mountainsandsound

Thanks for the beta.

How was down climbing the Ledges? I was leaning toward the ID or DC because I figured I'd probably descend via one of those anyway.

Getting excited about this high pressure coming in. Have been wanting to attempt a winter ascent of Rainier during one of those bouts of high pressure- which looks like it is on the way. Even if the avy danger is low and weather forecast excellent, the snow coverage gives me pause. I haven't been following the snow report consistently, but I know it's been a dry fall and winter. This doesn't look too good: ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/wa_swepctnormal_update.pdf What do you winter hardmen/women say? Would thinly bridged crevasses be a serious issue with our snowpack right now? I'd be inclined to go for the ID or the DC route.

For the liberal elite who cannot go without the taste of fancy artisan micro brew... I'll keep packing in my Rainier tall boys. That's what top lids on backpacks are for.

Did you come back from that trip with a strong left deltoid and tricep?

You say the hill's too steep to climb Climb it. You say you'd like to see me try Climbing. You pick the place and I'll choose the time And I'll climb That hill in my own way. Just wait a while for the right day. And as I rise above the tree lines and the clouds I look down, hearing the sound of the things you've said today. -Pink Floyd- Name the album and song. It's a good one for a night drive to the trailhead, but it gets kinda:toad:towards the end. Sorry, not relevant here either.

Have not tried it for ascending- but have used it in practice for hauling. The friction penalty seemed high, but the self-tending ability was great. A good one to add to the toolkit I think. Maybe I need to get different cord to make a prusik knot that will catch the rope better when hauling. Mine is 6mm and seems stiff as hell.

Cool post. Thanks. I wonder if your life would be flashing before your eyes in those couple seconds it takes for your partner to drag you over the lip and into the icy chasm of death... I generally try to stick with 3 for a rope team on big, heavily crevassed glaciers with hidden snow bridges. But then again I don't do anything too steep and technical. Anyone use the butterfly knots as stopper knots for a two person team? Apparently 3 or 4 tied between a team of two adds a good amount of friction during a fall.

OK, thanks Dan. I was picking through some old posts on SP and I'm thinking of going lighter now. The Brooks-Range Cirro Extreme at REI outlet looks nice...

I have the OR Havoc with 60g primaloft eco. I've only had it for a year and can't compare it to any other insulation layer, but even with the lighter insulation it was adequate for Shasta, Baker, and Rainier during fair weather last July. I can only imagine that the OR Chaos with 170g of primaloft one will be very warm, maybe too warm for all but the coldest N. Cascades conditions. Does anyone have thoughts on how warm you need to go for winter? Haven't done too much winter climbing, mostly snowboarding, xc skiing, or snowshoeing where I was in constant motion and didn't need to overnight or stop for any length of time.

Cool, thanks for the responses. I've have very positive experiences with OR and I'm looking at the new and improved Chaos which has PL1. It is on the heavy side for a belay jacket, but I'm not Uli Steck so I could care less about a few more ounces. If I can get it to last 5 years I would be happy.

I need a warm belay jacket for the N. Cascades winter cold and wet. I have my mind made up (almost) on primaloft rather than down insulation. I don't mind the extra weight of primaloft vs. down, but I would like it to last more than a couple seasons before losing loft and warmth. So longevity is the big issue I'm trying to sort out here. In your experience, what has been the lifespan of your primaloft jacket? How quickly does it lose loft? Thanks in advance for any insight you have.

I don't know, if you can get away with it then why not? There are precious few options out there that allow a guy to grow out dirty face pubes and: A)allow for a respectable career/income B)not diminish prospects for female companionship If my guitar skills were in any way marketable, I'd go with a few chin-tentacles.

Jason: Corteo was worth a visit? Was thinking about getting back there for the NE of black peak, might want to include Corteo in the same trip.

Fixed the image for ya, Prol'chik. I shit bigger than you I wonder if getting the beard stuck in the strings has ever been a problem for Zakk Wylde? Or ZZ Top? What a cluster that could be.

Does "mellow and solo" mean less than 5th class? This is my short list, Mt. Baker highway or highway 20 objectives. North Twin- the approach is a pain sometimes, but the scrambling is second to none. Views of Baker and the sisters range are good, views of the clearcuts not so much. Black Peak- the quality of the scrambling is not awesome, but the route as a whole and the views from the summit are in my opinion one of the best. You are standing on the cascade crest, and the differences between the east and the west slopes are striking from this vantage point. Tommyhoi- the Smoot guidebook refers to this as possibly the best alpine scramble in the N. Cascades. Not sure if I totally agree, but it is very good and a feasible solo trek. Some people talk about getting unnerved toward the summit, but I'm not sure why. It's not terribly exposed, the rock is generally sound and the scrambling is easy. Silverstar- if you are OK with solo travel on a very mellow glacier, this is a good one too. Ruth- again a very mellow glacier, one that many (maybe most?) do not rope up for in the right conditions. The route itself is not special, but the views of Shuksan are.

I love it how healthy behaviors (not smoking, bike commuting, healthy diet, etc...) will get one branded as a full-fledged member of the liberal elite. Maybe I'm just a guy of modest means on a 10 year old $400 dollar aluminum frame Specialized commuter bike.

I have some perspective now on bike commuting, doing my teaching stint here in Iowa. With the appropriate gear, a 15 degrees/dry Iowa winter commute is much easier on the body and bike than a 40 degrees/rain Washington winter commute. Something about that moist, maritime air- hits you like a ton of bricks.

Fun. Looks like conditions that masochistic climber types would enjoy.

Got it. I thought it was probably one of those things where the current tend has deviated from the intended use.

Question: Is a fixed gear bike anything other than a fashion statement that hipsters seem to enjoy making? I can't think of any functional advantage of a fixed gear bike vs. say, a 21 speed commuter bike. Unless maybe you are on some workout plan and the added effort to pedal a fixie is functional because you are much less efficient and burning more calories. Otherwise riding a fixie when there are other options available seems like a self-imposed physical disability.

That was a good NYT article. I identified with a lot in there. I get why the author chooses not to bike commute. The number of my friends/acquaintances who have been injured or have lifelong disabilities from cycling accidents is more than the number friends involved in climbing accidents (to be fair, most of my climbing friends are trade route volcano climbers). I started to approach biking the same way as climbing in terms of risk management. I have the reflective vest, lights and the gear to stay visible, but even so, I eventually stopped biking around the outskirts of Bellingham at night. Biking on the shoulder of a 35 mph road at night, especially on a Fri or Sat night- there's only so much a cyclist can do to mitigate the hazard.

If I-522 does not pass and you are worried that without a "Contains GMOs" label you might eat GMO food, you could look for the handy "GMO-Free" labels and by default figure out which food contains GMOs and then avoid those.

An understanding of genetics to know that putting genes from a distantly related organism into a food crop is not itself, cause for alarm, though it sounds very odd to the general public. Vigorous testing is needed to make sure that the particular genes are not allergens, or that they do no interfere with other genes, regardless of where that genetic material came from, be it a flounder or closely related plant. It seems that many opponents of GM food use the "flounder gene in a tomato!" knee-jerk reaction from people to further the cause, when an understanding of biology would dismiss the intrinsic threat that is implied by that argument.

Yes to the first question. Genes are just building blocks and are conserved through evolutionary time. I think what repulses a lot of people is the idea of combining genes from two distantly related species- it sounds strange. But that itself is not a reason to believe that GMOs would be unsafe for human consumption. The risk lies with the particular gene inserted into the GMOs genome. The gene could, for example, trigger an allergy in some people. So I do support vigorous real-world testing that ensures researchers understand what the effects of that gene are. As FW mentioned above, understanding the full ecological and evolutionary implications is not straight forward, and I think that is where additional concerns about safety are warranted, rather than thinking you may get cancer from eating GM crops. There aren't any links between GM crops and cancer. But a diet high in red meat, organic or otherwise, does put you at an increased risk for colon cancer. So my position is more nuanced than I first indicated. I don't necessarily support GM technology in its entirety. But I don't have concerns about human consumption. And that is why I don't think labeling is necessary. I made a joke about it in an earlier post, but if warning consumers about potential risks to human health posed by particular ingredients is the intent of labeling (I think I-522 is only ostensibly about simply "informing" consumers), it would make more sense to put labels on products that contribute greatly to say diabetes or heart disease.