selkirk

I think someone's kid recently freed it on TR as well. Not sure who that might be though

The little stool with glass legs that said something "sit on me in case of a lightning storm" was a little concerning! Is that thing still there?

You can also by gore-tex socks. I would imagine they have similar benefits to a VBL but may keep your feet a bit dryer? Every time I've tried them I sweat so bad it doesn't help, but I also haven't used them in ice climbing temps. I'll second the anti-persperant on your feet though

There are some great Rappels down at Smith but it's a bit of a drive. You can climb Cinammon Slab (5.6) up to the top and then walk over to chains on top of Crossfire. It's an awkward start but is probably a 40m completely free hanging rappel.

It actually requires a little more delicacy and finesse than easy ice does, seemed good for training technique and footwork to me

So who's gonna be there

Is it safe to assume that spectators are welcome to come any buy raffle tickets (but don't need to pay the $30 entry fee, or the usual Stone Gardens entry fee?) Thanks!

I'll second a lot of Dave's but.... Feeding the Rat (fantastic book!) Eiger Dreams Ascent - The Biography of Willi Unsoeld The Climb up to Hell Freedom of the Hills The White Spider K2 the Savage Mountain I'll look again when I get home.

If you do have to arrest in those conditions be sure you get off your toes and onto your knees. Catching a crampon on the ice during a slide is a great way to break an ankle. It's a bit counter intuitive but in some conditions unroping can be safer than roping up. If you are roping up and can't arrest a fall then you should really be putting in ice screws for a running belay. There were a couple of accidents three or four years ago on Liberty Ridge and Mt. Hood that were exacerbated by people being roped up on terrain where they could not self arrest and also not placing any gear for a running belay. Eventually somebody slipped and took the rest of the rope team with them. Good Luck and be safe!

Ice screws would have been a better option for an anchor but you have to careful with direction of pull and all sorts of other things. You could also use a V thread if the ice is solid enough. Probably a more important question would be, if you're buddy had fallen into a crevasse do you think you would have been able to go into self arrest and stop the fall in those conditions?

The only part of a bear I've ever seen in the woods (16 years of hiking, backpacking, and climbing in North Idaho and Washignton) was it's hind end as it ran away. Around you need to be much more worried about mountain goats eating your boots, marmot's eating your trekking pole handles, and snaffles eating everything else. The mountain goats around here are not at all afraid of people. Of course they don't want to eat you, they just want you to go pee for them.

As memory serves wasn't Yates using a belay device from a seat dug in the snow because the snow was so insubstantial that there wasn't anything to anchor to? And wasn't the belay seat decomposing while he was sitting in it? It does kind of change the rescue scenario a bit when the only anchor is you. That said... Yates made the hard choice but IMHO it was the right one. Also learning some basic self rescue techniques is a damn good idea

The nylon liner socks aren't really similar to dress socks or to nylons. I would suggest going to an outdoor store and searching on "liner sock" or some such thing. Though running socks or something of that nature would probably also work. If you're feet sweat a lot (like mine can) you can wear these underneath wool socks as well to try and keep the surface of your foot dryer. The tube socks would definitely give you blisters even with good boots. I've had pretty good luck with smart wool socks, so those might have been from breaking in your boots.

Also on the blisters, is there any chance your hiking in cotton socks or rag-wool socks? Those things are the devil! and will give you a blister every time. For me if the weather is warm I usually just wear a thin nylon liner sock or a lightweight wool sock of some sort (Smart Wool is good, but it should be a pretty fine blend, nothing coarse like rag wool). Keep it up

I'll second Sherri's thoughts. The linkcam's are a great tool, but they're certainly not my "go to" piece. For me it's always nuts, hexes, DMM/Metolius Cam's, then Link Cams. They're great for anchors, and great to have 1 on your rack as that 2nd/ or 3rd piece in a range of sizes, but I'd never build a full rack out of them.

Forced down time (of any sort) is great for looking through Freedom of Hills, and going through guide books to start planning your next big trip. Having a definite, next near term trip (whether that be hiking, backpacking, or climbing) is often a great way to stay focused an motivated! My wife used to hang a picture of Mt. Baker on the wall when she was getting ready for the it

Arrogant, dogmatic, closed minded, self righteous, holier than thou, son's of bitches, who are convinced that they, and only they have the correct opinion on any given topic suck even more!! (that goes for militant southern baptists and anti-bolters both!!)

Grid bolting sucks Chopping bolts on the sly so no one knows who you are also sucks and makes you a pussy. Moderate and easy routes for beginners with reasonable bolting Topless Mormon girls :tup:

Cotton's great for some things, but once it's wet it never dries! (at least not in the amount of time you'll be on the mountain). For long johns that are next to your skin, that's a recipe for blisters and nasty chafing!! Cotton also loses all of it's insulating properties when wet (wool, poly pro, and fleece don't). It's probably an overstatement, but I've heard that in cold weather you'll stay warmer naked than wearing wet cotton So between sweat, snow, and condensation it will get wet Though a T-shirt at camp, or a cotton bandanna can often be nice depending on the trip. And yep, a "puffy" is a winter type coat, but very compressible. Think down or, sleeping bag type insulation. It's absolutely invaluable. Down is lighter, more compressible, and more expensive, but loses it's insulating ability if it get's wet. Synthetics are heavier, less compressible, less expensive, but don't lose they're insulating ability (as much) when wet, so it's a bit of trade off and depends on the conditions you'll be in. And I'm amazed that neither B&N or Borders have Freedom!! That should be a crime around here!

I'll Second this! There's a good reason that Freedom of the Hills is referred to as the Climbing Bible. It may not go into full depth on every topic but it's a great place to start and talks about an awful lot of your questions. (and quite a few that you haven't even asked yet ) With regard to your question about guides, 50/50 is probably about right. But a different way to look at is that probably 75% of the people going up with a guide have little or no technical experience (no other glaciated peaks, or semi technical climbs, under their belt and minimal other training). While probably 90% (or more) of the people who are attempting Rainer for the first time without a guide have some technical climbing experience (crevasses rescue, comfortable in crampons, and on rope teams, other peaks etc.) So if you think you'll take some courses, work with some mentors and climb some other peaks before you attempt Rainer, then you probably won't need a guide. If you think you'll get in shape, spend some time reading Freedom but won't have time to learn crevasse rescue, spend time working on crampon technique, climb some easier peaks etc. then a guide service is probably the way to go. Option 1 will take more time and effort and, more dedication, and overall may be more expensive (more gear, more trips, etc.) but I think is a more rewarding path as you are more independent, and at the end you'll be a good beginning mountaineer before you attempt Rainer. Option 2, would take less time likely, but you'll be more dependent on the guide service. Also keep in mind that not everyone summit's Rainer during their fist attempt (guide service or not). Does anyone have a handy statistic for the summit rate? With a guide service you'd need to book another trip (though they may give a reduced rate or something). If you tried it on your own, you just pick another good weather window and go. If you're looking for classes there are lots of good options around: Guide services, Mountaineers, Boe-alps if your in the Boeing family, etc. Each has strengths and weaknesses. Also keep your eyes open for Free Seminars at Feathered Friends, and REI. There are often Avalanche seminars, gear demo days, play days. There is even an AMGA guide thing this weekend where they are looking for volunteer "student" who want to spend a day at Leavenworth working with someone who is working on being certified as a Top Rope site guide. Good luck!

There's a reasonable 5.4ish route on Guye Peak that would have fewer crowd's than the tooth. There's also some good routes (5.4 to 5.6) on Ingalls Peaks (out by Cle Elum sort of.

Woohooo!! Another good place for gear at reasonable prices is Second Ascent. They've got a great selection of used boots, clothes, crampons, packs, tents, you name it, that will save you a bit of the sticker shock. They also get some great new clearance stuff a few times a year. if your looking on-line I've also had good luck at Northern Moutnain Supply, and Mountain Gear. (And backcountry supply seems to have some screamin good deals as well.) It's fantastic that your'e getting out with your Daughters! Hiking and backpacking with my parents is definitely one of my favorite childhood memories (and the little one can start carrying her own pack by the time she's 7 or 8!) Good luck and keep at it! It's well worth every sore muscle and blister!

Haven't spent the night, but I was up there and poked around a bit several years ago, and the Lookout was in nice shape. I bivied in one of the little flat spots in the saddles since the Lookout was taken. Either way it's a truly stellar view I think to actually get the lookout you'd have to head up friday morning. You'd definitely want your own sleeping bag though

The ankle actually didn't make any noise during the fall. I really think that was just a bruise at best. No pain whatsoever on the heel now and after 5 minutes of hanging and resting felt fine. I only mentioned if there is some way that the fall could have set the stage for the foot jam? The snap crackle pop happened during a routine foot jam (after the fall) when I pushing towards the anchors (had 1 mantle left to get to the chains) If anybody knows any good Sports Med Doc's in Seattle I'd appreciate the recommendation. So far still swollen and a bit stiff but nothing absurd. The pain certainly isn't as bad as the last time I rolled an ankle playing volleyball. The noise is just freaking me out!

and it's not immersed in rice crispies. I was working a route today and did something to my ankle. First took a fall (10 ft maybe?) and clipped my left heel on a ledge. It was sore for a couple of minutes but seemed to fade pretty quickly. Following that I was finishing the route, popped in a left foot jam and cranked it over to set it (like i've done 100's of time), and heard the magic phrase... snap, crackle, pop! Pretty sure it's not a good thing. Finished the route, lowered off, and my left outside ankle was starting to swell a bit. Taped and managed to climb on it for the rest of the day, but it's swollen. Current symptoms: laterally unstable, really doesn't like being pushed back on the toes or pushed to the side. However it supports weight just fine, and toeing in to climbing holds and edging is just fine (TR/followed for the rest of the day with minimal problems). Twisting makes it grumpy though. Does anyone have any idea what the hell I might have done?!?!?!?! It was loud, it sounded like something broke, but the fact that I can support full weight with a pack and climb on it seems like no broken grinding bones. So i'm thinking tendons or ligaments? I've never had them make that sort of noise before Currently icing and elevating and will be resting and hitting with NSAIDS this week. Any ideas would be great! TIA