Alpinfox

Hey folks, Olyclimber (Porter) is quite sick and is currently in the hospital. He is receiving good care and is getting better, but it's been a scary couple of days. I hope you all will join me in sending him good vibes and best wishes. He isn't ready for an onslaught of personal visitors at the moment, but I'm sure he would be encouraged to read all of your "get well" notes here. Cheers, -Pax

Well Colin wasn't wearing manpris last night, so that pretty much clinches it for me.

They keep flipflopping on that manpri thing. How am I supposed to keep up!!?!? -Exasperated in Seattle

Regarding the battery issue: In my experience the Canon Li-ion batteries have done well in the cold. I would MUCH rather have the proprietary rechargable batteries than AAs because they are lighter, smaller, last longer, do well in the cold, and they are very cheap. You can buy Li-ion batteries for the canon SD series on ebay for about $5 each. At that price, buy 6 of them, charge them all up, and take them on a month-long cold weather trip. No worries about battery problems. The SD series is so small its comfortable to keep it on a lanyard around your neck inside your jacket (quick access!), so cold batteries shouldn't really be much of an issue anyway. I've had the sd400 and now have the sd600 and will soon be getting the sd800 (when I find a good enough deal).

Yeah, it is just make sure you stick right on the ridge top. It's easy to get suckered off left (west) and end up cliffed out. Stay RIGHT ON the N. ridge crest until you get all the way down to the easy hiking area and then traverse back to the south on a trail below the west face of the tooth. No rope necessary. A great solo trip: up the west face of the pineapple, down the north side, up the south face of Das Toof, down the north ridge, up the west face of Bryant peak (a little licheny but solid) then down the north ridge, then hike back below the West face of Das Toof, up to Pineapple Pass and descend back to the car. There are also some really cool small pinnacles north of Bryant peak (20-30' scrambles) with ~200ft vertical/overhanging exposure on the east side. Fun to peek over the edge.

GIANT SQUID GLOW IN THE DARK WHILE ATTACKING!!! OMG!

Kevbone = Chaps? OMG!

It really ties the room together.

I'm quitting my job and moving to Borneo.

Jeff Hansel Acrylic on Canvas ~40"X30"

Hey E, That looks like a vanful of fun. You are livin' the dream brother!

Yowza! Nice pix!

Lots O' Pickets:

Wayne and Forest were on the cover a while back. "Happy Cowboys" I think it was?

OMG! Pix?

Kevbone, Parents can pretty easily opt-out of the program if they don't want their kids to be vaccinated, so it isn't really mandatory. No one would support a truly mandatory (punishment of jail time or something for noncompliance) vaccination program. The reason that I support making this vaccine "mandatory" is that insurance companies only pay for "mandatory" vaccines. At ~$60 a shot, three shots required, it's fairly expensive and most people won't get it if their insurance doesn't cover it. This is one of the most effective vaccines ever developed. It pretty much prevents cervical cancer.

not having to carry snowshoes and knowing the approach is aid.

Nice work!

It means we won't have glaciers to hike/climb on, look at, enjoy. Etc. I think that's pretty sad. It may not be "doom", but I think there is plenty of "gloom" in the forecast.

When an MLU is activated it starts transmitting a signal. The signal can then be triangulated and the position of the MLU discovered IF THE RESCUERS HAVE THEIR RECIEVERS ON. They don't keep the receivers on all the time; they only turn them on when they are told that a rescue is needed and that the victim has an MLU.

Mountain Hardwear SnoPro Gloves $37 (normally $85) I like these gloves for warm ice climbing belay and rappel gloves. A bit too bulky to wear while leading IMO. Women's gloves for $4 $4?!?!? Available in subdued camo? OMG! Hi2U QT! Shipping is $5.95. No tax.

Seems like a bitch when it's time to pull the rope! That was my response too, but he said, "nope. works fine." If I ever get around to trying this out, I plan to pull the rope back and forth a few times to smooth out the inside of the V, and then have the first rappeller do a test-pull before the second rappels.

One V-thread in good ice is fine as an anchor. I've always done it with 22cm screws, but 17cm would probably work in a pinch. I always back the V-thread up with at least one unweighted screw. Heavy guys go first. Last one to rap takes the backup off. I've used fishermans and overhand knots for tying the knot in the threaded cord. I've never used webbing, but a waterknot would be fine. I pretty much only use V-threads for rapping because they take too long to build to be used as pro. On a popular route you might be able to use pre-made V-threads as pro. However, I'd be leery of trusting a random piece of cord sticking out of the ice (it could be the tail of a V-thread with the floppy end just frozen an inch or so into the ice). Inspect a leftover V-thread VERY carefully and definitely back it up. A cool trick that I've never tried, but supposedly works: Thread your rope directly through the V-thread to avoid having to leave any cord. Steve House told me that one. Abalakov wikipedia link

Yeah. The trip report and gallery got kinda messed up in the move from the old cascadeclimbers.com. Just go to the gallery and search for "htgt"

Climbing clubs are not the only way to learn safe climbing. I'd wager Simonson didn't learn that way for example.