ScaredSilly

Locals in Ooootah: http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/journal/culture//winger-for-the-weekend-75

While most DSLRs have few moving parts there is still a mirror that moves. It used to be that I would have the grease removed in my SLR and have it dry lubed. I would do the same my lenses (all manual). With all the auto-focus lenses I am not sure what lubricants are used these days. With any camera in the cold I tend to keep it stuck down in my coat. It keeps it warm enough but not so warm that it fogs up.

FWIW, I can remember climbing at Smith in the late 70s and seeing ropes hanging from Morning Glory Wall. So for better or worse climbers have been leaving crap hanging around for longer some have been a live.

Not one from this year but just found it on my computer:

Too bad you did not ask him to show you the bad biners before revealing yourselves. It would have been hilarious to ask him all kinds of questions, then finally tell him thanks for such fine safety concerns but then reveal yourself by saying something like Ian all of our draws are bad!! As said what a douche bag.

Those who actually caught the thief should make a flyer with said person's picture on it and post it up on the B-board at Smith and other locations so that others will know who to be looking out for. 111 - I am guessing caught by others climbers. I doubt the thief will get any LEO attention as quick draws left on routes for any extended period of time for the most part are considered technically abandoned. (Lets not start a discussion about it from a climbers point of view - plenty of that already).

I posted this image in our trip report from this summer. The summit cornice looms!!! North Face of Mt. Hood.

Very true have done that on many of slopes, but for many it is not that easy - especially for newbies. And unfortunately, the runout is rather deadly for Cooper's Spur. Seems like around 9400 feet give or take. Then stay above 8600 feet until it is possible to regain Cooper's Spur at around 8000 feet. Or something like that.

While I would also agree that the north would a better place for such an outing but as said remember that the road up to Cloud Cap may not be open yet. In 2010 it opened July 4th weekend. That would not stop many as you can hike up from Tilly Jane but something to keep in mind. Especially as one can day hike out Cloud Cap to the Elliot. That time of year an ascent of Copper's Spur is good fun. Coming down may be different story. However, as I have down twice before after a north side route is to come the south side and walk back around via the Newton Clark.

Those are decorative marks on the head which as said above would make it a alpenstock or walking stick and not a true ice axe. The adze/pick looks to to about 6" long which is quite small compared to a std. ice axe but perfect for fitting in one's hand as they walked a snowy trail. They are quite common through out the alps BITD. Now folks use ski poles. I have one that I picked up years ago. While the head is not decorative the shaft is carved with a reminder of an walk to the Jungfraujoch. I.e. folks take the rail car up and then walk across the glacier on a well marked path to the col, admire the views, then walk back to restaurant for lunch. All quite civilized. So you have walking stick from the alps that some one brought back as a souvenir.

The flower is probably an Edelweiss. As such, I wold guess an old Hope Edelweiss ice axe.

Note sure if folks have seen this or not: http://www.fullscreen360.com/st-helens.htm

Was fondling through some old slides and thought this one would be good as it was the center fold image for an issue of Summit back in the mid 80s. Note the styling tube socks and chocks. And of course a Whillans harness!! Hey Shapp recognize the rock? (High Valley, Oregon - Do Or Fly 5.10)

Trip: Mount Rainier - Curtis Ridge Date: 6/6/1998 Trip Report: Over the years a few folks have asked me about our climb on Curtis Ridge. Last night I finally dug out what slides I have from the climb and have scanned them in for folks to enjoy and think about over the winter. We more or less took 2.5 days for the climb. We started at White River and did the usual approach to St. Elmos's Pass. We crossed the Winthrop Glacier which brings one to the broad expanse of Curtis Ridge. From there most folks keep heading west over to the Carbon Glacier. We instead headed up hill. The first part is mostly plodding along except there is one slope that is avalanche prone. That was self evident with a wet slide. We pretty much kept to the Winthrop side of the ridge until it finally became a ridge in the true sense. Maybe 30 minutes later after wandering along the top of the ridge we hit the infamous point of no return rappel. The rap is on the Carbon Glacier side of the ridge and is may be 75 in length (snow dependent). The rap brings you down on a slope that drops down to the Carbon. From here were stayed mostly on the Carbon side traversing around little gendarmes along the way. Much of the climbing was straight forward with some exposed 4th class moves on the rock. Just before a large gendarme at around 10,300' is a nice bivy on the Winthrop side of the ridge. It is a nice bivy with great views of those over on the Emmons. In the morning we took off and walked along the ridge until we got to the aid crack. We bypassed it on the right and continued up on snow until we got to a steep 15' section of rotten snow and ice. After getting up through it we continued along the based of the first step for another 100' or so. At that point we found a ramp that we could cut back left on and after 25' of 4th class climbing we found ourselves on the on the top of the first step. Our route was not the Wickwire variation but not far from it. The first snow field was pretty easy climbing and we climbed diagonally from right to left to bypass a small rock band. From there we traversed back right until we could step through the second band via a few 3rd class moves. The Second snow field was again pretty easy climbing with a bit of ice. And like before we climbed diagonally from right to left into the exit ramp. At one point I remember climbing a thin section of ice and rock to gain the exit ramp. From there it was cloudy and we could not see much. Things seems like they dead ended but we kept moving diagonally up and to the left. Eventually an exit gully was found that cut up and right which brought us to the top of the ridge at about 12,500'. From here is an easy plod to the summit wandering among some crevasses. As it was now a white out we kept the Russell Cliff insight as reference. We forewent the summit as it was a complete white out on top along with high winds. We eventually met up with some other climbers coming from Liberty Cap. We ended up holing up for a bit before the clouds lifted and we could get out of there. We could have make it out of there sooner but we forgot one key part - when traversing from Liberty Cap directly over to the Emmons descent one needs to go up hill for a bit. Otherwise you run into seracs on the Winthrop that are difficult to traverse around. In the white out we missed this key feature. After descending the Winthrop to the Emmons we bivied at Camp Sherman for the night and walked out to White River the next morning. Looking down the lower slopes of Curtis Ridge Bivy on Curtis Ridge ~10,300' Bivy by the Gendarme on Curtis Ridge ~10,300' (Note this photo is in Gaiter's book) Heading towards the exit gullies on upper Curtis Ridge ~11,800' Traversing into the exit gullies on upper Curtis Ridge ~12,000' Gear Notes: Couple of screws, pickets, and nuts The 75' aid pitch now goes free. Approach Notes: Start at White River to St Elmos's Pass. After crossing the Winthrop Glacier head up the broad slopes of Curtis Ridge (some avy danger).

I have one of the last Mountain Club patches. Used to have it on a hat for many years. Finally, stopped wearing the hat cause it was in poor shape and I did not want to lose the patch. While at OSU we did a bit of digging and clean up and I think the OSU Mountain Club archives made their way over to the Kerr Library. That was back in the mid 80s.

Slightly off topic but while living in Antibes, France in 1996 I noticed a McDonalds being built. One day I noticed a mural going up. Oddly enough the mural was of Delicate Arch. Which for me was funny cause I had moved there after finishing grad school in Utah.

Check the weather, if it is not clear the day before, day of and for the next day or so after you plan climb then visit the lodge and drink some hot chocolate. Basically, the weather this time of year can turn to shit quick. Thus with out knowledge of the hill and experience you could easily become a statistic. If you get a good weather window just stick to the south side.

How can one forget something they do not possess? Even without a prussik one can often get back up the rope safely in many cases (overhang excepted).

A message from Gaitor this morning who said it was okay to post it: I received one of those dreaded phone calls early this morning with the news that my good friend Joe Puryear died while ascending Labuche Kang (7,367 meters, 24,170 feet) in a remote region of Tibet. Joe was a former climbing ranger on Mount Rainier and one of America’s elite alpinists. He joined the staff at Camp Schurman in 1996 with Mark Westman and Lara Bitenieks. They represented a new cadre of skilled climbers who together helped changed the way our climbing rangers did business and served the public for the National Park Service. For two years, Joe led the climbing rangers on the east side of Mount Rainier and participated in many difficult rescues. He was greatly respected for his climbing skills and ability manage complex situations both on the mountain and in the front country. Joe’s talents led him to pursue a career in alpinism and along the way he authored books on climbing in the Alaska Range and in the desert SW of America. Most recently, he and David Gottlieb received prestigious climbing grants (Mugs Stump, Gore, and Lyman Spitzer) in order to ascend unclimbed peaks and frozen waterfalls in Nepal and Tibet. I don’t have a lot of information at this time, but the word is that Joe fell through a cornice. He was with David at the time, but David did not witness the event. He ascended the top the ridgeline after putting on his crampons only to find Joe's tracks leading to a broken ledge. Fearing the worst, he descended 1,500 feet to find Joe, who did not survive the fall, and shortly there after retrieved the sat phone enabling him to make a call to the US. David was alone at the time, but does have the help of one Sherpa at base camp. They are in a very remote region without rescue services and it’s unclear what his next steps will be. For now, I am thinking about David as he descends the mountain back to base camp. Once again, the Mount Rainier climbing community has been rocked with the lose of a wonderful friend and person. Joe was good friend with Lara, who died while climbing on Mount Wake in 2007 in the Alaska Range, and also with Charlie Borgh, who was swept to his death in an avalanche on Mount Delta Form in Alberta, Canada 2008. I’ll send out more information about the accident, David’s descent, and a memorial when possible. I have attached a picture of Joe as I remember him best, in the mountains and on top of his game. Information about the expedition can be found at: http://climbtibet.blogspot.com/

Though I do not use it*, the Canon G Series is a great little camera with some punch. Here is a review of the newest G12: http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10091412canong12.asp What you want is something that will have a good wide angle for those close ups but descent zoom. Cameras with mega zoom typically have poor lens qualities (i.e. soft). At the same time something will work descent in low light. *I shoot a Leica but that is another story.

As mun1mc said, this type of action is quite common in the business world. A key player leaves and then becomes the competition. Most companies have key employees sign noncompete agreements as part of their employment. Here is a fine example: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/technology/21hewlett.html

No need to post again. There is a forum specifically for folks looking for a partner. Your original post was moved there: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/983592/Mt_Hood_Climbing_Partner_in_No#Post983592

Last Nov I was there for a couple of days, had the be best bivy of my life as we stayed at the Lodge !!! The weather sucked but the sauna was great and the buffets were killer. Good thing worked paid for me to get there. That said if you are in the area - great. But I certainly would not specifically plan a trip to Hood as the weather can be very rough that time of year with very wet storms. You can also have killer weather as I did once in Oct. and no one on the mountain.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/976483/Special_Use_Fees_Increased_Den#Post976483

Extractive private usage of public lands has never earned the general public anything. It has always cost the tax payer $$. For instance, many of the damn roads built by loggers get turned over to the Forest Service, who then in turn credit the loggers for building it!!! Then the Forest Service has to maintain the damn thing! That in my book that practice is a subsidy. If crap like that went away I might be will to pay to play but until the subsidies for extractive industries ends - forgot it.