mccallboater

Ditto Pindude's comments. I too was one of those Spokane climbers who appreciated your commitment to the local climbing scene, especially when I was first starting out. Now I read your stuff to see what the cutting edge is doing. What's with Americans avoiding vaccinations for preventable, ugly diseases? Where is all the misinformation coming from? Who is paying to push that crap? Who benefits?

Trip: Sawtooths - Cutthroats and Couloirs, fall edition Date: 10/22/2011 Trip Report: Post from Idaho Outdoors Forum - Cutthroats and Couloirs fall edition Just in case you Washington and Oregon folks thought that all the good skiing is in the Cascades, I offer a re-post (with permission) of a trip report from the other forum I lurk at. Gear Notes: Fly fishing gear is required. But troglodytes may use worms. Approach Notes: Drive to Idaho.

I bet there are at least a few permanent snowfields in the Bitterroots on the Idaho side, and a few small ones in the Idaho Selkirks. Gunsight peak's snowfield used to last all summer, but the dry years of the past decade may have done it in.

Approach. Drive up the Lick Creek road East of mcCall to the last switchback before the summit, 11 miles. You are actually climbing up the lake fork creek drainage at this point. Park. Hike East up the drainage, gaining about 1500' elevation, most of it in the last headwall 1/2 mile, to the summit between the Lake Fork and North Fitsum Creek drainage. About a 400' drop to the lake.

That's my buddy Keith and his pack. Keith is the King of Old School. You should see is ski gear. He gets out there lots, regardless.

Lake 33 near McCall, Idaho offers lots of moderate granite adventures. I'll be back! More pics and info here. Nice clean vertical hand jams about every 3 feet, for a 1/4 mile. More of same. Still more.

One could do both as part of a 4-5 day trip to the Kootenays. But once you look around at Mulvey Basin, you will be tempted to just stay there. Classic routes abound. The N face side of Gimli is a lot of fun too. So whoever goes to Lion's head next, can you do me a favor could please help me confirm who the two guys from Bonners Ferry were that first climbed it? I suspect my Dad Bob Pace and Everett Davidson in the summer of 1938, but I would like to know for sure. The book just says 2 guys from Bonners. Bob and Everett approached from Smith creek, after visiting my uncle on the Smith creek lookout.

I've wanted to get up there for a long time, but it's a 11 hour drive from Boise. Laird's book mentions the oldest entry in the cairn is from two guys from Bonners Ferry in 1938 or 39, and I figure one was my dad. Did you happen to read that entry?

Weight no object? Paco pads. Or AIre camp pads. REI has a nice burly camping pad I just bought for river trips for the spouse.

"I tried to make a point of not raving about one brand of boot, ski or binding...(although i did mention the tech bindings) just that things have really changed in a very short amount of time for AT skiing. My kit including skis, boots and bindings is less than 11.5# total. On anything I can ski or climb it isn't the gear isn't holding me back." All good points. I erred on the side of skiing power over climbing ability in my choice, and when I was shopping, the TLT5's were a bit to dear anyway. BTW, I tried to climb in thrift store Scott Superlights way back when, with predictable results. I never hesitate to bludgeon with technology what I lack in skill and fitness. But I'm also guilty of being a cheapskate.

Totally stoked on my new Scarpa Maestrales. $600 was a huge bite for me to swallow, though they are less expensive than some of the competitors' offerings. They probably don't climb as well as the new $1K dynafits the Dane raves about, but they climb way better than any other AT boot I've ever had. The 45 degree fore-aft range of motion, and the super comfortable lace up liner makes front-pointing manageable. Plus they can handle just about any ski I would want to climb uphill with. This should probably be in the Rants and Raves forum, huh?

Do not rule out Idaho. There is always a need for folks with your skills, plus all your outdoor vices are attended to. Twin Falls, Boise, Idaho Falls and Pocatello all fit the bill. Coeur d'ALene and parts north are too dark and rainy in the winter for my taste, though a sunny day in the Selkirks is hard to beat. For smaller towns, I think McCall is perfect. But when I faced the same question 11 years ago, Invermere, Nelson, Cranbrook, Whitefish, and Sandpoint were contenders. Ketchum would also fit, but it's kind of expensive. Plus the vib there is more East coast than small town Idaho.

My kids at 3 were very happy crawing around on 5 foot high boulders in the city park. No gear, no special anything, just moving on stone. Both have turned into pretty fair-dinkum climbers. My son moved on to other interests at about 16. He loves stuff with no gear, like running. All my daughter could talk about on her 21st birthday phone call last night was how she sent a bunch of 5.11s in New River Gorge in KY last week. I don't think she mentioned booze. We did something right.

The "performance fit" is with those new orange Scarpas? I bought a pair and fitted them big, for thick socks, lots of toe room and cold temps. Thinking I'll appreciate that in central Idaho some day. I've been out on some 0 f days with no problems. Will they work in AK? I too looked at that peak when I lived up there in 82, but also never saw the weather/work window open up to do it. Way to go!

It looks like summer! Is there honestly that little snow this year?

No, but I was thinking about just that while skate skiing this morning. Better yet, how about a rigid crampon that fits on NNN skate or classic race boots? Instant fruit boots with an approach ski! The crampon would have to provide enough rigidity to make up for the lack of same in the boot, but I could sketch out something pretty quick. Anybody else ever consider this? My classic nordic race boots have an integrated gaiter, a just-right hight, and lots of torsional rigidity. What they lack is a heel clipping surface. My wife's NNNBC boots could work well too, but they are heavier.

I don't own one, but I wish I did. I used a 3R on a week long ski mountaineering trip one time and was very impressed. Great in high winds, lots of room, went up quick, and oh so very light. The owner took care to not wear boots inside and had no problems with tears, as others complain about. The tent was a veteran of lots of long trips, including a Denali climb.

Sawtooths in a Feng Shui moment Mt Blanc Descending towards town

A while ago I posted pictures I recovered from a Canon Powershot 850 that I found halfway up Slick Rock in McCall this summer, hoping to find the owner. No luck. The camera still works fine after falling around 400 vertical feet and bouncing probably a dozen times down the 75 degree face, coming to a stop on a ledge. It was inside a thin leather case. The last picture was the summit shot. It takes pretty good pictures too, but I like my Canon G9, so the 850 sits at home most of the time. 1/2 the weight of the G9 though and simpler to operate for the technically challenged. I haven't tried the 850 in really cold temps, but the G9 works fine at 0 F. Both have an optical viewfinder, a boon on bright snowy days.

2001 Volvo XC 70 wagon. AWD, 27-28mpg on the highway and 21 on mountain roads. Enough ground clearance for most logging roads. HUGE amount of space in the back, a roofline low enough to make loading kayaks and canoes quite manageable. I bought it two years ago with 100000 miles for $10k. Plus you can sleep in the back in a pinch. Reliable. Comfortable. A great used car for the $.

OK, I'll bite. I still ski 'traditional' skis, in my case either my Dynafit mounted Hagen Superlights, a rather rare ski on this side of the pond, or my tele skis, the original Piste Stinks made for K2 by Authier in Austria. Both are great skis. I manage quite well with either set up, having skied since 1960, including quite a few years racing. I must confess though, at 53 I never hesitate to bludgeon with technology what I lack in skill and fitness. So I'm looking at two new (for me) skis, both "rockered" in the modern vernacular. The Dynafit Manaslu and the Armada JJ. Lots of great reviews on the web, plus skiers I know and respect rave about both of them. Any opinions from this crowd? I ski mostly around McCall, which means the backcountry conditions range from good to perfect. My old Miller Softs would have been very happy there. I also have full on slalom skis for the hardpack days at Brundage.

A little late on this, but I thought you all might enjoy this shot of my Dad next to his Jug, a couple of months before he was shot down the the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, while his flight was trying to stop tanks from taking St. Vith. He was severely burned, and wandered around in the snow for two days until he was captured by the Lufvfwaffe. His first night was in the barracks with the outfit that shot him down. The rest of the war he moved from one Lufvfwaffe hospital to another. Six times I think, mostly on foot. They treated Dad like their own pilots, but he still weighed 115 lbs when he was liberated. They also provided the best burn treatment in the world at the time. Several more operations in Menlo Park followed, at the hospital with 5000 other burn patients, where he met and married my mother after one month of courtship. They were together for 60 years. The climbing and skiing side of Dad is that he and Everett Davidson are the first names one finds in most of the cairns in the Selkirks between Bonners Ferry and Priest Lake, including the first ascent of the Lion's Head. He and Everett started most of those cairns when they were in high school in the late 30's. Dad, a life long skier, was also one of the original board members of the non-profit that started Schweitzer Basin. He had just bought his season pass for the 53rd year in a row when he died in December of 2006. [img:center]http://www.368thfightergroup.com/images/w-396-pace-bob.jpg[/img]

Yaaaah right. You're too late. It's already the most popular place in Idaho to climb. Well, maybe the City gets more folks.

I've got a G10 and it takes great pictures. Not too big in the pocket, but with close to SLR quality. Samples.

I've got a signed-by-Alan copy of his book I will lend to your for your trip planning, if you PROMISE to give it back. Don't know when I will get down there next.