ivan

soooooooome tiiiimes....

hey, a seeing the silver lining in the cloud kinda guy! hmm - the 1918 flu pandemic killed somethign liek 25 million - if it was even twice that today we'd still make good on the loss in just a couple of years, so it probably wouldn't be that much of a reprieve for our voracious appetites anyhow

several of my students were wearing masks today - didn't seem to interfere w/ them swigging down their mountain dew though

my favorite article of trash seen at skull hollow, assorted deer legs, were not likely left by climbers climbers or not though, the collective action of campers is what counts

there's gotta be somewhere else to dirtbag in the smiff area? paying to use public lands (especially w/ zero services) = lame

nooksack sure has a more gnarly getaway than GP!

it has the added virtue of being easier to execute in a fierce environment - i've never found using a compass or a gps easy on a slope in a blowing, snowy, shitty whiteout w/ my goggles all fogged up and my hands buried in mitts - w/ the altimeter you just stumble along as best you can, periodically stopping to check your wrist

fuck yeah bill! man, wish i could be on that flight...

everybody enjoys a good zombie-apocalypse story - its why jesus caught on so big, world wide, yes? the shadow of 1918 does stretch a long way though - and an eventual repeat of a disaster of that magnitude is as certain as another california earthquake or indonesian tsunami, so its more deserving of newspaper ink than the fucking octomom

fwiw, i think altimeters are much more useful navigation instruments on hood's s side then gps or compasses - take note of the top of the ski lift, then don't let yourself go more than a hundred feet below it on the descent in a whiteout before starting to traverse around (usually you'll need to traverse left to pick up the ski lift line - but be sure to stop if you come up on a giant canyon )

no shit about GP's ambience - what a wild cirque - the route could be pretty much dogshit climbing and it'd still have a shot at the vaunted big 5 list just b/c of how it feels to be in that little bowl of icy hell

the conditioning thing is largely irrelevant - if you haven't used an ice axe or practiced crevasse rescue, you have no business above 10k on rainer w/o a guide or having first practiced those skills for a few hours below that said, the first time i climbed rainier, it was just me and 2 similiarly inept buddies - we had a copy of freedom of the hills though, and warmed up w/ climbs of hood, where we practiced the groovy diagrams in the textbook - that oughta work for you too - its fun - just don't underestimate the weather or the crevasses out of a concern for physical conditioning - that part is easy - just go at whatever pace you can maintain for hour after hour, enjoy the views, and you'll be there before you know it

it doesn't really matter - the bottom line is you're contemplating a gigantic goddamn drive and wanna know if it'll be worth your time - the point is you wont' know till you're there, so unless the forecast really declines, go, but have a backup plan (if you've never practiced digging a snowcave (then crawled inside it and gotten good n' crunked), that's a fun thing to do on the mountain, for example, or like i said, go do something to the east where you know it'll be dry) regardless, if you're near the summit in the early mornign and don't have you head up your ass, you won't have much reason to be worried about avy's on the south side - your main concern is visibility - generally, if you've reached 10k and it hasn't cleared up, it's time to sit on your ass and wait for shit to get better, or go to plan b

if rain's forecast you're always taking a chance - sometimes the weatehr will be crap below 7k and beautiful above though - if you climb rock, bring some shit for smith, and if hood works, great, if not, press on into the desert!

and ditto on waht dane said too - i find looking back on my old tr's that i'm deeply in love w/ myself and i should immediately have meself cloned so i can start making sweet, sweet, sweet love

Ivan, look what you've unleashed! Is nothing sacred anymore?!? this post is clearly not my fault - if it had been truly inspired then me it would have made far less sense and been far more vulgar - plus, where's the soundtrack!? you gotta start the show w/ whatever fucktard lyric that incessantly rang in your hand while the grim reaper but his icy claw around yer nutsack!

might still need the hammer to clean dem nutz though if a giant phat-ass such as meself has been stomping on'em!

would it be cheaper if they ditched all the horseshit prose and just made it more like the porn mag it is (and all i want)? - you know - giant glossy pictures of fake looking people doing shit so insane you figure it's gotta be fake too? the only written part of the mag i think that's essential and i'd like to see stay are the 1 page histories of climbs of specific routes on the featured mountain.

fear that it was already a big enough sausuage-fest?

clearly need to practice all aspects of penj'ing prior to going to the valley - anyone got advice on good spots round the pdx area, even if they're (obviously) on a smaller scale? i can think of bunch of options at beacon of course, but that peregrine is a mean motherfucker. where else? i'll take general advice on the art as well, as i've yet to give it a go.

there's a bunch of tr's on it (my one of course being the best of the bunch ) it's a very impressive peak viewed from it's pass, just across the raging creek - it's got the full range of vertical jungle'swacking, alpine heather/snow bands, and easy'ish rock - if you descend by rapping down the goode/stormking col it's a very cool package deal, but i don't think it's as cool as j'burg it's main standout in my mind is a giant goddamn downhill walk to get to it!

my favorite 5: volcano - ptarmigan ridge, rainier crag'n (gotta go w/ my local beacon crag) - the complete stepphenwulf (sure wise i could free more of it ) alpine crag'n - west face of colchuck balanced (ditto) gnarly all-around mountaineering sufferfest - ne butt of j'burg (winter or summer, badass!) super-duper in-your face big mountain in the wilderness mixed mountaineering - nooksack n face bertulis/davis route

no denying it's either of those, but by those standards, how can it beat, say, outerspace?

shouldn't the "best crack" actually require you to jam it though? dastardly crack, on the other hand...