Dannible

I was thinking about that the other day. The first digital camera that I ever used was a Sony Mavica that was .3 MPs, had no zoom, and cost my elementary school something like $800. More recently I got a canon 20d, a 8 MP slr for $600.

In most cases real jobs limit how much climbing you can do. Screw jobs.

There are a couple of others on Slesse depending on what you're looking for. Look up the North Rib and Navagator Wall. Also get a Cascade Alpine Guide and check out the Picket Range.

Thats a good point. If you are leading a big group and dealing with rockfall big enough to break helmets, something is wrong. I myself use a Ecrin Roc, but mostly because I got it for sale, and can't justify buying a new one right now.

Were you able to get your hands on a fishing pole?

Cool, thanks. Can you buy passes at road checkpoints, or will they just not let you pass?

I read in an old TR (from 2006 I think) that some people thought that guides are now required in the Cordillera Blanca, but it didn't seem like it was being enforced. Does anyone know anything about that?

Keep moving and you'll stay warm during the day wearing light clothing. Fawk that shite! There's just no reason not to bring a 1 lb down bag and avoid such discomfort (and the toll it takes the next day). If you're worried about weight, leave your bivvy sack (which weighs a lb or more) at home, and take a 3 oz emergency bivvy sack (EMS brand or other) in case the weather goes south, and just sleep under the stars in your 1 lb down bag. Think outside the (bivvy) bag. I think part of the thing that I said about how I like to keep warm during the day had to do with the fact that it was a pretty wet and cloudy summer, and one can get pretty uncomfortable in those situations if they don't have some warm stuff to put on. Example: on that long trip we ended up getting rained out and had to walk out in the rain and had to hitchhike home (we were starting and ending at different places) Blake seemed pretty cold and wet and since I had more clothes I was really pretty comfortable even though I was soaked (I have yet to see a waterproof jacket that really keeps you dry in the Cascades). On shorter trips I often find myself climbing through the rain too. As for the bivy sack vs. 1 lb down bag, you are 100% correct. Bivy sacks (that I can afford) are no good for real rain anyway, so there is no reason to not just have a sleeping bag instead. Problem is, I already have a bivy sack and have too many other things to spend my money on before I get a lighter bag. And like I said, the light emergency bivys suck. I actually had one on that trip but by the end I just slept on top of it because since it doesnt breath I would just get soaked, which took away from the warmth my clothes could give me. They are better than nothing, but as far as I'm concerned they are emergency use only, and really a plain space blanket is a lighter and better option for that.

I too am young and poor and have a rack of whatever was cheap at the time. I have one RE robot in the .5 camalot size. It works just fine, and I like the fact that it has a doubled over sling that can eliminate the need for a draw, but their range is very limited. They look like Metolius cams and have almost the same range on paper, but at least with the one I have the action isn't as smooth and I would only want to place it in the middle of it's range. When I am taking things off the rack for weight it is almost always the first thing to go. I would say either buy some of those and wait to get better cams in the future as your second set, or better yet look for something better on sale or used.

A lot of people thought I was an idiot for saying that the war was a bad idea in 2003.

I read somewhere that cams with more defined teeth (like WC or metolious) hold better in wet or icy cracks. Anyone know anything about that?

Personally I care more about being warm during the day, and have gotten pretty used to going into my happyland (a warm beach where it's just to hot to do anything but lay there) to get through cold nights. By the end of last summer I was alright with just a lightly insulated/waterproof jacket, light long underwear, rainpants, a bivy sack, a 5 oz foam pad, and a warm hat. Sleeping with your feet down in your pack helps a surprising amount too. I went on a six day trip like this and only had one night of no sleep (sleeping on a cold slab on a windy night), one night of little sleep, and the rest were ok. I seem to be less affected by sleep deprivation than some. This system gives me a more comfort and options during the day when the weather is less than perfect. Eat some fatty food before you go to bed, if you wake up cold eat more, and if it's really bad do some pushups. Sometimes I brought one of those non-breathable emergency bivies (not the space blanket kind) too, but found that by morning I would just be soaked and colder than I was without it. If you are somewhere where you can have a fire then you can bring less and it will be even better. When it's a bit colder I'll go with just a sleeping bag, and lay out the rope to sleep on rather than a pad. I'll admit that a half-bag would be nice, but there are too many other things that I want to spend my money on first.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. If you think Erie sucks try living in Olympia where the only climbing within 2 hours is Fossil Rock. sickie

A straw is also good for sucking up water from tiny pools on rocks, or deep inside cracks. Another tip that I posted on another thread recently is to bring plastic grocery bags rather than snow stakes if you use a tent in the snow. Fill the bags with snow and bury them. They are lighter and work better in many cases.

Remember when we melted my shoes and sock trying to dry them? My tip: when drying shoes over a fire, you don't need to put them in the fire.

Thats north of Squamish, right? There should be plenty for you to do around there. Erie is about 45 minutes away from you (outside of Anacortes) and is hated on by many people but is really pretty good for western washington. It is mostly sport routes and gets less rain than most places around. Plan on being lost the first few times you go there. There is also some fun bouldering in Larabee State Park, which is about 15 minutes away from you. There are also some sport routes on Mount Baker Highway near the town of Glacer (one hour away). There is a guidebook called Bellingham Rock or something that would be a good place to start.

No point in going to 32 when Erie is right there.

For anchors in powder bring some plastic grocery bags, fill them with snow, and burry them. Lighter and better than most snow anchors for tents. For what it is the Beta light is really nice.

If you already have a 10 degree bag I would say just get the lightest, most packable bag you can find. Through most of the summer you should be ok with a 40-50+ degree bag, even if it's colder than that if be in a tent or bivy sack and/or sleep in all of your clothes. On cold nights you might shiver a bit, but it could be worse.

I'm glad they're finally cracking down on this, the evil of evils that children have to face every day. Busting people for possesion however, is not going to solve the problem. They need to find the dealers and LOCK THOSE LITTLE BASTARDS UP FOR GOOD. When I was in middle school a kid got in less trouble for selling exlax and telling people it was speed.

Yeah, who cares about all these places that only a few people ever go to anyway? If god wants it clean he wouldn't have put the chemicals there in the first place, jeeze.

Do you still only have weekends off? I pretty much always have to work on weekends.

So I was hoping to go to Bozeman to visit a friend and climb some ice this winter, but now I don't think I will be able to get over there until April. Will there be any ice around by then? What's the alpine like that time of year?

Apparently a few weeks ago a big angry group gathered outside the Evergreen police station after someone was arrested. I don't know the details, but I don't think anything serious happened. The Evergreen PD does have a couple of pretty bad officers that have caused a lot of PR problems over the last 5 years or so, and I think between some of the things that they have done and the whole deal at the port people are starting to get pretty serious about showing their frustration. I thought the police did a terrible job at the port, but the other night they did a pretty good job. If they had stayed and tried to get things under control it would have turned out much worse.

I was at the show and saw that go down (and was quoted in the artcle when all I really wanted to do was sell some pictures). It was pretty much about 20 people actually being crazy and the rest of the 200 or so just standing around watching. People were mad that the police were using force, but really it was pretty justified. After about 10 minutes of not being able to move the car to take the guy that they arrested to the station, I think the police were just planning on letting the guy go and getting out of there, but people just wouldn't let them go, and were throwing things at them. It was just bad luck that one of the police cars wouldn't start or something, so they just left it when they all retreated. The article says that SWAT dispersed the crowd, but really they just left and waited until everyone was gone to move the car. I'm pretty sure alcohol had a lot to do with the whole thing. It was a pretty ridiculous thing to see.