slothrop

I stumbled across some photos taken by Andy Kirkpatrick on the Hands and Feet Across Greenland expedition. Some pretty cool shots of endless icecap, sunsets, and what looks like an abandoned base straight out of The Thing.

Daaaaaammmmnnn. A little transatlantic woody-measuring contest we got goin here. Where is the adjustable crack? That's whatcha need. Offwidth to fingertips with a few turns of the wrench.

Got a look at this route from on top of White Slabs yesterday, appears to be nicely featured rock. To get there from White Slabs, do most people go down and squeeze between the trees and the 20-foot detached spike on Country Club Ramp? It's too bad that White Slabs ends at the Ramp, since the obvious way to the top (the Ramp) is so filthy. There's decent climbing in those corners on White Slabs and it's pretty clean for being in the shadow of OS and Orbit. Any of you SCW aficionados do White Slabs Direct? Looks scaaary. Oh, one more question: Is there in fact a fixed rap station above the finger crack of Shark Attack? That finger crack looks awesome, but I'm not up for the supposed runout 11b above.

You'll be looking just like that redneck grandma in 20 years, so don't get too full of yourself, bucko. You've already got the greasy bun thing going. It's 90% reliable for me to assume that a Washington driver is in the left lane if there are two of them. Okanagan is pretty redneck. The two biggest stores downtown sell guns and bibles.

Just beating www.via-ferrata.de at #22!

If that "second lane" was the right lane, you deserved it.

Maybe others could help you out with your evaluation if you told us which shop.

Any opportunities for small gear on PHS? I'm gonna have to borrow a few big cams and go flail on it. Are Big Bros necessary to avoid pants-filling runouts?

Climb: Skaha-The Cave + some pitches Date of Climb: 9/8/2006 Trip Report: Geek the Greek and I met up in Skaha last weekend for three days of climbing. It was my first time there and I was impressed. Tons of great routes, trad and sport, in a beautiful setting, and not too many people. Kicks Smith's ass, basically, and is the same distance from Seattle. We did many classics, like Primal Dream, Gang Bang, and Genetic Mirror, got spanked on a few others, and generally had a great time. The second day, with the rain pouring down on us and on our rain-fly-less tent back at the RV camp, was the highlight, though. That day, we went into the cave. --- The Cave After a frustrating lead failure and the onset of rain early Saturday, Dan and I wandered around looking for something to do until it cleared up. We'd talked about the cave route described in the guidebook the day before and decided now was a great time for some underground adventure. We wandered up the valley in the rain, past the last of the crowds gaping at Doctor's Wall, to Chatsworth Edge, near the north end of the trail. The entrance was easy to find, so we put on helmets and started chimneying up. I had the guidebook in one pocket and our single headlamp in the other. We dropped into an open chamber, where huge blocks had split open long ago, leaving a series of long, wide chimneys. Down a chimney, I squeezed through a hole and walked into "the dark chasm". We traversed a narrow ledge above a 30-ft drop, me going ahead and shining the headlamp back for Dan. Then it was into the Hantavirus Slot, slithering past piles of rodent droppings to a slippery corner that spit us onto another narrow, exposed traverse. The guidebook description was quite thorough. We wound down the passage, underneath the first ledge, to "where it narrows... the exit is overhead". Overhead was a filthy chimney with a large chockstone at the top. I tried a few ways up before returning to the chimney, about three feet wide and 20 feet to the chockstone. It was fairly easy climbing, with a strenuous thrutch up past the chockstone. Now I shone the light down for Dan, who's not as big a chimney fan as I am. He tried a few moves, including some face climbing, but the light from my little Zipka was not very helpful, shining down from above. Dan needed the headlamp. I'll just drop it down to him, of course. Our one headlamp. "Are you sure?" "Uh, I guess." "OK, ready? Here it goes." "Got it—OW!" When I let it go, the light swung around, pointing upwards, so Dan lost sight of it as it fell. It whacked him square on the eyebrow, splitting open both the headlamp and his face. The batteries scattered among the rocks. "Shit, man, it hit me in the eye! It's really bleeding." Luckily, Dan is not only a climber, but a man of urban sophistication. He cracked open his cell phone and used the faint glow to search for the batteries, but only one was to be found among the human bones and rotting scraps of Prana clothing piled on the cave floor. With me perched safely atop the chockstone providing moral support and giggling quietly at his misfortune, Dan navigated safely back through the cave by cell phone. He was pretty bloody and subdued, but happy to be back in the sunshine. We chimneyed back out to our packs, washed out the gash, and hiked back to Chatsworth Edge, where there are several relaxing moderate cracks to climb. --- I'll definitely go back, hopefully this fall. Wings of Desire is of course on the list, as are all the routes I failed on. Anyone ever done Piled Higher and Steeper, or Max Headroom? Gear Notes: brass nuts to #4 Camalot Approach Notes: Beautiful drive through the Okanogan. Watch out for bull elk on the shoulder and the one State Patrol car in a 100-mile radius.

I thought Beckey gives the right chimney 5.4 and the left one 5.8. All I know is the right one was 5.humorous when Ned_Flanders followed it with a pack on.

Do you mean it ended Labor Day afternoon? Looks like a perfect vacation. Could you find cheap plane tickets?

You can go up from the third pitch belay past/through a tree to an alcove below a few cracks. The option on climber's right is slightly deteriorating granite, but is solid enough. No death blocks. The left option (LFC) could be good, too, but looked harder.

There are objective dangers when nordicpolewalking on a golf course, like, uh, balls hitting you in the face:

Softshells are for skiing. Even on pure rock climbs where you wouldn't carry ice tools? Do they carry hammers, or expect to have loose rocks to bash pins in with? This surprises me. I would have thought Americans were the gadget geeks. Whoa. Do they pour it into their water bladders, or lug up whole glass bottles?

Dude, my name is slothrop and I am mostly Swedish, 6' tall, and pretty skinny. While the Alpine Light is no Osprey pack, it fits me well enough for the amount of weight I can fit in it. The BD packs do look pretty good. Anyone had problems with durability like colt45 has? I guess the Speed pack is made of pretty thin material.

It's bedtime when you forget to bring your helmet while belaying the dike pitch.

Stupid redirect. Here's the URL: http://en.petzl.com/petzl/Accueil

Yeah, well, I had my harness... It was a good day, though. Ben's punishment is to lead the Butt Lips Chimney next trip to Index.

Am I the only one who can't see anything on Petzl's website? I've got Javascript on and Flash installed, but all I get is a white screen. Bummer.

I've got a Grivel Alpine Light (42L, 2+lb.) that was <$100 at PMS a while back (similar to the Rock pack, but bigger). It's not the lightest pack, but it's very versatile and carries well for cragging and all kinds of alpine climbing. Big enough for overnight trips even if you don't have all the fast-n-light gear. I've had it for over three years now and it is holding up very well. Lots of little features, maybe frivolous for some: Good: - Two axe loops - Light-colored interior for visibility - Waist belt has little zippered pockets so you can add padding. I stuff gloves in them. - Gear loops on waist belt - I use it for a sleeping pad at my feet and carry a short foam pad for my upper body - Compression straps on sides (can hold skis) and across the main closure on top - Plastic loops on the shoulder straps hold a water hose in place nicely - Outside pockets keep pickets strapped on the side from sliding down - Little buckles on lid for lashing crampons on - Zipper pockets inside and underneath lid Not so good: - Three gear loops inside main compartment. I don't use them much. You could cut these off. - Ice axe bungees come loose if you don't tuck the ends under. Can replace with cord or velcro. - External daisy chains don't get used often, except to hold on the ice axe bungees - Water bladder pocket and hose portal are more trouble than they're worth

wbk and I went to Neverland yesterday after a forgotten-harness fiasco at the base of the Index Lower Town Wall. A few observations: Lost Boys - The route on the right is easily done as a single 60m ropelength. 5.9. Cool exposure as the route moves left. - The "two-pitch" route up the right side of the slab (10a) is really fun after the initial move. Dirt comes down a lot from the ledge above. Rappelling on a single 60m rope gets you down from the second anchor, atop the slab. - The dike route above the slab anchor is pretty loose. Ben fell once on lead when a handhold came off and almost killed me when his foot kicked off a soccer-ball sized chunk. There are still a few suspect flakes up there. Don't belay at the bolts, fer chrissake, there's a nice comfy ledge with a tree for flying choss protection. Croc Wall - The "10a" on the left seems a little harder than that. Dirty. Hook Wall - You can easily move between the three top anchors, which lets you do all three routes without rappelling until after the last lap. Nice. Cool area with a very short approach. You could get in a 12-pitch day in the 5.10 range here. See here: http://www.deceptioncrags.com/BookUpdates/Exit38/Neverland.htm

Swilling good beer is expensive and the hangover definitely hurts more. If it tastes complex and interesting, why chug 3 or 4? That's what squirrel piss like Rainier is for.

WTF? Are ropes considered liquids? How did you convince them to let you keep the harness and draws?

From last weekend:

Click it for a bigger version.