Lowell_Skoog

Yeah, I can see how that would be handy. But if the site gets hacked or goes out of business, you're hosed. I've seen it happen. I don't trust web-based content to be permanent. Having started my journal on paper, I've decided to continue that. I have my own website, so I can publish stuff if I want to, but I consider the journal to be the ultimate source material. This topic reminds me of an issue that is likely to become more prominent as the first "on-line generation" grows older. Say you have a website that you've put a lot of effort into. Say you'd like the information in the website to survive after you are gone. What do you do? If you have family, they might keep the website alive. But what other options do you have? If you can link up with a long-term organization, they might preserve the information for you. That's the philosophy behind the Northwest Mountaineering Journal, which lives on The Mountaineers website. I foresee the need for "digital archive" services in the future, the on-line equivalent of a museum or special collections library, where people can donate their on-line materials and the hosting organization will preserve it "forever." (Of course, anybody who has worked with real libraries and museums knows that nothing is forever, unfortunately.)

Yeah, I've kept a journal of trips since 1973, when I was still in high school. For a while I used books that REI sold, called "Climbing Notes". They had entries for route name, rating, gear, approach notes, climb description, and so on. I quit using them and went to three-ring binders, which are a lot more flexible. My journal now contains more than 1800 pages. Most of it is of interest only to me, but I suspect my son may someday find it interesting. Over the years my journal has been quite useful for planning trips. I record route notes and travel times, making follow-up planning more effective. The only problem is that sometimes I'm too lazy to look in the journal and I make the same mistakes over again. These days it seems like many people use personal websites or bulletin boards in place of a journal. I don't. I occasionally post trip reports on the web, but my journal contains much more information, stuff that would be inappropriate or boring in a published report. One really important thing, if you keep a journal for a long time--you need a good index! I maintain an index with one line per trip (searchable using 'grep'). Each index line records the journal page, year, month, destination, and the people I went with. I've climbed some peaks in the Cascades more than a dozen times and without the index, it's really hard to find the journal entry you're looking for. === Edited to add: I also have an index for my photo collection. My photo collection and journal complement each other, of course, but I maintain them separately.

Jens Kieler and I climbed the North Peak by the standard route on January 11, 1981. We figured it had probably been done before. We climbed all three peaks that weekend and spent the night in the lookout.

We're working on it. I suspect that Issue 4 will be out late in the summer. The big question is who will win the annual race between the NWMJ and the AAJ? Place your bets now!

Prominence comes in because peak bagging is a game and games require rules. Some of the rules are indeed designed to eliminate hard summits. (I've heard that the rule excluding sub-summits of volcanos is known as the John Wilkes-Booth rule, because it eliminates Lincoln Peak.) But most rules are just designed to create a game that is enjoyable for the people playing it, and which they can agree upon.

I believe that Stephen Fry did not put any limit on how far from the summit the prominence must be achieved. His article provides three lists: 500ft, 1000ft, and 2000ft prominence. He calls the 500ft peaks "sub-major" summits and the 1000ft peaks "major" summits. I don't know that he calls the 2000ft peaks. When you look at the various lists you begin to see how arbitrary our definition of a mountain is. For example, on the 2000ft list, there is only one peak in the Picket Range - Luna Peak. All the other summits in the range become sub-peaks of Luna with this definition. To each his own. It appears that the Bulger list has become the accepted one, but it's not my favorite.

The list is probably out on the web somewhere, but I don't have a link to it. Instead, I scanned the pages out of the 1983-1990 Mountaineer Annual that contain the 1000-foot list:

I haven't been caught by the 100-highest bug yet, but if I was I'd be tempted to use a different list. The 1983-1990 Mountaineer Annual had a list of peaks with 1000 or more feet of prominence. I like that list better. It includes Luna and Fury in the Pickets, Mt Olympus in the Olympics, and a lot of other peaks that I think of as the highest in each section of the state. The choice of lists has probably been beaten to death by the people who are into this stuff. I'm not aware of the reasons for choosing the 400-foot list. But I thought I'd just throw my two cents in.

I think the cool way to do this would be as a long day traverse on skis: * Coleman glacier to summit Baker * Park glacier descent to ski area * White Salmon or Fisher Chimney ascent to summit Shuksan * Sulphide glacier descent to Shannon creek The trick would be snow conditions. Afternoon conditions might be spooky on Mt Shuksan. Doing it as a lightweight overnight, with a bivi between the two peaks, would be better for catching ideal snow conditions.

I recently completed a 25-year project to ski the Cascade Crest from Mt Baker to Mt Rainier. The journey was done in eighteen segments. I conceived the idea of this project following the death of my brother Carl in October 2005. It provided a way to integrate the trips I had done with Carl, my interest in Northwest ski history, and sections of the Cascades I had never seen before. Stories and maps of all these trips can be found starting on the following page: http://www.alpenglow.org/skiing/baker-to-rainier/index.html Enjoy!

I took another look at the description on my webpage. I found some errors in it, and I decided that my advice was probably bad. I've now reworded it as follows:

Cool report, Pat! I'm curious about where you crossed the Backbone-McAllister divide? Was it at the "7800-foot notch" that I mention on my webpage? http://alpenglow.org/skiing/isolation-1994/index.html I wrote that the 7800-foot notch was the "best crossing", but from your account it sounds like maybe it's not. To be honest, I've always used the higher crossing (farther south) on ski trips. I only used the lower 7800-foot crossing once in summer (from east to west) and it was rather sketchy. I assumed it would be better with lots of snow, but maybe not. The higher crossing can be quite easy if there is enough snow. I had a glimpse of it from Eldorado Peak yesterday and I think it would have been okay.

That's where the Snoqualmie Haute Route goes. It's a reasonable ski descent with decent snow conditions. It's also possible to climb it on skins. Glad you had a safe trip.

All good suggestions. The Cascade Alpine Guides have the most extensive history of first ascents, but you won't get much of the flavor of the period from them. You might also try to find the following books: "The Challenge of Rainier" by Dee Molenaar "High Adventure" by Bob and Ira Spring (text by Harvey Manning) "High Worlds of the Mountain Climber" by Bob and Ira Spring (text by Harvey Manning) "The Mountaineers: A History" by Jim Kjeldsen "Lou Whittaker: Memoirs of a Mountain Guide" by Lou Whittaker "A Life on the Edge" by Jim Whittaker "The North Cascades" by Tom Miller (text by Harvey Manning) "REI: 50 Years and Climbing" by Harvey Manning "Of Men and Mountains" by William O. Douglas If you read all of these, you'll have a good start toward appreciating the "Khaki Gang" that climbed in the Cascades during the 1940s and 50s.

Glad things worked out so well for you Chris. Going places on skis--isn't it great? Next time try going when the Meany Lodge is operating. (I assume that they've shut down for the season.) The snowcat tow at the end of the day (and the lodge itself) really adds to the flavor of the trip. I don't recall if I ever sent you this link, but here is a writeup about an organized trip that I led for the Mounties in February 2006: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=4150.0 Trips like this are a great way to meet other skiers who like to go places!

The big one is the Patrol Race from Snoqualmie to Stampede Pass, which I believe you know about. See these links: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=4150.0 http://www.alpenglow.org/skiing/patrol-race-2004/index.html There are probably many little races that have come and gone. One of more interesting ones was the downhill held at Mt Baker ski area in 1935. It ran from the top of Table Mountain down to the valley. This was before ski lifts and on ungroomed snow. I think of it as Mt Baker's answer to the Silver Skis. John Woodward won the race in a little over 2 minutes. John is still around, and there's a photo of him in this thread: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=4303.0

See the following links: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=2750 http://www.alpenglow.org/skiing/silver-skis-2005/index.html You might also find these links interesting: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=5159.0 http://www.alpenglow.org/climbing/sigurd-hall-2006/index.html The short answer is "don't ask, don't tell."

Did Dick McGowan run the Alpine Hut in Seattle at one time? I remember reading that somewhere, but maybe I have the names mixed up. I remember Gary Rose mentioning that he guided for Dick McGowan on Mt Rainier in the late 1950s. I'm sorry that I never had the chance to meet him. My condolences to his family and friends.

Dynafit makes some light boots (like the TLT4) that are, of course, Dynafit compatible. The TLT4 definitely skis better than a mountaineering boot. But mountaineering boots can take you far, if you learn how to ski them. The Silvretta 500 is the best binding for mountaineering boots that I know of. It's lighter than most other full-frame bindings and the toe and heel will fit just about any boot. The Atomic MX:11 is one of a long line of light, traditional-dimension AT skis. I've skied several skis in this line (Tourcap Guide, TG10, TM11) and have liked them all. These are the skis I use when I want to travel far.

Tower Mountain --- Edited: Nah, that's not it. I looked at a picture of Tower and it looks different.

I did my first roped leads at Mt Erie many years ago. Jack of Diamonds, The Open Book, and so on. I remember being intimidated trying the Open Book in waffle stompers with a small selection of nuts. I was teaching myself and my older brother was belaying me. I remember chickening out and using some aid. I still have a soft spot for Mt Erie. It's a beautiful place.

Sunnyside, Crystal Mountain

I have several pairs of Dynafits and I've always bought the Comforts. I want more boot-length adjustment in case I buy different model boots. Maybe this isn't a big deal, but I'm conservative about it. I'd rather not re-drill my skis. After my brother died, I selected one of his pairs of skis to add to my outfit. Thanks to the Comfort bindings he had on them I was able to adjust them to my boots without remounting. I wouldn't have been able to do that with Classics.

Wow, thanks for passing along this news, Jeff.

Thanks. The web page didn't load for me when I tried it the first time. Yes, the permission notice is clear to see.