Dru

Hey, Dave Persson was a friend of mine. He even left me a #3 Tri Cam, now I'm the only person in the whole world to have 2 of them. If you can find a copy of the 1999-2000 Varsity Outdoor Club Journal and read his 20-page tick-list/ philosophy statement you might find you understand him a little better. I never knew anyone so dedicated to the mountains except maybe Alex Lowe and I didn't actually know him so... A few months before the Lib Ridge tragedy DP was on Shuksan for a winter ascent with some other friends. The party climbed the N. face and continued to the summit. On the way back they went to descend the N. face. DP put on his skis and disappeared from view. As they descended he reappeared, climbing back up. He went to the top of the face and skiied it again, catching up with them at the bottom and heading out. how many others have yo-yo skiied the N face of Shuksan?? Dave was the man for sure. A memorial of some sort to Dave will be guerilla-installed on Liberty Ridge if we ever get around to constructing it.

True, true!

I'd have to concur with the Mountain Master. I got a pair for $60 CDN back in the day when i was a pro-dealin' ArcTeryx lackey. They're far and away the most comfy shoes I have ever worn. Climb good too. HOWEVER, I haven't worn them in the mountains all that much, honestly, mainly for Squamish and so on. Did have them at Leavenworth & Smith, where they kicked ass for scrambling around - ditto for the boulderfields in the Fraser Valley.

There was already a bunch of discussion of this very route including beta from the first ascencionist under the "8-mile buttress" thread. Deja vu!

Two friends tried it last weekend and reported a meter of unconsolidated new snow. Check the South Coast conditions at www.avalanche.ca and plan accordingly.

Latex gloves are too thin to be warm and too unbreathable to keep your hands dry. tight dishwashing gloves over liners are dry but not super durable. best thing i've found is MEC mixmaster gloves - at only $65 a pair I can afford one a season - ice all winter and then alpine all summer and it's time for a new pair come November. But I have no complaints re:dry and warm from them and I can put screws in without taking them off.

if you're wanting tall tales... Bunyan Shmonion! That hole is there from one of the early Canadian ascents. a member of the party peed on the rock there. Since we drink real beer, not that American swill, the rock was not able to withstand the Canadian stream and eroded away to form the hole you see today.

"a little damp?" It pissed rain all day didn't it? That spray is coming from the sky and not from your mouth.

Where's closest to you? Zion has some great clean aid routes like Space Shot but the weather can be iffy in the spring. Squamish is likely to rain, ditto Index. If it's pouring rain you'd probably be better off on granite than redrock. I'd pick Yosemite as the #1 choice. [This message has been edited by Dru (edited 03-05-2001).]

Yeah if you think climbing after an earthquake on scary looseness is "tame" and "Not Extreme Enough" you could always take up walking into taverns down in Redmond or Pendleton and asking cowboys what their sheep prefer, oral or anal? "Extreme Cowboy Taunting", oh yeah! A real man's death sport!

quote: Originally posted by Alex: Shit the size of bowling balls was moving at terminal velocity down and accross the scree slope Shit the size of bowling balls? Ow! I recommend a higher fibre diet, or making those above you carry a poop tube. [This message has been edited by Dru (edited 03-01-2001).]

Check out http://bivouac.com/mtn/UserPg.asp?rq=UserPg&UserId=30 Includes the links to the infamous articles about climbing Siwash Rock while drunk and finding $800 worth of booty on Slesse. Also a *real* picture of me.

You know, I hear a lot of people talking about windex and how dirty it is. i can't figure that out. You clean stuff with Windex! Actually I have never been there without it raining. One time it was sunny at Stevens Pass and at Sultan and it was raining so hard you couldn't even see Bigfoot when we went thru there. What gives?

I think Lyle got excited because he was worried the shaking might knock down his latest project before he could climb it. As for getting rowdy I quote you this excellent phrase from A history of the Central Interior of British Columbia "The Canadians celebrated their New Year in the traditional fashion - drinking and fighting". It's just that nowadays we tend to do it on the rink instead of in the streets!

Who's Jason Shea? I think Alex removed his post because it was dissing me for posting the same message 3 times while the phone lines were down after the quake and the board wasn't updating. Once I changed them to different jokes he removed his dis.

I also hear that Seattleites are looting and rioting in the streets after the quake. Good to hear it hasn't caused any changes to your usual activities! [This message has been edited by Dru (edited 02-28-2001).]

Actually that wasn't an earthquake at all that was just John Dunne taking a whipper off of his latest E10 route in Britain. [This message has been edited by Dru (edited 02-28-2001).]

I hear that the Split Pillar fell of the Grand Wall at Squamish and that Flagpole Tower has collapsed just like the trigger finger did...

Regarding the "perlon at the base" issue, 1) pack rats and snafflehounds eat this stuff, remember 2) if you're there in the spring or summer you can always pick it up and carry it out 3) better perlon at the base than conduit 4) evaluate the abalakov slings just like you'd evaluate slings around a possibly loose block high on an alpine route. If they look good to you go for it. If they scare you add a new one or two. Webbing is cheap. Dead people can't spend the money they saved on webbing.

Dude, the last thing I want to hear about after you're talking about women is the girth of your pillar...

Carlos Buhler cool. How bout that SE face of Ama Dablam? Lightning route? very cool. Marc/k Twight cool. Reality Bath? Beyond good and Evil? The Gift that keeps...? OOOOH! I guess, my point being, we shouldn't automatically celebrate the silent hardman and dis the must-tell-all writer. writing about climbing well is challenging and big props to those who can. Twight is always fun to read whether he intends to be or not. if no hardmen wrote about their climbing I would suffer for lack of things to read!!!

They ARE making a movie about him, a documentary that is. (for info: expedition@sunshine.net). It will not feature any nitro [This message has been edited by Dru (edited 02-27-2001).]

The deal on using the adjustable fifi is that the manufacturer recommends using 7mm cord but you have to use 6mm to make them work properly. With 6mm you can adjust the fifi one-handed. With 7mm it's hard to do two-handed!! I do wish the hook was bigger radius but I've never had it pop and it's easy to remove when you have to lengthen it to stand up on that top-step on vert terrain. And it kicks ass on overhangs where you never top-step. It's of debatable worth for slab aid. A partner of mine did have his cord blow out but he was using one that was already frayed. It's important to replace the cord at the first sign of wear as the locking off is rope-on-rope like in a GiGi or Garta Hart knot, except just in the hook cord and not in your rope It's also a great tool for cleaning traverses with - you can adjustable in to the next piece, take your weight on that and then move your jugs around and grab the last piece in comfort. Oh - the other good thing about them is when you are seconding hard free routes and your partner is out of sight you can hook in to a piece, adjust and dog without your weight coming on to the rope. "Yeah I cruised that Joe... how come you were struggling so much?" [This message has been edited by Dru (edited 02-27-2001).]

Get two normal daisys and use a Kong adjustable fifi instead of the fifi-on-a-loop most people use. It speeds things up AMAZINGLY. I will never use a standard fifi again. Plus you can keep your regular daisys set up and use them as back ups to your adjusted fifi.

Charlet sell a classic pick but I have never had any problems self arresting with the "Cascade" pick. The way I see it if you are on terrain where the ability to self arrest will depend on the type of pick you use you might as well rope up and place pro. And, I will NEVER again climb anything requiring two tools with a straight shaft mountaineering axe. Tried it, nuh uh. That's what I like about the multishaft Charlet, you can carry the extra shaft in your pack and switch em over at the base and top of the face. The main drawback is the weight. The other nice thing about the hammer multishaft is that you can take the pick and shaft off and it turns into a small, light rock hammer for long alpine climbs where you might have to place one or two pins but don't want to slam 'em in with a handy rock. Leave the pick on and you wont have to cut your way across the snow to the base of the rock with your nut tool