Alex

His name is Peter Doorish.

I cut chunks of 2x4, mitre'd them on one side, drilled a 3/8th inch hole in the center, and bolted them to my climbing wall in my garage with 3/8 bolts and washers. Works well. Cheap.

hell ya

Black Peak (see my recent TR) is a good outing. N F Burgundy (see my recent TR) is also good, a bit longer and more technical. Eldorado is a classic late season objective with route options, before the first significant storms make the approach a pain. W Ridge of N Twin sister is the classic Fall midweek after-work ramble. You might look up "Mythic Wall" a new route near Bellingham, that would be a fine fall objective in the Sisters range, as well.

When I look in the mirror, all I see is yella.

Thanks, Please see NWMJ, Issue 2, Summer 2005 for the existing thread.

Update: * Thommen Altitronic electronic altimiter, to 6000m * Kong Aluminum crampons, step in, sz small (still fits my boots, sz 10) - will trade for similar strap-on aluminum ones! SOLD * set of tricams full set 0.5 to 3.5 and an additional 5.0 size - SOLD * third tool (Griver Super Courmayeur) 40-odd cm SOLD * BD Ice Glove sz L Gore Tex inserts (older style) * Set of BD Riva2 tele bindings SOLD * size L mens exped weight REI top. kind of small for a L. So probably good as a "sz M" SOLD * Marmot down sweater, blaze orange XL * REI goretex down "Alaska parka", Alaska range veteran 3x, with hood, sz M. Its old school, but still a perfectly fine jacket for the real hills.

tape is aid

nope, sorry most things went to Second Ascent

dont worry about it, the more important thing is boots that fit! I know cause I dont have any right now, and I am suffering because of it, every mountain trip the last 6 weeks in 5.10ies. I will prob make a trip to the gear stores today for yet another round, maybe i can find those Waffle Stompers?

I am really not sure how you would assume that I somehow am judging your decision here: perhaps it is not clear, but when I said my feelings were mixed I was trying to say that maybe I actually agreed with your point of view to some extent. My point, which seems to be lost on you (but not Fig8) is that if you solicit input, and then don't like the input, don't blame the others for their input! This is nothing personal here, just common sense. I can tell you with very much conviction that the sales staff at REI is not trying to just make sales on you, they make minimum wage and no commission, its not like they are making bank off your boot purchase. They were trying to help you make the right decision for whatever your needs are. Clearly your needs were not communicated effectively nor met, and you returned your boots. Why is this a big deal? This happens every day. So stop feeling guilty about returning the boots, you made the right decision for you. Alex

From Alpha to Omega in one model year, what will the next model be called??

I didnt offer mine on your question, but I used to work for REI so my feelings on this question are always very mixed. And I may very well be an idiot, I think the jury is still out

buying the latest and greatest is nice, but I'd like to take a second and plug used gear. there is nothing wrong with Grade 8's, Rambos or Rambo Comps, or even Footfangs. They are all really good technical ice crampons. If you are not climbing fairly hard ice, it will not matter that much what you strap to your feet. So go check out some of the stuff on this site in yard sale, or at Second Ascent, before you plunk down too much cash on new, overpriced, crampons.

If you can't accept other's points of view on this matter, dont ask for others opinions on what to do.

Is the 44 hours include the 3 hour nap? Great effort, endurance fest.

Freney XT, if they fit you.

Its the route described in pms' Volume 2.

Climb: Black Peak-North Ridge Date of Climb: 9/8/2005 Trip Report: Smelling the end of days, I decided to stop being a model employee and (*shock* ) took a good weather day off work to solo Black. What spurred me on was, while perusing trip reports on this site about the route, my own freakin' post from 2002(!) saying that I would go do it soon. Well, 3 years later seems soon enough, so with Rafael_H along who wanted to solo it too, off we went. I had never been to Lake Ann, or Wing Lake, and if anyone had told me the area was so scenic I wouldnt have put it off for so long! Started at 6:30 and took the perfectly graded trail to Heather Pass, fantastic morning light, perfect temps, autumn smells in the crisp air. The trail is easy to follow all the way to Heather Pass, Lewis Lake (why so green??), Wing Lake (why so Rockies limestone blue??), and onto the heather meadows beyond. The trail and approach is so easy, the area so scenic, its a crime. From the heather meadows beyond Wing Lake you have to make a slightly inobvious route finding decision: a low spot in the large moraine half way along that guards the E face of Black. But the access ledges to the N Ridge are obvious, and after a short icy slope (crampons, no axe), the notch is gained. From here the climb travels first on the E side of the ridge, over loose 3rd and 4th, before scrambling to the crest at an obvious place before a vert wall bars any further progress on the East side. Whenever making routefinding choices, just look for the obvious lichen-free trail of cleaned holds and bootprints...the route is well travelled enough and the options plenty that you should never get into trouble and have to climb harder than 4th. Here the crest is very sharp with dramatic exposure, certianly much more exposed than most ridge routes in the Cascades. The climbing is never harder than 4th, and can be climbed in approach shoes or good mountain boots. All the while you are surrounded by the remarkable green of Lewis Lake, the remarkable blue of Wing Lake, cool gusts from the N side of the mountain, warm gusts from the E side of the mountain, all the WA Pass peaks close at hand, really stellar location! The technical and exposed section is fairly short, perhaps 100m or so. Here there are still traces of recent snowfall on the higher elevations of Black, which gave things an appropriately alpine feel. After that the ridge broadens a little, and soon after, you pull a steep wall above a slab and the ridge abruptly kicks back to low angle, 3rd class again, with the summit in view. From the summit you get your first views of Goode, challenging you from across the valley. Yet another reason to climb Black. The decent is not nearly the horror show its made out to be, in fact its much better than many established decent routes. I thought it was fun and easy. For the not-so-adventurous, it offers a fine route to the summit in its own right, with the only suffering the scree section between the moraine and the saddle. 45 min back down to Wing Lake, and on out to the car, with blueberries, cool winds blowing, spectacular scenery, and just a few idle souls about. Perfect fall day! The route is short, but the climbing is not the reason to do this route, the position and the environment is. The hike to Wing Lake alone is worth the trip. Even with the shorter days, this is an easy objective, it took us 8.5 hours round trip, moving at a very leisure pace. Gear Notes: helmet, crampons rope and light rack if exposure makes you jittery no need for rock shoes Approach Notes: one of the most obvious and straightforward approaches you will ever do

The upper level low is coming in from th Gulf of Alaska, so I don't see how Squish will be out of the path?

what forecast are you looking at? I am looking at http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/forecast03.php . 40% PoP doesnt look good to me.

Thats like saying "since Sea of Vapors doesnt form as WI7 and only comes in at WI5 anymore, it doesnt get done anymore". Every mountain route changes with conditions. That the ice bulge is no longer whatever rating doesnt mean it isnt the same route. Some routes get easier with time (due to conditions or gear advances), some routes get harder with time, and some routes like the Bonatti Pillar or that tower you posted a pic of earlier this year, just fall down the mountain with time.

Well that just speaks volumes, doesnt it

I thought scarface was initially rated 14c?

Extreme Alpinism by Mark Twight, and "go climbing". However there is also other good cross training. For a better cardio workout, mountain biking. Your body is pushing an extra 35 pounds up hill, thats good. For endurance training, nothing is better than doing long 12-hour hikes with a 20 pound pack. Things like Tomyhoi via Yellow Aster Buttes in the North Cascades, or linking Broken Top and S Sister in Oregon in a day car-to-car come to mind as perfect 12-hour training workouts. Also living in PDX you can make hiking up all or a portion of Mt Hood S Side a habit. In the winter it becomes really good training as you get to deal with weather all the time. You can hike up under the lift towers on the Palmer in the driving snow and wind and get a real feel for "when the shit hits the fan" without actually getting killed.