CascadeClimber Posted January 4, 2002 Share Posted January 4, 2002 Talk, talk, talk. But how many of you have actually been kicked out of the Mountaineers? My basic climbing course story (greatly abbreviated): Snow 1- Hike up terrain trap on day 1 in three feet of fresh snow. Leader refuses to turn around despite the advice of most others in the group. Day 2 I dislocate my patella in a weird incident. Same leader 'requires' me to be littered down to the parking lot, claiming that it will be 'good practice for us'. I nearly get dumped with the litter several times. Snow 2- The leader sets us up under loose rock, against the advice and request of the others in the group. He says "We know there will be no rock fall because we've been watching for two days and nothing has fallen" (yes, he said this). Five minutes later a rock half the size of a car comes down, narrowly missing two five-person rope teams. A week later I get a phone call: "Yes hello Loren, we are asking that you no longer participate with the club because you are unsafe. With your knee, you put everyone you climb with in jeopardy." So there you have it, the sordid tale. I've outed myself: I tried to be a mountie, but in the end, I didn't have the right stuff. -Loren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted January 4, 2002 Share Posted January 4, 2002 Did you get your membership money back. At least you could get some hot chicks # at some non climbing event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Posted January 4, 2002 Share Posted January 4, 2002 quote: Originally posted by chucK: Bronco, Aren't you supposed to be at Index today.... No belay. but thanks for rubbing salt in the wounds It sure looks sunny over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted January 4, 2002 Author Share Posted January 4, 2002 It seems the difference between Mountaineers and CC.commers is that the mtneers swarm the TRs and the CC.commers swarm the bars! Speaking of which I hope you are all psyched for some heavy drinking at Lillooet Ice Fest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 4, 2002 Share Posted January 4, 2002 whoooohooooo aiyyyaaaaaayiiiaaaa bring on the ice... cold beers in lillowet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CascadeClimber Posted January 4, 2002 Share Posted January 4, 2002 It is a long story, but after several months I did get the money I paid for the climbing class back. I used it to drown my in Come on, anyone else out there willing to admit that the mounties kicked you out? Surely, I can't be the only one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 Well, my own relative (by marriage) refused to climb with me because I had not graduated from the Mountaineers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinouscling Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 The ice fest is too far in the future. I plan to be in Lilooet next weekend. Speaking of the ice fest, will there be chicks? I'm wondering what the man/woman ration will be. I met a gal at the Ouray ice fest but her hairy armpits and mustache were a real turnoff . Now that I think about it, she was more Dru's type. I should have given her your number Dru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 I've got no gripe with The Mountaineers. They certainly have every right to be in the mountains! It does seem that a large % of their class instructors are incredibly arrogant, but then there is no law against that either. Indeed, it is The Mountaineers that seem to think they own the mountains. "Reserving" the Nisqually Glacier???? Another point, they are not really a "club" but rather a corporation. Books $$$, membership $$$, lobbying (some good, some bad). So far they seem to be on the right side of the access issue, as opposed to some local groups like WTA that want to lock hikers and climbers out of the mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To_The_Top Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 Them Mounties 10 essentials never match mine..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 Yeah, like a Murphy's Irish Stout at the end of a long day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle_Tricky Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 Back to the World's Greatest Trundle stories.... As a disclaimer, this happened back when I was a wee lad, knee high to a grasshopper and not nearly as smart... One summer myself, my brother and a couple of our juvenile delinquent friends discovered the awesome destructive power of trundling. In Estes Park, Colorado, there's a high ridge that overlooks Wild Basin, in Rocky Mountain National Park. Only a couple miles from my grandparents cabin, the ridge was littered with perched granite boulders of all shapes and sizes. Below, a steep, partially forested slope dropped a couple thousand vertical feet to the basin below. It started off innocently enough. We rolled a couple bowling ball sized rocks and marveled as they bounded down the side of the valley, occassionally smashing spectacularly into thousand of pieces. Well, needless to say, things progressed from there... We pushed off larger and larger rocks, with increasingly impressive destructive results. Round granite boulders bigger than us, weighing many hundred of pounds, would roll down the slope, crushing small trees and starting more rocks in motion. Eventually they would dissapear into the thick forest below where the slope levelled out far below. Eventually we came upon a monsterous boulder, perched improbably, precariously, on the edge of a cliff. Amazingly, the four of us could wobble the thing, but we'd reached the limits of what four irresponsible adolescents could do without better tools. A few days later we returned with a couple of rock bars and lengths of 2x4 we'd pilfered from my grampa's tool shed. Using the bars to lever the SUV-sized boulder up and inch at a time, we'd then slide small rocks underneath it, and repeat. After nearly an hour of labor, the boulder finally cut loose with a groan. In what seemed like slow motion, the huge hunk of rock rolled off the edge of the small cliff, landed on the steep slope below, and starting accelerating, crushing anything and everything in its path. Speeding down the cliffy hillside, the boulder leapt 20 or 30 feet in the air, covering a hundred feet in a bound. Dozens of other boulders joined the mother of all boulders, some as big VW bugs. Perhaps a half mile below us, the rock dissapeared into the forest, but its progress was still quite visible. Trees the size of telephone poles were smashed like matchsticks, their branches literally exploding from the force of the boulder as it blasted through them without even slowing. The momentum carried the boulder far out onto the flats of the valley. The rumbling and crashing echoed across the basin like thunder, slowly subsiding. We stood, stunned and awestruck by the incredible power. Satisfied that we acheived the ultimate trundle, fearing incarceration, and sure that any ranger within 10 miles was being scrambled to our location, we hightailed it back down the trail. That was the end of my trundling career... Yup, we weren't the wisest or most responsible kids. Looking back, I feel lucky that we didn't kill someone. I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes there's objective hazards out there more dangerous than the Mountaineers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pope Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 Yous guys should cut it out already! Sure the Mounties have got their peculiarities, but the jokes get a little old.... OK, so this one time, my buddy Rob and I were approaching Chimney Rock when a group of Mounties passed us on the trail. Based on the speed at which they traveled, we assumed they were on their way to one of those square-dance functions (you know, where BOTH of the female members in that club are expected to attend, and the guys get all upset). We camped below our objective, from where we could hear belay signals above us until about a half an hour after dark. "Bruuuunnoooooh....you...are....off...belay!" Next morning we got a late start, with more belay signals functioning as our alarm. We scrambled up the glacier and slipped into our rock shoes, then caught up to these guys in about three pitches. Talking about a fluster cluck, these guys had been climbing out of their bivouac for about two hours, and they didn't appear too pleased to see us. No, we would not be allowed to pass, and BTW, this is definitely an ALPINE climb. I think these comments were made in reaction to my care-free wardrobe...T-shirt, cheetah-look lycra leotards, no pack, etc. These guys were taking their enormous packs on up with them, while wearing full winter-weight garb (one even sported a pair of super gaiters). We worked around on easy ground to their left, then finished the route with a no-pro 5.7 arete that put us on the summit. We had descended the route and hiked most of the way out of the valley when we noticed that these guys were still tackling the summit block. And it ain't like we're all that fast.... The Mounties: fastest on the trail, slowest on the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svilar Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 Here's a positive vote for the Mountaineers. If you're a cheap-ass like myself there's just no better place to get some instruction than the mountaineers. I paid less than $300 for the basic and intermediate courses where I could have paid AAI $2,000 to shove it all down my throat in two weeks. Having said that, I can't resist a good story or two.... My first memory of the basic course is showing up for the knots field trip (yeah, there's a field trip for that) in downtown Everett and wondering why everyone was wearing helmets and Gore-Tex. My last memory was supposed to be a climb up Shucksan via the Sulphide. At first I thought it would be entertaining to have a recovering alcoholic, biker, lard-ass along for the climb, but when we all had to turn around because he was finished after 1.5 miles in the trees I wasn't as excited. Instead we went and climbed the north face of Pilchuck. Not exactly my picture of splendid alpine grandeur (sp?) but dodging soda cans dropped from the lookout did add to the challenge. Mountaineers is a great way to become aquainted with climbing if you can put up with large club mentality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinouscling Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 There are two things that piss me off about these clubs. 1. They have a tendency to take over entire walls with their TRs. I.E. Phoenix Buttress at Smith. One can get around that by climbing hard. One usually does not run into clubbies on walls with no routes below 5.11. I have yet to run into clubbies in Cocaine Gully (no boasting intended). 2. They tend to stick their big noses into other peoples business and many of them feel the need to remind you about your supposed safety inadequacies such as the lack of a helmet or not using the official climbing commands. To that I just tell them to "Suck my fat one!". Now I also partially agree with Payaso's post. Some of you posers (I mean, posters) sound rather high and mighty and maybe a little snobbish. To you individuals I also say "Suck my fat one!". That is all. Oh, by the way. HeinousCling has arrived!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 HeinousCLingon you are funny. Suck my fat one Clingon hehehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmonster Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 I usually try not to get into these pissing matches, but I wanted to say something about the Mounties. I've been through all of their climbing course and I can say I've learned alot. I've met Mountaineer members who can climb gnarly 5.12 offwidths and members who have only climbed The Tooth and Mt. Rainier (12 times each). You guys bitching may have had a bad experience, but don't judge the whole club based on 1 or 2 incidents. Graduates of Mounties courses are required to have had MOFA training. How many others out in the Mountains have had some kind of formal first aid? One summer a few years ago, we pulled a non-Mounties fella off Sloan peak when his party couldn't get him out of a moat. He eventually died from complications (wasn't wearing a helmet). Two weeks later, a guide from a local big name service took a bad fall while taking clients up Glacier Peak. We gave him first aid, called for a chopper and then took his clients down Frostbite Ridge after he was whisked away. Turns out that he probably would have died if we hadn't been there. A few weeks later, we had to help a woman down from Lundin after she slid over 500 ft down a snow slope into a tree. Granted, the Mountaineers have had their share of accidents, but they represent a large number of climbers in the Pacific Northwest. Of course you'll see their name a lot. It's in the percentages. As for the crowds, the Mountaineers (as a club) limit climbs to 12. Individual leaders generally limit their climbs to less. You know who get's all the Boston Basin permits? it's not Mountaineers, it's the guide services. You know who has all the folks on Rainier? It's RMI, whose clients are generally much less qualified to be there than a typical mounties group. I'm not dissin' the guide services, it's just that they carry many folks into the mountains as well. If you want to get away from the crowds, stay away from The Tooth, Rainier, Baker, etc... Hello? Fucking popular climbs with everyone, not just the Mounties. As for me, I don't climb much with the club anymore even though I'm on their leader's list. I prefer a team of just 2 or 3 which is not always looked upon favorably by the club. I'm okay with that. I'm still affiliated with the club. I'm proud of what they taught me. They provide invaluable services to the Pacific Northwest community. My guess is that those bitching don't really know much about the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 Mountaineers rock! I am joining so I can meet all the cute girls on singles events Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodchester Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 my 2 cents... I think the Mountaineers and clubs like them provide a good service. Seriously, can you imagine what it would be like with them all roaming around the mountians without some structure? Fuck, it would suck out loud in stereo!!! Talk about rescue!!! I also know many very accomplished climbers and very competant climbers that started out in the basic course. Then they usually leave the club once they have the basics down. No shame in that. I will say that the mounties are not the only group with that rep. I was in the north Wind River Range with some bros a few years ago and we ran into Ted Lowe....first thing he said to us was..."you guys aren't from NOLS are you?" Silence until we realized they have the same problem as we do with the mounties here in the Cascades. We laughed and said fuck no. We went on venting about running into NOLS groups and how they say that their way is the only way. I do take exception to the way they run many of thier outings and I am very unhappy with some just-passed-the-basic-course-so-now-I-am-an instructor telling me I am wrong. Sure if you see someone is not clipped in and they think they are, you should politely point it out...but most are just saying do it the mounty way. Additionally, because the school environment has so many to teach, it simply cannot teach more than one method. This approach is fine if it is tempered with the idea that: we show you this way, we want it done this way...but there are other ways that we will not show you here today. Too many graduate the course and believe there is only one way, the mounty way and that all others are wrong and dangerous. I rarely have problems with them because I avoid and ignore them. Accept it though...if your are on the tooth you are going to have to deal with them...so deal baby, deal. Leugo!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineK Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 I think I should start with something nice. The Mountaineers have published a lot of great books and through their committees a lot of good work's been done to preserve the local mountain environment. If it wasn't for the work of the Mountaineers there would be a huge open pit copper mine in the middle of the North Cascades. Now lets get to some dirt. My dad was very active in the mounties when I was young. We used to ski at the Snoqualmie Pass lodge and Meany hut all the time. I wanted to climb so I took the basic climbing class when I was 14. It was kind of interesting being 14 with a bunch of my dads '50s era climbing gear hanging out with a bunch of yuppies in their 30s with brand new everything. My first basic experience climb was Magic Mtn. 12 of us started out on the route. Our leader was in front and I was about 3 rope teams back. We got 3 pitches up the route and all of a sudden the leader stopped moving. We all sat there for hours. What had happened was the leader got to a point on the climb that he didn't have enough skill to get past (the climb is maybe 5.3) he didn't give up, and he didn't let anyone else take over leading. So we all sat there for about 8 hours while the leader fucked around.(I'm not kidding) Finally as the sun was starting to set he decided that we should turn around. So all 12 of us rapelled. We got back to our tents at 10PM and the parking lot at 1AM. A friend of mine took the basic class when he was 15 or so and on one experience climb on Mt. Adams they headed off to the summit in pretty bad weather, they summitted, and then they only found their tents by luck in a blizzard in which one of the tents blew away before they even got back to their camp. I got through the basic class and started the intermediate. But eventually got sick of the mounties and quit. One other funny note. (especially considering my rep on the board) Like I mentioned above I used to ski at the mounties Meany lodge a lot. When I was 16 all us younguns used to sneak out to some old sheds to party while all the oldsters were wooping it up square dancing and getting down to polka. One night me and a couple buddies went off to the generator shed to smoke some pot. Well someone was watching us and we ended up getting busted. They called up my parents and ratted me out. Fuckin mounties. [ 01-06-2002: Message edited by: AlpineK ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairns Posted January 5, 2002 Share Posted January 5, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dru: The reason I asked the original question (do Spokane Mountaineers = seattle Montaineers AKA THE MOUNTAINEERS) is because one of the Spokane group told me they were totally different. But in terms of behaviour, they seem to perform exactly the same (ie swarm popular areas with huge hordes.) SO i wondered what the difference was? Aside from minor differences in coloration the key distinguishing characteristic is smell, acquired from communal gathering places and diet.I know a good climber who came through the Seattle Mountaineers. He could have been like Messner were it not for that early handicap. The danger field is so intense I nearly became a victim of it just by looking through the Mountaineers' Intermediate Climbs Guide. Back to the smell. The women develop synchronized menstrual cycles and the men have suppressed androgen levels except for the alpha who becomes exaggeratedly obnoxious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott_J Posted January 6, 2002 Share Posted January 6, 2002 Seattle "FUCKIN" Mountaineers. I hate those fuckin bastards. One they go out in huge groups to teach climbing occupy camping sites and parking not to mention a few good climbing areas. Last year a bud of mine was down from Alaska we were in Icicle looking for a camp site. They had a few tents here and there with plenty of space to share a site. Did the fuckers offer to share NO!!! Not one fucking offer. Mountain routes(and this was in the 70's to)are over run with their class climbs and regular outings. Do they practice low impact? Do they care? Are they a problem? I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers!I hate the Seattle Mountaineers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhamaker Posted January 7, 2002 Share Posted January 7, 2002 This might break the Muir pot thread! The Mountainfears:They have an extreemly high percentage of novices come back alive, this can't be said for other novices. Free Gear!Follow the classes and climbs around and find gear! The mountains are crowded. Large groups need to mitigate their impact. If you don't like the impact created by large numbers, stop supporting agencies that sell the mountains - REI, MEC, RMI, Outside, Climbing . . . and start educating groups on minimum impact. Vast #'s of Outward Bound gapers are in the hills - but one rarely encounters them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted January 7, 2002 Share Posted January 7, 2002 The only club I know is KTK. We promote driking and smoking. Also we like to promote slamming other gapers like us right here for pure humor Our membership is small and costs nothing (except a few pints of heavy or doobies). MtnRngrMikeadamDruCavemanBroncoand a few others that I decline to mention Please let me know, I dont believe any of us has ever climbed harder than .11a and loves to pull on bolts, talk trash, and attempt to sandbag fellow climbers when possible P.S. Rumor has it that members in our ranks chop bolts off sport climbs when we cant climb them. Hehhehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panther Posted January 7, 2002 Share Posted January 7, 2002 Pissonyou...Pieassho...well whatever the fuck your name is...don't make me come back there and bitch slap some sense into you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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