mvs

Pictures of Colin's climb are at http://www.mountainwerks.org/cma/colin/ Good night nurse! --Michael

Wow, what a thread. I've got a web site. Colin, email me a picture(s) and I'll post the URL to it here. Good climb, Colin!! --Michael

quote: Originally posted by highclimb: went skiin up there last weekend looks like someone brought a AK-47 up there and fucking unloaded a hand full of clips on it....or i could have just said it is very picked out. also it was meltin/drippin wet Aidan Hey! Watch your mouth, young man!

Naw, he wasn't in town. His castle is open in June/July, you can go hang out, but he's probably looking for the Yeti at that time of the year.

This is tonight. Hope you can make it! --Michael

Get good beta is right. Our party was heartbroken at the Imperfect Impass. We came up Easy Ridge. We did some dangerous soloing all around looking for the way down into the trough. The other side looked forbidding too. There was no snow in it. It was deep and steep, and the opposite side looked hairy with wet, featureless slabs (there was a fixed rope hanging from nowhere into nowhere on that side). Thank god the weather smote us mightily, otherwise we would have had a terrible excuse for bailing!--Michael [ 04-02-2002: Message edited by: mvs ]

Hey all, I'm doing this show once more, this time at the downtown REI. If you want to go climbing there sometime, you might like it. I'll talk about some 5-8 pitch routes around the Cortina valley, and a little bit about "via ferrata". All rock climbs, around 5.6 in difficulty. Where: Seattle REI 222 Yale Avenue North Seattle, WA 98109 (206) 223-1944 When: Thursday, April 4th, 2002 7:00 – 8:00pm Have a great spring!--Michael

From http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/regions/NorthCentral/Maint/Area3/nc2002/NC1Eastside.htm "The snow pact is very hard this year, due in part to the water content in snow and from the snow mobile usage. The blowers have had a hard time staying down and have been riding up leaving a couple of feet of snow pact below them. " I think our friends Alex and Phil have something to do with this...

It's such a long ways away. Anybody climbed the Elliot Glacier Headwall? That looks like an awesome route.

Nice job Ray. That was a cool gapewad TR.

was in great shape. The morning was windy, turning some parties around. Good step kicking snow before the couloir narrows, then good front-pointing or flat-footing in crusty, hard snow. A constant rain of small ice debries, but no one was hurt. We had the route to ourselves. Another climber was on the Reid Glacier Headwall on the right. Good times. --Michael

quote: Originally posted by JERRY SANCHEZ: For me it was decending after not able to locate a way to cross the deep dike that we had to cross to climb up Perfect Pass to Mt. Challenger. The 18 miles hike out in one long wet day was so measerable that I hardly remember it. It rain so hard that there was a creek running down the trail. It took 2 weeks to dry everything out. Same thing happened to me! Exactly the same thing...

I thought the show was great. He does have a deadpan kind of voice, but I actually like hearing about the pro or lack of it on every pitch. He seemed to remember every placement, especially on some flaky A4 climbing in the "ice chimneys". Fascinating! But I did see a lot of nodder-offers snoozing then jerking awake --Michael

I'll be there, simpering helplessly. Who else is going? --Michael

Sorry it's not alpine but...Great Northern Slab!This route is 1 hour from my house, and can be rope soloed in just an hour. Sometimes I have a free Saturday morning, but need to be back home at noon. Cool way to start the day! I haven't yet come across an alpine route I wouldn't repeat. Loose rock? Part of the game! --Michael

quote: Originally posted by Peter Puget: ...I then asked how many ophthalmologits. He said zero. I thought epiphany. Haha, thats awesome! I'm leery of this surgery. I make do with contacts. I get the smallest possible bottle for solution. I'm glad for all the folks who've had good results, but I know there are several "horror story" web sites with terrifying testimonials!--Michael

Here's my contribution. <edited, sorry, this was too terrible to post directly. you'll hafta visit the link. bewarned!> hanging.gif [ 03-09-2002: Message edited by: mvs ]

I'm so relieved to hear this good news! Thanks for letting us know. --michael

Lucky bastard!!

I have the BD Ice Pack, and what happened to me recently is that I was glissading, and using a tool as a brake. When I wanted to put the tool away later, I found the plastic tool tube buckle had filled with compacted snow (now ice). I tried holding it in my hand, breathing on it, etc. But I couldn't get it out. Consequently, I had to put the tool in from the top, and clip the leash to a daisy chain. Lesson learned? Be sure to always close the tube buckle. I still like the tool tubes, but I'm definitely waiting for one of those sketchy situations that would make me feel really good about not having to remove my pack to get an axe! --Michael

Hi, I was part of a party of four, including Marek. Yesterday we got very high on the Ingraham Direct route. The winds were strong from the start, but steadily increased all morning. By our high point, the winds were steadily in excess of 60 mph, making each step very difficult. On the descent, it seemed the steeper slopes were loading with more snow, and there was a tremendous ground blizzard. It was an incredible experience. Of course, we thought it was over once at Camp Muir, but the wind and snow followed us down to Panorama Point. But the route itself was in fine condition, all crevasses easily stepped over. Routefinding is obvious, but be sure to wand it. We lost our wand track for a while, and suffered a few minor crevasse falls because of it. We didn't see anybody else going for the summit (Sean?), but talked to some an RMI guide at Camp Muir. We registered for the climb at Longmire, and had a nice experience with the people working there. Thanks to Marek, Chris and Kevin for a fantastic trip! --Michael [ 02-14-2002: Message edited by: mvs ]

We went in yesterday to look at the Country Club Ramp/White Slabs area as a possible ice/mixed climb. The entire wall was plastered in snow, and as we looked up at it, we saw light avalanches coming down across the upper ramp (this is left of the White Slabs top out). Instead we snowshoed partway up Wedge Mountain via gullies and ridges, getting better views looking down on the wall. By afternoon, a fair amount of the snow had disappeared, and White Slabs looked like a nice ice climb. I'll post pictures asap. --Michael

Oh, I forgot I already tried this beta request last month. Well, it's February, so the route must be in condition...

Hi all, I was reading the scriptures the other night, and came upon an easy rock route on the south facing slabs of Mt. Garfield's West Peak. It was first climbed in February 1963, a pretty odd time for rock climbing. Has anyone done this climb, or any climb of the West Peak? Thankee,--Michael

Hi Matt, I like the Camp Brenta Hammer - $45.00 Canadian at MEC. From the description: "The Brenta offers enough metal for getting those pins into place but has less swing power up high for relentless hammering. It is lighter generally, and more balanced, than pure big wall hammers, so it’s ideal for occasional use. " I saw one at Second Ascent for $25.00 recently. This supports your ethical desire to avoid placing pins (less swing power), but is cheaper and specialized for climbing applications. --Michael