mattp

Sounds like we'll be there tomorrow. We'll probably hang out at Summmit Wall or whatever it is, but maybe if Toby is psyched we'll go for Snag Buttress. C'mon out and have some sun!

I'm thinking about taking my 7 year old nephew to Mt. Eerie tomorrow if someobody else wants to go.

I have used the leap-frog method on climbs where I expected only a very short difficult section and really as much as anything else just wanted the option to (maybe) be able to plug in and take a break. I agree with Freak that much of it is a mental game. On every significantly technical climb I have ever soloed, I experienced at least moments of doubt -- even on climbs substantially below my limit and in some cases climbs I had done plenty of times before. For me, at least, that sense of doubt is generally greater in a truly alpine situation with snow, ice, and often loose rock, and maybe a difficult or dangerous retreat or descent expected. On a crag, or maybe a popular alpine rock climb, there is usually much more detailed information available, I feel more confident that most of the loose stuff has already been pulled off, and retreat or descent anchors are already in place; these factors offer me a greater sense of comfort and control.

There are a lot of different approaches to this. I've used a very simple system of just tying the rope to each piece of pro and looking ahead to the next spot where I intend to stop and protect and giving myself enough leash to get there. The techno geeks around here will tell you I was setting myself up for that dreaded factor 2 fall and guaranteeing extra shock on my gear, but it didn't take much thinking and I used no gizmo that might have issues with different rope diameters, wet rope, proper vertical orientation or whatever.

I've never heard of anyboy trying either one of them. There is no ice step and I bet climbing over/around the Cockscomb would be a challenge and it would require mixed climbing or rotten rock climbing totally unlike anything on the North Ridge unless there is a snow ramp around it.

It took you a month to drink the single malt? No wonder you are suffering SAD.

Yeah, but what do you guys drink up there? Had any good single malt lately or is it just some aboriginal brew for Mr. Strickland?

I know, but poor Jay is seriously outnumbered around here and he seemed worried that he was accused of not only being a cracker, but an unfair cracker. [edited by JayB]

Don't sweat it, Jay. For anybody who may have been confused: I was the one who modified my own post. Jay has not abused his moderator powers in a political argument. I think you are full of sh*t here, but carry on.

Condi Rice said: And Bush? I 100% agree with both statements, but how can they feign indignation with a straight face?

[edited by JayB]

Gosh, a couple of black dittoheads think Bush policies are pretty cool.

You get special subsidies and set-asides and we hate you for that.

While were working to clear things up, I should point out that it is probably a more generally accepted premise that Bush is a facist who just doesn't care about the problems of non-whites in this world than it is that he is a racist in the classical KKK sense of the word.

Not that it directly answers that last point about how the evil NYTimes is undermining national security, but don't I remember how someone in the Bush administration leaked the existence of a sting operation in Brittain a couple years ago, effectively closing down that operation, when it served their own purposes in responding to criticism of a terror alert?

I think we could assemble a pretty convincing list of how Bush policies and statements have been racist. He has vetoed, resisted, slashed just about every possible social program that serves low income people who just happen to be mostly non-white. He vetoed a Hate Crimes law in Texas, then lied about it in the 2000 debates. He embraced Bob Jones III during the 2000 campaign, and his operatives accused John McCain of father a "Black Baby" to turn the tide in South Carolina. His campaign used racist tactics in Florida to help steal his first election when his brother added extra black voters to the list of felons disqualifed to vote, and his friends in Ohio made sure black voting districts in Ohio were under-served during his second election. He lied about policies to help deserving minorities attend quality colleges and grad schools, saying these amounted to racial quotas. While making frequent statements about how not every muslim is bad, he makes stupid statements like his initial announcement of a "crusade" and his pals have invested a tremendous amount energy into scaring all of us about how all "those people" want to do is to kill us. etc. etc. etc. But your question about his racist policies, I fear, was just a dodge. We were talking about whether it was appropriate to make remarks about him at the CSK funeral. Part of the playbook for civil rights activists has always been to stand up and speak truth to power and, in this respect, I think making some comments about George Bush (and very mild comments in my opinion), was in fact more of a demonstration of respect for CSK than disrespect. [edited to remove double cut and paste]

But that is my second cousin's son's friend's birthday and I think there is going to be a special episode of CSI.

I don't know if it is in any guidebook. I just looked at a topo map and picked what looked like the easiest approach - and it turned out quite well when we went up there to ski it. After leaving the trail, you crawl through a couple hundred yards of woods and get on a talus fan that will be pretty well covered, and there is a short steepish slope to a second lower angled and open area, another short steepish transion to slopes leading to an open bowl below the peak, and you turn left to climb up some open gullies on a SW facing slope.

WTF are you saying, JayB? That all poor little Mr. Bush has done has been to resist calls for racial preferences? What world do you live in?

Cannon Mountain, from about a mile or so up the trail toward Colchuck Lake, is a moderate climb mostly on west facing slopes that probably saw a lot of wind and a bit of sun recently. It is not a bad ski run, either.

I bet it wasn't viewed as tacky by most who have been involved in the civil rights movement. More likely, I bet many felt it was a unique opportunity to be seen talking to the president who has pretty much snubbed even the most moderate civil rights groups. However, on the other hand I'll cede Jay's point that it was for sure a good gesture on the part of GWB to show up and show some respect. I don't go so far as to say it was "lose-lose," however: I think he played it pretty well.

I don't get it. Why WOULDN'T people politicize an event of National significance like this funeral? "Respect the dead" - sure, but here is a large platform and no matter what your politics are, we all think our political beliefs are somehow "relevant" to contemplating the meaning of the life of someone like CSK. The whining from Bushies and apologists like JayB is just another manipulative bit of politicizing, trying to spin a story to make their critics look bad: havn't they been absolutely shameless about attempting to exploit human tragedy of every dimension? What is Bush doing when he invites the wife of a dead soldier to the SOU and reading her husband's patriotic letter home? Terry Schiavo or 911 ring a bell? It'd be different if the deceased had left behind some message asking that their memory not be tainted with a political funeral. I have not heard that CSK left such a message.

Isn't Feb 19th in the middle of a three-day weekend? Some of us may be out climbing if that is the case.

It is only about 30 minutes hike from the Deer Creek gate to the Big Four picnic ground, so if the road is gated as the USFS says, it is no big deal. On Big Four, you can have some fun in gullies off to the left of the main face (the Tower Route or some variation thereof), as well as several variations to the N. Face. Also, Hall Peak, to the right, offers more. For full - frontal climbs, it might be in less than stellar condition right now, but I bet you can amuse yourself just fine.

There's some nice tree skiing up there. If you head down and right from where I think you high pointed, you can pick up a logging road that comes out on highway 2 a couple miles from where you parked and hitch a ride back up.