mccallboater

I'm an older guy (50) getting back into the game (trad, mountaineering, ice, ski mountaineering) after a few years of relative inactivity. Looking for climbing partner(s). Weekdays ok or weekends. McCall, Sawtooths, Tetons, or anywhere within a long day's drive are of interest. Happily married, and want to stay that way. Send me a PM.

Nike exum/ACG Air Cinder Cone or whatever they call them now. Once I heard Nike droped the shoe from the lineup I bought an extra pair plus a replacement once my first pair fell apart. Too bad they don't last longer. It climbs great, fits my wide forefoot-narrow heel-high instep feet just fine, and gives me much needed ankle support. I have recurring ankle problems. Last year I lead trad 5.8 in them. I can only lead 5.9 on a good day with rock shoes, for comparison. Good luck finding a pair.

Ski. About 4 miles, but light touring gear would work great.

I attempted a N Idaho Selkirk ski traverse in a 3R about 15 years ago. Great tent. Lots of room. With the inside wind stabilizers I thinkthey would hold up to anything Denali could throw at you. Be careful with venting though. The tent belonged to Rich Landers, of Spokesman Review fame. He might look at this forum occasionally and comment, especially now that I name dropped him. Rich?

This is what the left side of Slick Rock looked like last Monday, 1/15/07

Trip: Near McCall - Lick Creek Summit - Payette Powder guides Yurt trip Date: 1/15/2007 Trip Report: For my 50th birthday, my friends and I got a small taste of the incredible terrain available at the Payette Powder Guides Yurt on Lick Creek Summit about 10 miles NE of McCall, Idaho, my home town. Even with the lurking buried variable crust and down to -25f temps, we had a great time. The Yurts. This is a gravel pit in the summer. The summit plus our plush ride Lick Creek ski terrain 15 Minute's climb from the Yurt Gear Notes: Anything from light approach skis to burly AT gear would work fine here. Approach Notes: www.payettepowderguides.com

Curious the guy uses an old school, round bottom boat. I've wondered what a planning hull boat would do in snow. Guess I need to give it a try... Also, the guy doesn't seem to know how to boof a drop, so he doesn't piton into the snow. That's got to hurt. Still, I liked how he managed to "carve" a turn. It's all just sliding on snow, after all.

July, 1983 After a week at Smith Rocks, I followed my much more experienced partner in an ascent of Stein's Pillar, a 4 pitch 5.10+ route that totally pushed my limits. A perfect day, especially when I read the meager cairn log that included just about every famous climber I'd heard of. At that time the log recorded less than a dozen ascents, and half of those up the aid route on the other side. I felt like I had really acomplished something, even though I whimpered at the end of my lead's rope most of the way up.

I meant Park Pumalin. Well, both. This will be tough to decide...

Parque Lauca looks promising. Thanks!

Ok. At least I have a beacon. I'll get a new one. I'm not quite sure what cj is going nuts over though.

My daughter is a Rotary exhange student there. During our visit, we will have about 4 days to get into the mountains. What's your dream backpack/easy climb within that time frame if you were starting in Santiago, Chile? Fly south to the Futalafu country? Bio Bio? Boulder on the beaches? Day hike from some hut? What? I've never been in S. America, so please give me info. Hopefully I'll convert it to knowledge, then wisdom if I'm lucky.

Sounds like my 18 year old duel-frequency beacon is ready to be retired? The article about frequency drift is a good one. I was even more impressed with the newest article on that site about efficient shoveling technique for recovering avy victims. The same rules apply for removing snow from my windows on my house. A chore I have to do around 6 times a year here.

Even Yellowpine is close to the 100 mile radius limit I set for myself. It's a good two hours drive anyway. 30 miles to Cascade, then the directions above. But I didn't know about those climbs. I'll check them out. The Sawtooths are about a 3.5 hour drive from here. Lots of up and down in Idaho. Makes for all those great rivers. Anyone find ice in the limestone country around Riggins?

Are there any ice climbs worth doing within 100 miles of McCall? I've been searching for 6 years now and haven't found much. This place has everything but. Great snow, weather, rivers, lakes, rock, yada. But little or no ice. Mixed routes count too. Any of those? By the way, how does one find a better avatar picture than a real picture? I know nothing about that stuff.

My first trip report. Sorry, I pushed the go button before writing something... About 25cm of new fluff on top of a 50cm firm base. No rocks, but lots of brush still to be covered up. The Bear Basin skate trails are in good shape too. Sorry, no pictures. My first day with AT gear after 35 years of tele skiing. Bludgoning with technology what I lack in skill and fitness. It is easier to climb up this way, for sure. Though in the old days of wood skis and leather 3 pin slippers, the resistance of the boot/binding combo was a non-issue. Going down is still fun, no matter how I do it. McCall-ites have been wimpering about seeing all these big storms go N of us, with just 4-5 inches coming our way each time, but tomorrow's looks like a whopper.

Climb: Brundage (not open yet)-up Date of Climb: 11/24/2006 Trip Report:

I use these http://www.palmflex.com/atlas/370bk.htm combined with a warm glove like BD guides with keeper cords around my wrists. Great dexterity. Plus the nitrile palm lasts at least a few months.

I have a Wood Brothers Egyptian cotton shell - eider down bag circa 1922. I still use it occassionally in the summer. It was compressed in it's attached stuff sack for around 45 years when I pulled it from an inlaw's attic. Gave it a day and all the loft returned. True Goose down is incredible stuff. I keep it in a storage bag now. It survived two kid's worth of sleepovers over the last 10 years, plus the occasional outdoor journey. Hemmingway raves about a bag like this in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" but mine is a little mummy bag. I can't imagine squeezing two people in there to feel the earth move, as he describes with much detail.

I wear perscription trifocal glasses. My work puts me on top of radio towers all winter long, knocking off rime ice in miserable weather. The only goggle/glass setup that works without fogging is my glasses paired with my Smith Turbofan goggles. Not light or cheap but lifesavers on several occasions. It's a bitch not being able to see in a blizzard. I occasionally have seen them pop up cheap on Sierra Trading Post, but not now unfortunately. I paid $80 for mine there about 6 years ago.

What!! Are you all too young for the greatest climbing movie of all time, IMHO, "The Mountain" with Spencer Tracy, made in 1956. Wait till you see Tracy's standing hip belay catch of a 30 footer. The climbing is a little Hollywood but not nearly so bad as in Cliffhanger, plus the story is ok too. http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Edward-Dmytryk/dp/630110594X

It's been 30 years, but I remember nice grade III climbing that would be lots of fun in the approach shoes I have now, but not so easy in the waffle stompers I had then. I don't remember that much brush, but then I have a very selective memory.

Mccall does have great rock. I'm lucky enough to live here. Perfect weather too if you like 4 seasons. Still 2 feet of snow in the yard, but it's going fast. Not much ice though, surprisingly. Slick Rock is more like 70 degrees. Lots of fun. The North Beach crags are totally undeveloped. Gold Fork has lots of lines, guarded jealously by the few who put them all up years ago. Let's see, what else? Nice long IV class and low Vth class ridge routes past Lick Creek summit. Plus steep limestone and more granite not too far downhill from here in Riggins and over in Hells Canyon. Hardly ever see climbers in McCall though.

In 1983 I was enjoying lunch after climbing up the first half the E Ridge of Cutthroat Peak. I was looking into the basin when I noticed what I thought was a bear below me crossing from North to South. I realized I was looking at a Wolverine when I pulled out a monocular. The Wolverine was just lumping along toward the base of the ridge when I think he got a whiff of me. He looked up my direction, turned around and in about 30 seconds traversed the entire basin, sprinting over the ridge toward Cutthroat lake. That same ground would have take me about 30 minutes to cover. I was impressed.

Skiing's great. Targhee very close by, backcountry even closer. Tetons for climbing. Lots of smart people with doctorates running about unsupervised. Geat fly fishing within a hour's drive. The city of R is a few hours away.