CMG NOW - Monthly E-mail

California Mountaineering Group
- Yahoo Group site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CMG/

Upcoming trips:
- Yahoo Calendar: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CMG/cal

New Feature: Trip Signups
Trip signup functionality is now enabled via the link below and via the Yahoo
group site.  You are required to "sign in" which captures contact information. 
Trips can be open, or set to a maximum number of participants, with a waitlist. 
One can also choose to charge before a signup is permitted, via PayPal, for
permits or lodging for example.  Anyone can potentially sign up for a trip.  To
schedule a trip you must be "superuser."  Contact cmg-owner@yahoogroups.com to
become a "superuser."
Link: http://www.supersaas.com/schedule/CMG/CMG/

All-call; Your Host: Ken Murray
A conference call is held the first Wednesday of each month at 8:00 pm Pacific
time to discuss strategy, trips, etc.
Dial in number: 712-432-1601
Access code: 566385#
Note: toll charges apply if you do not have "free" minutes.

Ideas/Questions?
Post to cmg@yahoogroups.com or e-mail: cmg-owner@yahoogroups.com

If you would like to contribute to next month's issue of CMG Now, please update
the text file found via this link:
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File Updated: 01/30/09

I am thinking about putting together a trip in mid March.  Is this too
late for Josh?

No, March and April are fine for Joshua Tree.  May is getting iffy,
especially the end of May.

My "rules of thumb" for Joshua Tree are this:

November to the first week of December are fine
Second week of December to end of February are hit or miss wrt to
weather.  It has gone every which way imaginable over the years.
March to end of April are fine.
May is the start of the "getting hot" phase.

Have fun!

Rick

Here are some shots I took on a half day snow shoe hike from Luther Pass
(traversed by highway 89 South of South Lake Tahoe).  We hiked to the summit of
peak 8997 (probably has a name but none shown on the map).  The climb starts
from the West end of the pass (West of Grass Lake; first large pullout) and
proceeds North, crossing the Tahoe Rim trail.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tombcronin/LutherPass

Sincerely, Tom Cronin

Ice climbing in the cold stream canyon was really great this last
weekend.  Code Red, Code Blue and Walk on the Wild side are in and
pretty fat.  Overnight temps have been consistently below freezing
(despite warm days) and the water is flowing so it should be good for
a while.

A few friends just came back from Ouray and said this ice is very
good there too, if picked over from the large number of climbers.

Susan

--- In CMG@yahoogroups.com, Serge Melle <icyfrostyday@...> wrote:
>
> I had signed-up for a 3-day ice-climbing trip to Nordegg with U of
Calgary for the weekend of March 5-7.  But it seems so far I˘m the
only one signed up! So they may cancel it  :-(
>  
> I˘m thinking maybe just bail the course and just do this on my own
that same weekend.  Anybody interested? 
>  
> Unfortunately that's my only weekend available for ice climbing,
and since I've heard ice in Sierras isn't great this year, it'll
probably be crap by March.  So maybe Canada is the place to go
(actually, it's the place to go anyways, but maybe there's even more
motivation now :-).   I have everything needed for ice climbing
except ice-crews and the ability to lead on ice.  The former can be
bought, the latter, well, hmmm...  But I do know at least one place
in the rockies that should have a good wall of water ice 20m high or
so where you can hike up to set-up TR˘s (see pic attached from last
year), and there's time to research more spots too.  Otherwise I also
have an extra pair of crampons, and if we˘re two only need one set of
ice-tools at a time.
>  
> Anyways, ping me if you're interested. 
>  
> Serge
>  
>  
>  
>

Ice climbing anyone in Lee Vining? Need someone to lead.

Hi Susan,

I was in Ouray January 21-25 and it kinda sucked.  We were rained out
one day, although that didn't slow down some others.  It was unfun
climbing in the rain.  Anyway, that is not typical and the last day,
Sunday, was fabulous.  For those who haven't been there it is a great
ice climbing destination.  The gorge can get a little tiresome but there
is lots of ice in the surrounding area, usually.

Rick

Hi All,

Is anyone interested in going / planning to go to 2009 Red Rock
Rendezvous in March 20-22? Link: http://www.mountaingear.com/RedRock/
If so, please let me know.

Doris

American Alpine Journal's 1973-74, 1985-86, 2002 $15 each $50 for all
On the Edge by Henry Barber $20
Climbing Guide to North America West coast rock climbs John Harlin III $20

SuperTopo Red Rocks Climbing (spotless) $15

Guidebook to the San Gabriel Mountains $3
Adventuring in the Rockies Sierra club Travel  Guide $3
Fire and Ice The Cascade Volcanoes $3
Sierra Club Manual of Ski Mountaineering $3
Deep Survival $3

Contact me for more onfo:
Harrison 707-217-4730

Tom has a trip scheduled for this weekend of ice climbing at Lee
Vining.  He has the large Rm 50 reserved at the Best Western(?) motel
at Lee Vining.  The weather forecast is for below freezing
temperatures thru at least Monday.  Checking the Sierra Guides
website, Chouinard Falls is in, a few routes seem to be in on the Main
Wall (thou thin) and Baird Harrington is not in.

What are people's plans?  Are you planning to go up on Friday, on
Saturday?  Stay thru Monday, President's day?  I have something that I
would like to do on Saturday.  Is any anyone else from the bay area
who would like to go up Saturday afternoon?

Knee problems keep me off the ice last season and different knee
problems are bothering me now but I would like to do some ice work
this season.

- Phil Klein

My wife and I were in LV Canyon last weekend.  The Main Wall is
pretty decent and Chouinard Falls is really fat.  Get ready for the
approach, however; it was a bear.  Of course, it was worth it.
Here's what things were like for us.  On Saturday, we were only able
to drive in so far on LV Canyon road, eventually having to park about
a mile out from Poole Power Plant.  The four of us (the only people
up there all day) took turns breaking trail.  Without snowshoes or
skis, it would been even worse.  The snow in some sections, even with
snowshoes and skis, was waist deep and while a lot of boulders were
exposed, still a lot were covered just enough to be a challenge
(read: potential for sprained ankles or broken limbs).  What is
"ideally" a 45 minute approach to the base of Chouinard Falls took us
just under 2 1/2 hours.  Even on the way out, we had to rebreak a lot
of the trail we broke on the way in.  According to one of our party
(Dave Smith), our trail was still mostly there on Sunday, but some
trail breaking was still necessary.  I'm guessing that the wind and
new snow have all but wiped out our trail by now.  I hope not.  We'll
be back up there this weekend.  If so, then yeehaw...there's more
trail breaking ahead!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to meeting some of you up there.

Cheers,

Rich

Hi there,
Is anyone interested in getting almost new ice boots? They were
literally only worn once for a half day on ice and look perfectly new.
They are Kayland(Italian) Super Ice Boots and will fit womans size 8 to
8 1/2. I paid $400 for them last year. I'm asking $300.
If interested call me at 661-619-5056 or email me at mbinz@....

Where are you located? I am in Santa Rosa so I'm probably not too far
away from you. More just wanna see how the size 9's fit than anything
(I run so many different sizes).

Thanks,

Adam



--- In CMG@yahoogroups.com, "drumdowns" <arvindraghuasu@...> wrote:
>
> I will be interested in the Scarpa (I have only used Koflach before).
> Would you be able to post some pictures of the boots?
>
> Arvind
>
> --- In CMG@yahoogroups.com, "Harrison Hood" <harrisonhood@> wrote:
> >
> > I have pairs of Scarpa plastic boots up to I think size 9 for $100. I
> > also have some Trezetas plastic boots size 10.5 for $75.
> > Let me know if your interested. 707-965-9669 or email me back
> >
>

Hi all,

I'm starting out mountaineering and snowshoeing and I'm looking for
good versatile snowshoes that I can use for mountaineering (steep
terrain) and also for other more flat snowshoeing trips.

I currently own the MSR Denali Evo
(http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/denalievo.asp). They don't have a
heel lifter and I was told this feature was pretty useful on steep
terrain. I'm thinking of buying either the Women's Lightning Ascent
(http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/wlightningascent.asp) or the
Denali Evo Ascent instead
(http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/denalievoascent.asp).

Does anybody has experience using these snowshoes for mountaineering
(steep terrain)? What do you think of the MSR - Lightning Ascent?
Are they good? Are they worth the extra cost (compared to the Denali
Evo Ascent)?

Thanks in advance for experience you can share on this

Isabelle

I have the Denali Evo Ascents and quite like them...  was really
interested in getting the Lightnings but couldn't justify the extra
cost (I haven't used them either).  I'd heard from some random person
(so take it with a grain of salt) that the the teeth on their
Lightnings wore away surprisingly fast after just one season of use.
Cheers!

  -Buddy

--- In CMG@yahoogroups.com, "isa" <isabelle_peyrichoux@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm starting out mountaineering and snowshoeing and I'm looking for
> good versatile snowshoes that I can use for mountaineering (steep
> terrain) and also for other more flat snowshoeing trips.
>
> I currently own the MSR Denali Evo
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/denalievo.asp). They don't have a
> heel lifter and I was told this feature was pretty useful on steep
> terrain. I'm thinking of buying either the Women's Lightning Ascent
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/wlightningascent.asp) or the
> Denali Evo Ascent instead
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/denalievoascent.asp).
>
> Does anybody has experience using these snowshoes for
mountaineering
> (steep terrain)? What do you think of the MSR - Lightning Ascent?
> Are they good? Are they worth the extra cost (compared to the
Denali
> Evo Ascent)?
>
> Thanks in advance for experience you can share on this
>
> Isabelle
>

Just a general comment, in my experience the MSR shoes don't perform
very well in soft snow, especially when carrying a heavy pack.. fine
for compacted snow.. ... I like the Atlas shoes for powdery
conditions. I believe that some of the Atlas womens' Elektra shoes
come with heel lifts.

A friend recently climbed Alta Peak in Sequoia and said he was happy
he was on Atlas shoes, not the smaller MSRs...
Bill

--- In CMG@yahoogroups.com, "isa" <isabelle_peyrichoux@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm starting out mountaineering and snowshoeing and I'm looking for
> good versatile snowshoes that I can use for mountaineering (steep
> terrain) and also for other more flat snowshoeing trips.
>
> I currently own the MSR Denali Evo
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/denalievo.asp). They don't have a
> heel lifter and I was told this feature was pretty useful on steep
> terrain. I'm thinking of buying either the Women's Lightning Ascent
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/wlightningascent.asp) or the
> Denali Evo Ascent instead
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/denalievoascent.asp).
>
> Does anybody has experience using these snowshoes for
mountaineering
> (steep terrain)? What do you think of the MSR - Lightning Ascent?
> Are they good? Are they worth the extra cost (compared to the
Denali
> Evo Ascent)?
>
> Thanks in advance for experience you can share on this
>
> Isabelle
>

I recently purchased a pair of Lightening Ascent snowshoes and have
used them twice this year. This weekend I used the heel lifts for the
first time on a very steep, but short, section of a ridge. Like the
heel lifts on skis, they make steep climbs much more comfortable. But
unlike skis, where pressure distribution is critical for grip, I
don't think that they are as important for climbing.

As the for Lightening Ascent snowshoes in general, I don't have a lot
of experience to say whether they are much better than another high
quality model. I can say that the binding is much superior than the
less expensive pair (different brand) that I had before.

Marcus

--- In CMG@yahoogroups.com, "isa" <isabelle_peyrichoux@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm starting out mountaineering and snowshoeing and I'm looking for
> good versatile snowshoes that I can use for mountaineering (steep
> terrain) and also for other more flat snowshoeing trips.
>
> I currently own the MSR Denali Evo
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/denalievo.asp). They don't have a
> heel lifter and I was told this feature was pretty useful on steep
> terrain. I'm thinking of buying either the Women's Lightning Ascent
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/wlightningascent.asp) or the
> Denali Evo Ascent instead
> (http://www.msrgear.com/snowshoes/denalievoascent.asp).
>
> Does anybody has experience using these snowshoes for
mountaineering
> (steep terrain)? What do you think of the MSR - Lightning Ascent?
> Are they good? Are they worth the extra cost (compared to the
Denali
> Evo Ascent)?
>
> Thanks in advance for experience you can share on this
>
> Isabelle
>

Isabelle,

I also have the Denali Evos (no heel lift).  But I made a heel lift
out of a short section of pvc pipe with a cord that runs through it
and around my ankle.  I flip it under my heel when I need it for the
uphills.

Last weekend, I used Denali Evo Ascents on a search near Mt. Baldy.
We were in rough terrain, a stream bed boulder field covered in
snow.  Two of us had Denali Evo Ascents and two had MSR Lightning
Ascents.  We were all periodically post-holing even in our snowshoes,
due to the bouldery terrain.

One of the taller guys post-holed with his Lightnings, and the frame
bent!  The Evos were fine, just a little rough on the plastic where
we had been walking on rocks.

Good luck and happy shopping,
Jen