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All responses pertain to outward representations made by climbers to other parties. Interesting. At 55, I can tell you from experience that the self-aggrandizing trait of humanity was less common before social media gave everyone a free platform from which to paint themselves for everyone else. ***** Why climb? Is the fundamental goal to satisfy an inner drive, or put on an outward show? A mountaineer inwardly craves a summit and would deny him or herself that objective only if safety required it. Perhaps the distinction between climbers and mountaineers is defined by one's views on the necessity of summiting.

9 yr update. I never did any repair. I put 130 hard days per year on these boots, many wet, many snowy, many dry rocky. I'm still banging away, and they're still rockin along. That initial crampon cut was deep. This leather must be really thick. Snowseal is good. asolo TPS 520 GV.

Thanks! I should have been more clear - it was snowshoes or maybe even skis/skins we were wondering about. We'll take the snowshoes in the car, see what we see.

Hi, I'm planning my first early-June attempt up ID (9th-11th). Plan = camp IF on 9th, summit and descend on the 10th, but allow for same on the 11th if we have weather on the 10th. Are boots and crampons sufficient footwear for this route in early June? Or are other snow-travel accessories mandatory? Thx!

Thanks to all... Yes, bit into leather some. I encountered slush on glacier & snow field this weekend, no leaks, all is well. I will likely take it to Page next time I get over that way, see what he sez. Thanks again...

Hypothetically, if one were clumsy enough to put a crampon gouge halfway through the leather of a new left boot toe, hypothetically how would one satisfy his/her anal desire to "repair" said gouge? Pour a puddle of shoe goo on it and let it dry? Will shoe goo stick to leather that has been sno-sealed? Any other hypothetical suggestions?

I'm afraid you guys are missing the point. Ralston did die on day two, and his body was inhabited by an alien. The alien wrote a book, the prose of which is hypnotic and coded to entice goobers to copycat. Ask anyone who knew crack-hour before the everest incident. They'll say he's totally different now. Obviously, this is because John died on everest, and the body-snatchers got him too. You really gotta be careful what you read these days.

Thanks Pete, we'll check out the gu. We walked to Muir Sunday eve with kid's torpedo sleds bungeed onto the packs. We stopped about 5 minutes shy of the hut (sun setting), then sledded back to the bottom of the snow field in 13 minutes. Nothing crazy, just steady as she goes, and suddenly you're there. It only felt "too fast" during the early part of the learning curve. Much snow in the face on steeper sections, but steering capabilities were much better than we expected. We're taking goggles next time. Round trip was just over 5 hours. More importantly, we eliminated a section of the dreaded walking down the damn hill. Maybe there's something wrong with us, but we just hate going down. Time spent at Muir? I think we've decided to decide when we get there. Melt and treat water, then start immediately if we're froggy, or nap if we're not. We have fat ol' down jackets, so we'll stuff them in the packs. A diuretic didn't really figure into our early plans, but caffeine makes more sense now that we've recently experienced an 11PM departure from paradise to drive 2 hours home. At 1AM, after 2 hours in the car, we were both pretty pathetic. We're starting to get stoked for this.

Thanks again. The 5 lb argument is succinctly put. The stove drop at DC is also an excellent idea, but I'm also reminded that a stove doesn't weight that much anyway. The hydration comments are well-received and we'll reconsider that aspect. I think we got sidetracked by the "hour". We've taken morning hikes to Muir and back on 3 liters round trip. We were "thirsty" back at the car, but we also thought that the "heat" of the day was a factor (more sweating etc). Perhaps that last bit is nonsense, and we shouldn't anticipate reduced hydration requirements because we're climbing at night. We'll hike to Muir again twice before the climb. Combine these hikes with prior history of no problems at 14K = we don't consider risk of altitude sickness to be different than that encountered on the traditional 2-day climb. I guided hunt clients for years from a lodge at 7300 to hunts at 8500 - 10100. My experience is that true acclimatization is something that occurs over weeks, not hours or days. I also believe that 8000 is the treshhold. I've never seen anyone sick under 8K, but I have seen sick people at 8400. The "cold at Muir" comment is also relevant. I joked above about more rest, but our thinking has been that we're at Muir only long enough to boil water. We might even bring two stoves. Sitting = cold. Reasoning : It's not for a race, or (obviously) a record. It's just a couple of guys who love the hill and wonder why that middle part where you camp and cook is absolutely necessary. We never slept well at the flats anyway. So thanks for the comments! BTW - our party of four turned back at 13600 a few years ago, because the fittest and youngest member discovered his personal threshhold on his first attempt. By the time we got him back to the Flats, he was again coherent, and unbelieveably, wanted to turn around and try it again. We didn't of course, but it cemented the lesson for us: Altitude sickness can hit anyone, doesn't care about fitness levels, and is cured only by going down. Happy 4th!

Greetings! ...and many thanks for the feedback! I've been arguing for more rest for weeks, but my partner is ruthless. Regrettable only because he is 10 yrs my senior, the bastid. FF - I have read about this route: go up FF, come down DC (or Ingraham if passable.) We will consider, thx! We just like the comfort of DC because even the well prepared light traveler is traveling light, so to speak. Yes, we have adequate experience at elevation, many thanks. Cautionary advice should remain prevalent on the boards; surely it saves a few lives or wrecks every year. HAFE - LMAO! A new acronym, but certainly not a new experience; especially with the other guy on this venture. ...if only his name were Arty... More directly, we're confident that thousands have accomplished the feat in question: travel light, go up, go down, sleep later. We're confident, but also quite receptive to nuggets of wisdom from other light travelers... Oh, and my buddy wants to smurf out caves while playing on top. Where are these caves? Thx!

Hi, I'm new here. From WY; visiting friends in Puyallup. A friend and I are considering altering our late July attempt up D.C. Proposed schedule: depart paradise 7:30PM, arr Muir 11:00PM, boil water, dep Muir 12:00AM, summit 5:00AM, dep summit 6:30AM, arr Muir 9:30AM, boil water, dep Muir 10:30, arrive Paradise at our leisure. Water per man - consume 2 liters enroute to Muir, make 3 there, consume 1 at Muir, consume 1 up & 1 down, again make 2 at Muir, consume 1 there and 1 down to Paradise. Departing from parking lot, the packs would contain 2 liters, calories for 17 hours, harness, crampons, axe, bivsack, anchor, motorola bag phone, middle clothing layer, and not much else. 1 guy gets the rope, other guy gets the stove. We'd prolly stash our stove at muir. Whilst exercising recently, we made muir in 3:30 with 20lb packs, this without any obvious facial hemorrhage. We felt quite energized as we gazed at Adams and the wonderful PNW cloud deck. So we're not speeders, but we are slightly lazy and wonder if perhaps we shouldn't just climb the thing with light packs and skip the nap. Conditions permitting, of course. We have been turned back before, and did not cry long. Anyone care to share their experience with similar efforts? Thanks! (Just kidding about the bag phone.)