Bronco

I almost used the wedge of cheese but, it was far too appropriate. how's this one?

uhhh, I briefly spoke with 2 grizzled looking alpine vetrans in the Cascade Pass Parking lot Saturday 6am who were headed up the "1951" route, which as it turns out is the one outlined in Vol. II of Selected Climbs. They didn't look one bit scared either. Fiberglass helmets, old chonaird harnesses, ovals and wool sweaters. You could say they were old school I suppose except they drove to the pass in a new Explorer instead of a '49 Ford. Nice Picture Ray.

"that looks interesting" - potential epic "that was interesting" - survived epic "Hmmm, sounds interesting" - just described epic

I didn't bother reading the Schram statement, but, you wussies should come out to my neighborhood to ride if you have it so bad. I have attempted to ride for training and went back to running for one reason - It really hurts to ride your bike into the ditch. The folks out here don't give a rats ass if you are a pedestrian or cycler, they figure roads are for driving trucks and cars on you fitness freak! Stay off the road! Erik: it's good to see an adjuster not taking things too personally in the handling of one's claim.

Up in the Cedar Ponds area between Sultan and Duvall there is a nice big cliff that was popular for kids to steal cars, drive up there, hammer down and jump out at the last second to see who could trundle the cars the farthest. There must be 200+ cars in that heap dating back to the 60's. It's pretty fun to trundle rocks onto the cars now although I wouldn't mind shoving a car off of it if there were any volunteers. Who says country folk don't know how to party?

quote: Originally posted by russki82: ...you people are really lucky - i've been to the cascades a number of times and they are totally boundless... It ain't all good, we have to make hard decisions all the time; which one to climb, how can I combine a couple or 3 in one weekend, etc. There is serious stress living around here. Then, just when you think you have it all figured out, someone takes you to Cascade Pass for the first time and WHAM! major reprioritization of the tick list is needed. It's not a bed of roses around here by any means, you should stay out east, (and everyone else should stay away from Cascade Pass 'cause you could die without a GPS)

I actually saw a post by a concerned sprayer at another BB regarding the status of CascadeClimbers.com: "wha happened" I just assumed I couldn't get on the website cause my "retractable cup holder" thing broke. It turns out it actually plays CD's as well.

TG: You might look into cloning to get a good partner you can tolerate. On the other hand you may end up fighting with yourself the entire climb if you are really that hard to get along with. Have a good weekend!

Thats kind of a funny picture, it looks like you guys are crawling on a big horizontal slab. Did you really climb or is this a conspiracy cooked up by Univeral Studios? I know you guys are connected.

Boy, I'm glad you're not my Dr, that's gotta be one of the top 10 worst things you could possibly hear from em. PS - dont call me lad and I wont call you geezer

Everyone should just stay away from Index anyway, its too hot, too wet, too many bugs and car burglers, too chossy, greasy, steep, slabby, and the approaches all too long. Stay home or go to N. Bend!

it's so true that you learn something new everyday eh?

I am not getting anything done at work today, too exicted about a planned climb tomorow and I have been kinda ponderin' the question, how important is climbing to you? I tend to go through stages where it's just a recreational hobby I do once in a while, then next thing I know I am threatening to pound on someone for calling a gym rat a climber and just staring out the window at the mountains wishing I was there. I can see Glacier Peak right now. I guess I need to accept it, I am addicted. "hello, my name is Ryan and I'm a climbaholic"

I know a group of 3 gapers who drove through the front gate to paradise at 10 pm, climbed the mountain and drove back home only paying for gas and food. PERMITS? WE DONT NEED NO STINKING PERMITS!!

mike: I am sure you already know, but, there is plenty of eashy stuff on the Great Northern Slab at the lower town wall to practice on, that is were I cut my teeth (and still am) several short pitches 5.0-5.10 and short approach. Have a good one.

I have some pretty nice, all leather approach shoes that have some exterior stitching above the rand. They haven't leaked yet on snow approaches, but, I am considering putting some seam grip over the stitching anyway. Has anybody used seam grip on thier leather boots with success or am I looking for trouble?

Mattp: Like you can complain with your strong arm tactics! These folks shoulda been at the Monroe pube club then they wouldn't whine. Flat beer, only 3 on tap, some person repeatedly playing "I'm a cowboy" by kid rock (like 20 times), so loud you couldn't hear yerself think and only 3 pubers showed up....blah blah blah, time to go home. "you can't always get what you want but sometimes if you try you get what you need" I just made that up.

Since I will be out of town next week, I hereby take it upon myself to award next week's Alpine Buddy Award to...........drum roll please,..........Ray "caveman" Borbon! If you have ever climbed, partied, bushwacked or chopped with Ray you already know he deserves it, but, for those of you that haven't (and it's probably just a matter of you not being out there enough) here are some highlights from a Gaper point of view: great sense of humor, drinks beer (or whatever's handy) like nobody's business, climbs hard when appropriate, also kinda hard to explain, but, he's got a way with giving advice on climbing without sounding critical, judgemental or condescending, just encouraging like he really gives a crap. Oh yeah, bold with marginal (IMO) pro, generous with his gear and personal beta, let's you know if you're doing something that could lead to a big ass scar, willing to give any partners a try, climbs/hangs out with legends (more famous climbers than me), fixing to take over Micro Soft...... anthing I left out?

quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: Steep ground requiring one to grasp devil's club FUN FUN Is that what you're calling Mr. Happy now?

now call me crazy, but, I am under the impresion that cold temps DRAIN batteries Can any of you geeky er educated folks help me out here?

Good luck bobbyperu, hope you have a great time. I just thought it was interesting info on a tough and classic route. BTW - it is on the bottom of my tick list becasue I SUCK and it's a hard route and for no other reason.

quote: Originally posted by Greg W: Hey Bronco; You're headed out that way, why don't you take him under your wing? Out of the pan and into the fire!!

I liked it, kind of a Hemmingway edginess. That dude REALLY needs a mentor on going light weight. 60lb pack? ouch!

dan: I think the snow is soft enough for you to not need one, however, there was still snow in the gully all the way to the notch as of last saturday. hope that helps

So much for "the customer is always right" I guess that doesen't "fly" in Alaska I am with the other 2 reponses, some area's of the world just require more patience than here in the PNW where instant gratification is the norm. Sorry they made you feel like they were not respecting you as a paying customer though, that sucks.