rocketparrotlet

The first step, before you get off belay, is to build your anchor (if necessary) and put your personal anchor in. Then you can be safely taken off belay, and set up a clove hitch to belay on. This is sufficient protection. I use one personal anchor and one clove hitch. Actually, I fell on my personal anchor yesterday when clove hitching in. It was kind of scary, but they are rated to something like 22kN, and my fall was probably like 1 or 1.5kN, so there wasn't much to worry about. -Mark

An overhand knot would cause a sling to lose 30% at most. Even after this loss, it's still stronger than a bomber placement. You could also just double it. -Mark

Presentation I did on this a while back: http://cascadehikers.topicboards.com/north-cascades-f5/north-cascades-glacier-project-t81.htm -Mark

Do you know folks who have died in the service? I know several who have died in the mountains. Every time someone I know dies, I sure do rethink the climbing thing. My dad climbs, and he also was in the front lines in the Navy in the Gulf War. He seems more scared of climbing than war, but the dangers are not really comparable. -Mark

Johannesburg is a very hard mountain; I think you should reconsider. I have heard many nightmare stories, although I have not climbed it myself. Can you lead? If so, I might be interested. -Mark

At that point you're looking for a partner...not a follower So wait...if I want someone to lead it, I'm looking for a guide. If I'm looking for someone to follow it, I'm looking for a partner, and I'm not acting as a guide...? I just don't get it. -Mark

I totally agree with you all the way! I'm learning to lead right now! I might be able to lead this trip myself next year, but then I'd have to find a follower. I definitely wouldn't even consider soloing this. -Mark

I just can't afford a guide...I'm broke. All my money was spent on ropes and cams. I guess I'm just gonna have to call off this dream. Maybe I'll lead Liberty Bell myself in a month. -Mark

???

Bump Nobody's interested? -Mark

The war's not over until you fire the gun on yourself. Your ego and not letting people help you has turned the safety off. You can dump the ego, be happy for what you got, and win. Or you could keep on pretending to be ready for things you are not and avoiding people's advice, and screw yourself over. Your choice. -Mark

JOSH- You are not ready for Rainier! Stop trying to weasel your way onto a climb! You don't get it do you- people are TRYING to help you. And you won't let them! All you do is, when people try to give you helpful advice, you tell them that they're wrong. That's why people get so mad at you sometimes. Cut the crap here. Your response to Maine-iac had nothing to do with what he was telling you. He's trying to say, take it one step at a time. You're not doing that. Please. For the sake of yourself, your climbing partners, and anyone who cares about you. Learn some humility, stop pretending you're a big strong climber with a lot of experience, and stick to stuff you can do SAFELY. If you have to question whether you are ready or not, think about what would happen if something went wrong. And don't take the easy way out and imagine yourself dead. Imagine you having to carry the dead body of your climbing partner down and show it to their loved ones, knowing you were responsible for their death. If you are not able to confront that horror, do not take the risk of climbing above your level. Learn your skills this year, practice them constantly, and by next summer, you might be ready for some easy glacier/rock routes, maybe even Rainier. -Mark

I didn't say McDonalds was cheaper, I said it wasn't AS BAD as Taco Bell. Still bad, though! Don't eat any of that crap if you can avoid it. -Mark

Definitely a good idea. If you have to eat stuff on a budget, Taco Bell is the worst you can get. Even McDonalds is better (but I wouldn't recommend it unless it's necessary!). My suggestion is, buy some beans and rice, then melt some cheese over top of them, and sprinkle seasoning on it if you want. That's similar to Taco Bell food, except it is actually very healthy for you- it has a lot of protein and usable carbs that you can burn before a trip. I always bring fruit bars- dried fruit is great for a snack. If you need some, the fruit bars I eat are like $0.25 each if you buy a box of them at Costco. As for water, a good trip leader will give you a chance to stop and filter water if necessary. If anyone has a SteriPen UV filter (like the one I have), it only takes 90 seconds to filter a liter of water- just make sure someone has a Nalgene bottle so that the filter can fit. You can stop at a stream whenever you need to filter water. Filtering water at camp is also necessary. Before a trip, make sure that you have fruit, protein (meat or cheese), and a couple of snacks. Don't go entirely on snacks- anything made by Little Debbie is bad for you. Only bring one or two crap things like that. Remember how I had my one Oreo-cake bar? That was it- everything else was at least reasonably healthy in my food bag. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are good food too. I would suggest peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, rice and beans, cheese, dried fruit and nuts, cereal, oatmeal, and just a little bit of junk food. -Mark

Josh, don't listen to what people like this say to you. You are ready for Stuart, and good luck on your trip! I have heard, however, that it's not too fun, but that's just a matter of opinion- if you are not enjoying it, turn around. Having fun is the most important thing (well after safety, of course!) -Mark

Even those pussy-posers at nwhikers have dialed into the fact that Josh doesn't listen, so why give the fucking genius advice? Maybe the poor bastard stupid enough to take Josh out needs to be taken outta the gene pool too. His buddy Mark says he "runs away!" LOL!!!! That's a fucking riot. Yah, some twit who does that will listen. I can see why they warned me about this place... ...well, if it gets me a climbing partner, that's all I need. -Mark

Already one step ahead of you. I already have a 16 year old mentor named Mark Struab. But another one might come in handy because he had experience, but to do climbing, another person would be nice to have, especially on glaciers. That's great, and incoherent, and all, but isn't a "16 year old mentor" a bit of an oxymoron? ...sigh... Why does age always have to come into this? My age does not dictate whether or not I am fit to teach someone. I feel the exact same way. Josh, when you can learn to be responsible in the mountains, and stop letting desire overrule ability, then I will continue to teach you, help you out, and take you up some summits. Here's a priority list I saw somewhere, I really like this one. In order of importance: -Come back alive and safe -Come back still friends -Make the summit Please remember this, and you will be much safer and happier in the future. Saying that you want the mountains now isn't going to get you anywhere; it took me two years to get from the beginning (having trouble hiking up Mt. Si) to now (just climbed Ingalls Peak and The Tooth). Patience is the key. -Mark

Sure, I'll take the bait. I fit the bill. I have been hiking with Josh a few times. He's my friend, and I hate to say this, but three times have been a disaster. One time he ran away, another time he wouldn't talk and his older brother ran away, and the last time (a Rainier attempt less than a week ago) he did not have the proper skills, and then made everyone look bad for something or other that was his fault. The most offensive part to me was when he implied that my father was selfish for charging Josh a quarter of the gas cost. My parents drove him and I 340 miles, and then my dad asked him to work for a short period of time to pay it off. Paying for your share of gas money is part of climbing, and he was only asked to pay half what his fair share would have been. I was teaching Josh to climb, but his selfish comments and refusal to learn from his past lessons have shown me that it is just not a safe decision. If someone is willing to work with him, I taught him belays, rappelling, rock anchors, snow anchors, rock climbing technique, and some other assorted stuff. You gotta have a lot of patience, though. Josh, I'm still your friend, but just call these mountain "adventures" (suicide attempts?) the things that keep me away from you. My advice is, go to Mt. Stuart and see how you do. I'll be awaiting your trip response. And please, for the sake of you and everyone else on here, stay AWAY from Mt. Rainier! -Mark

My dream this summer is to climb all 5 main summits of the Liberty Bell group in a single trip with my dad. This would probably be done in two days, but we could take three if necessary. The plan is to climb all 5 summits by their easiest route, which will be some great mid-5th class climbing. We will climb Liberty Bell, Concord Tower, and Lexington Tower in the first day, then camp. The next day, we will move to the base of North Early Winters Spire, climb that, and then climb South Early Winters Spire. This will be 15-20 pitches overall, with difficulty of the towers being 5.5 - 5.7. My dad and I are both knowledgeable in basic skills such as rope management, belaying, building anchors, following, cleaning pro, etc. We can climb up to 5.9 at Index. We are just learning to lead; I would rather not lead for most of this trip. If anyone is interested in being a rope lead for this trip, please contact me and we can talk about it, and probably meet for a day at the crags to get to know each other. Phone: 425-423-9385 (ask for Mark) Email: geckozoo@gmail.com