Sunday, February 24, 2013 - First Conditioner Hike

First conditioner – Tiger 2-3

This was supposed to be Tiger 1-2-3 . Actually, we were scheduled to hike Mt. Washington, but plans were changed at the last minute in order to allow us to attend the 10:00am AA meeting on Tiger Mountain. It was important to attend the meeting because it had become an impromptu memorial service for David F., who passed away unexpectedly last week, on Wednesday, February 20. David was a very active member of OSAT. I knew him and he was very friendly and very helpful, even to people he didn’t know (like me).  I first met David on the trail up to Tiger Mountain, then again at an REI garage sale in late December. While waiting in line for the doors to open at the garage sale, David cooked up a gourmet breakfast for everyone in line. Fried eggs, french toast, sausages, fresh coffee and OJ. This was at about 5 in the morning, as we were all camped out on the sidewalk. It was such a great gesture! Rest in Peace, David. You exemplified how members of OSAT are.

Back to the hike up Tiger Mountain 2-3. The numbers refer to the different peaks on Tiger Mountain. I have been awfully sick the last few weeks and this was the first time I felt remotely well enough to exercise so it was nice to get out and walk around. I had no extra weight in the pack other than the 10 essentials, which included extra clothing and 3 liters of water. The trail was easy, wet, muddy and slippery. We didn’t make very good time so the leader decided to skip Tiger 1 and just go to the Tiger 2 and Tiger 3 summits so we could make to the meeting on time (the meeting is held just below the Tiger 3 summit).

All my gear worked well but I will need some new gloves, I think. I’ve been using the nice ragwool glove/mittens that mom got me for Christmas a few years ago. I wear them in her memory, and to ensure that she is with me on these trips. But the leather patch is coming off of them so I may need to replace them. Not sure yet. I had purchased some Black Diamond glove liners earlier but they were not very warm and they developed a tear in the seams right away. I returned them to Second Ascent in Ballardand received a healthy discount on a climbing harness.

Cool piece of equipment of the week:

Got a Petzl XP Headlamp at the OR (Outdoor Research) store Friday. This store is located in SODO, within walking distance of work. Very dangerous to be that close to a mountaineering store. The headlamp is so cool! And very bright. I made the mistake of looking straight into the light when I turned it on for the first time and it was blinding! It has a very bright, spotlight type mode, a diffuser mode for a wider field of lighting and a neat red light that they say doesn’t ruin your night vision.

Tiger 2-3 conditioner

Monday, February 18, 2013 - The GCC Begins

The GCC has officially started!

The 2013 Glacier Climbing Course kicked off on Monday, February 4, with a 2 ½ hour seminar at the downtown REI. The topic was to go over the logistics of the course and to meet all of the leaders and students. It was fun looking around the room to see who else is there. I recognized a few people from the Tiger Mountain meetings, but most people I’d never seen before. It was even mix of young and old, big and small. There were old hippies and young Army types. The instructors were all standing around the perimeter of the room, looking slightly weathered but confident.

Within the PowerPoint presentation for the seminar was included a quote about safety from Edward Whymper, who wrote Scrambles Among the Alps in 1871:

“Still, the last sad memory hovers round… There have been joys too great to be described in words, and there have been griefs upon which I have not dared to dwell… Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are naught without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end.”

Okay…

Certainly motivating, if not downright cheerful.

The first “field trip” was on the 9^th at a church on Mercer Island and we learned all about knots, what to put in your pack for the Rainier climb, how to poop on the mountain (and more importantly, how to pack it out with you), and tying in to the climbing rope with your harness. There’s a lot to learn! It was four hours of lectures and hands-on work and it went by really quickly. This is going to be fun!

I have been feeling sick or just exhausted for the last month and so have not done any training or conditioning at all. It’s easy to talk about all of the conditioning but it doesn’t mean much until I actually start doing this stuff. I’ve signed up for my first conditioner hike, scheduled for Sunday, February 24. We will be going up Mt Washington. It’s a 9 mile roundtrip with a 3200’ elevation gain. So that’s 3200’ in 4.5 miles. It should be fairly easy. I will load up the pack with 40 pounds and see how it goes. I tried that a few weeks back, going up the Tiger mountain cable line with 40 pounds and was really dogging it. I think I was feeling the effects of some new meds though. I’m anxious to see how I feel this weekend.

Went to a “gear grab” last weekend. This is where the OSAT old-timers bring a bunch of spare gear they no longer want or need and pawn it off on us newbies. Chris F got there early and scored a nice compass for $10. It’s similar to the new one I just bought for $60. Crap. I was supposed to get some $400 mountaineering boots for $40 but they didn’t have my size. I did pick up some nice Patagonia capilene baselayer pants and long sleeve shirt, an OR windstopper balaclava and some Marmot full-zip pants, all for $20. And a Petzl ice axe for $40. At 85 cm, it’s a little long for me but I like the heft of it. Most people have shorter axes, like 75 cm or 65 cm. Like boots, ice axes are a big mystery to the students, since all the old-timers have different opinions on them. I have a feeling that I will be regretting the extra weight of the larger ice axe later on, specifically after about 6 hours of hefting that thing up the side of Rainier. But for now, it feels good.

Getting good gear at reduced prices is a full-time pursuit for the students. Many of us (me included) will need to load up on pretty much everything on the list: hardshells, softshells, boots, gloves, packs, tents, stoves, socks, helmets, glacier glasses, goggles, gaiters, crampons... the list goes on and on. All of this stuff needs to be specific to mountaineering - most things used for regular camping are simply too heavy or won't keep you warm enough or dry enough. It's my goal to get all of these things either used or on sale. This gear grab was a good start.



Have my ice axe and coffee – that’s all I need for Rainier, right?