rbw1966

Time for some meds to help with the tourrettes heinous. I've encountered the mazamas on several outings, almost exclusively on Hood where they stick with the "strength in numbers" adage. Their (abysmal) safety record aside, their manners and mountain ettiquette alone leave me with a bad taste. I go out of my way to avoid those schmucks. I've never knowingly encountered the mountaineers on anything but if they were the group on Liberty Bell when I did it in July then they have a lot in common with the mazamas. Ick. Rob

I'll toss in my $.02 (which adjusted for inflation equals nothing). I bought the bibler bombshelter for denali. My wallet was empty for montths after that one. Like someone else said though, you'll never complain about good gear on the mountains. At under 9lbs its pimpin for 2 and can sleep up to 4 in a pinch. I love bibler tents. I rarely use this thing anymore because its just overkill for the cascades. One complaint: the floor is a bit flimsy. I poked a tent pole right through but Black Diamond repaired it and had it back to me in less than a week. Condensation is never a problem. Set-up is easy, even solo in heavy winds. Their expensive but worth it if you're seriously considering a single wall tent. Garudas are too small for me (I am 6'3"). Rob

I dont read this all that often myself but I'd join in the festivities next time around. Always looking for a reason to drink. Shoot me an email next time at soyanarchisto@netscape.net I'm out of town this weekend. How avbout next tuesday evening? Rob

I'll bet the rangers know.

Cooper: Avi danger on this route cannot be over-emphasized. Winter time is a great time to do this route but hit it real early and go down south side. I'm really surprised no one else has mentioned the South Side as a descent for Cooper Spur as its way safer. The car shuttle is a bit of a logistical problem but easily overcome. Avi danger increases as the snow softens in the afternoons and most people fall on the descent so make life easier and head to Timberline afterwards for a cold (or warm) one. We did it this way in Nov. 00 and had a blast of it although the car shuttle turned into an epic. Great beta on the Sandy Headwall variation RP. We did that on New Years Eve '99. Best climbing day I've ever had on Hood. Best advice for this route: follow the beta about keeping low to get over Yokum. We didn't. At first. Har har. Do the folks at Timberline still sell one-ride lift tickets? That slog up the south side ski area bites. Rob

Sorry I missed you guys--didn't have a chance to read the board before heading out. Anyone been up on the mountains? I tried doing some backcountry skiing last weekend in Heather Canyon with my partner but the powder was deep, unstable and avis going off all over the place. We pussed out. Rob

Hey if you guys meet up in Portland shoot me an email and I'll try and hook up. Address is soyanarchisto@netscape.net Rob

I bailed off the (top of) first pitch of Liberty Crack. I french-freed Monkey Space. I fell asleep at the slide show for that women who led the all-female ascent of annapurna. "A woman's place at the top"? I'm bored.

We did it as a team of 2 (Mr. Greenjeans, '99) with no problems whatsoever. No way would I go in a cattle grind of 4 or 5 (or more). West Butt's a walk up enough without adding to the drama. Good luck man, I hope you find your sense of humor up there. Rob in Portland

Maybe by "fit" he was not referring to a level of fitness so much as being um. . how do you say it? "Accomodating"? Rob "not a porn star, just play one on the mountain"

I was looking at the Eliot about a month or so ago and it didn't look very "in" then. Maybe I was hallucinating though. Its happened. I'm in Portland and got a weekend free. Thinking of either going to Smith or on Hood if the weather is good. Anyone game? Rob

anyone want to go to smith this weekened? email me

I have the BOMBSHELTER (made by Bibler) and although it is fast it is far from light. I think it weighs in at around 9 pounds with poles. But it truly is the bomb. That said, I have the Megamid and for alpine camping I love the thing. No need for the pole that came with it as you can use your ski pole. Purdy cool.

The access fund rep in Washington is Andy Fitz (or was last time I contacted him). If you can't get his email address from the Access Fund let me know and I might be able to dig it up. Email me directly as I don't visit this site all that often. Rob

In addition to the above, if you do girth hitch slings together make damn sure you dress the hitch correctly as loading will cause the fibers to rub against each other, creating friction. Friction bad! Personally, I will avoid girthing slings if at all possible. But, part of a climbers bag of tricks is adapting to the circumstances. Just be aware of what you are doing. Rob

Was this received via email? I noticed it was posted by Jon but it's signed by "xxxx". Am I the only one to think that posting email messages in the public domain is in poor taste? Unless permission is obtained of course. If it wasn't an email I apologize for the above. Rob

Doesn't the guidebook talk about all of the above? If not, there was an issue of one of the climbing rags that had specific beta on how to do the Lost Arrow Spire. I don't recall which--perhaps a search of their website would help? For an example of how NOT to do it, I recommend reading John Long's book concerning epics. Hope that helps. Rob

No one has mentioned this jacket yet so I will: I have the North Face polarguard jacket as well as a Moonstone down sweater. I bought the polarguard jacket after the down jacket because I had problems with the down always getting wet when I used the sweater on Cascade climbs--and we are all cascade climbers right? In any event, I usually stay away from North Face products but got this jacket on sale for pretty cheap and am glad I did. It compresses down pretty well, is light and somewhat wind and water resistant. I use it all the time now on climbing and/or tele trips in the NW and am very pleased with it. I sweat alot whilst moving and it dries rapidly. Good luck! Rob

Allow me to toss in my $.02. First of all, its been reported in the press (and sorry I don't have a specific cite but I believe it was a local paper in Oregon) that email distributed petitions are largely ignored by our elected officials due to the ease with which names can be falsely added to it, etc. The legislative aide who was being interviewed on the subject reported seeing George W.'s name on a fee demo opposition petition--and obvious lie. I don't see how a "paper" petition is any better but what do I know? I personally oppose the fee demo program and will continue to oppose any fees charged for visiting our national/state parks and public lands until the day arrives when we no longer subsidize resource extraction, e.g. logging, mining and grazing. Giving the Forest Service money to visit our public lands as they continue to lose money to these interests is flat out wrong. These lands are no longer "public" when poor people cannot afford to visit them. Rob

What exactly are you looking for? I've been up to Mt Hood the last two weekends in a row and ski conditions have been fine in the areas I have been in but as you probably know (I hope) conditions vary during the day and with snow fall. I haven't summitted anything--just been telemarking in the Clark Creek drainage. What route are you thinking of? I know that Cooper is pretty thin, Eliot would be a very committing climb due to crevasse exposure. I'm sure south side is fine. Rob

Alcholics Anonymous

My partner and i went to Denali during the same period of time as your planned trip and it wasn't that bad. Crevasses were opening up but if you travel at night over the Kahiltna you should be ok. Then again, we were skiing. Rob

Perhaps if you told us where you were we might be able to provide you with some advice on where to go. Unless of course this is some sort of lame troll. No glaciers around here.

Pinnacle Point? Where is that? You sure you were on Mt. Hood?

The best way to train for a climb of Rainier is to do the following: First, go get a bottle (or two) of MD 20/20 (any flavor will do) and drink it as quickly as possible. Next, fill the largest pack you have with sand and put it on. Then mount a stairmaster and slip a paper sack over your head. Now start to stepping. The MD will mimic the loss of balance one oftentimes experiences at altitude, the bag will show you what its like to be out of breath the entire time and the pack will help achieve muscle memory in that hunched and defeated posture so prevalent amongst the corporate detritus of the world. If you'd rather see how awful you feel, you can substitude cigarrette smoking for the paper bag. Hope this helps! Rob