DPS

Sadly, an emoticon does not exist that adequately expresss how funny that was.

I think you may mean Serpentine Arete? I haven't done Backbone, so I can't compare the two, but Serpentine had a few good pitches and a whole lot of scrambling. I felt the NE Buttess of Colchuck right next door was a much better route. Many more technical pitches, better rock, minimal amount of 4th class.

All I know about this poster is what she looks like in a bikini, and I say that's enough for me.

Me too.

This is good advice for anyone traveling to the Cascades to climb. Rainier is magnet for storms, it can be nuking on Rainier and blue bird elsewhere. Going east of the crest can often get you better weather as well. Think Washington Pass, Enchantments, Stuart Range, Entiats.

I thought the problem was 5.10+

Circumnavigate Mt Rainier on skis if the weather is good.

Why would these women wear dresses when they knew they would be wearing harnesses? Don't they know we can see their panties?

It is hard to believe in this economy, particularly the housing segment, developers are still building.

May is hit or miss in terms of weather. If you are going before Memorial Day weekend expect to walk the road to White River Campground adding about 6 miles. There will be snow. A lot of snow. Conditions could be good or they could be bad depending upon the condition of said snow. Best of luck.

I climbed more in the Cascades last summer than any of the previous 20. I thought the weather was awesome and never got skunked.

Nice photos!

I like Matt Fioretti, but have not done a trip with him. Matt Perkins (MattP) may have, maybe give him a PM.

Another word of advice: don't burn your bridges with your current employers or co-workers. You may end up working for/with them again in the future.

You will never be this young again. There are no do-overs in life and time spent climbing mountains will not be deducted at the end. Sooner than you can imagine you will wake up a 41 year old with a rapidly deteriorating body and a wife and kid (maybe 2) and a heavy mortgage. The only questions you need to ask yourself are what do you want to climb and where? A reading from the Gospel according to Mark may be in order: http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=15

Hello, I am looking for partners in the Seattle area who are interested in doing some easy climbs this spring/summer. I am recovering from a serious illness so I currently have zero fitness and I would like to ease back into it. I am thinking that there are may be some folks new to climbing who would be happy doing easy routes. If you are brand spanking new to the game I am happy to do some instruction. My garage could double for Second Ascent's warehouse so I can provide all the group gear. Also, the elderly or infirm might be interested as well. Cragging, glacier climbs, and alpine rock climbing is all good; just so long as it is easy. Some ideas I had are The Tooth, Mt Baker, cragging at Leavenworth or North Bend, easy stuff at Washington Pass. If interested please email bighurtbob@hotmail.com. Thanks, Dan

Jack fukin Kerouac!

Nice! Always fun to find adventure in one's backyard.

I do quite a bit of trail running as well as climbing and have used both dedicated trail running shoes and dedicated approach shoes for climbing. My .02 cents: -I agree with Dr. Layton. -The approach shoes I have owned are not very good for running, including an older pair of LS Exums. -The trail running shoes I have owned are not especially good for climbing. -I have put in some pretty rugged and long trail runs in trail running shoes and never had sore feet or knees. Doing a relatively benign approach (I am specifically remembering doing Prusik car-to-car via Snow Lakes trail) in trail running shoes beat the hell out my feet. I am guessing the shoes did not have enough support for the added weight of the pack? I know it was not the terrain because I ran the Enchantment Lakes loop with no pain in the same pair of shoes. I have also done some long climbs carrying a relatively heavy pack wearing approach shoes and had no problem with my feet. -I have owned several pairs of approach shoes: a pair of One Sports circa 1997, a pair of LS Boulders circa 2000, a pair of LS Exums circa 2005, and currently a pair of Patagonias. The LS Boulders by far climbed the best but both pairs of LS's were the least comfortable shoes wile walking due to the narrow toe and my wide foot. The Patagonias are the least geeky looking but the rubber is not very sticky. One Sport is now Montrail and they make some nice looking approach shoes but I have not used them. Montrail trail running shoes are my current favorite for trail running.

5.5 mmm spectra or Maxim Tech cord. Kevlar will also work.

You are welcome. Kautz is a nice route, enjoy.

As I recall you need a wilderness camping permit or such to camp for any route on Rainier. You can pick those up day of the climb when you register. I believe each campling 'zone' has a limited number of permits available for any given night. If all of the permits have been taken for the zone you want then you will need to find another place to camp, perhaps for another route. Kautz is a fairly popular route so if you know the dates of your climb in adavance it is not a bad idea to reserver a camping permit in advance. I usually climb Rainier either early or late season, or winter, or do less popular routes so I have not had problems getting camping permits day of. I was burned once - it was on a weekday during the middle of the season and some less experienced friends from work and I were denied camping permits anywhere for the DC or Emmons routes.

Nice list.

I don't listen to music while I climb. In fact I have not climbed in 6 months due to a serious illness. I have, however, been able to start walking again as of two weeks ago. I walk the dogs around the block and listen to Pearl Jam's 'Just Breathe'. A simply beautiful song. There is a video that an art studio compiled: http://www.last.fm/music/Pearl+Jam/+videos/+1-08y42pJLJ6s . It captures the beauty, innocence, bittersweetness, and heartache of young love perfecty. I think the personal difficulty of these last 6 months have made me overly emotional because I cry when I watch it.