Nevtrik

I myself did not participate in the speed climbing event, but I know people who did. First of all, I want to say that almost nobody out of these 20 speed climbers realized that the paint on the wall was done by someone from their team. It was a recreational climbing event and people were having fun. The painting was done a day before by people who setup the route. They used http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/Krylon-5894-15-oz-Marking-Chalk-Spray-Paint-White-6-Pack/163807/Cat/1436?gclid=CLLr38j-jboCFaFxQgodvkUA3A that degrades by itself in 2-4 weeks. This is not an excuse for vandalizing the wall! We Russian climbers all understand it and apologize for one of us being that stupid and irresponsible. This is the facebook of the person who did it: https://www.facebook.com/oashirov Go ahead and tell him why you think it was wrong. We already did.

We went up to Rainier twice in Aug of 2011 and 2012, it was warmer than in Jul I guess and there were 3 of us. Here is the gear list anyways, maybe you'll find something useful. I would keep storm pants and warm bottoms, but leave the softshell pants at home. You don't have a good warm puffy it seems, so two lighter probably make sense.. Individual checklist: 1. Warm cloths (it will be very cold on the top, make sure you have very good gloves system: I used three pairs last year: light liners for hiking, warm mountaineering/skiing gloves above and a mittens hardshell above, make sure you have really warm socks with liners) 2. Ice axe with a long sling securely attached to the harness 3. Crampons 4. Harness 5. Helmet 6. Three prusiks (5mm) 7. Belay device 8. At least 3 more locking biners (one for ATC, 1 for prusik, 1 just in case) 9. Couple of slings attached to biners 10. Sleeping bag 11. Sleeping pad (inflatable termarest works better if we'll have to sleep on the ice) 12. Head lamp and additional set of batteries 13. Food for good dinner and light breakfast: avoid anything fried, fatty, any kind of beans, fruits or vegetables (potatoes are ok ) . Prefer carbs with low glycemic index (pasta, rice - lots of freeze dried options available). 14. Water bottles or camelbak (camelbak is better to avoid frequent stops, bottles are still very useful to cool down the water before filling camelbak) 15. Snacks to have on the way (gels, cliff shot blocks, energy bars etc) that can be eaten without stops 16. Spoon 17. Hiking poles 18. Lipstick with high SPF rate 19. Glacier sunglasses 20. Ear plugs (sleeping at the camp Muir/Shurman can be impossible during high season) Group (weight to be divided between all members): 1. 2 jet boils, we will need to melt snow 2. Fuel for jet boil (two NEW medium/small size jars) 3. Bleach drops to purify water 4. 30 meters glacier rope 5. One tent 6. GPS and additional set of batteries 7. Cell phone 8. Medical kit (climbing tape, painkillers) 9. Knife 10. Toilet paper 11. Goggles 12. Tea bags 13. Two pickets with sling and two biners (at least one must be locking) 14. Ice screws 15. Sunscreen with high SPF rate 27. Pulleys 20. Tiblocks

The newest update on my friend Ben Horne as of Friday 920a PDT, from Liora, his fiancee: securing an aircraft remains an issue, but anyone with direct contacts with someone in the Peruvian military who owns a plane, please let me know and I'll forward your message to Lora (who will forward the message to the search team in Peru). > At this point: > We have a good lead on a private plane for tomorrow. Still happy to take suggestions of private planes people have access to -- you'd be amazed how many Peruvian pilots our network knows! We want someone out there today if possible. > The US embassy in Lima is trying to get the Peruvian national guard to launch their planes. First the team on the ground has to report in from the mountain -- should happen in the next hour. > Satellite imagery is in and they are analyzing it. > Ben's network of elite climbers is hard at work identifying Peru-based climbers to back up the on-the-ground efforts. Unfortunately it sounds like the team there now can't go up until tomorrow morning. > At this point, I literally cannot keep up with all of the leads coming in. If you have a very promising contact -- like a Peruvian military officer who owns a plane -- call me and I will give you the number of the guy coordinating on the ground. Anyone who has a good reason to call the embassy, it's 51-1-618-2000. It's possible the 1 before the 6 is dropped but I dont think so. > > Liora > 202-558-8346

What are the route conditions? Any reasons to take hardcore crevasse rescue gear or start very early?

I want to join a group of 2+ people for this weekend 08/13-14 (can leave Seattle Friday after 5pm) - I can go fast pace, but don't have crevasse rescue skills. Want to go in two days, any not technical route. If someone needs a Baker partner (car to car or two days trip) - I am opened for this too.

Hi, I am beginner, can follow 5.10a. If you are ok with leading all the routes and not going higher than 10a, send me a PM. I am looking forward to Sunday as the sunniest day. Don't have any preferences about where to go, Vantage is good.