Alex

Way wrong on that one dude. ah sorry, I guess I should have qualified that more. I was thinking solely of national forest land, and I have never seen grazing anywhere in WA state in national forests that I've visited. but I can see how the deschutes nf would have grazing, and there is doubtless some in the Wallowas etc. BLM land is another story entirely, but there isnt much land in WA or OR that climbers are interested in, besides Smith Rock - Grasslands, thats administered by the BLM. Conversely, almost whereever I went in CO and WY, they had grazing permits for sheep and cattle on nf land. I dont know much about the scene in Idaho

The approach is casual: hike to Cascade pass, then slow rising traverse up Mixup Arm to Cache glacier, where a short snow plod gets you to Gunsight notch. Real nice views of Formidible and Sahale. If the fires are still burning on Johannesburg when you go, it will be smokey. However, it sounds like there might be some rain this weekend??

no, they dont graze cattle or sheep in the PNW, only in Colorado and Wyoming that I've seen.

I'm surprised crazy jz isnt on the list

I do it all the time, but if/when you ever take a fall on it, you'll have to work at the webbing for some time to get it all untagled n stuff.

ha!!!

For alpine rock climbing swinging leads, both me and partner carry slings for pro. I tend to rack my draws on my harness even so. That way, the second cleans onto the sling and voila, they are pretty much ready to lead when they get to the b'lay. For ice climbing, however, I rack everything on harness with screws on large ("fingate") reverse-gate carabiners and draws. Each climber has the fingates, so that when the second is cleaning, they rack the screws onto their own harness and are ready to lead when they get to the next b'lay. I don't think trading gear is necessarily inefficient. The 2-3 min spent at each belay isn't really going to be as much a factor for fast climbing as just climbing fast, and moving simul or unroped over easy ground.

It depends on how much risk you and your partners take, how far away from help. Both my fiancee and I are WFRs through Wilderness Medical Associates. It was great training! A week after I did my training, I was a first responder to a traffic accident where a Trooper broadsided a VW Beetle with 7 people inside it (this was in downtown Bellingham!). A week later, I responded to a broken leg on Louise Falls in the Canadian Rockies. So yes, the training can be valuable. I would suggest that for backpacking WFA is adequate. For alpine climbing, WFR is adequate. If you think CPR training alone is of any use, consider that *no one* has ever been recovered alive in a Wilderness situation where CPR was applied. CPR is for restaurants n stuff where life support is minutes away, not hours. You can get WFR training through several locales; in fact its taught regularly in Leavenworth. Wilderness Medical Assoc., SOLO, and other organizations are very respected orgs for teaching these courses. Alex

If you go N from Kamloops, you could probably do it in 13 hours from Seattle. If you come up 93 over Sunwapta Pass for some reason, I think it would take 2+ hours longer.

If you are really going to use those again, I suggest you backtie often!!

NF Robson was soloed on the 17th in 2 days. http://www.live-the-vision.com/wwwboard/messages/2454.html

Yeah this happened to me in 1998. Oh well, its a nicer than average hike so the weekend isnt a total loss.

you came from Enumclaw, and are going back there again?

boy, I hope that horse is not your def of "cute"!

We cross the border many times a year, and after 9/11 the US Customs started getting hardcore about proof of citizenship. a Drivers license or SS Card is NOT proof. Alot of you who say you've been getting by with just a drivers license might be interested to know that starting in about a month from now, all the border agents, INS, and Customs will be under the Dept of Homeland security. The border agent we talked to (4 days ago) said he did not know if there would be a change in policy (i.e. how much more hardcore they would get re: Passport vs Drivers Licenses) but that he wouldnt doubt it. If you have a passport, you might as well bring it and give them one less excuse to search you and delay you. Alex

Actually, alot of that work is being done by CMH boyz and they helicopters. You know, bored, nothing to do, fly into N side of Howser for a lazy afternoon on Beckey Chouinard, replace a few stations, fly back home.

you rock Holly!

It was opened Sunday. We happend to be drinking a beer at Bill Peyto's and the guy next to us was leading an ACC trip up it the next morning. So we tagged along with their group to avoid the fine (we hadn't realized so much was closed due to fires until we actually got up there).

4 day weekend to Banff. Radium highway is closed for most of the day (only open 6-11am) so plan accordingly. Going around to Golden only adds 30 miles. N Face Athabasca on Friday, it was cold on the face, with lots of ice and bomber screws. 600m. The rockband looked dumb, so we did a vertical mixed step to the right of the rockband to the exit, which was a river of water ice. Clear day. Sat morning the entire park was obscured by smoke. High clouds made it downright ominous. We tried to get into Lake OHara and Abbot Pass hut, but no. So Sun we scrambled Temple. It was cool, except that all views were negligible due to the smoke. Drove home.

is that the one that goes up and left from p1 start, between princely and white rabbit? looks cool!

Well, the first half of it qualifies. Agreed. Thin Fingers, stellar ! Heart of Country p3 (10a), ditto! Karate Crack at Smith I really like p2 on Givlers actually, its about the same quality as the last 2 p of SCW without the BS approach pitches some of Bo Derek Toxic Shock, fuckin' sweet! p1 of Canary on Castle has some really nice hand size jamming Japanese Gardens, p1 has some great hand...to bad its so short! p3 DEB South Early Winters Spire has some awesome moves and is really long first 2/3 of p6 of Stanley Burgner on Prussik is just great!

p1 == lieback like p1 of Toxic Shock. #3 camalot down low then several committing moves. p2 long (130ft +) and kinda enduro. Not too many rests, it eats gear around #1 camalot size but widens up alot right before anchors, so #3 or #4 helpful there. Its not really like BOC or Heart of Country because its not as steep, but a little more technical and longer. p3 is more face-y than crack. more technical, less sustained than p2

Oh sorry, because when the cam ripped, the reason the wires got caught between the cams in the first place was that the cams on one side (2 lobes) overextended so competely, pulling the wires "forward" into the small gaps between the cams. I don't know if this would have happened with other cams or not, but the lobes being able to overextend way beyond their "resting" position wasnt helpful

You did no liebacking - did you climb the lower half of Even Steven to the top half of Toxic Shock, not the classic lieback that is the crux of Toxic Shock? Even Steven takes larger pro down low - to #1 camalot, but Toxic Shock takes pretty much small cams for the first 20 feet. I'd be pretty interested to see you do the bottom of TS without liebacking. As far as aliens vs TCUs, its all good, I like both and will continue to buy and use both.

not much to tell. went to Toxic Shock and it was a little damp. I started up lieback, plugged in Mr Red, plugged in Mr Yellow above that. Skated off lieback, the yellow blew out, and lack of cam stops pretty much toasted it. The trigger wires got caught between the teeth, but after getting them out the unit still doesnt work, so I guess the axl got bent. Mr Red held the fall about 2 feet off the ground. I got another yellow off the rack, placed it again, and lead to the top, a bit shaky.