billbob
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Posts posted by billbob
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I like you, Bug, FWIW, you have posted intelligent and well-meant comments that people actually find helpful.
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Looking like the new Mt Hood Climbers Guide should be out this summer. Now waiting on the latest LIDAR-based GIS data for Mt Hood to arrive, the new high-res topo images will be a great improvement over current maps. Nicely complements John Scurlock's aerial photos with digital overlays by Tim Olson. It is a big project with over 20 individual contributors (including the amazing Ivan :-)
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Older climbers typically have more aches and pains as key body parts wear
down. So we have to become tougher and learn to deal with such changes, employ the artistry of new surgical techniques, and commit to maintaining a positive attitude. -
Sorry for your loss, Rudy.
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Sounds like someone has been talking to my GF !
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Had a fully functional high-end gps go dark in 22F whiteout/ice storm conditions after about 15 minutes operation. Later found it helps to keep the unit inside your clothing, with power turned off. Danged if I didn't have my 13 year old son with me following a stormed-out summit attempt, well, maybe I should have kept a closer eye on our tent below.
Was it only 3 years ago that a party on Hood having multiple gps units detoured into the White River Canyon for a cold night and everlasting infamy, due mainly to poor navigational skills? It's not hard to do, becoming lost in poor visibility. Thankfully the majority are found and brought back to safety.
Steve Rollins of PMR once explained to me that climbers should beware of “technology traps”, which tend to create a false sense of security in the user. I was referred to publications on the subject of Risk Homeostasis, wherein a person continues to operate with a certain acceptable amount of acceptable risk. The theory explains that when the perceived level of risk is decreased through use of devices such as GPS, MLU, or whatever, the climber will then be more inclined to take an even greater degree of risk, like continuing onward in conditions that would otherwise cause the climber to descend or stop immediately. The fact is that electronic tools will fail at some point, perhaps from dead batteries, malfunction, or inability to operate under the extremely cold or wet conditions just when the user most needs it to work.
As an old Boy Scout,I just want to be prepared. Map & compass has yet to fail me (assuming a waterproof map case). A reliable altimeter is also very helpful. Situational awareness in the PNW can mean the difference between self-rescue or calling for a rescue, or worse.
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Adequate, accessible toilets would be a real nice-to-have, particularly on those cold & dark alpine starts.
Would love to remote register and post quick notes on the current conditions.
What is needed is a full-service website comprising registration, weather data & forecasts, hazards, special warnings, PLB/MLU rentals (units stored in key-code lockers in Cave), information on Guide services, links to local lodging/pubs/gear rental, etc.
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Very Nice !
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I found that my basic Sportiva Makalu boots actually keep my feet warmer than my Nepal Evo's because they are not nearly as tight and constrictive. My feet are big and part of the problem has been finding a size 15, saving my pennies for the new Baruntse.
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Very nice, thanks for the great TR !
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Looks like a great time was had by Fairweather. Ummm, could you please post pics of the hiker babe ???
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Raw or undercooked pork (along w/ bear, feral cat, fox, dog, wolf, horse, seal, or walrus) may be infected with Trichinella cysts. Trichinosis is the resultant disease occurring when the cysts enter your stomach. You start feeling sick 1-3 days later and remain that way for months. When a human or animal eats meat that contains infective Trichinella cysts, the acid in the stomach dissolves the hard covering of the cyst and releases the worms. The worms pass into the small intestine and, in 1-2 days, become mature. After mating, adult females lay eggs. Eggs develop into immature worms, travel through the arteries, and are transported to muscles. Within the muscles, the worms curl into a ball and encyst (become enclosed in a capsule). Is that nasty or what? Remember that up until the last hundred or so years nobody knew pork had to be cooked really well before it is safe to eat. So maybe one of the old bible boys figured out that if people get very sick from eating pigs, better to just not eat them?
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Was none too cold last night on the SS. Today at Top of Mile it is 52F at noon. Please post conditions if good or not. I'll be happier after another big storm or two, so stoked and looking forward to the great alpine climbing again soon!
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Mike,
I am writing a climbers guide for Hood and would be interested to hear about your first climbing experiences there. I have about two dozen other contributing authors, all are very experienced and a few are famous. Let me know what you think. Be happy to meet up for a beer and talk, I'm in SW PDX.
Bill Mullee
Mt Hood Climbers Guide LLC
Portland, OR
503-803-9553
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I am sooo jealous !!
Way to go Mike Layton
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Is it correct to calculate: $4,700,000 / 274,000,000 visitors = $0.017/visitor/year is spent on SAR ?
At least that is less than the average National Park Entrance fee:-)
Heggie found 65,000 missions/15 years = 4333 total missions/year
4333 missions/391 sites = 11.1 missions per site per year. On average. Believable?
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I found it also helps to melt snow in the vestibule, not in the tent proper and always, always make sure you took off the cap on the pee bottle before using. Yep.
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Seems almost inevitable after a few days that clothes and bags become wetter and I get colder. What is the best way to dry your stuff out in the winter, assuming you haven't a roaring fire at hand?
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Sometimes you get what you pay for. That said, be interesting to see how Falcon compares to the very sweet guides coming out of First Ascent Press.
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Didn't know that, maybe that is for the better given the size of my digits. Prolly become a danger to myself and others if holding a needle and thread. Iron-on patches are OK, I can handle that much as long as someone else remembers to turn off the iron.
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I ordered the softshell pants from First Ascent. Looked great in the ad, figured for $200 they would be just what I was looking for. Upon arrival discovered they lacked crampo-guards, better known as the snag- and tear-resistant hard patches on the lower legs. My old softies lacked them as well and I ended up shredding both lower calves with my crampons over the past couple years, forcing their early retirement. Sent the VA pants back to the company for a full refund. Bought Patagonia Guide pants, a bit heavy but otherwise excellent.
Homebrewing
in Spray
Posted
Thanks for starting this thread, am only on beer batch 16 since starting last summer. I have 5 gals of the Prickly Pear fruit mead going on it's third racking, used really ripe PP fruit and mesquite honey from arizona. Also added a smal pkg of toasted oak chips at rack 2. Man does it taste good already, hard to see how to exercise the necessary self-control to age it 10+ years, tho!
Lately had a couple stuck/incomplete brew fermentations, wondering if the beer closet isn't a bit too cool. If the best thing is to add more yeast, should I use the same type (Pacman)?