mccallboater

About 10 years ago a pair of German national guardsmen, who search for the wreakage of WW2 aircraft on weekends to provide proper burials for the dead, came across my Dad's plane, a P47. Even though it augured in at over 500 MPH, with 8 missiles on the wings exploding on impact, they managed to identify what plane it was and who was flying it that Dec 16, 1944. The biggest part they found was about 6 inches long. What really blew them away was that Dad was still living. They communicated (the Internet is pretty amazing!) and a year later Dad got to visit his own crash site. The visit was an amazing, cathartic experience. His fate in the war was that after bailing out with serious burns all over his face, arms and chest, he wandered around during the Battle of the Bulge behind enemy lines in 2 ft of new snow for 2 days before getting captured by the Lufewaffe, from the same squadron that shot him down. He stayed in Lufewaffe hospitals, not prison camps, for the rest of the war. He received the best burn surgury and treatment available in the world at the time, even though conditions were terrible. That story of compassion was repeated 50 years later by those other German guardsmen, whose only objective was to bring closure to the familys of fliers missing in action. It sounds like your new friend at your father's crash site came from the same mold. God bless'em. Another note: Dad was wearing White loggers at the time of his crash, instead of GI issue boots. That's why he still had all his toes. Other pilots liked their cowboy boots, but those tended to fly off when one exits a plane at about 400 mph.

And Dan Krumpotich already climbed them all decades ago with wailing high school kids from Rocky Mountain Academy in tow. Too bad he died suddenly this year from a motorcycle accident without anyone acknowledging the pioneering climbs he put up on most of the N walls in the Idaho Selkirks. He just refused to tell anyone about it. I meant Class III, not Grade III in my earlier post. Whoops. There is a pretty stiff N wall on that peak though. Randal Green is alive and well, but not around Sandpoint any more I've heard.

There is a hidden mystery waterfall about 5 miles from there for the adventurous. About the same size as Copper Falls, but with a steep approach. Also about a mile from my family's cabin. PM for details. Someone local ought to have climbed it by now, but I haven't been up there for a few years so I don't know for sure.

McCall, Idaho: Common Ground Cafe www.commongroundcafe.net

I think that's his son.

Tha' be Red all right. Did you run into my cousin, Bret "first tracks" Ferguson up there?

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:

Nope, sold. They should show up here any day now, just in time for all this snow in McCall.

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.