mountainmandoug

Sounds like a good day out Stewart. I'll have some time to kill around Leavenworth next week if you might be in the area and want to do something. In any case have fun in Yosemite.

Congratulations Steph!. That looks like an awesome trip. I'm glad it worked out so well. Drop me a line and lets talk about some Gargoyles.

I use this same set up with an MSR Windpro. It has been great down to zero, and theoretically it would work down to -40. The burner of the Windpro is the same burner as the Simerlite and it has the generator tube to vaporize liquid fuel. It does occasionally have that problem with the valve stopping up and you have to keep playing with the valve to keep it roaring. Otherwise it is so much easier to use and more efficient than white gas. There's a lot of info on this at backpackinglight.com.

I'll be in the area and I'd love to get in a bit of climbing. I lead around 8-9 and I can follow most low 10's. I have some new cams I want to play with. Give me a call 360-301-4153. Douglas

Last summer I traversed from Camp Pan on Olympus to bear pass, this is fairly simple and it took us all of three hours. It's got some tricks to it on the North end of the traverse but nothing to difficult, a bit of 2-3rd class choss (you basically go over one of the peaks) and there's one place you need to pick the right notch across the ridge. I soppose if I dig out the map I could give you a detailed description. Climbing Olympus would probably be around 3-4 hrs from camp pan I soppose depending on the glaciers condition. You might give this friend an e-mail sabegg.googlepages.com, as she's been to that area a few times. I'll try to find the map and post a better description tomarrow.

I've used those big Petzle Prusic Minding Pulleys (PMP) for rescue work with big (12mm) static rope and 8mm prusics. They worked flawlessly, the nicest ratchet you could ask for. It really does depend on your rope and your cord though. Reportedly the little blue Petzle PMP is the best of the small ones for skinnier ropes. Always try before you fly.

I've mostly used carabiner brakes on thick static ropes, and it works fairly well and it's cheap. Break racks are great, although you usually only use about three bars. Figure eights work ok but they do twist the rope and in lots of situations that's a problem.

There are some state, county, and federal laws about when one can park along the road and when one can't. Usually they amount to that it's legal to park on the road if you do not block traffic and there are no signs prohibiting it. It is possible that deputies involved could have actually been illegal in enforcing an un-signed no parking area. Even if they had a foot to stand on legally I do think that towing people's cars in that circumstance could be argued to be reckless endangerment. One of the people involved could probably talk to a lawyer and sue the county. Possibly someone could talk to the prosecuting attorney's office about charging the deputy with reckless endangerment. That would be sure to shake things up. If you're friends are cited, it might be possible to talk to a civil defense attorney at no charge. It seems to me that probably this could be addressed through legal channels and most likely the people who's vehicle's have been towed could get damages paid by the county to cover the cost of the impound. If all that doesn't work, by all means raise hue and cry in the media (something I'm not a big fan of because of all of the inaccuracy involved), talk to your state legislators (who do love to get involved in stuff like this, they actually don't have a lot to do otherwise when the legislature is not in session), and do your best to un-elect the Sheriff next election. Make sure he knows why. Law enforcement are not tasked with endangering the lives of the public and they must be held accountable if they do so. That's my two cents and I hope things get resolved. Keep us posted on how it goes.

You might consider joining a SAR organization since you have that background. You will probably meet quite a few potential partners there and get to know a lot of folks. I'm letting my mountaineers membership lapse as I've found it's more fun to go climbing without the club, and often safer with a small party. But some of my partners are people I met there. This board can be good to. I found I had better luck responding to posts than posting in the climbing partners forum.

I assume terrible rock anywhere in the Olympics, and I was looking for difficulty rather than danger. There are lots of 4x routs in the Olympics (and probably some of them are considered that due to the rock being so poor it wouldn't hold gear). I'm wondering if it isn't probably something in the Needles.

A question that came up recently. What is the technically hardest mountain in the Olympic Range? That would be the peak with hardest standard rout, not the peak with the hardest approach or the hardest rout.

I am contemplating the purchase of a half rope for mountaineering and I'm trying to decide weather to spend the extra $15 for double dry. Does anyone have experience with the difference between dry treatment on just the sheath vs. the sheath and core?

What ice axe have people found effective for hard ice? I've recently concluded that my Omega Pacific is useless unless you can get a couple of teeth in.

Check your PM's.

Check your PM's.

I am free Tuesday-Thursday next week and I would like to do some alpine rock climbing. I was thinking about the Becky Route on Liberty Bell and the South Arete on South Early Winter or similar. I would be open to ideas for other routs. I am fairly new to trad leading with a smallish rack, but I'm comfortable leading up to 5.8. I'm in good shape and fast on the non-technical ground, comfortable on steep snow and glaciers. Drop me a line at romans8_28@hotmail.com if you're interested.

I was just in the Wildernest in Port Townsend and they told me they are now stocking the Cilogear packs. They had a 60L, 40L, and a 20L on hand. I have one of the '06 60L's and I love it, but I have to say the update is nice. I'd reccomend this pack to anyone who climbs.

I am in the process of building a rack and trying to keep it light. I recently ordered #5-#8 Metolious Ultra-Light Power cams. These cover from about 1.1-2.9 in. I suspect at some point I'll end up buying a couple of smaller cams and I'm wondering weather it would be better to get 3cam units or four in the sizes from about .5-1 inch. What do people think?

I have 24 Trango wire gate carabiners: http://trango.com/prod.php?id=45 All new and un-used, $100 for the whole lot. And I have two titanium ice screws, not the greatest ice screws in the world but probably cheep enough to leave as rap anchors and carry along on glacier climbs. http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/product/product.asp/imanf/Climb+High/idesc/Titanium+Ice+Screw+-+18+cm/Store/MG/item/625149/level3_id/0/level1_id/0/level2_id/0/N/0 They still have the little plastic caps on, the fellow I got them from said he had never taken them off. $10 each, I've got two. I'd be interested in trading for some mid-size cams in good condition. I'm always interested in offers. Contact me at romans8_28@hotmail.com, I get around the state quite a bit these days so probably we can hand off and avoid shipping.

http://titaniumgoat.com/poles.html Less than seven ounces a pair, and reportedly these are the stiffest carbon poles on the market. I've also read good things about their locking mechanism. I can personally attest that these guys offer great customer service.