johndavidjr

If you go to Boston Basin and then take a left-hand turn, in about a mile or two of easy hiking, you reach a small glacier beneath Torment. I wonder if you can camp here without a permit. It's perfectly nice. I once tried to climb Torment from this angle, but the gully to right of a very moderate and attractive face on Torment was melted out at the bottom and inaccessible. We'd hoped to use this gully for access to face. Piecing together an alternative access to this face may not be especially difficult, but we failed. There's probably other stuff you could do here. I remember passing an impressive & solid-looking (??) little pinnacle that I've never heard reference to. I also did a pointless route on east face of Mix-up once, leading to one of rock points maybe 600 yds north of summit. Interesting, easy, pretty but not recommended. We found a bolt from maybe 1960--- so our route both went nowhere and obviously wasn't an FA....

Those tarp tents for more than $250 are perfectly good minimalist shelters for moderate weather, but another good reason to go to Wal-Mart and buy something similar for $20. Cheap tents don't last?? Mine lasted until the floor completely wore out like a rag. A floor is a floor; it's just textiles. They don't use kevlar. Could be, buy a $400 BD or Swedish tent or whatever... AND a Wal-Mart to save wear and tear when the groovy tent isn't required. Floorless tents are great. My current mainstay, having been burned in floor department. But won't keep the bugs out like a Wal-Mart special.

When I gave away my K-mart tent, (subsequently abandoned on a Costa Rican volcano) the textiles of the floor had worn away to something resembling bug netting. This took a fair amount of use over more than ten years, about a third of it directly on beach sand. I'd be surprised if Nelson ever carries Nemo tents, but who knows? Wal-Mart won't..

Six Moons at $200-plus is a good example of why a $20 Wal-Mart tent is a good idea. They both provide roughly the same fairly minimal but often adequate protection. The Wal-Mart tent is somewhat larger, and weighs more -- by about the equivalent of two pints of water or less, if you ditch the poles and steel stakes. Shopping at a mountaineers' boutique is a lot more fun than at Wal-Mart, but it doesn't necessarily make you smarter. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8136423 Many of the "wise" 30 years ago said hiking in sneakers was foolish, and high-cost and heavy "wafflestompers" were a necessity. Wore Keds on a 50-mile hike up a 13,000 hill in New Mexico in 1972. Worked good. My little cotton REI tent of the era wasn't up to current Wal-Mart standards, but was certainly expensive, and even, I thought, conferred a certain prestige.

Yeah I fully understand difference between alpine vs. cragging. I really do. "Class 2-4" is wildly sandbagged in my view, in NW guidebooks, probably killing many a poor little boy scout foolish enough to take generic definitions at face value. But when for example somebody rates a new route in NCascades 5.9, should I interpret this as 5.4?

This is guaranteed to irritate and create flames. So in a sense, am merely a troll asking for abuse but... In the Shawangunks, I've climbed a fair number of .7s and a few .8s. Irritatingly hard stuff. (Actually my routine leads have been in pitiful .3-.4 range, which one can do on a craig but maybe not wisely in mountains.) Guidebooks call N.ridge Stuart (easy version) a .7 and W. ridge Forbidden a .4, both of which I've followed and would rate them maybe .3 and .0 by Gunks standards. I dimly remember "Beckey Route" on LB is maybe a .4 by Gunks rating, and is officially a .6. Reasonably well-accomplished and athletic climbers find these distinctions trivial, yet they are made. My guess is ratings in Washington guidebooks are wildly imprecise, often, compared with intensively climbed Gunks. Maybe this is most true at the low end of difficulty, but I certainly wouldn't know. Whole class 2-4 thing (unknown in Gunks) seems hopelessly sandbagged and nearly meaningless. (Some ambitious and well-meaning hikers might be killed by misreading a "class two" WA guidebook rating.) I have zero confidence that I understand the published class 5 ratings.

One has great respect for them. But back in 1970s at Rainier NP, we used to avoid them and call them the "ranger danger."

Excellent comment. Barnum, incidentally, was associated biographically with Bridgeport, Connecticut (where you can visit a museum located amidst long-standing economic devastation) and I think, the waaaay upper Manhattan, Noo YORK.....which we call Harlem......

Another "So What?" post: Last week, I visited Rheinhold Messner's "Messner Mountain Museum" in Bolzano, Italy. There are four museums operated by Messner in Northeast Italy (South Tyrol and Dolomites) a German-speaking area which is certainly alpine but less remarkable, apparently, than the much higher alps to west (though I've seen little to nothing of these places). RM lives in his Juval museum location supposedly, but I mistakenly believed he lived in Bolzano, and wanted to briefly drive by on our way through Brenner Pass, the lowest major alpine pass and the only major pass that doesn't include significant highway/rail tunnels. My very well-meaning but misguided girl friend strongly suggested we spend the $14 each for admission. Although it's a pleasant place, a typical 13th Century (?) fortress, with interesting modern architectural adaptations, I didn't find contents even remotely worth the money and more importantly, the time that we spent. My GF's sister suggested today that I make it my life's goal to visit all four Messner museums, much as Messner made it his goal to climb all 8,000m peaks. A somewhat clever and appropriately snarky comment. Whatever....Sorry....

First LIght is too short????

I've been hearing some new bad news about Aliens. What's up with that?

Or go below treeline. If the weather warrants and it's a plausible approach, maybe you could plan on it. Sometimes that's only a short distance away from some utterly nasty camp site. If you're a "newbie" and plan to camp far above the trees in a storm, okay, that's great. Then by all means, bring a zillion-pole tent and do also build the snow walls and etc. Give yourself time for all this, and eat a good breakfast!!! Have fun too.

This thread MUST die, and mostly has. Forgive me. But the wonderful and superlight $19 Wally World tents, which do work pretty good, often, but definitely not always, and yet which nonetheless, really s**k... (a peculiarly mysterious paradox)... ...Actually don't have a "top half."

MattP comes to my rescue again, mentioning the common-sense exceptions. My sarcasm above was purely in response to several utterly gratuitous attacks within THIS thread, only after which did I comment. There is a weird, rather extreme, and essentially irrational hostility to notion that one need not spend vast amounts on tentage and/or whatever else one may personally identify with down at the local shopping mall. Lately "granite counter tops" seem to be the rage. It's a bit like driving down the highway. Nearly all the cars seem to go along. A few unhappy people spend their lives telling others which car is best. A couple of the many nights I've camped in moderately heavy snowfall was under a rectangular tarp configured in a somewhat complex manner, such that it afforded complete protection from substantial wind and nasty weather. That was long prior to Tyvek, in 1974, and I'd already had a fair number of seasons camping at times in similar conditions with several types of shelters. I spent better part of two full summers in 1970s in that era's equivalent of a Wal-Mart puptent. No complaints. That same tent in a heavy snowfall in 1983 was very much unsatisfactory, but better than nothing. The Chinese tent-factory workers seem to do well enough sewing in the bug netting, whether for North Face Corp.'s expedition tents, or whatever Wal-Mart supplier. One key is probably seam sealant.

My answer to your first question should be obvious. As for your second point, I think the question of tent selection is much over-rated, partly due to societal corruption by "consumerism." More generally, I'd stick with my point from some months ago, based on personal experience over several decades with many different kinds of tents in widely varied conditions, which is, that a Wal-mart pup tent for $19 is for most people most of the time, an entirely reasonable, much lighter and in general more effective alternative than a $XXX zillion mountaineering or even "backpacking" tent from Sweden (more likely China), at least as a solo rig. I'd certainly accept many exceptions to this statement, based on common sense. If you doubt that common sense is common, maybe it's due to misunderstanding the definition. Currently I use mainly several "tarptent" rigs in four seasons. I also own a NF "tadpole" design with full storm flaps, but I lost the poles a number of years ago. Some day, I may replace them.

"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

no insurance Oh....AND PLEASE DON'T ASK US TO RESCUE YOU ---effen y'all don't buy a very expensive tent. I for one, have ten chil'en and three wives dat needs me sorely.....ah don' need'ta go dyin' on account y'all bought some tent dat wazn't 'zpensive 'nuff........

The California Sierra in summer is the classic "Death Zone" for tents. Washington's North Cascades are well-known as a far more dangerous place and requires nothing less than "Technical Tents." Anything less is simply asking for death. It's a very complex subject, not readily understood without many years of experience as well as a substantial credit card limit.... Without these prerequisites... You Will Certainly Die.

That's like, dude, so articulate fer shure, and cool, like I dunno like even know what to say!!! It's like, vhen I was on Makalu wiz my dog wrapped in builders' plastic, I zed zis guy dat "consumate douchebag" would know zat "ze finest ekvipment zat Geld kan buy is vat you vants alvaayz ven nozing elz vill doo fhu ze azent until you die!!"

That's like OMG so true dude, fer shure, that like fer sure when you like go to those like totally rad places? Like, fer shure, man when I soloed Cho Oyu or like that time on like Mt Erebus, fer shure, with my old chick friend and like that chick dog? Like dude, oh, baby, I'd like so totally wanna buy, fer shure, like those Swedish jobs or if you're a Pisces I'd like wanna buy somethin' from like REI or like definitely check out one of those Chouinard stores at thuh mall! Gag me with a pitchfork!! Oh, wow!! Oh, wow!

Thanks Y'ALL for remembering me. Zat ez so cool... Ze suppozed inventor of ze spring-loaded camming device and former Yosemite hard-man particularly recommends ze builders' plastic among other no-fuss alternatives. Ve spek of Ray Jardine........ Ef Wal-Mart carries zat stuff ve dunno, but ouh knows about ze "Eypermartz" in your cuontry? Meanwhile, good luck to all on ze next trip into "ze orrible Death Zone" of summer Cascades, where "only ze finest equipment" can keeps ze bravest uf man from ze blackest and sadest of ze endings. Etz about ze jhob? No? U vent to Uhneverzity?? Zo nice to byu vat chou like vom ze lovely katalog dat ve like.

Something about Fred Beckey's boots for sale http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=330324800379

No question about MK's sterling credentials as both climber and editor. However, during the brief period that I frequently read Climbing Magazine, (at least a dozen years ago), I remember thinking that perhaps too many stories were focused on a rather narrow roster of climbers. Don't know that was correct. More problematic was a distracting emphasis on editorial and graphical glitz, perhaps to appeal to a particular "demographic" of which I am/was no longer a member. Alpinist seemed like it was aimed at a slightly higher level, but I guess advertisers weren't quite convinced. Great timing for re-launch!!!

Lasted many seasons with boots too heavy. Once rented ill-fitting plastics; extremely stupid, needless disaster on lovely & tame Mt. Torment in July. Wrecked all. Got them super-light summer mtrng boots a few years ago when I still had a job; werry werry nice, but'd werry quick fall with serious use apart, one think self forwards perhaps.

Brunton claims theirs is now brightest LED. Doubtful. What is current brightest LED?. What also is the Best and the Brightest, without cord to bat. pack? With cord? I've had various bad experiences with cord, including 1970s Forest Service item from unremembered major manufacturer. This guy had 4 big batteries in plastic pack and was absurdly, wonderfully bright. I probably killed at least four babies due to my toxic trash from this item....