Climbing

Before going digital in 2003, all of my pictures were in slide format.  I had a slide projector, collapsible tripod screen and a 1000+ slides in Kodak Carousel trays.  Several years ago, I purged the slide collection, keeping only about 130.  I just finished digitizing the keepers and will post some here on slow news days.

For several years, I was big into hiking, climbing and backpacking.  I joined the Mazamas, a mountaineering club in Portland, OR, and trained with them: belaying, roping up, rappelling, learning how to use climbing harness/ice ax/crampons/pitons/carabiners, etc.  Seriously technical (rock) climbing, with all the hardware and gizmos, wasn't my thing.  However, sitting on the summit of a glaciated peak at sunrise was definitely worth the many hours of arduous climbing it took to get there.  
In 1988, I climbed Mt Hood with a small group of (mostly) experienced climbers.  Here are the pix.

The man.  The mountain. The ice ax.

Standing in the parking lot of Timberline Lodge after the Mt Hood climb.

Roping up to cross The Hogsback.

If not roped up, a slip here would be fatal.  You'd slide several hundred feet

and get splattered against jagged rock or drop into a fumarole and get cooked.

Summit!

The climb started at 2 AM and took 7 hours.  It's safer to climb in the wee hours

because later in the day, the heat of the sun melts enough snow and ice to loosen rocks.

Getting whacked by a softball-sized rock hurtling downward at 50 MPH

 causes a severe headache.  On the plus side, it would be your last headache. 

Eeeeeeeeeeeee-ha!

The descent.

Once past the dangerous parts, it's quick and fun.  You sit down on a large trash bag

and slide (glissade) about 2000' down the mountain, using your ice ax as rudder and brake.

You can slide darn near all the way to the parking lot.

You need to stay away from skiers, though; it really pisses them off when you zip

across their path, plowing grooves into the nicely-groomed ski slope.

Oops!  Ice axes aren't very precise steering mechanisms.