Matt

When I was in the Peace Corps some missionaries came to my village to pass out bibles. Everyone was really excited and snatched up all the free bibles right away. The missionaries were so happy until they learned that paper was scarce and the villagers were using the pages of the bible to roll cigarettes. The bible paper was thin and burned well. Do I see the scripture on that joint?

Hey Lisa, Do you have any suggestions for good ski mountaineering trips for pinheads w/ dogs? I have a 70 lbs. lab with tons of energy. I'd like to find a few places that: a) are outside of a nat'l park, b) don't have cravasses, c) are steep enough to be interesting but not so much so that Scout (my pooch) will get freaked out and d) are in reasonable proximity to Seattle. Likewise, cragging can be problamatic with a dog though I sometimes do it. I hate it when Scout becomes an annoyance to other climbers and I fear for his safety from falling rocks. Climbing with dogs may be a subject for another thread, but it sounds you might know a thing or two about it and I hate leaving Scout home while I'm off enjoying nature. What is the saying? Free your heels and your dog will follow? BTW, there are more than a few dirty dogs who frequent this website so beware.

Mt. Katadin with Thoreau.

Will-- I like your style and spunk. Let's go climbing together!

Poor LameBone, can't defend himself b/c he's off climbing in the Valley. Last week he was selling his ice tools to buy a portaledge, maybe next week he'll be selling a portaledge to buy a ring? I think an apropo wedding for Lamebone would be to rent a helicopter and fly all his climbing buddies to Slesse, exchange vows, and then fly to the top. I know he doesn't really want to climb Slesse, but at least the pictures would be nice.

Hey Erik-- BTW, I've hiked the North Dome Gulley, in the dark, mind you, and it is no cake walk. The rap saves at least an hour over the hike, the added bonus being you avoid traversing across the wet dirty runnout slab at the end that's far scarier than the rest of the climb. All this aside, the point I was trying to make was it's better to wait until your feet touch the ground before you toke up. The crux of many climbs is in the decent. Don't smoke crack on Liberty Crack, but if you're just clipping bolts on Pot Ash Road....

If you want to cook inside your tent with an XKG I suggest you look into buying a Black Diamond Megamid tent, or some varion there of. Floorless tents are THE way to go for cooking inside. You are less likely to burn anything and they are easily ventilated. The combination of these two items are perfect for traveling overseas and/or trekking in remote places where clean fuel is not always available and hostels or trekkers huts can be elusive. The XKG is a blow torch and should be treated as such. It's a great product, but it may just bite you back if you try to use it where it's not intended to be used.

[This message has been edited by Matt (edited 07-16-2001).]

Ahem. [This message has been edited by Matt (edited 07-18-2001).]

Thought I'd give you a heads up-- I went to Fossil Rock last weekend and came home to find a tick crawling up my leg and another with its head burrowed in my butt cheek. Be careful!

Okay, I couldn't resist replying to this stream of nonsense. Clearly the wilderness is reserved for the people-- all people and one person has no right to claim his right over another. I cringe when I hear things like "leading takes precedence over TR-ing." Where is the logic in that statement? Just because one climber is better then another does that give him or her the right to claim the right to climb something? No, definitely not. If someone ever said that to me they'd better watch out for the sharp end of my ice tool. The fact remains that ice flows in the NW are limited and beginners can ruin a climb for others. I myself have done many climbs where I never sunk my picks into untouched ice-- all I could do was hook in other peoples holes. A party TR-ing the first pitch of a multi-pitch ice climb should invite other climbers to climb through. If the TR-ers do not offer the invitation the leading party should state that they want to climb through and everyone nearby should check their helmets. We have to learn how to share our resources and self regulate our sport. If we don't, all climbers risk losing the right to climb. As more and more people venture out into the ice climbing world inevitably there will be more injuries and more public attention drawn to the sport. I fear this may lead to some government regulation as the case is in rock climbing today. The only way we as a climbing community can prevent the unwanted intervention of regulatory bodies is to police ourselves. This requires ice climbers of all levels to be curtious, respectful of others and most importantly, to climb safely at all times. We are not alone. It is time climbers acted as such.

I recently moved to Seattle from Tokyo, Japan where climbing gear is on average 30% more expensive than it is here in the US. It could be worse!!! Even at the newly opened REI in Tokyo prices were astronomical!!! $70 ice screws!!!!

Hey Wade, I'm also looking for ice climbing partners. Please send me an email at matthew_heller@hotmail.com and let's plana trip!! It's starting to get cold enough. I was climbing at Exit 38 yesterday and there was ice all over the cliff!! If anyone else is looking for an ice climbing partner please feel free to drop me a line. Matt