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Great climb, John and Dave! That looks like a really fun outing.

Finger pulled, Colonel Mustard!

Nice. Colin, I see you didn't wear shorts this time

You know I have gone back and forth about this for myself- having spent much time out of the country, usually in much poorer countries than this one, I always come back and immediately notice the US culture and how in-your-face it is and how stressed out everyone is, and the media hype, etc.etc. I always think "back in _____ (whatever country) it was so mellow". But then, I wasn't LIVING there...I was visiting and wasn't wrapped up in trying to pay my bills, make a living; didn't have any neighbors, political concerns, whatever- I was an objective, fascinated observer without any investment in the culture. So it seemed free of my condemnation in a relative way. But I would venture to guess that if my everyday situation was transplanted into it, I'd begin to find fault in the systems, especially when your money suddenly doesn't go so far. Money surely isn't everything- lots of Nepalis who seem very happy despite not having a great deal to eat or many options in climbing the economic ladder will tell you this. One thing that separates US culture from almost all others, though: Almost everyone in this country actually believes that someday they will be filthy rich- from the hard driven business man to the guy driving the delivery truck to the guy digging the ditch, to the welfare recipient playing the lottery. For most it's an illusion, but some will get there. I don't know if this is good or bad, but it surely distinguishes American culture from most others. New Zealanders seem to know they have virtually no chance of being ultra rich, yet they're indifferent because everyone has a job, plenty of food, health care, they have a safe country, and their priorities are different. Everyone climbs, hikes, rafts, kayaks, runs. The money pervading US culture has definitely made us a bit weird.

I'm still intent on living/working in another country at some point in my life, just for the parity and the experience. But until or unless something drastic happens (and maybe it will?), I'll just be keeping my investments in US dollars, thank you. And maybe this country needs you, me, and others to stick around and be a voice and an action calling for a responsible government tending towards cooperation and diplomacy instead of wars and bellicose threats and imperialism. Your voice holds more weight to effect American politics if you live here than if you go somewhere else.

Sadly, none of these leaders are the ones running for office, they are out serving the country. Running for office involves serving your ambitions.

I know it is the latter. I'm not sure it ever really was the former. 100 years ago the country was ruled by robber barons and corporate interests, and in the mid 1800's it was very much a one party system. There's a lot of faults with this culture and this system, but through all that, this country remains one of the best places in the world for it's opportunities and standard of living. Not to say there aren't many great countries one could have a very comfortable life, but it's still true.

We already know what it does to the corrupted. But don't idolize despots just because they are poor and don't have any real power. Call them what they are. Government by the people is great but human fallibility cannot be ignored. When you or anyone figure out how to address this, let the world know please!

social democracies seem to provide a fertile ground for general happiness. In theory only. When the leaders are corrupt and self serving it doesn't matter what the label is.

I will bet you anything that if Castro was not sequestered on an island, and had access to, say, 2 billion workers and limitless natural resources, like, say...China...he'd be destroying the planet on par with anyone else. And Chavez...if I recall, isn't his main business in oil? I see your point in relatives, yet the only reason Bush seems worse is he's president of the US, not some dirt poor country. He's got the power, they don't. If they had the same power to wreak havoc, you might not distinguish between them.

Oh c'mon...you got the moron part right, but Chavez and Castro "good"? With the support of the people, Castro overthrows a dictator, then strips everyone of their rights and declares himself king for life. So much for the "people's revolution". And Chavez seems to be going the same road, but time will tell. Either way, both are just a couple more egomaniacs with too much power. Well all of them are, of course.

The two paragraphs I posted came in the same rant, minutes apart. So if anyone's wondering where the denial for global warming has it's motivations... Apparently it's our patriotic duty to express open ended joy at the record profits of price gouging energy industries, whether your invested in them or not.

And moose in the streets.... They're in the streets of Los Anchorage- heck, their in my fricken driveway- every winter. There's signs on the roads every year with the flip-number thing telling you the moose roadkill body count for the season.

Rush Limbaugh was nominated. Here's some recent great stuff from the man himself: On economics: On that Global Warming myth: Yeah...snow falling in Alaska in the winter- that settles it. Actually, in truth, statistically most of AK's precip is from July to October. In the winter, snowfall varies but generally, the heaviest ones happen when...it's REALLY WARM.

The fact that I fundamentally disagree with the above defacto statement trying to define alpinism for the rest of us, is a topic for a whole different discussion. In this case the lack of the summit is indeed pretty much irrelevant since they wandered past the highest snow bump 100 feet below it while trying to find the west buttress descent in a whiteout. But, that statement- which is used in an unnecessary attempt to qualify this obviously impressive climb- almost delivers the opposite effect intended since, if taken at face value, in my opinion it lowers the bar for everyone and helps give people an excuse and an opportunity to adjust their stated goals after they fail on their objectives. Summits indeed are not everything but increasingly, "new routes", or even just "ascents", are getting defined as anything one climbs until the weather got bad or the technical difficulties "ended". Back on topic...my main point is this: With all due respect to Turgeon's and Menard's Denali climb, which was an outstanding and bold achievement by any measure, I just plainly and simply feel that Colin and Jed's climb was more impressive and deserving of the award, (if we even have to have such contrived and subjective awards). That's just my opinion. Although Denali has the altitude edge, the south face has been well traveled, with 4 independent routes established prior to this one, all of them with multiple repeat ascents. The Moffit route- which was the first highly technical route done on the face- also appears to have: more sustained climbing (including a 25 foot roof and tons of steep, wet rock), poorer escape possibilities, poorer rock quality, poorer bivies, higher objective hazards, a more difficult descent, and is in a very remote place. And, Jed and Colin walked out of the mountains after their climb. So while heavy props are due to the Canadian Direct-I'm just not convinced it was "the most significant ascent done in Alaska this season".

Continue up Dana's Arch above the 11b bolt ladder and you'll have a fun time.

There's a place called the "Renaissance Cafe" on one of the backstreets that used to have a killer breakfast. I haven't been there in awhile though.

Oh and, Colin and Jed.

The bigger shame is that this- one of the most significant new climbs accomplished in Alaska in the past 5-10 years- not to mention one of the most remote- gets relegated to "honorable mention". It's probably the product of the same demographic of "experts" who, when asked why Blood from a Stone (Easton/Steck) on Mt. Dickey was not selected for a similar award reportedly replied "it's only Mt. Dickey...".

Don't go, Shane!

I agree it seems to be a declining art. Growing up, my brother and I would ski bumps until we couldn't walk. You don't see it as much, I think snowboarding's popularity has something to do with it, also the culture has changed. As for knees, mine aren't shot, but I certainly can't ski bumps at the speed and resilience I could at age 20.

Thanks for sharing that.Excellent trip report and great photos. It's breaking my heart! I spent a month in Bariloche last year with my wife, including two visits to Frey for rock climbing; it's undoubtedly some of the best climbing of it's type I've ever done, with the Refugio experience only adding to it. Nothing like splitter granite all day, huge plate of pasta, a fine Malbec, and some good conversation by night. But hey, what happened to "Dracu", the psycho kitty? Tormentia looks like a new one.

All that said, if law abiding muslims in western countries want that to stop, they should be getting a lot more vocal in their criticism of radical Islam, because their silence is noticeable. you know what it is? it's those STEREOTYPERS! those stereotypers are all the same. they should just be rounded up and sent to some island where they can stereotype all they want. and another thing it's those finger pointers that cause all the problems. You like the irony, yes? I'm also all for: domestic spying, eavesdropping, illegal detention, all the rest of it, because hey- if you're not one of the "bad guys", you got nothing to worry about, right? I'm trust my government to make these kinds of distinctions, always!

Well that's it! If the terrorists control the media I'm just going to have to get my news from a factual source. Rush always tells me the truth! OMG is that your auto sig now?

For starters, it's every day on Fox News and AM talk radio, which has a listening audience numbering in the tens of millions, or more. The general population seems more than eager to speak up in the military's defense. I think the US military is less likely to undergo institutional persecution and harassment than law abiding muslims. All that said, if law abiding muslims in western countries want that to stop, they should be getting a lot more vocal in their criticism of radical Islam, because their silence is noticeable.