wfinley

I carry a DSLR on trips. I don't use the plastic bag trick though -- mostly because the tent is rarely much warmer than outside when I first climb inside. If the tent is 20+ degrees warmer than outside you'd want a plastic bag but otherwise I just take the battery out and leave the camera inside its case and pressed up against the wall of the tent (not in-between sleeping bags) and then sleep with the battery(ies). As for how many shots you can get... hard to say. On my last 5 day trip I carried a G11, SD880 and D80. In total I took about 300 shots with all cameras combined and drained the battery on the 880 but had 2 bars left on both other cameras.

http://www.nps.gov/dena/parknews/avalanche.htm Denali National Park and Preserve Avalanche in the Ruth Gorge Claims Two Lives Date: May 31, 2010 Two climbers were killed in an avalanche in the Ruth Gorge of Denali National Park and Preserve the afternoon of Saturday, May 29. Canadian Andrew Herzenberg, age 39, and Israeli Avner Magen, age 42, both current residents of Toronto, Ontario, were descending a steep snow and ice gully wedged between Werewolf Tower and London Tower on the southeast side of the Gorge when the avalanche occurred. Another climbing party in the Ruth Gorge witnessed the avalanche. Aware that a team had been climbing in the vicinity and had not returned to their camp, they skied closer to investigate and observed what appeared to be two climbers and gear in the avalanche debris. The witnessing party used a satellite phone to call National Park Service mountaineering rangers at 9:00 p.m. Saturday night. The Talkeetna-based NPS helicopter with two rangers on board flew to the Ruth Gorge and picked up one of the witnesses who directed them to the debris site. Shortly before 11:00 p.m., NPS rangers confirmed that the two men had died in the fall. Due to the late hour, the helicopter and crew returned to Talkeetna. Both bodies were recovered on Sunday morning.

That guys makes some pretty cool videos... good choice of music for them too. This one rocked: [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erfCL-ZfZhY

Great photos from the West Ridge! Too bad about the snowpack... but at least you got to sample our famous sugar snow. Nothing says good times like wallowing in chest deep snow for 14 hours. Hopefully next time you visit the snow will be better!

Well said.

Hell yeah!!!!! Good job -- and 16 hrs from the Gorge? Damn that's fast! PS - those guys that tried to steal your projects climbed H&E in 4.5 hrs up - 7hrs RT from the Root. They gave us hot tea with honey liquor as they rapped past us.

Ditto on the energy gels for summit day. I like those cliff shots - but mostly b/c I've overdosed on Gus in the past. For lunches I make my own bars -- Logan bread and some kind of bar that is a combination of peanut butter and rice-crispies. I also make these little balls that are peanut butter, honey and chocolate chips rolled in coconut..., but you can substitute any of those ingredients as long as they're part peanut butter and part some sort of sticky stuff (like molasses) to hold it together. On longer trips we also take pilot bread, cream cheese and smoked salmon (you can buy good smoked salmon at Carrs or Costco when you get to Anchorage ---- get the Alaska Sausage brand). You can be fairly heavy all the way to 11; after that you'll start to the double carry and want lighter food. PS - here's a nice list of homemade energy bars.

Thanks for all the compliments! ... one note: Thanks to TAT and Puryear, logistics for the classic routes in the Ruth and Kahiltna are no longer a problem. I love scouring maps and exploring places no one goes to in Alaska - but it's a treat to thumb though Puryear's book and then just fly in and knock out a route or two.

In other words you bought low alcohol piss water swill beer. Cans of Shapiro hold much better as they are slightly higher in alcohol. Plus they're bigger!! Darn... I thought PNW climbers would approve of my beverage choice:

Trip: Mooses Tooth - Yet another TR for H&E Date: 5/9/2010 Trip Report: Yet another H&E TR... but I live here so I can justify dealing with the crowds. [video:youtube] Gear Notes: 1. Bring those stretchy things to clip onto the faster climbers. 2. Don't accept "tea" from descending Euros... chances are the "tea" is mostly liquor. 3. Canned beer will freeze in the Alaska Range. Approach Notes: A rough 200 yards from the LZ.

This might be the first good thing Murkowski has ever done.

Thanks... I'm already looking at ticket prices for next spring. My wife is gonna kill me when I buy them without prior notification.

Freezy Nuts is going to sit on the W face of this cluster of peaks. Pointing it out on a map is tough --- instead just look for this prominent couloir: [img:center]http://www.peakaweek.com/photos/mountains/alaska/akr/ruth_2009/images/wfinley_ruth_2009-05-12_133.jpg[/img] The btm triangular rock sits out all by itself and is very noticeable. This is what it looks like from the campsites at the base of Dickey. [img:center]http://www.peakaweek.com/photos/mountains/alaska/akr/ruth_2009/images/wfinley_ruth_2009-05-12_132.jpg[/img]

H&E still in good shape. The Route should be in for at least a couple more weeks - still plenty of snow and ice up there. Steps up the Japanese couloir -- looked to be 2 or 3 days old. Apparently Freezy Nuts got climbed a couple days ago too. The competing low pressure systems have made it colder this spring than the past couple of years -- but conditions will change fast next time we have a spell of high pressure.

I carried a Canon G11 and my wife had a Canon SD880. The 880 takes great photos for it's size but the G11 is amazing. However the G11 doesn't quite fit in a jacket pocket comfortably. PS - the sharpening is all part of the editing process ( I use Aperture). You can make iphone pix look sharp with the right filters.

Trip: Aconcagua - Polish Direct Date: 1/5/2010 Trip Report: I asked around back in November for suggestions on where to go and ended up choosing the obvious... So my wife & I headed down and climbed the Polish Direct in January. To make a very long story short we had terrible conditions on the route and ended having to bivy on the summit. We came down the next morning and my wife got frostbite on one of her big toes. I got by with just standard frontnip to the nose and toe tips. Full write up here. If you'd rather skip the boring parts and just read about the route click here . Some pix below. Gear Notes: Bivy sack and good boots. Approach Notes: Fly to Mendoza... take a mule to basecamp. Try and not get behind the old guys.

I say congratulations... all of 21 people in the world have done it -- and now a woman. In my opinion that's awesome. It's so clique to discredit Himalayan climbers.

We did Columbia in early July and went up the Saskatchewan. We had originally planned on the Athabasca but while we were sitting in the parking lot looking at the route it got dusted by serac fall. That said... the Saskatchewan is a #@$% slog.

Awesome!!! Next time do Great White Way -- the first pitch (White Way Direct) stinks but the second pitch is spectacular. Another super classic is Grand Funk Railroad. As for temps -- the latest we ever went there was early April. After that head to places you can't climb at all winter (like New River, Linville or Looking Glass).

Great photos! Thanks for sharing. One day I'll make it out there.

Here a good related article: China Intensifies Tug of War With India on Nepal http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/world/asia/18nepal.html

For mid to late season 4 liters for 2 people is ample.

I've never had problems flying --- but a week before I fly I open all my fuel bottles, wash them with soap and let them air dry. I also pull the wire out of the stove fuel line and make sure it's entirely clean and dry.

We used Grajales and they rocked.