DirtyHarry

Has the dispatch to Alpinist been sent yet?

Whose going to post to www.abnormally-large-housecats.com anyway, Muffy? I lived in SD for a while and had no trouble meeting folks to climb with, despite the lack of a cc.com parrallel. But maybe that was just my sparkling personality.

27th switchback has some burly moves.

That's cool their finally making a movie about the Gates of Thermopalae.

When people catch their homes on fire, I think we should charge people for the cost of the fire service to put out the fire.

OK, I'll play too. Southwest Ridge of Mt. Hunter. Our first route in Alaska and we left Kahiltna camp with light and fast supplies. Skied 9 miles down to the route in splitter weather and climbed the thing in two long days. Weather came in on the descent and we barely made it off the route in time. But there we were in a blinding whiteout, mentally and physically exhausted, with two lightweight sponge-like bags and a leaky bibler I-tent between the three of us. Eventually we gave into the inevitable and holed up in the tent for three extremely uncomfortable days and nights until the storm broke and we could head home. When we got closer to Kahiltna basecamp I could smell someone cooking bacon from about a mile away.

I agree with W. But sometimes routes are committing by nature and bailing is not a good option, or not an option at all. Sometimes if something goes wrong (weather, or whatever) a party is so high on the route that the only option is to keep going up to the summit and down the other side. However, on routes like that, you better either get real lucky with the wedder or wait for some serious high pressure.

I want the best of both worlds, I'm going to convert to Mormonism and get ten wives when I'm alive then convert to Islam before I die and get 100 virgins in heaven.

Praying for the safe return of an alpinist is just a waste of time because Jesus was just a hippy burn-out boulderer.

Kevbone, you managed to ask and answer your own question in one post. Amazing.

"Henry James once said there are two mental states, excitement and lack of excitement, and that unfortunately excitement was more interesting than lack of excitement." - William Kittredge, in his essay "Drinking and Driving"

Fuck yourself now, before masturbation in bad weather is banned.

Yup. Noone here, especially "W", climbs very much.

You two rumprangers can really try out the springs and shocks on the new van. Giddee up Cowboy!!

Hey Jon, you plagarizing motherfucker!! Get your own material!

Funny, I didn't see the Renton crag on anyone's list. I think that place is prety worthy.

Sounds like a good strategy too me. But why don't the rescuers just ride their tontons up the mountain then find the climbers and cut the bellies of the tontons open and put the climbers in the tonton's bellies. Maybe there is a beaurocratic rule against that or something though.

The logical caveat of any rescue is to not create more victims out of the rescuers. High winds and lots of snow equal heavy avy loaded slopes. I'm not familiar with Hood, but what would be the point of sending a team of rescuers into high probability avy terrain for the slight possibility of locating their probably-not-so-visible snow cave. I've climbed in the Alaska Range too and its my experience not much gets done on big mountains in whiteout conditions except for maybe following the sheep trail off the lower flanks of the west butt.

A news article I read gave the impression they set out Friday. Guess that wasn't the case. I'm sure they will all make it out safe!

Hate to say it, but it was foolhardy for this group to attempt the route in light of the poor weather forecast. Now the group is responsible for exposing their many rescuers to serious avy hazards and other dangers. I hope everyone makes it off the mountain in good condition, though.

After you move to Flagstaff can I bivy in your van when I come down to climb?

This is a great thread and all, but the real question is who will be the first to ski all the Selects?

Probably not.

I always thought "Menstrating Whale Snatch" had a nice ring to it.

Great travelouge Norman. Good to hear I'm not only one who falls out of his chair at 3 pm completely drunk.