Lambone

True.... I remembered the Wallowas after I posted that..., but they are a bit far for me.

Yeah, but most bolts one biner is fine. Where you NEED two biners, or some type of runner is when clipping into a pin. With only one biner it puts a kink in the rope, adding lots of drag.

Alpinefox's picture above is not of the Firefall from Glacier Point. It is Horsetail falls on El Cap at sunset. I've never seen a photo of the firefall, only artistic renderings...

AT+T doesn't work on Glacier peak...unless dialing 911...

Does anyone know of any routes, or peaks with good rock and route potential. I heard through a friend that Pioson Canyon has a 14 pitch moderate route. Sonehouse??? I was up there this weekend on a "camping" trip, and need to get back for some alpine granite. Any info would be great. Thanks

Ok, so it's not the Oregon Cascades, but it may be the closest sweet granite near Oregon. Does anyone know of any routes, or peaks with good rock and route potential. I heard through a friend that Pioson Canyon has a 14 pitch moderate route??? I was up there this weekend on a "camping" trip, and need to get back for some alpine granite. Thanks

Lamebone if they take"tons of energy" to place you aint doing it right. With the small threads they sink right in quickly, as a matter of fact. In fact with the round clip in hole in the hanger they can even be spun in with one finger almost like an express screw! Ok, so maybe I'm just spoiled with Express screws... I just have a hard time getting them started. I've placed two and equalized them at the crux of a Syncronicity and I was damn pissed that it was all I had left...which is what I get for letting Notgotnomoney bringing the rack...

I wouldn't trust these screws on a steep water ice pitch, plus you'd never get one in...they take tons of energy to place. However they do have some good uses. Emergency "leaver" screws if you need to bail. Light wiegth screws to beef up an anchor system. Also, lots of climbers in Nepal and stuff use them to fix lines for seige style climbing. Usually those ropes are fixed early in the season and left behind for later parties on standard routes. They are super light, so if you need lots of them at a high altitude it's a good way to go...you don't want to fall up there anyway.

I have been happy skiing in the BD Drytool Glove. Mabye wear a real thin liner underneath for extra warmth. As far as I'm concerned nothing will keep you dry. I think the Neoprene/scholler type materials stay pretty warm when wet.

1) Graduating from UW 2) Tangerine Trip on El Cap...and not killing my lame ass partner 3)Zodiac on El CAp- Solo Haven't climbed since....the real world sucks...

Isn't Clear creek a Talus field in the summer? We attempted the Hotlum-Bollum...got rained off the peak, but the route looked in good shape, we could see some icy sections from below.

names and dates. cough em up. dude I don't know their names or exact dates. a few years back some Euro's were caught up on the Shield with no fly and charged. Last fall a Brit took a bad fall, got hurt...and the Tool tried to charge him because he didn't have bivi gear. He was doing it in a push. If you want to hear about all the dead people just look it up in Accidents... I just think it's dumb to go up there in standard "slow-heavy" style without a fly. Sure if you are doinging the Nose, Lurking Fear, Salathe, or TD, or something with natural ledges in 3 days yes...but it's a big gamble to try to call the weather 1 week out and get stuck in a storm near the top. It has happened to several of my buddies and myself and we were damn glad to have a rainfly...that's all I'm getting at. Still, Leaning Tower sans ledge is a great first wall.

Bill, I'd becareful with that plan. Figure about $15,000+ to the Park Service should you need a rescue and not have a rainfly. It's happened several times in the past. If you do go without, either stick to the steep side...the Trip and Zodiac are well sheltered..., or blast up the Nose in a quick three days. But don't get caught in a watercourse. Consider a bivi sac worthless should you get caught in a full on storm on the Captain, you will want...and need a real shelter. But in mid-August all you should run into are afternoon thunderstorms....unless you are unlucky or just plain foolish enogh to charge up in front of a pacific storm. on

Bill, Don't worry...most likely your fly will rest in the bottom of the haulbag. IF you do have to pull it out, you will be thankful that there are no vents, or extra seams/doors that may leak. Storms come in hard and fast in the valley. You want something water tight that will work for the night. Don't worry about breathablility, everything WILL be wet anyway. Forget about cooking, cold Spaggetti O's are the order of the day. Now if it was an expidition up some alpine wall it would be different. But for the valley where you need quick bomber protectin, Urathane coated flys are all you need. Have fun, good luck...think up!

hey wazzu, Profets are great tools,but they will feel and swing totaly different than the Machines. They will be heavier and the weight is more balanced throught the shaft, but most of all you will notice a big differance in the lake of curve in the shaft. I climbed on Bent Shaft BP's for a while and still love them. It is a beefy tool with a much wider grip than the Machine. But it is a great all around tool. As far as bent vrs. straight...ask yourself what you will be doing more of, Alpine Ice Gullies, or Waterfalls, and buy acordingly. I was also very happy with the shrieks. It feels much lighter and is easier to wield than the BP. But if you really want my advice, quit procrastonating and get yourself a pair of Cobras.

nice job tex! Nose in a day is a very prowd send! You were king for a day, times don't matter, non-stop is what seperates the men from the boys, I aspire to get there someday. The Trip will go in a push, specialy with all those new bolts! If I were to do it though, I'd probably fix the first 4 and blast, cause those pitches suck and eat up a bunch of time. Email me if you want specific, current beta. Nice job again! Cheers

yeah, chucks got it right. definately bring a Reverso if you do it that way with three. Good luck! Keep movin!

Feathered Friends

Hey b, We took a 37meter 7.8mil up the North Ridge, and climbed with it doubled the whole way. On the Gendarme, it BARLEY reached the 1st belay at the top of the pillar, and I had to belay a bit short of the best stance on the second pitch. It worked well because I was able to pull one strand through to haul the packs with, but we BARLEY got away with it. A 30 meter doubled would definately not reach. I'm not sure how youd make it work with three people and a 50 meter...

Tim, I wouldn't be put off by the talk of crowds. If you hit it right you'll have no problem. Do the classics, there is a good reason why they are popular. Try to do Cathedral and Fairview on a weekday. Many of the "crowds" are weekend warriors from San Fran. On the weekend go up to Conness or Matthes Crest, most of those "crowds" don't like to stray to far from the car. West Crack is a great late evening route. The top out just at sunset is beautiful. North Peak near saddle bag lake has some fun Coulior to 4th class ridge climbing if you need to rest your fingers. It is a great day trip. One of my favorites. Too late for freshiez though... Bring Bug dope. Have a blast!

Back to the top, We are here now, still looking for climbing partners, cool folks to drink beers, go biking, sailing, or generaly be friends with. Drop a line...cheers

It's the closest big peak to home these days, can anyone recomend a fun route this time of year? Gracias

G14's work well on the S's also.

These are some comment's I made to Jim Nelson about some big wall Gear I aquired at his shop. Thought it might be of some intrest here. Let me know if you have any questions.... Lowa Triolet- Awsome wall boot! Super tough, my rands and all the stitching are still in great shape. I climbed some 5.7 in them with full wall weight on, and they worked fine. Sticky rubber is the only thing that could make them perfect for me. I bought the womens model and they fit my narrow foot well. Nice and comfy in the aiders all day, no preasure points. Mamut Supersafe- Bomber. Plus it has a nice supple feel. Ours didn't take a single sheath nick. It was kinda funny because with three people we needed two lead ropes, we ended up using two identical Supersafes, tons of green rope to un-fustercluck! Kong Fifi- I love this thing, but as a WARNING: the orange 5 or 6 mil chord you sell at the shop is NOT thick enough. After it softened up, it would slip. Acctually the two chords that "bite" on one another would exchange places and it would no loger grip. Do you know what I meen by that? Metolius Adjustable Daisies- I think I am over these things. They may save energy on overhanging terrain, but I found that cranking in on the straps all day on lead was realy fatiguing on my shoulders. I had to quit tighting them with my right arm. I think overall they slow you down and add more fustercluck then they are worth. Plus with a Kong Fifi they are just redundant. Also, there were many times when they just wern't long enough, even at full extention, and once at full extention they are hard to tighten because there is nothing to grab. I'm going back to traditional daisies. Petzl Mini-Traction- Great little hauler, I am happy with it. We primarily used it to haul up our tag rope (8 mil) with the extra ropes and junk with. No complaints, it did it's job well. Our Pro-Traxion, which was our main hauling device worked great. HOWEVER, warn people that it can slip. The cam would not catch the load on one pitch when we clipped the locking biner straight into the bolt. I think it needs to maintain some mobility by clipping it into a flexible sling. With a degree of freedom it worked fine. I also use both pulleys together to rig a 3:1 on the first day (heavy ass pigs). CCH Alien Hybrids- Without a doubt, the most valuable piece on the rack. All your aid climbing costomers should buy two sets, if you can keep them in stock. Enough said. HB Offset Nuts- The second most valuable pieces on the rack, especialy the yellow, green and blue brass ones. The aluminum ones are nice two, we had two sets and didn't even bother with regular nuts. WC Zero's- I had one Green one. I didn't use it much, but it did allow me to avoid using Lost Arrow pins at one point. It's a handy clean aid piece, but easy to get it stuck. Trango Ballnutz- Similar in use to the Zero, used in lost arrow scars, helped avoid nailing at a few points. Difficult to clean after bounce testing and pretty fragile. Smart Wool thin shirt- Thins thing was great! I wore it the whole way up El Cap and it never felt hot in the sun, and it kept me warm when the cool evening breezes would pick up. Only two complaints, it doesn't seem to be as durable as other synthetic shirts I have used in the past, it shrunk a little in the wash, and it is permenantly discolored, but not a big deal. I just hope that it holds up for a few more walls. Hmmm, well that is about all I can think of right now...

Not sure if it was said, but cut up an old retiered rope and bring the pieces to sling holes. Alot of the slung holes have very sun-bleached and generaly crappy chord through them. What is a "slung hole" you may ask...ah you'll find out soon enough, eh...