chris

I've got to back up Denali, Dane. No guide service - in my 12 years of experience - has a refund policy like what you spoke of. The guides are under no pressure to continue up in conditions that may be life threatening. To respond directly to bp's question - it depends. It depends on the avalanche hazard below Camp Muir, which could easily have been managable (and I suspect it was, since the guide services made it to Camp Muir). Often times, guided groups have climbed in some really foul weather because with the appropriate equipment and experience of the guides, it is possible to do so. This is why non-guided rope teams should not follow guided teams up the mountain like lemmings!

I actually really like my ATC Guide. As it has been already mentioned, the device can be flipped to provide less friction. I prefer to belay the second from the anchor whenever possible, and I do think the convenience is valuable. But to respond to the OP, I do use a munter to belay the second on low 5th / 4th class terrain where a belay is necessary, but not a rappel. I have found on routes of greater than 3-pitches that the rope becomes so kinked from the munter application that by the 4th pitch the rope must be untied from one end and the twists worked out before continuing. That occurs even faster during rappel, especially if the rope cannot hang freely. So there you have it. I use the ATC Guide unless special circumstances allows me to save weight and space and use a munter instead.

I'm not satisfied with anyone in Seattle anymore. Ramuta in Montana or The Rubber Room in Bishop. I've had my shoes resoled by both, and prefer The Rubber Room.

Title pretty much says it all. Any recommendations in Tac-town?

sigh

Have you contacted the Washington Climbers Coalition for assistance?

The Australian and New Zealand programs require applicants to be citizens - I imagine the BAS does too.

Nice work guys - its for climbs like this that I can't wait to come home!!

The private logging land is now managed by three different logging companies, and they have collectively decided to deny vehicular access. I got special permission to be dropped off by car as part of a "school project" in May 2006 to traverse the range. Getting that permission involved a written request, telephone interview, and about three months of back and forth before it was confirmed. As part of the process, I learned that foot or mtn-bike travel was allowed, but to be mindful of logging trucks (similar to conditions on the north end of the range). We scouted two other ways to access the south end of the range - just in case we lost our permission. 1) Its possible to park on the south side of Mt. Josephine, and then hike down to the South Fork of the Nooksack via the fire lookout trail. 2) Its also possible to hike/skin up to Heart Lake from the end of FR 1260 (a spur of FR 12). This may be the preferred access. I also recall that FR 12, where it enters the drainage for the South Fork of the Nooksack, was off limits to motorized vehicles during part of the year to protect winter grazing grounds for an elk herd. It was also too snow covered in May to use for access. You may want to check with a local snow-mobile club to confirm both of these points.

I remember a few years back there was a lot of press for "integral traverses". Does anyone remember what that meant? Was it an opposite side traverse (like N Face / S Face, W Ridge / E Ridge, Mowich Face / Emmons Glacier, etc). Or did it include summits in the traverse?

I'll step to Dane and disagree. I don't think horizontal dual points are the best way to go, especially on pure WI. Will's comment was that he used Sabretooths on an M12 - and I agree, on mixed/rock (especially face climbing), horizontal dual points may be the "go-to" crampon. But for pure water ice, I prefer vertical mono point.

Joe- I'm going to pm you about this, again. Can we find something to agree about, like the cool climbing at Beacon?

Hey Pete- It would be great to check out the Fee Demo Wall this fall! Chris

Interesting. My notes from climbing the route confirmed the topo's reported 7 bolts on the 23rd pitch. What were you clim - oh, wait, that's right. You won't go climb it. Can we please pick something else to be asses about.

Hey Fox, I believe that Preiss is actually referring to me, because I have said here on cc.com that he took the easiest line up the face - and the most logical if one was going to follow obvious crack and ledge systems to climb. By calling it the easiest line, I certainly thought I was making a relative comparison, not implying that his line was "easy". You know what I mean. And it was written to reference Preiss' claims that IB was a variation of his climb - by my definition (more than 50% of the new route covers new terrain) - IB is not a variation. Please ask Mr. Preiss to contact me directly. Not to try to convince him that IB is fine where it is, but to get more information about his line so that I can climb it this fall. Thanks! Chris P.S. Yep, and while we're at, we should go over and chop the bolted climbs on the right side of the Eiger's North Face. After all, the North Face was first climbed without bolts almost 75 years ago! And we should wipe off Time Wave Zero down in El Portrero - doesn't The Wildest Ride in the Park reach the same summit without bolts? Why clip the bolts on Prime Rib (Goat Wall, Mazama) when you could get an FA up the choss filled gully instead? Is my sarcasm showing? Go climb something instead of reading this shite!

HOUSE BILL 2619 _____________________________________________ State of Washington 61st Legislature 2010 Regular Session By Representatives Liias, Roberts, Moeller, Simpson, McCoy, Jacks,Williams, Goodman, and Appleton Prefiled 01/08/10. Read first time 01/11/10. Referred to Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness. AN ACT Relating to electronic signaling devices; and adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON: NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) A person who engages in mountain climbing during the months of November, December, January, February, and March shall use an electronic signaling device when climbing a mountain at a point above the timberline. (2) A person who guides for compensation an organized group that includes children under eighteen years of age on any mountain above the timberline shall carry an altimeter, an electronic signaling device, a contour map of the area, and a compass. (3) As used in this section, an electronic signaling device includes emergency locator transmitters (ELTs), emergency position indicating radio beacons (EPIRBs), and personal locator beacons (PLBs). NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Section 1 of this act constitutes a new chapter in Title 70 RCW. --- END --- Edit Note: I removed the line numbers from this re-print in order to make the format easier to read. - Chris

Thanks guys, you've given me plenty to think about!

Not to get off track, Rocky, but my strategy has always been to take a bearing to the skiers left or right of the Palmer chair, depending on wind direction, then descending until my altimeter reports that I'm about 1/4 to 1/3 below the top of the chair. Then its a simple matter to turn towards the chair lift and maintain elevation until you cross under the cables. Then I just have to follow the Palmer and Magic Mile Chairs to the Lodge. I still disagree with your argument that the USFS, or any land manager, should be following up with permits. The point of the Wilderness Permit is to document user days. The point of the climber's sign-in sheet is to verify the itinerary after a third party has contacted the USFS and reported a climber overdue. Again, the reguirement to be responsible adults should be on the climbers, not on the government. Requiring the USFS to do anything more than gather up these scraps of paper for use studies is simply a step toward fees and regulations.

So the BD Cobra and Viper have identical geometry. But the cost difference ($110.00) is significant. What do you think? Does the carbon fiber justify the extra cash? Has anyone actually used both tools and can give us some comparison?

So many things have become obvious in these threads. Please correct me if I am off base. One of the glaring issues I see is little or no infrastructure on Hood to support climbers. Silcox sounds like it gets used as much by climbers today as when it was abandoned and unused 40 years ago. No one keeping track of who is on the mountain or where they might be. No daily or current on site weather or avi info available. As much as I get annoyed at the NPS on Denali or Rainier , Parks Canada or even climbing in Chamonix all those things are easily available..current weather and avi conditions, a useful hut system for when the mountains flush you out and someone in most cases requires you to register...and they actually keep track of your route and OVER DUE date and time. 10,000 climbers a year on Hood and no support required? No wonder we see an abnormal amount of accidents there. Dane and Rocky, I'm going to respectfully disagree. There is more support for climbing Mt. Hood then there is, say, for climbing Mt. Baker or Shuksan, two peaks that are managed similarly. And in the five times I've climbed the hill, I've never not found the Wilderness Permit and Climbers Sign in sheet. There's Timberline Lodge and the Ski Area building at the base; a cat and chairlift service; its possible to find shelter in the Magic Mile and Palmer lift shacks if you look around; reliable weather reports can be found online at the National Weather Service, the Weather Underground, and the Northwest Avalanche Center; and NWAC provides a specific avie forecast for the Mt. Hood area. most people have at least one spouse/significant other/domestic partner/room mate/friend/drug dealer/loan shark (I'm sure there are exceptions on cc.com), with whom they could reliably check in/out with. The difference from many other management examples - such as Rainier - is that the burden to find these resources and use them is on the climber, not the land manager. And that's the way I would prefer it. The other end of the spectrum is a ranger, 24/7, whom you must check in/out with who has the authority to prevent your climb due to weather hazard, avie hazard, or thinks you don't look "prepared" or "equipped" for your climb. Such a system is impossibly expensive and restrictive. So we get systems like Rainier's as a compromise, where climbers have to check in with a live ranger, get lectured, and then go. And the fee's that come with it to have that ranger there - which means you need another ranger around to enforce the regulations - which costs more - oh, this is getting complicated... So instead of "requiring," lets "encourage" climbers and skiers to come with SPOTs or MLUs or PLBs or (my personal favorite) PBRs! Lets encourage climbers to take responsibility for themselves - and how about a notice that gives directions for what to do if there aren't any forms left, "If there are no Wilderness Permits or Climber Sign In/Out Sheets available, please leave a note here with the following information..." If people don't take advantage of the incredible amount of services and conveniences available to them for their climb of Mt Hood, if accidents happen, then we should all bow our heads, light a candle, and learn from the event. But we should not start to cry out for someone else to start supervising our actions, out of fear that we can't take care of ourselves. What do you think? Chris Now, what I'd really like is a refugio on top of the Palmer lift!

Member of the 11% club.

Letsroll has it right. With that difference in your ski/skin sizes, you're going to have real trouble setting a side-hill skin track on any kind of firm snow. Since up hill is rarely head-on, you'll notice the difficulty immediately. You might be up for it, but what about your partners? Wall-to-wall, tip-to-tail, is best and will last the life of the skis. If you're on a real budget, treat this like an investment. Do it right the first time so you don't have to spend more money to correct a poor purchase decision later. Chris

Make a reservation to stay at La Posada. Also book to have them pick you up at the Monterrey airport rather than messing with the bus or negotiating with a cab driver. Like its been said, you're a 15 minute walk to the crag, the grocery store is either a 30 minute walk or a quick hitch in town, there is a guest kitchen/common area at Posada, and three restaurants and one cafe just outside the gate. One note. The market is a really popular thing to hit on Tuesday and Fridays. But if you want your money to stay in the local economy, buy your groceries from the groceria and carneceria near the plaza. The vendors at the market are all from out of town, and only a fraction of the market's fee to the city makes it back to the local community. Chris

Erie's great for when you don't have all day. Just expect to take some time getting acquainted with each wall and the maze of trails that connects them. Unfortunately, Dallas' book is the only game in town and the maps are a little vague and in a couple of instances just plain wrong, unless down-climbing 3rd or 4th class terrain constitutes a "trail". Chris

Because of FF's downtown location, they deal with shoplifting attempts pretty regularly. Don't take it personally.