indigosage

I've had the most luck with the garmin monitors. I had a suunto that was $120 but was very inconsistent in actually picking up my heart rate. I had a polar that worked but I had to be really religious about wetting the contact points before starting. The garmin is great - I put it on and it picks up my heart rate (no wetting needed) and maintains it throughout my workouts. You can get a basic garmin for $100 - http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Fitness-Watch-Heart-Monitor/dp/B001S2RCXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304537354&sr=8-2

I would recommend staying away from the Neve. The way the teeth are configured just does not give you a solid feel on snow. I sold the pair because I just didn't trust them. If I pick up another pair of aluminums I would go with the Grivels.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of the climber that lost his life today. My thoughts and prayers go out to the two that are still up there. Words seem so insignificant at a time like this.

Ouray is a great place to both learn and play. You could try going to the Ice Festival. You can sign up for a bunch of different clinics and they are pretty inexpensive. You could also try and hook up with one of the guide services - San Juan Mountain Guides, run by Clint Cook, is excellent. Another guide, Matt Wade, recently started his own company and I can say that he is a great guide as well and seems to have a good crew of people. They do 2-day beginner programs, and 3-day intermediate programs that are reasonably priced. Even with a lot of alpine experience, taking a structured class in ice climbing is well worth the time. http://www.ourayclimbing.com/ San Juan Mountain Guides (Clint's co.) http://www.peakmountainguides.com/iceclimbing.html Peak Mtn. Adventures (Matt's co.) Have fun!

Anyone know what the snow level and conditions are like on the standard scramble routes on Mt. Maude/7 Fingered Jack at the moment? Looking to head up there this weekend and wondering if I should take an ice ax and crampons.

There was lots of ice fall up there yesterday from the Steel Cliffs, through the Pearly Gates and to the left of the Old Chute. As the weather inversion continues it is likely that there will continue to be ice fall. Might be better to wait until it starts to get down to freezing overnight again (not predicted until late in the week). There was a climber injured today by icefall. Be safe and be smart if you go.

Thanks for the info. What elevation did you run into snow? I am assuming the actually corkscrew part of the route was totally melted out. Is that correct?

I have been a GPS hold out for years - wanting to rely solely on map & compass, and finally broke down and bought one. I bought the Garmin Map 60Csx, and purchased the card that has Oregon and Washington 1:24,000 map set. I love it! I have had it out on three trips so far and I have never had a problem getting a signal (from open mountainside, to pretty dense tree cover, to playing with it in my house). It is intuitive and easy to use. It's easy to set a route, and use the tracking feature. The display is good sized, and the maps are very easy to read. I decided to try lithium batteries. So far it has been running for 35 hours on 2 lithium batteries (granted the weather has been pretty mild), so I am very happy with the battery life thus far. That said, I don't think the electronic compass or barometer are actually very useful (especially since I will always carry a standard compass, and have an altimeter that is also my watch), so you can save some money and get the 60CS. I just turn off the electronic compass to save battery life anyway. I purchased it from an online company - GPSNow and saved $100 over retail. http://gpsnow.com/ They seem to have really good prices on numerous GPS units, and data cards, software, etc...

Has anyone given the Sloan Peak Corkscrew route a go this year from the Bedal Creek trail? Since road 49 requires an extra 4.5 mile hike I am looking to try the Bedal Creek approach and looking for any info anyone can offer on the approach/route from this side. The only printed info I can find on this approach is in Beckey's guide, and his account doesn't seem to line up with a report I found on CC from a couple of years ago - so I'm thinking things have changed a lot since that book was published. Any information is greatly appreciated.

Has anyone been up to Sloan Peak (Corkscrew route) or Mt. Daniel (Daniel Glacier, approach via Peggy's Pond) recently? On Sloan I am interested in the snow level, the river crossing conditions and what the glacier crossing is like. On Daniel I am just wondering what the snow level is.