Alex Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 Seeing the post about the guy in OR who summitted Hood in track shoes (not an uncommon practice I am sure) churned up some memories about improvised "climbing gear" I have seen over the years: ------------ So here's my bizarre sighting: Mt Shasta 1994, average joe summit-bound with PULASKI rather than ice axe up Avalanche Gulch route. Guess he took the "axe" thing literally! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 The first time I was on the Muldrow glacier I wore tennis shoes with holes in the bottoms and carried a large screw driver just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 I like the idea of soloing on a glacier with a 20 foot aluminum ladder around your waist for bridging if you fall into a crevasse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegetablebelay Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 Last Spring on Whitehorse while coming down from High Pass, we saw a family headed up toward the pass and each was carrying a long (8') stick. They were wearing blue jeans and other odd mountainwear and they weren't very friendly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 My one time rock mentor Andy Pacheco once famously wore blue jeans up Baker and got frostnip of a sensitive area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fern Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 that photo doesn't do justice to Andy's ubiquitous red adidas pants. I met a guy hiking to Garibaldi Lake once, one snowshoe was the side of a milkcrate, the other was a window mosquito screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 I do believe that John Baldwin once climbed the north ridge of Guard Mtn. using tele cables as slings and a claw hammer he stole from Sphinx Hut as a 2nd tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 They had good T shirts too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregm Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by vegetablebelay: Last Spring on Whitehorse while coming down from High Pass, we saw a family headed up toward the pass and each was carrying a long (8') stick. They were wearing blue jeans and other odd mountainwear and they weren't very friendly no shit! i think i must have seen that same family right below lone tree pass the year before. my climbing partner was SAR and politely suggested they turn around, to which the oldest guy replies that he's "lived his whole life a couple miles from here." i still don't know what was up with those huge sticks, they were pretty thick too. and some of those kids were pretty young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_K Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 A friend of mine ran into a fellow wearing golf shoes climbing on the Coleman Glacier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyboy Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Best climbing attire: Last spring on St. Hellens I saw a gal wearing a cheerleader sweater and skirt hiking up to the crater rim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegetablebelay Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by monkeyboy: Best climbing attire: Last spring on St. Hellens I saw a gal wearing a cheerleader sweater and skirt hiking up to the crater rim. No pompoms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klar404 Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 share the fantasy, mokeyboy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klar404 Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 er......... monkeyboy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jens Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Once I saw a man just below muir on his way up with one suitcase in his left hand, an 80's vintage camcorder in his right ( in a plastic case), dress shoes, slacks, and a members only jacket tied around his waist. He said he had just flew in to Sea Tac earleir on (about 8 hours ago) from somewhere like south carolina. He claimed he was doing the tourist thing and was going to make a summit bid that day. The way the guy was talking, I bet he did try to keep going higher above muir. I saw some dudes tie their first ever prussik knots with hemp cords at 14 thousand on Denali. And learn to lash on crampons to their True Value hardware sorrels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To_The_Top Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Two years ago on the Coleman Glacier I saw a older guy that had two screwdrivers he was using for ice axes. He stopped to talk to us and handed us Billy Graham fliers, and he was up the previous weekend doing the same according to a friend of mine.Last Year on Hood a guy made an ice axe with rebar. Yah Alex that guy on Hood this year special ordered those shoes from Nike as they don't normally stock the one inch spike shoes.TTT [ 03-06-2002: Message edited by: To The Top ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figger_Eight Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 I saw a guy head up the mountain from Camp Muir in cowboy boots. This was after I saw a bunch of Secret Service guys usher Al Gore off the mountain. That was a weird day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texplorer Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 You can interchange the spikes in track shoes with Javelin spikes. they are about 3/4 of an inch long and wicked looking. I have used some old racing flats as lightweight approach shoes before. heh heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 On our way down from Camp Muir we passed a group of Army guys (national guard maybe?) who were hiking up in a rag-tag assemblage of street clothes and uniform parts. Some were wearing combat boots, others running shoes. ALmost all were wearing cotton socks--some had their socks on their hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 On my way back to Highway 20 after climbing the NE Buttress of Goode here is what my partner and I saw on the trail about 7 miles from the road. It was about 85 degrees out. A 35 year old man wearing a full on Scottish sweater and jeans. He is hauling 2 suitcases. He drops them next to two other suitcases. All the suitcases have rollers on them. In his stash of gear he has a full navy sized duffle bag, several garbage bags full of something I don’t know, a footlocker, and a 5 gallon water jug full of water. No backpack. No horse. The guy has nobody with him. We get to talking to him and he says he is walking to Leavenworth. It has taken him 3-4 days to walk the 7 miles he has gone from Highway 20. It takes him 5 trips back and forth to bring all his gear forward along the trail, and he does it in increments of one mile. I found out the NPS interviewed him when he got to the Stehekin road. They were very suspicious of him and looked through his stuff. He had no drugs and all the stuff he was carrying was his worldly possessions and he was just on a summer romp through the woods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 stefan that guy has been around for years..... his buddy is pasayten pete, though they might even be the same person....i have yet to have the pleasure to meet this fellow, but i cannot wait for some reason i can always relate to folks like this....... his effort is nearly unparalled by any climber that i know....several roller types of luggage would be b!@#h to even think about dealing with....i hate one medium sized back pack.... props to that homeboy!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Saw a guy at the moraine camp in the Boston Basin with penny loafers on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodeo Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 Dude,,, Now that's livin'... (--Climb on,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To_The_Top Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 RBW1966- Those army guys a couple years ago going to Muir, if it was the same group we saw there were 110 of them and we saw them coming down, all wet, some snowblind (some had no sunglasses) and really sunburned. That was wild. TTT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted March 7, 2002 Share Posted March 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Stefan: On my way back to Highway 20 after climbing the NE Buttress of Goode here is what my partner and I saw on the trail about 7 miles from the road.It was about 85 degrees out. A 35 year old man wearing a full on Scottish sweater and jeans. He is hauling 2 suitcases. He drops them next to two other suitcases. All the suitcases have rollers on them. In his stash of gear he has a full navy sized duffle bag, several garbage bags full of something I don’t know, a footlocker, and a 5 gallon water jug full of water. No backpack. No horse. The guy has nobody with him. We get to talking to him and he says he is walking to Leavenworth. It has taken him 3-4 days to walk the 7 miles he has gone from Highway 20. It takes him 5 trips back and forth to bring all his gear forward along the trail, and he does it in increments of one mile. I found out the NPS interviewed him when he got to the Stehekin road. They were very suspicious of him and looked through his stuff. He had no drugs and all the stuff he was carrying was his worldly possessions and he was just on a summer romp through the woods. I talked to someone else that saw this same guy. What he REALLY needed was what this guy once came into Arc't***x (a famous pack and clothing maker) and tried to order. "What's the biggest pack you have?""This one" (points at 100 liter pack)"No... too small.""Sir, this pack carries 100L and the top collar can be extended.""I'm looking for something bigger. Maybe about 200L." "That seems very large, sir.""Well, I'm walking across Canada and I want to be able to carry all my clothes and so on. I like to take a lot of stuff.""I'm sorry sir, not only do we not only not make packs that big, but NO ONE ELSE DOES EITHER!" " Huh. Well, then... I've got this 165L hockey bag, do you think you could sew a pack suspension onto it for me?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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