Cpt.Caveman

It seems to me that the famous incident on K-2 with Pete Schoening, Dee Molenaar, etc. involved a quickly placed boot-axe belay which saved the day for the whole big rope-team. I've never heard of anyone else ever pulling off such a feat. I dont know the specifics of that arrest but have heard of it. I know it aint easy to arrest just one other climber if he\she gets moving. You can convince yourself otherwise by justifying this ONE situation but that's pretty silly if you ask me.

A little better I suppose. I've climbed a fair share of dirt. The rubble chockstones in there are pretty cool in a way. The bushes didnt bother me a bit.

I'm not having a cool\tough guy contest. Those were MY thoughts about the overhyped route.

I think putting that many people on a rope is a possible hazard. Situations dictate though... I believe more than 3 on a rope would be hard to hold any falls. Also I think people bitching and complaining about it could be a good eye opener for others. Of course you cannot force anything like rope and glacier travel technique on them though. It's up to them to make those decisions. I'm no alpine master but I know it's FUCKING hard to arrest a fall without pro sometimes.

YOu can probably pitch an I tent around the 5-6th pitches. I remember some large ledges. The bivy spot 2 pitches below Gendearme is really small. only good for bivy sacks.

It's a much nicer feature than the climbing. The climbing is ok but nothing stellar. I'd rather climb Orbit 2 times.

Yeah Pro to 2 inches. The tunnel is fun. I can email you a better topo than Beckey one. A very uniqe summit worth visting. Nevermind lost my topo- It's easily gained from a ridge traverse via Prusik Peak.

Dont matter to me. If you think it's that good speak up beyotch

Or "Alpine cragging" if you will. Depends on how you look at it. I just enjoy the crevasse walking and glaciers. You cant match that in the Sierras for instance. If I wanted to climb good rock I could climb at Wa Pass or I could go to the Sierras too. But the subject aint about that. Thinkin about Kangaroo Temple this season Elitism of a definition is so silly

I'm confident that the best time to climb at Midnight is in April.

My comments about routes. And most of them are found in guidebooks. Prusik - Any way up should be good Stuart- NOrth Ridge Slesse- NE Butthole Index- left of NF - think it's 195? route or so. Forbidden Peak- ER direct Obviously everyone knows about these routes. I dont include Wa pass spires because there is no actual alpine setting. It's more suited described as sub alpine but with excellent rock in most areas that are unmatched in nearly any part of the range. To sum it up it's just cragging near the road for most of the Spires but NOT all.

Phukkin a! I have been making less and less of these type of trips over the seasons. I'm working it to a science on my part but they are bound to happen every now and then. It's the worst too. Often I find deleting bivy equipment and warming items like sweaters or replacing it with lighter stuff is the main key. The second key is the rack and rope for me. Not sure how everyone else looks at it. Obviously it will vary. I just got me a summer bivy setup for 2 - Betamid and getting bug net with it soon. That's one setup that has already made some changes. Another thing is I carry less comfort gear to be helpful. The definition will vary according to the person though.

I get humor noting some people are dissing routes they have not climbed and recommending ones they have not done too. They could be right in the comments but just a thought.

Fuck who knows. Queen Bess sounds like the best guess to me. I've taken photos of it but from the opposite side. I didnt bother to read your website or which direction you took it from\looking to. Sounds like you didn't climb the N Ridge of Wedge. It's better than Eldorado and a long way to drive just to slog up the descent. Bummer for you.

AHA!!!! I caught you looking at topos Shame on you

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Lake Tahoe Rock aint too bad.

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Where can I get a detailed good topo for SR of Gimli? The one I found on the web was crappo. Dru why don't you just draw one up for me and send it in the mail or scan it? I'd like to aid the 5.7 sandbag climb

There are so many if's and maybe's in everything. You can spin the subject in 360 degrees easily. In both mentioned cases I think the victims were doing things they should not have. You can disect it into 500 pieces or just look at the real big picture which is- They should not have been leading those climbs. It's the truth. Hauling a body out doesn't make you good at placing pro. So that comment has no value concerning gear climbing. You can fall on a bolt line, down a snow slope, off a knife edge snow ridge - whatever and die.

Sounds pretty wild. No he didn't.

Beckey Guides - No other comprehensive mountain range book even compares. There's bound to be errors about obvious descent gullies McClane Books - All the Elaho books are awesome. The design is great. I'm waiting for the Selkirks North. Worst Books- Smoot books. He rips off info from people and then degrades them in his own sly way. Has he ever climbed a volcanoe?

Yeah Dru he was with us. Him and Aaron made a try on the Amon Rudh but were forced back by early season waterfall on route.