climb list 2009.

Gathering beta for climbs and such that I want to do this year and do not want to forget so I am posting them here. I will add to this as I continue to search.

1) Ruth Mountain - the views look staggering – at the über-impressive north face of Shuksan (see, uh, photo at left which pretty much displays in a single photo why the North Cascades are my home and like no other mountain range in the US 48) and into the heart of the southern Picketts, this now tops the list for a spring climb. I'd also love to get into the Picketts (Mt. Spickard comes to mind) but we'll see. Maybe that should get its own bullet point ... Oh, and the climb up the Ruth Glacier looks easy but fun (and those are always good, especially when tossed in the mix with some more ambitious stuff mentioned below).

2) Ptarmigan Traverse – this spectacular, week-long-ish traverse (so we'll see about this one – it would seem it could be done in a few days at a good pace which Matthew and I seem to be able to do pretty consistently) covers some of the most amazing country in all of the North Cascades. It starts at the esteemed (and rightly so) Cascade Pass trailhead in the heart of North Cascades National Park and puts you in climbing shot of such peaks as Magic Mountain, Mount Formidable, Dome Peak, Mix-Up Peak and others – all incredible summits. This is definitely quite high on the list.

3) Mount Rainier – Matthew and I will try this most likely via the Kautz Glacier, although if we're super-ambitious we may give a go at the Tahoma Glacier route (although he tried that once and it's a long approach and his group didn't make the summit, so I'm guessing he'll want a more sure-fire way of getting up and as long as we don't do the DC route I'm good). This time – although I loved having climbed this in one go overnight – we'll take two days for acclimatization (which is typically a good thing to have – acclimatization, that is).

4) Stuart Range traverse – let me just say up front ... no plans on duping what Peter Croft did (the entire range in, um, a day after free-soloing the North Ridge route on Stuart – one of the most under-rated but impressive alpine feats of all time). I'll have to look into detailed routes up the north face of Stuart (cos coming from the south, which would be much more doable, means a car is a looong ways away .... however, if Matthew and I each drove, we could easily run up Cascadian Couloir, tag Stuart's summit, then head over for Sherpa, Argonaunt, Colchuck, Dragontail, Annapurna and then – in Croft tradition – jog out Snow Lakes for a burger at the Heidelburger). Hmm, two days – three max I'd like to think. So long weekend, maybe. Sweet. Oh, and here is a good traverse website.

5) The Enchantments – of course. Will go solo and take my chances again on the lottery (knocking on wood now). Must keep further details of this trip highly secretive as to keep down the crowds.

6) Bonanza Peak – this is killer cos the approach entails a trip on the 'Lady of the Lake' ferry on Lake Chelan (in the heart of the North Cascades and super-remote) to the picturesque alpine town of Holden (whose, yes, only approach is via this ferry). Its flanked with glaciers and the views are astounding (from pics I've seen). The climb looks challenging, as well.

7) Sahale Peak – again, this time for the summit instead of twenty-feet below and approaching across Boston Basin and the Quien Sabe glacier for a better chance since it would seem this is the walk-up method (well, after having crossed the glacier). I do love this mountain – it is quite beautiful.

8) Wedge Mountain – quick little scramble just for a unique view into the Enchantments.

9) Cashmere Mountain – this is a possible trip with J later in the summer (West Ridge description here). Mostly for a great view of the entire Stuart range. But also would make a fun little overnight outing, camping at the Caroline Lakes.

10) Whitehorse Mountain – this is an impressive and (granted, this may just be my perception) possibly a rather oft-overlooked peak in the Monte Cristo range of the North Cascades. It has spectacular exposure, a short approach (although lots of elevation gain quickly), glaciers – the works. And it's a beautiful mountain.

OK, will add more later. Like I am still deciding if J and I should go north to the Canadian Rockies or back down to perhaps the Palisades area of the Sierras this summer (in either case, we're either hitting up Silverwood park in Idaho or Magic Mountain in LA for some roller coaster action).

logic pro.

Sweet, thanks to the help of Gixen which sniped this for me while I was away in meetings, I now look forward to receiving and diving into Apple's Logic Pro 7. This is seemingly quite the complex DAW but I am looking forward to the challenge of learning multi-track recording and MIDI sequencing on my Mac. I picked up a v6.0 book at a used bookstore a little over a week ago and am just getting into it. It appears that the power of Logic is quite immense, and the number of incredible instruments is vast. There is a plug-in that replicates a Fender Rhodes (think Portishead's song 'Roads' and I suppose that may not be a coincidence) as well as the just-as-infamous Hammond B3 complete with Leslie. Granted, not the same as the real instruments but will be fun to play with. I miss sitting in front of a ginormous mixing console with a million knobs and faders sculpting soundwaves. Logic Pro will not be the same but this is not the point and for its point I believe it will do nicely. It is massive.

So strike two from the wishlist (strike one was the M-Audio controller I bought a while back). And the third strike will be the M-Audio studio monitors I just ordered and are apparently already shipping via FedEx.

wishlist.

My new wish list ~

1. M-Audio Keystation 88es – 88-key, semi-weighted, velocity-sensitive USB MIDI controller (powered over USB, even); for controlling the effects through Apple Logic Express (see below) – I'd also have to get a sustain pedal, which runs about twenty bucks

2. M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 desktop reference monitors; for iTunes and monitoring recording, along with my Sennheiser HD280 (64-ohm) monitor headphones I already own (via the 1/4" headphone input on the back – not the 1/8" input on the front)

3. M-Audio Nova large-capsule cardiod condenser microphone, or – if I get lucky – maybe the matched pair of the Pulsar II condensers; for recording the Bechstein – I'll need two to record in stereo

4. M-Audio Fast Track Pro 4x4 USB interface w/ balanced/unbalanced analog I/O, S/PDIF/coax MIDI I/O, 1/4" monitor headphone out and phantom power for the condenser mics; for recording from the mic- and line-level (i.e. guitar) sources, this has two inputs for stereo

5. Apple Logic Express (7.2 – cos 8.0 won't work with my dual 1.0-GHz PowerPC G4 processors, but 7.x will); for recording, effects and mixing from the MIDI controller and mic inputs (the Bechstein, possibly a guitar, even more remotely possibly vocals) – this will supply all the effects for the 88es controller like synth, guitar effects, reverb, etc.

Surprisingly, none of this stuff is very expensive – which is what turned me on to M-audio. It looks like their stuff is pretty high quality without a ton of bells and whistles. And Logic Express is the stripped-down version of Logic Studio, but seems like it has everything I would need to record and mix from all these different sources.

I'll keep researching a little bit more, but so far this stuff is pretty cool. It's bringing me back to my days working in recording studios in LA and Seattle – something I absolutely loved, I just couldn't afford to keep doing and was, with a bit of remorse, forced to get a 'real' job. Sigh.