Jason_Martin
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Posts posted by Jason_Martin
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Mike,
Don't think I'm going to make it up... Got to get out of here early tomorrow. Will I see you down south this spring?
JayB,
I don't remember what exit it is near. However it can be seen immediately left of McClellum Butte. Check pages 179 and 180 in your ice guide.
Jason
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With deep deep snow and avalanche danger many of the routes are clearly difficult to get to but are forming.
Today a buddy and I went up to the Rap Wall. The approach required a bit of wallowing, but hey that's part of the game around here.
It appears that one of the Bryant lines above source lake is in good condition and many of the smaller lines around Alpental are climbable...but don't say that I didn't warn you about the deep snow. Even with big snow shoes I had a hard time.
It appears that CYA near Exit 38 is coming into form. This route has yet to be led and doesn't come in every year so keep an eye on it.
The large waterfalls on the North Face of Kent Mountain are visibly blue from I-90 right now, though with current snow conditions it will take a long time to get there.
On Saturday in Mt. Rainier National Park, I saw "Hey Mikey He Likes It" from the Nisqually Bridge. It was blue. I can only assume that the more attainable "Mikey's Gully" is in form but not visible as it is in a gully nearby.
The snow is deep and slated to get deeper. Watch the avalanche conditions closely if you check out any of these places.
Jason
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I've used the technique lancegranite is referring to many times. A lot of people call it "the spider" or an assortment of other names. It is a good rock rescue rappel technique, but as lancegranite indicated there must always be a autoblock backup.
One issue that often comes up with simul-rappelling is the fact that it is often done on extremely skinny ropes with little friction. There is an excellent technique that a friend -- who has written about it as a tech tip for a forthcoming issue of "Climbing" -- showed me just the other day to increase the friction when rappelling on super-skinny lines.
Here is the technique in a nutshell.
1) Extend the rappel away from your harness by girth-hitching a shoulder length sling through your belay loop. Put your ATC into the end of the sling on a locking biner and set it up for a rappel. This places the rappel about eighteen inches away from your harness.
2) Take a very short slung cord and put a friction hitch into it below your ATC. Clip this into your belay loop with a locking biner. This will act as an autoblock.
3) Clip a non-locking biner into your leg-loop.
4) Clip a non-locking biner into the rope ABOVE your ATC.
5) Now this is where the rope that you are rappelling on will go. The rope goes through the ATC, down through your autoblock, then through the carabiner in your leg-loop. It is then redirected up through the carabiner above your ATC and then back down to your break hand.
When rappelling, one hand will move the autoblock down, while the other holds the rope beneath the second redirect biner above your ATC. This system creates a whole lot of extra friction so that rappelling on skinny ropes is not a scary affair.
Give it a try and see how you like it!
Jason
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There's nothing wrong with this technique. I've used it a few times for this and that... The main thing is to make sure that both people are weighting the rope simultaniously.
Jason
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The second picture is "Death Banquet." There will be info on this WI 5+ route coming on the wastateice.net webpage in the near future.
Jason
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Though private school teachers get paid less it is important to look at one other MAJOR factor that hasn't been addressed, parents. Parents who are willing to pay for schooling for their kids are often more involved in the school process.
I've had the opportunity to teach in both public and private schools. Public schools are a zoo. You spend half of your time just dealing with attendance issues. Private schools are nice. Comparatively there are few discipline problems and a lot of resources for teachers.
The guy who wrote that article is an idiot. He has clearly never been in a public school situation as either a teacher or administrator. Public school teachers do deserve A LOT more money. The work they do is tremendously hard.
Since I left teaching I've had the opportunity to do a lot of different jobs and so far I have done nothing more difficult than teaching and nothing that paid less.
Jason
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Philonius,
Check your Private Messages.
Jason
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This particular area was put up by a mountaineers ice climbing course to initiate their study of mixed climbing. The area actually went through some kind of review process before they put in a single bolt. They wanted to make sure they weren't going to be putting anything together that would ultimately be in the way of future sport climbing development. And believe me there will be no future sport climbing development around this crag. The rock is low angle and slabby which makes for some interesting drytooling.
Jason
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Lummox,
Educated guesses on the thin stuff. I've interviewed a lot of people and I have some leads on a few things there. But as yet I have heard no "rumors" about these super thin lines aside from the idea that they might be good new wave mixed routes.
Jason
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Why would you retro-bolt Death Picnic?
You shouldn't bolt "Death Picnic." I believe that the mixed discussion relates to as yet unclimbed lines on the face.
Jason
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I've just received a report from some climbers who went into Table Mountain yesterday. It sounds like there is quite a bit of ice up there.
Death Picnic is in but scary. This particular party climbed a route to the left that went at WI 3+. Info on this route will be available on wastateice.net soon.
The story is that there is a tremendous amount of ice there right now that doesn't quite touch down. The climbers who were out there yesterday believe that this could be an excellent place for futuristic mixed climbing adventures.
Jason
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Bush's so called "healthy forest act" is anything but. This bill goes way beyond thinning. Take a close look at it...a look beyond the propaganda. It is not a call to environmental logging practices, but an all out assault on forests that are healthy.
Though I consider myself an environmentalist, I'm also a realist. Logging is important. However it can be done more effectively without attacks on former environmental legislation.
Jason
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Well said Mtnfreak!
Jason
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There's still a little time to write to the Park Super Intendant!
This is the email I sent. Feel free to use anything you might want to from this in your own email to the Super Intendant.
__________________________________________________
Dear Park Super Intendant,
As a professional climbing guide and a guidebook author, I have a tremendous amount of interest in the future of guiding on Mt. Rainier. The reason I am writing this email is because I would like to voice my support for Alternative #3.
Certainly this email may seem slanted because of my profession and it could be read that way. However I would like to state that I am personally NOT interested in working on Mt. Rainier. Though my company does have interest in these proceedings, I enjoy a diverse range of work in other locations. I am not a pawn of my company and am writing this email of my own free will. I would like you to read my comments as if you are reading the comments of a professional observer, someone who has insight into the guiding industry and what this particular alternative is likely to do.
First and foremost I believe that competition is good. Everybody can agree that competition in a field such as computer technology creates better computers and more diverse programing. The same is true with guides. If there were more guide services working on the mountain, competition would cause guides and guide services to work hard in order to be the best. Quality guide services already spend money on guide education. It is likely that the spirit of competition would cause this to become even more common amongst the most professional services.
I have worked alongside other guides from other guide services in places such as Squamish, Red Rock Canyon, Lee Vining, and Mt. Baker. The reality is that in these venues guides are very pleasant to one another. They often share ideas on ways to do things, guiding styles, and route conditions. The result is that all guides in a particular area reap some benefit from being around other professionals.
The unfortunate reality is that some guides are not very professional. They don't treat their clients well or they don't understand modern guiding techniques or they are simply just arrogant. When these guides are around guides from other guide services that are striving for excellence they learn. They see how professionals treat their clients and employ proper techniques on the mountain, as a result they too strive to be better.
The public currently doesn't have much of a choice as to who to go with on Mt. Rainier. They are simply stuck with RMI. As the public enjoys having a choice between Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee or between McDonald's and Burger King, I believe that the public would enjoy a choice on Mt. Rainier.
Some have stated that more guide services would decrease the jobs available in Ashford. This particular point is ludicrous. If a guide loses his or her job, there are more guide services available in that location to potentially work for. More guide services would also mean more "home bases" for clients to get equipped. These "home bases" would employ MORE people than are currently employed in Ashford.
Some have stated that multiple guide services would create competition to reach the summit. They believe that if one guide decides to go in marginal weather then another guide from another service will be forced to go as well. This too is ludicrous. Professional guides are professional, they are capable of making up their own minds about what weather is appropriate and what weather is inappropriate.
Once again, I have personally been in the preceding situation on Mt. Baker. I have seen inclement weather where one guide decides to go and another guide decides to stay many times. There is no pressure. Professional guides can think for themselves and make a decision based on their clients and their own comfort level as to whether they will go or not. Ego to get to the top is not and should not be a part of a true professionals persona.
And lastly I would like to oppose one element of the Alternative #3. I understand that some areas will be closed to guiding, a commercial free zone if you will. There are a couple of problems I see with this:
1) The more area open to guiding, the less concentrated guides and clients will be in a given area.
2) Guides are a positive presence when something goes wrong in an unguided party. Guides are responsible for getting people out of jams throughout North America.
3) Guides are very good when it comes to the Leave No Trace ethic. They tend to provide good examples for non-guided groups and excellent examples for their own clients. This type of presence is important on all aspects of the mountain.
4) Routes such as Liberty Ridge and Ptarmigan Ridge are difficult routes and there have been some tragedies on these routes in the past. Many climbers wish to move forward with their skills and these routes provide a place to do that. Perhaps with a guided presence on routes such as these there would be a few less dangerous situations.
I understand the need to keep commercialization to a minimum. Perhaps the best idea would be to limit guiding on this side of the mountain. However, to completely close it to guides would be unfortunate. As shown above, guides can have a very positive influence in a number of ways.
I appreciate your time and I appreciate the fact that this is open to discussion. By opening this issue to the community you have created a very positive environment for discussion.
Thank-you for your time.
Sincerely,
Jason D. Martin
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This is within reason in my opinion, Jason. If someone is putting up a project and does not complete it within one season's time (there are exceptions of course) then I say it is free game, especially if all the gear is in and all that is left is a redpoint, which the setter has left to do in the "next couple of seasons" for example. They may have put money into the hardware and so deserve a crack at the rout first off, but if I see red tape on a finished route for more than one season, it becomes fair game. I do have to say that this is an exception rather than the norm as most people who put up routes can do them and are psyched to do them, hence why they put them up in the first place.ryland_moore said:These routes are brand spanking new and the guy who put them up deserves a couple of weeks to get up them. He's doing a great service by putting in these routes and I think we should at least give him to the end of this season.
If it helps, some of these new climbs may be the hardest in the state. The guy working on them says they're probably hard M10.
Jason
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Scrambler has a point about the mounties. There are always good people around and there are always bad. Certainly some instructors are going to be great and some are not.
Jason
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Just to play devils advocate...
There are a lot of people out there who have learned how to climb from mentors outside the mounties circle who only have a couple years of experience and purport to be experts. There are a lot of people out there who have many years of climbing experience who really don't know what they're doing either. And learning from a book alone is simply not enough for most people. How many can say that as a whole, when they were in school they learned more from their books than from their teachers?
There are many proficient climbers out there who never took a class from anybody. But I believe that those who are truly proficient that learned this way are the minority, not the majority of those who climb.
So it seems that both avenues present a bit of a dilemma. One could take a mounties class and learn from someone with only a year or two of experience or one could learn from someone outside the circle whose skills may be just as suspect.
The only way to be truly sure that you are getting professional instruction is to take a class from a reputable guide service. Unfortunately this is expensive, but at least you'll learn how to do things the right way the first time around.
Jason
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Stephen_Ramsey said:
Do you know, is it a standard practice for ropes to be left on that wall? If so, why?
There are still routes being developed on this wall and fixed lines have been left in some locations to impliment the continued work on this and other walls in the area.
If you see a climb with tape on the bolts DO NOT climb the route. The people who have put in the bolts get first dibs on these routes. It means that they have not yet been climbed by the people who put in the bolts and should not be climbed until the red flagging on the bolts is removed.
Jason
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Though Alternative Three is clearly the best I agree with j_b. Limited guiding on technical routes should be considered, even if it's only a half dozen permits.
Nothing has been decided yet. The best thing we can do to change the current situation is to write to the park service in support of Alternative 3. Talking about how we're for or against it on this website doesn't do anything. Writing an email to them has a far greater impact.
Jason
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There have been a few citations written and some threats of jail time... Certainly cars on the road create a larger issue than the actual climbing.
Jason
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She said it on "Real Time with Bill Mhare(sp?)". Of course he and the other liberal guest ripped her apart on that one while a conservative senator just sat there with a little child molestor smile on his face and watched it happen.
Jason
Alpental winter upvalley travel restricted
in Access Issues
Posted
I believe that it will be very difficult to redirect traffic after a large snow or even after a moderate one. Trudging through deep snow instead of walking on a path that has been groomed by machines and constant skiers will dictate a much longer approach than a mere five minutes.
Currently there are numerous signs on the trail. At least one says not to enter, others warn of avalanches and speeding skiers. I think that skiers coming down that trail are for the most part aware that people use it on a regular basis. The people going up the trail are very aware that they might get run over. These user groups have co-existed here for a long time.
Honestly, I would like to see the winter access remain open to backcountry skiers, snowshoers, families of sleders and climbers. I think that the only time the alternate summer trail will be five minutes longer will be after a long period of dry weather or rain. A good chunk of the normal winter trail is maintained which makes it very quick. I understand that as a climber the trail is not being maintained for me, but because it's already there I have a hard time wallowing in deep snow.
Jason