chris

I think this mountain is better off without this route - but I also wish Kruk and Kennedy did a better job at explaining their rationale. Couldn't they simply have said, "We grew up hearing from our mentors that this should be done, so when the time came and we could do something about it, we stepped up."

Ousland did have a kite/sail, but if I remember right he only had one size wing and one length of cords - today most kite-skiers in Antarctica will have three different size wings and three different length cords to address wind strengths/elevations. But the tech was still new in 1996, so I think he only used it occasionally. Regardless, what he did was phenomenal and I was lucky to be standing at the ice shelf/island transition on Ross Island when Ousland pulled up in January 1997. The coolest memory - his children had gotten to draw and color on the tops of his skis during their construction - inspiration and motivation to come home! Just got home on Wednesday from my eighth season on the Ice. Every time is fantastic.

Nice! That matches my experience, but its nice to finally have a resource that backs it up. On a less harsh note for MtGuide, I'd be interested to see if Dr Hacket has changed his opinion since that lecture in 1996. I would be surprised if he hadn't.

If my wife's hiring process is any example, by the time they've called you in for a sit-down interview they've winnowed the applicants to two or three potential hirings. They're all competent enough to do the job, but now they're trying to pick out the one who's going to fit in best with the team. Its less about your job skills and more about your personality and character. They're also pretty upfront about this if you ask.

Will Gadd has written some pretty good articles about this - go looking at willgadd.com. My conclusion from reading his pieces - a SPOT (not the SPOT/cell phone combo, just the plain old SPOT) - seems to be the best way to go. Blake Herrington told me about a clever strategy he used in Alaska: when he and his partner were ready to be picked up a week earlier then scheduled, he sent an OK signal three times in one hour. When his SO saw the status updates, she gave their pilot a call to go pick them up. That's a clever and much cheaper way to send a message than any sat phone!

With: 1 picket (or ice axe or ski), 1 cordellete, 1 double shoulder length sling (usually dyneema), 1 shoulder length sling (usually dyneema), 1 short prussik, 3 non-locking carabiners, and 2 locking carabiners. I have, on a two man rope team arrested a fall, built an anchor, transferred the load from my harness to the anchor, rappelled to the victim, put them in a chest harness, taken their pack and/or skis, ascended the rope, built a 6:1 haul system, gotten them out of the crevasse. In less than 45 minutes. That's not a lot of kit for each person to carry. And, if you're on a four man team, that means you can afford to have each person carry everything above, and make crevasse rescue even easier!

I remember those days. Thanks for the heads up! It would be awesome if you also wrote up a quick conditions report afterwards. Thanks!

Yeah!!

John Bachar died due to a fall while soloing fyi... http://climbing.about.com/b/2009/07/06/iconic-american-climber-john-bacher-killed-in-soloing-fall.htm He was doing it his way, like Honnold is. These climbers are pushing the limits their own way on their terms. I can respect that. Next time don't watch if it upsets you so... d Sorry, didn't type that clearly, I knew Bachar fell and died but the other two died but not from a fall. Hersey did. Fell off the Sentinel if I remember correctly.

An SPD police office makes, on average, 6 figures. So do the officers in the 7 other west coast cities closest to Seattle in size. They are not in the same income bracket. (Source, KUOW interview last month)

I noticed them a few weeks ago, and meant to ask some of my local friends if they knew what was up. Kurt, I know the crack you're speaking of, but I don't think its really optimal for a hauling scenario from that ledge. I'd be really nervous about someone beating on the bolts and damaging the threads if I took the hangers off.

Matt - can you give us dates, even ball park time of month, that the porta potties will be taken out again?

I hear you - I spent a lot of time climbing around Arcata while my then-girl friend was doing a clinical rotation on the Hoopa reservation. We didn't have too much trouble finding the goods, but it was always further than we expected. What I was surprised with was the cost for the guidebook. They wanted - and get - a lot of money for what was essentially a staple-back. So if anyone would like a previous edition for less than retail, let me know.

I have a copy an old copy - the previous edition - of Bigfoot Country Climbing, a locally produced staple-back that covers the north California coast. Send me a PM if you're interested.

I had great success simply writing a letter apologizing for forgetting, including my pass, and asking for forgiveness. Worked every time. Make a copy of everything for yourself before sending it off.

This is my first full summer in the Cascades in 7 years, and I'm surprised by how many people I've seen having late starts to big alpine objectives. From the North Cascades all the way down to Mt Hood, I've seen some ridiculous late starts. Anyone else?

We've done this to ourselves - its easy to argue that the government is inefficient, but that's not the case. We're demanding the government provide more services for more people with less money, and we're hitting the wall of what's possible. http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2010-05-10-taxes_N.htm If you want to increase government services, don't support Eyman initiatives. Support state income taxes. Lets honestly address the issue - a system that relies on a healthy economy to generate state revenue is going to be in trouble during times of poor economic health, as with sales taxes in Washington. Simply demanding that the state pay for it, and then breaking the law with righteous indignation doesn't solve the problem. Figure out a solution, talk to your friends (and not-friends) about what you want to see changed, write to your legislators about those changes you want to see made, and vote.

I don't think this is as crazy as some may drum up here. The newly passed law simply states (bold emphasis added by me): So, the three scenarios that I can see are: 1. Dude is snowboarding all day inbounds, then ducks a rope into a closed area and triggers a slide that sweeps down out of the closed area and onto a cat track being used by other riders. He's guilty as sin and gets charged with this infraction. 2. Someone wants to ski out of bounds from a ski area, but the ski area doesn't want the public to exit from that location for some reason. This is done by simply setting the closed boundary signage back within the permitted area, forcing a violator to cross a closed area to leave the permitted area. Jackson Hole did this almost everywhere before dropping the ropes in 1999. 3. Dude skis into a closed area within a ski area from out of bounds. This has actually happened to me a couple of times doing traverses in California that ended at a ski area parking lot. The crux is whether or not I could have knowingly entered a closed area. I got a away with it once, and simply got a warning the second time when I explained why I wasn't aware. In Alpental's case, the commonly used track to Source Lake IS HAZARDOUS. I'm talking about the track that starts from the last parking lot, by the water tank, that runs along the west side of the valley. Its within the ski area permitted boundary, and it runs through numerous slide paths that Alpental Ski Patrol regularly chucks bombs on. They are understandably nervous that one of these days someone skinning uphill is going to be taken out by a slide that they triggered. This law now means that when the Alpental Ski Patrol places a closed sign at the end of the trail in the upper lot, even the non-lift ticket public will have consequences for ducking around the sign/rope. I won't be surprised if a Sheriff is there the first few times to educate the public and make a point either. Again, I don't think this is such a big deal. Alpental's concern is understandable and justified. The less used summer trail route on the east side of the valley isn't bad - it just doesn't see the same traffic, doesn't start from an obvious parking lot point, and therefore users gravitate to the west side. Both routes travel through significant avalanche paths, so if Patrol is chucking bombs on one side of the valley you may consider not wanting to expose yourself to natural activity on the other. Just my two cents.

FOUND: One MSR Picket On the trail to Heliotrope Ridge, Harrison Camp, Mirkwood, the Coleman Demming Route, and other assorted destinations on Mt Baker. The picket has someone's first name and initials marked on the picket. Tell me when you think you lost it, what name is marked on it, and any other distinctive thing (like is it threaded with a sling or not), and we'll arrange a return. Cheers Chris

Thanks for the photo - is the road open to the trailhead?

Which plane are you talking about?

Is this for ice tool tethers or an anchor system?

Trip: Mt Gardiner - Tour Date: 5/6/2011 Trip Report: With the May weather in the Cascades being so "eh", I took a trip down to the Eastside of the Sierra for a six-day tour. The territory west of the crest, between Whitney and the Palisades, rarely sees a soul. We saw ski tracks on day two from someone heading south several days earlier, then nothing more until the last day as we approached the parking lot. Our camps were at 11,000', the ragged boreal edge of treeline there. One hopeful descent that we wanted to do but had to pass on was this gem, the Northwest Couloir on Dragon Peak. A crown was visible 1/5 from the top (in the shaded area of the photo, completely flushing the couloir to a bed surface that shined icily at us in the right light. Still, this is a pretty line! A lot of photos and a little bit of text can be found on my blog: http://climbskirun.blogspot.com/2011/05/heading-south-six-days-in-high-sierra.html Gear Notes: Used ski crampons on three days. Didn't use boot crampons or ice axes. Rope/harness essential to negotiate North Dragon Pass. Approach Notes: The flight into Mammoth Lakes is straight forward, and cost-effective with some advanced planning. Other options are to fly into Reno (4 hours to Bishop) or Las Vegas (5 hours to Bishop). Our trailhead was outside of Independence.

Thanks guys - I'll contribute whenever I learn something new.

Exactly.