montypiton

word of mouth seems to be working -- everyone who's had the opportunity to look at my copy has wanted to order one... I'll post a review for you as soon as I've read enough of it to write an informed one... first impression is the price is not at all out of line. sure, my copy, as a contributor, was free, (a screamin' deal - 700+ page reference "bible" for an old photo? there's a trade I can't pass!) but I'll buy another for my oldest son who's been drooling over mine... -good luck with school! -Haireball

glad to hear someone actually got up something there... I made trips into the Leaning Towers in 1979 and 1980, and got rained/snowed on for a week both times. approached up the St. Marys river to the hot-springs, then over the ridge to the towers. in 1980, we never even made it over the ridge, just camped at the hot spring for a week while it rained & snowed, then packed up & hiked back out. not sure that this is the first route on the east face of Hall Peak -- I believe I recall descriptions of at least one earlier route from CAJ mid-seventies. a superb venue, if you can catch the weather window... congratulations.

great trip report! definitely qualifies for the CFCC ("if I told you, you'd have to kill me")

stop in Stanley and get some Sawtooth action - a hidden gem that I've heard some well-known (as in Icon well-known) alpinists call the best alpine rock-climbing they've seen anywhere.

what was considered "hard" when I was coming up is now called "moderate". back in the '80s & '90s I got good results by "sport-climbing" to my limit (about 5.11) in alpine boots. climbing in winter, or mixed conditions, or in the "greater ranges" this is a skill that sets an alpinist apart, and will quickly get you up stuff that just might stop someone wearing approach shoes or rock shoes. with the advent of "modern" mixed climbing, rock climbing with crampons has also been helpful -- and might be critical if you hope to climb to your stated limit in any but the most forgiving conditions. it ought to go without saying that if you're sport-climbing with crampons, you'll do so discretely on less-than-popular venues.

I like to be able to alter the location of the sling on my pickets, so no cable, and no permanent sling - just sling them to match the placement -- e.g., sling will be at midpoint of shaft if picket is T-slotted, but will be at end of picket if pounded in vertically.

35 years of wd40 does not seem to have bothered my several generations of cams. not sure what chris means by "oil-based" - wd40 is pretty much fish-oil (yes, it's edible - look it up) it does hold dirt, as do most oils, but it is an effective cleaner & lubricant. 3-in-1 or pam would probably work, too. (disclaimer, I haven't actually used pam on cams...) this ain't rocket science, folks - just clean 'em and lube 'em with whatever's handy. olive oil, anyone?

Excalibur in Sandy, Utah is the U.S. importer for DMM. You should be able to order directly from them if you can't find a local retailer. If you have difficulty, I handle DMM for the Chelan County Mountain Rescue Association, and should be able to get them for you. I'm currently out of circulation (playing in AK)but will be home in Leavenworth again August 8. -Haireball curthaire@nwi.net

Charlie Hickenbottam, a retired teacher in Wenatchee, maintains an ENORMOUS email list of Wenatchee area climbers. The list is a good entry point to the local climbing community. If you haven't gotten on the list yet, contact Charlie, or send me your email addresses, and I'll submit them. Tons of local knowledge, and ready partners for out-of-areat adventures. -Haireball

pm sent

update: my son and I climbed the south face of East Ingalls on June 21. approach has consolidated to great neve - firm in the early hours, soft in the afternoon. we had intended to climb the main Ingalls Peak, but found a line-up of parties comprising nearly thirty climbers ahead of us, so switched objectives, and had East Ingalls all to ourselves. we were "underequipped" for the couloir start of the route, having approached in light approach shoes with trekking poles, sans boots, crampons, or ice-axes, so we belayed the couloir section - overkill if you just bring an ice-axe... second the 70-meter rope suggestion. we were consistently a few feet short on a single 60-meter, even with rope-stretch. not a huge problem if you're paying attention, but rapping off the end of your rope is a very real risk on a 60. still complete snow cover on the north aspect of Ingalls pass, in case you're thinking of camping... Ingalls Lake is still fully iced in

two weeks ago Colchuck Glacier and the NBC were perfect spring neve -- firm enough for easy cramponing or "iffy" step kicking in the early hours, softening to creamy glissading by early afternoon. the past two weeks have been cool, and snow seems to be holding up high, so I'm guessing you might have prime neve conditions if you get on it before we get a heat wave. -Haireball

Id have to know your climbing style before making a strong recommmendation, but here are some criteria: index finger supports (triggers)are like power steering on hard ice. for me they make a huge difference in the effectiveness of my swing on steep hard-or-brittle water ice. if you're not climbing waterfalls, they're less of an advantage if you're on neve - hard snow - soft ice, at moderate angles, your spike has got to be functional for the cane position. most pinky and trigger supports are unacceptably obtrusive. I have seen some streamlined versions that don't interfere so much in the cane position. on steeper neve - hard snow - soft ice, you'll likely be doing a lot of daggering, in which case neither the spike nor any finger support really assists function.

stove and supergaiters have my interest... supergaiters to fit boot sizes ??? - I'd be looking 11.5 - 12. would take stove and both pairs of supergaiters if we could work that out... -Haireball

dont own one, but a partner acquired one recently and absolutely loves it. I tried it, and was impressed -- seemed to lock dependably; no, I wouldn't trust taking my hand off while belaying - but I don't trust "guide" style auto-lock belay rigs either - I want control of the brake. just old-school, I guess. but - I found it easy to manipulate when threaded correctly, and didn't experience the jerkiness others have noted. use of the release lever felt fairly intuitive. on rappel, I did find it locked dependably when I let go brake hand -- seemed like a plus. final judgment - if I didn't have a bin-ful of belay devices, I'd buy one in a heartbeat, but the very real advantages it offers are not so important to me that I'm gonna add another $40 variant to the bin.

for a school program, good value can be had from Chinese distributors on ebay. I've seen zippered tall gaiters as cheap as $6/pair -- and have bought, because I wear them primarily to protect expensive schoeller pants from crampon points. they typically last me a year or two of hard use, which seems to me like good value. they'll do pretty much everything the big-name gaiters will do except break your bank.

poor Dave - I sold him on the idea of traversing Stuart-Sherpa-Argonaut-Colchuck -- and he was probably strong enough to do it, but this crippled-up-old-fart was most definitely not. Getting up and over Stuart was plenty -- lotsa rock-climbing in crampons meant moving slowly, and belaying ground that most would not in summer conditions -- still - FULL VAlUE!, and judging from my romp up Argonaut on Saturday, conditions are only improving - get it while its good!

yeah - like Kyle says - flawless firm shaded neve for effortless daggering, no need of a rope, (except rappel exit on south side) then by the time you get around to the Colchuck Glacier, nice soft creamy glissade from Banshee Pass all the way to the lake. doesn't get any better, but don't wait, won't last more than a week or two...

for approaches on non-technical glaciers and snowfields (like around Prusik Peak) - consider microspikes. a fraction of the price of a twelve-or-more point crampon, and can be worn on ANY shoe (nice when you want to hike in approach shoes & climb in rock shoes) -- not a good choice for hard-core glacier use, but some do summit rainier using them. for bargain-of-the-century, keep an eye on ebay for the old salewa adjustable twelve-point. this twelve point adjustable crampon was by far the most widely used crampon worldwide in the seventies and early eighties. they usually go for $20 - $50, and come up fairly regularly, probably from estates of old hard-cores. you can pay more for newer, but function wont be much different

yet another vote for Icicle and Tumwater canyons. for virgin trad leaders, mountaineers' dome is hard to beat with four short easy and easily protected pitches with gigantic ledges between pitches. a "four-pitch climb' from which escape is easy at the end of any pitch. good for easing new leader into "multi-pitch" mindset without overwhelming them. castle rock - a horde of moderate classics that offer the new leader the additional mental challenge of exposure, without overwhelming technical difficulty. I've had best results, over 40 years, starting trad leaders on AID -- they make a placement about every three feet, load every placement, and after about two or three pitches have a reasonable sense of placement soundness, and easily graduate to spreading their placements apart on moderate free climbs. Leaders seem to progress faster this way, in my experience.

big hands -- mine are ENORMOUS -- wide and thick with short fingers so that most gloves that I can find big enough to pull on usually have quarter-to-half-inch too much length in finger. in most black diamond models, the largest size is not big enough. I've used xl ocun mitts for three years now. they're cushie, thin enough to feel the rodck a little; I still prefer tape for more sensitivity in some jams -- feel like i lose just a bit of feel in these even as thin as the padding is. still - for most work, and especially LONG stretches (multiple days of multiple pitch jamming) hard to beat

check your private messages

impressive, kid! I guess you found a way to make the "kit" affordable after all. -Haireball

also looking - I'm in Leavenworth, have three days sat-sun-mon, hope to do three days of climbing in the Stuart Range. Lotsa seasonal mixed opportunities right now. fantasizing a traverse of the range: stuart-sherpa-argonaut-colchuck-dragontail and down asgaard and out (if Croft could do it in one day, I oughta be able to do it in three). open to suggestions. have scoped unclimbed seasonal mixed lines on stuart, argonaut, dragontail if those opportunties interest. have one local maybe partner, would like to firm up something. pm me. -Haireball

just live a while longer, John -- these days, even a measly 5.8 evokes sighs of admiration: "gawd I hope I can do that when I'm in my sixties...) -- Paul Myhre, Mark Shipman, the two Freds, Dave Jaecks, all in their sixties and seventies, holding their own with guys half their age. Proof that if you REALLY want to CRUSH, just get old.... -Haireball