ScottP

It was a rainy blustery night in Boston Basin. Phil and I were preparing to hunkerdown in his VE25, after a soggy approach to what would prove to be yet another fruitless attempt on Forbidden. After arranging things, Phil opened the door and lit the XGK in the vestibule. The thing flared up a bit, but not enough to do much more than a minor singe. What I remember most is the stench from the incomplete burning of the white gas during the priming phase. It was enough to gag a maggot and stayed with us until we piled out into 6 inches of new snow the next morning.

quote: Originally posted by Alpine Tom: Okay, how about this.... climbing all five volcanoes, solo, and BICYCLING beteen each one! Then I could write a book talking about how everyone else cheats in their climbing but me. Better yet, climb all five volcanoes, solo, in the nude, at night and then crawl through broken glass between each one. Then you can surely claim that everyone else is cheating.

Perhaps you should reconsider the hanging xgk/tent thing. As an alternative, use a propane stove, or something else that uses a less volatile fuel.

I may have missed it, but I didn't see where anybody mentioned the film "El Capitan". An excellent, somewhat artsy film about a late 70's era ascent of The Nose. Plenty of good, though dated climbing shots (One scene has a guy hammering a bong into the Stovelegs after the King Swing). There is one scene that stands out in my mind where Lito Tejada-Flores (Games Climbers Play) is getting into his sleeping bag on one of the bivy ledges by standing in it and hopping. While he is hopping about the ledge, his partner casually advises him that he is not clipped in, to which he appropriately replies, "F**K!"

quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: Oh and BTW go climbing? yeah so sorry I do it at will because I was smart enough to get myself retired before thirty. Mike Adamson An interesting dichotomy (easily explained, I'm sure): "Great site with interesting trip reports and photos. Another person like myself being worked to death and dreaming all day about getting back to a life of climbing." (excerpted from a link description on alpinelite.com)

quote: Originally posted by nolanr: I've heard of the crazy painter guys at Frenchman. They pretty much invented climbing over there, didn't they? Actually, the Prater brothers, Fred Stanley and others of that generation did routes there in the 50's and 60's. Long before Vantage was a winter climbing destination and there was such a thing as the Gorge at George, I soloed a couple of the Feathers only to find old army surplus pins hammered into the choss. I have one of them in my ancient booty archive at the bottom of my gear storage. But then if you mean modern grid bolting of the place, then I have no idea who started that mess. [This message has been edited by ScottP (edited 06-02-2001).]

quote: Originally posted by haireball: ScottP A mistake isn't stupid until you make it the second or third time -- which it sounds like you probably won't. Hmmm... In my dictionary, it is a stupid mistake if you have the knowlwedge and skill to know better. In both instances, I did. What was missing was a lack of concern due to the circumstances.

This thread got me thinking about what I've learned about climbing over the years and how I've learned it. "It ain't over til it's over" was learned on that rap down Town Crier. After finishing the second pitch of the Lizard at Index, I clipped into a green sling threaded through the funky railroad trash hammered into the base of the third pitch chimney. I tied off long and walked back down the sloping slab to tell Brian that I was off belay. Leaning out to yell, I put some of my weight on the rope and felt it give. Teetering on the brink of balance, I leaned back in to see the green sling and biner I had used slithering down the slab with the bight of rope I had tied off. I made the mistake of telling Brian about this indiscretion and haven't heard the end of it nearly 20 years later. From this I learned to not trust gear I haven't placed and ALWAYS back up your anchors, no matter how mellow the situation. To this day, I don't lean on anchors unless I absoulutely have to (hanging/semi-hanging stances.)

quote: Originally posted by Retrosaurus: A minute or two later I hear Andrew say,"What the f@#k!" And I look over in time to see his rope come whipping down the rock from above him and land on the slabs at the base of the route then slither off into the bushes and talus. How did he lose his belay? Did the belayer just cut him loose?

One to learn from: After rapping from the top of the Triple Overhangs pitch on Town Crier, I settled onto the sloping ledge just outside of Smoke Out, pulled some slack through my device, unclipped, leaned back, and yelled to Rob that I was off rappel. It was only then that I realized that I wasn't anchored to anything but air and I was standing on the edge of the ledge that drops into the second pitch chimney. Complacency chops many.

You call me a Bonehead, but it took me all of 35 seconds to find TWO websites with the requested information.:0 Have fun in the Meadows.

There's a reason it's called CASCADEclimbers.com Anyway, according to this website, http://www.monobasinresearch.org/data/tiogapass.htm and this one, http://www.yosemitegold.com/yosemite/slide99.htm Tioga Pass opened May 12th.

quote: Originally posted by Juneriver: Sure hope those guys show some type of gratitude and good attitudes for the sake of public opinion. I didn't see them on the news personally, but the morning radio show was talking about them and complaining that their tax dollars paid for this rescue and the guys seemed to have a real bad attitudes. I suppose I would be unhappy at having to have a chopper rescue too, but let's not get public opinion against us or rescues on the mountain. I doubt you would be in a chipper, talkative mood after such an ordeal either. As for the talk show types, I never hear them bitch about the cost to taxpayers when the Coast Guard has to go out on a rescue of some boaters in trouble, but that happens all the time.

Tom, I think your best chance would be to not have a partner. On a side note: I saw a memo at the Ranger office at Mt Rainier Natl Park a few years back that described a speed ascent of the mountain. Besides the astounding time of 5 hours, in it's officious way, the memo also stated that such "break neck" speeds were not condoned by the park administration due to safety concerns. I believe that this time has since been bettered. [This message has been edited by ScottP (edited 05-31-2001).]

Poetic justice, for sure...

I spent an afternoon at Devil's Lake in Wisconsin once. Just walking along the top of the walls. I found two stoppers, a Lowe tricam, four biners and a bunch of webbing. There was also a rope, but it seemed to be snagged on something down below. The rope looked pretty beat, so I just cut it loose and took the gear. Funny how people can get loud an obnoxious at a popular crag like that.

quote: Originally posted by lambone: P.S. Todd Skiner already worked on Town Crier and said it was a choss heap. A common response when someone can't free a route...

I had a third degree (completely in two) ligament tear of the left ankle several years ago. The doc I saw said I could go either way on the surgery, but since I was so active, the best alternative was to sew the ends back together. He said with natural healing, the ends might not heal together and therefore the ligament would be weaker than if it was healed end to end.

http://www.cands.net/climbing.html is the URL for the C&S webpage. There is a lot of info about SC Wall, including photos, on this site.

On a related topic, how many people can recall the chicken bolts on the 5th pitch (I remember seeing two)? (I imagine they were placed due to a lack of sufficient numbers of wide pins on the FA)

From where this thread has gone, I am off topic here, but anyway... Chouinard originally coughed up the idea that the negative was better than the positive for arresting on really hard surfaces (ice and frozen-crusted snow.) His rationale was that the negative wouldn't bite so quickly and therefore possibly wrench the axe out of your hands during an arrest. For details, see his treatise in "Climbing Ice"

This site is nothing more than an arena for a very diverse group of people to get together and commiserate about a common interest. Like the Usenet sites rec.climbing and rec.backcountry, you have those who use it to gather info about routes they want to do, those who use it to spew their own dogma, those who use it to gain knowledge (which I find quite scary), and those who use it as a segment (or all) of their social lives. You can't control how others use this, or any other site. To try is futile. Roll with the punches, take one to the head, or get out of the ring; the choice is yours.

Paul, I have found that a few minutes of stretching the forearms by gently pulling back on the fingers after a good pump alleviates some of the day-after effects.

Rattlesnake Lake is out by North Bend (30 minutes from Seattle) and since the water level is so low, there are exposed boulders with some good problems.