Alpinfox

Picking up crampons? Remember, lift with the legs... For standard routes on the volcanoes, get a pair of alluminum pons you can strap on any pair of boots/shoes.

Why does the weather suck so bad up here? I mean, giving piggyback rides and going sailing is nice, but I came here to climb goddamnit!

I know I know.... I am a terrible person. I hang my head in shame.

Help a brotha out! I bailed on the guy and I feel bad.

Hey Klenke, Lambone misspelled "Thomson" in a picture he just uploaded to the gallery! Are you going to stand for that!??? GO GET HIM!!! edit: Jeff Smoot misspelled it in his "Climbing Washington's Mountains" too!!! another edit: Fred Beckey also misspelled it! You've got a lot of work to do. One more edit: Jim Nelson too!!?!?? It's an epidemic!!

In the situation where a partner was spooked by conditions and I wasn't, I'd explain WHY I wasn't spooked (the snow is solid and well-adhered, those clouds are just cirrus... whatever), but if after all of that my partner still said, "I wanna turn around". That would be it. I would never try to coerce someone into continuing a climb they were uncomfortable with. If that happened repeatedly, I probably wouldn't climb with that person in the future, but I would still turn around. Climbing in smaller groups (preferably as a pair) simplifies these discussions/decision making process. Big groups (e.g. Mountie's outing = clusterfuck). Soloing is REALLY simple. Edit: To directly answer the specific question. To minimize your chance of an accident while climbing, choose routes with higher fun quotients and lower objective danger quotients, even if those climbs aren't in the "Fifty Classics" or the cc.com flavor of the month or whatever. And that list that Skeezix put up is

Colorado has some mighty tasty choss. Any of the Cascade Volcanos could win the title. The Kangaroo (WA Pass area) has some of the deepest granola I have ever seen. I think I postholed up to my knee in one spot.

BOOTY ALERT! That's weird, I don't remember any fixed gear when I did the route a couple of years ago. Must have been a mountie expedition there recently. The west ridge has decent rock, not great. There aren't a whole lot of pro options, but the climbing is pretty easy. Be very careful when pulling your ropes if you choose to rap off the summit down to the east ridge (its also possible to downclimb, but maybe a bit sketchy) there is LOTS of loose rock on the east ridge and I pulled a rock down which hit my girlfriend (now ex) in the elbow. She was pissed and cried and had a bruise and soreness for a couple of months .... no fun.

Wild Kabob Ingredients: 1 Still breathing, corn-fed 3 Ripe but firm tomatoes 1 Large white or yellow onion 1/2 pound large mushrooms 2 large green peppers 1 package meat marinade 1/2 cup soy sauce 12 skewers (sticks are okay in Arkansas) Preparation: The must be alive so that you can scare it, giving you the "wild" taste from all the adrenaline it produces. It is best to hit it over the head with a large object in a humane manner. Boil the for 3 minutes to loosen the fur then skin and gut it. De-limb (chop the little knubby legs off) the and cut the meat into 1/2 inch square chunks. Marinate overnight in a mixture of meat marinade and soy sauce. Kentucky residents who have no fridge can use an ice chest and may use radiator coolant instead of soy sauce. Thread the meat and veggies onto your skewer/stick in alternating sequences to distribute the delicious flavor evenly. Cook over a barbecue, pit, 50 gallon drum or any other fire till you get the desired result. For added flavor, you can cook it over burning tires. and Taters Ingredients: 1 young, fat 8 sweet potatoes 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon sugar salt Directions: First, catch a . This in itself is excellent entertainment on a moonlight night. Skin the and remove the head and feet. Be sure to wash it thoroughly. Freeze overnight either outside or in a refrigerator. When ready to cook, peel the potatoes and boil them tender in lightly salted water along with the butter and sugar. At the same time, stew the tender in a tightly covered pan with a little water. Arrange the taters around the , strip with bacon, sprinkle with thyme or marjoram, or pepper, and brown in the oven. Baste often with the drippings. Pot Pie Ingredients: 1 cup glazed huckleberries 3 shots gin or moonshine 1 ---if roadkill: make jambalaya ---if caught: proceed with recipe 1 pie crust sliced carrots & cabbage to taste Directions: Cover a pan (or any implement you can put in a fire) with the bottom of your pie crust, and place the possum in it. Add the huckleberries and carrots, and shred the cabbage over it. Close up the pie and bake until the neighbors' dogs come sniffing around to see what the wonderful smell is, or until the fire department arrives (whichever comes first). Remove pie from fire/oven, slice, and enjoy. Creole Ingredients: 1 slightly injured 1 cup mayonnaise 8 cups pig fat 2 cups buttermilk 2 fresh green peppers Directions: Slice green peppers and mix ingredients in a large bowl(exclude ). Cut into chunks or thin strips. Mix chunks into bowl. Transfer contents of bowl into a casserole dich and bake under 350 degrees for two hours. Remove from oven, let sit for half an hour, and serve. ENJOY!! Roll Ingredients: 1 5 tbs balsamic vinegar 5 onions 2 cloves garlic 5 carrots 1 stalk celery 2 turnips 3 tomatoes 2 tbs cold pressed olive oil 1 clump italian parsley 1 tbs fresh rosemary 5 bay leaves 3 cloves 2 tbs Vegemite 1 damper (like a hot dog roll) First, skin the , checking first for lice, myxomitosis, and living young in the pouch (if your is a marsupial). Separate legs from breast. Discard head, neck, tail and claws. If you wish, hold the offal for thanksgiving stuffing. Then cut the into long sringy pieces. Marinate overnight in vinegar, rosemary, bay leaf, clove, garlic & oil mixture. Make the roll: split the damper, and spread vegemite on each side. Put aside. Chop the carrot, turnip and tomato into small pieces, then cook with the rest of the ingredients, and stew in a pot, adding a chicken stock cube for seasoning. Dip the pieces in the pot, then barbecue for 20 minutes (or until cooked to personal taste). To serve: like a hot dog, use the damper & vegemite roll to surround pieces of . Serve with chips, salad and beer. Stew Ingredients: two cans of tomatoe sauce three cans of cooked tomatoes 1/2 thickly sliced warthog meat(mainly for flavor) a big bag of pasta noodles (any redneck kind will do) salt and pepper 1/2 (other 1/2 can be used for breakfast -omlettes) Directions: Fry bacon in big gramma kettle, over mid. size fire, then fry in the grease till golden brown. Take the meat out, then add enough water to pot to fill 2/3 way and then boil noodles. Once cooked add both things of tomatoes to kettle and meat and add enough salt and pepper to old granny's taste. Cook all together for a bout 1 hour simmering over low fire to sautee. Bone Appa Teet. Texan Chili Ingredients: 1 large or 2 small (good and dead-really dead) 3 onions chopped 1 pound sausage 15 jalapenos 5 tomatoes 2 red peppers chopped 3 squirrels, cut into pieces 1 armadillo 1 cup tea 1/4 can Copenhagen Chop up everything (be sure to skin the 'dillo) set it on the fire (or stove, if ya wanna be fancy) let it boil until the dogs howl. Eat with regard to the bones and serve with cheese (not green) and more onions. This is actually a recipe my cousins taught me how to cook. It is actually edible. Cajun Chili Ingredients: Tomato Sauce (depends on ) 1 tsp.-1 cup Chili Powder (Depends on Taste and ) 1 Large or 3 small (If you ran over the better make it 4) 1 large pot or two large ones if the first isn't enough. 5-10 chili peppers (depends on taste and ) 5-10 red peppers (depends on taste and ) 5-10 jalapenio peppers (depends on taste and ) How ever much Cayenne Pepper you like, it depends on your taste and . 1 tsp. Black Pepper a pinch of salt Chili Beans for extra flavor And whatever other ingredients that are hot and spicy you would like to add. Directions: 1. Skin (s) 2. Remove internal organs, head, claws, and bones. There is no flavor or use for these. But if you want to add them, go ahead. 3. Put some tomatoe sauce in the pot(s). Then add the possum. 4. Chop peppers 5. Skip step four if you don't want chopped peppers; it doesn't matter. 6. Put the rest in and let set for a long dang while. 7. Before serving make sure you have enough bread, Milk, and Toliet paper for after dinner. 8. Serve. Enjoy 9. Race for bathroom. Whoever is first will make a large stench. Have enough air freshner. Serving size of Meal-depends on how much you put in and the possum. Warning-You're a redneck if you try this. (Either that or you like really hot chili.) May cause sudden urges to go to the bathroom. May cause burnt tongues and mouths. May cause severe indegestion.

Mmmm.... melted show.....

that guy on the left looks like JayB!!!

No - I'm fredbot proof. Besides, we made him stay in his own tent. "Good Fred. Sit. Stay."

I got a first ascent of a 7530ft mountain in Alaska.

And the best part is that they pop off really easily so that you can take them home with you!!! Portable handholds

I recommend you send an email to MSR and tell them you want them to start a recycling program. www.msrcorp.com

I dunno, but it looks like he is getting ready to bail over to the south side of the W. ridge rather than going straight up (the manly way)

This is Terry McClane's pic of W. Ridge Stuart from 5/8/04. They climbed the Stuart Glacier Coulior to the W. Ridge. Check the TR in the Alpine Lakes forum:

looking forward to part II and PICTURES!

"At half-past two o'clock of a moonlit morning in March, I was awakened by a tremendous earthquake.... I feared that the sheer-fronted Sentinel Rock, towering above my cabin, would be shaken down.... The Eagle Rock on the south wall, about half a mile up the Valley, gave way and I saw it falling in thousands of the great boulders I had so long been studying.... After the ground began to calm I ran across the meadow to the river to see in what direction it was flowing and was glad to find that down the valley was still down. " -John Muir, March 22, 1872 This story is included in "The Wild Muir" which is a nice collection of some of Muir's adventure naratives.

The secret identity of TheOtter has been revealed! <--Click TheOtter? OH MY GOD!

MCTFAF

Yes, late June is (in my opinion) a little late for L.R. If I ever do the route again, it will be in early June, Late May, or hell... maybe even winter. I think LR is the hardest COMMONLY DONE route on Rainier. I'd say all of the other north side routes are harder than LR, though. I think L.R. is not technically difficult when most people do it. I've heard that it can be pretty solid ice all the way up which would obviously make it more difficult, but it's usually a steepish snow slog with a boot track. Modest technical difficulty, but AT LEAST moderate, if not moderately high, objective danger in my opinion.

Thanks for sharing everybody! Some really wonderful pics. Here is one of my favorites: It's a fallen totem pole in the Mamalelicula indian village (abandoned) in the Johnstone Strait area east of Vancouver Island.