Ireneo_Funes

I couldn't agree more. Not only does it create hassles and objective hazards for other people who might be on the route, it also fosters a complacent attitude among people in the group...like what I imagine an RMI climb party is like. It's one of my big complaints with the Mazamas. On the other hand, I'd rather run into 12 Mazamas on the Hogsback than a dozen yokels who don't know how to use their ice axe.

OK, well I thought you were talking about the Basic School, which I do think has some merit. My mistake, but I stand by my point that the Mazamas do some good in teaching people something about climbing safely - and we all benefit from that, I think. Do they even have a hiking class? I can't imagine what they'd talk about after the 10 essentials lecture.

Where else can you take a class on hiking? Yeah, it's a class on hiking... where you learn to tie knots, belay properly, rappel, how to self-arrest with your axe, etc, etc. All the basic mountaineering skills that a lot of so-called self-taught mountaineers have no clue about. Present company excluded of course. I took the Mazamas Basic Class (and the Intermediate Class) after moving here from the midwest flatlands, having no practical knowledge of mountaineering, and I feel like I got a great foundation in how to climb safely. There's a lot of aspects of the club I don't agree with, like the enormous group sizes, and I'm not saying that everyone who goes through their programs is well-trained, but in general they do a good job of teaching people to be responsible climbers.

60 mph, wow... I get nervous when I get close to 40. 'Course I'm not riding a top-of-the line road bike.

Nice job, fellas. Looks like fun! So was it you doing the harrassing or the other way around?

That's good to know. We probably won't be getting there until 10 or so.

Thinking about checking out Beacon Rock on Sunday.

Can you imagine what it'd be like if Bush tried to have a rally open to everyone in Portland? This is what it would look like -- Oh, he's well liked here.

Let's ride our little motorcycles up to basecamp, OK?

Can I substitute PBR for the Beast, or would that make me too much of a hipster?

Sure, look at WWI... a waste of life on an unprecedented scale. From Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum est": "...If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori." Owen was killed 7 days before Armistice Day. He knew what war was like firsthand.

You mean there aren't big shiny bolts up there? And no chalk marking all the holds? Thanks for the beta, Iain.

What did you guys think of the belay stations on this route - solid enough?

Right on. Dying in battle isn't always brave... sometimes it's just sad and pitiful.

I'll be there tonight by 6:30. Blueberry and Vertical Therapy etc would be fun. Sounds like Jeff set the bar pretty high climbing with a broken toe -- I guess I won't be able to complain about whatever muscle I pulled in my leg. On second thought, I reserve the right to whine and whimper.

I'd like to be responsible for not bringing the summit register...

not THAT is definitely a violation of the first ammendment are they posing in a bathroom?? With scarves and bandannas. The guy on the right is gripping his bandmate's bicep in a very provocative manner.

When we did it last year, we found it was less sketchy to go around to the left at the top of the ridge, rather than following the route suggested in Oregon High. It's still airy and there's plenty of terrible rock, though.

Is it acceptable to use a bandanna to conceal one's girth pillar?

Can't make it climbing Tuesday but later in the week maybe. Might be able to make it for the drinking part - name a place?

Hiking the cascade jewels is excellent conditioning for summiting the 8.000 cm girth pillar!

8.000 cm girth pillar?

Hiking the cascade jewels is worth the effort in conditioning for climbing an 8000m peak!

Anytime you intentionally leave something on a summit there's a little bit of arrogance in it. But I think a summit register is pretty benign. I'd rather see a little metal box than a cross or a statue of the Virgin Mary or prayer flags or whatever. To answer the question that started this thread -- a summit register is a little more than trash, a little less than history. The less the better, but it seems like there's more important things to do than to start some campaign to haul 'em out.

Freudian slip, innit.