dan_forester

Is this the formation just SW (?) of the summit of Silver Star? nice pictures on this thread, by the way. thanks for kicking it off Tyler.

there's lots of loose rock in and around those chimneys on the west side of horsethief. use good judgement.

Someone asking Ivan about correct aiding ethics and grabbing gear on regular routes.....it stopped me dead in my tracks in wonderment and I had to slow down and re-read it. This is highly and spectacularly irregular..... Ivan could easily teach a master class in pulling on gear aka "alpine trickery" as I think he likes to call it? I'm no slouch in the pulling on gear dept either - aid climbing ruined me forever.

go do it Will - you'd like that climb I bet

I was contemplating this Ivan but using prussiks in aiding to climb up the rope is like grabbing the gear on regular routes, do not you think? What, like using prussiks while aiding is "bad style"? When you're aiding you get to dispense with such quaint notions of style. I always have prussiks on my harness but they're basically for emergency type situations only. Try prussiking up a 30m pitch sometime for practice to see how awesome it is - a couple of ascenders will seem reasonably priced after that experience. That said - ascenders are just a hassle on the pioneer route bolt ladder. It's easiest and fastest for the leader & follower to both aid the pitch. Without a fifi it would be a pain but not impossible. A friend of mine did it w/ just a carabiner on his belay loop and it took him like 1 1/2 hours (!) - another good learning experience. The benefit of the fifi, of course, is that when you unweight it, it will come right off - whereas with a biner, you've got to fiddle with getting the gate open, etc. It's too bad more people don't do a little aid practice before trying the pioneer route. The bolt ladder is trivial if you know what you're doing. I'd recommend that anyone who wants to climb that route go out & practice aiding on gear (on top rope even) one time, just to get the basic sequence down. That bolt ladder can be a frustrating place to do your first aid pitch.

I have taken this class, though it was about 5 years ago. When I took it I thought it was a good overview of a broad range of mountaineering skills, but it moved slowly. There were a lot of lectures and skill sessions in large groups. I don't remember a lot of real high-angle snow practice but the crevasse rescue sessions were useful. If you're mostly interested in the snow stuff I believe the Mazamas also offer a snow & ice class. If you already have significant experience climbing you might find the pace and the limited curriculum of the ICS class frustrating. I did meet some great partners in the class, so if you are looking for people to climb with, it's a good way to get to know fellow climbers. Some of the folks who help out with the class post here occasionally; maybe someone can chime in with more up-to-date information?

no need for a helmet on Mt St Helens

that pretty much sums it up!

Slandering people you don't know isn't really insight. I've met Monty a couple times and your description doesn't sound like him. which isn't to say that the Mazamas don't need to do a better job in general on managing their groups... taking a dozen people on a climb is irresponsible, and I wish they'd examine their policy on group size. I was involved in the Mazamas for a few years but am not any longer - I decided that their practice of mobbing routes with armies of inexperienced climbers was not something I want to be associated with. Dan Forester

no need for a bridge. some of us badly need the exercise. also the approach helps to keep that part of the park a little less crowded. good luck on your guidebook project - if you need something to spend all your profits on, I'm sure there are a ton of erosion control type projects out there that would be worthy (i.e. the walk off from the backside of Koala Rock, just to name one such potential project).

also at Rocky Butte - (1) warrior wall: don't remember the names of the climbs but there is a bolted 10 something on the right and an 11-something in the corner to the left. you could probably do some swinging between those 2. (2) also between espresso and blackberry jam, maybe? or even just on blackberry jam. I haven't been out there in a while so my memory might be faulty.

Nice pictures & nice work on the aid solo. Getting into the cave is really the only place you need to worry about knocking rocks off - there is a lot of loose stuff there. I think the rangers, and everyone else for that matter, would care a lot more about someone on the trail getting hit by a rock than by someone bivying discreetly in the cave. The last time I was at smith I saw the ranger scrambling over Asterisk Pass; I was surprised because I've never seen a ranger anywhere except the parking lot. He seemed like a friendly guy.

I've seen this at Shovel Point - ropes running across the trail, or is my memory bad here? No bolts at Taylor's Falls either? Sorry for the drift, the policies at crowded Minnesota state parks probably aren't relevant to whatever crag the OP is talking about, which I imagine is semi-remote?

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Great photos, Mtn Shots, esp. this one: thanks for bringing this back, Tyler!