jja

ok ice ice baby, here's my super secret ice beta, ... the next time you're reaching for one of these open the door just north of the one you're reaching for. this Sat I plan to see if I can find some non-freon assisted ice in WA.

Hey spanky, I sent you a pm about sat and maybe sunday. ... now off to see what santa got me

Hey after two years I just made miniwanker! I am superman, hear me roar

so that's going to be 21 hours of driving for what - maybe 15, 20 pitches if we're lucky. Maybe someone should invent a new rating system that's a ratio of driving time to feet of elevation gained or something. Imagine the possibilities.

Is that the thing that looks sort of like a pan flute? Does it attach to your harness or do you sling it over your shoulder?

thanks, let's see, leave after work on friday at 3pm, get there by what - 1am? Sleep in the car, climb sat and sun, leave say around 4 or 5 on Sunday, be back here about 3am on Monday, couple o' hours sleep and back to work. Sounds doable right? -john

I have a few grivels that I bought a couple of seasons ago. I love them for the same reasons that you mention. One more good point is that with the low profile head and freely swinging handle you can get it into - and out of - tight spots much easier than with a BD type screw. ... but one annoying thing is that the handle sometimes gets hung up on other gear when they're racked. Maybe I just need to be more organized - or buy yet another kind of ice screw holder gizmo. It's also kinda freaky when they're screwed in to the ice how that handle just flops around and looks like it can catch a gate on a biner - never seen this happen, I'm not even sure if it's possible, but ...

Lambone, How far can an ordinary car get up the road?

Fraser Canyon: Issued 4.00 PM pst Friday 20 December 2002 Tonight.. Mainly cloudy. Low minus 1. Saturday.. Mainly cloudy. High 2. Sunday.. Sunny periods. Low zero. High 4. Monday.. Mainly cloudy. Low minus 2. High plus 2. Tuesday.. Mainly cloudy. Low minus 2. High plus 2. Normals for the period.. Low minus 6. High zero.

Good stuff Dru, but somehow I think it's a bit of a stretch that a redneck would be reading Sun Tzu

The other two times I've done it I stayed in boots, but I was tied in then

FYI, I asked them if they were providing transportation to phair creek (and other stuff): Hi John, Thanks for your inquiry, the registration fees are in Canadian dollars which is seperate from the clinic fees which will be approximately $100 cdn. We are looking into the transportation aspect into Phair creek - most likely, but we will keep you informed. We look forward to a really great event, hope to see you here. Check out our website from time to time for information and updates and keep dancing for lots of ice and cool temps. Cheers, Lisa Morello EMM Marketing Management, Ice Fest Organizer Phone and fax: 250 256-0354 Box 173 Lillooet, BC V0K 1V0

"seige it with fixed lines and ice tools." - hey just remember to leave the O2 at home, ya gotta take the mountain using fair means, or it don't mean nothing.

In the past two years I've twice hiked up to the tooth with the intention of soloing it and chickened out both times ... well last saturday I went up and did it. Absolutely fantastic weather for dec 7. Started out early at the lower parking lot and came up the right side of the valley. Crossing the bowl just above source lake was a hoot with slippery snow and ice covered boulders, heading up the gully to the great scott bowl below the tooth was even more hoots with steep frozen mud, and more ice covered boulders. For sure the approach was more difficult and probably more dangerous than the actual climb. Just below the tooth the lead guy of a party of three that had been just behind me the whole way caught up. We had a chat, and he asked me if I was doing it alone. This was good, as it kept me from bailing yet again. I said yes and we did the rest of the approach together. The south facing conditions were fantastic, no ice, no snow, warm rock, and sunny - remarkably different than the conditions in the mostly shaded approach. After changing into approach shoes, I tied my rope to my back and headed past him as he waited for his two partners to catch up. At first having never soloed anything before I was scared shitless, but the peer pressure of having someone watch you does wonders, as does the realization that it's only at best 5.4 and I've done this route twice before. After the first couple of moves (if you can call them that) I was feeling better and just cruised to the top in no time. It's amazing how quickly you can climb when there is no rope management, no belays, no protection, and no anchors. I got to the top and relaxed in the sun, it was probably about 50 degrees at around 11am or so. My plan was to chill out on top and wait for that party of three to get up top, then rap off. Well I waited and waited, almost fell asleep in the sun. And finally like an hour later a party crests the top - and it's somone else! Apparantly this new party of two climbed past the three because they were going so slow. So I decided to rap off then - and were they going slow! I'm no rope gun but this guy (who mentioned he was with the mountaineers <insert joke here>) was leading the last pitch crack like he was freeing El Capitan at 5.13 or something. Man was he scetchy. The day I was there there was a solid deck of fog in the valley at about 4500' or so. With the top of the tooth at 5600' it was casting a huge shadow onto this solid deck of clouds and a round halo like glory formed around the shadow cast into the fog. It was truly spectacular, the photo I took only hints at how magnificent it was. Probably because I used a cheap $5 disposable camera. ... all in all, it wasn't a bad day - whether it's worth a tr is another thing altogether, but hey it's shitty rainy out today and I've got nothing better to do.

check your pm's

This saturday my partner and I were on the carbon when we decided to bail. We had spent a few minutes that morning listening to the weather on a climbing rangers radio on curtis ridge. It's funny how when you want something to be true you only hear what you want to here - I kept latching on to the part about sunbreaks. After a shrug and a noncommittal sort of "let's go" we left curtis and headed up the carbon. That little voice kept eating at me until I finally expressed my doubts to Mick and we made the decision before getting on the route. On sunday's hike out we crossed paths with many groups both coming and going. On the winthrop just before we reached st elmo's we spoke briefly with a rope of two men and two women, told them we had changed our minds because of the weather and wished them luck. My thoughts and prayers are with all those they left behind.

quote: Originally posted by freeclimb9: - provide accessible toilet facilities." Is that why there's a folding wheel chair hanging in the outhouse at Muir?

Tom and Mark, Tony and Mike - sounds kind of close doesn't it? ... sorry guys I agree, this was probably the last weekend, just glad we found something to climb.

Had to go one more time to use my new tools (thanks to whoever posted the deal on quarks at northernmountain.com). warm weather, sun, and ice climbing - gotta love spring. rambles - all the pitches on the two first climbs are in and fairly fat. The only thin spot was the rock notch on the second pitch of the first climb - it made for a ballsy first ice lead for wayne (only his second time on ice). the tube (?) - the pillar real close to the road (just after a diagonal culvert), was in. carl's berg - looked real thin and chandeliered but was climbed on Saturday by Tony and Mike from seattle (broke a pick on lead). Honeyman Falls and cherry ice - looked in from 99N on the way out of Lillooet. Synchronicity - most of it looked in. Marble Canyon - can you say wet? After about 4 laps on tr the ropes were absolutely soaked - pretty wild how a belay device can become a faucet as the rope runs through it. The lake had about an inch of water on the ice. wayne is thin and crossed the lake, I'm fat and walked around. waite for spring - real thin at the bottom, but plenty of ice higher. deeping wall - actually fairly fat on the left side with one spot touching down. icy bc - sounded like a freight train with all the water running behind it, through it, and on top of it. Didn't stop Tony and Mike from leading it though. - john & wayne

The only thing I'd add is that the approach to Red Wall Wanderer was lots of fun with much post holing into tree wells and through hidden snow covered branches. .. and that Gilles is a climbing machine who gladly waited forever while I hacked my way up (in quite poor style) my first WI5. -john

I'll second the vote for Northern Mountain. I've gotten more than a few things from them and have always had a good experience.

quote: Originally posted by Mer: You guys think the ice will last for another couple of weeks in Lilooet? I don't know, but the forecast from environment canada isn't so great: Fraser Canyon: Issued 4:00 PM pst Monday 11 March 2002Tonight.. Mainly cloudy with showers changing to flurries overnight. Wind south 25 km/h. Low plus one. Tuesday.. Mainly cloudy with few morning flurries changing to a few showers in the afternoon. Wind south 30 km/h. High 7. Wednesday.. Mainly cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers. Low minus one. High 7. Thursday.. Mainly cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers. Low minus 2. High 6. Friday.. Mainly cloudy. 60 percent chance of flurries or showers. Low minus 3. High 4. Normals for the period.. Low minus 2. High 9.

Anybody interested in going up there this weekend? It looks like it's been below 0c all week. I've got wheels and a rack, but am a lame ass so only lead 3+/4. email or pm me. -john

quote: Originally posted by Beck: ..whatever, rat, I didn't go. The guide service pitch lasted about 1 min. with half of that time spent apologizing for it. [ 02-22-2002: Message edited by: jja ]

Your welcome! We were there just after christmas and tr'd it. I'm sort of new to ice, so what would you say that is, WI3? jja