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I'm wildly speculating dat olt Helmy went to Pacific rather zan Old Country?

I've lost some aluminum tent poles for a "Frog" style tent but have set for a four-pole dome that has gone cheese-smelling and is headed for dump. Does anybody have a method for adapting these things-- ie cutting them down to correct length & saving the tips? Not a very interesting question but anybody's experience might be helpful to me. Replacing them seems far too costly.

I found a NF Nuptse on the sidewalk in Jersey City. Plenty warm, but no hood. I forget what the cleaning bill came to. I just packed it with my 1972 REI down bag for a ski tour to New Mexico.

Backcountry ski boot selection at REI is somewhat limited and includes both pins & no pins; weights vary. Prices look very cheap. I'm interested in lightweight backpacking on moderate to easy terrain. I appreciate lightweight gear. Any suggestions--specific or general--- REI or otherwise?

I may buy backcountry ski boots from REI's current selection. There are several very low prices. Any informed critiques? Better sources?

Am well-rested old-school xc skier looking to get new gear. I grew up reading magazine stories of Galen Rowell, et al., circumnavigating Mckinley on relatively narrow skis and three-pin bindings (he later said it was a dumb idea). I skied almost daily in New England for a few seasons, & also various trips ---including a few weekends in the Cascades, which made me almost swear off the sport on waxable wood skis. I'm bewildered by what to get, as my favorite ski shoes had leather soles....I started at the lifts with lace-ups. Right now, I've got some decent used backcountry skis with "micro edges" and NNC Backcountry bindings. I also have a pair of heavy-weight three=pins. So what boots should I get for backpacking on mule trails or whatever? & should I re-install the three-pins?

I climbed pretty much your route to the Mix-Up ridge crest in August 1992-- probably the same couloir. We turned back at the crest because it looked a very long way to summit. Noticed an old bit of iron at our high point.

I am by no means expert on this subject, but in a brush-up session with Canadian guides this summer I was very much struck by something. I should mention Canadian guides pride themselves on a much more rigorous, (multi-year & regimented) training program than U.S. guides, (though I might note the late, great, whatizname from Calgary wrote a short book on snow climbing aboot 20 yrs ago, that is downright weird, but don't take his name in vain north of the 48th) To get to the point: They said in typical summer snow firn, a single axe, buried as deadman, is adequate as anchor. Full stop. There was a little trick they added, such that a simple girth hitch wasn't recommended, but I forget exactly what it was. This is a far cry from Andy Selters' first edition, which advocates three separate anchors, preferably pickets, used as deadmen. (The Canadian guides claimed that flukes are to be avoided in preference to ice axe.) It seems possible that Selters was to some degree reacting against relatively early editions of "Freedom of the Hills" which presumably represented standard wisdom of the time, and which certainly gave inadequate and perhaps wrong advise on snow anchors and crevasse rescue. From my own experience, however, I can say very little at all. I'd be very interested in current, informed-by-experience opinion from south of the 48th. -- ____

I actually owned a pair of the Woolriche Knockers. Nowadays, I just roll up my pants so I can see my feet better, & get the "knicker" effect. I remember a tent I bought from REI in 1972. It was cotton A frame, with a coated nylon floor, very narrow and low at one end & high at the other. Very cool. I think Tom Miller took a picture of a very similar model in the Picketts in the 1960s that appeared in a Harvey Manning "Freedom of the Hills" edition. Would love to see a complete collection of old catalogs. Does anybody remember the cotton, Sacs Millet? ---

Sounds like the quintessential American Town, and a place I'd actually like to get to know. Never been there but I bet that's where some of my gear ended up after my window was smashed at Icicle Creek years ago.

Hey-- on the other hand, the poor, hardworking folks might deserve a little break. Yes, they're mostly pathological jerks, but then not quite as bad as politicians, real estate & car salesmen--I mean salespeople (not salespersons). I used to do that stuff mu-self for far worse publications...Like the (long defunct) Lacey Leader of Washington...(apologies for getting way off the thread) ---

Hmm... wouldn't Nick's suggestion screw up the rope and add lots of drag--- or I guess you could throw a long sling in there....& I suppose it of course depends on exactly where route goes.... my mind is slightly boggled & never considered the idea....I certainly appreciate suggestions about early pro in route. A guy died from groundfall at Gunks 10 days ago on 5.5 after piece pulled (theory is cam walked) and earlier 1-2 pieces weren't high enough to keep him off deck. (second guy to eat it there this year). ---

I got the Brio 50 on sale before they changed the design slightly, for like C$60 bucks. I like it pretty good, and it's the first time in 20 years I actually bought a pack that fits. But I really wish I could overcome my stinginess, and buy really decent-quality stuff for a change. The thing is, this stuff is liable to last forever, whether it's good or bad. I still have a Sierra Designs pack I bought in 1973 and it's usable, even though it started to blow out a few years after I bought it. REI brand is kinda like buying "Sears Best;" you won't be cool. I've got a Mt. Smith expedition-size pack ten years ago. It works and I expect to use it again, but actually, I think it's pretty lousy. They may have evolved their designs a lot since then, I don't know, & don't really wanna know, given my prior experience. --

This is rather unfortunate news for the sport. As for local news, I wouldn't call television of any sort an actual news source. The Oregonian isn't a bad smalltown newspaper; probably as good as any in Seattle.

The comment about being tight on anchor is confusing. I mean tight only relative to the direction of an upward pull.

So I reach a belay ledge and set up a two or three-point anchor & bring up second, & so far so good. Then, second is tied in to the cordellete, & leader shoves off. But just how critical is it that an additional anchor be first set below belayer? Let's assume the first, three-point anchor is multi-directional, but a little above belayer. Guides I've climbed with don't bother with setting additional anchor, and doing so is a pain, or sometimes perhaps impossible. I'd be interested in opinions/answers.

Given my ongoing morbid curiosity regarding the lunatic-fringe right wing, I was interested to see what creationists might have to say about the discovery of midget pre-humans in Indonesia recently. Naturally, I turned to the links page helpfully provided on cascadeclimbers "access page" earlier this year by our correspondent from Brinnon, "Sailboy," in connection with his support for reconstructing an access road to the former R.V. camp near Brinnon, Wash., on the Dosewallops River. Despite a careful search of the site, brinnonprosperity.org I was unable to locate this link, previously available, to a creationist site that described various and sundry weird visions, purporting to disprove evolution. All of my other favorite links, sponsored by big timber & mining interests, et alia, (alas, not necessarily the "lunatic fringe,") remain available through links on the site's "focus points" page regarding the Dose. If Sailboy happens to notice this post, can he please provide the creationist link so that I may further my sociological education? =====

Read the guidebook and then seek further into from ONP rangers. I have no idea if most of them know much, but you'll be in best position by also reading climbing sections of latest Robert Wood Hiking Guide from The Mountaineers publishing operations.

If not November, what's best month for Pershing? Also, what are feasible bivouac areas for slower parties?

My wonderful contribution: Throwing giant turds on to alpine tree branches at moderately remote notch in NCNP; I figured this was a reasonable environmental alternative 2) being horrified by giant human turds at St. Peter's Gate in ONP this summer, which I removed with a disgusted kick.

Marching around Ft. Lewis might be no fun, but it's an easy commute to Olympia area, which isn't so bad.` If your wife is undergrad, she could get a degree at Evergreen, which is okay in anthropology, relatively hassel-free and even utilitarian & respectable in most civilized circles.

Mt Mouse posted the correct route and it's way more than you're calculating. To answer your question about taking Hoh glacier to the river, you'd never make it, probably, because of canyons. Maybe you should consider a speed record on Olympus, which is at least a 40- mile round trip on trail, and only 7000 feet elevation gain.

I'm thick-headed, but were they hit by this year's snow or earlier: A snow ramp collapsed inside a crevasse. Small pockets of fresh snow can kill, but dis could suggest part of an old snow bridge or lip was involved. One shouldn't dwell on it much I suppose; sorry. --

No to filters. There is really little to say about carrying very little. Nelson has succinct write-up on his store Web site.

I've used 1995 Lowe "Snow Peak" (discontinued) extensively for multi-day alpine climbs. 50 cl frameless. Weight is as minimal as they come. Doesn't fit my torso length. Yet at times I've considered it ideal. Purchased MEC Brio, slightly larger & significantly heavier, with removable framesheet-- carries loads better, and fits me pretty good, but probably less ideal as alpine day pack because it's too big... Currently I believe neither of these packs are ideal for multi-day alpine, thoug MEC probably better. Arc'Teryx brand looks to me like they make the best packs. Never tried'em. No such thing as perfect pack. __