Jason_Martin

AAI Red Rock Program

Hello All, I have recently been asked to write an article about Exit 38 and North Bend for a local newspaper. They are on a deadline and as such I'm interested in intervewing someone who goes there a lot (as in more than ten or fifteen times a year) today. If you fit these qualifications, please send me a PM or an email with your phone number and I'll give you a call. Thanks, Jason

Most cultures define their god in such a way that their god always believes as they do. If they feel killing people and taking their land is appropriate, a given culture will redefine what their god believes in order for this to take place in a "moral" fashion. The perfect example is right before us. George W. says that god's on his side, but so does Osama. Millions of people on each side of this given conflict say the other side is wrong and that they're right. As such I believe that it is better to base one's moral code on humanism and not a belief that a given diety wants you to kill the other guy. Jason

I thought this article written by Eric Alterman addressed this quite well: A taxonomy of positions on Vietnam: Category A: Exhibiting the strength of one’s moral convictions. Supported the war and served in Vietnam (John Kerry, John McCain) Opposed the war and served in Vietnam because it would have been unfair to force someone less fortunate to take one’s place (Al Gore) Opposed the war and dedicated oneself to anti-war movement at some personal risk, including conscientious objection. (This position is not as dangerous as serving in a war, but it is nevertheless just as moral. The war was evil. Putting oneself at legal and physical risk as many did to try to end this evil strikes me as an unimpeachable moral position, though given America’s political culture, it would also be untenable for any contemporary presidential candidate to hold.) Category B: Exhibiting the strength of one’s moral convictions after protecting one’s posterior. Opposed the war, protected self, and then worked for anti-war movement (Bill Clinton) This position seems to me to be the minimum necessary to consider oneself a moral being. Risking one’s person for one’s principles is a lot to ask for most of us, but the least one could ask is that if we identify an evil that is literally killing people, our peers included, one lifts a proverbial finger to stop it, say, by working for the presidential candidacies of Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy or George McGovern. Category C: Having no convictions to protect save self-protection Opposed the war, protected self, let others worry about it (Howard Dean, Joe Lieberman) This is the position of those who merely opted out of the question, accepted their college deferments and went on with their lives and did not feel any sense of responsibility for their peers and countrymen. Category D: Contradicting one’s alleged convictions in the service of protecting one’s posterior Supported the war, preferred to let others fight and die for it (George W. Bush, Dick Cheney) This seems to me to be the least defensible position imaginable. Bush and Cheney both used their privileged positions to protect themselves; Cheney says he did it because he had “other priorities.” Bush says he did it because he wanted to “better himself” by learning to fly planes. Whether he deserted his post or not—and I think he did-- it is incontrovertible that he wasted the government’s million dollar investment in his training by allowing his qualifications to lapse while he was still supposed to be on active duty. (And what if during this period, the Guard was actually needed, if say, Oklahoma had invaded Texas?) One day, historians will attempt to explain just how two men who fall in category D somehow made the election about the moral rectitude of a man who fell into category A not once but twice. We have to admit this. This Rove feller really is a genius. Just when you thought the media couldn’t be any more irresponsible, he proved it had even more to give. (Most journalists today of the proper age, I imagine, fall into category B or C, with a significant number in D and a tiny, tiny minority in A.)

This is the perfect time of year for ice climbing on the lower Coleman. You don't have to worry about crevasses or roped glacier travel because the glacier is dry. You don't even have to rappel down to the base of your routes most of the time. You can build a top-rope anchor and then walk around. You probably won't be able to use pickets because there is no snow for them. Instead screws will work well. The word of warning for this time of year is to watch your screws, they can melt out in the sun. To keep your screws in place longer you can put snow or ice chips on top of them. Another alternative is to top-rope off of V-threads which don't melt out in the late summer sun so easily. Be aware that the seracs on the right hand side of the glacier tend to be more stable than those in the middle or on the left. If the cliffs on the right side seem short to you, there are many crevasses which you could lower into and climb out of as well. Jason

I think I've received that email or one similar about a hundred times... Jason

It's interesting when you travel abroad, a lot of non-american tourists are trying to visit Cuba BEFORE Castro dies. Why? The dude is seriously old and will probably go sometime in the next ten years. In addition to this, foriegn tourists believe that once Castro is gone, Cuba's going to turn into an alternate Hawaii for Americans... Which is probably true. Maybe it's time to go down there and to buy cheap beachfront property before the U.S. takes the country over and turns it into a resort. Jason

The law is such that public schools must accomodate children with disabilities. So legally the school's hands are tied. They cannot exclude this child, but if this child is exposed to peanuts, the school will have a fatality on their hands. It is a rock and a hard place for the people who run the school. On the other hand, if this kid is so allergic that he could die from smelling someone's breath, then I believe the parents have a moral obligation to home school the kid until he is old enough to take care of himself. Jason

This is a tall order. You might look online for condos that may be for rent. Otherwise, there are a few small hotels on the west side. I believe there is some type of "normal" Best Western type hotel on Sahara and Fort Apache. The Casino on that side of town, nearest Red Rock is the Suncoast. There is a Marriot type place next door. Within the next year or so there will be a casion/hotel ten minutes from the gates to RR called Red Rock Station. Jason

Darren, I saw a video/slide presentation about some guys who descended the canyon. I think they just approached from the backside which you can get to by driving the willow springs road to the summit. A four wheel drive vehicle is required for this particular road. This is the "standard" approach for the routes on Bridge mountain. I don't think this particular canyoneering descent has been done very much, so be prepared to leave gear at rap stations. Jason

Mr. Layton may be exagerating the descents a bit as he and I encountered a three hour descent off Wilson. But we were tired, out of water and it was quite hot out, so presumably it could be done faster. From the summit of Wilson, walk west dropping slightly to the right. Eventually you will encounter the area where the limestone meets the sandstone. Continue a short distance further, watching the sandstone formations to your right. Eventually you will see a formation that looks exactly like a volkswagon bus sitting atop a pillar. The descent gully can be found beside this. Once at the base of the gully, descend down Oak Creek Canyon back toward the end of the loop road. Though I've only done this once, I suspect that because I've done it before I could easily shed a great deal of time off our prior three hour endeavor. Jason

Whether or not I thought you were serious doesn't matter. There are a lot of reactionary people on this website who take what they read to heart. The last thing we need is some dumbass who read something like that on a website, thought it was serious, and ends up burning down a portion of one of our forests... Jason

The problem which took place in Tacoma is due to the fact that ant hills exist underground. The fire finds its way into these ant hill tunnels and stays there. Even in major pacific northwest rainshowers some of these fires continue to smoulder only to spring up at an alternate location later on. Burning ant hills is a great way to cause a forest fire... Jason

They only check Black Velvet periodically. And when they check it, they are checking for people who are camping there. They do not check Black Velvet for late exit. In the high season, the rangers will show up at midnight or later in the black velvet parking lot and will subsequently ticket everyone they find. This is not a problem for people who come out an hour or so after the "official" closing of the park. Doing two grade IVs in two days is an entirely doable thing in Red Rock canyon. Many long routes in RR have short approaches. The difficulty for the first time visitor is understanding the approach directions and developing an eye for seeing the route from a distance. Though many approaches are under an hour, one may still get lost and add time. To avoid approach problems, the new RR Super Topo book is the best book for a short focused visit. But if you plan on coming back over and over, the sometimes confusing Falcon Guide includes more routes. If you are a moderately strong climber with an eye for approaches, two grade IVs are a reasonable goal. Jason

About ten years ago a kid burned an ant hill down by Fort Lewis. The fire was extremely difficult to put out and caused a great deal of dammage. The reason it was such a big deal was because the fire went underground. It kept popping back up and causing problems long after they throught they had put it out. Burning anything in the backcountry is a bad idea...burning an ant hill is a really bad idea. Jason

Intuition liners are great IF they are fit right. The "if" is huge. Many stores don't have employees who know how to fit them right. If they feel sloppy in the store, make them fit the liners again. If they're sloppy the second time, make them do it yet again. Make them do it until it's right, otherwise you will be hating life. Alphas are nice light boots, but they have one problem. They don't have a full gusset inside them. The result is that if you use them a lot, the seal will start to decay. Eventually your feet will begin to get wet in slushy snow. Invernos have the same problem as the Alphas. Civettas are nice. I don't have any experience with the Trango Extremes. One other thing to consider is using toe warmers on extremely cold days. I've done this on Denali, Illimani, Huyna Potosi and on winter ascents of Rainier -- all of which can be extremely cold mountans. I naturally have cold feet so I'm constantly worrying about my toes. So far boots and overboots have never done as much for me as chemical toe warmers. Jason

There are a few sandstone formations up the road above the township of Liberty. These are poorly bolted sandstone climbs which have repeatedly had bolt hangers stolen over many many years of half-assed exploration. The area's pretty bad when you consider that Leavenworth is so close. Jason

I just wrote about this stuff in the Axe Length post. But to answer a few questions... Butterfly knots in the rope work great. I've tested them many times and they work like a charm. The problem with the knots is that on a single team rescue, either you will have to haul past the knots which requires a great deal of practice, or your partner will have to somehow prusik past the knots which is not impossible, but almost; especially if the rope has done what it is suppose to do and cut deeply into the lip of the crevasse catching on the knot. Someone wrote that it is possible to pull a person out with a Z-pully by itself. While this is true, it is hard. A few years ago I lowered someone down a crevasse for ice climbing practice. The person was over sixty feet down and couldn't climb out. I hauled part of the time with a z and part of the time with a C-Z. Part of the reason I used a Z alone is because he was so far down, and the way the 6 to 1 works is that for every six feet you pull, they only move one foot. That said, I got so tired I had to add the C to get the guy completely out of the hole. Someone else asked what a T slot is. This is the slot you dig to bury a picket in the snow. The slot is shaped like a T. I believe that with practice and proper training, travelling on a glacier with a two person team is totally acceptable. Crevasse rescue requires practice. Putting together a C-Z in the backyard every two years is not practice. Playing with the system multiple times each season in the snow is the only way to truly create a solid understanding of what to do when the shit really hits the fan... Jason

Okay, we're getting from Axe Length into another issue entirely. The question about building an anchor is the same issue that you have with an axe in your hand. When a person falls into a crevasse in a "normal" circumstance this is the order of events: 1) Arrest the fallen climber -- I'm not arguing that it is better not to have an axe, just that in some conditions it's not as important as in others. The arrest may happen because the rope cuts into the lip and a knot gets jammed or it may happen because you arrest with the axe. The reality of an axe arrest of a crevasse fall is that a great deal of the arrest takes place with one's feet, not with the axe. 2) Once the person is arrested, the next thing is to build an anchor. On a three person team this is simple. One person holds the weight while the other person on the surface builds the anchor. With a two person team it's a little more complex. The person on the surface will be holding the weight primarily with his or her feet. At which point, the axe may be laid down. An anchor with a fluke, a picket, an ice axe or a water bottle or whatever can be built at this point while the climber is holding the weight with his legs. After the first anchor is built, one can clip the foot prusiks into the anchor, allowing the inital weight to be loaded onto the single piece anchor. After this the climber is free to move around. Once the fallen climber's weight is on the first anchor, the climber on the surface can easily build a backup anchor, clipping it to the initial anchor. Okay, that said... I usually use the axe, but seldom in the anchor. All I'm trying to point out is that a super long axe is overkill sometimes and that in low angle glaciers ski poles might be more acceptable. Those who ski mountaineer often climb glaciers with ski poles in hand. Were there an accident, ski poles, skis whatever would be used as the anchor. I hate throwing my creditials out on the web on this site, but I have seen these different techniques practiced literally hundreds and hundreds of times. And believe me, they work... Jason

Mountaineers have published a new book with the title "Expedition Planning." For Denali you want a huge pack. You are going to have to carry a pile of junk from 14 to 17 and no matter the size, most people still end up strapping crap to the outside of the pack... Jason

If your using your axe to lean on when tired, you will often encounter a problem. This is that the axe often gets pushed into the snow and forces you to lean over significantly. Leaning over does not allow a lot of air into the lungs. Some would argue that this is a reason for a long axe... Maybe. But once again, the ski pole will help you to stand up straight and allow the support needed. Standing up straight is very important on high altitude mountains as it allows you to get the most oxygen available. Should you have to self arrest while holding a ski pole, something has oviously gone wrong. You can easily drop the pole in favor of the self arrest position. This particular set-up is extremely common on mountains with real altitude issues. Conditions conditions conditions dictate what is sufficient and what is not sufficient for self arresting a person who has fallen in a crevasse. When the snow is deep a crevasse fall has very little impact on the team at all. I've seen crevasse falls on a two person team where the surface person doesn't even have to go into self arrest before the friction on the lip of the crevasse stops the falling party. On the other hand in icy conditions, I've seen people launched through the air like a ragdoll while taking the load of a person falling into a crevasse while practicing. In snowy conditions on a route like the sulphide glacier it is perfectly appropriate to tie a few butterfly knots in the rope between members of the rope team and then to walk up the glacier using poles. Butterfly knots work extremely well in stopping the rope from continuing down into a crevasse with a person on the other end. I've seen the butterfly knot technique in action many times. It works very well. The problem of course is that the person in the crevasse either has to prusik past knots or the person on the surface will have to haul past knots. As far as making an anchor... You can build a snow anchor out of anything, ski poles included. The most important aspect of an anchor is to back it up with other items. In one experiment in late season snow, we tied a cordellete to a power bar, buried it, work hardened it, and then weighted it. It took four people bouncing on it to blow it out. The conditions were such that this bar would have worked as an anchor. Of course an axe or a picket or a fluke is better for an anchor. I'm not saying you shouldn't carry these things, but instead that a super long axe is not that great. And that a short axe can be used with a pole in certain conditions. I'm also saying that in some conditions, it is also acceptable to keep the axe stowed. As I said above conditions dictate everything... Jason

Often on low angle terrain, I'll walk with my axe in one hand and a ski pole in the other... Jason

To start with, one thing should be made clear. The primary purpose of your axe is not as a "walking stick." The primary purpose of extendible trekking poles is as walking sticks. Your axe has a number of purposes, first and formost as a tool for climbing. On super low angle glaciers (20 degrees or less) where your axe hangs from your hand to your feet, perhaps a long axe is acceptable. But that type of length is not realistic for climbing. The primary purpose of the tool is to ascend steep terrain. This may be done by swinging the tool above your head with your hand at the base of the shaft. In this scenario serious length hinders your ability to place the axe effectively. A second way to ascend is by using the axe in one of the three dagger postions. A long axe will work here, but may become annoying. A third way to climb is in the so called "Self Belay" position. This is where you insert the shaft of the axe into the snow while holding onto the head. If the snow is steep enough for this, a long axe will require a lot more effort to place than a short axe. A fourth way to ascend is by chopping steps with your adze. If the axe is long on steep terrain you will not be able to hold the base of the axe effectively and as such will be making ineffective chopping swings with your hand somewhere up the shaft closer to the head. A long axe may also throw you out of balance in this situation which would be very bad. The secondary use of the axe is for self arrest. And once again a long axe may be unwieldy here. If you do not hold the base of the shaft you may lose control of it, thus impaling yourself. I've seen a lot of people hold the shaft in the wrong spot, making it more likely that they will get hurt... This occurs less often with a shorter axe. Another arguement for the short axe is that when you ascend mountains with short sections of rock, it's nice to holster your axe or slide it between your pack and your back while you use your hands. Holstering a long axe is just dumb because it will get in your way. You could probably still put it between your back and your pack. A last arguement is that a big fat long axe is heavy. My feeling is that if the glacier is low angle enough to warrant a super long axe, perhaps ski poles would be better. If that makes you nervous, get whippets for your poles. Jason

That movie was utter crap. Supporting movies like this just allows Hollywood to bring us more half-assed scripts that are predictable and unrelentingly bad pieces of work. Every now and then we get a decent horror movie. The last couple years have provivided some nice Zombie movies without the Rob behind them. 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead were both engaging, funny at times and terrifying at others. House of a 1000 Corpses is the type of movie that barely holds your attention while stealing -- not borrowing -- from other successful horror films. In other words, the movie is crap. A huge steaming pile of crap. Jason

I wouldn't take little kids into the Alaska wilds or anywhere near a backcountry salmon-choked stream. However, I would take little kids hiking in the cascades without a firearm. The vast majority of the people you see with kids in the northwest hiking, are not carrying firearms. In the Northwest, there are a lot more gun injuries and fatalities than evidence that guns saved someone from a wild animal. I'm not saying that you, Bug, are an irresponsible gun owner. But there are a lot of them out there, and many of them have only the faintest idea of how to take care of themselves in the backcountry. Another annecdote about my years as a fish habitat surveyer. We were down in a creek bed in Northern Idaho, a place with A LOT of guns and a lot of lunatics as well. In any case somebody shot toward us from the woods above. We started yelling that we were people until we heard some idiot yell, "sorry." Most of the places we hike and climb in the northwest are bereft of animals that want to mess with a person. I worry a lot about people either killing an animal that was not a threat -- something else I witnessed in Alaska -- or injuring or killing another person on accident. The cascades are full of people and there is almost no evidence to support the need for a firearm in them... Jason