pindude

Today is Erden's 300th day at sea, and in 5 more he'll break the record for longest solo rowing ocean voyage. As Wayne said, he's now planning to head toward the Phillipines, but that's still more than 1,000 nm away--at least another month and possibly up to two. With the strange convergence zones and doldrums around the equator, Erden's still just north of zero degrees latitude. To get to the Phillipines, he needs to bear west and a little north. Most recently he's actually headed closer to the equator and is about as far south as he's been. With the extra number of days at sea, Erden will be resupplied soon. Of concerns are storms, hidden atolls, and ships in the shipping lane he's now in. Godspeed and God Bless, Erden! http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/ano/ http://www.oceanrowing.com/ErdenEruc_Pacific/dist.htm

Dane, you pissed off whiner, you! Seriously, I know you know the score, and while woodchips has legit concerns, I'm pointing out two obvious items since Graham's big laying-it-out-there message of a week ago: (1) it's a full week shipping time between NY and Puget Sound, so give it a few more days. (2) If woodchipper hasn't received the item in a few more days, then he should make an attempt to contact Graham directly. If then there's no response from Graham, then truly woodchipper may have reason to be pissed. I'm not saying woodchips is one of them, but I've seen too many whine on the net about manufacturers. Sometimes it's legit, and sometimes it's not. On the positive side, the net is a great tool for the consumer, especially when dealing with the nameless, big entities and companies out there that don't care. I think Graham does care. And while he's had his problems, I'd rather give him the benefit of the doubt and give him a chance.

Patience. Yes, you have concerns but with Graham in NY, you've got to expect at least a full week's shipping time: that's exactly when he made his big response to you, so you haven't given him time to do the actual repair/sewing. You've called him out, he responded just 7 days ago, and he's obviously under some big stresses. I'd wager you'll see the pack in the next few days. If you think more communication is in order, then call him and speak to him directly before you air it again here. You're starting to sound like a whiner. Not to be cutting extra slack, but shit is more likely to happen to the little guys, and I always try to be more understanding of their situations. Each of the two times I had a pack repaired by someone other than the local repair guru, I've had to wait long periods: once for a whole year by one of the best top-end specialty pack manufacturers, and the second time for 6 months by a different "little guy" on the east coast. Each time I was concerned, but each time there was communication such that in end I was happy to have received much better packs than what I'd originally sent. I doubt I would have had the same outcome if I hadn't been persistent in my own personal, direct communication and I'd been airing all my worries over an internet forum.

How not to climb, or fall... 5oKnkp5KSCQ

I spoke with another climbing ranger yesterday. New/updated info: 1. Road is expected to be plowed up to the Cougar Sno-Park by the weekend. If I remember right, Cougar Sno-Park is at the junction where Road 830 forks left to Climbers Bivy, and Road 83 continues to the right/east to the Marble Mount Sno-Park. This would still leave about 5 extra miles one way. 2. Last Saturday, from the plowed end of Road 83, 61 rigs parallel-parked for a mile-long stretch. Almost all rigs were snowmobile-related. More expected this weekend. 3. According to the ranger, the trail to Climbers Bivy is shared between sledders and climbers/skiers. If a line is drawn from Climber's Bivy to the summit, sledders are to stay to the west and out of the corridor that climbers take to the summit. 4. Fine for not having a climbing permit above 4800' is $100. The climbing rangers do patrol it. I've made it to the mountain about half of the years over the last 20, almost always this same weekend just coming up, and most of those times I've seen a ranger on the mountain. This year I'm not going due to the access issues at St. H and the great abundance of snow I still have in the mountains here in eastern WA/north ID. As far as the Mt. St. Helens Institute is concerned, as a 501©(3) nonprofit their financials and other info are a matter of public record, and it's freely available on the web if you know where to look. I'm reluctant to spray hard or critically about any organization for whom I haven't studied or don't have the full facts, especially a nonprofit. (Like belaying off Nalgene loops, spraying ill-informedly about others or organizations is a hot-button issue for me, and what coaxed me out of lurkdom and onto cc.com in the first place. ) The Mt. St. H. Institute started collecting climbing fees last year, so we should have already started seeing how it comes back to us as climbers. I haven't been to St. H. for a couple years, so haven't seen it first hand. From a national nonprofit reporting organization, St. H. Institute claims the following: Accomplishments for Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2007 - Repaired and cleaned 87 miles of trails with over 250 volunteers - Supported 15,000 Mount St. Helens climbers with permits, education, trail maintanance and climbing brochures - Volunteer Docents were available to provide education and lead short guided hikes for 500,000 visitors to the monument Objectives for Fiscal Year Beginning January 1, 2008 - Implement Kids in the Woods Volcano Explorers program to introduce elementary students to science in general and volcanoes specifically - Repair and clean 125 miles of trails with up to 400 volunteers equalling 3200 volunteer hours - Expand the Mountain Stewards Program to meet climber needs--recruit and train up to 20 Mountain Stewards and offer climbing support at least 5 days per week during the season. Equates to approximately 1500 volunteer hours over 4 months.

Yes. So who's the cornhole? Too funny.

Nice, Tim, glad you and your bud got out there and after it. Welcome back to Spokane and winter: it's snowing hard outside as I type this. Per your previous thread, what rope system did you end up using? Packs? Any hauling? Must not have been too much sniveling and groveling or I think you'd have written about it. Cheers, Steve

methinks that if a Nalgene bottle flies by your head it's more likely that someone put it down on the snow or ground next to them and it took off, rather than the lid strap breaking. True, but straps still break, especially on the single liter size. It's no joke when they go flying by your or another's head whether the strap breaks or they're plain fumbled. Other gear too of course. I've spent a bit of time with large groups of new climbers in the alpine, but I've also had water bottle loops break with climbers/partners who knew better. It happens, no doubt. Enough. Just don't do it, young 'uns.

Tom, thanks for the heads-up on the Cooper-Baldwin Chief flick. No KCTS in eastern WA, but I'll find it elsewhere. I previously didn't know about the story, nor much about Baldwin, but Ed Cooper's been a hero for quite awhile with his FA's all over the west, and his photography. In my backyard, Ed Cooper and David Hiser put up in 1960 the first route on north Idaho Chimney Rock's east face. The climb, especially with the Canary Legs start, is one of the best around. While I'm mentioning it, it's probably second as far as "classic" status only to our own Dane's much more stout Free Friends-Illusions, which is just to the right of Cooper-Hiser on the same east face. Here's a pic from Ed's website, him on Angel Crack in 1960: Here's a shot of Chimney's stellar 450-foot-tall east face. Angle doesn't show it, but it's very vertical:

Bigtree, thus the reason I used "carbon neutral" in quotation marks and and the phrase "attempting to be green." Not that that's a bad thing: at least there is beginning to be awareness of how our actions affect everything around us. On a related note, MIT prof and meteorologist Edward Lorenz passed away just two days ago.

Nelson's Peak Freak team on Everest is "carbon neutral," and without looking at all the other current Everest or worldwide expeditions out there, I'd wager they're not the only one attempting to be green.

Yes, indeed very well put. Wise words not just for this accident but for those of us grieving the loss of others in the mountains as well. Don, thanks very much. Peter, my sincere condolences and best wishes for you, Paul's widow Im Mei and your families, and all of Paul's friends. --Steve Reynolds From Tami Knight's Alpinist memoriam (which Drew linked to earlier), "an illustration Paul drew for his wedding":

Right on, Slick, you just punched one of my hot buttons. I've been preaching this for over 20 years while witnessing at least 4 episodes of mostly full Nalgene bottles flying down due to "loop failure." Each subsequent time it's happened I believe I've gotten exponentially more pissed. I thought it obvious when looking at Nalgenes when I first started using them in the 80s; in my NSH opinion clipping by the loop is a newby/gumby/idiot thing. For those I've been around that don't heed the advice, I've used it as cause to pass, and cause to keep the lead. Yup, works well, and in addition to the ubiquitous OR insulated jackets there's commercially available sewn slings. R-dawg, while I think the former is more the sign of a geek (chalk bag attached with biner is another), and the latter is not my normal attire, next time I know you're going to be near I'll gladly wear shorts over polypro just because I know it turns you on so. Geek/idiot alert. You've been warned now. TWICE. Don't hold me responsible for anything I might do to you. Thanks, Sobo, for the synopsis and clarification with the types and numbers there. I'm not a Chicken Little, but I'll likely be throwing out quite a few Lexan #7's because my wife likes to run them through the dishwasher. Now we'll have a little more room on the wine rack I use to hold our collection of water bottles.

Short answer: it's confirmed. I just spoke with Mt. St. H. Climbing Ranger Mark Walker, who was very helpful in answering a number of questions I had regarding access and permits. The following is what I learned primarily from Mark but also from reading the St. H. website. Access: Marble Mount Sno-Park is still closed: Road 83 has up to 5' of snow and downed trees. Road 83 is presently open only about a mile past its junction with Road 90. I'm not sure of the exact mileage, but that would be at least 4 miles from Marble Mount Sno-Park. Crews are plowing and clearing as they can, but forecasted new snow this weekend will obviously slow that. Hard to predict when 83 will open all the way to Marble Mount Sno Park, but estimates vary from 2 to 4 weeks or more. Personally, I've been planning to head up the first weekend of May. I'll check the website or call back at the beginning of that week to check progress. Permits: Indeed there's presently a double-standard as far as climbing/skiing vs. snowmobiling above 4800'. A climbing permit is required year-round for anyone not on a snowmobile; snowmobilers can access terrain above 4800' until May 14 as long as they stay with their sled and don't go north of the crater rim. Sledders are required to display a Sno-Park permit (on both the sled and the towing vehicle), which is received in WA state as part of the snowmobile license registration of $30. The required climbing permit costs $22 per climber from Apr 1-Oct 31 and consequently is free from Nov 1-Mar 31. The climbing permit must be applied for online, and picked up now at the Lone Fir Resort (since Jack's burnt down). Gary told me management is assessing the issue, and suggested the strong possibility that sledders in the future will have to purchase a climbing permit to go above 4800'. A decision would likely not be made before sledding is to cease after May 14 of this year, but may be instituted before next fall. I had to finish the conversation and didn't get to ask two questions which I'll ask next time. One, I didn't get the chance to ask about the penalty for not having a permit. Second, I didn't confirm who would be the primary contact regarding management decisions. Mt. St. Helens is designated a National Monument, and is managed by the Forest Service, I believe through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The Mt. St. Helens Monument Manager is Tom Mulder, who is one obvious contact if you'd like to respectfully express your opinion. PM if you'd like his contact info. Here's an interesting discussion on the climbing permit issue from last year. --Steve Reynolds

Yes, and Ed Viesturs certainly speaks, and writes, better than the great majority of posters on this board.

So, Marc, what's the update? I see you're well enough to be posting on other topics, or is that your new second head doing the talking?

As we well know on this board, climbing accidents are generally more sensationalized, but trust me, my sled friends as well as skiers and climbers realize how dumb and lucky the guy was. As far as your "learning curve" goes and the stats you're referring to, that's not an accurate assessment. To determine the risk per user group you have to compare the deaths or accidents to the number of users out in the avalanche environment, or better yet, compare number of deaths or accidents to the user-days or user-hours of a particular group: I don't know that there's been an accurate study of that. In my own experience with each of the three groups, I've found that *in general* skiers actually know more about and attempt to avoid avalanches, with climbers a close second, and sledders a distant third.

Bug, I definitely agree with your advice to Marc, but call BS on your cause of the "calcified cyst." Is this a self-diagnosis? Likely it's just a cyst. At least it makes for a good story. Here is what I do know. When I was a boyscout in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, I found a gorged tick on the back of my head. My father tried to remove it using the match technique. When he pulled it off, it had no head. For the rest of thte trip, I was repeatedly asked what the tick had to say about this, or that, or whatever. The lump grew over the course of a few days but hten receaded to a small pimple size lump. Over the years, it has continued to grow and is now 3 feet in diameter and has the shape of Ronald Reagan's head. Unfortunately, it keeps muttering, "I don't recall, I don't recall". How dare you question my honesty! Sorry, dude. I now feel really bad for you. OK if I refer to you as Tick from now on? I have no idea if foreign bodies in our epidermis can cause cysts, but really, I wanted to hear the story behind it all. Didn't mean to question you're identity--at least ticks are great climbers. I don't think I could live with myself though if I was sportin a talking Ronnie Reagan head. One of the reasons lots of folks use matches or heat I think is they're too squeamish to put their fingertips on the little buggers and squeeze them just hard enough to pull them off. I've unfortunately lived with them most of my life and it's such automatic behavior now when I see them (usually on our dogs) I immediately get down to business and deliberately and carefully do the duty. But if I came across a giant-sized, talking Ronnie head I think I'd scream and run the other direction.

PM feck. He'll have reco's for sure.

God you guys are funny and entertaining. Glad this is in spray. A disinfectant like Lysol? I know you meant antiseptic. There are obviously better methods of removal than the misguided older use of heat with a match, cigarette, or even hot needle. Bug, I definitely agree with your advice to Marc, but call BS on your cause of the "calcified cyst." Is this a self-diagnosis? Likely it's just a cyst. At least it makes for a good story. No myth; is true. Good luck, looking forward to hearing the outcome.

Marc: While it's possible you have a tick part in there, it's highly unlikely it's a "head." If anything, it might be a mouth part. Over my lifetime, and mostly in eastern WA, I've pulled several hundreds of ticks off animals, others, and myself, and have *never* left a head nor a mouth part--not even once. There are many myths and a lot of paranoia surrounding tick bites, but certainly Lyme's Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are possibilites, as rare as they are. If you think something was left in, don't let it fester as just suggested: take some tweezers or a pin and get the shit out, then clean it up well. If you're unsure--or if you have obvious skin irritation continuing hours after you do your clean-up job--head to a doc, but know that many doc's and PA's or NP's don't have much experience with ticks. Probabilities are, that if you had some tick part left in there that *might* cause cellulitis (which is an infection of the tissues that makes them red and inflamed, and is not lance-able like a localized infection is with the presence of pus), you may need an antibiotic. No time to be squeamish: If in doubt, clean it out! Here's an older cc.com discussion. For future, note how I described there how to pull off a tick. --Steve

After Google Earth opens up, try zooming in on western WA: that's what I had to do. If Erik's routes aren't there, then perhaps you should update to the latest GE version. Good luck. BTW, snow got real wet here on the east side today, making for a little bit of work, but the turns, sun, and near 70 temp's cured all ails. Spring has sprung!

Doh! Guess I was in too much of a hurry to run off and socialize on a Friday night. Yup, the button's right there, no attached file needed. Indeed it only takes about 45 seconds for my PC to do it's stuff, but sometimes my brain takes longer. Pretty cool. Those google boys really have it goin on. I better get to bed: sun and spring corn await in just a few hours...

Erik, very nice, thanks. How long did that take? I haven't played with Google Maps or Earth much, but am wondering how easy it would be to layer the same info on Google Earth. Have a great weekend, where ever you're headed with your skis. Matt, thanks for note of that project. Am presuming they would be interested as well in eastern WA, ID, MT, OR.

The more original pack: 1 lb 7 oz. 30 liters. 53 bucks.