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Glacier and Mountaineering Training!
There has been a keen interest in taking
courses that will help you learn about high altitude
mountaineering, rope work and glacier travel. These are all
real issues that living in the Northeast we are not faced.
I implore you to take a course while you
still have winter conditions. Skimom mentioned that American
Alpine Institute offers excellent programs at reasonable
costs,
see program descriptions.
This is an alternative to the RMI (Rainier Mountaineering
Inc.) course I mentioned in the previous newsletter. If
there is any interest, I will contact them on behalf of our
group. Use the
Contact Form
and select AAI Courses.
To review the course outline from RMI,
check here.
Available
Equipment
All the submitted surveys have been
compiled which provides me an overview on equipment
strengths, and weaknesses. I will attempt to outline them
here. The most glaring concerns are the equipment
that we don't have. I will use a rope team of four as the
determining factor of equipment weak-points.
Ropes
Bruce and myself are the only members
that have ropes. That means we will need someone to
acquire a rope before we leave. I suggest a purchase of
a "Dry Rope" which is treated with water repellent to
protect the rope from excessive water absorption.
Remember, the rope will drag on the glacier and pick up
moisture. I recommend 8.0 to the 10.0 mm rope. Unlike
rock climbing, a glacier rope can be a smaller diameter.
The most important benefit, is the weight factor, a
smaller diameter equals less weight without compromising
safety.
There is a rope on sale at
Rei-Outlet.com
you may want to consider. The rope is 10.3 mm, although
it is a larger diameter and is not a dry rope it is offered at a good price,
see here for details.
I recommend this only because of the cost.
Before you buy, let me know your
intentions and I will issue a email to all members so we
do not end up with 10 ropes and not enough teams to use
them.
Tents
The survey has indicated we have a
limitation on tents. For example, of the 12 members, we
have two three-man tents and five two-man tents. It is
my opinion that if we can carry three or four man tents
up to Camp Muir, we would be better off. It would be
ideal to keep a rope team in "a" tent.
I have several tents to fill in the
blanks, therefore I do not feel anyone needs to run out
and purchase a tent.
Harness
We have seven members that do not have
one. You know who you are, get one. I suggest the
Black Diamond Alpine
Bod. In addition, please get a
locking carabineer,
and three
oval carabineers.
Snow Pickets
Only three of us have snow pickets.
That should be a total of six (assuming each has two).
That is really minimal, I would like to see four pickets
per team. What happens if the guy carrying the pickets
drops into a crevasse?
Here is a suggestion.
Helmet
Need one, no question. I suggest the
Petzl Elios Class
Helmet.
Last word about equipment. Tax Return and
REI rebate. Now is the time, let's do it.
Pack Weight
This is a difficult topic to answer. Cost
is the real factor in limiting your pack weight. I have
probably the lightest weight stuff you can image. I also
paid for it, if you know what I mean. I have Titanium cook
sets and even titanium spoons. My average pack weight up to
Camp Muir has been 45 pounds.
Expect your pack to weight about 50
pounds. You need to decide what is really important and what
is "fluff". For example, every plastic boot comes with
liners. Those liners can be removed which become your
"slippers" in base camp. Do not bring booties, that saves
half a pound.
I'll offer additional suggestions on
reducing pack weight in future newsletters.
Permits
I am working on obtaining any and all
information whether we need permits. In the past I have
always been able to walk in and get one on demand. The
rangers keep 40% of available slots open for walkups,
however our group will be large enough that I want to make
sure we have permits on April 1st when we can apply for
them.
Suggested Training Climbs
I do not want to get to involved with
this. I suggest using VfTT to setup climbs and solicit
partners to help. Try to get two climbs per month in to help
build your skills.
Training
We all have different levels of training
requirements to build endurance and strength for climbing. I
can only comment on what I am doing to prepare for this
event. My training routine starts at 5:00 am, Monday through
Friday. It starts with 30 minutes on the tread mill using an
incline program. Follow that with 20 minutes of heavy weight
exercise focusing on shoulders, chest, back and legs. On
weekends that I am not climbing, I still do the same
routine, I just let it slip later in the morning.
Some of you will not require the same
level. I allowed myself to gain a few pounds over the past
couple of years, and now I will lose them.
The most important exercise you can do
involves bikes and stairs. Try to hit them hard to build up
your body.
Lodging
I am still working on a group plan for
lodging in Ashford. I'll keep you posted on what I can
arrange.
Travel Plans
There has been a
Travel Plan
page launched in this web site. Use it to coordinate your
own travel plans with those who have already bought their
tickets. I suggest if you can land in Seattle on Saturday
July 30th near noon, we would eliminate excessive waiting
for car pooling.
We will need to rent cars or (soccer moms)
mini-vans to get us on our way. No rush on this issue. I
suggest we wait until rope teams can be assigned and then
travel as teams to make coordination easier.
My Crazy Ideas
I am seriously thinking of playing on a
14K's in Colorado, California or Washington in June or July.
If you are interested, let me know.
Next
Newsletter
Volume 3 will focus on rope techniques.
I'll continue to keep you informed on travel plans, permits
and other pertinent information regarding out West Coast
Invasion Trip.
Ed
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