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olyclimber

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Posts posted by olyclimber

    REI

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Imagine the Enchantments “opened up” by instead of a lottery….an auction.   Highest bidder gets to camp.  ‘Merica! Fuck yeah!

    • Like 1

    Big Lou has passed at 95

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Never heard this before, seems like something everyone should know about:

     

    Quote

    The first time Jim and Lou Whittaker summited Mount Rainier, they both threw up. The twins were 16-year-old Boy Scouts in the summer of 1945, ascending via the Emmons Glacier with a few dozen others in the Seattle-based Mountaineers club. The sky was clear, but the two-day slog was harder than they expected. The underprepared boys were so dehydrated they melted snow in their mouths. Air is thin at 14,410 feet, and nausea is common “at elevation,” as climbers say. 

    But what happened next is still disputed some 67 years later.

     

    “Mom had packed a bunch of grapes, and you’re so thirsty up there,” says Lou Whittaker, now 83. “I threw up the grapes, re-ate a few of them.” Gross, yes, but he was a teenage boy. 

    But Jim, his older-by-10-minutes brother, won’t confirm it, “You can’t believe everything Louie says. He wants to make a good story, and those are good stories.” In his own biography, in fact, Lou wrote that the gross anecdote was a “story [that] got around…but that’s not true.”

     

    • LMAO 2

    REI

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    I know it’s long been sport to rip on REI, I’ve even at one point torn up my membership after they pissed me off with whatever, but man they have fallen since the days back when they were on Capitol Hill. 

    I even now know multiple really good people who work for them (or I think they still work for them…been lots of layoffs).

    But man they just keep digging deeper into the shite hole in my opinion.   I admit I still do have a membership. Bought a pair of cycling shoes a couple weeks ago with the sale.  But this kind of crap:

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/national-parks/2024/03/24/rei-signature-campground-grand-canyon/73085605007/

    Its sad.   The concept of a coop for outdoor gear is nice but they are instead of a corporate beast that lays off the people in the store who actually know anything and only hires seasonally to avoid paying benefits.

    With Promountain Sports going out of business where do you shop these days?  I think our sponsor has an American Alpine Institute  has a store up in Bellingham (never made it up during the right hours to check it out).  There is the place in Ballard, that just moved to somewhere else (used to be Second Ascent).  I’m talking places the actually have a good chosen selection of climbing, mountaineering, and skiing gear. 

    Remembering CC.commers we have lost

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    8 hours ago, ryland_moore said:

    Been a while since I have been on here but just learned that Steve Carper, founder of Terminal Gravity, passed away a few days ago from cancer. Steve was always bringing beer to our gatherings back in the day, always willing to show you around the Wallowas when chasing obscure ice lines and just an overall fun and friendly guy. RIP Steve.

    Damn. Steve was so nice . Got me two kegs for the first Rooeup I did, the one up at Chatter Creek. Then for all them after too.  That is sad news.

    RIP Matt Primomo

    in the *freshiezone*

    Posted

    I’m really sorry to hear of this, I did not know the deceased but I can tell you that obituary reposting (even if inaccurate) is a full on cottage industry. I read an article a while back about it. Definitely a dark corner of the internet IMO. I’ll probably remove Jason’s link soon because it has a scammy fake virus pop up. Don’t click on it or believe it!

    Pro Mountain Sports Closing

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    I went in and visited Jim yesterday. Definitely get in there and help a friend close out his business. Really good deals on some great quality equipment. Western Mountaineering sleeping bags, Montbell stuff, the usual great selection but at going out of business prices. It was good to see him!

    • Like 1

    Pro Mountain Sports Closing

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Well good for Jim and well, not so good for connoisseurs of climbing gear.   You certainly can't just go to REI to get what JIm has been selling....especially the advice, but also the thoughtful selection of quality gear.

    Thanks Jim, for your support of Cascadeclimber.com over the years, your support came in many forms.   For instance, helping me get the Guzzler to do a slide show one year for Ropeup.

    I'm sure you'll be glad to be done with the rat race and spend more up in the Methow.

    • Like 1
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