Alex

dont know about snow at the TH, but the road is regularly plowed and sanded for the hordes for tourists, so I wouldnt worry overly much. You WILL have to contend with winter hours for Longmire gate, however. Just be aware that you might not be able to get there at the "crack of dawn" Snow, falling rocks: generally you might bring snowshoes for the travel below Panorama Point, but above that you usually dont need them. The very special danger is white out conditions above treeline. If you have never been up there before and you are going with less than great weather, take a map and compass and altimiter, or a GPS unit. Once you've been there a few times you can work your way down even in low vis conditions, but highly UNRECOMMENDED even for the most experienced.

I've done Selenium (or most of it anyway), its actually a really nice route! "selenium falls had a brit die 2 or 3 years ago - abalakov failure. its in the anam." anam == accidents in north american mountaineering as far as scrapping plans, don't worry there's plenty to do (Murchison, Bow, Stanley Headwall to gape, blah blah blah) even when the temps are warmer in the lowlands

at least he can affoard the 30,000$ fee

i hear the old orange MSR brain bucket is the item to have if you want to really be in style

the "Quark Ergo" is the leashless tool, looks like it has a big handle on it...thats the one you dont want.

taken in another context

I learned enough Polish from a friend of mine to know Bob doesnt talk much different in English or Polish!

If that quote had been made after 1948, I would be amazed. As it is, it's a bit out of context.

"hard snow if i was mountaineering"? what kind of "mountaineering" are you doing? Mt Rainier? In a word, No. N Buttress Couloir on Colchuck? Yes.

-3.00, -3.00 or thereabouts. it was very interesting to see the terrorists (Saddam H, Arafat) in the same quadrant and very close to Pope John Paul II, who represents Jesus Christ on Earth to hundreds of millions of people. Eqaully interesting were the concentrations of famous peace makers in the lower left. it was also not surprising to see many current major political starts (Berlusconi, Bush, Tony Blair) in the upper right.... in fact just looking at the charts you might be inclined to draw a simple conclusion Authoritarian Right solves problems by fighting wars, while Libertarian Left solves problems by waging peace?

pics?

"Most types of climbing are garbage. Look: High altitude? Boring as shit and you’re too shagged at the end of the day to get into a good scrap, which is the best part of climbing. Sport climbing? Please. Scrawny-assed nancy boys trembling between bolts. Trad climbing? Yeah sure, if you don’t mind how much the wool itches and ignore all the losers. Ice climbing? Boring. It’s only vertical; too fucking easy. Soloing? What’s the point if no one’s watching? Mixed climbing? Too many useless wankers these days. Aid climbing? If I’m gonna be a bleeding carpenter, I’m gonna get fuckin' paid for it. Bouldering? Come on. It’s so frikkin’ boring they even carry mattresses. See what I mean?… Oh, wait a minute there aren’t any kinds left. Okay, mixed climbing then. Try mixed climbing ’cuz I’m better at it than you’ll ever be. " http://www.falling.ca/

I think you have the Cobra and Viper mixed up ken4ord? The Cobra is def heavy, much heavier than the Quark. Here's my take: grivel alp wing - nice tool, not as much clearance as some others. can get them pretty cheap http://store.yahoo.com/fulfillmentadventures/gralpwiiceto.html petzl charet quark - lightest tool of the bunch, awesome technical waterfall and mixed tool, i wouldnt want it for the alpine due to the rubber "grips" not plunging well in harder snow black diamond cobra - heavy, awesome tech waterfall and mixed tool. i wouldnt use them in the alpine for long approaches because they are SO damn heavy compared to my old skool X-15s

yeah i hear Grasslands is turning into rowdy party central these days, with beer and music n shit! damn youngsters!

thanks for the offer! right now my def of suffering is leaving Seattle area around midnight tonight and busting out a fairly committing alpine climb thurs. pretty much all three obj i have involve some variation of this. if this sounds like fun, PM me!

anyone up to lots of suffering?

I has hit in the head while leading on N Face Athabasca by a pretty small rock but going really fast. if my helmet hadnt been on and me looking down, i would prob be dead. those face shields seem alot less stupid these days, I think that will be my next purchase. with one you at least have a chance if you happen to be looking up. especially seems to make sense for ice and alpine where rockfall, icefall, or ice tools in the face are common

Damn in late season that thing gets downright benign

So much for exit polls. yup, so much for that. i heard a couple of interesting comments this am. * exit polls are skewed because the first voters are angry voters, and angry voters were for kerry. * gay marriage initiatives in 11 states (all passed) brought out a very conservative voting base for bush my own take is that the USA has always been isolated from the World, this election proves is once again. Its really pretty funny, because "liberals" here are really not all that liberal compared to many other European (very socialist) countries, only compared to the very conservative voting base in the US heartland. Interesting how once again it comes down to 1 state, 150,000 votes really, and the presedential race is "a mandate". Dont get me wrong, i *like* that this election had a clear winner and that we wont have a month of lawyering about who won, but polarization of the nation on fundamentalist christian grounds (I am a Christian, but dont believe in legislating my religious beliefs) seems like the wrong mandate. a special congratulations to karl rove, he truly is the master.

riiiiight i dont know what data you are looking at, but cnn has exit poll data that places PA, OH, and FLA in Kerrys lap. neither candidate can win without those states,... California hasnt been counted yet, and wont be going to Shrub also NH looks like it goes to Kerry.

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/409558/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/all/vc/1 Early exit polls results indicate that Bush is in trouble: 4pm EST leaked exit polls: FL: 52/48 - KERRY OH: 52/47 - KERRY MI: 51/48 - KERRY PA: 58/42 - KERRY IA: 50/48 - KERRY WI: 53/47 - KERRY MN: 57/42 - KERRY NH: 58/41 - KERRY ME: 55/44 - KERRY NM: 49/49 - TIE NV: 48/49 - BUSH CO: 49/50 - BUSH AR: 45/54 - BUSH NC: 47/53 - BUSH

its gonna come down to FLA, OH, and PA the NH numbers look very strange, considering polling has put it at a dead heat the last couple months. I'd be surprised to see a real 15% spread there! but i dont believe Rove will surrender his baby so easily

You shouldnt have much trouble with N Ridge (just to climbers left of Adams Glacier). It doesnt have much av hazard and is probably pretty nice snow-covered. As for snow-pack, I would expect "recent new snow".

Yes. By Thanksgiving there will be a ton of stuff in that will be way fatter than the ice here in the PNW ever gets. Don't ponder the trip, just do it... Alex