JohnGo

Hey moderators, How about a new Forum on "Tips and Tricks"? This single post clearly has a lot of interest. We climbers have lot of tips to share. There are a few gems in this post, but they are buried under all the others. Good tips would be easier too find if they were seperated more by topic, in a separate forum. Whaddya say?

Can anyone explain why a prusik minding pulley is close to $30, and a "standard" pully is about $10? It's always been a mystery to me. Construction seems to be about equally simple in both cases, and it's hard to see why one should cost so much more than the other.

The Mazamas offer rescue/evac insurance to all members. It's a pretty nice benefit of membership. Rescues above 6000 meters can be covered for a small additional fee. They "self insure", and do not go through an outside company. See www.mazamas.org --> Resources, or here: http://www.mazamas.org/your/adventure/starts-here/C41/

Ivan, the glacier is still very much there. I descended Wy'east on Sun Feb 17. We came down around 11:00, with snow softening fast. (We went down fast, too!) All of the above comments on avy potential apply to this east facing climb. It's best to try this route in cold conditions, or be pretty much off it when the sun comes up, which means an extra early start. If coming from Timberline, go to top of the Palmer chair, traverse right to White River Canyon, then find a fairly flat spot to drop down to the glacier. This way you lose minimal elevation (@100'). The only 2 pitches of note to consider roping for are the last two. The first is a balancy traverse right up and over a rock step which is a no fall zone, then the last steep (50-55 degrees or so) pitch to the summit. Snow here can vary wildly, from crotch deep sugar to thick rime ice. I's take an extra tool 1 picket per person and a light rope, in case you decide you want them. Here are a few photos I posted to the Mazamas route description pages: http://207.58.183.187/images/routes/wyeast1.jpg http://207.58.183.187/images/routes/wyeast2.jpg http://207.58.183.187/images/routes/wyeast3.jpg

Here is a cut 'n paste from the Tip of the Week section of the Mazamas web site (www.mazamas.org, under Resources). It covers metric and cubic inches comparison, something most people find a bit confusing. (Shameless plug - There's over 150 more climbing related Tips on this page once you read this one, so check it out.) Link: http://www.mazamas.org/your/adventure/nw/metric-and-inches-conversion-chart-for-backpack-volume/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Metric and inches - conversion chart for backpack volume You see a backpack review in a magazine that touts the latest European designed spectra-clothed carbon-fiber stayed wonderpack, the perfect size for an overnight climb at 50 liters. When you stop by the local gearhead shop, you are shown a similar looking American made model that the clerk is plugging, which holds 2500 cubic inches. Are these two volume measurements close? Which one is right for your needs? When shopping for a backpack, it’s useful to know the pack size you are after in metric, typically liters, and US sizing, typically cubic inches. Here’s a conversion table to assist you (cubic inches are rounded off). Metric - US 20 liters - 1,200 cubic inches 30 liters - 1,800 cubic inches 40 liters - 2,400 cubic inches 50 liters - 3,000 cubic inches 60 liters - 3,700 cubic inches 70 liters - 4,300 cubic inches Some pack volume rules of thumb: * For a one day summit pack (Mt. Hood), look for something around 40 liters, or 2500 cubic inches. * For packing light on a 1 or 2 night climb, consider a pack in the 50 liter range, or 3,000 cubic inches. * And for you folks who do take along the kitchen sink, look for a honker pack of 65 to 70 liters, or over 4,000 cubic inches.

One more vote for the Cold Cold World Chernobyl! I love mine.

A vastly better book (IMHO) on crevasse rescue and general snow/glacier climbing is the "cartoon" version: Glacier Mountaineering: An Illustrated Guide to Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue, by Andy Tyson, with drawings / hilarious cartoons by Mike Clelland. It was published by Climbing magazine, so it may be sorta hard to find (try their web site, or call them), but well worth looking for. A superb reference and a fun read!

At this link, you can see graphs of weather data at NW mountain locales for the previous week or so. Some data feeds give more details than others. I find these graphs to be more useful than the plain vanilla text-based telemetry pages like this one for Mt. Hood: The link is here: http://slum.dyndns.org:8090/plots/plots.html This link is on the Mazamas Links page, found under Resources. To winter fun, Johngo

When I read this, my first thought was, "Hmm, they had a map, a compass, and just stumbled onto a geocache with a perfect UTM location. This should give them their exact map position, and from there they could have walked the short distance to safety." More pondering. "Hmm, they did not do this because they walked off the boundaries of their map, or it was lost/destroyed." So, thanks for the clarification about the map part. It's a good reminder for us all to 1) protect our maps with a baggie, plastic sleeve, etc, and consider bringing maps at 2 different scales of your climb. One large scale for the main route ,and one at a smaller scale for the "whoops we got off route and are now in new terrain." BTW, Good thinking to know you had found a geocache. That was using yer noodle.

Trad Guy, As an FYI for you, lithium batteries do come in AA and AAA flavors. one example: http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-L91BP-4-Lithium-Batteries-4-Pack/dp/B00003IEME (Being such a supreme gearhead, I'm surprised you are not aware of this =^)

There is a nice overview here (link in lower left corner of page): http://www.mountaineers.org/seattle/navigation/ covering GPS features and considerations. I am not a Mountie member, just found thids page useful. Personally, I have the new Garmin Etrex Vista HCx. It has the new chip that gets sat. locks incredibly fast. Robert, thanks for the battery tip! - Johngo

Mr. Pitts, I will echo the recent others here - nice work on the almost self-rescue, and thanks for clearing up the details. On a lighter note, here's a bit of rescue "humor" with, IMHO, the all-time greatest rescue quote ever: "A rescue is unwarranted, unwanted and will not be accepted." - Johngo from: http://www.yosemite.org/newsroom/clips2002/march/031002.htm In 1970, Warren Harding and partner Dean Caldwell (my note - a Portlander!) were involved in another climb of El Capitan that turned into a spectacle. They started up an unclimbed route they called the Wall of the Early Morning Light (now called the Dawn Wall) on Oct. 23, 1970, and spent 27 days without coming down. At one point, Mr. Harding fell 50 feet but dusted himself off and kept climbing. Storms hit them; during one stretch in early November, they spent 107 hours straight huddled inside their covered hammocks, soaked and shivering. The food began to run out. The National Park Service decided a rescue was in order and began helicoptering ropes, supplies and potential rescuers to the summit. Mr. Harding scribbled a note in an empty tuna can and tossed it down: "A rescue is unwarranted, unwanted and will not be accepted." In his book, "Downward Bound," Mr. Harding fantasized about what would have happened if the rescuers had rappelled down to them: "If these rescuers had been overzealous and insisted on taking us with them, the consequences would have been too bizarre even to think about: a wild fight with piton hammers and wine and brandy bottles," he wrote.

Hi Bill, Thanks for the good vibes! The gamma lids are great, no? (At home, I even keep a 20# bag of rice in them. Most practical. I will add this tip to the Mazamas page soon. Here is a link to the original post: http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1712218;#1712218

http://mazamas.org/your/adventure/starts-here/C423/ The Mazamas Tips of the Week page is up, in a new easy to navigate format. Check out over 170 climbing related tips, all sorted by topic. Topics are: General mountaineering Rock climbing Snow climbing Belay and Rappel Backcountry skills Gearhead’s delight DIY – gear making and modification First Aid Route planning and navigation Food and nutrition A few comments: 1 – These tips are geared towards the beginner or intermediate climber. So you crafty veterans, don’t snicker at the “right way to tie into a harness” or “tips on a hip belay”. Having said that, I bet most everyone, regardless of their experience level, will glean a few nuggets. There’s certainly some more advanced level information here as well, like “the wrap 3, pull 2” anchor. 2 – Credit for outside sources. Some tips use images and quotes from others. Wherever possible, I’ve tried to give appropriate credit. If you have a correction for a referenced source, let me know and I’ll change it. 3 – Please keep discussion of particular tips or methods out of this post. Some of you will want to debate the various pros and cons of some of the tips presented. I’m happy to do this, but this post might not be the best place for it. PM me and I will respond. If you see something that’s blatantly (or lethally, in your opinion) wrong, I’ll consider removing or revising a posted Tip. That’s it for the disclaimers. Please have a look and tell me what you think. If you have a personal website or blog and want to link to this, thanks! John Mazamas tipmeister

"Savage Aren"a, by Joe Tasker Not a climb book, but "Running the Amazon", the account of the first complete descent of the Amazon River, is one of the top all time adventure / endurance books I've ever read.

If you are starting out, the man-made west facing wall below the roadway at the very top of Rocky Butte is a great place to go. Set a toprope off a car or a no parking sign, walk to the base and clip in a grigri, and you can solo toprope without a partner. The wall is about 25 feet tall, with loads of C1 placements. Right in town, and a handy training spot - for alkost any sort of climbing. I have a few sessions here to dust off some skills before I go to Zion for the real thing. - johngo

Guys, Very nice TR and esp. nice photos. I climbed this last year. For anyone thinking of this route . . . - bring med. Leeper cam hooks - bring 2 headlamps, esp during shorter days - learn to jug and clean elsewhere before you get on a route this steep. Have your chosen ascending system dialed before geting on any "real" route. Go get em!

"Petzl pulley, 55 grams" Y'all are quibbling about < 2 ounces here. There are many ways to shave that kind of weight without slightly compromising rescue gear. Consider saving the $$ and don't buy a Revolver.

One word - Metolius. Most, if not all, goodies are designed and manufactured by locals right here in the great NW, in Bend Orygun. The cams certainly are. Next time you're taking a rest day at Smith, if you ask nicely you can likely get a tour of the whole place - machine shop downstairs and sewing room upstairs. It's really fascinating to actually see cams being made. (Last time I was in, I recall a 1:1 ratio of people to dogs on the sewing floor.) If y'all are truly concerned about supporting local economies and the related tax base, consider a truly local company. And yes, I do have gear from a dozen manufacturers from several continents, but for small to mid range cams, it's Metolius for me.

Go for The Grack on Glacier Point apron after about 2:00 pm. It's in the shade and you'll feel like the only soul in the valley. No sign of any person-made objects, and minimal car-bus noise. It's one of the absolute best Yos. easy climbs, 4 pitch easy 5.6 crack, with a big beautiful ledge on top. Try a lower off, fix the rope, and go for a lateral jog on the expanse of granite.

Whassup Doc? (couldn't resist =^) Shameless plug - Check out classes with the Mazamas. www.mazamas.org All class schedules are posted to their web site under Education. All classes are open to non-members. All lectures are free and open to anyone to audit - even if you are not enrolled, you can still learn a lot from attending a lecture on rock anchors or crevasses rescue, for example. The Skill Builders classes are a good way to get your feet wet. These are 1 evening lecture and 1-2 day field sessions in topics like anchors, crevasse rescue, avalanche awareness and navigation. Have a look!

Hmm, Kevlar cord. In'string idea. I might have to try that. I always wear my gaiters under my pants. And, I always wear shorty gaiters. Yep, all the time, even winter climbs. It may sound whacky, but I never get excess snow down the boots and they work great for me. Before anyone slams this idea, give it a try on a climb/hike you'd normally wear knee high gaiters on and how the shorties work.

Also, a good practice for 2 person glacier travel is to tie knots (butterfly or fig 8) every 3-4 feet in the rope between you and your partner. This does two things: 1) adds friction in a crevasse fall, as the knots rub and catch in the snow, to hopefully make a faster catch and thus a shorter fall, and 2) the loops can be used as points of aid to step in or pull on for the person who fell in.

A weak point in the design of many gaitors is the cord that runs under the sole of your boot. While some models have a beefy (and heavy) strap, some have just a nylon cord. After any amount of rough terrain, the nylon cord gets frayed and cut. As it’s on the bottom of your boot, it’s hard to notice when it’s almost cut through Here’s an easy modification that will eliminate this hassle. Head to the hardware store, and buy 3 feet of 1/16 inch cable from the bulk spools and 4 1/16” aluminum sleeves. (Note: This size cable and sleeves are also the key gear you need to make a hanging stove.) With wire cutters and a bit of patience, you replace the cord with a looped wire. Clamp the aluminum sleeves onto the wire with pliers. Note that this is non-adjustable, so size it to the shoes you’ll use most often with the gaitors. Original Post with photo Mazamas Tip of the Week Index

This is really sad. I'm sorry for your loss. Something a pal suggested to me a few years back was to take only a "climb wallet" on a hike or climb. That's a ziplock bag, containing about $50 cash, a drivers license, and a single debit/credit card. The rest of the wallet stays safe at home. The baggie goes with you on the climb. I might now also start leaving all keys at home, and only bring a car key . . .