DPS

A colleague who has photos in this book gave me his autographed copy. Its a beauty.

I knew that, I was being a cheeky monkey.

I have 'Fire on the Mountain' on my IPod. For my money the Dead doesn't get much better.

I think any of the quality build multitools (Leatherman, Gerber, etc) make small, lightweight tools. The one thing I look for in a climbing knife is a half serrated blade. The serrated blade cuts through old, stiff 1" tubular webbing better than a regular blade. Also, unless you need a good pair of pliers (good for bc skiing) the Swiss Army made multi-tools before they had a name.

Sandy, Auburn was pit 25 years ago. You must have really liked that guy to move to Ohio for him.

I used ridge rest pads for years and prefer Evazote pads for a number of reasons: 1) My 72" Evazote pad weighs 10oz and is in my subjective opinion as warm as my Ridge Rest @ 19oz 2) Snow wipes off of Evazotte pads eaiser than Ridge Rests 3) Evazotte pads are very durable and can't be popped like Thermarests

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 and I love it. If only I could find the connection wire for the computer I could use it again.

I've climbed DC three times and Emmons twice. While I would never characterize the DC as a death route, it is threatend by both rock and serac fall hazard. Emmons less so. The reason more individuals are guided up the DC than other routes is influenced by history and politics but also because it is a pretty reasonable route to the summit.

I agree with ScaredSilly. Emmons has a longer, but IMHO nicer, approach. The summit day is shorter and more straightforward with fewer objective hazards such as serac and rock fall compared to the DC route.

I think Waterman's book is a beautiful, historic look at the Alaska Range climbs but the newer guide books by Coombs and Puryear are much more accurate and current.

I'm not a history or relgious studies major so I probably am misunderstanding the issue, but isn't Jerusalem in particular and Isreal in general condsidered Holy land by like three major monotheistic religions, including Judasim. I get the feeling that persons who happen to be Jewish might be a bit attached to the place.

Sweet!

Where do you stand on the knikcers issue?

Not sure I agrees with you on this one. https://sites.google.com/site/stephabegg/home/projects/rainierstatistics I'd don't see any data on the Kautz Glacier route.

Not sure I agrees with you on this one.

At least it wasn't cold.

So, you need a ride from SeaTac airport to Mt Rainier, and then back? I'll do it. I have a truck big enough for you and all your gear. Say $100 round trip? That seems pretty reasonable.

This one time, at band camp, Chris Simmons and I climbed the Japanese Couloir on Mt Barille in the Ruth Gorge in early May. We were going off minimal beta from some French climbers. We climbed the route and attempted the recommended descent but bad avalanche danger forced us to retreat back up towards the summit. We decided to rappel and downclimb the route just as it got dark so we chose to sit it out. We sat on our packs and put on our belay jackets. We slapped each other on the backs to keep warm and awake so we wouldn't fall down the route. It was a very cold, but thankfully short Alaskan spring night. With stiff muscles we descended back to our camp.

Nice! Now they need to add some softshell knickers and a simple, hooded Epic jacket to the line up.

I have a pair of nice, three layer hardshell pants by Cloudveil I would be willing to sell you. They have about a 30" inseam and about 32" waist but it has some elastic in it. They were like $300 new but I would take $50 for them. Email bighurtbob@hotmail.com if interested.

Thanks a lot!

Wow Mark, cool machine! What does something like that cost if you can find one used in good condition?

Thanks for the well considered advice! Right now I am enjoying tinkering around and I have a few ideas running around my head. For the time being it may be cost effective to just have my seamstress do what I need.

Hugh, Thanks for making the effort to view my blog and post in this forum as well. Honestly, I have very little interest in driving up my blog hits. I am pretty ill and have found that doing little projects as well as blogging helps fill up my days. I had an old pair of pants with multiple crampon holes in the ankles and I thought they would make good, cheap knickers. I was happy with the results and thought I would share. Yes, I know there are companies that make knickers but for $30.00 and an old pair of pants I have the same thing. Take care, Dan

I know there are some folks here that have done some really cool projects. I have been doing some tinkering myself lately and have wanted to sew a few items. Lacking both a sewing machine and any knowledge of sewing I have been having a seemstress do my work for me. This has worked out well for the few pieces I have made. I am intested in possibly learning to sew to save the cost of the seamstress. I have some ideas for simple clothes, some haul pack like duffels that fit most airlines size restrictions for checked bags, as well as some canvas for my sailboat. What type of sewing machine do I need to get that wil sew soft shell, fleece, canvas, techy spectra grid stop and lighter weight haul bag material (like the white suff Fish uses)? I would want it to sew buttons and holes, heavy duty zippers and such. A bar tacker for full strength webbing projects would be cool but not necessary. Wny ideas what brands or type of machines I should be looking at? Is buying used a good idea? TIA, Dan