iain

I have experience with the Petzl Rigger in mtn rescue. It is heavy, 10k breaking. Sure you need something so burly? Works great otherwise. Could be a little strange as a litter spider, as the four holes will shift as you switch main line to belay line. Works great as an anchor attachment though. -iain

Isn't there some curling on the tube you should be watching right now? eh?

Moi, je prefere le fromage americain, avec lunchables et un peu du Pabst. Si-t-il avait le vin, d'accord, je voudrais un peu du vin aussi, seulement si le vin arrive dans un boite, comme Franzia. Mon francais? C'est horrible, je parle comme un canadian. Et maintenant, je m'arrete!

I'll be the guy wearing nothin' but prana shorts and my f'ing wool beanie hat. It's hot as hell but I look so damn kewl in it and the betties lunge when they see it. Wear a beanie hat and no t-shirt or don't bother showing, 'kay?

Surely there are a few corn mazes out there you could run. Those are fun, but scary when you get lost.

Interesting that crag.com went down. A guy with some web space on a dsl connection could set that thing up in an afternoon with little hit on their bandwidth, and it wouldn't cost them anything (provided they keep their connection up). The outdated software made crag difficult to read anyway. All they needed was a copy of ultimatebb (what this site uses) or write their own stuff to improve that quickly. I'd almost be willing to write it myself if people wanted that forum back, I've got plenty of server space for that. Personally I found crag.com a pain in the ass to wade through all the juvenile crap to get to the good stuff. At least here, that stuff is largely confined to spray. What am I talking about, that stuff is everywhere here, but at least it's amusing. Apart from the photos of peoples' feces.

On a more trivial note, how could they possibly raise their lift ticket prices any higher to cover this expansion? They think they're a big resort and charge big resort prices. You wait in line way too long there, lifts are on a "grooming hold" at 9am (what are nights for anyways), and the facilities are crap. They know they have the best terrain at altitude so they resort to highway robbery and half-ass work.

Here is some information about the very important development plans of Mt. Hood Meadows in the Cooper Spur area. It's worth reading to find out their plans for this historic and beautiful area. -Iain From Off Piste Magazine

I have witnessed a brutal rag-dolling fall from the pearly gates all the way to hot rocks. I thought the guy was dead. He was tentatively stepping off a ledge at the chute when he slipped, didn't self-arrest, slid a ways, then caught a crampon and flipped a foot or so off the ice. He barely touched the ground the rest of the way down. Good thing the bergschrund was still closed up, he went right over it. So yes, the s. side is pretty innocuous, but you'll want the spikes, you'll want them to fit well, and you'll want to know how to use them correctly. It's only 35 degrees, but you get moving in a hurry when it's icy. I've always found it strange that while REI won't rent harnesses, they will rent crampons. It's not like a crampon failure will always be life-threatening, but it certainly could be.

ahh, the bustling metropolis of LaPine. charming.

tough luck, will. nice trip report.

Best to climb that route on a weekday to avoid being hit by bodies coming down from C. spur...

According to the rules of the sticker thing, trucks are exempt from stickering. Only supermarket betties with troop transports are at risk of being tagged.

Just a brief conds report: Pole Creek road is snow-free if you didn't know by now. Trail snow-covered ~100m from TH. We skied up the ridge to Early Morning Couloir and did some skiing in the bowls up by Villard G. Huge av. debris out of Early Morning and Villard from yday or shortly before. This weekend (at least sunday) was not a good one for snow routes in my opinion. Freezing level was very high and we were surprised we didn't see any sluffing as the slopes cooked all day. S. facing aspects most likely were releasing. Skiing was good corn early. Careful on descent back, as we wound up in a tree farm and had to bushwack back uphill to trailhead, and we've done that descent many times. No trail park passes were checked. They never are at Pole Creek, I think. Early Morning C, Villard G, and Thayer HW are all in condition at this time. -iain

Congrats, that's a great route.

You're in way over your head.

Ran into a group of 4 on the summit last weekend who had come up Wy'East. They said it was in good shape. There has been a good amount of snow since then.

I got all excited and posted twice again. [ 05-08-2002, 04:10 PM: Message edited by: iain ]

This thread's a hoppin'. To the chatroom! Here's my interpretation of a typical Dru workday:

The ACC is much more of a club, in my opinion, than the American Alpine Club. I think you would be well-served to join them and find an introductory course. I've taken advantage of the benefits of the ACC (huts, small organized trips) much more than my AAC membership, and I live in the states! Unfortunately, their guided trips, courses, and GMC's tend to be relatively expensive. Once you are comfortable guiding yourself, the organized trips are often a good deal and a great way to meet people at your level. Good luck.

I'd check the archives. This topic was hotly debated a few months ago, ending in the usual spray, profanity, obscure jpegs of snowmobiles, and links to hypnotic cats that seems to be a co-requisite to any good information on this bbs.

Falling to your chest and feeling nothing underneath, with a deep blue to black below you, and every move you make feels like you are slipping further down is an awful experience. I still do some solo glacier travels but those experiences are certainly on my mind. It would be a horrifying way to die on a solo climb. You would most likely survive the fall, but die alone in pain, in a slow hypothermic insanity. (Ask one of Wick's partners, who was roped). Certainly a gamble, but part of the appeal of the solo thing is welcoming this risk and minimizing it through knowledge and experience.