mneagle

I like this explanation the best... Subdivisions of class five climbing In Mountaineering, Freedom of the Hills, author Ed Peters explains the subdivisions of class 5: "The experienced climber, having accomplished or attempted free climbs of varying degrees of difficulty in the YDS class 5 range, gains an understanding of the level of difficulty involved. To the beginner, however, these ratings are simply a set of numbers, understandably, easy if rated 5.0 and impossible if rated 5.13. To provide a slightly better understanding within the class for the beginner the following tongue-in-cheek description is provided: 5.0 to 5.4 There are two hand- and two footholds for every move; the holds become progressively smaller as the number increases. 5.5 to 5.6 The two hand- and two footholds are there, obvious to the experienced, but not necessarily so to the beginner. 5.7 The move is missing one hand- or foothold. 5.8 The move is missing two holds of the four, or missing only one but is very strenuous. 5.9 The move has only one reasonable hold which may be for either a foot or a hand. 5.10 No hand- or footholds. The choices are to pretend a hold is there, pray a lot, or go home. 5.11 After thorough inspection you conclude this move is obviously impossible; however, occasionally someone actually accomplishes it. Since there is nothing for a handhold, grab it with both hands. 5.12 The surface is as smooth as glass and vertical. No one has really ever made this move, although a few claim they have. 5.13 This is identical to 5.12 except it is located under overhanging rock."

I was told on my first trip to Yosemite that the second pitch of Bishops Terrace was considered "The 5.8" that was used when devising the Yosemite decimal system. I have often wondered what the other Yosemite benchmarks are. Anyone know?

I climbed it in 2001. I was travelling alone in Eduador without any gear, so I found a guide in Riobamba who could outfit me w/ size 12 plastics and some reasonable outerwear. I had been in the NE of the country, camping in the jungle at about 500 feet for the week before. I wanted to acclimatize in Riobamba for a few days before heading up to the refugio, but my guide wasn't in the mood and convinced me that the weather was going to change. Since I was only in Ecuador for 2 weeks total (and was young, male and stupid), I went for it. This was not wise. The road takes you all the way to the refugio at 5000m. It's warm and you get some decent food from the kitchen. At this point I was still feeling pretty good. After a few hours of sleep, we started off at around 1:00AM. There is a very short section down low where you have to make a few simple 4th class moves. It's no big deal but it's the only spot with significant rock fall potential, so you should get through it as quickly as you can. From there it was a lot of step kicking through 10 inches of powder over neve. The two of us joined another team of 3 and we took turns breaking trail. The headache began after a few hours and by the time we reached 6000m I was feeling pretty shitty and started dragging ass. I stopped breaking trail and it took everything I had to get to the Veintemilla summit at around 6240m. The beauty of the view was somewhat blunted by the throbbing in my head and waves of nausea. The Whymper summit was only another 70m or so higher and within view. However, to get to it we would have had to lose altitude and cross a field of pentientes and then climb back up. If acclimatized it probably would have taken about an hour, but my physiology was still camping in the jungle so I high-tailed it back down before the HAPE/HACE had a chance to set in. The route didn't strike me as being any more dangerous or difficult than most of the alpine in WA, but that was a few years ago. I've made 3 trips to Bolivia from 1997 to 2002 and was shocked at the glacial recession. If the same forces have been at work in Ecuador over the last few years, the route may have changed considerably in character. I bet you could get up to date information from Mountain Madness, as they regularly lead trips to the area. They usually stick to Cotopaxi and Cayambe but I believe they sometimes climb Chimbo'. Also, I'd recommend acclimatizing on some lower peaks before trying Chimborazo. (duh)

Sir, you are correct.

Climb: Moab Area-Monster Tower - The Rectory - Castleton Tower Date of Climb: 5/21/2005 Trip Report: My buddy Rich and I blew off the forcast for 100 degree heat and headed for the Desert in the middle of May. I'm moving to Colorado and we decided that this may be our last chance to get some of our major ticks in. To thwart the heat we carried a total of 13 liters of water to the base of each climb. Despite this we were still peeing dust by the end of the day. We started out with our biggest objective, the North Ridge of Monster Tower. The road was rough but the Outback did the job. At the pull-off we encountered a party of 2 going to climb Washer Woman (1 of only 2 parties we saw all weekend). The hike up was quick. We loaded up a few liters of water and set off. The 1st pitch of 5.9 was fun and painless (a far cry from what was waiting above). Monster Tower (left) Washer Woman (right) I took off on the second pitch (5.10+ fist) that really starts the buisness. Insecure fist jams were well lubricateed with blood by the time I reached the rest stance. Not wanting to belay off the pathetic bolt here I ran it out up the 5.7 off-width to a huge ledge where I catered to my wounds before bringing up Rich. Pitch 2 View of Washer Woman from top of pitch 3. The classic 5.10 route (can't remember the name) is in the shadowy chimney leading to the exposed face climbing to the summit. Rich then set off on the crux lie-back 11a. Strenuous climbing with insecure footholds led to yet another offwidth. This one was a bit less thirsty for blood than the last. Crux 3rd Pitch After more enjoyable climbing I was set to finish the route off with the final 11a pitch. After doing some really fun 5.10 climbing I reached the supposed 11a face climbing. Convinced it would take levitation to get up the holdless face I was prepared to aid it. Rich pleaded for an onsight try, so I brought him up. After 10-15 minutes of not getting 2 feet up, he relented and finished the pitch on aid followed by some run out slab/face climbing. Summit On the summit we admired the beauty of the Canyonland's White Rim and read through the summit registry while baking in the 90+ degree sun. We came accross an entry by Jim Beyer who made a note that (due to erosion) the last pitch of the North Face route is now rated 5.10 A1. That was good enough for us. A few raps on some suspect anchors led us back to our water and salvation. The next morning we decided that since it was going to be even hotter that we should try 2 towers. We decided to hit Fine Jade on the Rectory first and then move over to the North Face of Castleton Tower in the afternoon. We headed off early in the morning and found the trail to be the best approach trail next to the paved track around Devil's Tower. In no time we were racking up at the base of Fine Jade. What a route! Once past the first 2 pitches it eased off considerably but every pitch had memorable moved. Rich got revenge on the 1st pitch off-width and I led the 11a finger crux. Some of the best climbing ever. Getting psyched for the second pitch finger crack crux. Unfortunately, the camera ran out of film at this point, but you've probably all seen a shot of the 5.8 hand traverse anyway. It was very cool. I lead all the way to the top on one rope and threw the other over the edge which made seconding no problem at all for Rich. Another beautiful, solitary and baking hot summit warmly (ha ha ha...) met us. After rehydrating, we packed up and headed accross the way to try our luck on the North Face of Castleton. We had heard a party on the North Chimney who we met and exchanged pleasantries with before getting on with things. Rich had done the 1st pitch before and granted it to me with a knowing grin. After a full rope length of hand to fist to offwidth chimney/crack involving nearly continuous body tension, I underclinged for dear life out the 11- roof and slid onto the belay ledge in a pool of blood. I coudn't tell if I was dehydrated or anemic. Rich made quick work of the 2nd 5.10 pitch that involved a scary yet fun mantle. The last pitch was more run out 5.10 that just seemed to drift as did yet another 5.8 chimney. Being alone on the summit of Castleton is a rare and magical experience. We sat for a while admiring the beauty and danger of the desert before making our way down and heading back to SLC. Gear Notes: Double rope and cams...lots of cams. Bring at least 5 blue Camalots for the North Face of Castleton. Monster Tower protected well with cams to #4 Camalot. Bringing a bolt kit to repair the rap anchors would be a a good community service project. Approach Notes: Super easy.

The folks at the trading post in Darringont have a photocopy of the original and out of print Whitelaw guide. For the cost of the photocopies they will print you off a copy. It's missing a lot of the new routes but has all of the old classics. The gear rec's are a little out of date as well, telling what sized nuts and pitons to bring on every climb. "No school like the old school."

Try Rise and Fall or Swim. You'll need a little gear for swim, though. Search around this website for other routes. Index Guide

Is your friend an RMI guide? I ask because they have some pretty strange ideas about high altitude physiology(pressure breathing ). The device you are showing is an incentive spirometer. It is not meant to be an exercise device for your lungs (actually the lungs themselves can't be exercised, only muscles can be). It is used to keep lungs maximally expanded in hospitalized patients who are spending a lot of time in their beds. The patients are instructed to breath in to get the plunger as high as they can while keeping the little ball on the side between the 2 lines (which does not take much strength). The same thing could be achieved without the spirometer, but by looking at the plunger it helps people motivate. If you suck as hard as you could it may work your respiratory muscles some, but that has very little to do with high altitude physiology. Respiratory muscle endurance is important, but short duration, high resistance training will not have a significant impact on this. Running or riding a bike would be much better. The principle parts of high altitude adaptation involve gas transport from lung to blood, changes in the blood count and oxygen carrying capacity, the ability of the heart to transport the blood and the ability to unload and utilize oxygen in the tissues. The brain is also very important as it controls breathing patterns during sleep which can have a profound impact on high altitude illness/adaptation. The best way to prepare for high altitude is to get into good overall shape and acclimatize at a reasonable rate. If you want to use drugs, acetazolamide can be helpful as it actually speeds acclimatization as opposed to Decadron which does not. However, acetazolamide shouldn't be taken by people with a sulfa allergy, can cause dehydration and (perhaps worst of all) makes your beer taste bad. Personally, I wouldn't recommend drugs unless your time was limited and didn't allow for adequate acclimatization.

This is pretty accurate. One of the best routes I've ever done. I think there have been 1 or 2 bolts added to the last 5.9 pitch that aren't on the topo.

I have not been up there lately, but if you are going you may want to check this route out. I climbed it in April of 1999 in cold conditions. There was a lot of firm snow and a few short sections of 4th class/low 5th rock. It would really depend on snow conditions. If there's been a lot of snow then the tough rock sections may be covered. I climbed the couloir solo at night by headlamp and bivied on the ridge before traversing to the summit. I've been up the brothers 4 times and I think it's my favorite route. The second photo shows the route using the old guide book's hand drawing. The photo was taken from where the red dot is on the topo. Bring an ice ax and crampons but don't bother with a rope or protection.

Looks like you were in the right place. Here is a picture a little higher up on the lower slabs I got off alpinedave's website. Note the light colored area that kind of looks like a quarter of a circle. For info on finding the bolts, check out Dave's website: http://www.alpinedave.com/garfield/infinite_bliss.htm

web page

Here's the link to the Ghost Town site, for those who haven't seen it. www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

For those who remember reading Elena's last thread about the Chernobyl ghost town, you will probably enjoy her 2004 project as well. Also check out her story about the Ukrainian election. www.theserpentswall.com/index.html

Brianhead www.brianhead.com

I've used a Warmlite 3R climbing in Bolivia and backpacking in Patagonia. The key to the wind strength is getting aligned correctly with the prevailing winds. It is a tube style tent with tapering towards the end opposite the door. Thread the poles front and back and then grab the rear stake-out point. Hold the tent up and let the wind align it like a weather vein. Stake out the end and walk around to the other side and then stake that end out second. We used ours on some unprotected plains in Patagonia in gale force winds and had no problem. In Bolivia, the winds tended to come later in the day so we had trouble orienting the tent when we first made camp. When the wind blows from the side it really deforms the tent and gets pretty scary but it held up. It's surprising given that the material seems paper thin. My overall opinion is that the Warmlite is a great backpacking and long approach basecamp tent (the thing is super light) but on high mountains I'd rather bring something a little more durable and free standing. If you go for the Warmlite, I'd recommend the 3R with double walls, large door and side windows. This should work for 2 people + gear. With the double walls and side windows, ventilation/condensation can mostly be controlled even in the NW. Still, keep a rag to wipe it down in the morning.

I once took an evolution class in college where the final exam consisted of 2 parts: "Discuss genetics and evolution." & "Discuss development and evolution." Having heard a version of the above story, before starting I searched everywhere on the test for a line like "Just kidding! Write down the name of the ship Darwin rode to the Galapagos Islands on and go have a beer." Unfortunately, the questions were for real and I was forced to fill 3 blue books with naive conjecture and drivel.

Instead of giving X-mas presents to my family this year my wife and I donated to the Heifer Foundation's Bolivia fund. Basically they buy livestock for the poor farmers. http://www.heiferfoundation.org/waystogive/country/latinamerica/_RogerHinojosaBolivianEndowment.cfm

http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/01/10/dances.cancelled.ap/index.html

Drop me a PM when you get here if you are interested in doing any ice climbing or back country skiing this winter. No ice yet but I got some nice turns in on north facing slopes today.

I used the OR Ice Mitts on 2 trips to Bolivia. They are really beefy with padding over the fingers and knuckles and a double layer of Gor-Tex. Although it was butt-cold climbing Sajama in 40 mph wilds in the middle of the night I got by with only the single inner-liners. The double liners are probably only needed for polar exploration or for people with poor circulation. Bottom-line: bulky but toasty.

Dude, you are so wrong. Utah "wilderness" couldn't hold a candle to the wilderness in Washington. And anyone who cares at all about what wilderness is left here realizes that the conservative politics in this state are out to destroy the remainder. Thanks to strong republican/Mormon support illegal oil surveying has gleefully been pursued in southern Utah, the grand staircase escalante national monument is under constant attack, the BLM has been taken over by pawns and the whole roads in wilderness areas buisness led to the operators of the biannual outdoor trade show threatening to move the $25 million event out of state. Living here and caring about the environment is an exercise in frustration. The heroes of Utah are the members of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) who relentlessly lead the charge of the light brigade against the idiots in office. When the head of BD wrote his letter to the legislature concerning the possible movement of the trade show, a senior member's response was something to the effect that he can take the trade show and shove it. The fact is, ultra conservative politics has complete control of this state and they enjoy and flaunt that dominant role destroying everything in their path not unlike the infamous Mormon crickets in their fabled history. One of my mormon colleagues once told me he was more afraid of environmentalists than white supremacists...I shit you not. So that's what I've learned over the last few years. You will learn too unless you are blind or dense.

So now that I've lived in SLC for 2 1/2 years I can give you the complete scoop. The climbing: Easily accessible and reliable WI 4-6 routes that are 15-30 minutes hike off a road. Also tons of mixed stuff. Some of the guys from Provo have placed miles of PVC pipes from the falls in Provo Canyon and have created a playground sure to make the magazines soon. Cobbles in Maple Canyon, granite in LCC & BCC, limestone in American Fork and sandstone in Moab & Indian Creek. Zion, Red Rocks and Wild Iris are within a days drive. Devil's Tower is a long day's drive. There is a new bouldering Utah book that is thick as a Bible as well. Utah is a great place to get super strong on all kinds of rock. Unfortunately, the alpine climbing is very weak and you'll never feel that spiritual sensation that comes from climbing a remote route in the North Cascades. The only thing that comes close is Lone Peak Cirque. There are really good 4-6 pitch granite trad routes in an amazing location. Unfortunately, with all the hikers you have to go mid-week to get any solitude. There are 2 gyms in town. Rockreations is next to BD and has an older quasi trad crowd, while the Front is primarily a bouldering gym filled with teenage mutants. The skiing is the best on the planet. Amazing backcountry is available for daytrippers. The resorts have some good deals for locals. Alta is the best deal in town, unless you are a boarder. If you do not come with a significant other you will probably never date again. Nobody moves here single. After living in Seattle, SLC is a cultural wasteland. It's really fucking boring. The bottom-line: It's a great place to become a super strong technical ice/rock climber and skier, but if you value wilderness, alpine climbing, cultural diversity and a good cup of coffee then eventually you will get sick of it. It's a great place to live for awhile and then come back to visit.

I spent some time working in Livingstone, MT and met several locals who were perfectly polite and easy to get to know. I wasn't struck by any elitism and within minutes of meeting a guy he doled out a ton of beta concerning alpine routes and offered to take me out that weekend where he let me lead the crux pitch on a new route he had wanted to do. He explained that the non-written agreement among Montana climbers was not to hide climbs but rather to just not publish them which would attract too much attention. I think they also like the idea of real adventure climbing without the help of a topo. He admitted that it let some of the history get lost and sometimes while attempting a "new route" he would come across an ancient piton and wonder about who had been there before. Overall, Montana has managed to stay out of the line of fire that govenment agencies have aimed at climbers in other states. I guarantee that if Infinite Bliss were in Montana its longevity would not be in question like it is in WA. So if you want to get some beta, just go there and ask around. I bet you would find a partner easily and change your attitude.