Rad

Action and reflection are both important. Good luck finding your passion again.

What are you going to do with a lighter? Build a fire? That's not very feasible in the alpine and not very ecofriendly in many locations. Nothing wrong with mirrors and waving red jackets etc, but those will only help rescuers pinpoint your location once they're already in the area searching. Got any other "old school" things worth mentioning?

Excellent. Thx

Muchas gracias. Yes, FCC. Unless you're flying while radioing. Got a link to a site with info and/or a bunch of NW radio geeks to answer newbie questions? (e.g. what does "2m" mean? Is that a 2 meter wavelength?) Got an article or more info on the Blue Glacier incident you mentioned? Sounds like radio is worth comparing...

Just an edit to " there was no sign of the other two, who are still missing and presumed dead." Both bodies were recovered by PMR in late August. That rings a bell. This is for the 2009 accident, right? Let me know and we'll correct it (one advantage of web-based publishing). Thanks.

Amateur radio devices typically have higher power, operate at more frequencies, and can often hit repeaters in areas where cell phones cannot hit cell towers. Downside is a license is required although the requirements are fairly easy nowadays. I looked into this a bit, but ran into two challenges: 1 - the FCC license requirement. Can you tell us what the "fairly easy" process is that solves this issue? 2 - The people you're really want to talk to (law enforcement and rangers) won't tell you what frequency they use for their communication. What's the solution for that? On Mt Rainier, a number of recues were initiated by guide services with radios, but they're on the horn with the rangers and know the frequencies. Any advice on how to know what channel to use? 3 - If you can solve 1 and 2 above, what are the best units to consider? One can spend $50 on a radio or $250. I couldn't tell from product descriptions much difference in technical performance of these. PErhaps you can enlighten me. Feel free to pm if you don't want to post #2 here. Thanks. Rad

Anyone out there use the SPOT II or McMurdo FastFind or another PLB? Comments/feedback?

Thanks. I look forward to more responses. FYI, the Crystal skier wrote about his experience on line, acknowledging he took more risks than usual, but he attributed his increased comfort to having another party nearby (next gully over) and having safely done another run in the same area earlier in the afternoon.

Relax folks, that's a common joke. I've never eaten any raptors and wouldn't advocate that.

For those of you who haven't seen it, you might enjoy the article we put together on the role of signaling devices in mountain rescues: Climber 9-1-1 in the NWMJ But I'm posting because I have been asked to do another piece focused on devices and I want to solicit your input. Are there any useful devices we missed? Any errors you found that need correction? Comments from your experiences? Any comments on cell phone texting vs calling in the mtns - I hear there may be times when texts will go through when calls won't. True? Other comments? Thanks, Rad

But back to the point: the N Buttress of Middle Cathedral is definitely cool. I thought belays were fine, though we got rained off at pitch 11. Second Braille Book. Great route. I've never done them, but the routes up the Cathedral Spires look fun (both 5.9 I think).

A man was on trial for shooting and killing a bald eagle back when they were endangered. He explained that he was starving and needed to do it for food. The judge let him off with a warning and asked him after the trial what eagle tastes like. The man responded, "About the same as Whooping Crane and Spotted Owl".

Skullduggery will be dry. Go get the second ascent. I'd come but I've got to host a party midday.

finders keepers

Sweet. Major personal milestone achieved = WA's 100 highest peaks? Congrats.

Gene, I'm not that clever and thankfully have a wife that supports my habits. Blake, many cinnamon rolls were had!

Trip: Purple Peak - West Ridge and summit ridge traverse Date: 9/3/2010 Trip Report: My wife and I got married in Stehekin, and we now take our kids once or twice a year. Last week, my favorite trail run (Rainbow Loop) was closed due to a fire so I had to find something else. There is a trail directly above the cabin where we stay that climbs 5800 feet over 7.5 miles to Purple Pass, with too many switchbacks to count. But who needs a trail? The mountains surrounding upper Lake Chelan are well-suited to x-country travel. They have cliff bands that can usually be skirted, the forests are generally open, and the vegetation is pretty friendly. My cardio fitness suffered when I focused on sport climbing this summer, so I did a warm-up on September 1st: Started at 6:30am at first light, ascended about a thousand vertical feet on the trail, left the trail just before Purple Creek and headed up a ridge toward Purple Peak. At my turn around time of 8:30, I was about 4000ft up from the lake on a semi-detached spire. From my high point: I retraced my steps, knocking my cairns down along the way, until I reached the lake and plunged into its cool waters. Hot shower, eggs and pancakes, and on to help my 5 yo on her first ride without training wheels. Later in the day, I discovered I’d lost the camera somewhere on the side of Purple Peak. Ugh. But no pain so… September 3rd: 5:30am Lake Chelan (1100 ft) – Started by flashlight and found the key ramp through the lower cliff bands. 7:30am Reached my previous high point and FOUND THE MISSING CAMERA!!! 8:30am Reached Purple Peak (7200 ft). 9:30am Finished the longer-than-expected ridge traverse to Purple Pass (6884 ft). 10am Left Purple Pass after eating, resting, and changing socks. 10:50am Finished running from Purple Pass down to the Lake Chelan (5800 feet lost in 7.5 miles). One image you must create in your mind: Spectacular scarlet alpenglow on the jagged summits of Devore and Tupshin at first light (before recovering the camera). The next three shots show the route as seen from Purple Pass. Start at the lake and ascend the obvious ridge center of the frame... ...follow the ridge up to Purple Peak... ...and traverse from Purple Peak to Boulder Butte to Purple Pass... The following images from the journey start shortly after I found the camera. I found an ancient poem etched in a tree. The fallen and the survivors View from the summit looking North And back down the lake X-country travel, like trail running, is meditative. You look a few of steps ahead and flow with minimal conscious input, looking up periodically to navigate on different scales (40 ft, 400 ft). It is a time for reflection, a time to absorb the sounds, smells, and sights of nature: Ptarmigan exploding from the undergrowth, deer dancing into the darkness, falcons shrieking and riding the updrafts, trees creaking in the breeze, and Pikas squeaking. A time to empty the head and just be in the moment in the flesh. Sometimes I get a loop of song in my head that just goes in circles for a while. "I’m not present, I’m a drug that makes you dream, I’m an Aerostar, I’m a Cutlass Supreme, In the wrong lane, trying to turn against the flow, I’m the ocean, I’m a giant undertow, I’m the ocean, I’m the giant undertow." (NY) At the pass I changed into fresh socks and started running down the trail... With change comes opportunity. We are all connected. This trip would mark the passage of my running shoes from "protected" status to "approach shoe", a category where footwear is well-loved and well-worn, like the velveteen rabbit, until its destruction is complete. The lake was getting closer, the sun was warming the earth, and I felt great. I let out a whoop as I rounded a corner to see the spot where I'd left the trail earlier in the morning. Loop completed. I let my focus drift off target for a split second - and down I went, headfirst, onto the dusty trail. Pride before a fall indeed. I had a small cut on my hand that bled for the next ten minutes, but I was otherwise unhurt. Oh well, I could still claim no blisters or other damage. 10:51am Plunged in the lake. The wilderness is my church. As a boy, I climbed trees, caught critters in creeks, and built endless forts in the woods of central New Jersey. In college, I ran around the Sierras and added rock climbing to my toolkit. After grad school, I spent nearly a year exploring remote jungles and mountains in Southeast and central Asia. With three kids and a job it’s hard to get time for extended outings, but I still find a way to connect. It's wonderful to see our kids starting down the same path. Gear Notes: Running shoes Approach Notes: Ferry or floatplane because there are no roads to Stehekin.

Argh! Now he won't climb on command! Maybe someone smarter than me will insert the video loop here.

Nothing against the dude, but I am REALLY tired of watching him make the same moves over and over and over while I read Mtn proj beta. They need a larger pool of videos to cycle through that space! Heel hook, bump, deadpoint, heel hook, clip, chalk, reach - repeat ad infinitum

A toilet will require some creative thinking and a chunk of change, but it is definitely needed. Plenty of state parks have toilets that are perfectly nice. Not state park, but the toilets by the Serene trailhead are quite nice. The FS permit gestapo patrol that place frequently, which may help keep the riff raff away.

That will work your ankles more than boots but should work. Others with info on current conditions may comment.

Well, I only know one guy trying to break into the professional climbing photography scene, and he's one of the most positive people I've met. Talented too. As for the rest of the comments, take a chill pill. If Jason is only willing to pay $200 for an image, then he'll probably get an image worth only $200. That shouldn't diminish the value of all your $1000 images.

pm sent

Climbers group buys famed Index Lower Town Wall, saves it from quarry The Washington Climbers Coalition has purchased one of the state's most-famous rock climbing venues, the Lower Town Wall in Index. By Susan Gilmore Seattle Times staff reporter Related Lower Town Wall For information and photos go to www.washingtonclimbers.org/tools/ Map data ©2010 Google - Terms of UseSee more mapped stories The Washington Climbers Coalition has purchased one of the state's most-famous rock climbing venues, the Lower Town Wall in Index. Matt Perkins, secretary of the coalition, said the climbing group purchased the wall for $115,000 from a private landowner, Patricia Murphy. The group is trying to raise $300,000 for other additions to the wall, including parking, bathrooms and a walkway over railroad tracks. "Climbers have been working for more than 15 years to buy the Lower Town Wall," said Darryl Cramer, a WCC board member and guidebook author who has climbed the wall for nearly 30 years. "We've pulled it off and ensured that the Lower Town Wall will remain open to climbing forever." The climbing coalition hopes to donate the 20-acre parcel to Washington State Parks, said Perkins, and have it continue as a climbing wall. The state owns most of the property adjacent to the Lower Town Wall, including property containing the Upper Town Wall, another popular climbing destination. Snohomish County Parks is also interested in that property, said WCC. Climbers have been scaling the wall for more than 50 years, but earlier this year it was threatened with closure and conversion to a quarry. According to the climbing coalition, the cliffs and crags surrounding the town of Index have long offered some of the best granite climbing in Washington, and the Lower Town Wall is the gem of the area. It has been touted as one of the best climbing crags in the U.S., the coalition said. Last year, the owner of the property put up "no trespassing" signs because she was planning to sell the land to quarry operators, but the climbers coalition won an option to purchase the property and the owner agreed to allow climbing to continue while the group raised the money to purchase it. The group purchased the option with a loan from the Access Fund, a national climbing advocacy group. The group said it wants to name the climbing peak after civic leader and former president of KING Broadcasting Stimson Bullitt. Bullitt, who died last year, took up climbing at age 70 and climbed Index's Town Wall into his 80s. WCC plans to celebrate the purchase of the wall with a Sept. 19 party in Index.

Thanks. I'm sure I'll be whipping - hopefully from the chains at some point!