rat

not us on saturday. we were there on monday and i had to walk around the top of s&p to rap h2o2 and retrieve gear after a friend logged flight time.

salt and pepper---walk to the top, build an anchor and rap down to the base of the ice, real tough to figure out that one. as of monday the cable looked frightening. h2o2 was in but wet even during that cold spell. a few other routes between coulee and electric city looked thin and/or very chandeliered but growing fast. bring a gun for the punch bowl.

silvretta crampons and brakes off of 404 bindings. will fit 400's and probably 500's as well. why anyone would want these i don't know, but make an offer if you want: e-mail snocreek@crcwnet.com.

the local gear shop owner and a friend tried it on saturday. second-hand info: 4 hours of wallowing and "poor" ice on the initial pitches. they bailed. the upper pillar looks good. you still need a boat or need to ford the river upstream at swiftwater picnic area. the tyrolean someone set up over the summer is too low. on saturday, i raised the anchor on the highway side as much possible without spurs but still only made it 1/3 of the way across the river before a dunking seemed inevitable--the anchor on the opposite side needs to be raised about 10'. avy danger will go up with the new, heavier snow that's forecasted but unless it gets real warm for an extended period, the falls should stay in shape for a while.

not on goat, but close: climbed a good route on the south side of "granite peak" years ago. this is point 6124' on the green trails map and lies just east of mamie pass. ski or drive up to the hannegan campground. the route took a gully system up the south face and was about 5.7 with ice to 80 degrees plus some brush hauling. i think we only belayed about 3 pitches but one was real thin. follow snow slopes and easy steps to the top of the peak and descend via mamie pass. this may be more of an early season/low snow year route as i recall being able to rodeo my bald-tired econoline up the road. have fun.

found a pair. thanks. delete the thread if you want.

long shot: wtb a set of silveretta 400, 404 or 500 bindings (good condition with minimal lateral slop). email snocreek@crcwnet.com.

i don't race. however, old age and cunning will beat youth and enthusiasm anyday.

lots of really good climbing there. the bunkhouse wasn't open when we were there so we rented a cheap cody motel room w/kitchen---about $150/week in '97 as i recall. the commute wasn't bad (coffee in the morn and beer/whiskey on the way home). there are probably more people climbing there now, especially over the holiday break, but you probably won't be standing in line like in the rockies. approaches can be long (longer than they look) and windy. usually not nearly as much snow as canada but watch for wind slabs. routes aren't all picked out so the grades are honest. we didn't do a bad route there---recommend ice fest, moratorium, and rambling up shank stew. mean green and high on boulder are also classics. have fun and puke blood.

jiri to everest area. poach a few trekking peaks until you get sick of the euros. hike out east via gudel/bung(hole) to the arun river valley--the best part. taxi/bus back to kathmandu. very few westerners when we did it. locals in bung(hole), made infamous in one of shipton or tilman's stories, spit on westerners and their outhouses hang over the pig sties. am sure it's changed a bit since we were there but i hope the locals still spit on trekkers. bacon, anyone?

authority is to be ridiculed, outwitted and avoided.

"Those guys worked hard to hang that pig, and they did it after carefully considering every impact their addition would have on Index climbing." uhh, not really. we did carefully consider how many boxes of schmidt it would take, however. that pigrigger is a bigger asshole than pollack bob. either chop the bolts and continue chopping them until you exhaust your opponent, or go climb somewhere else. sacrifice zones for stupid 50' climbs (vantage, parts of the icicle, alpental) will always be cropping up to feed the lowest common denominator. alpine purity is an admirable goal but ultimately full of hypocrisy--let rome burn. there never was and never will be any consensus on bolting issues and like minx said, there are larger social and environmental issues that deserve more attention.

just outta pornographic curiosity, does anyone know if the north face has had a second ascent? the roberts-mccarthy ascent was an early demonstration of angst-driven alpine minimalism. the article is in one of the early-'80's aaj's if i remember right. it sure is some good hog-killing weather today.

rules, rules, rules. faq your faqing rules, you faqing faq. you were one hell of a lot more entertaining as polish bob.

john mailhiot and i climbed this on 9/7/97. nw ridge of star peak----III, 5.7 up to the sub-summit then walk to the true summit. some manky rock but a good location.

east ridge of mt. berge in the buck creek drainage. not in the "alpine lakes" but an honest day roundtrip from leavenworth---good, moderate rock in a relatively untravelled locale.

--stubai modular 55cm axe, stubai modular 45cm hammer, plus 2 spare used picks and an extra hammer head for the tools (state o' the art tools about 15 freakin' years ago--still in good shape but it's very hard to find new picks). --.5" rigid stem wc friend --1" rigid stem wc friend --2.5" rigid stem camrad (korean knockoff of wc friend) --set of 5-step a5 etriers (basically new) make an offer. post a reply or send a pm.

a little bird must've told 'em. this shit is all too funny. take an informal gathering with one very good "sponsor" (terminal gravity), add a pompous industry hack with delusions of grandeur, and what do you get? a corraled group of well-behaved consumers subjugated by advertising. "stewards of the vertical environment", "stewarding", "partnering"?---blah, blah, fucking blah. the only potential positive aspect i can see is that, with nelson involved, maybe kit will show his mug. burn it clean.

deep shit? naw, just piss poor route finding on my part the entire day. remember the mantra, "stfu and do your 60 meters", when rambling up cascade choss piles. glad to hear you guys had a good adventure.

thanks for the info. the face definitely has that chossy rock scarred look to it---maybe that's why doorish and company didn't go back for a more direct line. add it to the list of unsolved cascade rubble piles?

the east face of mt. triumph has one recorded route (a 5.9 climb by d/c). after looking at the face, i believe that this is a relatively short route on the far left side and doesn't tackle the direct east face. i could be wrong. is the direct east face still unclimbed? tom thomas was killed in '87 or '88 while attempting to solo the east face---maybe in the area of the large dihedral/roof in mid-face since i recall possibly seeing a haul bag there while i was on the ne ridge in '88. do any of you tough guys or gals have more info on this expanse of compact rock? thanks.

and what of this person? why is he passed out? feck is exhausted from smoking dope with crispin glover and fucking his blow-up doll.

as feck said, we meandered up some 5.8/5.9 line last summer. some kitty litter in spots but good adventure climbing on a relatively untravelled washington pass crag. from the hwy. 20 hairpin, an honest day in good country.

did the tenpeak-clark section from white river trailhead. plenty of fine ridge running and side-hilling. snow slopes and pocket glaciers on the north side of the ridge will help you avoid some of the side-hilling. hitting tenpeak from high in thunder basin then traversing over chalangin (sp?) and luana to a bivy near clark took a day.