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Well done Gents!

The parking lot was loaded all weekend and there were always cars in the lot even on weekdays. 10-15 skiers passed us on the way out Sunday. They all were up at Hyalite Lake skiing the bowls. Ice climbers all over, day hikers, dogs. Anker and Croft were guiding a bunch of people on Genesis. Everyone got along and we saw very few people on climbs we wanted to do. Seems like the place begs to remain plowed and open all winter from now on, but Conrad said we should all write a letter to the Forest service stating how much we enjoyed driving to the end of the road as the long term is still up in the air. Team Geezer plans on a return engagement next year as I think we missed tasting a Nut Brown at the Ale House.

Trip: Hyalite - Some ice 2/19-2/24 Date: 2/19/2009 Trip Report: Sometimes getting old gets old. Multiple aches and pains seem to take longer to heal and something always hurts. I hurt my thumb?? skiing the previous week and it still hurts. The year old tendonitis in my elbow still nags. My shoulders are trashed from years of ice climbing. Yet we still go. The 3 Geezers went on their annual ice climbing/drinking fest for February and as usual all of the aches and pains melted away on the cold ice, and the multiple brews we tested each night helped as well. After 10 straight years of going to Canmore/Banff, we decided maybe it was time to start a new tradition and try somewhere else. I have relatives in Bozeman, so accomodations were cheap. Same drive time as Banff, lets go! I'd been there a couple of times, but neither of the other two had ever been climbing in Montana. Geezer2 drove up to my place from Portland the previous night and Geezer1 met us at my house bright and early for the drive. This was when Geezer2 announced that he thought he might have forgotten some key piece of gear. He described some metal sticks with pointy things on the end and after some sign language and jumping up and down we figured out that they were ice tools. Early stage dementia had reared it's ugly head early this trip! We loaded up in the car and drove up to Geezer1's house and grabbed his old Pulsars. Ominous start to be sure. The drive to Bozeman was uneventful and Geezer2 slept in the back of the car 4/5's of the time as we old people are want to do. Arrived in Bozeman, checked out the accomodations that happened to be a relatives empty house as they were on vacation in S.Cal. The "Clumsy Lovers" were playing in town so we went out to hang with the college kids and drink until the wee hours while listening to great music. Next morning was clear in town, but as we drove up to Hyalite the skies darkened and it was blowing snow in the lot. We decided to go up and warm up on Dribbles and blow the cobwebs out. Dribbles middle right. Pic taken from across valley. We left the car in the driving snow and proceeded to wander around in circles for almost an hour looking for the right trail. "No those aren't our tracks, I know where we are".We finally found what we thought was right and arrived at Dribbles in deep snow. Fun climbing, although Geezer2 opted out of pitch 2 due to a ski injury to his back. Geezer1 and I continued up good ice. We spent the rest of the day playing on top-rope while Geezer2 worked the kinks out of his back and was soon up to form. A night of drinking again led to a foggy next morning, although the skies were clear. 3degrees at the car was a bit extreme, but we decided to go for Mummy CoolerII and the Sceptor. Both were great, although we were hiding from the waterfall on the Sceptor when the sun hit the climb. The next morning, Geezer1 awoke looking like poo-poo and crawled back into bed with the sweats and announced he wasn't moving for a day. Geezer2 and I decided to give Cleopatra's needle a go as I hadn't done it and the temps were mild. Cleo's. Notice the 2 caves behind the main pillar. ] We humped our way up to the base and decided that we should "thread the needle", which requires going up the right side. The first pitch was straightforward: Nice belay cave to check the views. Airborne Ranger not quite thick enough: You can find a WI5 pitch anywhere, but when do you have the chance to climb up the back of a pillar, through a small opening into another cave and then do a wild exit onto a WI5 pillar? Looking up at the hole I wasn't sure I would fit through the opening, but I gotta try. After barely getting my shoulders through, I'm doing light wrist flicks onto bad ice to try and get sticks. I couldn't bend my elbows to swing. I also couldn't bend my knees, so I had to walk my toes up chandeliered ice. After grunting groaning spitting and cussing my way up I finally emerged in the upper cave. I had to take 5 just to catch my breath after the thrutch. The step out of the cave had big exposure and was way cool: Geezer2 had a bit of a easier time in the birth canal as he's a wee lad. What a great climb! 2 Buds on top. Doesn't get any better. The rappell: The next day Geezer2 had rallied and was ready to go. Geezer2 &3 were a bit whipped, so we chose something a bit easier and went for Slot Corner and Land of the Lost, which brings you directly under Winter Dance. After chatting with Conrad Anker and Peter Croft in the parking lot we headed up valley. Good climbing with a alpine feel. Slot Corner: Leading up to Land of the Lost: Geezer1 topping out: Good thing that climb over his shoulder wasn't in or he would have made us go for it: That night we celebrated a great trip by closing down the bars and making the drive home looong. Geezer1 drove the whole way and dumped us out in the driveway. Great trip with good friends. Seems like the ice trips get better and better despite the aches and pains...go figure. Gear Notes: Leashes(we're old), pointy things, Guinness Approach Notes: Wander around on wheelchair trails, foot paths and dog trails until you figure it out.

Depends on what you are looking for. I always stay in a Gite when I'm in Chamonix. They are like a hostel, only not usually as nice/fancy. The Gite Ski Station is where we stayed last year and it was rustic, but clean and the owner was VERY nice and even let us store gear in the attic for a week when we were on the Haute Route. I think it was about 12Euro a night per person which is way cheap for there. It is next door to the Brenva ski lift. There are a number of other Gite's in the area as well. Usually you have to call them to reserve as the interweb reservation thing is not in their interest/budget. Google Chamonix Gite to find some. I've stayed at a couple of others in town as well. PM me if you have additional questions as I have been to Cham quite a few times.

Kulina women speak a completely different language from men... and that is different from the rest of the world - how? Because they gave up even trying...perfect.

"The Kulina are also known for their complex language. FUNAI studies show that Kulina women speak a completely different language from the men." The perfect society has been found!! ...except for the eating people thing...

Great job Gents! Kyle's back must be back.

While not as improbable as this; [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqBpYvgcnQI&feature=related it did look a little dicey on the traverse at first.Whenever I got a little nervous, I pulled out my picture of Cinnamon from IMF to pull me through...she was inspiring! It was a great day on the Improbable traverse with Ade. The weather was excellent and the climbing was never boring the whole way. Although Ade did take quite awhile on the traverse pitch, I wasn't hardly any quicker following and those slopey footholds with boots on were less than inspiring. I await my next mission assignment from IMF with Ade...Chris out.

Scarpa Denali AT boots for sale. Intuition liners that have been baked once. I used these on the Haute Route last spring and they worked great. They are a burly 4 buckle boot. I live in Stanwood and work in Kirkland and can bring them to work if you are in the Seattle area. First $100 gets 'em.

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Scott - The Sphinx is right up your alley. Just make sure the avy danger is low. Have fun up there. Chris

We did the Roan Wall Tuesday. Great route and the approach was easier than I thought it would be. I did have a first in the mountains tho. While belaying my partner up to the base of the 5.11 pitch halfway up I heard a loud crash. I look up to see a TREE STUMP the size of a refrigerator flying down the wall. It hits 2 pitches above me, and then again it hits about 30 ft away from me on the wall. I took some shrapnel hits of small wood, but was ok after cleaning my shorts. Luckily my partner was traversing in from the other direction, so it was a little farther away from him. That was one helpless feeling of watching that monster come down at me and I'm locked into the belay. It looked to be coming straight at me until it hit above me and veered right. I'm not sure what the terminal velocity of a tree stump is, but it looked to be coming at me at about 100+ mph. Holy Sheeeeeeiiiiite! Be careful up there!

You do not need two ropes for either the ledges descent or the west ridge. If the approach couloir to the ridge is out, then the rock access works just fine. I saw the North face of Buckner a month ago and it looked pretty out of shape. I'd guess that now it is completely done. The north face couloir might be a possibilty, but the shrund can be iffy and it will be solid ice up the route while dodging golf balls in that bowling alley. There are other great routes on Forbidden that you can do as well. The North Ridge and East ridge are worthy and you'll have the descent dialed after the West ridge.

That is not the route you are referring to. The Tacul/Maudi route is not nearly as busy as the standard route as it is a lot longer summit day. I did it a few years ago and met about 5 other groups on the route on the way down...hardly a "solid line". And if your in Spain and not visiting the Alps, you will regret it. There's plenty to do away from any crowds.

Had to deploy parachute mid-route http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26123410/

Ice; 600-700 minutes to Banff

Sir Edmund when asked about the crux of climbing a 8000m peak; "Finding 2 inches of dick behind 8 inches of down when time to pee."

As of 5pm friday July 11th, the road is now open all of the way to Cascade pass trailhead. We celebrated by being the 1st car to Bostin Basin TH and doing the East ridge of Forbidden.

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Nice work Wade and Steve. Good to see you at the Beer Shrine. We did the north face the weekend before and postholed up to our knees the whole way in mashed potato's...brutal going...but the approach sure was nice covered in snow.

Never seen much of any American scene in Chamonix. Place is overrun with Limey's though...

There's one available through the American Alpine Club. I just booked a different one for a upcoming trip to the Alps. I thought the AAC one was a little too spendy, but you don't have as many choices for South America. The trend is private rescue companies that you call and they evac you in emergency. Lots of choices and short distances in the Alps...the Cordillera Blanca will take some more research to make sure they can get there in a reasonable amount of time. http://www.americanalpineclub.org/pages/page/97

Great work Scott! We'll have to get out again sometime and get some alpine.

It's all good

I thought that is what I was doing by rationally talking to the Supervisor, letting him know my concerns and the reasons, allowing him to investigate before taking it any farther, and letting him state his case, which I found to be weak in the end. The next step is taking higher up. I never thought they were "evil" or doing it to be asses, but there is a definate lack of clear risk management practices in this case in my opinion.