wfinley

If you ever have questions about the legitimacy of nonprofits use Guidestar to check up on them (http://www.guidestar.org/index.jsp). For example -- Sobo's group has a very detailed listing including their 990. The group you mention doesn't have any data listed.

Using a mega-mid in the summer in Alaska sucks (well actually the mosquitoes suck). You could use the megamid with the big screen - but that jacks the weight up over 5 lbs.

I have a pair of old Trango's that have seen a lot of use. This past weekend I wore then for a long hike and ended up with a painful case of shin splints. I'm guessing that this has to do with my boots losing a lot of the cushioning in the foot due to high use and wear (I've used them heavily for 2 seasons now). I am considering getting them resoled but I have a question -- besides the sole is there any other part inside the boot that could pack out? I have relatively new insoles in them; is there a layer of cushioning in-between the insole and the sole?

There is a guy who posts in the AK thread on Teletips who has a bit of info. Here's the thread: http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=35846

He lives in Anchorage. If you want his contact info PM me.

Jack Durrance for rushing to Devil's Tower from Dartmouth to rescue the stranded parachutist. Dora Keen for showing the local miners what a true "hard man" is on the FA of Blackburn.

2 in our party used the Firstlight on a Blackburn trip where we had an exposed high camp that was hit with a horrific storm for 12 hours. It held up fine. However - they had a fat tent at basecamp and only used the Firstlight for high camp.

I have to share this link... a friend of mine and his wife and kid quit the jobs, loaded up the boat and sailed away. I find it very inspirational! http://sailboatpelagic.blogspot.com/ I've taken a few summers off - but I work for myself so it doesn't really count.

..he would save the retro bolters by lecturing, "Let he who has never clipped cast the first stone."

A couple years ago we went up the Koven coulor in mid July and had to wear crampons / boots. Everywhere else we wore tennis shoes.

Holy Choss!! I find it less of a miracle that your dog actually talked to you then your wife repeatedly joined you on these outings!!

About all I'd add is: if you meet an overtly friendly Thai who loves chatting and giving advice, chance are you're about to be scammed. That said - if you do fall for a Thai scam about the worst that would happen to you is you'd end up buying a new suit. Another favorite is guys hanging outside the temples telling you they're "closed". And Rob's comment about locusts is right on... if you don't watch them they'll un-clip your draws and clip them to their rope while you're going up!

The embassy district is lower Sukhumvit - which means you're pretty centrally located; it's a good place to stay. I grew up in Bangkok so I have pretty fond memories of it; thus when we visited a couple years ago we spent some extra time in the city and toured / visited friends. As mentioned - the Kings palace and surrounding temples are a great site. You can easily spend 5-6 hrs touring them. All the usual tourist stuff is neat - the floating market, the crocodile farm (where you see freaky stuff like dogs in a tiger pen). As I mentioned the zoo is good -- they have an impressive komodo dragon and python collection. Take a water taxi down the river -- and when you get on/off be sure to spend some time poking around in the food bins where you'll see things like baby turtles and squirming piles of eels. Another fun thing to do is go out to eat in Chinatown. Spend a couple hours wandering around before you eat to see the wild food and aphrodisiac's in store windows; if you go for dinner it's quite crazy with thousands of people hanging out on the street eating seafood and bird nest soup. The malls might be lame - but if you're not from a big city the metropolitan aspect is intriguing and fun to experience. The are some very swanky stores you can walk around in if you're into it. A interesting thing to do near and after dark is wander Sukumvit from Soi 10-20 or so where you'll run a gauntlet of street hawkers, beggers and entertainers and be propositioned with everything from sex to switchblades and bootlegs to boots. Have fun!

Getting to the climbing area is pretty easy by travel standards. If you're short on time you'll want to fly from BKK to Krabi. You might be able book online through either Thai airlines or 123Go (http://www.fly12go.com) but when we tried this (in 06) it was double the price. We got to BKK and then bought RT tix to Krabi for $200. You can buy them in the airport. If you have extra time you can take a train from BKK to someplace near Krabi which is cool (I did this as a kid and loved it!). You'll have to spend at least 1 night either end in BKK. As of '06 there was only 1 hotel near the airport and it was spendy ($100/night) - however you can walk to it. The city is a good 45 minutes away. BKK is a pretty intense city so in my opinion it's worth staying in the city and spending a day checking it out. If you stay in BKK with kids do not stay in Khao San (drunk frat boy place to stay) or on Sukhumvit anywhere between Soi 10 and Soi 40 (the domain of middle aged fat men with young Thai prostitutes). Chinatown is a fun place to stay but you're away from the touristy stuff - whereas Khao San is close to all the stuff. The temple tours in BKK are worthwhile - for kids check out the Dusit Zoo. Once in Krabi go to the port (10 minute taxi ride) and guys will be waiting to take you to Railey. Just show up with a backpack and they'll know where you want to go. As for climbing - go to Railey / Ton Sai. Railey is more touristy - which means more development (the beaches in Railey are better). Ton Sai you can still dirtbag it for $2 / night. The areas are 15 minutes apart (or 5 minutes by boat) and both have good climbing. With kids you might prefer Railey b/c the beach is awesome whereas it's rocky over at Tonsai. if you do stay at Tonsai stay as far away from the water as possible as raves can go on all night and be very loud down by the water. There are ample climbs in the 5.9 - 5.11 range; enough to keep you occupied for months! Half of them start off the beach so they're very kid friendly. There are also a number of moderates that are kid friendly. As for diving... you can take boats out of Railey and they'll take you to the diving spots. I can't tell you what it's like but I've heard that many areas are still recovering from the tsunami. Have fun - it's an awesome place!

Since most posters on CC.com think that climbing in Alaska is limited to Denali, Ham and Eggs and the random gnarly Colin and W route here are some pix NOT from the Ak Range. Climb: Misc peaks on the Talkeetna Glacier Date of Climb: 4/19-4/29 Trip Report: Here Gear Notes: Butter, pesto, glacier gear, ice screws, pickets, cams, pins. Dynafits. Approach Notes: Drive to pilots house; bribe him with croissants from a hip bakery in the big city of Las Anchorage. Fly in.

You were in the southeast which essentially consists of subsidized washington transplants. Come to Anchorage - we're all corporate jerks who are bitter we because don't make as much as those in the Seattle office.

No problem Will. BTW - You'll want a full rope for the Pinnacle... it will make getting down much easier.

You guys want to help out the non NW posters and tell us what those evidently so famous they don't need names routes are?

Jackson - is free camping E of the park in the National Forest. Look at a map for Shadow Mtn Road. There are also warm (not hot) springs in Kelly. Squamish - there is free camping E of town but you need a high clearance vehicle to access it. Lake Louise - there is an awesome bakery that has day old pastries for half off if you get there before the other dirt baggers. You can camp for free at Yamnuska and it's only 20 minutes from Canmore. JT - if you drive to Palm Springs there are a number of hotels that will let you soak in their pseudo hot springs for a few bucks.

If I go by Mattp definition of "moderate" I'd have to add Shockley's Ceiling (Gunks), Irene's Arete (Tetons) and the E. Ridge of Edith Cavell in the Canadian Rockies. If I go with Layton's definition I'll just add my ever growing wish list: Lotus Flower Tower Mt. Robson - Kain Face Mt. Temple - East Ridge Mt. Hunter - West Ridge

Eliot -- I sometimes carry the 30 mm dynamic ropes because they offer you the ability to climb short pitches of semi-technical ground that I wouldn't want to be climbing with a static rope (i.e. short rock pitches in the Talkeetna mtns). Likewise I think 30m is enough rope for snow routes where running out the rope the entire 60m would put too much stress on anchors in the event of a fall. As for the glacier question... it depends on the glacier. I would never go into the AK Range or the high Chugach with a 30m rope - but 30m is perfect for small glaciers like the Flute or late season on the Kenai where the crevasses are a bit smaller and you can afford to have less distance between you and your partner. Of course the gray area is on glaciers like the Eklultna. In other words... you choose your rope length based on terrain, time of year and whether or not you'll want a full length rope for technical travel and / or belays.

Thanks for sharing! It brought back some good memories! We climbed the Durrance route on a whim in '95 while driving by; a week earlier we had climbed the Durrance route on Symmetry spire. Got to the gate at 3am so we slept in the ditch next to the gate till a ranger kicked us awake at 7am! A beautiful and special place to visit!

I carried an old Mountainsmith once and another time carried an old Serratus. Both were around 5000 cubic inches and were more than enough room - but both times I was with a party of two and we were fairly "light". However - if you're guiding your pack will be gargantuan so comparing your pack size to the average climbers pack size doesn't say much.

that's what snow is for no, snow in alaska is for pouring tequila and lemon-lime gatorade mix over Sugar snow at -10 is not good for wiping.

If you want to climb Denali that's great -- the West butt is a classic route. But the notion that is at all possible to do a carbon neutral trip to Alaska is pretty short sighted. The state is virtually founded on oil and gas. There's no way to get up here without burning gallons and gallons - even sailing up here requires motoring to get through the generally stale PWS area. Carbon neutral means climbing locally without air support. Here are some pix from a couple Carbon Neutral expeditions. Judge Wickersham didn't come very close but he gets points for style. The Sourdough guys were tough and did it without carbon; just some dogs, hot chocolate and a spruce pole. "Buster" even made it to 15,000'. Judge Wickersham & partner sporting fashionable mountaineering parkas. NYT article from 1910 about the Sourdough expedition. PDF here: http://www.peakaweek.com/photos/preview/sours.pdf