wscottf

Did Liberty Crack for the second time on Saturday. What a great route! Did it about 6 hours faster this time so we got to descend when it was still light, what a relief. Anyway, I found a hat on the route. If you lost a hat on the route and can correctly describe it, it's yours. Scott

Oh come on. I took my wife up North Ridge of Baker for her first glacier climb. She'd never even been on a glacier or swung an ice axe. She climbed it in fine style, and as we were descending she mentioned that Coleman-Deming "looked pretty boring". You got to give her props for that!

Does anyone know if the spring at the base of Half-Dome is still running? I'm trying to psych myself up for the climb (2 weeks away), but I'm not looking forward to hauling all that water to the base. Also, any beta on Regular NW Face would be helpful. Thanks!

I made my first really big mistake in 8 years of rock climbing last weekend, and I'm interested to hear about big mistakes other people have made, and how to prevent them in the future. Here's mine: Rappeling off of Thin Fingers, I get down to the ledge after the 25m rappel (still 25m off the ground). I yell up to my partner "Off rappel" only to realize that I'm on a 3 foot wide ledge and I'm not hooked into the anchors. I think "sh*t, that was dumb", hook into the anchors and tell my partner about it when he gets to the ledge. We laugh about it how stupid I was and decided we shouldn't tell my wife who was at the base of the climb. That's one mistake I'll never make again!

I've never done Davis-Holland before and I was wondering how it compares to Thin Fingers, Breakfast of Champions, Godzilla. Any beta? Thanks!

Well, the first half of it qualifies.

Does any know how long it takes to get to Camp Hazard? A buddy and I are planning on dragging a friend up the Kautz, but only if the approach doesn't take too long. Of course, Camp Hazard isn't recommended, so we'll probably camp below it. Any beta on the route? Scott

I am happy to pay the fee since they have running water at Paradise, plow the roads, have solar toilets, and a hut. I am however disappointed to see the policy change. Mt. Adams on the other hand: No toilets, no hut, and most of all, the road is in bad shape until July. I'm very grumpy about having to pay to climb Adams. For the money I have to spend to climb Adams, I'd like to see added value.

When did the policy on climbing permits change? It used to be that your permit was good for an enitre year, now it appears that it expires 12/31 of the year you purchased it. From the MORA web site: "Climbing fees have changed for 2003. All climbers pay a flat fee of $30, whether they climb one time or numerous times. This fee must be paid at the time the reservation is made (or when registering for your first climb of the year if no reservation has been made). This climbing fee is valid for an entire calendar year--i.e. fees paid in 2003 will expire 12/31/2003." Mt. Adams and St. Helens use this same policy and I thought it was bunk. I'm sorry to see Mt. Rainier go this same direction.

I was just on the Omega-Pacific web site and found this. It's fucking hilarious! http://www.omegapac.com/omegaman_adventures.html

I was up there last weekend. The conditions were fine, but a little warm out. We got to the base of the first 70 degree section around 8:00am. The first pitch was good, as it stayed in the shade, but the second picth was in the sun and was getting soft. I wouldn't have wanted to climb it much later than when we were on it. Aim for getting through the steep stuff around 7:30 or 8:00 and you should be fine. It's pretty easy, I took my wife up it (her first glacier climb, and she'd never swung an ice tool before) and she made quick work of the route.

It can totally go clean. I found a cam hook to be quite useful on the second pitch (listed as A3, but really A2 with all the fixed gear). The 4th picth, which Selected Climbs says to use pitons, can go clean with a 0 tcu and some small wires. Gaining the 8th pitch before dark can be tough (I got there after midnight) but it's comfy. The top of 6 is about the size of the tailgate of a pick up, so you'll be sitting all night. I've posted a route description on SummitPost.com, check it out and have a great trip. It's really a wonderful route.

Again, not exactly a mountain photo

Ok, so let's see here: Mount Rainier NP : $30 WA State Parks : $50 NW Forest Pass : $30 Snow Park Pass : $20 Rainier Climbing Permit : $25 "Volcano Pass" : $30 ------------------------------------ Total : $185 Is this getting a little out of hand here? I thought I already paid taxes! I'm cetainly willing to pay for the Mount Rainier Fees because I see the added value in paying those (clear road, rangers, Muir Hut, waste disposal). Where's the added value in paying for the rest of them?

There are three issues here: 1) The ice axe was a gift. The sales person did indicate that it could not be returned, however they left the impression that it could be exchanged. I may be splitting hairs here, but to me there's a difference between returns and exchanges. 2) The axe is UNUSED. I understand the liability that retailers face when accepting returns on climbing gear and I can fully understand not returning used gear. But not accepting returns on unused gear I find that offensive, especially when it still has its tags on. 3) Trust. Feathered Friends expects the customer to trust them and their knowledge when buying gear, but they can't seem to trust the customer when they say the gear they are returning/exchanging is unused. I was so taken aback by this policy that I thought about just swapping the axes while no one was looking. However, since I'm an honest person I didn't. Luckily, I've had someone help me out with the issue and I'll be able to get the longer axe I want. I thank that person for helping out.

My fiancee got Scarpa T2's, an Ortovox X1, and two Ice Axes. What did I get? A framed velvet Willie Nelson portrait. I guess there's always next year.

My climbing partner has Verizon and my fiancee has AT&T. Both get better coverage than my Sprint phone.

For Christmas my girlfriend got an Ice Axe from her brother (a Grivel Nepal Light), but it's too short. We tried to take it back to Feathered Friends to exchange it for a larger size. They said that we couldn't return or exchange it because it's technical climbing gear. I can uderstand that they don't want to take back technical climbing gear, but give me a friggin' break! An ice axe that hasn't even seen snow! Has anyone else had a bad experience at Feathered Friends? This isn't the only time I've been disappointed with their service.

Anyone know how conditions are on Shuksan N. Face this time of year? I'm looking at climbing it in the next couple weeks. Any info/beta/gear list would be helpful. Thanks!

My climbing partner and I are planning on doing Liberty Crack this weekend, but with all the rain, I'm not sure about it. Does anyone have any input one what shape the route will be in this weekend? We've climbed it once before, early season when it was wet and we were hoping to avoid that this time around.