mmeyers

fair enough. Chopaka and Hurley are in there, and those are just a bit north of Whitestone, but I suppose the line has to get drawn somewhere.

in case anyone is interested, there are a 2 decent pics here http://okanoganhighland.blogspot.com/p/landscapes-of-okanogan-highlands.html

Does anyone have info on Whitestone mountain (just NW of Tonasket). I only saw it from Loomis-Oroville Rd, and I haven't gotten up close to it, but it looks interesting. It's awfully white (cleverly named, it is!), so my first guess is that it's not consolidated enough for climbing. That it's not in Beckey suggests the same. Anyway, I just thought I'd see what the masses here might know about it, since it's pretty striking. cheers!

just to add to the general insurance issue... fwiw, you might want to consider long term disability instead of, or in addition to, life insurance. it seems to me that I'm more likely to get injured and need long term care, or be unable to work, and that situation is more likely to cost more than whatever happens if I die. my situation is different, in that my wife doesn't climb, so we're not going to get wiped out at the same time (from climbing).

i'm neither a sports physiologist nor a nutritionist.... It won't hurt. Mostly it's taken to speed recovery from more intense (resistance) workouts, and helps if taken within 1 hr of the workout. http://www.nsca.com/education/articles/resistance-training--benefits-of-post-exercise-consumption-of-protein-supplements/ there's also a lot of info here: http://www.jissn.com/content/5/1/17 and the gist of this article is that it's best to take supplements at a 3:1 or 4:1 carb:protein ratio within 20 minutes of exercise. But if you're doing zone 1 workouts mostly, you probably are getting enough protein in your diet. So, if you feel like you're not recovering as quickly as you want to, try it out. imo, for mostly zone 1 exercise, if you feel fine, and your diet is healthy, taking protein supplements is likely just gilding the lily. as for cost, if that's a concern, stick with eggs. here's an article about the different types of dietary protein. http://www.jssm.org/vol3/n3/2/v3n3-2pdf.pdf you'll see that there is, practically speaking, little difference between the types of protein (most available stuff is soy and whey), but imo, if you're going to take it, try to find protein supplements that have as little added "stuff" as possible - ie I avoid stuff that has any sweeteners and other additives or thickeners. fwiw, I use plain unflavored whey protein b/c I don't like the taste of soy, and I find that whey dissolves and digests better - unflavored b/c I can add a variety of other flavors.

Quint, I think you misunderstand what is happening in the picture. The tag line and the dynamic rope are tied together with a simple overhand knot (standard way I think 97% of us do it). Then the tag line is fed through the v-thread and pulled through; you could fed the tag line through, then tie the ropes together. The reason the dynamic rope was NOT fed through the v-thread was to prevent damage to the tip of the dynamic rope by the v-thread tool; the system would work the same if the knot was on the other side (ie the dynamic rope was fed through the v-thread). Regardless, in our set up, and in the picture, the 6mm rope is going through the v-thread. Then both the tag and the dynamic are fed through your rappel device, so you are weighting both and using the friction from both. The only issue I know of with this set up, that is not a factor when using two ropes of similar diameter, is that you can experience knot slip. With a 8mm vs a 6mm, there is no knot slip (but was watched very closely to ensure there was none, in other situations, there could be, but we did not experience it). If there was knot slip, you would have had to do the traditional tag line set up (not going to describe it here, I'm sure we all know what it is, or you can Google it). Perhaps the term "tag line" is not the most accurate way to describe the smaller, 6mm cord. It was essentially using two normal ropes, just one of the normal ropes was 2mm smaller and 5m longer, and more static than dynamic. I hope that clarifies the system up for you. If you still have safety issues, please voice them. knot slip isn't the only problem. fwiw, I have experienced the case where the smaller diameter rope moves faster through the device while rapelling. with similar ropes but different diameters (ie, similar being same sort of stiffness/bendability), the larger diameter rope will experience more friction in the device than the smaller diameter rope. it's a function of the resistance of the rope to bend at a given radius - the easier it is to bend (ie, smaller diameter) the less friction there will be through the device. the risk is that the smaller diameter rope will slip right through the device, and you be left attached to only one rope and falling... but only if the knot is on the wrong side of the anchor. granted, I'm probably putting too fine a point on it, but if I were to analyze your situation from the comfort of my computer.... since you were using a static rope, which may have been a bit stiffer than a dynamic rope of equal diameter, you probably had similarly matched friction through the device. ultimately, you were there, you set up the ropes, you rapped, and everything was fine. because of my experience, and I think other people have had similar experiences, I generally set up the rap anchor so that the knot is on the tag-line side of the anchor (have to pull the tag line to retrieve ropes), so that if there is less friction from the tag line, the knot keeps the rope from sliding through the anchor (be it rings, biner, vthread, or whatever). sorry if this is totally clear already, or if I am muddying the waters more, but it did not sound like it was clear from the above messages. ---

I plan on going.

Frelard! Frelard! Next time, I suggest Populuxe Brewery. It may not be big enough, so Chuck's hop shop as a close second. Also, Stoup has reasonable space. Although, now that i think about it, Chuck's always has a food truck out front - my other 2 suggestions don't always. ... Bummed I couldn't make it this time.

look here for some ideas http://www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/topos/mt-shuksan.html but I don't know what conditions would be like in July.

zappos has a sizeable number of climbing shoes and free returns, so you could do that to find a shoe you like. I agree about La Sportiva being narrow. in contrary to the above comment, I find five-ten shoes are wide in my experience. If you're looking to keep your feet flat, you'll probably end up with mythos or TC Pro.

looks like a trango superfly, but not quite. probably a camp photon. although, the fact that it's not marked is suspicious.

yeah, Hyak is good. look at the uphill policies at the resorts - that's about as safe as you'll get from a avalanche perspective, but a higher risk of getting run over by the downhill crowd.

not much, but something (although, you probably found this already) http://lazyhclimbingclub.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/iceland-part-1/ http://lazyhclimbingclub.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/iceland-part-ii/ http://lazyhclimbingclub.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/return-of-the-viking-iceland-part-iii/

I don't mean to offend you, but if you can't tell if two activities use the same muscle groups, you're going to have a really hard time training for anything. slow down, and go through the motions of your workouts (stairs) and activities (skiing), paying close attention to what muscles are contracting. you'll see that skiing and stairs will activate some of the same muscle groups. as you pay attention to duration of contraction, you'll see that your skiing is probably more intense than your stair climbing, hence your soreness. also, search for skiing workouts on the interwebs and compare those to hiking workouts, and see if some of the exercises are the same.

nice list.

yes, they can. if you're planning on falling a lot, and not just hanging, use a grigri or something without teeth. you didn't ask, but my strategy for working a route on solo TR is to work the moves with the 2-trax setup and a way to climb the rope (a tibloc works well). Once I have the moves, I'll do the grigri-knot thing. since I'm usually too gripped at the crux, I don't pull the rope through, so I get used to falling a bit at the crux (since the rope doesn't always feed thru the grigri). the grigri also lets me move up and down the rope more easily.

for me, it depends on what I'm climbing: either 2 micro trax with one on each strand, or a grigri on one strand and figure 8 knots tied in the other strand as backup

FWIW, I was told by someone whose experience I trust that you'll take a significant risk breaking your ankles using Silvrettas if you don't know how to ski really well. I'm in the same boat. I'm a shitty skier, but I'm tired of feeling stuck at home in the winter. And, I want to do winter climbs, but need to figure out the approach. And I'll be damned if I ever have to hike back down from camp muir. So, I'm in the process of buying AT gear, trying to stay as cheap as possible.

those hikers lack creativity.

I agree, I think the Cilogear 60L carries weight well for an internal. I've had 60 lbs in it. It's definitely better if you leave the frame sheet in, but you can take it out to save some weight. I've had mine for 4 years of moderate use. I don't have probs with the shoulder straps. I, too, have a BD Speed 40, and the shoulder straps start to give me problems (digging in and some rubbing/blisters) with 50 lbs.

you write the most entertaining TRs evah!

what telemarker said. between points 2 and 3, the route sort of goes up and around. so, if you're going to haul, I think you'd want to do it from a hanging belay at 2. if you decide not to haul, you can easily climb from the base of the gendarme (point 0?) to point 2, or from point 1 to point 3. I also second Rad's advice. really good fist jams, with the occasional hidden holds on the inside.

nice work. We were there a couple of weeks ago (we rode, er, I mean pushed bikes on the road to the TH as well). That was a good idea to take some time the day before to work out some of the route! It took us about 4 hrs from camp to get to the base of the snowfield - that includes 2 dead ends and all the end-runs around the many crevasses. Matt

did action potential in Oct of last year. pitch 1 and 2 are a lot of fun. there's a lot of lichen on the crux pitch 3, but the locks are solid. pitch 5 is a loose chimney. we knocked stuff off. there's a good protected belay spot on the right side of the chimney. I took the pitch 6 chimney straight up. the leftward face traverse option wasn't apparent to me. the chimney is dirty and tight. have fun. Matt

Trip: Mt Stuart - Full North Ridge Date: 6/28/2013 Trip Report: No pretty pics, just a conditions report. Taylor Brugh and I approached via Mountaineers Creek, descended Sherpa Glacier. Approach is snow free except right near the base of the route. Some pitches are wet. Offwith on the gendarme is wet. Fixed BD#1 right before offwidth, and #4 still fixed in crack. There is some snow still on the route. The crack on the "slab with a crack" is filled with snow, although I suspect after the temps this week, it will be gone shortly. A few places required us to step on or across snow on route. The last pitch (of simulclimbing) has some snow you have to step through. Sherpa glacier is still covered in snow and probably will be for a little while. crevasses are opening up - we crossed one small one near the top, 2 more (one big) a bit lower down. As always, keep an eye over your shoulder for rockfall. There were some very large boulders that came down while we were on the glacier. Apparently there was a goat convention around our tent. As soon as we pitched, until we packed up the next night, at least 4, and up to 8? were around. Little to no fear of humans. The usual recommendations re safety. There's also a baby that would not fcuking shut up all night long, bleating at 30 second intervals. I guess they move to the core enchantments later in the season? Approach Notes: we followed a climbers path to cairns and then lost them though the boulder field up on the slope. on the way out we found then lost, then found (repeatedly) the trail that goes along mountaineers creek. ultimately we bushwacked out. I'd love to know where that trail starts.