rbw1966

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

After staring at my bare office walls for over a year I decided its time to decorate--and what better way to decorate than with things that will undoubtedly have me pining away for the mountains then antique climbing gear? Lemme know what you got and how much you want for it. 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

Bent shaft or straight? Adze or hammer? Willing to trade? I have a bent shaft Cobra (brand new) with an adze I'd like to trade for a matching pair of tools. I don't really climb technical ice much. 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

I used a Western Mountaineering Bison DL bag on Denali in '99. It had a Gore Dryloft shell. It was plenty warm and man, was I glad I had spent the money! It compresses like a dream, is warm as hell and is still going strong even after being used several times in the Cascades. Overkill but WTF? I got it I might as well use it. Forget about a VBL unless you plan on going in the winter. Its overkill. My $.02. YMMV Rob

I've used VBL liners as well as breadbags/plastic shopping bags like are normally found in a grocery store and my advice is to save the money and just use the bread bags. If you do use them--and I only recommend it for very cold environments--be sure and use a thin sock between your skin and the bag, then a thicker sock over it. Dry your feet off every night, remove the liner sock and allow it to dry in your bag otherwise you're potentially creating more problems then helping. Foot powder comes in handy too. Rob

No sweat--I hope you didn't read that as a personal attack. I'd just hate to see Carver shut down because some idiot refused to sign the waiver and pay his $5.

My buddy and I did the Cooper Spur route on Hood about a month ago. It was pretty thin with respect to snow cover which made the ascent that much more difficult and gripping. No trustworthy pro to speak of ("I hope winding my way through these rocks will catch the rope in a fall") but it was fun nonetheless. Probably a lot easier now that we've received some snowfall (that has also melted away). Haven't done much else. Rob

Beacon is closed for raptor nesting and I believe will be open around mid-June. Broughton's is a great area to climb at but weekends can be busy. Mazamas teach classes there and monopolize the easy routes sometimes so be warned. Solid rock and good climbing. Ditto the warning about Rocky Butte. There are a few nice routes out there but between the noise of the freeway and falling beer bottles I'd rather go to the gym. Madrone is off limits to climbers and has been for a couple years but the Access Fund is working to change this. Carver--which is near Madrone--is open but on private property. The owner allows access if you sign a waiver of liability available at PRG (or me) and submit $5 for admin costs. Remember that since its on private property he doesn't have to allow access and climbing out there without signing a waiver can screw it up for everyone so take the time and sign up. You only have to do it once. There are a couple other areas within a reasonable driving distance from Portland: Horsethief Butte Bulo Point Tieton Also, the local guide book, Protland Rock Climbs by Tim Olson, is out of print but you might be able to find a used copy at Powells or some other book store. I saw a notice that Olson is working on an update but probably won't be ready anytime soon. If you have any questions drop me a line. [This message has been edited by Rob (edited 01-03-2001).]

Hey--interesting to see how many army fellows are here. I was in the army too--from 84-88. Two years at Benning and two years in Germany. Mountain Ranger school gave me the climbing bug.

I have purchased BDEL gear in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Why? One simple reason: customer service. Every time I've had a problem with gear they've replaced it or fixed it and had it back to me in a very short period of time. Lets see Barrabes beat that. I don't agree with them shutting down foreign retailers though--especially if they are selling a product line that BDEL is not responsible for manufacturing or developing. Like any consumer, I will buy my stuff where I get the best deals. BDEL can strong-arm the foreign retailers all they want--are they really cutting off that significant a market? I am sure there will always be ways to get around these tactics. In the end its up to the consumer to make the decisions with their wallets.

Its true we got back to Kahiltna Base earlier than our pre-arranged date. We did not expect Paul to drop everything to come get us out. We arrived at about 10 a.m. and had the Ranger call TAT right away to find out how long it would be (Annie was back in Talkeetna with Giardia). Paul himself told the Ranger he wasn't sure when he would be able to get us out but he would know for sure by 3 p.m. I was standing at the radio and listened to the whole exchange. I'm not an unreasonable guy by any means but when 4 p.m. rolled around and still no word from Paul we started to get a bit miffed. We had the Ranger call again, and again Paul answered the radio and said he wouldn't be able to get us out that day. Right about that time Jay Hudson gave us a ride back. He also brought our gear back the next trip onto the glacier. I can appreciate the need to maintain a business and hell, we had already paid so Paul had no motivation to hurry to pick us up. When we hiked across the airfield and into TAT to pick up the shit we had left behind we found Paul still behind the counter. A climber who had been picked up by Paul the day before said he had been there all day. Whether true or not I don't know--I do know that Paul made no trips onto the Kahiltna that day. I know he's a climber and I also know his reputation for flying where no one else will go. Beckey uses him so he can't be all bad. I just know that my experience was unpleasant and I'll avoid using him if I can. That's the scoop. I don't want anyone to think I'm spraying without reason.

I'll be there in Jan/Feb. If you haven't bought your ticket yet let me know and we can link up. Otherwise look for my trip report!

Perhaps your experience with Talkeetna Air Taxi was different but I recommend using Hudson Air rather than TAT. Paul left us hanging at Kahiltna International Airport and Jay Hudson gave us a ride back even though he didn't have to.