sobo

I don't recall it being discussed here (but I don't spend all day on this board, usually ), but it was discussed at length on the FCCC Yahoo group (Frenchman Coulee Climber's Coalition) after some actions by Bill Robins (RIP) regarding access to the ice climbs on the north wall of Frenchman's Coulee. Perhaps the archives of that group could shed some (local) light on the issue.

I know Jerome personally (and it's "Devlin", not "Delvin"), although I haven't seen much of him locally since he got really active in politics a few years back. He is a climber and high altitude mountaineer. He simply wants to open up more climbing opportunities in Washington. Be glad. Secondly, precedent/tort holds that you cannot charge a fee and be absolved of responsibility for injuries/death on private property. The two are mututally exclusive propositions (correct me if wrong, TLG, mattp, specialed, others). Charge a fee, accept responsibility. Free access, no liability. And lastly, just in case if you didn't know, Andy Fitz is the immediate past Director of the Access Fund. Be glad for him, too.

... in our dialogues with Dru and our other Northern friends... Translator Ny Nomex suit is on...

Nope, haven't been in since way back before Christmas. I was kinda thinkin' that someone would go in over the Great Freeze, but apparently not. It's warm up there right now. WSDOT White Pass cam sez it's 34F right now, with FL rising to 5500 feet by Saturday. MLK Day is looking like upper 20s at the elevation of the Strobach base (4500 feet). With the warm temps, the snow will melt and become free water , but it's gotta get back down in the teens/low 20s for a week or so after that to get the climbs to come in good. The snow depth will be killer from now on. Best to plan on an o-night bivy, or wrestle a snowmachine in there for day trips.

Uhhhh, that would be me! I need to rethink that...

We should all be concerned with protecting the head that we get. Glad to see that you're taking the lead on this, for all our sakes!

Thank you, Ade. That's good beta. I downloaded, and will read for my own edification.

Dropped the roll off at lunch today, pick 'em up tomorrow evening (cheaper that way), scan 'em and post to Gallery on Wednesday. I like my old SLR for action pics way better than my digital camera. Press shutter release, wham!, picture taken. None of this wait wait wait click! BS.

Nowhere did I see where I discredited BD in my post. I merely posted an article, freely available on the internet for public consumption, describing some concerns with the Halfdome helmet.

You might give this article a read. From the article... ...In order to finally lay the issue to rest and to reassure customers, the BMC has recommended to Black Diamond that the helmet be retested and hopefully recertified at a third test house with appropriate experience in testing of mountaineering helmets. The BMC is also recommending that BD improve the quality control procedure to limit the variation in crown/cradle distance. I was going to buy one recently, but when I read this about a two months ago, I rethought that decision. Note that the date of the article is from November 2000. I'm sure BD is already aware of this.

OK, so I couldn’t get out earlier in the week when it was really cold, but Cragg and I managed to hook up for both days this past weekend to swing tools. Here’s the goods: Saturday: Peekaboo, at the Great Wall (page 207 in The Guide), saw its first lead (I had provided incorrect info to the The Guide’s authors in late 2002, misunderstanding Cragg’s comments – In truth, Peekaboo had only seen a few TRs prior to this weekend). Once led and seconded, we debated about upping the grade to 3+ because of its steepness. We each made two additional laps on TR, and decided to leave it as it is in The Guide. Remember to take two ropes for the rappel, because even though the ice is only about 40-50 feet, it’s a long way up to the rap tree. Moved over to Horsetail Falls, which was as fat as I’ve ever seen it. We dispatched it with three laps on it solo, each. Moved up the highway to Union Creek Falls (page 209), which is a tough one to catch in condition. After busting the trail in with snowshoes, we were rewarded with the best conditions that either of us had ever seen for this climb. My turn to lead. I led up the left side of the falls, repeating the first ascent of 2002. It was so fat, we thought about downgrading it to just a 3. But Cragg insists that I always undergrade, so we left it alone as well. By now it was pretty damn dark, so we trudged out by headlamp. Total for the day: 3 routes, 350 vertical feet per climber. Cursed myself for not bringing a camera! Sunday: Figgerd that we better get back on Union Creek, as its never been as good as it was yesterday. I remembered to bring a camera this time, so we took pics of Peekaboo, Two Face, and Horsetail on the way up to Union Creek. The trip in to the falls was a cruise this time, given the previous day’s trailbreaking effort. Cragg took the lead today, and we set up a TR on the left side, and just took laps. Lots of fun experimenting with Figure 4s and ¼” pick placements. For Cragg’s fourth and last trip up, he veered way right of the TR anchor, taking on the center of the falls, which by now were no longer encased in the sheltering tube of yesterday. He got totally soaked, but enjoyed it all the same. For my last trip, I went extreme left and climbed the verglassed rock wall to the left of the bulges below the TR anchor. Pure vertical columns and icicles - very pumpy! I would call it a WI4+/5- if it were to be led. Had to rest 2 or 3 times by hanging on tools and front points (no tight ropes allowed). Someone get out there and ropegun it for this fat old white boy and confirm or refute it. We had some visitors come by and gawk for a bit and ask some reasonably intelligent questions, then we packed up and headed out. Total for the day: 1 route, 320 vertical feet per climber. Will try to figger out how to post pics to The Gallery. PS: I posted a correction to The Guide regarding the Union Creek Falls descent route. Instead of rappelling from the downed tree on the top right , rappel from good trees and exposed tree roots on the top left of the route . Once at the top of the ice, continue up a narrow gully in snow beneath cedars to the tree roots and rap slings and ring. Now get out there and get some!

The last time I did it, we went as a group of three. It was the last week of May/first week of June, 1991. Our route was the same as you plan to do. Your rack looks good. When we did it, we took a "shared" technical tool. Only the leader got the second tool, whenever we swapped leads. The other two followed with standard ice axes (this tactic proved interesting above the Black Pyramid). We did not take any ice screws or screamers, but everyone carried one picket and a fluke. In late May of that year, the flukes proved more valuable than the pickets. One shovel, one light rope, same as you (10mm back then, I think). Bivy sacks all around, 0-5 degree polarguard/synth bags. We went in White River late in the day, camped at Glacier Basin below St. Elmo's Pass. Day two ended up at TR. Sunday put us on the top, but not until after rescuing two other groups of two (4 folks total) and putting them on the summit so a helo lift could be staged, but that's a story for another time. Weather indicators at TR: Look uphill toward summit for presence of lenticular (we had one late on the final day - they can form fast), also look left (west) for approaching maritime weather systems. We couldn't afford cell phones way back in ole '91. If you can, do the short ice pitch right out of TR and up the steep snow-covered ramp to its left. It's way more fun than the open snowfield around to the right, IMHO (especially sans pro).

Damn! That would be a long summit day. Lib Ridge

I just did some googling on dehydration and eating snow, and the references that come back talk about just what I already said, i.e., using up body heat/energy. From that, I would conclude that eating snow in lieu of drinking water could lead to excessive expenditure of body heat/energy to warm the snow to liquid, which in turn could lower body core temp, leading to hypothermia. Once hypothermic, the tendency towards lethargy could lead one to not drink enough anymore. So you've arrived at dehydration, indirectly, by eating snow. QED

I think it has something to do with your body expending precious energy to melt the snow so that you can "drink" it. And we all know that it takes many times more cups of snow to make a cup of water. A lot of energy can be wasted melting this stuff, for not much return, leading to dehydration. Mebbe one of board's medical professionals will speak up on this one...

Sad news, yet again. Condolences to the family.

Ah! Carry on then.

Lambone, I suspect that you are taking my inference about "search first, ask questions later" to an (illogical) extreme. I merely suggested that people should do a simple search first, read what they find in the search results, then formulate specifically relevant questions (that haven't already been answered from the search) to ask when they put up their post. This discussion has been had on this board already, ad nauseum. If I am wrong about the underlying intention of your reply, then I apologize in advance. I don' wan' no w' no one.

OK, my bad on replies #2 and #3. You cannot copy/paste the URL for a search to the boards, as the resulting URL of each search is www.blahblahblah/dosearch. But, Downhill, if you type in the keywords that I've indicated, limit the keywords to "in subject" and narrow/expand the search to The Gear Critic and/or All Foums, with no date restrictions, you will see the threads I tried to show you. Be sure to click the "Display Only Main Posts" selection at the bottom of the search page, or it will take forever to return results. You'll get the main (initial) post, which will lead you to the thread. Carry on, and pls forgive the earlier rant. I'm in a really pissy mood today, and it just got shit on you for no particular reason. I apologize; I'm really not that much of an asshole.

One more time! A search of All Forums, all dates, with the keywords "avy", "avalanche", "transceiver", and "beacon", limited to "show only main posts" provided this wealth of information. This should keep you occupied while on the shitter for quite some time...

Yet another search for "avalanche transceiver" in The Gear Critic forum yielded these 7 threads. Read on.

A quick search (10 seconds invested, mebbe?) of The Gear Critic forum for "avy tranceivers" yielded 4 threads within the past 2 years. See this thread for starters. It discusses all three of the options you listed. Open thought: Why don't folks on this board use the search function more often before posting?

You have to go to college? Does this mean that you don't want to go college? You should seriously rethink your priorities and get some direction in your life, dude. Unless you're a trustafarian.

That, and bill the fuckstick for the 4 years of free cable anyway.