Redoubt

All of the above suggestions, plus another really excellent book is "Traditional Lead Climbing: Surviving the Learning Years" by Heidi Pesterfield. Lots of good info and doesn't treat you like an idiot. Highly recommended. Wilderness Press, 2002, ISBN 0-89997-255-1.

I think it's kinda hard to complain that the range finder feature makes placing cams too easy without making the same complaint about what the innovation of the SLCD itself did to placing trad protection in general. You can always go back to using all passive protection if you want your climbing to be more challenging. Or at least only use cams where necessary instead of using them even where passive gear would do the job. Or let's talk about sticky rubber, or Grigris, or any number of other things that make climbing easier and more brainless. I can't see anything bad about the range finder idea. Doesn't seem to affect anyone other than the climber using it, speeds the process of learning how to place cams, and increases safety. In fact, after all the explanations and diagrams I've seen about overcamming and undercamming, seems like an obvious idea that should have come along years ago.

Well, I'll buck the trend here and say that I would NOT like to see REI start offering lower prices, better selection of climbing gear, and better service. Why not? Because then they would have even more of a WalMart effect on those smaller businesses that compete with them. I've talked to a few other retailers about REI. The concensus is that competing with the giant is very difficult for them in any case, and is possible only because they feel they are competing for different consumers. Smaller specialty stores can compete right now only because REI has left a large market niche (including many/most of those on this site) open to them. If REI were to change in the way many of your posts seem to suggest, that niche goes away. Right now any of the smaller local guys I know of will match any REI price on the same gear. If that became too difficult for them due to REI lowering prices, if REI had a sales staff with a clue, if REI carried more than 1 or 2 brands of cams, a lot of you would take much more of your business to them. That means less business going to a PMS or Climbmax. If REI would make the kind of changes that many of you seem to be asking for, and the smaller stores start dropping away, then the "REI Sucks" thread will still be here, but with a totally different list of complaints. Be careful what you wish for. The retail climbing market is very broad right now, and very competitive when it comes to pricing. Internet sources, REI, and many excellent shops like PMS, Climbmax, Mountain Shop, etc. I have no problem at all with how REI has decided to play in that market because I have all the options I need. While they happen to be my last choice for almost anything I'm looking for, I have no serious complaints about how the company is run. They don't deceive me or cheat me, they pay the dividend as promised, they donate a ton of cash to causes I think are good ones, and as far as I'm concerned they aren't really pretending to be anything they are not. Marketing hype aside, no one at REI is going to claim to be a technical climber's number one choice for gear. I would guess they would fully admit to having decided to largely leave technical climbing to other retailers. When I think of U.S. companies that piss me off, REI doesn't even make honorable mention. First of all, I don't agree that the original mission had much of anything to do with PRICES. It had to do with simply being able to get climbing gear (almost all of which was European at the time) over here at all. As far as whether or not they still fulfill some true mission of what a co-op should be, yeah you may be right. But for reasons already mentioned, that's fine with me. I also find it really ironic that so many of the complaints about REI listed on this thread mention a dividend, or in some other way indicate that the complainer does a fair amount of shopping there. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! It's like hearing someone go on and on about how they hate Texaco gas stations and get pissed off every time they use one. Duh!

Jon and Timmy, You know those websites that translate English to Jive? How about adding a translator here to get from cc.com to English? That would be really .... well, plab (I think).

Agreed. But I think this makes Klenke's question just that much more interesting to think about. I'm not going to think about it TOO long, but it is an intriguing question. The answer, by the way, is 312.72 feet.

Summit of Fury In the caves on the summit of Rainier Almost anywhere in, or on the rim of, the Grand Canyon Lower Curtis Ridge, across the Carbon from the north side of Rainier

I second pete_a's suggestion completely. Camp Hazard has become a much more dangerous camp than it once was, and the camp below the Turtle is a roomy spot and plenty high enough for a summit day. When you leave the lower camp in the early morning with summit packs, you'll be at Hazard before you know it.

Anyone know anything about a Hood rescue yesterday (4/10)? There's a small bit on kgw.com about a search for injured/lost climbers somewhere around Yokum and the Reid, but I can't find any other info.

I think people are overestimating the value of yelling "Falling" in a crevasse fall. I see crevasse falls as more or less two types (obviously an oversimplification). One type is when you fall into a crevasse that you see, or off a bridge, or a bridge collapses, etc. In other words, a situation where you know you are somewhat vulnerable and can let your partner know that ahead of time. When my partner is in a situation like that, and as my own position allows, I temporarily get both hands on my axe in self arrest grip, drop any slack loop I might be carrying, and try to look at them as they negotiate the tricky section. Again, as my own position allows. I always let my partner know when I'm crossing anything questionable, whether I am leading or following. I treat it very much like yelling "Watch Me" when rock climbing. The other type is when you plunge into a crevasse that you don't see. I've done this twice in a few decades of climbing. Both times I was INSTANTLY down. There was no way that yelling anything could have alerted my partner before the rope jolt hit him (fortunately conditions in both cases made for easy stops for my partner). I'm not saying not to yell. By all means yell. I will yell, too! But I feel pretty strongly that, in most such cases, my partner will be down in the snow by the time I get a sound out. As far as carrying slack, I feel that slack only allows more time for the falling climber to accelerate. The only time I tend to ever hold a loop of slack is off and on as a buffer when I'm following someone who is having to switchback, or weave through crevasses, or follow some path that tends to make the rope alternate between too taut and too slack. Even then, I make sure I never have more than a few feet and drop it as soon as it makes sense. My 2 cents.

Thanks to you both for the photos. Yeah, the visible rock bands are very typical for the route, and the amount of snow cover right now looks fine. I've done it twice in May and the rock bands were trivially easy to pass. In fact, I think only on the highest band did we actually touch rock. Found easy snow gullies through the lower ones. If the avy conditions are good, the biggest hazard with that route is that band of seracs up on the left side that look like they're waiting to sweep the lower part of the route!

Winter, can you clarify that a bit? Did the Wilson Headwall NOT look good?

When it comes to "influential," several climbers already named would probably mention Mugs Stump.

I keep thinking about the fact that you are only going to climb once a year. Most alpine climbers who climb all the time rarely "need" either an altimeter or a GPS. So my first thought is to recommend that you buy neither for that limited use. On the other hand, if you have to schedule that one week ahead of time, can't reschedule in case of bad weather, and want to climb regardless of the weather, having a GPS can definitely widen your safety margin in poor visibility, and allow you to climb when you otherwise might not. I definitely would not buy an altimeter if I only climbed one week of every year.

This is one of the silliest things I've ever read on cc.com.

If this is true, it will be interesting to see just how much enforcement there is of, say, the Forest Pass at trailheads. I would expect fairly widespread noncompliance long before the actual expiration.

Well, let's see. Summit of Liberty Bell is 7720. East Face is 1200'. So that would put base of the face at 6520'. Or CAG says base of Thin Red Line right next door is about 6800'. Washington Pass is 5477'. So, let's say very conservatively that the approach is 1000' of elevation gain. Damn, you're right. I MUST be old and fat and slow to take up to an hour. Nalo, count on no more than 20 minutes for the approach, even carrying gear. And, by the way, the route goes free at 5.7, and you don't need more than about 6 pieces of pro.

Why climb when you don't have to? What's hard to understand about his original post? He thinks spending a night on the wall would be cool. So do I. So do lots of climbers. Alpine bivies are part of the allure of climbing for some folks. If not for you, fine. But I'm amazed that climbers who hate to bivy refuse to accept that not everyone feels the same way. Go for it, nalo. You'll never know how you feel about wall bivies until you do one. I think you're slanting the facts a bit to support your case. I would have remembered it to be more like 45 minutes to an hour, and CAG says "2 hours maximum." It's not a long approach, but it's not 20 minutes.

That question is looking less and less like a joke!

Are you serious? Of course it does. It's not just new rock routes. New routes of all types, notable TRs, and certainly technical information and advice. This site can't be all things to all climbers, and it has chosen to cater to a very low common denominator. That's going to keep a lot of people away. What makes you think that the "majority" of PNW climbers read this site?

Source? I've never heard of this connection at all. Statistically "significant?" Since the entire Earth experiences the same moon phase at any given time, that means that global weather is better every 28 days? The moon does not exert a magnetic pull on the Earth, but it exerts a powerful gravitational pull (see "tides"). The avalanche link has at least been studied a bit, but I've never seen any solid conclusions published.

Say what?

I showed the photo to my little sister's teacher and she said they are, without a doubt, Shuksan and Baker.

Do a search in the Gear forum for Andinista. Several comments about that pack getting pretty uncomfortable at higher loads. I'd agree. I love mine up to about 45 pounds, but above that I switch to something with a real suspension system. I wouldn't consider it an expedition pack unless you have shoulders of steel.

Slide show 12th. Seminar 13th. Both 7 PM. Details on featheredfriends.com

That was when you soloed exasperator, right?