Mike_G

I've been using a Peak1 "Featherlight" (which isn't really very light at all) for over a decade now and the o-ring is definitely starting to show some age. I put a bit o' oil on it to supple it up a bit, which helped with those cold weather starts. Also, one thing I always do now is make sure the stove is pumped up and pressurized before I leave home, then after each meal I cook I simply make sure it's repressurized. As long as you do this before it cools down, the old o-ring seals quite well. Once you get it fired up, the whole stove warms up and you can pump it as needed. Not sure if this would work with yours, but beats sleeping with the blasted thing.

End of thread, please. I don't want to see what he wears in the summer.

A friend of mine climbed North Sister a few days ago and said you could drive all the way to the Pole Creek trailhead as long as you have a bit of clearance on your vehicle (pretty crazy for Feb!). But last night we got nearly a foot of new snow (above about 6000', I would guess), so I'm not sure what effect that had on the access.

We met last night, actually, and this came up again for possible inclusion in the Spring Thing (on May 7th, 2005, by the way). One of the members has had some recent contact with the BLM, and it sounds like they may be receptive to working with us. However, we need to resolve some issues with insurance coverage for volunteers, etc. If we do end up doing a project or two over in the Marsupials this spring, any input as to areas of most need? The most obvious one that comes to mind is Koala Rock.

Not sure of the accuracy of all this, but I've heard from a couple sources that for a while Boreal was basically selling them online for wholesale. Obviously, the retailers didn't like people coming in to try on shoes and then buying them online from Boreal for half the price, so they all dropped Boreal. My wife picked up a pair of the new aces online a few months ago on eBay for $70. It seems that a few places online here and there had a few random sizes left, but it was pretty hit and miss...

I also liked the feature where in a given forum, the column that has the number of replies had another number in parentheses that showed how many of those replies you haven't read yet. I'm not seeing that anymore... My hover-over-the-topic-preview-window-thingee is still working, too, Dru. Anyway, thanks for all the hard work to keep the message board working!

Yeah, that's the article I saw. Thanks for the link.

Nah, I've never been too pumped to continue. That's why I carry a headlamp, after a few hours the pump subsides...

What is the best (safest/cheapest/easiest) way to bail from a one-pitch rock route (sport and/or trad) if you're not at the top and can't continue due to weather, ability, fatigue, etc? I don't always feel so redundant lowering off of one bolt on a sport route. Seems like I saw a way to back it up with a sling or something on the next bolt down? I have yet to get in over my head on a trad route (not because I'm that good, but because I'm that much of a wuss). Thanks for your input.

I'm just getting into this packing light stuff, but whoa, after years of getting ridiculed for sawing off the handle of my toothbrush, I realized that there is a lot of crap that I take just because I own it. Old habits die hard, but they die easier when you've got a buddy asking you "what the hell do you need that for? That's 7 ounces!" regarding everything you own. I made a similar spreadsheet, but using a postal scale we have at home for baking and making soap. I weighed everything in about 1/2 hour, then made a similar spreadsheet that I can click on and pack for two people (or two scenarios to compare). I've cut my pack weight by at least a third. Knowledge is power. I highly recommend this.

iain, this is brilliant. Strangely enough, it's all clear now. As for the idea of a "genetic threshold", it is simply the "nature" in the "nature vs. nurture" balance to which nearly all traits owe their current expression. Any science geek worth his salt would understand this...

I've been climbing for a few years, more seriously since I moved to central Oregon a couple years ago, and currently onsight in the mid to upper 5.10's. A friend asked if the number grades (up to 5.9) are pretty equivalent to an increase of one letter grade (above 5.10). I didn't really have a great answer, but it seems to me that the difference in difficulty between a 5.8 and a 5.9 is not four times as much as a 5.10a and a 5.11a. So the question, basically, is whether most folks see the difference in number grades as the equivalent of one letter grade. This may be comparing apples and oranges, but just wondering what you all think. Thanks, Mike

As a general rule, if you can look down and see the last bolt between your legs, run the rope between your legs. If you're off to the side, make sure the rope is off to the side. I never heard much about this the first year or two of leading I did, but realized how important it was when I took a 20' inverted whipper because I stepped through to get back on route (on an easy section!) and my shoe slipped off the hold. Due to a badly sprained ankle, now I'm very aware of it, and point out rope position to new leaders constantly. In the words of our hopefully short-timer commander-in-cheif: "Be vigilant".

If you have kids, it will definitely be worth it. My 2 and 5 year olds are all over our wall. I made it variable enough that we can all get a workout on it: a little vertical, a big roof, a 20 degree overhang, and a 50 degree over hang. It also goes horizontal for a few feet on the ceiling. Mine is about 15' wide and 11' high, and I haven't gotten bored in the last year and a half. I have a lot o' holds, though. However, I haven't even changed their placement yet. Good luck to you. Mike

There really is no "one best" anchor system. This is true in much of life, as well as climbing. Sometimes the magic-x makes the most sense, sometimes a pair of quickdraws is fine, other times a statically equalized cordelette is the best bet. For instance, if the bolts are over the top lip of a cliff edge, short little quickdraws ain't gonna do it. Also, no one has mentioned the angle of force on the anchor pieces. If the bolts are very far apart, two quickdraws can actually magnify the force on the anchor bolts because of the wide angle they hang at. If I'm using a magic-x, I usually use two slings (redundant), and two biners for the master point (redundant). If any of those pieces of equipment should fail, they're backed up. Is it worth the extra weight? Yeah, I think my kids unknowingly appreciate me hauling one extra biner and a sling. If I'm really concerned about a few ounces, I'll take a dump before I climb. Mike

My Little Pony

Okay, so I'm new. I didn't see the little "attachment" link near the top of my post. Thanks! Seems like I've seen some posts where the picture is in the text of the message. Does the image have to be on another external website for that to work? Mike

Okay, so that didn't work. Can anyone tell me why the file I attached at the preview stage didn't show up? I checked the FAQ but it didn't tell me much. Thanks. Mike

Here's the photo of the heli taking off from one of the little meadows NW of Washington. The red circle is about where the injured party was located (just behind the trees from there). The loud motor of the chopper kind of ruined my wilderness experience. Mike

The Dalles is usually pronounced "dals" (rhymes with "gals", "pals", etc.), and Madras is not pronounced like it would be in Spanish (Mah-dras), it's "mad-rehs" (with the emphasis on mad). 'Least that's how everyone in Central Oree-gon says 'em. Mike

I've recently seen waterproof paper for inkjets for sale near one of the kiosks where you can print your own maps. I haven't tried it yet. I usually just put it in a watertight mapcase, cover it with packing tape, or possibly just curse the water falling from the sky on my beautiful inkjet maps.

I was up there on Saturday climbing the North Ridge and saw quite a bit of the action, but don't have any real useful information. They definitely weren't on the North Ridge (there was a pair of novices that were behind us moving pretty slow), but they were way the heck below any of the west side routes. Perhaps they were able to descend down the scree a long ways, but they were nearly down at the treeline. This seems a bit tough for his wife if his ankle was bad enough to call in a chopper. We first noticed them at about 1 or 2:00 pm as we were descending from the gap below the technical portion of the North Ridge. As we crossed northward across the scree slope, we heard them yelling, but they didn't appear to be in distress and didn't seem to respond directly to our calls back. I can only speculate that they were helping the SAR folks locate them. They showed up soon after. As we continued down through the meadow, the chopper came over the ridge and dropped off a medic, I assume, then flew around for about twenty minutes, then landed right in front of us for a few minutes (to save fuel?). After picking up the injured climber it circled a few more times, then picked up the wife and the medic (I think, it was kind of behind the trees at this point). There were several SAR folks on scene, so I'm not sure how accurate the news report is about not wanting the wife to hike out on her own. Maybe she slipped them a twenty. Maybe I'll post a photo of the chopper taking off from the meadow when I get it back. It was pretty neato. Dust and grass and trees and rabbits were flying all over the place. So as far as I can tell, they were on a West Side Route (assuming that he didn't bust an ankle on the approach). However, they must have worked their way a loooong way down the scree. Cordially submitted, Mike