mccallboater

I'd recommend Silvretta 500's as bindings so you can use just about any boot with a welt. Then check out the local thrift shops for a pair of easy-turning skis about 165cm or so. You won't be able to ski steep slopes with perfect style, but once you get a friend to show you how to make a bullitproof stem cristie, you can ascend and descend just about any mountain you need to quickly and effectively. I use a pair of K2 8255's that I bought off this list for $75. Me on Lowa mountaineering boots and the K2's:

"The guy" is Reinhold Meisner, no less. Selling Reinhold his own book is priceless. Some sort of This is Your Life combined with Europe's Funniest Home Videos. I need to brush up on my German.

In answer to your weather question, I'm sure the face will be covered in wet, given that McCall is starting to get it's first few days above freezing, plus there is still about two feet of snow on the level in town, and about six feet on the level up at Slick Rock. Lots of ice coming down around now up there. You still need a snowmobile or about 3 hours of skinny skiing to get to the base. Hotel McCall's webcam is good for local condition checking. Hotel McCall webcam

I climbed it (well, I followed every pitch in truth) with Mike Adams in 1984. We did the very cool 4 pitches of 5.10 on the other side from the aid route. I highly recommend it. According to the summit register we were about the 10th party to get to the top. Mike was the first to lead all the pitches. It was absolutely the high point of a great first summer of climbing for me, after bagging a lot of stuff around Winthrop and Twisp, Omak and Leavenworth with Mike. Anybody know what happened to him? He was soloing 5.11 and a few 5.12s a lot back then.

Somebody gives these guys a call and get an informed opinion please...

I've been skiing up there every other weekend or so and wishing I had someone to climb it with.

This will be the first weekend since January that Slick rock did not make a killer ice climb. About 4 pitches of fat ice on the left side. Sort of looked like a less steep Weeping Wall a la Icefields parkway. But the main route face has been sliding with every snow fall.

McCall, Brundage. Hits on all of your points. After skiing Rossland BC last weekend I can say the "moderate terrain" aspect is so Brundage. I'd forgotten what steep is all about. McCall gets drier, easier to ski snow though. 49 degrees N is another great smaller area that gets good snow, faces North and sees few people. Turner Mountain near Libby MT is another, but I'll probably get death threats for mentioning it. Steeper too.

Ok that does it. As soon as I post anything on Cascade climbers, the thread goes dead. This feels suspiciously like junior high at the dance.

Since it's a long drive from Boise up to Mazama, anybody on the list interested in an closer alternative, Snowbank Mtn after May 15th? That's when the road opens. Expect 20' of snow in the lee spots.

Headline: Dog from pound finds life good with outdoor family Just walk around the pound until you find a good one. Lucy Looking for lunch in all the wrong places

OK, I figured it out. Pics must be in CC-Com gallery, duh.

The picture thing is driving me nuts. Help!

Trip: Sargent's Mtn slackcountry, N of Brundage, Idaho - North Bowl steep stuff Date: 2/17/2008 Trip Report: Brundage isn't known for steep skiing, but a 30 minute semi-leisurely skin climb to the North from the top of the Bluebird lift brings one to Sargent's, a wonderful local hangout with 35 to 45 degree North bowl pitches that hold nice snow even a week after a storm. It wasn't waist deep like two weeks ago, but then again I wouldn't have skied these lines then. Note the optional avy chute with a 1000' of drop on the way back to the car. Picasa page with pics. Some ski area pics mixed in, just skip them. Jim, Ben & Craig Skiable Skied Those arn't my tracks Gear Notes: My new bright yellow Hagen superlights and Dynafits are easy to find when I loose them in the faceplant. 60 weight sunscreen came in handy. Approach Notes: Drive to Brundage, buy a ticket, ride the Bluebird chair, skin up and head North. Take a map.

I have the best of towns to play in; Boise and McCall. Boise has all the newbie's required attributes. Jobs, a good quick airport, nearby fun, manageable housing (the N end is the best), and an avid community of outdoor folks. McCall is smaller, with tons more snow and mountain weather generally, plus a great lake, rivers, climbing and skiing right out the door. In my case, literally out the door. Though housing prices have gotten out of hand up there in the last few years. Just stay away from Tamarack Resort. Bad Karma.

check out crappyclimbers.com for links to S Idaho sites

No one has mentioned an additional benefit of VBL's, which through experiment I have found to be even more useful than the extra 10 degrees or so of warmth I get from my down bag. I DON'T HAVE TO PEE AS MUCH at night with the VBL (caps added purposely). My persperation rate decreases, due to the higher humidity inside the VBL. I lose less water through my skin overnight, and apparently process less water through my bladder, for reasons I do not understand. I define happy winter camping as not having to melt as much snow, sleeping warmly throughout the long night, and not having to wake up from a - can't find a place to pee - dream and fumble around for the pee bottle in the dark. If that's not a good reason to use a VBL, I don't know what is. Caviats: If the tent or cave temp is above freezing, I don't bother with a VBL I don't sweat much. Your milage may vary I use a Marmot Lithium, but I don't think the down bag matters. I've used VBL's with synthetic bags with the same effect

Not made any more but I love mine: Jansport Endeavor 8000 Looks like there are still a few available on closeout. Kind of like a Kelty spectra bag without the price.

I just wear my climbing helmet. Works great.

Hey...Most Spokane climbers are a nice bunch. The Spo. Mountaineers is a very capable, get things done group, with a long history of local conservation projects. But Mini IS just too close to the road; too easy to climb while drunk to hear those bottles go crash bang. I always thought a little thoughtful dynamite could make the approaches to the top of the main face at least 5.7? This from a guy who lived there for 13 years, and enjoyed Mini much.

Not a chance. A long ski approach or sledwack. But folks up there on the list will know current conditions.

Dollar cost averaging is about the only way to beat stupidity into submission, and since I know I'm stupid with investments enough to not trust my intuition, it works for me. But the best investments I have made have always been in real property. As the original Baron Rothschild said: "Buy when there is blood in the streets." Or something to that effect. Real property works like that. The smart guys are buying up Gaza beachfront as we speak.

Miller softs. The sagebrush core is the secret.

Dick was into passive solar, hot water thermal mass, carbon footprint, all that stuff since he built the place in the, when, 70's and 80's? Way before it was chic. Good people. Great place.

I'm way beyond the gear Pindude remembers me using, but it's still archaic compared with new stuff. Hey Steve, didn't I teach you how to tele?