Wastral

Yes, conservative. Those that solo and don't die do so, by being conservative. Very conservative. You don't do routes you can do belayed for starters. Otherwise you have a high probability of dieing. Yes, I know I can climb 5.11 with a belayer and lots of pro in the wall. I certainly would never think of doing that solo! 5.6/5.7 solo? Sure, as I have a large reserve of trust and confidence in my abilities and know that if I have to I can downclimb said rating to a belay/rappel station and get out of there. Also you move far more methodical when soloing as you have twice as much time to make the same moves as if you lead climbed, then waited for your belayer to reach your station. Likewise, you don't do excessive mileage/elevation gain as this would come close to draining your reserves and this could lead to lack of judgement as one gets tired. Wayne solo's 5.10 as his confidence level in his foot/hand placement is far greater than mine as is evidenced by his solo Mongolian ride FA on W. Fury in the pickets.

I get sick and tired of all these arm chair pundits touting safety first, when its LIFE first. Not safety. Living in a white padded box is not living. That is death. It sure is safe though... Anyone soloing by definition is conservative. There are many occassions when Not being roped up is far safer than if you are in a team. Just like all these folks trying to claim crevasse rescue courses will magically make them learn crevasse rescue. From the folks I have seen who took said courses they didn't learn a damned thing except don't fall in the hole and be afraid of glaciers. No this is not universally true of course. Instead they could have spent $13 for a book and taught themselves as it would have forced them to learn said material instead of leaning on the group to think for them during said "course". The way safety freaks would have it, everyone would need 300 courses to obtain 300 certificates to pick their nose in a nice clean environment before being allowed to go outside and pick your nose in big ol' outdoors. That way the bereaucratic minded can properly hold power over the masses. Just another form of slavery.

Tony, he is traversing, not going multipitch climbing... Have you even been in the pickets? Its not Hell incarnate at every step 5.11b climbing. For the most part its simple class 2. You can traverse the pickets without going over ANYTHING over class 3 at worst! This is how the original party did it after all... Must have had major earthquakes up there as all of the cliffs, traversing, and tales have grown in the telling. Uh, grow a pair Tony? Try going out without your nanny? You don't even have to touch any real glacier when traversing the pickets. Its faster to do so though. The pig glacier in Luna cirque doesn't count nor does the E challenger arm snowfield. Would you recommend not soloing the PCT as you could trip and fall and break your arm as they don't "know" the local conditions in S. Cal? Really?

Why not solo? Its moderate terrain. Its not like he is planning on 5.8 belayed climbing like East McMillian north face. Even if he is, its up to ones comfort level then its fine. Its the commitment to be self sufficient. True, if I were soloing, I would bring extra food, but otherwise... Rappel rope and tat for rappelling off of and be prepared for some route finding issues, but otherwise that is just a mental condition. If route finding is the only problem. I might suggest a SPOT 911 service, but otherwise enjoy.

Jeepers I have done the N-S picketts in August on a normal snow year. It wasn't bad except the otto-himmelhorn col where I nearly killed my brother dislodging a 3 foot boulder on his head. Going S-N this way is a NO GO as the cliff off the mustard glacier to picket pass ridge is a rounded cliff face from the mustard glacier to Picket pass this time of the year. Could climb the ottohorn and descend the solid rock to pickett pass ridge. Do this out of the ottohorn col, not the sandy downsloping garbage on the top of the mustard glacier. I suppose one could just descend the mustard and the slabs and traverse over to picket pass but you can't get to picket pass as its a cliff. At least I know of no way to get to picket pass from the South east. I suppose high on Outrigger peak there is a way. The ol' motto, the larger they are the safer they are for boulders? HA! I would say the sandy low 5th class move off the mustard glacier was not bad though as the poster upthread makes it out to be, though he is right in that you fall there, you will slide under the glacier never to be heard from again. Its not 5.7 though. Its a slightly awkward 5.5... Oh wait, there is no distinction really between the two. =) Oh yea, and having to go down the barrier instead of up and over dagenhart('clean' class 4) as it was completely iced over from the storm we endured for the last day and a half on a heather 20 degree slope in cresent creek basin since we couldn't find any flat spot as we had been forced over the previously mentioned ottohorn-himmelhorn col since the weather turned foul on us and we didn't feel safe doing the N. Buttress of Tterror or the N. Buttress of McMillian either forcing us to go down the barrier and we dropped off the barrier too soon and got into cliffs and wound up rappeling through the maple trees below and then scrambling through some patches of horrid underbrush 5 feet off the ground for about a half mile. Other than that it wasn't bad at all if you didn't mind occasional 3rd class. NOTE: If it is raining DO NOT go up or down the otto-himmelhorn col as this is a bowling alley for rocks. We camped off to side at its bottom in a snow/sleet/rain storm and heard/watched boulders and rocks come flying down that bugger for a day and a half. If solo I would still go N-S up Big Beaver and the Eiley Wiley ridge, but Not go over otto-himmelhorn, rather I would go under the faces of the southern pickets on the north aspect and out Elephant Butte High Route also known as Steattle Ridge as it will drop you back at your car, or nearly back at your car, Ross Dam. High rambling on said ridge should be straight forward and easy. Beware lack of water on said ridge at that time of year as snow patches could very well be lacking or cross back to the Terror Creek Drainage hitting W. McMillian on the way out and the trail I might add. Peaks you MUST climb. Challenger(50' of 4th 5th), LUNA(3rd), I think Becky calls it 4th, but not really, Fury, getting from Luna to Fury is 3rd and a single 5th class move on the ridge. You can completely bypass the SE fury glacier, so you don't have to worry about crevasses. Expect up to 40 degree snow though. Terror low 5th out of the col from crescent creek McMillian 3rd from Terror Creek upper basin. Mt. Triumph NE ridge some low 5th bunch of 4th and 3rd if you have the time of course... From Fury you have the option of crossing the glacier and going to Outrigger peak and some very steep snow sections that can be iced if cool weather and down to picket pass or down the west side of E. Fury to picket pass or Go under W. Fury and to Pickett pass(NOTE two t's) Between Crowder and W. Fury, and then back perfect pass or back up the backside of challenger and back out the Eiley Wiley ridge traverse. Of course both these later options require being on the Challenger glacier solo. This is a real glacier, not the jokes in the Sierras/Colorado/Wyoming and for that matter many in Washington. You gotta at least have Beckey's guide and map on page 95. Cascades Volume III. Cascade Alpine Guide climbing and high routes 3, rainy pass to fraser river second edition Fred Beckey. Whatever you do, DO NOT bail out the creek drainages unless there is a known TRAIL, the slide alder/vine maple/devils club/salmon berry, moss covered rocks, stacked trees on said rocks and aforementioned alder/maple/devils club, hanging 5 feet off the ground will be impossible to go through. Its taken some parties DAYS to get out draineges like Luna creek or mcmillian creek or uppper Goodell creek of lengths of only a few miles. Its not like the distances in the Pickets are great, just the route finding problems and elevation changes. I don't think its possible to get through the pickets without traversing at least minor real glaciers or directly below them waiting for the ice to break free and descend on you anyways. Drool time: On ledge at Luna pass. 10 am so picture is slightly washed out from the sun. We jaunted up Luna peak early to get our wall hanging picture we printed 17 inches high and 60 long. As other have said, go to summitpost.org search for the picketts and read the trip reports and traverses and then go to Aiden/Micheal/Theron trip report, it has the best "maps" you can print for free anyways. Otherwise I have ancient high routes map with the traverses possible on it. I could hunt it down scan it and send it I suppose, but honestly lines are just lines and get the 7.5 minute quad and go for it. Just be very wary of repelling as you can't go back up. Enjoy. I would go again, if I wasn't going North to Bute, knight Waddington region again. Up there is a whole new meaning to bushwacking. Thank God for Google earth and dates on its images as you can then guess how long its been since an area has been logged.

If you are anywhere near a highway, there are a LOT of truckers out there who will be listening. If you are in Alaska there are a TON of HAMS there. You can also communicate with the Forest Service MAIN stations. Next time you are in say Marblemount, ask the person behind the desk what channel they use for emergency communications. Why? Because your HAM tech license allows Far higher wattage on your sending antenna on the 2m etc bands than any Piece of Junk cell phone. Honestly I don't take any kind of phone etc with me in the mountains, but if I did, I would take a HAM radio as it will travel FARRRRRRR Farther than any cell phone. It does take a little preplanning and calling the local Forest District to get the proper channels to use. Or call the nearest police station as they will also have their own channels you can tap into as well. Cheers The Tech test is absurdly easy you only have to get a 70% as well...

Not sure why you are so gung ho to whack out the trail. Ok, you can't run parts of the trail, but for the most part one could. No matter what you do, the alder sections is ALWAYS going to be bad. Unless you move the trail. If you want to complain about a "trail" is the South Cascade trail in a beautiful valley. IT truly has vanished. Though even that trail you can walk it at a fast pace minus the slide section. Then again, most of my mountaineering is off trail. Not much into backpacking, though it is enjoyable as well. For the most part all of the trails/roads in the forest service are WAAAAYYYY over maintained. That and the FS wastes money building gigantic bridges over trickles that at worst get your boots a little wet. If you want the forest service to do something useful tell them to maintain the bridges over the rivers used by cars first and everything else LAST. I don't give a damn if there is toilet paper at the trailhead. Besides if there isn't it means you don't have to pay the damned extortion fee. Why everyone expects cadillac service in the backcountry is beyond me. As far as I am concerned maintain the PCT and let everything else come afterwards.

Wow a subject I actually agree with Prole about. A first. Though not totally. Like anything else, politics and economics meet and one truly has to stay away from the extreme ends of the spectrum, anarchy compared to servitude. In this instance you can't really state that they are "right" or "left". I would like to point out that to maintain a self sufficient country there are certain industries that must be protected. Via Tarriffs, taxes, regulations, etc. Not into monopolies, but protected from outside ecopolitical interests that will influence your politics and decision making. Like say the steel industry. A basic need of any 1st class nation. Just because China chooses to dump all its waste from said industry right back into the rivers while our industry actually practices clean production practices shouldn't enable said Chineese industry from becoming a monopoly and destroying said core industry here in the USA. IF there ever was a real war, not the joke in Afganistan or Iraq, this is a paramount industry to have. Industries that shouldn't have subsidies are farming. All this does is help out the giant farmers so they can buy out the little farmers becoming even bigger. Now maybe if they passed a law topping how big farms can be... In short such discussion always come down to "how free is your freedom". IE how close to anarchy do you want to go? Anarchy is not freedom. Just the largest bully on the block. The opposite is true as well. How close to slave hood are you willing to go for "fairness" where there is no reward for initiative and nothing to gain from hard work.

Panasonic GH2 External mic input. Stereo sound. 1080p 24/25/30 fps in AVCDHC codec! 720p 60fps. Auto Whitebalance zoom/focus. Weight as little as 1.2lbs. With 10X! zoom 1.8lbs. With Image stabilization. Can take Stills while taking video with the push of a button. Don't have to switch between modes. Does stills as well excellently. I find that even with a video camera, most of what I take are still pictures as they make screen savers and pictures for framing. I like to print BIG. Hook it on your shoulder strap. As for Waterproofness. Hmm Not sure. But are you going kayaking? I do and no I don't even contemplate using such cams for that purpose. If you are then your options go WWWWWAAAAAAYYYYYY down. Sounds like you are more interested in helmet sized cams which means crappy video IMO, but they are much lighter. As for hooking battery up to Solar cells, take said charger and cut out the 120-12v power converter for "normal" batteries of the 7.6V type in most cameras and attach the ~12V solar cell power input to the power leads of said charging system. All lithium cells need a power converted that measures the resistance of the cells while charging! If you are only looking for AA batteries... Good luck. This limits you to probably 1 or 2 cameras total. Try ripping the guts out of a normal battery saving the power plugs and attach power that way, though with onboard computers on the batteries and in the cameras its a bit more problematical as many camera manufactures won't allow you to do as the internals of the camera look for a specific battery type. They will have 5 pins used instead of simple power only pins of +/-. All lithium batteries need this arragement for battery life diagnosis. External Battery placement is kinda needed for where its cold as said batteries performance chocks the big one at 0F. Even Lithium, though they are better than NICAD batteries. In otherwords if you want said batteries to work in cold conditions for video you will need them in your coat pocket! Limits you BIG time for video options. As I am sure you are aware most typical digital true camcorders weigh in around 1lb.

Because you are probably piggybacking onto somoene elses trip. Best of luck guys. I was supposed to up up there right now. Stupid work and bum ankle on top of if but would hvae gone anyways even with the healing bum ankle!

The ultimate pot, would be copper plated aluminum on the bottom with Titanium outter wall and an aluminum inner wall and a Titanium lid. I would have to wonder how much a pot like that would cost though... I have both Aluminum pots and TI pots. The aluminum pots are also lighter, but burn through if used as ovens. If I am boiling water I always use the AL pot as it boils the water much faster. One MUST always have a very good wind screen. Convection via the wind is a big problem in an alpine environment. If I am going overnight I take the TI as they have the no stick coating. BUT if I am melting snow, DO NOT TAKE pans with a NO - STICK coating!@#$%^ You will quickly have a pans with partial "no-stick" coating making any food you cook in said pan later taste horrible and eating all that silicon. Yum... YUCK! PS If you are melting snow make sure to dump some water in the bottom to help conduct the heat better from the bottom of the pot into the snow/ice. This will cut a full minute or so off of your boiling time on a typical 2 quart pot.

Uh, ALtreides, anyone who knows much about Antilock brakes will only buy a car with an off switch for them for snowy icy conditions where antilock brakes will send you into a spin. In normal conditions (dry) or rainy, antilock brakes are great for those who don't know how to use a brake pedal. For anyone who knows how to drive, you can stop faster without the damned anitlock brakes. IF, they start putting real brake components on cars instead of what is there now, then antilock brakes will be better than the ol' human foot. Until then, antilock brakes are not as good. AKA have to have aviation type brake components. If they finally move the Antilock brake components used on the F1 race cars to "normal" cars with the computers and sensors to match, then the antilock brakes will be better than the human senses and foot. Until then, I sure as hell do not want Antilock brakes. They are more likely to get your car crunched than to save it. Unless of course you aren't paying any attention while you are driving and are bumpering someones bumper and are clueless. Learn a little bit, before spewing ignorance please. PS. I can stop far faster in my truck without the damned antilock brake system on than with it. Yes, if I was loaning my truck to someone, I would turn it back on as they are not familiar with how my trucks brakes feel otherwise, they stay off. PPS. Newer antilock brake systems are far better than the old ones and are very close to being better than the human senses. They aren't there yet.

New Price! Astraplane size Medium Selling for $175. Like New! My loss is your gain!

New Price! Newer Medium Gregory Denali Pro $250 Older Medium Gregory Denali Pro $175

nwhiker.net wta.org Mostly hiking related, but there are a LOT of climbers on there as well. Brian

Dana Designs Astraplane Backpack For Sale. Size: 7000 cubic inches. Pack Medium. Harness Medium. Belt Medium with 14 degree can't angle. Color: Burnt Orange Condition: Excellent. Minor black rubber scuff marks from airplane transportation and minor set down marks on bottom of pack. A light scent of suntan lotion is left over, honesty requires me to say Usage: Used for a total of around 3 weeks total. I bought it "used" from someone who went to New Zealand who tried to climb Mount Cook, who never even saw the mountain due to bad weather who bought it new. In otherwords they sat in base camp for around 3 weeks. Picking it up and setting it down occasionally. I never used it at all. Selling $250 Contact me at footeab@yahoo.com for inquiries Meet/swap near Issaquah Washington, or I can ship for around $20

Gregory Denali Pro: Excellent Condition Pack Size Medium. Belt size Medium. Bought New 2 years ago. Used Once on a 3 week trip. In Excellent shape. No holes or Tears on the pack. One tiny ravel in the right water bottle mesh. A few rub marks on the pack. New is $450 + the Governor(tax) Selling Price $300 __________________________________________ Gregory Denali Pro Pack: Pack Size Medium Belt Size Medium I also have a more used Gregory Denali Pro as well that was resealed 2 years ago with a new hip belt added size medium, pack size medium. Slightly older vintage. It has been on more trips but the pack is still 100%. No holes. There was a pin hole in the top pocket from a crampon point but was resealed with silicone. Water Bottle Mesh on left side does have a tear in it and is stretched out but still functional for 2L bottles. The top pocket hip belt was removed for weight reduction as one uses the straps already on the top pocket for tie down to go around your waist and I really have no idea why on earth that giant belt even exists on the bottom of the top pocket of said pack. $225 Am also willing to ship either pack. Would assume shipping would be around $20 or so. I live in Issaquah Washington to show it/meet up. Have pictures. If interested. Best way of contact is email: footeab@yahoo.com is the best email address to get hold of me at. Thanks! Brian Foote

Google Earth. Great quick destinations to "climb" all over the world... Fingers can kinda get cramped after the 4th pitch(hour) though. Lots of placement for pro. Brian

Well, for the most part, people simply need to grow up. Childish thinking can't distinguish between the issue and the person. All dialogue on difficult polarizing subjects requires one to place the issue and debate away from oneself. Those who get mad etc because some yahoo disagrees with you haven't learned the difference between respecting people and issues. Yes, some issues require more "respect" than others, but it is also a 2 way street when debating someone. Those who simply want to shout their opinion and not have a debate are utterly childish and afraid that they might be... ack no.... wrong? Couldn't possibly be wrong...

Ug, another thing requiring batteries. No thanks. Already have Headlamp/Camera/Emergency radio/phone. Do ALL of my navigation with an altimeter. With Crude compass as backup to get initial orientation in a whiteout. Sorry, I don't trust my life on batteries that go dead. Got nothing better to do while climbing that remembering elevations and crevasse locations. Brian

Panasonic GH1. Get a great camera in the deal. Perfect indoor shots as well. 10x zoom. 1080i to boot. 60fps at 720p for action shots. All with image stabilization. Manual Zoom while shooting with auto white balance unlike a lots of camcorders. Can set depth of field by switching shutter speed or aperture. $1500 though... =) Haven't had it up Ranier yet as just got it in October. Christmas does come early Enjoy

Seeking Mchale Alpiner/Ibex Backpack with a torso length of 18inches. email me footeab@yahoo.com if you have such a pack and are looking to sell it. Thannks Brian

I have the original spot because my parents bought it and sent it along with us. Up high on a mountain or out in the open it works as promised. MInus Very steep north facing slopes... IE a gully on N. Face... Forget gettting a message out. When under trees or in valleys... Good luck gettting a signal out. Eventually, it may go through. Then again it may not. Tried valiently here at home under dense forest and message never went through... THen again tried 3 hours later and a message finally did go through. Maybe the wind parted the branches overhead. So, if you injure yourself it better be up out in the open if you want a guaranteed reception Spot II looks like it fixed all these problems and added the very nice ok button along with being lighter. We actually thought about making a "morse-code" message using the different buttons on the original spot, but ran out of time before we left. Can do this even easier and quicker with the new spot with its extra button/message. Personally, I think its quite gimmicky, the original at least. I would not buy it knowing what I know. Spot II? Maybe, if they truelly did fix the signal problem.

Inside info! Thanks! Please pretty please let there still be a bridge over scar creek and the bridge over the waddington glacier terminus creek... forget which name... =-) I know that as of 05 via google the bridge over Jones Creek which is the last creek before the Tiedmen glacier was not there. =( Thanks, Brian Foote

Thanks for the info! Forgot about contacting NOLS, and I certainly didn't know about Canada West Mtn School. More than willing to help pay the way for anyone who would be willing to help. Free, always sounds soo good though. Hmm, guess don't want Plumbers crack connotations! Brian Figure that via Bute can use a standard Mtn Bike to Jones creek then head up and start by tagging Marcus/Merlon then going over to Plummers Hut. Google earth is amazing, can tell that as of 2005 the roads were wide open all the way to about 2000 feet on Jones Creek then up into "virgin" "timber". Can also tell that the bridge across Jones creek is... GONE, though at least its a "small" creek