Macson

Exactly. Talk about risk....what are the risk factors for heart disease and diabetes? Yes.

Oh, I didn't see the part where the climbers called 911 for rescue.

I didn't see in the "inventory" of what they found in the cave anything about shovels. If I was carrying an axe and a couple tools I could definitely see leaving the tools in favor of an axe and shovel. Presumably they (or he) still have a shovel so another cave could be built. Also, if they found rope in the cave, and rope outside as a signal it makes me wonder if they're all together. I mean, if 2 left they would have taken a rope with them, and I'd be surprised if they had more than 2 ropes.

DonnV, If you talked to them after they wrote their note for the rangers, you should probably call the ranger station and let them know about your conversation. Seems like those kind of details might aid the search.

I grew up a couple miles from Crystal Mt. in Michigan. 365' of vertical, but at least it was a real hill. At the time we all thought it was great! Lots of lake effect snow, plus artifical snow which makes for a pretty icy slope. Moving out here was a bit of a wakeup call, but I still prefer icy conditions over the heavy concrete here.

I have a hex 3, plus the nest and floor. I especially like using it snow camping with no floor, and a bivy. It's never come down in bad weather, although one time in a storm on Adams I buried the edges with snow and when I tried to take it down I had to spend 20 minutes with an ice axe chopping it out. Biggest drawbacks I've seen are that it can be loud in the wind and lots of potential partners are scared of it. I used to have a MH Trango Assault which was really bombproof but also about 8 1/2 lbs for 2 cramped people. It can be interesting in the lowlands....my wife once used it out at Ozette and had a civet cat come in in the middle of the night. That's when I had to go get the "nest". It was that or another tent for her. One more thing, if you use it without the floor on snow, make sure you put something under the pole.

What about Blazing Saddles? You've got a nice list there, but don't forget about Mel!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acolyte_%28disambiguation%29 I think he means a "devoted follower" or "attendant"....referring to the other Toast. Anyway, I'd go climbing but it just seems a little wet around here right now.

while your in photoshop, better take out the Black Diamond sticker on the helmet too! Nice pics.

If you have a problem with the skill level of the people teaching and leading, Jens, then why don't you put your money where your mouth is and do a little teaching for them? Or are you just complaining to hear your own voice?

Crossfit WOD: for time - 1500 pullups 50 handstand puchups

I went up to the basin last weekend with my wife. We ran into a couple who climbed Martin....they said the bugs drove them back down early. Bring deet. Lots of it.

It's not close by, but I'll be in Mazama with my 9 year old, and maybe my 6 year old over the weekend. If interested, pm for my cell#

D'oh

Bottom line is, life's too short to hold a grudge. He was probably just immersed in the moment. It was pretty sweet snow that time of day, and I was certainly jealous that they were getting a nice ride down while I was just about to start post holing!

I'm not sure if it was intentional or just bad skiing. We were descending and I stopped and said hi to his partner....asked him if he wanted me to go to his left or right so I would be out of their way. He said to me that it didn't matter since they could easily turn. His partner was still 500' up....looked like he might have been trying to get up the nerve to keep going. He crossed the rope by the end climber so I didn't know about it until it was already done. My partner yelled "hey, do those skis have metal edges?" and the guy yelled back "oh ya, sorry" and kept on going. We were on a pretty wide area just below the crater.

Is it "normal" for skiers to run over ropes on glaciers??? I don't think my little 3 man team was hogging up the Easton, so I'm a little pissed that some jackass figured he should run over my rope with his metal edged skis. Then again, I've only been climbing a few years....maybe this happens all the time.

My deepest sympathies to the family, friends and climbing partners of Hardy Batchelor, who passed away this morning. http://www.xsorbit6.com/users/stevefireb...;num=1148239866

I'll be in Mazama over memorial weekend. Climbing at fun rock on Sunday, maybe Saturday too with my 9 year old son if anyone's in the area.

It's not a new route, but the alpine rock section has a much better description and a topo for SE ridge of Washington (route 3). Something like 10 or so pitches and 2 rappels to get to the top. Looks like fun.

I like that they decided to add gps waypoints in some places, but why on earth did they use lat/lon instead of UTM? Are we supposed to sail to the top now?

http://www.rockclimbing.com/topic/16525

Actually, I just received it. Haven't had much of a chance to look it over, but the new sport climbing section looks pretty nice. Good work OMR!

Amazon emailed yesterday that the 4th edition shipped.

Wildernest in Port Townsend recently started selling some climbing gear. Their selection is small, but they're just trying to figure out what people want at this point. Selection will probably get better over time.