texplorer

My bad, I haven't soloed the routes your talking about Alex. I read erik's post and thought he was talking about the Zip I have never been on Toxic Shock or Even Steven. I misread Eriks post. Sorry Erik.

Decepticons were the shizzle

They fit better into pods, pockets, and pin scars than tcu's because their flexible cables and narrow design. In doing so they have not compromised strength however and are as strong as tcu's. I like tcu's too. In many situations they work just as well as aliens but they are just less versatile in my opinion.

Its granite and takes super gear. If you pop a piece on that thing you don't know how to place gear. Oh, and in lab tests, aliens have more holding power than any other cam.

Yes Erik, in fact I soloed the route about a month ago. I did no liebacking on the route either. It takes bigger stuff down low and then is the quintessential alien country as you approach the crux. Aliens are made for parallel sided finger cracks. The crux is a long reach to a fingerlock with kind of small feet that you can only get your toes into. I found the most insecure stuff actually above the "crux" with some rattleyfingers but with the angle kicked back.

Aliens are the shizzle to the nizzle. Sometimes you have to place cams in "not so ideal situations." It is a drawback that sometimes if they blow out they get ruined as in Alex's case. A TCU however wouldn't hold in the same situation it would just pop out. Who said pods are evil anyway. Pods are great feet and climbins all about the feet.

Yep I took a 30fter on the YG last year.

When life hands you lemons, shove them up a frenchies ass. Hope you guys salvage a trip and watch out for the "russian" routes on mountains.

Well, didn't really know where to post this since there's not an "Other" or "Yosemite" section in TR's. I haven't had much time since coming back from Yos to report but thought some of you might like to hear about how us mortals can do amazing things from time to time. As soon as school let out for summer I headed down to the Mecca of American climbing, Yosemite. I had several goals to try and push my free-climbing grade on some famous yosemite classics but knew that I was not in that great of shape and the temps were getting hot. After being there for a little over a week we I had done several longer classics like the East Butt. of Higher Cathedral, 3rd Pillar of Dana, and the East Butt. of El Cap. These are all excellent routes with classical Yosemite spiciness that I would highly recommend. A friend there wanted to do the Regular route on Half Dome in-a-day but he kinda flaked and I wasn't that motivated to hike up there being that I had already done that route. So, begins this TR. Anytime I take a "big" trip I always try to do a new classic or push my limits a little. Having done 3 long classics was good but I was getting anxious to do something new. One evening, in Camp 4 parking lot, I was spouting my mouth off about how I wanted to climb the Nose of El Cap in a day. It would be almost twice as long as anything I had ever done before "in-a-day" and I hadn't even planned on trying it this season. I guess I shouldn't have opened my mouth cause someone said, "I think Kris is looking for a partner." Well, the climbing community is an interesting web. I had met Kris just a few days earlier, no doubt high on something, in El Cap Meadow. He had just started dating a girl I had met last spring in the valley and climbed Half-dome from Camp 4 to Camp 4 in a day with. As it turned out, Kris had just lead the A5 pitch on the Reticent wall and was looking for someone to go up the Nose. He had the quintessential dirtbag look with torn carhardts and one of those old man style caps with the high brim. On the front of the greasy cap it stated "Beaver Express." Since we were both poaching sites in Camp 4 it took me awhile to find him. Our conversation proceeded as follows. Texplorer: So Kris, I hear you want to do the Nose in-a-day? Kris: Yea, that sounds good, want a King Cobra? Tex: Sip.. .Thanks, so when do you want to go? Kris: Tommorrow lets get ready, and go the next day. Tex: Okay I'll get the rack if you get some topos And so a climbing partner was found. . He was really psyched on the prospect and seemed to be at the least a great aide-climber. It was a really neat feeling to be racking up, filling water bottles, and reviewing the topo just like it was any other long climb. This, however, was not just any other climb. That evening I crawled into my sleeping bag just outside the camp 4 boundary and wondered if we were in for an epic sufferfest, or just another fine day on the rocks. 4:00 I awoke, ate some cereal and dried milk as usual and tried to pinch a loaf to no avail. As we drove through the darkness I could taste the excitement oozing from the edges of my tongue. We left the meadow at about 4:30. I was a dumbass though and went up somewhere other than the start of the route in the predawn darkness. Finally arriving at the base at about 5:00, we roped up. The plan was to lead in blocks and I was to lead the first 4 pitches. After starting up the wrong crack and groveling around above my pro I carefully (and embarrassingly) downclimbed and found the correct start of the route. Two screwups by me had cost us alot of precious cool morning time. My partner later admitted that he was beginning to wonder about my abilities. Anyway, restarting the watch I set off up the route at 5:20 in the morning. The dawn light was just starting to show as I set off up the first pitch. We carried a few bars, bagels and a gallon of water for each of us in a backpack. The rack was a scant set of doubles up to #3 camalot with one 3.5 and one 4. Neither of us had short-fixed before but we both found it remarkably easy. I made it to sickle ledge in about an hour and a half. My partner then took the lead and we smoked through the stovelegs. We simul-climbed some in the stovelegs but made up the most time by short-fixing at every belay. I led the next five up to the top of the boot flake arriving in about 4.5 hours despite having passed 6 parties on the way up (including a few CC.comer's). I had read somewhere that if possible you should not clip the one bolt behind the Texas flake so that you can flip the rope out of the chimney for easy jugging for your second. I am no stranger to soloing, and thought that I should be able to do a 5.8 chimney no problem but I must stay that being 70ft runnout is quite exhilarating experience way up there. Short-fixing again, I headed up to the base of the boot flake where I left the rack. Taking just a #1,2, and 3 camalots I aided/french-freed up leaving no pro on the boot so Kris could just climb, retrieve the rack, and swing directly over. After the King swing we started to slow down due to the heat, exhaustion, and the increased technical and physical difficulty of the climbing. Somewhere in here, his girlfriend flashed her tits to us from over on some route to the left of the nose. Kris did an awesome job backcleaning the entire pitch after the King swing and continuing up. He polished the great roof off pretty quickly and it was my turn to lead again. My last block conisisted of the 5 pitches from the top of the great roof to camp 6. Just after the king swing my biceps were starting to cramp and just jugging had become laborious. I did free the pancake flake but was exhausted. The next pitch is my most hated pitch on the whole climb. Its not so hard as it is awkward. A deep flaring crack that sucks your aiders in. I had flashbacks of the fall when I was leading that infernal pitch by headlamp at 10:30 at night. The next few pitches are haze. On the last pitch of my lead I was feeling nauseated and forced myself to keep going. I remember placing pieces and just hanging there in the blazing sun in a stupor before pulling up and going again. I remember running it out free climbing the last 25 feet or so up to camp 6 and having a sort of "I don't care if I fall" attitude. With trembling arms however I pulled onto the ledge and just layed there on the piss smelling ledge in a dehydrated and exhausting shock. When my partner arrived he pointed out that someone had ditched water there on the ledge. I hadn't even noticed the bottles until then but made quick work of an entire two liter and started to return to the land of the living. Now all I had to do was jug to the top! Amazingly I starting feeling much better and by the time we reached the top I felt totally normal again (except for the cramping biceps). We topped out in about 15.5 hours and made it down the east ledges in the daylight. On the way down we met the Huber brothers and their groupies atop Zodiac, which they had recently speed climbed in less than 3 hours. Alex was clearly lit as he swaggered getting up and pronounced, "No more biers, no more cigarrettes. . . ." Looking back now I have to say it was hard but much easier than hauling a bag up that thing the way Brad and I did in the fall. I didn't climb much the rest of trip due to an injury I somehow did on the climb on the extensors of my wrist but I didn't care. Climbing the Nose is a big deal but you don't have to be a superstar to get up that thing -even in a day. There is nothing like pushing it to the edge, being dehydrated in total misery, climbing classic pitches on a classic route, seeing tits 2000ft off the deck, and coming back to tell about it. I guess when I started climbing I always thought if I could do. . . . .(fill in the blank).. . .I would be a "climber." Over the years that (blank) has changed over and over again. I remember when it was to lead a 5.10, .11, .12 sport climb, boulder with the hardcore guys at the gym, or lead my first trad .10, .11, .12. Well, now I am a climber (even though I can't pull V7). You can all spray me to hell now but I'll be looking for partners for more walls this next fall. . . . .anyone up for tangerine trip in a push?

Is MaryLou really Agent Orange??

Asthma varies from person to person but the individual will usually be able to tell you how much they can handle and when an attack is coming on. I had asthma pretty bad as a child requiring an injection once a week. It lessened for me as I got older and I was able to run Cross Country and Track pretty successfully in college. For most people with asthma I think climbing is not too hard on them just make sure they take an inhaler like albuterol with them in case they have an attack.

I still haven't found any places that serve TexMex as good as in the Lone Star State. Of course we didn't have any 3000ft granit walls there either. 2nd Dru on the redmond gas station.

I have the same "Nude Lady" sticker on my helmet except Lucky Lady has stars and stripes on her.

yep rbw Free For Some is a great one! Squamish: Exasperator Crime of the century Yorkshire Gripper Smith: Sunshine Dihedral Rising Expectations Kunza's Corner Damn, can't remember the name of another one in the gorge that is .10c and has bomber fingerlocks the whole way.-maybe Quasar? Indian Creek: Dos Hermanos I thought the Nose of Jello Tower was pretty fun too.

Just another side note is that normally breath per minute rate increases initially upon moving to higher alts and your body also responds physiologically by taking larger breaths to compensate for its loss of O2

and squamish teenagers. . .

Full Heinous on trad gear.

Nope, when you crucify someone they usually die of asphixiation and if that doesn't get them blood loss from being stabbed with a spear probably would get ya.

Don't be fooled by Dr. Koresh Amazing's words. What has happened is that our temples have been defiled with bolts and striped lycra. The major trends have strayed from the true path. It is time for a reformation, friends, back to the true values of our religion and not what the lycraheads have led you to believe.

Do we? I thought some people here were just boulderers.

Harleys are aid.

what is that one kid reaching for in Jesus's tunic?

Maybe the Messiah will show up at the rope-up and turn Heffe into good beer.

Is Beck going to be there. I like his tunes but I didn't know he was so into climbing.

Soloing is like drugs. Some people will ridicule and curse you for doing it whilst others will take you into their fold. Be careful however, we all know what happens when you OD. Take care and have fun. I guess I can't really say what's the best to solosince I've only been to Squish twice. I've only gone solo on a few things up at the Octopus, the Zip, and I think the pixie corner. All were alot of fun though. Tata for now-