nolanr

Gannett Peak is pretty ambitious for a first climb, especially solo. My first climb was Mt. Adams by the dog route, kinda pales by comparison.

We did Prusik (via W. Ridge) car to car in a day last June. Obviously different conditions than you'll have this year. It was snow free about halfway up Aasgard, then decent kick stepping after that. In the basin the snow was somewhat mushy w/ a little postholing. I can't remember for sure, approx. 4 hours to the top of Aasgard seems reasonable. That's not setting a speed record, but it's moving steadily. I think the entire trip took from about 6 a.m. on a Sat. to midnight of that day, we didn't move real fast on the rock, it was cold and windy, hands and fingers weren't working so good. Had a serious case of drag-ass between Prusik Pass and Aasgard on the way out, all down hill from there in the dark, no worries. [ 02-11-2002: Message edited by: nolanr ]

Ice/cold pack can work wonders on any kind of "tweak", at least that's what I've experienced. Something similar to Courtenay's suggestion of massaging w/ a tennis ball is ice massage. Freeze some water in a dixie cup, peel away the edge 'til some of the ice is exposed, then go to town on the affected area. It's fairly intense, 5 minutes or less is plenty.

I saw that. They interviewed at least 3 different people, and they called them all "witneses." Witnesses to what, nothin' happened? You're right, frickin' idiots.

Yeah, it was pretty much that they were so close to the bunny hill that I was dissing them for being lazy. I've been helped by strangers before and I've helped strangers. I drove a couple from Snow Lake TH back up to their car at Stuart Lake/Colchuck Lake TH about 7 p.m. in Oct., already getting dark, saved them about 8 miles of hoofing, and they had to be back to Seattle that night. So my Karma's not too bad, I don't think. As far as the other day, I definitely didn't have room for 6 people and their skis in my rig, was I supposed to stop for half of them and tell the rest to screw off? None of them were good looking chicks either, so that wasn't a factor. And as someone who hikes/backpacks/climbs/snowshoes, I have more respect for someone that gets from point A to point B under their own power than someone who rides a chairlift or rope tow up to the top of something, then lets gravity do most of the work on the way back down. Now if you all still wanna roast me, go for it.

Just did Angeles again from Hurricane Ridge parking lot. Plenty of snow, but the ridge (Sunrise?) leading across to the base of the peak has been pretty wind scoured, mostly hard packed and in places there were patches of bare ground, grass, and shrubby stuff. Some deep, powdery drifts. The snow on the mountain was fairly stable. Used snow shoes and poles 'til I was within a hundred feet or so of the top, ended up taking off the 'shoes and grabbing the axe. Wind was blowing around 40 mph, from a short distance away you could see a nice plume of spindrift blowing off the top. Hooked up w/ 3 guys that are w/ Olympic Mountain SAR that were skiing the same route I was doing, pretty cool guys. [ 02-10-2002: Message edited by: nolanr ]

Caught a few minutes of the flick last night, thinking how dumb it was these yahoos are chasing deer around in circles, shooting their guns randomly, and the deer weren't high tailing it out of there, just waiting to get shot at some more. But then I noticed, "Hey, there's some mountains in the background." It was fleeting glimpses, but it just had a Cascades feel to it. A little later there was an unmistakable shot of Baker, from somewhere near the Artists Point area. Also a twilight shot looking at Shuksan across Picture Lake. Anybody know they filmed some of that out here?

I drove up to Hurricane Ridge yesterday, about a half mile from the visitor center parking lot there were about a half dozen snowboarders/skiers standing there beside the road holding their boards w/ their thumbs out, expecting a ride back up to the bunny hill rope tow. You gotta be kidding. Walk your lazy ass back to where you started from. They seem to be afflicted w/ the same disorder as crag climbers who can't/won't walk more than 100 yards from their car to the start of a route. What a bunch of putzes.

I ran into 3 guys yesterday who are w/ Olympic Mountain SAR, do a lot of stuff for the Park Service. They don't get much action out there, haven't got to do a body recovery for 5 years or something. One of them said something to the effect that "there aren't enough people trying to get themselves killed in the Olympics." So, anybody wanna make their job more interesting for them?

Okay, maybe it hasn't been officially annexed. But my 2 roommates who are Seattle born and raised think the world is flat and if you go south of Olympia you will fall off the planet, so at least as far as they're concerned anything below the Sound might as well be OR. Seems to be prevailing attitude among Seattleites. I was born in OR and spent most of my growing up years on the WA side of the Columbia east of Portland, so I'm a little (sniff, sniff) sensitive about the subject. [ 02-10-2002: Message edited by: nolanr ]

Gordon, I have fallen off many times when TRing. That's when I push my limits to improve my technical ability. When I'm leading a trad route, I do it with the idea that falling is not an option. Hasn't happened yet. I don't pretend to be a great climber, I'm not out doing really hard routes. But it's plenty challenging and stimulating. I don't do a whole lot of cragging, I'm more into alpine rock routes.

I'm not schitzophrenic, and neither am I.

Ooh, the lurkers are coming out of the woodwork now. Welcome (officially) to the board. Don't worry, most of the spray is just for fun. A few people have anger management problems and threaten lots of violent acts, but I haven't heard of any actual confrontations involving cc.comers. And considering there's really only about half a dozen people that post here w/ tons of avatars, most of the time they're arguing w/ themselves.

Well OR might get a little pissed if you annex the whole state, 'cuz anything south of Olympia doesn't really count as WA anymore, it's already been annexed to OR. You can have the northern half maybe. What the hell am I saying? Don't you know Canada is just the attic for the good 'ol U S of A, where we store some extra stuff.

The most helpful thing for me in getting the right mindset to do lead climbing was solo scrambling on 3rd/4th/low 5th class stuff. I'm in the "don't learn how to fall because falling shouldn't be considered one of your options" camp.

What about American Border Peak and Canadian Border Peak? It's a little confusing, you know.

I think it's a trick, Pope wants Lambone's woman to help him w/ his woody.

Geez, me and Pope were rappin' about all of Wilt Chamberlain's bastard children, and next thing I know this thread is trying to break the Muir Hut fiasco's record for most posts.

I know at least 3 Goat Lakes in WA. Probably endless numbers of Blue Lakes, Deep Lakes, Clear Lakes, etc. throughout the west or the entire U.S. A couple of Granite Mtns. in WA, not all that far from each other.

Way to go ONP, our tax dollars at work again.

To add to Winter's example, also look at recent proposed developments near the SW entrance of Rainier NP and the Cle Elum area. While both are a long way from happening, I think at this point the enviros are losing and the developers are winning in both cases.

I've heard a little here and a little there, for some young hotties their career goal is basically to get knocked up by a rich pro athlete, then they're set for life, cashing in on the child support payments. I don't know what's worse, ho's taking advantage of our child welfare system like that, or dumbass jocks who aren't smart enough to cover their willie (especially after the first time--see Shawn Kemp).

Maybe we should rename this thread "International Year of the Bastard Child." Ever watch that totally cheesy show Son of the Beach (Baywatch spoof)? I swear that muscle head guy has got to be Ahnold's illegitimate child. Looks like him, talks like, has the physique. Don't let Maria Shriver know.

Figger 8, On a halfway serious note, the AIDS epidemic has wiped out an extremely significant number of people, and yet the population continues to grow exponentially. Think of how catastrophic something would have to be to have a similar effect as the bubonic plague did in Europe.

You know, I've always wondered about this: if Wilt Chamberlain really nailed 20,000 women or whatever he claimed (something like 2+ per day from the moment puberty hit 'til the day he died), why aren't there 100's or 1000's of illegitimate Wilt Chamberlain offspring running around? No "I'm Wilt Chamberlain's bastard child" conventions in every NBA city. Family reunions on Jerry Springer. It just makes you wonder a little bit if he was, oh I don't know, exagerating or flat out lying his ass off. For all we know Shawn Kemp has produced a bigger litter than Wilt, and that dude is butt ugly.