mankato

Well, gee, that was a month ago. Are any of the ads for real?

Ok, I always see this banner ad on CC climbers under supporting sponsors that says "Black Diamond 25% off camalots" I can see it right now off to my left as I am typing this. So I click on it and it takes me to a backcountrygear.com web site. But I see no 25% off camalots, and my mighty heart breaks. To be sure it's a cruel hoax and I fall for it every time.

Crampons...yes or no?

7 tugs = I'm sitting on a ledge smoking a cigarette instead of building the next anchor. But keep me on belay.

I've used rope tugs before, and, I'll probably get flamed for this, used walkie-talkies with great success.

If you are going to climb it this year, climb it fairly soon while there is still a fair amount of snow. Hood is a nasty, unpleasant mountain in late summer -- smelly, volcanic dust, and the routes are more limited. I tried climbing it once in August, big mistake.

I also am still not sure what to make of the book. I have no idea if it’s all fabricated or only parts of it are BS or what. And no, I'm not in it or know the author or any of the characters and I’m not a right-wing conservative. Actually, I’ve talked to rangers many times at Rainier, and always found them to be friendly and helpful, and so her description of “Mike” really puzzles me. After reading my review, I should have toned it down a bit. But I was pissed off at the time. After all, the death of the climber in question was fairly recent, so his friends and family are still out there. I have no doubt the description of his death will get back to them. Can you imagine if it were your father or brother or friend that was described this way? I know I wouldn’t like it very much. The guy seemed to be a good person, and was not acting recklessly on the mountain. I can only speak for myself, but if I were to find a fellow climber killed in an accident, I think it would be a somber experience. Eating food over the guy and saying “good riddance” – I’m not sure how that can be defended in any context, whether it really happened that way or not. If it didn’t really happen that way, why put it in the book? If so, she should have clearly stated the whole book is fiction. My only conclusion is that the author is a couple pickets short of a solid anchor. She's free to write books like this, but Mountaineer’s Press shouldn’t have published it.

Well Raindawg, you had it right; this Bree Loewen is the most self-absorbed, self-pitying climber I’ve ever heard of. I got this book from the local library system after reading this thread. When I placed a hold on the library web site, I noticed I was the only one checking out the book; it isn’t exactly a hot read. So here is my review/synopsis of the book: It starts out where she and another woman plan to climb up to Camp Rainier in February, but when they get to Paradise weather is awful with snowstorm and winds. So they go up anyway, trying to get to Muir. Why the hell would anyone start out in bad weather from Paradise, knowing it’s going to be ten times worse at Muir? She says in the book she wants to have a “bonding” experience with her girlfriend and I guess spending several days cooped up in a tent at Camp Muir will provide that. Of course they quickly get lost and have to be rescued off the mountain. So the dumb-ass park service gives her a job as a climbing ranger, even though there are infinitely more qualified climbers available who have been volunteering for years, patiently waiting for a ranger position to open up. The book goes downhill from there. She constantly complains about having to do her job. She doesn’t like working with the public, she doesn’t like climbing, she doesn’t like the people she works with and they don’t like her. She can’t keep up with the other climbing rangers. She gets bad job performance reviews. She is not allowed on any difficult rescue missions because they think she will freak out. She is pretty much relegated to dead body retrieval and outhouse detail at Muir. She is also obsessed with food and eating and talks about it constantly. While the other rangers use their time off to go to Alaska or the Himalayas to climb even harder mountains, she goes to Seattle, eats and lies around doing nothing. Not exactly dedicated to her job. In one part of the book, she and her boss, a guy named Mike (not sure if that’s his real name) are choppered up to retrieve the body of a climber killed by an avalanche on the Ingraham direct. When they dig him out, she recognizes they guy as a volunteer firefighter she once worked with and had eaten Thanksgiving dinner together. To prove to her boss she is “tough,” she eats some M and M’s over his body and nonchalantly says: “He was a Republican, right-wing Christian, good fucking riddance he’s dead, really.” Her boss Mike, “laughed so hard he fell off his backpack, tears coming out of his eyes.” I understand gallows humor and all, but if I were a friend or relative of this guy who died, I would be pissed off at this cowardly woman and this idiot Mike guy. Talk about a total lack of class and compassion. It just goes on an on like that, I quit reading after a while, couldn’t take it anymore. And our tax dollars and park fees pay these people. What a waste. The summary: worst mountaineering book ever. It belongs in the compost toilet at Camp Muir.

I started drinking absinthe after reading Hemingway years ago. So far I haven't gone insane......... As far as I know it's still illegal in the US, but there are many places to get it. Check out spiritscorner.com Deva is a good brand.

Pikas is right, you are more likely to damage your shell pants from crampons or ice axe than glissading on snow. I am a cheap person so my pants are cheap but after many glissades, no damage. Let us know how the trip goes.

There is a parking area at Cold Springs for people who are camping on the mountain and/or backpacking the "round the mountain trail."

Ditto that for the paradise lot at Rainier. We were down there last weekend and were joking about how it would make a good crevasse rescue area. Looks like someone went ahead and did it! Plus you can get some great skiing or snowboarding in at the same time.

Double boots are way overkill for Adams. You can do it in a pair of light hikers really, unless it was a winter attmept or something. Adams south route is basically a long hike, nothing technical. Bring crampons, but you probably won't use them. Bring an axe and shell pants for glissade. You can leave all your gear at the lunch counter or where ever you decide to camp, no one will mess with it. It is usually very windy up there, so anything you set down that is loose will blow away, including your tent. Unless you really want to camp on the mountain, you can do Adams in one day from the Cold Springs campground, just get an early start.

No crevasses right near Seattle, but if you go up into the backcountry off the Alpental parking lot, there are ravines that you can use for crevasse rescue practice, or yes, throw a body or two into.

One thing you might want to be aware of is that road up to Cold Springs might not be open in mid June. You can always park along the road but it would be a hell of a walk in to the TH. Be sure to call the Trout Lake ranger station to find out. Last year it still wasn't open even on the July 4th weekend. That campground is always crowded, especially on weekends, so get there early. Best bet is to climb mid-week to avoid the crowds. Even on a weekday there will be herds of people on that route. As far as I know, unless it has changed recently, there are no reservations. Camping is free and and on a first come, fist serve basis. Hope this helps.