Alex

Blakej, most of us are self-taught or taught by close friends. Here are some additional suggestions for you: If in Seattle/PDX, come to Pub Club and simply ask the people around you how they learned and what good beginner routes are: you will get excellent advice, and be able to have a give-and-take interaction that isnt possible on this board. You will get not only great advice on how to start, but what gear is worth investing in and what isnt. Read Mountaineering Freedom of the Hills and Andy Selter's excellent Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue. Select some "practice outings" based on the advice you get. The stuff on Jason's list are all good beginner routes, but even simpler would be to take a day or weekend and play around on a glacier, learning how to self arrest and haul yourself and others out of a crevasse (setting up and anchor to rap into a crevasse ensures that you pay extra attention to everything - you'll learn alot just from this).

Thanks for the link alpinfox, very good info

so I am hearing "Nickerson"? ....

There was an enormous cornice collapse onto the Tremor Glacier along the high traverse on to the glacier from Pattison. The debris field alone was enough to spark the imagination and make you want to just go home...

Moving this to "Access Issues"

That looks like a bouldering area I started at called Cradle Rock, near Princeton, N.J. Am I right? Any additional info on the pic?

ah, I just found... "New location for BC basemap viewer: Go to http://maps.gov.bc.ca/ Then click open the "Provincial Basemap" hotlink." I can probably print out enough stuff to get us going... Alex

skiing

want to do spearhead this weekend but yank stores dont sell BC maps, and we are crossing too late for MEC. can someone in the Squish or Whistler area loan us something fri night/sat am? Or let us know where in Whistler we can buy before we get on the lift, eh? PM me if you have any ideas. thanks!

I heard on the news this am that DOT says 10am opening, today. Alex

get a crowbar up there on a weekday and "send it!"

PM CascadeClimber.

Steel and saltwater don't mix well. But if they *could*, cbs, I believe you still need to check your calculations, or are maybe using the wrong equation? My calculations say different...

I climbed this top-out in 1994, after traversing into the summit pinnacle from the NE Shoulder. I topped out directly above EMC, I remember it being some pretty basic (but unprotected) mixed for a few moves over significant exposure.

...Lycopodophyta - avoid if you can (I hated it, anyway)... If you climb Moscow, bring a large cam (#3, #4 camalot) or two, there is a wide section up higher that you will enjoy more if you have a wide cam First p. of Spiderman (the left side of buttress, not right) is a good 5.5-ish trad lead as I recall. Otherwise, there isnt much at Smith for the 5.8 trad leader. Alex

Actually, they smell good! (except the ones that bathe in Patchouli)

I cook inside my I-tent, using a Markill Stormy hanging stove, primarily on winter trips. We open the doors and it warms up the tent without too much condensation. It sure beats sitting out in the wind and driving rain/snow! In the summer when its warm out, I prefer to cook outside if the bugs arent bad. The views are just better.

yes, no, pink. You only get 1 chance at an "onsite" for a route, ever. If you climb a ways up, then retreat, you've effectivly rehersed it, no?

So Tim's been talking to you about our project, has he??

3rd for R&D and Sabre. I would suggest you lead these routes first, explain the anchor systems you set up to your partner, and then walk off, around, and have him lead. He will remember the placements and anchors from cleaning, and get it mostly correct. Alex

Right on! High Exposure always makes for an epic! I lead it Thanksgiving Day many years ago with two friends in tow, and it was so cold on the 3rd pitch I got screaming barfies and thought I would pitch off the final exit moves, as I could no longer feel my hands. Despite all that, it still ranks up there as an all-time classic for me! Sounds like Elena got her moneys worth!

hopelessly whipped

which is cheaper than Canada!

This means less money to spend on things other than food, which results in an economic collapse. Or a very fast change in the type of vehicle the American consumer drives, how they drive, and a general change in attitude as they re-assess the value and cost of their current lifestyle. Its going to have to happen sooner or later. Just like the metric system...!

snugtop, smurfette makes me horny