giza

This behavior is limited to residents of the Fraser Valley. You'll know you're there when you smell shit and hear dueling banjos.

Fellas, IMO anti-American sentiment in Canada is directed toward U.S. political figures and foreign policy, not the American people. Thefts and vandalism occur everywhere. Don't worry about getting stuff ripped off in Canada. Thieves and vandals are as likely to target a vehicle with U.S. plates as they are Canadian plates. Use common sense and 'fly under the radar'. If your gear is in your vehicle do your best to hide it. Don't advertise the fact that you're a climber or skier by plastering your vehicle with stickers - you'll attract attention. The only thing I've ever had stolen from my car was a pack of cigarettes that were on the dashboard while parked at the Grand Wall parking lot in Squamish.

Canadians will break into your car for cigarette butts, steal your tent from a campsite, siphon your gas, scam your fancy Arcteryx jacket from the front seat of your car, smoke your weed and steal your girl. They are the lowest of the low...

Dane, you briefly mentioned North Twin above. A friend of mine shattered his elbow on an attempt of the North face of North Twin. Whenever I want to get scared I read this: It is, hands down, the hardest face in the range. Five thousand feet of sheer, black, and north facing limestone, steeper than the Eiger, one and a half times as high as El Cap, a great dark cape of a peak. Hundred foot seracs calve thunderously and with violence from its belly, wisps of water ice hang from its brow like icicles tacked to a ship’s prow, and rockfall darkened icefields foot its soaring pillars. Then there is the loose rock and the falling rock ... at times it makes the Eiger look like a kiddies sandbox. Climbers are familiar with almost every crack on El Cap, yet, after thirty years of attempts solely two routes have been established up the shadowland of North Twin; mystery unmarred, aura enhanced by each and every one of the vanquished. The dog days of August, 1974, George Lowe and Chris Jones venture onto the Twin in full-on Eiger Sanction mode: full shanked leather boots, wool knickers, and Dachstein mitts, nylon tops. They find climbing similar to the hardest ground in the Dolomites (5.10, A4) yet their situation, in what local climbers refer to as the “Black Hole” of the Canadian Rockies, is far more serious than any climb in the Dolomites. They are a full day of mountainous travel from the nearest road, and once past the first quarter of the wall, rescue--even given today’s techniques--is impossible; furthermore, the wall they are on is glaciated, vertical to overhanging, and brazed with alpine ice. The Readers Digest version is that there is really nothing comparable to North Twin in the Alps. George and Chris strive; wet blowing snow frequently smears slush onto the holds. On the fifth day they are battered by hail and George “goofs-up” a hop step while waiting for Chris to remove and send up a piton from the belay; George falls 30 feet and loses the critical aid placement of the pitch. They are 4,000 feet up the wall. That night, their fifth on the wall, neither man sleeps until 3 a.m.. When they admit to each other that they no longer have enough gear to retreat and that there is no chance of a rescue, they agree that there are no options; if they are to survive they have to climb. The dawn of day six brings swirling clouds and snow. George leads an improbable and time consuming traverse across a snow-peppered slab then escapes into an ice runnel that he gains by liebacking the edge of a roof and pressing his knees into the remains of the winter’s snow/ice! Falling snow matures into hail, avalanches run, George leads through the storm for 15 pitches on ice. They have all of three ice screws. Chris and George summit and set-up their small tent right there and accumulating snow collapses the tent twice in the night. Writing in Ascent Chris stated that he and George had crossed an indefinable line and that on their eighth day out, searching for their descent by compass atop the Columbia Icefield, the brief glimpse of helicopter and warden Hans Fuhrer’s words, diced by the rotor, “ARE YOU OK?” “We realized someone cared about us, that we were not alone ... tears ran down my face.” I’ll suggest that, in 1974, the route that George and Chris opened on the North Face of North Twin was the hardest alpine route in the world. I believe that nothing then accomplished in Patagonia, the Alps, Alaska or the Himalaya measured up to what George and Chris accomplished with “a rope, a rack, and two packs.” Further, I’ll assert that George Lowe has contributed every bit as much to the evolution of alpine style climbing as Reinhold Messner ... and perhaps more. THE NORTH FACE OF NORTH TWIN, TOUCHSTONE OF THE RANGE By Barry Blanchard COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL, 2002 VOL. 44 FROM TEN CLIMBS TO REMEMBER - PAGE 29

I haven't climbed the NEB, but it looked like either start was possible without crossing any ice. We viewed the 'glacier' from various points along the trail and there really wasn't much left of it. Compared to how it looked a few weeks back it's tame. Having said this, everything was active up there on Saturday so a quick and early crossing by headlamp would be the way to go.

As of August 25th there wasn't much of the Bypass glacier remaining. Other than a snow patch with a bit of serac debris lower down on the slab, the remains of the glacier were isolated to the uppermost catchment area and didn't look very threatening compared to photos of earlier this summer. Sorry no photos.

From MCR Digest, Vol 40, Issue 26 (18 July 2008) Recent reports from the Bugaboos are that the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col is in good snow conditions but there is starting to be a visible sag in the bergschrund. Many routes are getting climbed but expect to still find snow and/or water in gullies or chimneys that are shaded.

Canada is not a haven for draft dodgers and conscientious objectors. It's a haven for drug dealers, terrorists, internet criminals, and other villains. We don't want that kid.

Yes, well seeing that there are more people in California than in all of Canada, we're kinda fucked when the good old US of A runs out of water, wood, food, uncrowded climbing areas, etc. I'll be in my granite bunker waiting for y'all...

What does this mean? Yes Canada has a shameful history. You Americans are our guiding light, spreading democracy throughout the world and leading us all to heaven with your benevolence. Without you as our neighbours we would be lost. Thank you for the fish tacos and Yosemite...

You guys can't seriously believe this?

Billcoe, that's the Kacodemon boulder and that little bit of history is a fucking travesty.

Feck, If you're referring to the Canadian topo maps for the Garmin, they're based on 1:50,000 NTS maps, which sadly are becoming obsolete. If you're a geography whore like me then you probably have a stack of these maps stored away somewhere. I used to use them for choosing prime locations for picking pine mushrooms. I've used the Garmin Canada topo data for wildlife surveys and have relied on an accurate representation of mainline logging roads, waterbodies, and contours to show up where they should to aid in navigation. It's been useful for my purposes. Send me an email if you want more info or some sample data. cloudraker@hotmail.com

Paul Dedi Terrible news.

somewhere on lower Malamute?

ya the Carharts suck for movement but are tough as hell. I've also found that they get stiff over time but maybe that's just a personal hygiene issue : | I use the Patagonia Guide pants but they're following apart on me...very comfortable and stretchy softshell material but will be sent back to Patagonia soon to see if I can get them replaced.

Great TR. I've been eyeing up that route as well...would be fun (and long) to link it up with Royal Arches and then the Crest Jewel direct start.

Wow that looks good!

The climbing there is good if you're comfortable leading sport on conglomerate. The rock is generally pretty good but the odd cobble does pop out of the matrix. I've done a few routes there...BIO, Nothing's Shocking...can't remember any other route names. If you're familiar with the climbing at Samsun Narrows the rock is the from the same formation. There used to be a really good webpage describing crags, routes and boulder problems on the island but it doesn't appear to be online anymore - maybe because of the guidebook release?

5.10 Guides climb really well but have a sloppy fit...good for slab and smearing but crappy for edging. Also the manufacturing quality of these shoes leaves something to be desired. Don't know about the Scarpa but La Sportiva B5 fit like a climbing shoe and climb relatively well.