Bronco

How about Libra Crack? I hate that MOFO! I have left so much skin and blood in that crack it needs to be hosed out with disinfectant. I still havent made it more than about 5' up it, but, this winter, it will fall to my new rock NINJA technique that involves using tape on my hands and figuring out some kind of foot work. I liked classic crack at 8 mile, perfect jams for me.

Potential warm body belayers or ice climbing rope guns who may be in Bozeman over the weekend, I'm looking for a partner for Saturday. Send me an email or PM. For some reason my wife isn't interested in freezing her butt off belaying me all day

Toast, I don't know if you already saw this aritcle, but here it is: http://web.outsideonline.com/gear/gearguy/200211/20021128.html enjoy, you smelly bastard!

project for 2003: work on developing large glutes and to top that, I am gonna climb some super secret stuff on my shiny red msr super dupers and have a contest to see who can crash down the mountain fastest. nobody will know (or care). exept maybe the ktk and scott'teryx. the gold ribbon above is for ray for excellence in posting today. Seriously, I will probably train 10x more than I climb and do laps on the GNS at index all winter. Maybe scratch up some ice here and there. Go to a couple of pub clubs. hopefully get some new ski's, bag some peaks, not die. Live to see the spring, climb some harder stuff at index, GODZILLA, check out N. Ridge routes on several mountains. They seem the funnest thanks to glacial action a few years ago, in case you wondered. I'd also like to do some longer backpacking trips with the family, those seem to be pretty memorable and pleasant to boot. Not as many suffer fests, thank you very much.

rock climbing? ice climbing? general alpine groveling?

I was just surfing the sale at www.wildthingsgear.com and noticed the Denali jacket is on sale for $200.00, just $20.00 more than the Belay jacket. Anywho, it's 8oz heavier, and it's got a "real" shell, but you might check it out if you're looking for a do everything type belay parka. That sucker looks substantial! Personally, I have several insulating layers for different weather & conditions that I probably paid a total of $200 for. Big old Eddie Bauer down parka. Been in -30f weather standing around and warm. However, the shell is 60/40 cotton/nylon so I have to be careful with that potentially big problem in this climate especially. Oh yeah, it weighs in at about 3.5 lbs! LL Bean primaloft hooded jacket. I think it's got about 4-oz of fill based on comparing it with other jackets. It's my primary winter climbing jacket, but hood won't fit over my helmet.. and the DWR seems to be toast already (1 season). Sierra Designs lite primaloft jacket without hood. nice lightweight layer to stow in the pack if I (or partner) end up underdresssed for conditions. fits under either of the above coats or just a shell. This combo (lite prima and shell) actually is great down to about 20 f and is more versitle than just the LL which seems to be good down to about the same temp. With Temps below that, the LL would get layered over the SD which I haven't gotten to test out, but, I imagine it's good to about 0f. If it's colder than that, the big ole' down parka comes out. That being said, I'd trade the LL Bean and Eddie Bauer for any of the Wild things parkas (anyone?)as the Denali and Belay are designed for climbers and have a better shell in case you get wet, and you will get wet especially in winter around here. Your friend Bronco aka: the KING of coats, at least according to my wife.

Things that don't help are: climbing with a bad attitude sketching and putzing around trying to get the "perfect" placement instead of just "satisfactory" hanging and crying panicing getting mad and throwing your rack into the N. fork of the Sky for participating in the above behavior.

me and Toast were out there Wednesday and it was too warm! There was actually quite a few other climbers out there, more than I saw at any time last winter. I don't know why the state would have a problem with the septic system on the Index Tavern. It's worked for years! Next time you are headed over the bridge into Index, check out the drain pipe from the tavern into the river bed.

Toast, that stench was horrible. I have never smelled anything like it, except at the slaughter house I worked at one summer in High school. (not sure where the sarcastic graemlin is, but I am being sarcastic here) However, if I were you, I'd be a lot more concerned about the soles delaminating and get them into a resoler or send them back to the manufacturer demanding they fix em.

HEY YOU! you unemployed guy! you ain't doing nothing! let's go!

if any of you want to go climbing tomorow, my original partner bailed and I'm having a hard time obtaining a partner at the last minute. Big 4 snice climbing or Index Town Wall 5.8's or Alpine whatever... Send me a PM!

check out this photo: http://www.camp4.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=476 gaperlicious!

you might check out the wild things belay parka, I think Pro Mountain Sports has them. It won the "guides choice" award, whatever that means. also the Integral Designs Dolomiti jacket is lighter, cheaper and probably every bit as good as any of the above. I don't know who has those.

quote: Originally posted by minx: How did you decide when you were a) ready to lead easy stuff b)when to progress to leading harder routes? a) upon obtaining a rope & rack. b) when I couldn't find any ropegun partners one sunny day.

quote: Originally posted by Terminal Gravity: Come on people; do it. Let the others know when you have sent a note to the forest circus by saying so on this thread. Thanks I sent two just to be safe.

Chalk up 2002 to learning. 1) Didn't get any other newbie parnters killed accidentally or intentionally. 2) Realized how lucky I am to have survived some of the stoopid stuff I've done over my first year of climbing. 3) Got my wife to follow some trad and rap in the dark...heh heh. 4) Got my 4 year old daughter to climb a pitch and have fun doing it. 5) Learned not to push partners to hard 'cause then you get to deal with guilt as well as failure. 5b) in the interest of keeping with the rest of the thread, I on-sighted several climbs up to 5.8d at Index, even in the pouring down rain and scaled some little mountians at Washington and Cascade pass, once with a Cascade LEGEND! [chestbeating] failure - none, it was all fun, I love climbing (in otherwords, there's to many to list here) [ 11-20-2002, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: Bronco ]

quote: Originally posted by allison: Ok, all this talk of taxation leads me to another question: In a perfect world, what services should the governments (from local to federal and all in between) of our great nation provide? FREE BEER! FREE CLIMBING PERMITS! FREE DIESEL FOR MY GAS HOG TRUCKS SO I CAN HAUL ALL OF MY BEER TO CLIMB FOR FREE! GeorgeW er, I mean GregW is gone this week, so good luck keeping this dumb political thread going. Why don't you guys grow up?!

From a newbie's point of view, Gozilla is sustained hard climbing, Pitches 2 and 3 of the GM Route are fairly broken up with obvious rests and not as technical, except the OW. Having said that, I think the GM is funner climbing as it's more varried, like you say. I haven't done HOC, or Princly, they both look like a good time and on my "too do" list for the winter.

I dunno - I found a photo of Mr. Layton on the web and he looks pretty tough:

just vote libertarian. they know what to do with taxes. That's my two cents without having read the rest of this extreemly boring thread. you guys have me wishing for the "good old days" of Muir on Saturday. [ 11-15-2002, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: Bronco ]

I recently had my laptop surgically attached to my right knee so now I can work and spray 24/7.

quote: Originally posted by michael_layton: Personally, I snort Dandelions. cool! At least now we know why you decorate your hair with them. And I thought you were just another flower child!

Thanks to a link from Courtney's website, I've been reading a weekly web magazine at Testosterone.com which is mainly for bodybuilders and power lifters but much of it is relevant to just fitness minded folks like me. Anywho, it seems to be the consensus of many writers there that steroids can be used safely in moderation by someone who has researched the proper use and doseage. It also seems that most professional athletes are using steroids and other perfomance enhancing drugs and not dropping dead from it. Say you get a chance to be on a expedition to some exotic Mountain Range, doing a couple of cycles of steroids will make you stronger (if you are working out in conjunction with the cycle) but is there a downside for mountaineers? Has there been any studies to suggest problems with altitude and steriod use? Are climbers already into performance enhancing drugs with sucess and I haven't heard about it? Personally I don't think I'll ever do any climbs beyond what I can train for natrually, but, I am curious about the subject.

YOU SUCK GREG! here i had a nice little thread going and you ruined it! Boo frickin hoo. I wonder if the big scary face in the southern hemisphere are south facing?

Me and a buddy were recently talking about all the hard North Faces and easy South routes up mountains like Index, Baring, Rainier, Baker, Hood, Adams, da Tooth, whatever. There is a lot of contrast between the North and South sides of most mountains around here and elsewhere, the Alps for example. Why is that? I have my own ideas (erosion? freezing? aliens?) but I just know there is some geo-master type out there who knows for sure why that seems to be or if it's actually not the case, that there is just as many steep south faces as there are easy north faces.