Alpine_Tom

Last year my ice axe leash, which I tied onto the ice axe at least five years ago with a water knot, came off. The knot just came loose and came apart. It wasn't in a dire circumstance, but it sure surprised me, since I hadn't noticed it getting loose, and I'd think I'd have at least casually inspected the knot each time I used the ice axe. I weight the slings regularly with tension and falls etc. I didn't realize we were discussing ice ax slings. But take it where ever you like it. My point was simply that a knot tied into a fabric sling for several years and inspected regularly managed to work itself loose without my noticing. Sorry if you don't find that germane.

If you're traversing from the S Rib and descending Cave Ridge, you should have a good look at the drawing on p.165 of the current Brown CAG. When I did it (in summer) I was pretty baffled; the traverse looked way more dire than I'd expected, but if you follow the dotted line, it's pretty straightforward. Bring crampons and an ice axe, as mentioned above.

Um, it was a joke, son.

Ah. That explains it. Thanks.

Yeah, it's hard to think of things around Boston Basin as NOT being in the N. Cascades, despite where they end up in CAG. I guess every distinction is more or less arbitrary. But I maintain, and I maintain strongly, that Baring does NOT belong in the "oregon cascades" forum. Ban me if you want.

There ought to be Red, Green, and Brown forums (fora?) to correspond to the CAG volumes, to simplify things. It always bugs me when people discuss stuff like Pilchuck or Glacier Peak in the N Cascades forum.

Last year my ice axe leash, which I tied onto the ice axe at least five years ago with a water knot, came off. The knot just came loose and came apart. It wasn't in a dire circumstance, but it sure surprised me, since I hadn't noticed it getting loose, and I'd think I'd have at least casually inspected the knot each time I used the ice axe.

Well, Index is on the SOUTH side of the highway. Therefore, it's in the Alpine Lakes, rather than the North Cascades. Duh.

Well, that's what I thought too, but the forum says "all Cascade peaks North of Steven's Pass" and Baring is north of the highway, so... Juan -- no dog (she's just a terrier, for God's sake!) and no job.

Climb: Mt. Baring-NW ridge Date of Climb: 3/10/2004 Trip Report: I'm glad I summitted, because I wouldn't want to look forward to that climb again. The approach isn't much fun; the climb isn't much fun at all until the last hour or so. HW2 to Baring, take FS road 6024 up to the Barclay Creek trailhead. I had to walk the last mile or so. You follow the fire road (the barclay creek trail descends to the left) about 100 yards, past an obvious snow gully, to the correct stream with the boot trail. There's a 2-foot high cairn in the middle of the road. It took about an hour to get to the top of the ridge, and quite a while longer to slog along the ridge. I left the car around 10:40, and didn't get to the gully top Fred mentions (where you can actually see the rest of the climb) until about 2:30. From here on, it got much more scenic. Took another hour to snowshoe down into the bowl, up to the notch, and up to the summit. Then, reversed my tracks with all deliberate speed, to get to the road before dark (I barely made it!) If you do this climb (and I don't particularly recommend it) get an early start. When you gain the ridge, mark it for your return; there are two trees with blazes on them, one pretty fresh, but had I not been able to follow my footprints, I'd have missed it. This time of year, Fred's directions are far more useful than the route description in Peggy Goldman's "75 Scrambles" book. Gear Notes: snowshoes, ski poles, crampons. Should of had an ice axe for descending from the summit. Approach Notes: Road blocked with snow the last mile or so. A 4x4 could probably get through.

Hollywood will "never understand climbing" the way NBC will never understand the Olympics, or the guys who do the Superbowl halftime show will never understand football. Big-budget entertainment is about filling seats and maximizing revenue, not telling a coherent story. I for one am pretty glad that Tom Cruz didn't do the movie, as he apparently had been considering. Though a "top gun" version would probably have grossed a lot more. It reminded me a lot of Apollo 13, in terms of telling the story straight, avoiding muddying up things with a contrived love story (putting Joe's girlfriend at base camp, maybe having a fling with Simon when it looks like Joe's gone for good.) FWIW, I thought it did a pretty good job explaining what was going on in a way that a non-climber could probably get. But the movie was less scary to me than the book was.

Not exactly a "yard sale" item but... A friend has a 4-yr-old male weimaraner that he can't keep. The dog is very friendly, good with kids, doesn't have much to do with other dogs, nuts about chasing tennis balls, etc, likes the outdoors, but he has way more energy than my friend has time to spend with him. (Friend broke his hip in a parachute accident a few years back and can't run or even hike much.) He and his son are pretty sad about having to give up the dog, but since the dog is alone in a small back yard most of the day, he doesn't have much alternative. (He chews up stuff if left alone indoors.) The dog (his name is Max) is very good natured, but not particularly bright. His ideal home, I think, would be with a family with a couple of high-school cross country runners. (Before you beat up on him for getting a dog he couldn't manage, his wife insisted on getting the dog, then changed her mind; dog went to live with my friends' mom, who can't manage him anymore, friend is now divorced.) Anyone know someone who might be able to provide a good home for him?

Ray, although this axe by itself is probably not worth more than about $50 -$100, it is an axe that has real worth just by its history. Althought I hate to see it go out of the northwest, the American Alpine Club has a museum in CO. Another option, if you could talk Fred out of a couple of more items would be to approach the Museum of Hisory and idustry into an exibit on northwest moutnaineering. I am sure there are several people on this board with enough items to start a nice exibit at a local museum. We were talking to the woman who runs the Mt Erie grocery last weekend, and she said that Dallas Kloke has some old climbing gear he was going to put up a little historical display in the store there when his new guidebook finally comes out. And I know that Otto Trott's widow has the Duke of Abruzzi's ice axe (a friend bought their house a couple of years ago.) So it seems like there is a lot of stuff out there to put together a pretty respectable display at MOHAI if someone were willing to take the lead.

Leuthold Couloir on Hood. It's kind of cool because the climb is comparatively long, but it's a very short descent.

Yes, I remember Econ 101. Rather like learning anatomy by studying a GI Joe. 1. There's no oil coming out of Iraq yet, and it sounds like there won't be for a while. 2. prices rise and fall according to expectations, not just current conditions. Remember Gulf War I? The day the bombing started, the prices started to drop at the gas stations, even though amount of oil immediately available dropped. 3. The world oil supply is controlled largely by a cartel. Our reliable allies in Saudi Arabia decide how much oil is in the world market. And gasoline supply is controlled by the domestic refineries. It's certainly not in Chevron's interest for gas prices to drop.

I don't think it was about CHEAP oil, I think it was about CONTROLLING the oil.

Maybe you're not spending enough time at the brewpub? Have some more of that penitentiary porter, and you won't have to replace your waist belt.

The one climb I know about that benefits from flagging is Whitehorse Glacier. The first hour or so is just vertical bushwhacking, not particularly remote or scenic. Following the bits of flagging, when you can locate them, does make it easier. And on the descent, it can make the difference from being cliffed out and just dirty/miserable/scratched up.

Took the kid and a neighbor girl up snowshoeing on Saturday. $15 to rent a pair of kids' snowshoes at REI!!! Went up to Erie with Leejams Sunday, watched half a dozen eagles soaring above the rock and climbed a few routes. Managed to (barely) thrash my way up leading a 5.8 bolted route! Oh -- and I tied in with a figure 8.

Hey, is this you, Plexus? It might explain things. http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/1642/

Funny (to me) REI story. A friend's 4-season North Face tent got trashed in the wind on Hood in July last year -- I posted something about it at the time -- a couple of the poles were broken and bent. He got it at REI, so he took it to the repair dept, and the repair guy said "dude, that's a 4-season tent, not a mountaineering tent. You need a mountaineering tent for Hood. We can't fix it under warranty." Friend took the tent in anyhow for repair, planning on fighting about the bill when he picked it up. Came back, and the guy at the repair counter said "dude, we lost your tent. Can't find it anywhere. Go ahead and pick out any tent on the sales floor you want, and we'll call it even." So, his 3-year-old NF tent got replaced with a brand-new Mtn Hardware tent. I suppose stuff like that is part of why they sell casual shirts for $75, but...

I guess REI doesn't piss me off so much anymore; it's kind of like an old climbing buddy who isn't much into climbing anymore -- you can stay pissed at him, or just move on. It's a good place to buy some stuff, and it's a great place to take your kid on a rainy day to play while you sit and look at climbing books. I finally got up to Vancouver this fall and went into the legendary MEC, and felt the whiplash of deja vu -- it's exactly what the capitol hill REI store was like 20 years ago. About the time people were complaining that Eddie Bauer didn't sell stuff for climbing anymore. So, in 20 years or so, REI will sell home furnishings, people will be complaining about how MEC only sells yuppie gear, and there will still be places like PMS to get climbing gear.

I dunno. Kinda wordy.

So, like, where'd you park? Sneak into the Alpental lot?

Here's a real winter sport: http://www.meph.eu.org/pinguin.swf