Latest beta about climbing gear and free mountaineering training

The Deschutes County Commission has scheduled a public hearing to finally determine whether to endorse ONDA's Badlands Wilderness proposal. This is the culmination of ONDA's years and years of work to permanently protect the Badlands, just 20 miles east of Bend and one of the most fascinating geological sites in Eastern Oregon. If you do nothing else this year for the Badlands, please come to the hearing. We need to pack the room with Badlands Wilderness supporters.

We human powered folks do not often have an opportunity to act with one voice. The off-road ATV and Motorcycle community is very organized and is expected to attend this hearing in force.

Adjoining the Badlands, OHV enthusiasts currently control about 200,000 acres with about 643 miles of trails that are mapped, heavily signed and rutted, and managed by dedicated Forest Service and BLM OHV Recreation Specialists. They can be expected to complain that they need The Badlands 37,000 special acres in addition to the 200,000 adjoining acres now set aside for their exclusive OHV use.

Badlands Wilderness Public Hearing, will be held by the Deschutes County Commission, on Monday, January 31, 2005, at 5:30 PM (arrive by 5:15), at 1300 NW Wall Street (new County building), in the downstairs conference room.

The Oregon Natural Desert Association, (ONDA), is the non-profit that helped found our Environmental Center (ECO) in downtown Bend. If you cannot attend the Hearing, fax a letter (go to ONDA's website at www.onda.org or call 330-2638 for information).

For more information on The Badlands, go to www.TraditionalMountaineering.org/Search.htm, then type-in The Badlands and select from 10 pages of links within our website as listed by Google. See photos of classic Geocaches, maps of the WSA, maps of the huge ATV exclusive play area, photos of the fresh stumps of stolen 1,500-year-old Junipers, information about the Deschutes Management Plan, etc.

Local Geocachers are meeting on Saturday, February 5, 2005, 4 to 9PM at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain, for a Potluck and Social. Everyone is invited to meet new people, put faces with handles, get clues on hard to find caches and talk about Geocaching in The Badlands just east of Bend. Go to our Calendar for the link to the Event Cache web page.

Reserve a place now for my February Navigation Noodle in The Badlands!
Saturday, February 12, 2005, 9AM to about 3PM, a FREE opportunity to put map, compass and GPS together in an outdoor land navigation seminar with Bob Speik. You must Reserve a place! Call Bob Speik at 385-0445 for the meeting place and a detailed Prospectus. Check our Calendar for more links about the Noodle.

Watch our Central Oregon Calendar of Interesting Events for new mountaineering Classes and FREE Seminars including Climbing Steep Hard-Snow Slopes, Ice Axe Arrest and Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue. We have about given up on our “Denali Snow Camp” on Tumalo Mountain this year, but watch the Calendar!

We are revising our FAQs on clothing, packs, essentials, hydration, endurance training, and more. The clothing and gear styles are improving so fast it is getting expensive to keep up with the best!

For example, there is a huge improvement in the latest model Black Diamond Alpine Bod Harness ($29.00). (This feature was pointed out by one of the participants at our last Winter Mountaineering Class at the ECO.) You just fasten the swami belt and then hook up the leg loops! No more balancing on one foot to put your crampons through the leg loops, or sitting on the hard snow, only to slide silently away! This simple and light new harness is great for zoned out Adventure Racers, too.

Too many emails? Just let us know- If you get more than one Update, delete the second and please let us know. You may be both a friend and a subscriber.
On Belay! –Webmeister Speik

12.09.04
Subscribers and Friends:

For immediate news release: December 9, 2004—1 p.m.
Roland Giller, Office of Communications, Deschutes National Forest

Forest Service Officials Concerned About Avalanche Danger

BEND—Deschutes National Forest recreation managers reported high to extreme avalanche conditions Thursday morning and warned snow enthusiasts to avoid steep slopes in the Central Oregon backcountry.

“Due to our recent heavy snowfall, there’s high to extreme snow pack conditions in many of our backcountry areas,” said Chris Sabo, a Deschutes National Forest wilderness and trails specialist. “Natural (avalanche) releases have been reported.”

“Extreme” is the American Avalanche Association’s highest danger level. During extreme conditions, it recommends travel in avalanche terrain be avoided and confined to low-angle terrain away from avalanche path run outs.

Sabo said the heavy snowfall that fell locally the last five days has loaded avalanche-prone areas. Rain and above-freezing temperatures will likely increase short-term avalanche potential before adequate snow pack settling occurs. He estimates most of the snow should bond and settle within 48 hours, greatly reducing the danger.

But, until then Forest Service officials are posting signs at sno-parks warning of the extreme conditions. The Forest Service does not conduct routine winter backcountry patrols. It recommends backcountry users have enough training to recognize avalanche terrain and conditions to ensure their own safety. Avalanches are influenced by many factors including terrain, snow pack, weather and human activity.

Forest Service officials are now warning people to avoid slopes greater than 25 degrees. Central Oregon slopes in the range of 25 to 60 degrees are now of high concern. Most marked ski and snowmobile trails, and low-slope terrain are considered to have a low potential for avalanches.

Thursday’s avalanche warning does not pertain to ski areas such as Mount Bachelor that have avalanche-control programs managed by professional ski patrollers.
-End-

TraditionalMountaineering has several pages discussing avalanche risk and avoidance. Access this information from the News, Questions and Experiences index pages listed on the HomePage and in the bar at the top of each page. You can also browse nine pages of references to avalanches within TraditionalMountaineering from the Google internal search link found at the top of every page. Nine pages! Hmmmm.

Have you discovered the Land's End Catalog for Essential insulating layers? Don't pay hundreds of dollars for a 650 fill Goose Down Jacket! Land's End has them for $68.00. Don't pay $90 for a 550 fill Goose Down Vest. Buy one from Land's End for $19.95!

We have featured these insulating layers in previous Email Updates. They still offer the Marinac Jacket Soft Shell at $49.50! It features microfleece insulation that is windproof, water resistant (but warm when wet), breathable, stretchy and cut full with lots of pockets! I use all of these insulating items and remember, I am an
analyst (sp?).

Watch for another FREE "Navigation Noodle in the Badlands".

And watch for the FREE "Storm Snow Camp" and "Denali Style Snow Camp" (probably in January). I am working on a fee technical class on Alpine Anchors and belaying the leader and followers. It will be at the Environmental Center, perhaps in February, and will provide opportunities to meet others for outdoor adventures. :-)

Too many emails? Just let us know- If you get more than one Update, delete the second and please let us know. You may be both a friend and a subscriber.
Berg Heil! --Robert Speik

12.07.04
Note: THE REST OF THE STORY . . . The Federal Lands Enhancement Act was voted into law as a rider to the Appropriations Bill. Folks will be working to repeal this act in 2005.

12.01.04
Subscribers and Friends:

Following the re-election of George Bush, I decided to forget politics and just have FUN. However, I must bring to your attention something that has just happened in the Congress!

Shenanigans, dirty politics and brutally applied abuse of raw power has, once again, trumped the Democratic process.

Fee Demo has been made permanent by a rider attached to the Omnibus Appropriations Bill by Representative Ralph Regula of Ohio. which will go to the President on December 6, 2004. It is called the "Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act" . It is a user tax.

How did one powerful Representative circumvent the democratic process against the opposition of five Senators from western states?

Well, I have learned a few things in the past few days. Members of Congress rise through the ranks over time, by being returned again and again by their constituents. Here is what a newspaper in Ohio says about Regula and this feature of the by-laws of the House and Senate.

Editorial - CantonRep (an OHIO Newspaper)
Friday, November 26, 2004

"Hate the deficit, love that pork!

We hate the growing federal budget deficit, but not so much as to hate the pork that Ralph Regula can barrel and ship to Stark County. Contradictions are a part of life, and congressional production of good works back in the district is a part of how the U.S. government serves constituents.

Congressman Regula has provided an early Christmas present. A federal spending bill approved by Congress includes $1.9 million for development of the Mills Industrial Park in southern Canton. It contains a million for a traffic problem in Hartville, a half-million for the water treatment plant in Canton, and nearly a million each for the county’s two biggest hospitals, Aultman and Mercy; neither one will feel favored over the other. Regula also has secured $1 million each for two YMCAs to be developed in western Stark County.

Regula, who has been representing Stark County and the rest of the 16th Ohio Congressional District since 1973, is one of the most powerful congressmen in Washington. His seniority and leadership position within the majority Republican Party give him the ability to provide all sorts of pleasant surprises for the folks back home.

That’s how the system works in Washington. Seniority and majority make Stark County more worthy than a hundred other communities in the nation that could use the same measures of federal largess. Someday Stark County will not be in this position; another community will be.

Those who complain about this system can stand outside at night and bay at the moon, for all the good it will do them.”

This is a dirty business indeed! What can we do about it right now?

“An unexpected delay in final passage of the massive omnibus appropriations bill has given public lands fee opponents ANOTHER CHANCE to defeat Ralph Regula’s scheme to legislate permanent public lands fees behind closed doors using a parliamentary sleight of hand, without debate or public hearings.

You may have heard in the news that a clause offensive to privacy rights advocates (it would allow certain members of Congress and their staffs to view previously off-limits
IRS tax returns) was discovered in the spending bill. The bill, with the offending clause, had already received House approval. The Senate deleted the IRS clause before they voted. The House and Senate versions are therefore different, and so final approval has not yet been achieved and the bill has not yet been sent to the President for signature. The Congress has been called back for a second lame duck session beginning December 6 to settle the issues.”

We are urged to telephone the following access lines of the Congressional leaders:

THIS WEEK, before December 3rd, contact the key congressional leaders listed below, by phone or fax. Also call or fax your own Representative and both of your Senators.

A massive outpouring of opposition, not only to the bill itself but to its method of passage, WILL have a major impact!

Sample letter or phone call: “Please remove HR 3283 as a rider on the omnibus spending bill. Substantive legislation, especially with criminal penalties involved, should go through a full legislative procedure of public hearings and debate. I am outraged at this abuse of the appropriations process. HR 3283 should not be passed without ever seeing the light of day.”

Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House
Phone: 202/225-2976
Fax: 202/225-0697

Tom Delay, House Majority Leader
Phone: 202/225-5951
Fax: 202/225-5241

Rep. Ralph Regula
Phone: 202/225-3876
Fax: 202/225-3059

Bill Young, Chair, House Appropriation Committee
Phone: 202/225-5961
Fax: 202/225-9764

Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
Phone: 202/224-3344
Fax: 202/228-1264

Ted Stevens, Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee
Phone: 202/224-3004
Fax: 202/224-2354

Try calling the phone numbers yourself. It does not cost much and it feels good to vent to a real staffer who usually answers the call. Get it out of your system. I told them I was going to lead a grass roots crusade to change their "pork for re-election" bylaws provisions that can create power for the worst politicians!

Don’t forget the FREE Navigation Noodle in The Badlands this Saturday. There are still a couple of places un-reserved!

Too many emails? Just let us know- If you get more than one Update, delete the second and please let us know. You may be both a friend and a subscriber.
On Belay! –Webmeister Speik

11.14.04
Note: THE REST OF THE STORY . . . Twenty people signed up for this Class. We used a larger room and had a great time!

Backcountry adventures in the winter!
**Basic Winter Backcountry Exploration Safety Skills**

We have six people at this time, signed up for our winter indoor class on Saturday, November 13, 2004. We can accommodate at least six more! This is your chance to find out what you may not know about safer winter adventures in the backcountry.

During this class there will be time to meet new folks of like interests. You can join with classmates to plan a FREE, private, unguided, basic traditional mountaineering snow camping/snow cave overnight adventure together. We have extra four-season tents of various types to loan (and other group gear used in the class) so you can find out what might be best for you. Some folks may want to build a proper snow cave instead of a using a four season tent. We will plan to have a fire and spend a sheltered dinner and evening together before our one night sleeping out in the snow. This first adventure will be located near a winter Trail Head, not far from the cars.

Note that we will cover the use of map, compass and optional GPS together in planning and while in the backcountry. This alone is worth your time and the price of admission to our class at The Environmental Center!

We will discuss and demonstrate simple techniques for climbing steep snow slopes and mitigating Risk with minimum gear and identify known avalanche areas in our nearby backcountry. Here is the Flyer:

A recommended one day hands-on indoor class!
Backcountry adventures in the winter!

**Basic Winter Backcountry Exploration Safety Skills**

Saturday, November 13, 2004, one day, 9AM to 3PM or so . . .
The Central Oregon Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Street in downtown Bend

Hands-on training includes working with:
1. The suggested light weight Ten Essential Systems, personal First Aid Kit and the suggested winter day pack;
2. Appropriate footwear: shoes or boots, snowshoes and poles;
3. Winter clothing: sox, Capalene underwear, Koch XC 3SP pants, GorTex gaiters, wicking insulation layers, fleece tops, soft shells and hard shells in several combinations, various hats and gloves;
4. Winter bivy and four season tent options, goose down and synthetic sleeping bag options and insulating pads in the winter backpack and shovels, safe caves and emergency shelters;
5. Winter water management and cooking including required food, stoves, pots, spoons, plates and cups, filters and water bottles;
6. Planning a reasonable trip to suggested local points using map, compass and optional GPS, and route finding in the winter;
7. Making the required setup changes to GPS factory defaults that are necessary for the most basic use “out of the box”; simplifying the marking/saving/creating and finding of landmarks/waypoints in UTM position coordinates; setting up the inexpensive hand held baseplate compass to eliminate the dangerous local 17 degree magnetic declination error. We will practice all these skills with local maps in the classroom;
8. Climbing steep snow slopes and mitigating Risk with minimum gear, demonstrations and discussion;
9. Known avalanche area avoidance and assessment for safe travel in our local backcountry.

Group dynamics:
The class includes a simple trail lunch and time for Participants to plan an adventure with new classmates and others. We will be working together in the class with the actual gear recommended in the class.

This basic to advanced training -
Can be completed in one interesting day. Cost per participant is $35.00 (just $45.00 for couples!), a donation benefiting the nonprofit website www.TraditionalMountaineering.org. Handouts will include a printed summary of the class information.

Reserve your places! We may have a wait list!
We can accommodate twelve participants or so. In fairness to all, you will need to commit and pay the cost by November 11th. Call Bob at 541-385-0445 or send an email inquiry to speik@bendcable.com

"Parking at Dutchman Flat can be a challenge, but the issue I am working to resolve is what happens after you leave the lot. An expanded lot, without mitigating regulations, solves one problem, but makes the other notably worse.

We have the real possibility of gaining a closure - with snowmobiles restricted to trails passing through the region. If you feel the current (and future) conditions justify a closure (separating the users), say so! The machines will continue to get more powerful, and the user numbers will increase…

I can't over-emphasize how important it is for Leslie to have on file enough public comment to "permit' her to take the action that needs to be taken. Letters must be mailed by April 12 or 13 – the 14 at the very latest. If you wait a week to comment, it will be too late. It is time to speak up - or submit to this growing mechanized onslaught."

THE RESULT:

Since Dutchman Flat is the only accessible entrance to the backcountry and the adjoining Tumalo Mountain is a free playground for snow campers, shoers, telemark skiers and snow hikers they should be made safe for beginners, kids and locals. Snowmobile folks from Bend and Washington and California can go a mile-a-minute to get to play areas north of the flats and they should keep to existing snowmobile trails on the Flat and on the east side of Tumalo Mountain.

This will solve the controversial law enforcement problem: If the snowmobiler is not on the existing designated snowmobile trail, he gets a ticket - even when the patrol officer is "employed" by the State Snowmobile Association ;-).

Continued increase in our population is inevitable; increased pressure for recreation opportunities must be managed properly. The proposed huge new snowmobile parking lot east of Tumalo Mountain will solve the parking conflicts (recently, Leslie Weldon actually witnessed a well known young woman skier being cursed by a snowmobile parker in the current co-mingled Dutchman parking lot!) but the lot will not solve the safety conflicts.

Now is your chance to solve the safety issue of man (and child) against machine. Write or email of call Leslie Weldon today!

WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY:

Leslie Weldon is the Supervisor of the Deschutes National Forest. Her office is on Highway 20 across from Pilot Butte:

USFS DNF, 383-5300, 1645 Highway 20E, Bend, OR, 97701, Supervisor Leslie Weldon, 383-5562, lweldon@fs.fed.us

Respectfully tell her that you believe snowmobilers must be kept to existing snowmobile trails in the Dutchman Flat and Tumalo Mountain study area.

Have you seen our photos of Mt. Batchelor, the Atta Boy 300 and the Three Sisters all taken on a winter weekend in beautiful weather? Watch our Calendar for interesting events! Free Navigation Noodles soon. Snow camping, ice axe arrest and snowclimbing seminars FREE later this month.

Too many emails? Just let us know- If you get more than one Update, delete the second and please let us know. You may be both a friend and a subscriber.
On Belay! –Webmeister Speik

02.11.04
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -THE REST OF THE STORY - CONGRATULATIONS ON A VICTORY -SEE BELOW

The three sisters and broken top
South Sister, Middle Sister, North Sister and Broken Top in the Three Sisters Wilderness near Bend, Oregon USA
Photo Copyright© 2004 by Robert Speik. All rights reserved.

Too many emails? Just let us know- If you get more than one Update, delete the second and please let us know. You may be both a friend and a subscriber.
On Belay! –Webmeister Speik

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -THE REST OF THE STORY - CONGRATULATIONS ON A VICTORY

Wild Wilderness
248 NW Wilmington Ave.,
Bend, OR 97701

Contact: Scott Silver, Wild Wilderness 541-385-5261
Robert Funkhouser, WSNFC, 802-867-2298
Alasdair Coyne, Keep the Sespe Wild, 805-921-0618

GRASSROOTS EFFORT MOVES PARKS FEE LEGISLATION
In what is being called a ‘remarkable victory,’ opponents of the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program are today celebrating what they see as the beginning of the end of recreation fees on the National Forests and other public lands.

Fee-opponents in recent days had flooded Senate offices with faxes and phone calls, expressing their general support for National Park fees and their adamant opposition to fees for recreation on lands managed by the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Fee-opponents said they recognized the fundamental differences between the National Parks and other public lands. They said that while entrance fees were acceptable for the parks, such fees were anathema when charged for a walk in the woods or forms of undeveloped recreation.

On Wednesday morning, the Senate Energy & Resources Committee advanced legislation from Senator Craig Thomas (The Recreation Fee Authority Act, S1107) to permanently authorize the collection of entrance fees for National Parks and allow those fees to be retained and spent where they are collected. Entrance fees have long been charged at National Parks, but without the authority of the fee-demonstration program, those fees could not be used where they had been collected. The passage of S1107 will allow recreation fees charged since 1996 by the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and US Fish and Wildlife Service to lapse when the current Fee-Demo authorization ends on December 31, 2005.

Opponents of recreation user fees came together to prevent Thomas’ legislation from being amended and to ensure that it would be moved out of committee as a ‘parks only’ bill. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton had lobbied Senators hard in her effort to included permanent fee authority for 5 federal agencies within the Thomas Bill.

“For a totally grassroots effort to prevail over the Secretary of Interior is an accomplishment of incredible proportion” said Scott Silver, Executive Director of Wild Wilderness and a long time opponent of the fee-demonstration program. “We went toe-to-toe with some powerful players and this time the people won”, adds Silver.

Another long time opponent of these fees, Alasdair Coyne, of Keep the Sespe Wild said: “The tide has turned and with a growing groundswell for ending this ill-conceived recreation fee program it is becoming ever more clear that we will soon see the end of fees to take a hike in the woods.”

“Senator Thomas and Senator Craig (R-ID), Chair of the public lands subcommittee as well as all Senators on Committee did an excellent job protecting their constituents’ ownership of these public lands,” said Robert Funkhouser of Western Slope NoFee Coalition.

The Fee Demo program in the Forest Service, BLM and USFWS has been recognized as a failure in terms of public acceptance and financial viability. Recent administrative changes to enforcement procedures, particularly for the BLM, have fueled the growing Fee Revolt taking place across the nation.

01.14.04
Subscribers and Friends:

Back in November, we let you know that we really liked the Marinac Soft Shell Jacket from Lands' End for $49.50.
We quoted the specs: "Meet the Marinac: our Jacket of the Year 2003! Exclusive WindCheck laminate gives it full "soft shell" function; Soft, insulating microfleece inside and out; Lycra® spandex bound cuffs and hem; Neat inside pockets both left and right; DriOff finish on the outer fleece forces drizzle and mist to bead up, shake off; Front zip pockets concealed in slimming princess seams". They weighed 19 ounces in size large with men's and women's cuts in lots of nice colors. We said "we read about this Marinac Jacket in the latest issue of Backpacker Magazine and looked it up in the Lands' End Catalog. Shipping was $9.95 for two. They were here in two days, standard UPS. We chose yellow and we think they are great!"

Well, we ended up exchanging the yellow for the green Marinac. These Jackets are still available and still a great opportunity. Take a second look!
Since we got free exchange shipping, we checked the Lands' End Catalog for more good stuff and we were astonished!

So we ordered the Reversible Down Jacket from Lands' End for $49.99!
Here are the specs: "Featherlight 650 fill power goose down insulation provides exceptional warmth; Tightly woven 100% nylon deflects wind, reverses from quilted to smooth; Zip-off hood adds warmth, versatility; Plenty of pockets inside and out; Temp rating: -10F/-25F". My size large weighs 2,01 and I got the blue-black combo. OK, it is not Light and Fast, but it is very warm, traditional and good lookin'.

We also ordered the Micro Half Zip Pullover from Lands' End at $19.50!
Here are the specs: "Lightweight, super-soft microfleece; Zip stand-up collar (with springlock zipper pull) lets you trap warmth or vent it; Hemmed cuffs; Straight bottom". Compare this to the hard core technical Patagonia R-1 Flash Pullover at $99.00. OK, the Land's End Micro is not as warm or strong, so you need both for year 'round use!

Go to our web for photos of all these great bargains and links to Lands End, Northern Mountain Supply and Patagonia.
Look under Updates. Keeping the graphics on the web site provides light and fast email Updates!

(Remember, back in November, I told you about the Saloman Raid 300L Adventure Racing Pack for $42.00, down from $90.00, from Northern Mountain Supply! Several of you were quick enough to get these great day packs. Sorry, they ran out fast. Now, don't you wish you had one?)

Have you read our Analysis of the incident on Mount Hood last spring when three climbers died, many were injured and a rescue helicopter crashed? Our Analysis is based on the Clackamas County Sheriff's Criminalist's Final Report. Look under Experiences.

This Update continues to call your attention our Internal Site Search Capability through Google, an important feature of our site. We have linked this page near the top of our HomePage, and provided search phrases that will bring you all the references say, to "North Sister", or "GPS" that are in our web. Try it! You will find it very useful. Note that we are listed first in the world for a Google search on Light and Fast Climbing, Map, Compass and GPS and many more!

A recent web report gives us the following facts: We have 3,850 files of which 562 are new or revised in the last 60 days; 3,851 images; 21,878 hyperlinks of which 19,107 are internal navigation links. And we are still getting outside and having fun!

Watch for photos of Mt. Batchelor, the Atta Boy 300 and the Three Sisters all taken last weekend in beautiful weather. Coming soon!

Too many emails? Just let us know- If you get more than one Update, delete the second and please let us know. You may be both a friend and a subscriber.
On Belay! Webmeister Speik

04.07.02
Friends-
This message announces the uploading of www.TraditionalMountaineering.org to the new World Wide Web for "Traditional Mountaineering", a virtual club devoted to providing Free Basic to Advanced Mountain Climbing Instruction and Adventures. Click on the link to check it out now, and be sure to bookmark the site for future reference.

Some free Clinics and Seminars are planned to carry on a mountaineering tradition of helping folks learn more about Wilderness Travel and Alpine Mountaineering. Free subscriptions are available now to the planned Subscribers Only Section that will make available on the web, a Basic to Advanced Mountaineering Training Course. Watch our progress!

Plan now to attend the Banff Mountain Film Festival on Monday or Tuesday, April 22 or 23, 2002, at 6 or 9PM. This rich and entertaining collection of award winning films by international film makers has had sell out audiences at the Pilot Butte Cinemas for the benefit of MBSEF in past years.
On Belay! --Bob Speik

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