Wallstein

PP, You were a no show this morning... Whats up with that? Seriously though if you need a partner while down in the valley look me up at yms.

Hans is a WANKER.

Supertopo's just take all of the adventure out of climbing.

And then there is reality. Two 3/8" bolts slung with an american death triangle isn't that big of a deal when rappelling. Falling on a death triangle is a different story. I wouldn't ever rig some rusty old 1/4" with a triangle but if the bolts were 3/8" and I had only a limited amount of webbing i would be tying "DEATH TRIANGLES".

Not a first hand story but a real good one. A buddy of mine was on a wall route in Patagonia. Well they had been up there for a couple of weeks and away from home for some months. The belayer was especially missing his girlfriend and all of the pleasure she brought him. Well lets just say he was trying to imitate her and he got a little out of hand and fell out of the portaledge half naked.

Hey Tim, that was me who took the cord from Iron horse. The stuff was total shit and worn out. The sheath had worn through in multiple places and the core had also became severely worn. Sorry I didn't replace it then, I didn't have the appropriate stuff, 7mm cord. It wouldn't be that hard to climb up there and hang on a piece and replace it. So whoever is bitching should just replace it and not complain about gear that isn't even needed.

Thanks for the info victor. Yes the rock might of been a little friable but I didn't think the protection was that questionable, maybe its due to my aid climbing background though. I could of gotten a piece in every foot or so if I had wanted to. The blocks in the crack seemed a little weird but the nature of the placements wouldn't of been pulling the blocks out, I used almost all cams which I don't believe would of caused any rock to come out. If I had used a bunch of nuts maybe there was a chance a piece of rock might of blow out. Anyhow I think the route can be safely done without the bolts and probably not safe depending on the skill of the leader. Safety is all relative.

I would be really suprised to hear anyone has climbed them. There was so much moss that i couldn't even see the crack. Danimal should of taken the the little red piece of webbing of of the first bolt.

I did some climbing on the lower part of Icicle creek buttress this last week and noticed some new sporto routes just to the left of the arch route. Does anybody know who put these up and if they have even tried to toprope them. By the looks of it they put the bolts in before they were even attempted on toprope. One of the routes has 5 or 6 bolts and then ends in a short thin overhanging crack filled with thick moss. It doesn't look like the moss has even been touched. Seems a little odd to me. Then there was another route way to the right, like 75 yards. It started with a short finger crack and then ended on a long slab. Weirdest thing though, there are bolts next to the crack. I couldn't understand why so I put a couple pieces on my harness and lead the route. After doing the crack with good pro i still didn't see the need for the bolts. Placing pro probably made it a wee bit harder but still do able. Anybody have any info on these routes?

I was up there a couple of years ago and had great weather and great rock...I've been told that never happens in the Ruth. If you are looking for route beta I would just go to the ranger station when you are up there and look through all of the binders of topos. You will probably have better luck there than finding info down here. There is a Climbing or Rockandice with an article all about the ruth, I believe greg crouch wrote it. Enjoy yourself and stay away from the choss.

If you are looking for the real climbers they are over at RealClimbers.comThere aren't any here...we all just read about climbing...Oh but I shouldn't be telling you that because you aren't intersted in our lack of experience. Just help me understand something, 20+ years of experience and you can't get a climbing partner without placing a want ad? Well maybe I figured it out, you didn't say 20+ years of climbing experience..so you must of meant 20+ years of spraying bullshit.

During the last couple of months I have been living the life of leasure. Travelling around the world climbing and doing what I want to do. Well all of that has come to and end for a short time and I have rejoined the cubicle jungle....you all know what i am talking about, 6 foot walls, a mouse in hand, florescent lighting, supposive ergonimical chairs, forced air heating, and really bad coffee. Though I have only been working for 2 days now I am freaking out... I just can't handle this environment. I feel as forgien here as my co-workers would in the wilderness. How do you people deal with it? What's the trick? I know some people like Erik, Ray and Dru just absorb themselves in a fantasy world and just block out the harsh realities of the deskjob, but what about everyone else? Please enlighten me....

Thats right bitch!

W- Today is actually my last day and yesterday was my first. I can return to this job at anytime due to the fact that my dad is the pres/owner of the company. I actually head for yosemite on Tuesday. I just thought I would start a disscusion about work so I didn't have to work.

Thanks for the support Ray

One I haven't repeated but would love to is Edge of Space on Snow Creek. Probably the best bolted route I have done in the state. Amazing position and exciting climbing. Thin Red Line is one I will probably do again for the 3rd time. I think this route is better than Liberty Crack and far less crowded. Northern lights on the Chief is definitely on the list to repeat again and again. A couple of the pitches were sandstone like climbing but on GRANITE! Steep, clean and hard. It can't get much better.

Nelly- Haulbags are heavy and I am small... There is actually a little more to it than that. There is just something about walking up to el cap with your bros, a rack, two ropes, a really small bag, and a shit load of GU and then just climbing....and climbing.... and climbing. I really enjoy testing my body and using it to its fullest capabilities. Climbing 3000ft without stopping has made me aware of what is possible. Next year I hope to go back to Patagonia and try and do something on Fitzroy or Cerro Torre in a push. Light and lucky. One day, once I grow up and mentally mature, I would also like to start alpine climbing and I believe climbing in this style is one of the safest methods possible. Objective dangers scare me a lot and the less time I am at risk due to these objective dangers the better.

I have quite a bit of experience with the single push method of climbing bigwalls in Yosemite. I have never done any alpine climbing this way but I am sure it is very similar. Probably the most important thing that will help you be sucessfull is the correct energy source. I am a huge fan of GU and Balance Bars. I stay away from Cliff Bars and PowerBars because after 24+ hours of only eating them my stomach gets upset. This doesn't happen with GU and BalanceBars. Attitude is also very important to be sucessfull and most importantly to have a good time. Many of my partners start to freak out around the 24 hour mark. It is all mental though, it has nothing to do with how they are climbing our how the ascent is going. These partners start thinking we are moving to slow and everything seems to get under their skin. I just don't let shit get to me, its that simple. If something goes wrong I just deal with it, don't bitch. and don't argue with my partner about it. Arguing when shit is going wrong and you have been up of 30 hours can really be demotivating. I try and understand why things are going wrong and if they are actually wrong or it just seems like everything just sucks. During pushes my goal isn't to sprint for 50 hours but to climb at the most efficent pace for my body and mind. If I move to fast my mind will get worn out before my block is finished and I will end up bonking during one of my pitches. Not to say this hasn't happened though. I have fallen asleep a couple of times on lead, my partners were asleep at the belay too, this is the fastest way to get nowhere. Muscle and general body endurance is also very important. I think somepeople's body just can't handle moving and being awake for 24+ hours. Practice staying awake on a friday night and then go climb Town Crier or even Liberty crack, or just go cragging all day. Don't eat any food you wouldn't have on an actuall push ascent to get your body use to surving on hollow calories. Don't just toprope shit if you were to go cragging, this won't help at all. The goal of this practice is to fatigue your brain not just your body. Or don't practice at all and just go send something, that is the best practice. Chocolate covered espresso beans also help!

Erik how convient for you to use the same color nail polish as me!

Neutrinos rock. After using all neutrinos on a wall rack I went and sold almost all of my ovals. (well actually I tried to sell them but bro who bought them returned them...) I don't ever have a problem with biner shift when using neutrinos. The only thing that causes biner shift is incorrect technique. It happened to me all of the time until I stopped using extra caribiners in the aid process, now that I clip directly to the piece with my aider there isn't a problem. And heck I get a few inches higher with every piece. Not only are they littler and lighter than ovals they are way stronger. Some people think ovals and d's are plenty strong, but I have heard enough stories of people breaking them to know they aren't. I think most of the carbiners I have heard about breaking were due to gate chatter, well this just isn't a problem with any wire gate caribiner like a neutrino. I think gate chatter happens a lot more during an aid fall than normal free climbing due to the nature of aid pitches wondering so much and having so many pieces close to each other. I don't only use neutrinos because they are lighter but because I can rack more of them on my harness at a time. They have slightly thinner profile than most caribiners. I am a wacky trad climber that racks all of my gear on my harness so it is important that it all fits. In regards to them unclipping I have never heard of this problem to be specific to a neutrino more than any other caribiner. The only problem I have found with them is they disappear faster than any other caribiner on my rack! Would you know anything about that ERIK?

Tonsai Beach Party, ThailandWho's game?

What do you know Erik! You can't even pass a belay test.

Fuck the Cube Farm!!!!

I would highly recommend the climbing bum lifestyle. After almost 4 years of on and off bumming (mostly on)I am a much healthier person. Not to mention a much stronger climber. If you need any pointers on how to live like a king but look like a bum locate me when you are in yosemite. I head down there the middle of April and will be there till October. I can introduce you to the "Malt Liquor makes you climb way sicker" way of thinking. I believe Charlie also knows all about this.

quote: Originally posted by Yos: I usually clip a figure 8 as a backup. By just using a stopper knot you are only backed-up if the grigri merely slips. If the 'biner is cross-loaded and fails you are no longer connected to the rope! Sorry but that is incorrect. I clip the the slip knot into my harness and it will catch a fall. And I always tie into the end of the rope.