mneagle

Trip: Yosemite - Toulumne - High Sierras - Various Date: 10/18/2010 Trip Report: I escaped my parental/spouse/career responsibilities to join my buddy Cha on his 3 month celebratory tour after quitting his job. We had brilliant and unseasably warm temps for the whole week and managed to get up 6 reasonably big objectives in 9 days. We started off big on Serenity Crack/Sons of Yesterday. Awesome crack climbing with only 1 party ahead and 1 party behind. Cha running it out on the pin scarred 1st pitch. Me preparing to levitate to the right crack on pitch 2. Cha enjoying perfect hands near the top of pitch 2. Me working the flaring jams on pitch 1 of Sons of Yesterday. Cha working his way across the 10a hand traverse on the last pitch of Sons of Yesterday. Moving on, we headed up to cilmb the Incredible Hulk in the Sierras. It was perfect granite in a pristine alpine setting. A little windy and cold to start with, but worth the minor suffering. We did the Red Dihedral, which went at around 10b. It follows the obvious diheral towards the right side of the face. If you go there, be sure to search the rocks for the "perfect cave bivy." Me suffering up the classic diheral pitch with frozen hands. Cha finishing the 10a finger crack after finally finding the Sun. Cha on the ridge before traversing to the exit pitches. To get through the infamous keyhole exit on the last pitch, I had to remove all gear from my harness as well as my helmet and still barely made it through. Next, we headed back to the Meadows and did Lucky Streaks on Fariview Dome. In our enthusiasm and lateness, we both managed to leave our cameras at the base. This is the only picture we have. It was an incredible route. The next day, we went back and did the regualr route on Fairview Dome. The first 2 pitches are great and the rest are so so. At 5.9, it was the only "easy" route we did all week though and it was nice to relax for a change. The route from the base. Cha finishing pitch 1. Cha about 2/3 of the way up the route. View from summit across to Daff Dome. Can you see the lizard's head? Next we headed back to the Valley and decided to challenge ourselves again. We ended up 2nd in the que to get up Free Blast on El Cap. Wow, wuite a route indeed! Cha heading across the 5.11 traverse on pitch 3. Me following pitch 3 (forgive the slight camera tilt.) Me heading up the 10c 4th pitch. Cha on the 10d 5th pitch before some mixed 5.11 and A0 slab. Me on more hard slab. Me negotiating the man-eating chimney/corner...10b, yeah right. Finally some cruiser 5.7 to the top. Rapping down some really crappy fixed lines from Heart Ledge. Note core shots in the rope from jugging abrasion and rock fall that were "fixed" by knotting the rope. Passing the knots was a rich experience. The crown jewel of the trip was a journey up the Third pillar of Dana. This is one of the cleanest and most aesthetically pleasing lines I have ever seen or climbed. Totally amazing. Me on the optional but recommended first pitch. Cha using some "a cheval" technique on pitch 2. Cha poised above a scary looking flake at the top of pitch 4. Me commiting to the psychological crux of the climb, making some dicey 10b moves above old pins and tiny gear on the only face section of the climb. Cha finishing the route in fine form on the 6th pitch, AKA the best pitch in the Sierras. We concur. Amazing trip with an amazing partner. Gear Notes: standard Yosemite rack Approach Notes: straight forward trails pick the right gulley to descend on the 3rd pillar of dana or you will be sorry

Although his early use of aid was disturbing... ...Flint's later commitment to indoor bouldering did lead to increasing strength and boldness... ...and he finally realized his calling as a fast and light high alpine soloist.

I was safely playing with Star Wars figures in Chicago. I did get a little vial of the ash from a relative, though.

Here's a recipe for a wheat beer I made recently: 5.5 lb maris otter 5.5 lb german wheat malt 1.5 lb 10L crystal 1.5 lb 10L Munich malt 1.5 oz cascade pellets hops x 60 min boil 2 oz Tettnager leaf hops x 2 min boil 2 tsp gypsum 1 tsp Irish moss x last 15 min of boil Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast Boil time: 60 minutes Mash: -rest at 122 x 15 min -decoction w/ rest at 154 x 20 minutes then boil x 30 minutes before adding back to mash and doing saccharification rest at 150 x 90 minutes -added heat to mash out at 168 x 10 minutes -No-sparge ABV ~5.2% It turned out quite nice with an excellent level of bitterness and texture/mouthfeel. The Kolsch yeast gave it a bit of fruitiness but I think I made a mistake by using the Tettnanger flavor hops. I should have used Centennial or more Cascade as flavor hops, which I think would have given it a nice citrus flavor. The taste is more like a typical German hefe but I'm finding that I actually prefer American wheat beers. For that matter, I may replace the Maris Otter with domestic 2-row next time and think about replacing the Munich malt with something like Victory malt to make it a little more "American". Brew on.

How did the sorghum beer turn out? My sister is gluten-sensitive and coming out for a visit this summer. If you've got a good recipe, then post up and I'll give it a try.

I would not trade my wife, two kids and mortgage for all the money in the world. My wife and two children are my world. Climbing is rad but does not even come close to having a family. IMO. I feel the same way. My family life kicks ass. I'd also add that I weigh the same as when I graduated from high school and am a hell of a lot stronger, physically and mentally. Because we bought 1/2 the house we could afford, the mortgage isn't that big and we were just able to buy a little plot of land in the mountains. Don't let fear of the future affect your decision, but do get out and smell the roses. Something else to consider...semi-unemployment. I took a job out of residency working about 10-13 days per month in the Harborview ER. Although technically still working, I was climbing, cycling, skiing, camping and travelling every day I wasn't at work for 2 years. Eventually I began to feel that I was wasting my time climbing so much and went back to get more training and the career progressed. Climbing now has a place in my life but it is not my whole life. If there's a way you could create a similar work situation, I'd highly recommend it for a year or two. After that you just need to find the right balance for you.

My biggest adventure in Ecuador was sitting on a park bench in the old area of Quito. Some guy grabbed me around the neck and tried to stab me with a knife. I deflected the knife with my trusty Lonely Planet guidebook and a brief wrestling match ensued. Once back on our feet, we found ourselves facing off with our respective weapons. Realizing that his knife was no match for my tome (or perhaps a bit freaked out by my wild eyes and profanity infused threats), he wisely fled. I then realized that I had only been screaming at him in English. I decided to punctuate my victory with something in Spanish. I can't really say why I chose to yell "You're lucky!", but adrenaline crossed some wires and it came out "You're sleepy!" This of course thoroughly confused the on-lookers who had wandered out of their homes to see what was going on. I added to their puzzlement by then announcing "He had a big spoon!" I climbed a mountain too.

I completely agree...yummy stuff. I'll be sure and tell my neighbors that you like it. (Kim and Jeff live 5 houses down the road.) On another note, I've been experimenting with no-sparge brewing and so far things have been going well. Here's my current protocol: 1) Calculate water:grain ratio needed for desired specific gravity using pre-boil volume of 7 gallons and post-boil volume of 6 gallons. 2) Adjust grain bill so that run-off will equal 7 gallons...no-sparge needed! 3) Mash in with total water needed at ~122 for protein rest. 4) Do double decoction mash: -saccharification rest 150-158 x 60-120 minutes(depending on profile desired) -mash out at 168-170 x 10 minutes 5) Boil x 60-90 minutes depending on style. For a longer boil I may have to top up with water. I shoot for a post boil volume of 6 gallons, hoping to get 5 1/2 gallons into the primary and then racking 5 1/4 gallons into the secondary and 5 gallons into the keg. Note: I use a 20 gallon Boilermaker for the mash, which allows me to heat and recirculate the mash in case I undershoot my mash temps without adding additional water. A lot of the no-sprage stuff I've read say to expect an efficiency of ~55% but with this protocol I've been getting between 65-70%. Although decoction mashing is felt required for most european lagers, I've found it to be very helpful in all the beer styles I've tried it for, including barleywine, scottish ale, Imperial IPA and American wheat beer. It takes longer but I think the malt profile and efficiency are greatly improved. I was actually able to brew an entire extract batch of oatmeal stout during the waiting periods of an all-grain brewing session without any difficulty. The only real downside is the extra cost of a few pounds of grain. Here's the table I've been using to figure out lbs of grain and water to use to get various gravities. I found it on-line and then modified it to actually show the ratios. Once you know this, you can use Beersmith pretty easily to figure out the rest. OG of wort 1.035 1.041 1.048 1.051 1.054 1.057 1.059 1.064 1.069 1.074 1.080 Pounds of Grain 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22 25 Gallons of water 7.5 7.8 8.1 8.3 8.4 8.6 8.8 9.1 9.4 9.7 10.2 Qt/lb ratio 3.75 3.12 2.7 2.55 2.4 2.29 2.2 2.09 1.88 1.76 1.63

It contains a first ascent of mine on the Brothers. I believe this makes me famous and gives me a certain sense of accomplishment as I find myself veering away from my alpinist past towards family and career. So if you think my 5.3 is really 4th class...just keep it to yourself.

A few inspirational photos... Condoriri: Cabeza de Condor summit ridge (just past the ice gully): Summit view from Condoriri: Pequeno Alpamayo: Huayna Potosi West Face (from Tuni): High Camp on Huayna Potosi (via de los Franceses on the left and standard route heads off to the right): Ala Izauierda: Ala Izquierda lower face: Ala Izquierda upper rock bands: Ala Izquierda summit: Sajama just below the ridge (my wife is so cool): Sajama upper ridge with view to summit glacier walk: Skiing at Chakaltaya: Sport climbing in La Florida: Scary road on the way to Coroico: Bolivian traffic jam: Lake Titicaca: Have a great trip!

Here are 2 of my previous TR's from Bolivia trips: Trip 1 Trip 2 Hope they help.

If you know someone who does it, sit in for a few sessions and see how you like it. Otherwise, I'd start with a book. The 2 most commonly recommended books are Papazian's "Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and John Palmer's "How to Brew". I started with Joy but many people don't care for Papazian's wacky style and prefer the no non-sense attitude of Palmer. Palmer puts a lot of his book on-line as a teaser. Check it out here: How to Brew If you don't have a local brew store, then I'd check out Austin Homebrew Supply on-line. They have a good selection of starter kits HERE and only charge a fixed $7.50 for delivery (which is a huge deal given the size and shape of what's being shipped in a kit). Don't worry about getting a recipe book, there are millions on-line.

I'd only do that for a really big beer, like a serious barleywine or very high gravity Imperial IPA. Otherwise a single smackpack has always worked for me.

Look up the specs of the yeast you are using to make sure they are appropriate for the closet temp. If your closet is too cold, just get some good lager yeast. Note that when using a lager yeast, the pitching rate is very important. I always make a yeast starter 4-5 days before making a lager. I use ~1 liter of sterile wort from a previous batch or DME at a gravity of 1.05 along w/ a smack pack or vial. I once fixed a failed primary fermentation by tossing a few packets of dry Saflager yeast directly into the wort with good results. Other fermentation problems I have had: -thermometer off -> yeast killed -refrigerator temp control malfunction -> yeast went dormant too soon -over boiling wort to try to hit a higher gravity -> excessive kettle carmelization resulted in too many unfermentable sugars and early fermentation termination (tasted like hopped cough syrup) -under-aerating full boil wort -underpitched yeast into high gravity wort -used expired yeast

So I made a big ass barley wine this weekend along with a Scottish ale. I used the "parti-gyle" technique, which was a first. Barley wine: 25 lb Maris Otter malt 3 lb aromatic malt 2 lb Carared malt 2 oz Zeus hops 6 oz Amarillo hops 2 packets Champagne yeast Scottish Ale 2nd runnings + 1/2 lb roasted barley 1/4 lb peat smoked malt 1 oz Challenger hops 2 oz Northern Brewers hops 2 packets Safale S-04 yeast [img:center]http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs145.snc3/17231_1272093376215_1646329150_643814_1339867_n.jpg[/img] It took quite a few pots and every inch of my range. [img:center]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs145.snc3/17231_1272093416216_1646329150_643815_7014682_n.jpg[/img] I used a pretty insane amount of hops in the barley wine. It has a calculated IBU of something like 300. The wort actually tasted delicious. Since I'm not planning on drinking it until New Years Eve, I figure it will probably mellow out by then anyway. [img:center]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs125.snc3/17231_1272093576220_1646329150_643819_490037_n.jpg[/img] Everything seemed to be going well. I had the barley wine boiling and was recirculating the mash after adding the specialty grains for the second batch. [img:center]http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs125.snc3/17231_1272093536219_1646329150_643818_2603925_n.jpg[/img] The brewing session was then rudely interrupted by our carbon monoxide alarm going off. After opening windows, we abandoned the house and waited for the fire department to arrive. It seems a "perfect storm" was created by our over-sized furnace creating a draw to the basement, having all the windows closed in winter, running 90,000 BTU's on the stove and using large pots that diverted the airflow away from the fan. Flint found all of this very entertaining. [img:center]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs145.snc3/17231_1272105216511_1646329150_643967_4224657_n.jpg[/img] At the end of the day, I did have a fine barley wine (OG 1.12) and Scottish ale (OG 1.046) to join the mead in the closet. I named the barley wine "Barley Wine 911" and the Scottish ale "Combustion Ale".

What can I say...I'm a gear whore. I'm pretty anal with my measurements. I keep track of exact weights, hop age and alpha content so I know how to tweak the recipe in the future. If your beer was too sweet, you may want to cut down the amount of crystal malt, if you used it. You may also have a stalled fermentation if your final gravity was too high. I had a similar problem when I under aerated a full boil wort once. I pitched some more dry yeast and shook the hell out of it and it took off again.

After recent renovations, I'm now a man lucky enough to possess not 1 but 2 caves... Gear Room: Beer Room: Also, in response to the previous request for a mead recipe, I made a ginger mead from Papazian's book this weekend. 17.5 lb clover honey 0.75 lb fresh ginger 1 oz yeast extract 2 packets EC-1118 Champagne yeast The must tasted delicious. I'll let you know how it turned out in about a year. [img:left]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/514/medium/P10mead1.jpg[/img]

On the recipe recommendation, here's a great one (calculated for 5 gallons)--brewed this one many times; always a hit--good session brew. 6 lbs British two-row pale malt 1 lb. 40-50 Lovibond English crystal malt 1 oz. English Fuggles hops (boiling) 0.4 oz. English Kent Goldings hops (flavor) 0.4 oz. English Kent Golding hops (aroma) 1/4 tsp. Irish moss Ale Yeast Throw in an ounce of black patent to add some color (optional). IBU: 34 OG: 1.045-1.049 FG: 1.010 - 1.014 Use a single-step infusion mash. Add boiling hops and boil for 75 minutes. Add flavor hops and Irish moss and boil for an addition 15 minutes. Turn off heat and add aroma hops and steep for 2 to 3 minutes. If you have any questions--shoot me a PM. Cheers! Looks good. I'll have to try it. Are you calling it a standard English bitter? My local homebrew store carries Goldings but there's no origin on the label. I've been reading that the East Kent Goldings are "so much better" than the US ones that mostly come from Yakima. Any opinion?

I recently sampled a bottle of a friends 14 year old mead...like wow. I've been meaning to get the recipe. I'll post up when I get it but it might not be ready for a decade. I'm personally waiting for prickly pear to come into season this summer to try Papazian's prickly pear mead as printed in the Joy of Homebrewing. If it's even close to as glorious as he claims it should be great.

Thanks for the advice. Any advice on a tasty low alcohol ale for daily consumption? Most of the beers I've been brewing are higher gravity and I'm not feeling great about taking in that much alcohol on a daily basis.

Why was this moved to Counseling Corner? WTF? Anyways, my Imperial IPA turned out great. It's pretty close to a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Here's the recipe: 16 lb 2-row pale malt 1 lb Crystal malt 30 L 1 lb Crystal malt 60 L 2 oz Zeus hops x 75 min boil 1 oz Centennial hops x 45 min boil 1 oz Centennial hops x 15 min boil 1 tsp Irish moss x 15 min boil 1 oz Centennial hops x 1 minute boil 0.25 oz Centennial hops dry hop 2 packets Fermentis Safale US-5 yeast Mash: 122 degree protein rest x 15 minutes 150 degree saccharification x 60 minutes 168 degree mash out yeast pitched directly without starter Total boil time 90 minutes primary fermentation: 10 days secondary fermentation: 5 days w/ dry hops OG: 1.074 FG: 1.015 ABV: 7.7% I missed my intended OG by 0.015. I gotta work on my brewhouse efficiency. The flavor and aroma are amazing and it's very drinkable despite an estimated IBU of 113. Plans for next time: -skip the protein rest -longer mash while focusing on more consistent temperature -higher sparge water temperature -I may bump the dry hops up to a full 1 oz

I was wondering if anyone else in the climbing crew is into homebrewing as well. I've been doing it for a while and turning out some pretty good brews. I kegged a Scottish 80/ yesterday and am about to keg an Imperial IPA...mmmmm hops. If enough people are into it, maybe we could replace the inane bacon forum with something useful.

I remember seeing that movie on TV when I was a kid. As a 10 year old I thought it was pretty cool, but even then I still questioned some of the movie's logic. Why would you put all of your climbing gear in a backpack and pass it back and forth? How could one person pull an entire helicopter into a cliff rather than just get pulled off the ledge? How come the old guy had to cut the cord rather then just get pulled up, as the next morning they didn't have any trouble pulling him off the cliff?

Check out this Boba Fett costume my son and I put together. [img:left]http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs231.snc1/7818_1183911811731_1646329150_449523_5831853_n.jpg[/img]

Lake Titicaca [img:left]http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/502/310boat.jpg[/img]