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I was with my wife in Thailand...so I no go Pat Pong...

Hey GI! You go Pat Pong now?

Hey Marcus did you ask them for the BD complimentary downgrade? Actually I've had plenty of good experiences with BD to offset a few bad ones. Between my old Prophets, and Cobras, I've sent my tools back 3 times to have the rubber grips glued back on or replaced. All three times were the result of Alaska Range action- desperate snow climbing. The QC guy once told me, when I suggested they come up with a composite grip (as CM and Grivel have) that the Cobras "weren't meant for alpine climbing" but that they'd warranty them anyway Boxing gloves- word. The old "Verglas Plus", which now is essentially what is called the "Element", remain my favorite ice climbing gloves. The only problem is, they aren't waterproof, so each pair requires a full on seam grip treatment. The plus side to that is the gloves are kind of grippy afterwards. (I know...aid.) Anyway, when they do get something right it's always right on and I'm still a customer. Jedi master, you coming north to slay another one?! I knew you wouldn't stay away long.

As an aside I should add that without the large numbers of scenic-flight tourists, flights to the Alaska Range would otherwise cost much more than they do currently. Talking with the different Talkeetna air service owners, the costs of Wrangell/St. Elias air support seem to reflect real costs, it's not that there's just one air service charging high prices because "they can". AK range flying is cheaper because the volume of climbers coupled with high numbers of scenics allow air taxis to keep their planes full in both directions, saving fuel. The fee increase proposal, by the way, is unanimously opposed by the Talkeetna rangers. It is coming from the top ranks with the support of the federal government. It's the phenomenon I call "neglect and collect"- gut the park budgets by keeping the majority of the gate takes in DC for other uses, spend wastefully, and then act like there is no option remaining but to double charge visitors. Climbers are the easy target of course. We have to keep the pressure on.

I've also been told (albeit unconfirmed), and would suspect anyway, that WD40 is not very good in the long run for the sewn cam slings. Changes in latitudes...

No, but it is yours and everyone's civic duty to society to demand the truth- because if the source is providing people with false information, it adversely affects everyone in the long run- including you.

That alone is a good enough reason to care about this. The danger is that media- left and right- increasingly package their opinions as "the Truth" and "facts". I suppose that has always been the case to some extent, but should we all just standby silently while the masses are "educated" by ideologues promoting their own agendas? I think we're better than that.

By that logic, one could argue that the 1993 WTC bombing was years in the making, which would put the bulk of the blame on HW Bush and/or Reagan. But of course that would be overly simplistic and unfair. I don't think it is fair to place all the blame on any one administration for 9/11. I think a 9/11-scale event was the only thing capable of motivating any administration to implement the types of security measures needed to actually prevent such an event. Even Bush did little to change security measures until the WTC was on the ground. Can you imagine trying to pass the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, the TSA, all the things we have right now, back in 1993? No one on either side of the aisle would have stood for it. People weren't frightened enough. They are now- which also makes things more fragile in another way. Blaming Clinton wholesale assumes that had they killed Osama in 1998, that 9/11 would never have happened. I'm not so sure of that, given the money and organization that al Qaida enjoyed, and the motivation they (still) have to kill westerners. They were bigger than one man. In short, I think 9/11 was inevitable and it took that day to wake everyone up to what al qaida was capable and willing to do. Hindsight is 20/20. Obviously mistakes have been made by both administrations, but I did read things yesterday such as Limbaugh: "this proves that Clinton bears the full blame for 9-11" and Michael Savage: "Berger, Albright and the Clintons should be arrested and tried for sedition". So, as with wacky 9-11 "inside job" conspiracies, don't underestimate the power of misguided finger pointing. This is being used right now as propaganda to scare people into voting Republican this fall, on the basis of something for which blame is shared universally by us all. Fringe elements on both sides of the spectrum now fully control and distort the news and events and interpret them to the public in a way that forces everyone to choose sides- effectively eliminating any hope of a middle ground and unity. Opinion-based "news" sources are stultifying everyone's critical thinking and destroying discourse.

I climbed this in 1998. My partner Joe and I were concerned about the guidebook's entry: "bring KB's for the belays". We asked around a lot but we couldn't find anyone who had done the route to confirm this. Enroute to Colchuck Lake in the dark, there was a party hiking at a fast clip ahead of us who we barely caught up to as we reached the lake. Joe joked "it's probably Matt Christensen (Boving's partner on the FA) going to retro bolt the Boving route. Well...it was Matt Christensen, and his teenage son, although enroute to climb Prusik.So we got the beta right there. The first 5 pitches are stellar, mostly clean, with a few spicy face moves. Some of the climbing is a little run on p2 and p3 if I recall, but the hardest moves always have pro closeby. Definitely, the 1st belay took a little time to rig. There were broken off KB's here. Pitches 3 and 4 were a little dirty in places but not too bad. After the traverse left above p5, it is like a looser version of upper Serpentine ridge. All of that was simple except there was one 5.9 pitch up high that maybe could have been avoided by better routefinding. The only things I remember about rack needed was some thin nuts (including brassies) and a #3 camalot were useful. But no KB's needed. One thing- after we did it, Jim Nelson told me he thought it had quite a lot of rockfall hazard from the headwall above the opening pitches- we didn't see or hear any, but certainly there's a lot of blocky things hanging over you.

See my Rampage TR- if you didn't have your cornflakes for breakfast, you'll find them up there. On that note, this is the third route in Burdo's book that came with rave reviews but has been decidedly subpar in my opinion. Clean Break isn't a bad climb but Mike points out the issues. The worst by far was his rec of the East buttress of NEWS ("Flycatcher"). In the same book he downrates Liberty Crack and Freedom Rider for "bad rock", comes this recommendation. Flycatcher is a pile: 5.6 bushwhacking sprinkled with decomposing, cheese grater 5.10 jamming cruxes.

To each his own...but just curious, what is it you don't like about it?

Fern- I did the Burgundy approach last sunday. There is no running water or snow on the approach. Potentially, you could camp in the basin below Burgundy (nice campsites) and the creek looks like about a 15 minute hike south. We were on Paisano Pinnacle so I didn't take notice of whether there was any snow on the east side of Burgundy Col, but most likely there would be snow not far down or around the corner towards Chianti.If there is...the col itself is actually a great camp- there are some nice flat sites ringed by rocks, with wonderful views.

Climb: Paisano Pinnacle-Rampage Date of Climb: 8/27/2006 Trip Report: Tim M. and I climbed this route yesterday. This route would be very classic if it was cleaner, but copious lichens and occasional dirt/plant clumps take it down a notch or two. Still, it's a good adventure with some challenging pitches, and hopefully some traffic will lead to it getting cleaned up. P1 is easy with just a short section of 5.6 at the top. Belayed at slings on the highest tree, just under the big corner. P2 is the best and cleanest on the route, and in fact it's awesome. Begins moderately and gets progressively harder, running a full 50 meters to a stance in the corner about 50' above the prominent white roof. The upper half of this pitch is fairly sustained 5.10 stemming, liebacking, and fingerjams, with good gear (aliens, small stoppers). Watch out for a loose, projecting white flake on the left about half way up- you can stem past this if you have been doing your yoga. There is a creative and fun jamming crux entering the narrow corner next to the white roof, with good edges. P3: The 11a fingercrack in the dihedral directly above looked pretty dirty and possibly hard to protect. Instead, we took the steep, flaring hand crack on the left wall. This begins with a powerful and technical 10d jamming sequence; this was clean and enjoyable with good gear,unfortunately the quality of the climbing deteriorates quickly due to dirt, lichen, gravel, and plants pervading the otherwise nice hand and finger cracks. This pitch would be awesome if clean; instead it is mediocre at best. Variation note: About 30' below the start of this pitch, off a small ledge (possible belay) next to the top of the block that forms the white roof, there was another, cleaner 1-2" crack shooting diagonally up the left wall; in retrospect this might have been a higher quality option than what we did, and probably of similar grade. Back on route: after the climbing eases off, there is a choice of corners: we took the left one, which ascends a short dihedral with a hand crack that narrows to finger size and ends at a triangular roof. It's dirty, but better than it looks, and just below the roof you can step right and around the corner on good holds, gaining the right hand of the two corners mentioned below. This corner looked very grassy from above. P4: Above, there is an obvious deep corner that leads up to a steep, wide crack. 30' of awesome hand jams in this corner lead to a 15' vertical section of 6-8" crack- Good horns and holds on the left side of the crack's edge would probably have made it a 'go' even without big gear if the whole thing were not plastered with "cornflake" lichens and dirt- and the fall is not so good. So instead, at the entrance to the deep corner (pay no attention to the handjams I mentioned, just avert your gaze) make a couple of steep face moves up onto a big wide ramp to the right. The ramp- which had obvious signs of traffic- is 50 meters long and takes you straight to a blocky exit onto the summit. The climbing isn't difficult- 5.8 at most- but midway, there is a stellar moss hummock mantle into a sand-filled chimney/ow. Overall: It is admittedly a long approach for such a short climb that isn't all that clean. But those looking for something different and challenging and who don't require spotless rock will probably find this worthwhile; and as this route gets more traffic it will only get better. Also, it would be a good linkup with Burgundy Spire. Gear Notes: Bring a good selection of small to medium stoppers (no RP's needed). Double green and yellow aliens or equivalent, and double #1 and #2 camalots; singles on everything in between. One #3 camalot is sufficient. We had a 3.5 and a 4, they got used, but were not mandatory and I'd leave them behind if I do it again. Approach Notes: Lots of smoke from nearby fires.

Nice report and pictures! Brings back some memories. I wouldn't totally discount a one day attempt, but one would need to be very fit and fast, and even so, you would likely be starting and finishing in the dark. I calculate that the total elevation gain, car to car, ends up being about 9400', due to the descent to the route and then climbing back out of the Marble Creek cirque after the climb. With such awesome scenery, though, a bivouac somewhere along the way only enhances the experience.

What are you talking about? Hannity says Bush (and Blair) are the only leaders in the world with "Moral Clarity" on this issue. That, and this yesterday: "every democratic victory in this fall's election is a victory for terrorists".

My favorite recent "truth", overheard on a rural religious radio station: "Global Warming is a myth that has ties and origins with pro-choice activists. By convincing everyone that humans are bad for the earth, they can achieve their goal of people having as many abortions as possible and depopulating the planet." Of course. And everyone knows that if there's one thing that pro-choice people love, it's lots and lots of abortions.

Oops...well, go figure. thanks Bill. At the very least, the update seems to be that they are indeed here to stay. Meaning, now I can feel free to thrash on the ones I have been keeping in the oxygen chamber for the past few years, breaking out only for special occasions...

I guess this is the forum to put this in- For you aid aficionados (or even free climbers, for that matter)- rejoice: HB Offsets at the Yosemite Mtn Shop Looks like the mountain shop is manufacturing these as a proprietary item since the demise of Hugh Banner. Don't go up the Captain without them.

Some recent favorite albums: Aes Dana- Memory Shell Solar Fields- Extended Chris Coco- Heavy Mellow

One of my favorite parts of every Valley trip I've done is the last 4 hours of the 16 hour marathon- Red Bull, Coffee, Trance music, hammer to the floor at 3 AM through all the Tweakerville's in the Central Valley foothills. By the time I arrive I've spent 16 hours getting so amped to climb I can hardly stand it. It's all about being free, on the road, and going someplace. How can it get any better?

Hi Scott, Colin and I completed the r/t in about 15 hours. Two others I know did it in similar time the same summer. The key advice I can offer is to solo or simul as much of the route as possible due to it's length, and be prepared to negotiate some rather loose rock and thick vegetation. If you are going for it in a day,the North peak summit is where you should evaluate your time and decide if you think you're moving fast enough to avoid the big epic. Once you rap into the north/middle notch, the seriousness grade ratchets up handsomely and retreat becomes more than a passing matter. If I remember it right, Colin and I reached the north peak summit in about 3 1/2 to 4 hours from the car. The remaining traverse from there to the tarns on the far side of the Main summit took about 7 more hours. We then lost a solid hour trying to find the correct descent gully. We made it back to the trail at the lake just 20 minutes shy of total darkness. Colin and I did not take rock shoes, we climbed in boots. Our packs were nearly empty, just light windshirts, food and water. Colin felt that the half ounce vial of sunscreen I had brought for us to share was "too heavy", but I offered to carry it in my pocket. We took 2 liters of water each, and tanked up well at Serene Lake. We encountered no water or snow until the tarns near the top of the descent gully. We were lucky to locate the correct gully on only the second try- it is not very obvious from above, but the gully drops away from the tarns on the ridge and is the right hand one looking down. There is a fixed rope to make a short rap mid way down. The bushwhacking just above Lake Serene, on a prominent buttress crest, is quite memorable. If you go in late August as we did, fresh blueberries will take the sting out of this part. Oh, and when passing the eroded gully on the Main peak, it may be easiest to pass this ugly feature by going as high as possible before crossing it. Where we crossed, it was very loose and unpleasant. Good luck. It's delightful, and very committing. Mark

Charlie was a true gentleman and a class act. Always a positive attitude. Stronger than an ox. Friendly and generous, selfless. I'm glad I had the chance to know him. This hurts.

Northwest face of Lembert is very enjoyable. Oz with the Hobbit Book linkup---

I'm in the same boat- I actually just started trying leashless climbing at the crags this season- it's definitely the way to go on pure rock, but so far I find climbing pure ice leashless is spooky, especially after you pull off the rock onto the ice and have a solid pump going. Leashless is more pumpy for me so far but I think it might be that I haven't dialed shaking out and swapping tools enough yet. For the pump factor alone I plan to keep using leashes in the alpine and on pure ice for the time being. Even on the big Alaska routes I haven't found the mixed climbing hard enough that swapping tools would make a crucial difference, and I just deal with it. But I'm always looking for a better way to work, and as I try harder routes, it's good to have a new strategy...

Indeed it does; you're committed to a left and a right tool. Which is why I'm reading this discussion with interest...