mountainsandsound

Not me personally, but several friends in years passed (pre 502). I didn't get up there last season, so I'm not sure what the vibe would be. In general law enforcement does not seem to have a good relationship with the ski area users or the town of Glacier. During big events at the ski area cops from multiple agencies are out and about (FS, border patrol, state patrol) and are very eager to bust people for weed. I wonder how enforcement on federal property relates to the national forest.

There is a dick of a FS ranger who likes to hang out at the Mt. Baker ski area and break up safety meetings. I wonder what his approach will be this season...

Classic sentence. Professional rangerspeak for: "Some gym rats got scared when they took it outside." I don't ever want to make it in ANAM. But I really don't ever want to make the "exceeding abilities" category. Glad they're OK. Nothing like shame mixed with fear to motivate learning.

I thought deadman anchors were best saved for deep or fresh snow. This was my original setup, but reading and searching seemed to reveal the "post" orientation being more common. The upright position or post orientation as you called it is only something you would want to use in knife-hardness snow. There aren't many objective studies on snow anchor strength, but this resource on snow anchors is pretty good: http://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/assets/images/Snow%20Anchors0705.pdf If you get bored, skip to pages 15-18 for the goods.

Since it looks like my original post was revived, I will follow up. I saw my doctor after the original post, he is not a specialist but he is an athlete and seemed to know his stuff. I started doing some exercises he suggested, most of which seemed to focus on hip aductors/abductors and glutes. I've always done regular strength training but as far as lower body stuff, I've never done much more than simple squats and other exercises that focus mostly on quads. The pain subsided pretty quickly. I was able to climb Shasta, Rainier, Baker a couple times, and some other N. Cascades peaks pretty much pain free this summer. And I slowly returned to trail running. In hindsight, I can see how squats, running on flat roads, and spin class (what I was doing this past fall-spring) would not target those subtle little muscles used for stability that keep the knees happy. It was a pretty easy fix (knock on wood) and seeing what two torn meniscus, MCL, and ACL has done to my brother I feel fortunate that my knee issue was not a bigger deal than it could have been. I'm glad I saw the doctor. Had I needed to pay out of pocket I would have gone in.

I am in Bham with a few days of nothing planned, would not mind getting up the Easton or Boulder route with the right person(s) in a single push. Conditions seem to be interesting and exciting now, especially on the Boulder. I have much experience with glacier travel and crevasse rescue practice and would expect the same from potential partners.

My brother lost his Petzl Adjama harness with some gear attached (reverso, ice screw, pulley, etc...) somewhere between the Inter Glacier and the Glacier Basin trailhead when we were descending the Emmons/Winthrop route on Rainier on Thursday. Would appreciate the return (he would appreciate it more, but the screw and pulley were mine). Please PM me if found.

On the Emmons yesterday during our descent there was a guided group that was moving slower than my team but sprinted ahead of us, apparently just to be first to cross back down the schrund and all the other snow bridges. Then they slowed down between all those obstacles. No communication about anything. A stupid grin on the guide's face when we got back to base camp. Rainier is an awesome mountain; such a shame that it is geared toward trophy hunters rather than climbers or aspiring climbers.

Were the rangers of old more likely to be jerks than today's rangers? I cannot honestly recall a negative encounter that I've had with a climbing or wilderness ranger (and there have been times when a younger, dumber me deserved to be harshly reprimanded). But my experience would be limited to the last 10 or 15 years.

I will preface this by saying that I have met many and have personally known some and as a whole I find them to be cool folks. But I keep seeing a segment of the guide population that consists more or less of cold, pretentious people (mostly young men) who seem to view independent climbers outside their client group with disdain. I can understand being wary of unprepared parties or parties that are putting your group at risk, but the terse, inane replies to simple questions and the awkward, competitive vibe displayed on the mountain toward fellow climbers is a downer. Reminds me of the worst of surfing. What is the deal? Do you think your company owns the mountain? Do you prefer climbing as a business rather than a hobby? Are independent climbers undeserving of acknowledgement because they haven't paid your company money?

I just got the Mountain Hardware Ultralamina 15 degree. I like it a lot. Compresses much smaller and weighs less than the old 20 degree synthetics that I have used in years past. I also have a 30 degree down which I usually bring for quick overnights on mountaineering trips in the summer. From the standpoint of temperature, it is almost always sufficient for summer mountaineering.

I climbed the Boulder Cleaver/Glacier on Baker last week. Poking our heads out of the tent at 1 am revealed a well-attended rodent party in progress in our camp. I was an idiot and left my bowl and spork in the open. The bowl was licked clean and the party guests left several turds where my oatmeal was planning on being. I rinsed several times with boiling water but I am still preparing for hauntavirus or the plague.

I just looked at the neverwet- pretty intriguing. Gore-tex has offered to have me send my boots their way for "inspection". Not sure if that route will be worth my time and energy though.

I have a 2 year old pair of boots (Lowa Timoks) that are mostly leather uppers but with some synthetic fabric on the tongue area and between the laces. They have gore-tex in them, but the membrane is definitely failing me. The leather parts are fine with defunct gore-tex, I can wax them and keep water out, but the synthetic fabric part lets in water very quickly. It's a shame, because they are nicely made boots that would otherwise have lots of life left in them, but even hiking through a short section of dew soaked brush will get my feet very wet. My question is: Is there any product I can apply on the synthetic fabric on the outside of the boot to keep water out? At this point I don't care about trying to keep breathability, the gore-tex is toast. I just wondered if there was any way I could keep those small synthetic sections waterproof, even if it is something I have to keep reapplying. Thanks.

How many dumps deposited in postholes around camp and on route? Too many folks feel entitled to leave their shit on the mountain.

I guess I will just have to add them to my list- of animals I have been bitten, chased, harassed, or attacked by. Much restraint was shown in Ivan's video, patting that thing on the head to shoo it away rather than executing it. But it is a national park after all.

Dan: Would you consider the West Ridge of Stuart to be a mellow alpine climb? I don't get down to I-90 very often, but that is one objective I have in the area.

Wow. Persistent little shit. I read a trip report a while back about a rat chomping down hard on a guys finger as he slept at an exposed bivy.

I hear the rats are bad in the Eldorado/Klawatti area. Is it worth bringing a proper tent (rather than a go-lite tarp shelter) to avoid my crap getting chewed up?

I think I lost my camera (canon elph) on Saturday somewhere on the lower portion of the Panther Creek trail, along 20, or at the Thunder Creek trailhead. I ended my hike at Panther Creek and caught a ride back to Thunder Creek, so I would imagine it is somewhere between those two points.

Nice shot of leading steep snow from the belay ledge. Doing that route with Invernos doesn't sound as fun as rock shoes in August.

If the weather is favorable, I would like to do a mellow over-nighter on something lower elevation that will not see much new snow between now and then. I am in good shape but I like to bivy and I'm taking it easy with my IT band now just to be conservative. Leaning towards Whitehorse mountain at the moment. Based in Bellingham right now.

It has only been going on for the past few weeks. I'm 28 and have been running off and on for about 15 years with no issues. I was running and cycling a lot fall-spring this past year, but only on very flat terrain. I'm currently teaching in central Iowa 8 months of the year and there is nothing over there that comes close to a mountain or hill. With all the flat running/cycling I felt a little tightness sometimes, but never pain. Then I get back to Washington and I really notice it when gaining or losing elevation over hilly terrain. I think I will eventually bite the bullet and see someone about it, just not sure what my insurance thinks of me going to sports med docs or PTs.

Any others have problems with this? I think the running I was doing over the winter/spring led to it. I don't feel it that much when I am running or hiking on flat ground. A 7 mile hike with only 300 ft of elevation gain was (almost) fine. But I do feel it a lot hiking over mountainous terrain. Uphill or downhill, once the knee joint reaches a certain angle, I really feel it. Kind of makes climbing mountains painful. Seems like weak glutes are often the culprit, so I've been doing some strength training for that. Other thoughts on iliotibial bullshit syndrome?

If us 'Mericans have Bellingham and Burlington Costcos to ourselves. Actually, the deal is off. I think I'd rather go to Squamish.