tvashtarkatena

You contribute to CC in the way that pen-knife poet in a bathroom stall contributes to western literature, Bone, albeit without the burden of occasional cleverness.

Ivan is not Dog, silly mortal; he is but a humble Archdeacon.

There was nary a die-rection one could point the lens without inadvertently capturing some Mighty Aphrodite sans permission of her hovering Gallahad! Woe to them who would dare to photograph the female form without prior consent - selling kindergartners into white slavery would be the lesser transgression! And the Dogs know that our forms afforded no aesthetic treatment worthy of dissemination to even the least discriminating of audiences! Thank you!!!!

It pays for a climber to diversify into gardening in this lushest of paradises.

Who needs a bridge? [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snh1b7h2sMA

People and cars are in the water. For real.

BD offers a cam wire repair kit for about 5 bucks. Doing the surgery isn't difficult. All stainless, so no corrosion worries.

I may have been premature about my 'leave your avi gear at home' comment: Special avi forecast statement - especially for Mt. Baker Snowshoes or skis might not be a bad idea, either.

Y nosotros tambien. Yes, its recent.

Might as well go for Rainier. It's a shorter drive.

While the Big Man has certainly been known to hang out in a pair of aiders, he's done quite a bit of free climbing as well. This is not to say your multiple ascents up El Cap weren't done in finer style, mind you.

You do manage to get up things, though. I think your secret might be custom toe ventilation.

Climb barefoot or go home.

I'll cut my toes off and save some $$$.

Those do look like a good all around upgrade, and i do like sticking with a brand that already fits well.

I've got some 5.10 Spires, but they're a little squishy on thinner stuff. Recommendations for a little higher performance shoe that I still won't have to mess with between pitches? I'm not a shoe on/shoe off/repeat kind of guy. The cruel shoe thing isn't my thing.

Especially with a high of 20 F at Camp Muir. Looks like its not even going to break freezing up there this weekend.

I took a group that included an 11 year old on Rainier last summer. For the sake of anyone who is contemplating something similar - here's how we worked it: We did a couple of training climbs with self arrest practice beforehand. During these sessions we shook down our gear, rental boots, climbing technique, and roping up. We had a gear list and went over it several times. We also discussed possible emergency scenarios - crevasse fall, someone slips, altitude sickness, hypothermia, blisters, and had plans for dealing with each eventuality. Alex plays a lot of sports. Training for Rainier wasn't a problem for him in that regard. Still, I recommended some local training hikes - Mailbox Peak, etc. This is a huge issue for some kids. No kid that age is going to have anywhere near the all day endurance of a fit adult. This must be taken into account - the schedule should include at least an extra day, and the kid's health and well being constantly monitored. They can become exhausted quickly, and don't have the physical awareness (eating, drinking, etc) that an adult does. Our party included 3 very experienced people, two moderately experienced person, Alex, and his dad. We could brute force anyone out of a crevasse with that kind of manpower. Our rope teams were robust in case anyone did slip. Our weather was perfect. The last thing you want to worry about when taking a kid up Rainier is weather. We climbed via a normal schedule to ensure there would be plenty of other teams on the mountain for backup in case something really weird happened. This was a nice to have in our case, and we didn't have it. Strangely, there was only one other party of two skiers we never really saw for more than a couple of minutes. The point is, climbing an 'off' schedule means you'll likely be alone, or near to it, on the mountain. Depending on other teams for rescue is never a good idea. We had a plan, and when that plan needed to change, we weighed the pros and cons of those proposed changes together. For example, due to Alex's blisters, we opted to camp on the ridge instead of Schurman. In the end, despite 2 previous trips in the same footwear with no problems, the REI Blue Boots of Death hammered Alex's feet on the approach and he was not able to continue the following day. 3 tries at blister preventatives failed. His father's presence was really important here - it was a tough call to swallow for him, even if he fully understood why we had to make it. His dad stayed behind on summit day to hang with his son - also a great move. In the end, we all had a wonderful experience, Alex included. His feet did hurt a bit on the descent, but they weren't trashed because we'd gotten on that issue early. I think introducing a kid to climbing is a wonderful thing. Just thought I'd post some considerations that, for our group anyway, resulted in a safe and rewarding experience.

Rock climbing's an option. Leavenworth, Vantage, the Tieton River, and Smith Rock all provide better weather alternatives to riding the West Side Poo Train. Picking up partners for any of those places shouldn't be too hard. There's a big, cold storm happening on Rainier now and through the weekend.

That or New Country.

Oh, and check the NOAA point forecasts beforehand. A foul weather back up plan - rock climbing or hiking East of the crest, for example, is always a good idea around here.

My heart was stolen and the thief still won't give it back.

This thread needs a good dose of pax.

Bring an ATV - unfortunately, the Glacier Creek road is washed out 7 mi from the Coleman Deming TH indefinitely. The Shriebers Meadow TH to the Easton Glacier route is open as an alternative, however, so not to worry. Hey, its a shorter drive. Avi gear will no longer be necessary. 2 pickets is fine. A GPS may be more convenient than wands if you have one. Goggles may come in handy if white outs are in the cards. Other than that, get on that thing!

Well, there goes my upcoming used treadmill reference. THANKS A LOT.