got there, the psychological burden nearly overwhelmed Mr. Simpson. "We asked Joe to stand in for himself on a number of shots," Mr. Macdonald said. "It was a little strange, Joe playing an actor playing Joe. But he agreed to put on his costume, including a brace around his leg, and walk up a valley while we filmed from half a mile away. He was all alone out there and had an intense flashback. It was as if he was back in 1985 — that the intervening 18 years were just a fantasy and he'd woken up on the rocks and hadn't been saved." Mr. Yates had no similar moment, but the return stirred intense emotions. Although Mr. Simpson has always defended him, in climbing circles Mr. Yates has never shaken his notoriety as the Man Who Cut the Rope, and the return to Siula drained him of his characteristic good humor. "It was hard for him to be back there," Mr. Macdonald recalled. "There were days when Simon wasn't talking to Joe or me or any of the crew." Shortly after the trip, Mr. Yates declined to participate further in the documentary. "I think he's fed up with the story and wants to move on," Mr. Macdonald said. "Which you can understand. I think it's haunted his life." Mr. Simpson and Mr. Yates continue to climb — separately. Mr. Simpson has written five more books; he is one of mountaineering's most popular authors and public speakers. Mr. Yates operates an adventure travel company in northern England. His first American book, "The Flame of Adventure," was published two years ago. As for Mr. Macdonald, he had known nothing about mountain climbing before reading "Touching the Void." "One of the things that attracted me to the book," he said, "was how terrifying this sort of mountaineering seemed. I thought that once I saw it up close, I'd overcome that fear and want to do it. But having spent time in the mountains, I now think they're more crazy than I did before."

There's some insight to be gained by this NYT review.

Theatrical release dates at official website

Thanks MM, Joe is as good an interviewee as he is a writer!

Nothing scheduled yet for Spokane, but Mountain Gear is working on bringing it in. As soon as they confirm everything, I'm sure it will be publicized not only through the store but through local rag advertising such as Inlander, Local Planet, S-R Sunday Outdoors section. Being the indie film it is, it is not getting widespread screenings at the "regular" theatres, but perhaps that will present more opportunities for groups, etc. that want to do the work to bring the film in and sponsor it. I personally feel that Touching the Void is the most gripping, first-person, true climbing narrative ever told. I'm looking forward to seeing the flick after hearing the reviews from friends and others who have seen it at Banff Film Fest, etc. Perhaps if it's as good as people say, it will screen in more theatres and run for longer periods of time than now scheduled...?

Dropping the prices on each of these 2 tele rigs: 1. Tua Excalibur w/Pit Bulls - $150 2. Elan 45 skis w/Voile release, cable, brakes - $75

Sorry, don't have photos currently but that can be arranged. I have two pairs of skis: 1. One pair 190-cm length 1999 Tua Excalibur monocoque (capped) AT/tele ski, mounted with upgraded Pit Bull bindings, skied two seasons, very good condition, $200. Classic BC ski, good for inbounds too, dimensions 90-70-80 mm, original retail over $500 with bindings. Used for two seasons, mostly as a BC and volcano ski. 2. One pair 207-cm Elan 45 skis mounted with Voile Release and Voile Cable binding system with brakes, very good condition, $100. Original retail of skis over $400, original retail binding system over $150. I used these skis for racing and hardpack days...have skied on them less than 15 times over a 6-year period. I live in the Spokane area, so you would have to pick up or pay for shipping. Best to contact me directly by email: sreynold@icehouse.net --Steve Reynolds

Ah, but DPB deathsicles DID come down on Saturday, when the arctic front moved in and the temps were also crashing down... So, Chris, how did you like playing Russian Roulette on Sunday, or did you even know?

Victim was among a group of 4 snowmobilers. From KXLY news story : "Rescue crews say McDougal was the only one in his group not carrying a transmitter beacon." Olympian/AP news story

What, Sobo?! You won't take a $100 profit! What's your price, then?! Yeah, I still have those hexes. Two years ago I had what I thought were two promising but poor climbers who I might be able to give them away to, but they both faded away from climbing. So I still have them, waiting for some young kid who can't afford to start a lead rack but is really into climbing , and who I know will be a "climber for life" and thus worthy of em. Cheers, pindude

Speaking of Dee Molenaar and brushes with greatness, have you seen his personal copy of his book "The Challenge of Rainier"? He took the first copy off the press and for years carried it with him to any lecture or meeting were mountaineers were present. It's full of signatures of climbers like Hillary, Tenzing, Shipton, O'Dell, Bonatti, Messner and so on. I met Dee at a lecture and book signing for "Cascade Voices" by Mac Bates. To my surprise, he asked me to sign his Rainier book. In my copy of "Cascade Voices" he wrote above his picture: "To a younger generation role model, Berg Heil!" Boy, that made me feel good. Now that I'm not sober, I realize I actually have met Dee...shook hands and chatted with him at the last AAC meet in Seattle. Class act is right. But I really did miss my chance by not taking up an opportunity to climb with him--when I really would have gotten to know him better--through mutual friend Porter (now that's a great name). Sobo, I'll give you $300 for that watercolor... Lowell, here in Spokane our own Joe Collins--who most of you never have heard of but was mentor to Roskelley and Kopzcynski in the 60s to early 70s--has a book or two much like Dee's 1st copy of "Challenge of Rainier." I don't recall Shipton or O'Dell, but he has the 3 others' signatures, and an incredible number of others dating back to the 40s and 50s. John and Kop were even tasked with taking books with them on their Himalayan and other travels to get signatures of "greatness" through the 70s and 80s. Joe continues to get signatures and photos of every great who passes through. One of the better things about the climbing community, is that we *do* get to meet a lot of the folks who have made our sport what it is. I feel pretty fortunate for most of those who I've had a chance to climb and ski with, "greatness" or not. --Steve Reynolds

Of course! And I had a chance to hike/climb with Dee a few years ago through a mutual friend, but have never met him. And I grew up with J.P. Patches on the telly as I would eat breakfast before school, but never met him either. You're two up on me, Lowell!

Doug: Sober yes, legible no. Griz: My PC system sure ain't enhanced for graphics...so you can read those nametags with yours?! Ski and avy science guru/legend Ed LaChappelle is the one on the left. The ugly guy on the right, I haven't a clue.

Andy, I see you're stepping down as our WA rep, seeing the latest Access Fund e-newsletter. Congratulations and thanks for all the hard work and time you've given--I wish you the best for the future. From AF "Virtual Times" #37: Board Service Award: To exiting members of the Access Fund Board of Directors for their distinguished service — Andy Fitz (1997-2003), Chris McNamara (2000-2003) and Shannon Stuart-Smith (2000-2003). Michael Kennedy Award: For outstanding leadership and commitment to our mission as Access Fund Board Member — Andy Fitz (Washington) for work on the State of Washington Recreation Use Statue, stewardship at Frenchman's Coulee and Little Si and his commitment of time, expertise and leadership. I'm on the run, and don't have time to look it up, but wondering who will be filling your shoes? Cheers, Steve in Spokane

Sisu, Two years ago one of my G3 Targa heel-riser plates cracked. I called them on the phone, talked for 2 mimutes, and 3 days later had a brand new pair of heel plates in my mailbox, no cost to me. If you can get through on the phone maybe that would work--right now is their busiest time of the year with getting product in the stores prior to Christmas, and everybody prepping to get up in the hills at beginning of season. I know you're wanting to get out: I'm just heading out for the afternoon, for the first time this season, once my ski partner shows up... If you can't get quick satisfaction from G3, there's a couple other "tactful" options we can think of--let us know what happens at the beginning of the work week.

E-rock's down on it: while G3 has had their problems with skins, I hear they have good customer service re. any returns, and they've fixed the problem for the current season. Regardless, Ascension I think is best, but they in past had some glue problems too, also dealt with by good CS through BD, and fixed with the new skins available this season. If you have to re-glue, the brown paper method is cheap, but takes a couple *hours* and many grocery sacks to completely remove glue. Instead use a hot blade which can safely remove the glue within a couple *minutes*.

Haven't been cleaning the litter box, have you? I've long ago learned to hang up high any items I'm drying outside or bring into the house that smell like good old Mother Earth: tents, ropes, backpacks, sleeping bags. I normally clean packs and such using M-Lou's tub method, but in the few instances when a cat has struck, the front-load washing machine--cold-water wash, regular soap, extra rinse--does the trick. Pet stores have some topical cleaners, also an Off!-type spray, but I've never used those.

rr, sounds like Eli Hattamer. Sorry, man. I take it you're a Spokane boy and went to LC? This news story of the college soccer player brings back memories. Eli's death was especially tragic--probably like Garrett Chase of SVC--because it struck someone young, vital, a friend to many, and one who had hopes and dreams for what would have been a great life. Eli was about to graduate from SPU, and, I understand, was working with friends to clean out an old, dirty warehouse building in Seattle to remodel and live in. Was at least 5 years ago. I didn't know Eli well, but he was a positive person with a funny sense of humor. He loved climbing, including doing big walls. His eagerness to tackle the big and hard on the Captain was impressive. While he grew up here in Spokane, I didn't meet him until down in the Valley. Eli, your spirit lives on. Be careful out there when cleaning up.

Good info and links here, thanks guys. Monty, if you're still looking for the actual maps to order online, Spokane shop Northwest Map & Travel is excellent--they keep good stock of all northwest US and west Canada maps and more, regularly take orders via net, mail, phone, and they ship everywhere. Ship/mail times would be a day or so to Portland, Seattle. Also locally owned by the folks of a couple climbers who've since moved away to live on walls and climb around the world. http://www.nwmaps.com/

Bought it last year. My fav among the bunch available now: smaller, good range, ability to switch between analog-digital. I think it takes a little more practice time to use it well, compared to my old F1, but it's still user-friendly. The Swiss like it (they make it too), compared to Tracker, Orto M2: Swiss Winter 2001 study Lou Dawson likes it.