DPS

You may want to rethink that. Rainier is a different animal than Shasta.

Thanks Tom. I recall Mike Layton's trip report.

My 19 y.o. pickup died of congestive engine failure. I was planning on buying a car. Maybe I should buy a cyclocross bike instead.

After climbing with you and Tvash, I think I know why.

Jeebus Tom, you are crushing it! I was mightily impressed by Nooksack Tower when I got a close look from Price Glacier. Does anyone know if the North (NW?) Buttress has been climbed from the small saddle one has to climb over to access Price Glacier? I don't have my Beckey guides anymore.

I've owned Blue Water ropes before and found them to be generally pretty good ropes. I don't have any experience with the one you are considering, but it should be ideal for cragging.

If you are running to keep in shape for climbing, it really doesn't matter how fast your running pace is. You will only be as fast as your partner. If you can't keep up with your partners then you need to train more. That said, one of the fastest climbers I have climbed with is Colin Haley who doesn't run because it hurts his knees. I have run competitively for 30 year so I do care about my pace when running. I also cared a lot about climbing fast when my daughter was young because it was much easier to get a day free than a whole weekend and if I climbed fast I could climb longer routes. Now that my daughter is in grad school I really like to bivi. Camping out is part of the fun for me. As for where you stack up, you don't mention what your 7:20 pace is for. A road marathon? If so then 7:20 is not a bad pace for a recreational runner. To put it in perspective I worked with a guy who decided to run a marathon for his 40th birthday. He had never run more than 6 miles in his life. He was a typical desk jockey with a wife and kid. He did the Portland marathon in 2:54. As for climbers, you are not notably fast. You are not slow either. The fastest climber is the one having the most fun. Or something like that. Have fun running and climbing but if you start hiring timing officials to record your lap up Mt Hood, maybe step back a bit.

Looks like someone has your ropes: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1106277#Post1106277

My guess the ropes belong to these guys: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1106153/Ropes_stuck_Ingalls_N_peak_E_R#Post1106153

Didn't Kurt Hicks or maybe Jens Klubberud do a 5th class route on Formidable? I'd look at steep snow and ice routes as well. Some of the rock in that neighborhood is kind of skanky.

That is impressive, considering their time to Muir was slow compared to other speed records. They obviously crushed it above Muir and on the descent.

I have done a fair amount of approaches on bikes and in my experience it is only worth it if the approach is not especially uphill. Riding a bike up a steep hill with climbing packs and mountaineering boots is not fun. The road to the North side of Baker you are better off hoofing it. The approach from the trail head is pretty short (it typically takes me between one and three hours depending on if I am carrying overnight gear, technical gear, speed of my partner, if I am biving at the Hogsback or below the Black Buttes, etc). Walking the road should only add a couple of hours. tvashtarkaetna's suggestion of climbing the Easton to the Baker-Colfax col and dropping down is a good suggestion. I would probably opt for three days: -Day 1. Approach and camp below the Easton Glacier. -Day 2. Climb up and over the saddle and camp on the Coleman Glacier. Established camp sites below the Black Buttes (with toilets) @ ~7,800 ft or traverse West below the North face of Colfax to Mr. Purple Nice Guy Pass with an incredible position and awesome views into Lincoln Peak. -Day 3. Climb the North Ridge and descend the Easton out to your car. This approach will allow you to see more of the mountain and do a cool traverse.

A Clockwork Brown.

[ben Beckerich] These times are sure certainly beatable... who's gonna do it? You are a bit behind the ball. Dan H----t. claims 1:56 Timberline to Hood summit.

Wearing two thick pairs of socks often means your boots have a sloppy fit or your feet will be constricted, slowing blood flow and increasing the likely hood of frostbite. I have always sized straight across from my shoe size for plastics as well as leather expect when when buying European sizing I size a half size up. E.g. I wear a size US 9 in most brands of dress shoes, casual shoes and running shoes. In European sizing I fit best into a 42.5 which is usually translated as a 9.5. My experience on Denali was using a similar sock combo as you describe; either Smartwool or polypro/ester thin liner under a VBL sock, under a thick Smartwool 'mountaineering' sock. I like using VBL socks because only a single layer (the thin, easily dried liner) had to be dried on my stomach at night. I rotated through 2 pairs of liners and thick socks. After 5 days the polypro/ester smelled like death while the Merino wool ones smelled fresh. My recommendation would be to use a thin Merino liner sock (Smartwool, Icebreakers, etc) and either a thick wool or synthetic insulating sock. Why synthetic? I wear the heels out on my Smartwool socks really quickly whereas a high quality synthetic sock last me longer and seems to dry a bit faster. As I mentioned, I wear vapor barrier liner (VBL) socks anytime I wear plastic boots which keeps the thick, synthetic outer socks dry and stink free. If you decide to try using VBLs, use them on a few less committing winter objectives, then perhaps on Rainier before committing to using them on Denali. You will need to be vigilant about changing out liner socks and keeping your feet dry. Gold Bond foot powder is well, gold. Olympus Mons are warm as one could hope. I went in a particularly cold year, (-30 F at 17K) and used a pair of Scarpa Invernos circa 1994, an Intuition heat molded liner, with La Sportiva super gaitors insulated with Thinsulate. My feet were plenty warm. The LS Olympus Mons is perhaps the warmest boot I saw on Denali. Unless you are planning on climbing in Antarctica or the high Himalaya you may reconsider the Oly Mons, it is a very expensive boot and not especially well suited to other types of climbs. You could get a boot warm enough to climb Denali as well as practical to go winter mountaineering in the lower 48 as well as technical ice climbing. Get a used, quality shell (I've seen brand new looking Scarpa Inverno's go for $99 at Second Ascent. Replace the liner with an Intuition molded liner if it is beat out. Pop on a 40 Below over boot for high, cold stuff.

My reaction would be 'why?'. My memories are fuzzy after having attempted it two decades ago (I think. We attempted the buttress climber's right of SGC), but as I recall it was not the easiest thing to bail down. Sherpa Glacier is the typical descent if the Mountaineer's Creek approach was used and the Cascadian Couloir descent if the Ingall's Lake approach was used. Neither is 'fun' in their own special way but neither one is technical either.

I like to bivi.

Todd-Tex is a proprietary PTFE laminate (think Gore-Tex) used in Bibler tents. (i.e. Todd Bibler). This is an Integral Designs tent which typically uses Integral-Tex, another PTFE laminate. This particular tent, according to the seller, is eVent, a lighter, more breathable version. Colin Haley raved about his ID MK1 Lite tent built with eVent, unfortunately they are very hard to find now. I think ID discontinued use of that fabric?

Thanks Gene. I feel like I am over the hump, although I still have quite a long way to go.

Me too, and they always go for the shoulder straps on my packs! They chewed up two different new Black Diamond packs, one on the T-F Traverse and one while bivied below NF Sherpa. That one chewed the entire sternum strap right off. Snaffles are the reason I can't have anything nice in the backcountry.

What? No more pic-i-nic baskets?

I have a good friend with a felony conviction that landed him in a federal pen as well as multiple DUIs. He is allowed in Canada, but he had to get a lawyer and pay some kind of a fee to Canada if I recall correctly.

Thanks. It seemed to me, at least in conception, to be pretty straight forward but I know nothing about sewing. I can imagine how the execution could be more involved than I imagine. I'll just stick with the bag as it is for now.

Basically I want to take a wispy light 30 degree, 850+ fill down bag I got a screaming deal on and turn it into a Vireo style bag. -Remove the zipper -Sew in a runner to tie into -Cut off the hood -Reuse the down to over stuff the top of the bag -Add a draw string around the shoulders.

I have a sleeping bag that I want to have fairly extensively altered. Does anyone know of a sewing shop in the Seattle area that has expertise with down filled goods? I have had enough bad experiences with Rainy Pass Repair that I will not use them again. I doubt Feathered Friends is viable as it is not one of their products. Any ideas?