CascadeClimber

My two favorites (neither of which have been mentioned so far): - Kendall Mint cake: Three ingredients- Sugar, glucose syrup, oil of peppermint. Quick energy boost, doesn't make me thirsty, doesn't freeze, beautifully simple. Hillary took it to the summit of Everest in 1953. - Gookinaid: How can you go wrong with a name like that? An electrolyte replacement drink, not an energy drink. Favorite flavor- red. -CC

From a person who spent a year trying to avoid spending the money on AT gear: Before you *buy* skis and bindings designed to be used with your plastic (or leather) mountaineering boots, *rent* the setup and spend a day lift skiing in it. Make sure that you don't just cruise the groomed runs- get into some of that lovely Cascade off-piste. I suspect that you'll come to the same conclusion that I did: Backcountry skiing in climbing boots is for sadists. This is fine if you are a sadist, but my motto is "No pain- no pain". After my experiment I searched out Dynafit boots and bindings on sale. Happy ever since. -CC

Yeah, I was there last weekend (12/9-10). There is ice to climb, though it is a bit on the thin (and steep) side. We climbed at Crown Lake on Saturday and went up to Night N Gale on Sunday. Bridge Creek was not frozen, we had to get creative to cross it. I'll post the pics on my site when I get them back. -CC

It is still a work in progress, but I have some decent TRs at www.cascadeclimber.com (not to be confused with www.cascadeclimberS.com!) Climb on- CC