[pct-l] Saw a scary picture... Need some reassurance... (Jim Cribari

[mntmn4jesus at aol.com]

 I am not familiar with the route Rebekah is talking about, but I am familiar with some equipment that would make it easier to navigate through intermittent snow conditions.  I am resending this post because some of you may not have had the opportunity to read because of all the unnecessary detail of previous posts that were  inadvertently included with my response earlier.  If this still is not the correct process let me know.   I am still familiarizing myself with pct at backcountry.net . . .  Jim


 
Need some reassurance...
To: "'Rebekah David'" <rebekahedavid at gmail.com>,
    <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Message-ID: <BAY145-ds4EE70F79F06D15A3FE562BDEF0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
 
Rebekah David wrote:
>
I just came across THIS PICTURE (enlarge to X3 to see detail)
<http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/1700891#83684682_g5HZr-A-LB>and I sorta
panicked...  I broke both my ankles (yes, at the same time) a couple years
ago and tore my ACL a couple years before THAT... (I know, I know... I might
just be too much of a clutz to safely enter the wilderness) While those
injuries have healed, I still have trouble with that knee from time to time
and my ankles will always roll.
 
Jim's Response -
I find microspikes to be the best for intermittent snow conditions.  I hike year round and in the spring I find them to be very adequate.  You can walk on bare ground for short distances without hurting them (unlike crampons).  I used to be a lot more tentative when conditions were transitioning between winter and summer, but now I don't have to be concerned.  

I strongly don't recommend this, but some people have actually summitted Mt. Shasta using them instead of crampons.  (I saw a man using them yesterday).  They only weigh 13 ounces verses crampons (mine weigh 2 lbs 4 ounces).

I also suggest a ski pole that also has a small ice ax top.  I use it for back country skiing, but I also use it on Mt. Shasta while hiking and plan to use it on Mt. Rainer this summer.  I actually arrested a fall once when I was skiing on ice using this Whippet, as its called.

And then ofcourse it is also useful for fighting off bears and mountain lions too (there I go again!!  j/k). 

Jim

Links for microspikes:

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3667589

Links for ski pole with ice ax:

http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorgear/Black-Diamond-Whippet-Self-Arrest-Ski-Pole/BLD1150M.html

I didn't take the time to look for the best price on these items.  I suggest anyone using these links do more research for both the best product and price.

Jim