jblakley

Chirp chirp chirp? You playin' the The Bad Touch Symphony in the barnyard again Chuck? You Ellensburg boys never cease to amaze me with your range of hobbies...LOL disclaimer: this is just humor and not meant to slam Ellensburg. Remember just a joke. :-)

AlpineK Well let's be honest here. Those who "hate" bolts are in the minority. So should the vocal, proactive minority dictate policy for the rest? We could spend a couple of weeks chopping bolts at Vantage in preperation for our upcoming invasion of China...LOL. I love trad climbing. I like the mental challenge and the sense of adventure. It would piss me off if a crack were bolted. I love sport climbing. I like the physical challenge and athletic nature of it. I would be irritated if a route had a bolt every three feet but I would not chop it, I would just climb something else. Or bolt my own desperate runout. If the question is asthetics then I think a bunch of gray glue used to fill in a chopped bolt is at least as ugly as a bolt. Whether we like it or not this is no longer an elitist sport and there are so many mixed ethics now that it will never be like it was when Royal was pulling hard.

Pope quit choking yourself and provide us with indefatigable (damn I got to use that in a sentence) proof that Donna Two Step exists. She/he/it has no info in her profile which leads me to believe that she is just a fig newton of your imagination.

And you're point Z?

Here we go again!!

Damn Mark you beat me to it. Great minds think alike.

From just below Camp Hazard down to the Nisqually. Very fun long glissade.

I'm partial to Speed Polka. One of hottest acts in this genre has to be "Wood for Lou"

Just wondering if anybody has had any success in gaining Liberty Ridge this season so far. Talked to a ranger up at paradise over the weekend and he said the approach did not look good.

Anyone find a palm razor near Sunshine Wall in Vantage? It's one of the models from the "Till I'm Blind" series.

I think someone needs a hug.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The master of ambiguous beta..the one the only..ScottP. Actually that gives me a cool idea for a whole new genre of guide books. The Ambiguous Series. For example "To gain summit leave parking lot and head towards large snowy thing in a generally upwards direction going back and forth a lot on the way". On second thought that series has already been written...The Cascade Beckey guides...LOL

What this climbing board needs is an enema!! <read with Jack Nicholson accent>

Boys!! Don't make me turn this car around!!

What are you kiddin' the Sherpa dogs are for dinner. Scooby snacks are for desert. There simply scrumtious with a little chocolate GU for topping.

Yo Erik, I broke the trigger on my numba 1 Camalot last weekend and I can't afford a new on account I'm a takin' my woman to the Tacoma Symphony (2 accordians, a banjo and 14 kazoos) this Friday. If you "find" one can I have it?

Yep Chucky B I heard. Alternate plan is to siege the SW face of Si. I've got the titanium tent stakes and sherpa dogs on standby. Alert the media.

I think it boils down to individuals rather than an entire organization. If the "leader" of a group from any organization is a prick then the assumption is that the whole organization are pricks. I believe it's called stereotyping and yeah I've been guilty of it specifically against the mountaineers. I'm with Fred. I think there are just more people getting out and climbing is a dangerous sport. I've been climbing for about 9 years now and that was the first major accident I've been witness to. I've been lucky. Glad to see you guys are relieved she's ok.

Aiiiddrriaaannn!!!!

For the record: I was in the party that the accident happened in and was involved in the subsequent rescue. We are not in the mountaineers. The girl involved in the fall was new to leading trad and was about 10 - 15 feet out over her last pc when she fell. Due to the nature of the route (R & D) she hit a big ledge. She banged up her face pretty well and may need surgery but will recover at least physically. I just want to thank the individuals who responded (one in particular happened to be in the Tacoma Mountaineers). Numerous mountaineers got involved and were very eager to help. So anyone who helped out yesterday...thank you very much. Send me an e-mail so I can thank you personally. Oh yeah she also had a helmet on which probably saved her from much more serious injury or worse. Jim Blakley

Miuras are great!! They edge better than any shoe I have ever tried before. I only use them for harder sport stuff though. I could only recommend them for face/sport because of how tight I have them sized. I have never actually used them for crack climbing although I'm sure they would perform well. I use 5.10 Ascents with a looser sizing for crack/alpine stuff.

Descending the chute is not bad depending on who you are with. If the people you are with are relatively experienced I would recommend descending unroped in case someone does slip. If anyone is uncomfortable with the steepness bring some screws/pickets in order to protect a roped descent. It also depends on the conditions. If there is firm snow it's much easier to descend than if it were hard ice. I doubt if the conditions would be too icy earlier in the year but I would be ready for any conditions just in case. Probably would not hurt to wand any areas your not sure about up higher for ease of retreat in case weather blows in. Have fun.

Catholic?

Did it have a bag of green bud in the right pocket and a used condom in the left?

My first route up was the Kautz and I loved it. Hardly anyone else on that route. Not really that technical but it probably would be a good idea to go with someone familiar with the route.