slothrop

If you can change that to Thursday, I'm witcha.

You're way behind, kix. Sit-starts are all the rage in the Patagonian towers this year.

UNCAGE THE SOUL!!!!

HB Offsets are the best. Take small (#1-3) standard nuts if you have them, but don't go out and buy them just for this one route. Go and aid City Park and Iron Horse, then run laps on Godzilla. If you can't run laps on Godzilla, I'm guessing Liberty Crack will kick your ass.

Camilo, is your avatar the dude from Scanners? That movie is awesome. Chaps, wake up! Post those polka pictures from Lederhosenfest!

Chaps, you're the best cc.com poster in the world because I can tell you're having the most fun.

Holy crap, there are two of you! Oops. Squamish is cool. There are hundreds of routes just on "Mt. Squamish" (aka the Stawamus Chief), not to mention the dozens of other smaller crags.

Kurt pretty much gave away the secret Mt. Squamish beta.

SHUT UP KURT.

Uh, the left one. You're not from around here, are you?

Well, I usually start with a traverse from Mount Vancouver, along the coast, past Furry Creek, and then climb the crack to the top.

Didn't anyone climb anything this weekend? Is Chaps right, do we just sit around without lives and post junk all day? WHERE ARE THE TRIP REPORTS? I climbed Mount Washington Park in Portland this weekend with my mom, via the Rose Garden variation. On the way up, I saw some dangerous cliffs covered with chicken wire that I could climb, but the sign said I would be prosecuted to the FULL EXTENT of the law if I did. Instead, we descended into the valley and I free-soloed Mount Tonkatsu with Curry Sauce, with the sit start. The entire Canadian Navy was parked on the Willamette River, so we boarded their ships (arr!), meeting with minimal resistance. I departed Sunday to complete the Portland-Seattle enchainment, topping out on the UW Rock at approximately 6:45pm. This extreme effort was not without personal cost, however, as I was late for helping prepare dinner and my girlfriend was mad.

Hey guys, I found some photos of Chaps. He really does have a life outside of the Interweb. Here's a glimpse into that happy go-lucky existence: And his sister's pretty cute. Maybe she'd like a belayer?

Is the "Snowtube" the thing that's basically an ice axe shaft without a head? A friend of mine has one, but I've never seen him place it.

MSR 24" aluminum pickets (T cross-section) seem to be the standard around here.

Your tent should be fine. Start early so you can see the sunrise! And you will have better snow conditions (assuming it freezes overnight) before the sun turns everything sloppy.

You can do a glacier-free approach to the Kautz high camp via Van Trump Park, leaving from the Comet Falls TH. The approach is described well in Gauthier's book. More vertical gain involved than the normal route, but fewer crowds and it sure is perty. Nice camps at 7000+', 9200', and 10200', take your pick.

1. If it's raining in Seattle, it's probably raining or snowing at Paradise. That said, check the mountain weather forecasts before you go. And go anyway. If you have done any bad-weather hiking and know when to turn around, you'll be OK. Bring a compass or GPS and ask the rangers for the compass bearings up to (and more importantly, back from) Camp Muir. These are also printed in Mike Gauthier's Rainier guidebook, I believe. 2. It's kind of a long drive, since you have to go back around the west side of the park to get from Mowich Lake trailhead to Paradise. I dunno, 2 hours? Have fun!

Cool. You got a full experience, I'd say.

Sweet. I keep forgetting that "speed climbing" is a euphemism for "French-freeing" as well as for "running up volcanoes". Guiding a family with two seven year-olds sounds like a nightmare.

Awesome, Jay and Mark. I almost wish I could have been there. You know, except without the suffering part. Have fun in Boston!

I think that's why they don't recommend smearing it with vaseline or pouring gas on it or any number of redneck remedies. Just yank the sucker out.

Climb: Prusik Peak-West Ridge Date of Climb: 6/4/2005 Trip Report: At the risk of causing West Ridge Beta Overload, here's a brief TR. My friend Ben's on a climbing rampage ever since he broke up with his girlfriend and this last "winter" cured my friend Josh of the desire to ski, so we needed to go to the mountains. Ben packed in a 14" kielbasa and I brought a quart of PBR. Good times at camp. El Puto de Kunzo Up at 6am, we looked for friends Fromage and Jumar Jon, but they were no where to be found. The flatulence of the previous night continued through the morning and was the source of much humor. We started up the West Ridge in a cool breeze (windshirt recommended here). The climbing was good fun, with nice exposure, and went quickly. It's too bad you have to do a couple short pitches because of rope drag around ridge features. For the last pitch, we walked to the right end of the ledge splitting the summit block (above the handcrack) and belayed at the bolt overlooking the west face. A cool knob grab leads to the hilarious 5.4 chimney and the summit. Josh struggles with pack and chimney Josh on the FULLY HORIZONTAL summit crack (5.15c) The descent was annoying. Three 30m raps from the summit bolt into a couloir, downclimbing steepish hard snow in approach shoes, traversing same snow back to the balanced rock. I'm sure there's a better way, but whatever. Lots of fun-looking cracks on the north side. Gear Notes: 60m half rope w/Reverso nuts #4-8 Forged Friends #1.5, 1.75, 2.5 hexes #9, 10 three smallest tri-cams (didn't use) four double slings, three singles clipped several fixed pieces and rap stations Booty Report + #10 Stopper, double Mammut shoelace sling - cordelette * fixed small blue cam on pitch before the slab move Approach Notes: 2:45 to Upper Snow Lake snow-free to just before Lake Viviane, little snow to Prusik Pass awesome bivy spots! larches have nice green buds no skeeters, one tick, no Tool

You can hardly miss the route. It's well-traveled, so you know you're off-route if you are pulling off handfuls of lichen, and there is quite a bit of fixed gear/tat. Plus, it's a ridge. There is a ton of natural pro. It's a good route for beginning alpine climbers. Newbies, go do it!

I want to see marijuana commercials on TV.