gary_hehn

Yes Dan, situations like that are exactly where you use pickets or some other form of protection. It would be unreasonable to unrope for every 50 foot section of exposure.

more than a day is surely too late

Yes Undermind, I too must insist that you reconsider your stance on the hat. I don't know how much experience you have with sun and snow, but the consequences of not protecting yourself can be severe! Besides, the hat may not be a particularly strong fashion statement, but a week on Baker shouldn't be a fashion show. The sun hat or an approach like mattp's provides good protection. Also, remember to apply the sunscreen in your nostrils as well, they can get burned too.

My favorite is Dermatone Z-cote, been using it a number of years now. It uses zinc oxide to create a physical block as opposed to a chemical block. Thus, it is supposedly better for you and lasts longer. It also doesn't burn your eyes as others do when you've worked up a good sweat. There is also a nice application of it that comes in a tin for your face and lips. It is sold at REI and most mountain shops. As previously posted, I highly recommend the sun hat as pictured; wouldn't go without it myself. When you're out that much good goggles aren't a bad idea either for better protection. A week on Baker sounds great ... have a good trip and be safe!

Thanks, that must be it. Didn't mean to set off a false alarm! How did I miss this? Maybe because we were attempting the Tahoma Glacier route that same weekend and missed the news.

Just heard that there was a fatality on the Gib Ledges route on Rainier. Heard that it was a team of two - he took a couple hundred foot whipper and when she got to him he had died. Hoping, of course, it's not true; anybody else heard anything?

Sunday looks to be the best day. Improbable traverse is fantastic, but you do want it dry - much of the foot work is smear/friction. Pro is good - take your prusiks in case of slip and of course remember the pendulum potential for lead and 2nd.

I can relate to your distaste for all that gear, it is a bit cumbersome. That's part of the reason I've avoided aid climbing. I like the small alpine rack and where it can take you.

I've never taken up white water kayaking ... that's my loss, among countless other things of course.

bouldering's cool, but if you limit yourself to it ... it's your loss.

wrench, yes I agree! And besides, although REI has morphed into the yuppydom culture, fortunately we have a number of good mountain shops in the area to support.

Last time I was in "that place" to buy tape the floor person told me that it worked well for him when he was playing golf ... aaaarrrrgg! In Feb I was wearing REI mittens on Rainier. They were self destructing as I climbed. I was afraid they wouldn't make it through the trip! What's that shit?

Guess I'll get my 2 cents in. Not only has Danielle Fisher been diagnosed with ADD, she most certainly suffers from a sever case of affluenza! I also went to one of her talks; her climbing knowledge as a whole didn't seem terribly impressive. I also got the impression that while she may be spoiled, she didn't appear to be a spoiled brat - one person in the audience asked if she robbed banks between her climbs. She seems to be a very pleasant, good natured, and tough young lady despite her privileged status. And how else would someone be able to tick off her list, especially at her age? But then, we're all quite privileged to be able to participate in the great adventure that climbing offers when most people on this planet have to worry about their next meal. She had the opportunity and grasped it; that's pretty cool really.

Hmmm, don't know what to make of that ... I certainly wouldn't have wanted to retrace our route without a rope!

I cut my "clean" climbing teeth on hexes and nuts (wedgies) in the seventies. My hexes were quickly replaced by tri-cams and active cams when they became available. Half my rack is tri-cams and half active cams. I save the active cams for when I'm desperate otherwise, I place a tri-cam. Some people don't like tri-cams and I can't quite understand why. I tend to believe that they just haven't given them a fair trial. To me tri-cams rule in that they are so versatile and offer an amazing passive camming action. They can be tricky to place from an awkward stance thus, the active cam option in my rack.

exit38/the far side/gritscone has TR's as well.

Yes, actually 5 to 6 inches between the leg loops would probably be better. You need to try to get an idea of the fit as you are putting it together. Don't know if they're still available, but Misty Mountain Threadworks used to make a harness, "The Fudge Harness", that was perfect for these occasions. I could be fit to essentially anyone from a 40lb child to a 200+lb adult. It worked on the same concept except that it used wider webbing and incorporated metal sliders for adjusting the leg loops.

I've also doubled a single runner for each leg and wrapped (ideally, 3 or 4 times) some 1" tubular webbing or the rope around my waist tied with a water knot or bowline respectively. I then attached each leg loop to the waist wrap with a carabiner. Probably wouldn't want to lead with this, but otherwise works in a pinch.

A simple overhand knot on a bite works fine for the leg loops. Leave about 3" of webbing between the two leg loops. One end extending from the leg loops should be about 10" long. The other end will be the rest of the 20 foot piece of 1" tubular webbing used for the harness. It's good if one can wrap around the waist three or four times. Tie the ends together with a water knot with plenty of spare ends. Keep periodically checking the water knot. I used this harness for years and never had one come undone, but the potential exists.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Yes chucK, that's how Dave and I descended from our climb. We took one look at the dirty gulley and decided we didn't want to go there so, we traversed the ridge line to the east and that wasn't too bad. Our west face route could be used for the descent as well.

Yes, again your description of the east face climbing makes me believe that our new west face route is of better quality. No need for wills on our shirt sleeves.

Now that I have finally registered with cc.com (long over due), I suppose I should post a new route on Huckleberry Mountain. I realize that this peak is not particularly high on most peoples lists and this surely explains why there has only been one route reported on it for 90 years. I believe that this new route is worth documenting as it is quite pleasant. I haven't climbed the original route but, after rapping the upper section, viewing the messy gully leading up to it, reading the route description and the reports in the summit register I suspect that this new route is of better quality. Still, it is a long walk for precious little climbing, but it makes for a pleasantly long one dayer or it could serve as a backup to Mt. Thompson or as an addition to a Thompson outing. I submitted a report of this trip to the November 2001 issue of the Boealps (Boeing Alpine Club) Newsletter and at the same time reported the ascent to Fred Beckey. Here is the link to my write up: http://hehn.org/mountaineering/huckleberry/huckleberry.html

Let me know what you lost so that I can get it returned to you.

Pandora, I believe they are mine. I left them in the dark on Tues, 31aug. It's been a while so, if you found them a new home, that's fine. Bright orange Mad Rock/Flash, EUR40/USmens7.5. Thanks for posting them, sorry I didn't find this sooner.

Let me know what you lost so that I can get it returned to you. belay off! gerhardt