David_Parker

Thanks for this post Mike. I wish all rangers were as helpful and nice as you. Can you rub some of that off on the boys who work for the National De-Forest Service.

On the Brothers a few years ago, my wife and I were sit glissading down the snowfield in an established otter slide. The path came to a bulge and as I was first, I stopped to check it out. Here the snow poured over a rock covered mostly with snow except on the downhill side. There was a moat and the sliding snow created by my glissade poured into it and disappeared UNDER the snow pack. There was clearly enough room for a body. As my wife came down I waved my arms and stood in the path but she failed to heed my advise to stop. As she rapidly approached I decided I was not going to physically stop her. and stepped aside. I then yelled for her to JUMP as she got to the lip of the buldge. Fortunately she did and cleared the black hole. So I also share the harrowing vision of her potentially disappearing under the snow pack never to be seen again!

I bought Chouinard "rockbottoms" in 1986 and they still are going strong. I also have the equivelent BD "rockbottom" and they seem almost the same, a little less stiff. I like the tapered cut so I can see my feet and they work great for Mt. Biking too. Very windproof and mildly water resistant. Only drawback for men is they don't have a fly. Still, very durable and comfortable.

quote: Originally posted by rayborbon: Yeah sitting at a pub in Seattle trying to watch Hockey playoffs is nearly impossible Seattle aint no hockey town. Fickin' newspapers don't even give the playoffs any decent coverage either.

quote: Originally posted by gschryer2: Now the real problem that I'd like an answer to is: WHERE in Seattle can a guy sit and drink a beer (or several) and count on a hockey game being on the big screen instead of a baseball game. Better yet, since it's NHL play offs, where is the hang-out with at least a room half full of any team's hockey fans? Nothing irks me more during NHL playoffs than that some local pub displays a run-of-the-mill regular-season ball game over a Stanley Cup Championship NHL game. I understand the supply demand laws... but there must ba at least one cool place to watch hockey. Anyone? I feel your pain!!! I don't care what anyone says, Hockey kicks ass over mainstream American sports (baseball,football, basketball.) And the Stanley cup is THE most coveted trophy in sports. I like they don't play wimpy 5 games series in the first round too! I take a nap and then get up and watch hockey on ESPN after midnight. Last nights game between Ottawa and Phily was great. Philly just broke the NHL record for consecutive minutes played in regulation without scoring a goal (Around 300 minutes) and still going strong.

The National Park Service and the National Forest Service readily restricts one use over the other! There are plenty of trails where mountain bikes are not allowed and even trails where mt. bikes are prohibited and horses allowed! If Mt. St. Helens is a volcanic monument and can make their own rules, they should definitely revisit the snowmobile issue. I still think they probably never imagined snowmobiles that high on the mountain and therfore didn't think to make an elevation restriction on them. Jellystone is going to severely restrict snowmobile access due to the adverse impact to wildlife. The environmental impact of snowmobiles and 4-wheelers is far higher than climbers, hikers and cross country skiers. I don't think it's merely a "purity" issue. There is plenty of land for the snowmobilers and the top of Mt. St. Helens is not appropriate. They can and should restrict the elevation to which they can go.

quote: Originally posted by Colin: If any of you have climbed the South Ridge of Ingall's Peak (North peak) in the last few years, I wouldn't believe you if you told me that you didn't use any of the bolts. Those big, Metolius bolts are placed right next to cracks! I think that this is perfectly acceptable. Just imagine how much more severe those Mountaineer Clusterfucks would be if every party on that very popular route had to build their own belay/rap anchors. I think someone should chop all those bolts and install a few webcams on the route. Wouldn't it be amusing to watch those mountaineers reaction when they discovered their bolts were gone!!!

quote: Originally posted by Crackbolter: those friendly rednecks threw off a whole bunch of bottles and cans and I think I saw a tire and a diaper. Oh my god, they didn't throw off one of those Michelin babies did they? Where do you suppose the baby is? Crawled off into the woods to die?

quote: Originally posted by jon: HEY I GOT AN IDEA LETS HAVE IT ON BAINBRIDGE SO IT COULD BE FURTHER AWAY! That would be good for me but I'm not holding my breath! We do have a nice pub right on the water however. You can even drink on the ferry too!

I just called: The slide show is Wednesday, MAY 1st, 7:00 pm. Have at it boys!

MAH, I'm confused, why you want to spend that much time at Muir. Do you envision some euro style mountain hut or something? The place is gross: filled with CO2 and pot smoke, noisy, dark, and one night every ten years is enough for me! If you're thinking making a base camp with tents, go elsewhere and enjoy yourself. Also, at Muir you're not exactly close to crevasses for practising rescues. Camp Schurman is "the other" standard route and probably offers a better base camp for what you're thinking. It also has 2 camping areas if it gets crowded. I don't know what enforsement is for the number of nights you actually stay. Also, head climbing ranger Mike Gauthier posts here occasionaly and you could email him directly. He's a nice guy and might help you figure out the best plan for your group.

OK, lets get some more beta posted on the traverse from S. peak to N. peak and the descent and getting back to camp. I don't want to do any hairy rappels, especially if I'm solo!

Anyone want to give me a ride up to the rim on their sled so I can ski down. I don't like to earn my turns! Seriously, this is unbelievable! Makes you wonder who's making the policies out there. Maybe next year they can install a chairlift or a tram! I think they need to revisit these policies. Perhaps they were written when they never dreamed a snowmobile could make it that far. With the bigger, badder machines out there that can climb anything skiers can, new policies may be in order.

I think it's time that ALL motorized vehicles need to be registered just like boats. They need to have their registration numbers clearly displayed on the front hood on both sides in big letters/numbers just like boats. Then all you have to do is take the photo without talking to them. Pretty hard to dispute a photo of a sled on the crater rim or in any other illegal part of the wilderness when your registration clearly shows! This goes for motorcycles, 4-wheelers, jet skis, riding lawnmowers, whatever! If it's got a motor, register it and display the numbers clearly!!

POMB, just curious if you did it in a day from the trailhead? How many hours? I was all set to blitz it on Sunday (and had my snowshoes packed) but then my 7 year old son said he wanted to go. Seizing the opportunity, I quickly switched aggendas and we went to Mt. Angeles. We too experienced a varity of snow conditions including wet avy debris and found ourselves above a cloud layer for awhile until it moved up. Also, any opinion about doing the traverse from S to N peak? How did it look? Nice climb! [ 04-22-2002, 11:26 AM: Message edited by: David Parker ]

What I'm curious about(are there any skiers who now board) is if a snowboard is more secure on steep, icy slopes than two skis? Why do you think one may be better than the other? Lets assume ability is equal for each skier/boarder to level the field.

Was that climb thumbs up or thumbs down?

Just curious to anyone else's comments?

quote: Originally posted by sidhayes: I cant believe you guys. All this rancor for posting smaller, easier mountain peaks on Summitpost? You are either kidding about all this or you have delusions of grandeur. I have news for you, I am not a big wall climber but rather a adequate free climber and mountaineer, and I can certainly whip all of your asses, in achieving the summit of real mountains while you are still frothing around on the approach, sucking wind. Way to go sid, you can post here anytime. At least you understand the "flavor" of cc. You got some guys riled, which is good. We do have a "spray" department however.

Whats with the bright yellow and orange? Man, that shit is butt ugly. Did I mention that color is just as important in boots as your car! Frickin' Euros are back at it again!

This is truly tragic. I sincerely hope the two deceased were single and their deaths have not affected a wife or worse children for the sake of "being first" to do something. While Griber seems to indicate they were experts, I seriously question their choice to don skis/snowboard given their condition (fast ascent to altitude) time of day (obviously tired) and snow conditions. Being an "experienced" skiier does mean just ability to go down hill, but the ability to make wise choices. Sometimes the best choice is to come back another day when conditions are right. I skied the Muir snowfield in "survival" conditions earlier this year. I did not feel at that low angle I would die if I fell. Still I was nervous of sliding a long way if I did. It doesn't take much more of an angle than the Muir snowfield to start sliding out of control quickly. Once again, the tragedy occured on the descent. My sincere sympathies to all survivors directly affected. Perhaps they died doing what they loved, but I wish they were still around to enjoy life and climb and ski again. I hope some of us can learn from this.

'cause we don't feel so bad when we break shit while fighting

Found this self portrait of Scotteryx over on summitposer.com! Perhaps he should have been wearing his mask before he entered "muir on saturday!"

quote: Originally posted by IceIceBaby: I need more of a summer/approach/alpine snow and Ice climbing boots First, define "alpine snow/ice". Sounds like your covered for pure ice routes. Therefore there is no "perfect" boot. Concentrate on fit first because you'll get a ton of opinions about brand choice and basically they all are well constructed, especially if made in Italy or France. If you go with Salomon, I'm with Norm from what you described... the super 8 is a good boot and offers a very wide range of travel on a variety of surfaces. Just know if you want a good approach and good alpine rock boot, flex is good. This will not be ideal for the ice but until they make a boot where you can alter the flex, it will still be fine. I also did a 5 day trip in the pickets and broke out my old "becky" boots, classic old 3/4 shank, leathers with a ton of snow seal on them. The newer boots are a lot lighter and snap on crampon compatible. Check Sierratradingpost.com for a good deal and don't worry if it's a brand name you know. Some of these are euro boots not normally found in the US and like I said, if made in italy or france, you'll be in good shape. It helps to know your metric size too, it's a lot more accurate!

You can buy short sewn draws w/out carabiners. They even have a tight hole on one end so the biner doesn't flop around too much. They aren't very expensive, usually around $2.95 and often on sale for less.