Eerie

Ha! about Saber that is awesome jja! I recently took a friend to Castle. After seconding Midway/direct I gave him a quick crash course in placing gear (based off what he observed from my gear on Midway). He then took off and lead the first pitch of Saber. He did a great job finding his way to the ledge and the belay went off without a problem. I was surprised Saber was rated 5.4 as well. Nevertheless, I'd have to say Midway and Saber are both "beginner" routes. fwiw..."Beginner" does not mean 'first time climber'.

for $2.50 a PINT!!!!! WTF???? Don't they know PBR is popular because it is a 'decent' CHEAP beer??? I felt like I was robbed when I found out I paid that much for PBR. Thanks but not thanks Gustavs. I'll bring a cooler full of cans and grab a burger at Heidelburger if I need one from now on.

I'll just add in here that the Pacific Ocean is a great and mighty being. Predicting how weather systems are going to react over that ocean has got to be more a crap shoot than a science.

and need a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, whatever? I've got no climbing partner and am desperate to climb. I'd be interested in checking out St.Point/Darrington, never been and it'd be cool to get a hike and some climbing in.

that dude's closer to VanillaIce than MC just don't hurt 'em Hammer. and those pants certainly look the part of aid. is it possible to hang-dog boulder problems?

what shoes are left? how much were they going for? looking for a pair for my girlfriend. thanks.

Nubbin Grubbin' eh? Ok, so that was the route. I wasn't saying I thought it should be graded 13 or anything. Just that it seemed really, really difficult...and a rather enjoyable way to lose skin off fingertips.

I have no idea about Index slab routes but there is one slab route I'd like to ask about. It is on the second bench of the Careno Crag's Regular Route(? - the multi-pitch route that starts further uphill). There is the beautiful 5.7 dihedral on the right, the route in question, then to the left a chickenhead 10a slab route. I can't remember what the middle route was rated but thought it was 11a or b. Whatever its rated it is frickin hard. A buddy and I attempted to tr and both got stymied by the angle of rock and the fact that the only holds were smears or micro edges (and I mean fingernail thickness). If that route is 11 something then what the hell is 13+ slab??!!

I believe it is a city park. The department name is something like Anacortes Community Forest Lands and there is a manager, don't know his/her name.

yeah, and wait till you go to J-tree!!!

that ain't even cool snoboy. I rode baker on Saturday in ultra-classic Cascade cement. 3 runs into the day and the foot+ freshiez made feel like I was wakeboarding in the middle of a lake on a busy summer weekend.

I had a couple of climbing partners a while back that liked to say things like "Off Belay" or "Comp loop? Ok, here ya go" when you asked for them to watch you closely for a fall..... ahh those mental games. I also have had a climbing partner who would get freaked if I told him a route was "killer" after I got done climbing it and he was about to second. Of course I meant "killer" to mean it was an exhilirating route. He knew it and it still freaked him out. As for gamesmanship, I always hate the way my brother went about it. He'd look at a route not knowing anything about it, say it looked cool, then tell me I've gotta lead it..grrrrrrrr

Dave When you say "MtErie is out till the fall" do you mean the Mounties will be visiting the Mt every weekend??? Do you know what areas of the Mt the mounties like to practice on? Are they at any of the Powerline, Orange walls or Snag Buttress? Are there parking problems if you want to park at the base? Don't they park at the trailer park area? If you know answers to any of my questions thanks for answering them. Eerie

I'm sure the history of the argument that tape is aid goes further back than the linked article and subsequent ranting... but it sure is fun to read. http://www.climbingmoab.com/rock/db/indian_creek/

I'd like to echo what SnoBoy wrote. The mountain has great, and I mean GREAT terrain. Just that it seems it would be exponentially better with fresh snow. Spring skiing/riding there?? Dunno about that...perhaps storm chasing to Red next winter would be a better decision.

I was going to say something until I saw the little vid-clip beneath scotts name. Now I can't think of anything but....nice, very nice.

ALLEZ!!!! Or whatever the hell that means... but if your buddy is trying real, real hard and needs encouragment scream it as loud as you can... especially if I'm trying to concentrate myself at that very time.

In The Deck..... Audioslave. on deck.... mix of B.I.G. and GangStarr. I think you'll agree there's a lot more to Gorillaz than 'Clint Eastwood'.

I agree on the thread drift. The first part of that Crossfire route looks pretty cool. A pretty crazy looking crack in the rock. What does it go at and what's the deal with the top part? Are there bolts up there or just run out? Also, the second route pictured, Crack Babies, is it in Cocaine Gulley? That's the name of the gulley with the huge boulder wedged between the walls that you have to crawl beneath to get into the gulley proper right? If I'm not mistaken, on my one and only trip to Smith several years ago my buddy and I tried to "on-sight" that route. We watched as a couple of Bend-ers told us we were either stupid or rediculously strong if we could both do it. Ha! Not even close. My buddy did it on a couple of hangs and I felt like I should have brought a portaledge along I spent so much time hangin.

Iain, Why are your heels stuck to the skis?? If its gotta be skiing it might as well be tele.

bp - are you gonna be out ridin/skiing tomorrow? or workin?

remove the couch from the t.v. room or vise versa and do WALLSITS while you watch the toob!! its your pennance for being a slave to the damn thing plus the wallsits will work your quads.

The VW van has been slip slidin' away over the past several years due to the saturation of the part of the market it was aimed towards. There are just too many options that offer better form, function, performance and sadly, style than the VW van. A model such as the VW van could only rely on its reputation for so long. Iain, the V8 is not weaker than the V6. While offering similar horsepower ratings the V8 has much more torque. Also, the gas mileage is similar (within a couple of miles per gallon) but the V6 requires premium petrol since it has been tweaked so hard to get the horespower it provides.

Iain, sorry. The little bit of irish I have in me begins to come out when skiers start badmouthing boarders. For the most part I've become desensitized to to it. I have been on a board since 1987 so you can be sure I've heard a lot of skiers' supremacy chest beatings.

Does the pack limit the range of motion for your head? By that I mean, when tilting your head back is your head impeded by the top of the pack? I currently ride with a Heli-Pro and it is the first pack I have ridden with that does not limit range of motion. I did wear a larger Burton pack while riding a sled once and it was particularly bothersome. I was acutely aware of the problem as the back of my helmet kept hitting the top of the pack.