baumann_pat

That sounds like the place. I've only been once or twice. The selection is good, prices might be a little high.

What gear do you need? There's a shop in one utama shopping mall for basic rock gear. There's a pretty good outfitter near downtown if you want anything besides shoes and rope, but I forget the name. Google could give more detail. You can try barracuda for chalk and chalk bags - small local company, bags are hand stitched by the founders mom-in-law, some cool designs.

I'm in KL, Malaysia. Most development is near the city but there is unlimited limestone cliffs all over the country. I'll be climbing plastic this week and making a trip up to Ipoh this weekend or next (there is a very photogenic 40m freestanding pillar with a handful of routes).

I'm interested too. My top objectives in the Cascades are Mt Olympus, Rainier's Liberty Ridge and Torment-Forbidden Traverse. Weekend of June 25 is ideal. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

Anybody want to climb Liberty Ridge starting 6/12 or 6/13? FYI, I like to keep it light and climb fast. I first climbed Rainier in 2002. Though lately most of my climbing has been in California. It's going to feel good to get back on a big block of ice. Send a pm or e-mail for more information.

I climbed Fuji the last week of December in 2005. It wasn't easy. You can count on no crowds and bad conditions. In the summer I think you catch a bus to the 5th station but in winter the road is often blocked at the base of the mountain. I hiked from the Kawaguchiko train station. At a good pace it still took 3 full days to summit and return to the train station. Although if you catch a taxi to the end of the road you can save yourself about 6-10 miles but it will set you back some cash, $50 if I recall correctly. When I was there the mountain didn't have much snow cover. I think the typical snow cone doesn't form until later in the winter. I had cold temperatures and very strong gusts in the evening on the summit ridges. I actually bivied on the summit due to the high winds. It was miserable. I didn't see any other climbers or trekkers over 3 days. Supposedly summiting on New Year's Eve or NYD is popular to catch the first sunrise from the top so there ought to be some locals that have reliable beta. However don't look for first hand knowledge at the visitor information center - they'll tell you that the mountain is closed and it is impossible to climb until next summer. Good luck.