DPS

Very sad. The collection of vintage Chouinard Ice tools, Greg Child's tent from his ascent of G-IV, Viesturs' down suit - all gone. I have always known someone who was working there when I would stop in. I recognized no one this time. I had wanted to to sell three garments, two that had been worn once, one still with tags. The clerk snottily replied "You say it has only been worn once, but to us it is used." They offered $0.10 on the retail dollar in store credit, no cash. I will not be back, I'll stick to Pro Mountain Sports when I need climbing gear, Jim has always done right by me.

Funny story, a couple of years ago I was ice climbing in typical (rotten) conditions at Alpental. I was putting my boots on in the parking lot when a guy ambles over from a sweet Dodge Sprinter camper conversion. He asked about ice climbing conditions and it turns out he and he girlfriend relocated to Seattle from Colorado for the winter to, get this, ice climb. He said there were so many good alpinists from Seattle that he figured the ice must be good. I told him all the good alpinists from Seattle go ice climbing in Canada, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado because the ice here is so fickle. He said the guide book never mentioned that fact. I pointed out that the title 'Washington State Ice: The Elusive Beast' should have tipped him off.

Is Second Ascent under new ownership? I went in there for the first time in a couple of years and noticed that I did not know anyone who worked there, all the awesome climbing memorabilia is gone, they are not really interested in buying used gear, and the place looks like REI. And I mean that not in a good way.

Their food is nowhere as good as Swedish. Care about the same.

Todd, I'm going try to round up a group of folks for some gas/motel expense sharing trips. Although my primary destination is Hyalite Canyon, if it is a cold year we might hit up Lillooet. Email me if you are interested: Daniel-p-smith@hotmail.com.

Lots of dirt bag camping options, but as others have said the issue of drying gear and clothing is an issue. I recall the Mile-0 motel as being very affordable, but it has been a number of years since I have climbed in Littlewet.

Seattle/Wenatchee, SLC, Boulder/Denver. I live in the Seattle area, and it seems when my climbing/BC skiing/trail running companions move, it is to either Salt Lake City or Boulder. My folks are from Denver and I have visited Denver/Boulder many times and the opportunities for rock climbing, ice climbing, and skiing are excellent. The only true alpine climbing in the contiguous U.S., however, lies in the Cascade mountains of Northern Oregon and Washington. A friend who moved from Seattle to Boulder argued that the weather in Colorado allows one to climb much more often than in Washington. Wenatchee is East of the crest and enjoys much better weather than Seattle, and is a much smaller city. FWIW, Harborview in Seattle is considered to be one of the best trauma centers in the PNW. I have spent time in an unfortunate number of hospitals in the Seattle area, and Harborview (was taken there by ambulance after electrocuting myself) is hard to beat for the sheer entertainment value. Swedish hands down has the best food. Better than Red Robin restaurant quality.

I've climbed Eldorado and Ruth/Icy traverse in October and September, respectively, and the glaciers on both were easily navigable. I think Sahale by Sahale Arm would be fine and Silver Star via Burgundy Col might be ok too. It is while others are fine. The Colchuck Glacier comes to mind as a dangerous late season climb. Easy in early season, icy with a bad run out late season. I climbed NE Buttress of Colchuck in August and descended the Colchuck glacier which was a frightening experience. A father and son died there when they slipped and slid into the rocks. The take home message is yes, glaciers tend to be very icy this time of year, but my experience holds that some glaciers remain in good shape in the fall.

$175 at Moosejaw.

Try Backcountry.com (http://www.backcountry.com/grivel-g20-crampons). They sell them.

Germany seems to have the loosest immigration laws in Western Europe. My folks have retired and spend a good part of the year in France, and have talked about moving there. My dad said as long as you don't want to try to get a job or be a drain on their social welfare network, you can move there fairly easily. In other words, if you are independently wealthy... My wife and I looked into moving to New Zealand when we were younger, and it looked pretty doable, but we both had in demand skills (civil engineer and software developer) and assets. I've heard that if you want to live in Chamonix, the way to do it is on a student visa and then find some job working under the table.

Map and compass/GPS are considered to be essential for back country travel. An altimeter is very handy as well. In a white out on a glacier a GPS with a track laid is very helpful. Also, many climbers use wands to mark the route of ascent on large glaciers and then collect them on the descent. Generally at night there is enough star or moon light reflected from the glacier to get a good idea of where to go and headlamps to see features immediately in front of you.

Still available: Scarpa Inverno double plastic boot with Intuition liner, size 42.5/43. $40.00 Serratus Genie 30 L alpine pack with cut down Z-rest for support and emergency bivis, Arc-Terxy ice tool holders, and custom sterum strap. $30.00 La Sportiva insulated super gaitors. Size medium, fits my size 42.5 leather and plastic boots. $40.00 Women's Marmot down sweater. Size large. New condition. $75.00 Women's Arc'Teryx soft shell jacket. Size large. New condition. $75.00 Photos: http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=81282 email Daniel-p-smith@hotmail.com

Micropuff sold.

The last thing I need is another tent, but krikes, that is an awesome deal.

October can be a difficult time to climb in the Cascades, starting of the 'shoulder season'. Stable weather can persist into mid October some years, so keep your fingers crossed for that. Eldorado, Sahale, Silver Star, and Ruth/Icy traverse are actually really excellent choices for early October. Typically the glaciers are all passable and any early season snow should not stymie the easy rock climbing found on these peaks too much.

What is the word on the street regarding the climate this winter? Cold and wet? Warm and dry?

I have a pair of Edelweiss dry treated 'Sharp' 8.5 mm x 50 m half ropes. One green, one purple. I bought replacements for them, but they are still in plastic wile I continue climb on the aging ropes. I have it in my mind to retire them soon, but getting some money out them would speed up the process. How much are you interested in spending? Dan Daniel-p-smith@hotmail.com

Added women's Arc'Teryx jacket. http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=81282

Dan Aylward too. Fastest ice climber I've ever seen. If it doesn't sell, I will keep day dreaming about rebuilding it with a floating, larger lid, move the daisy chains to the side and adding a crampon patch.

Linky to my SummitPost ad: http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=81282

Good to see that left big toe nail grew back after Forbidden.

I did FC in mid September a couple of years ago. Winnie's slide was not difficult, but the pitch that gains the Upper Curtis was a bit icy, and we were forced to climb into and out of a crevasse on the Upper Curtis. Hells Highway was not difficult either. We had read a TR the week before recommending a second tool, so we brought, and used second tools for the two more difficult sections I mentioned. If you mean by the '5.7 variation' the SE Ridge of the summit pyramid, I've heard from a solid partner of mine that they encountered difficulties in that range. The SW Ridge was really nice, the Haley boys and I did it sans rope BITD. Last time I did the SE Ridge was after climbing Price Glacier in challenging conditions, I took a belay for one or two moves of 5.5.

I've chatted with some notable climbers interested in doing some winter routes on it, but I've not heard of any actual ascents winter or summer lately.

I think that FISH duffle bag in the photo is the one I sold you (mthorman). Nice to see it getting used.