Pencil_Pusher

If it's gas powered, I'm more with the person saying take the 250 dirt bike. You could carry two climbers with their gear on that one bike. I don't see the point in taking a scooter. I bet the electric one's efficiency goes to hell on a non-paved surface, if it could even get you there in the first place.

I missed that, Dru. Where was it CBS said that? My only suggestion is there are multiple lines up these easy routes; the Tooth, Ingalls, Castle Rock, and R&D come to mind. So you don't necessarily have to wait in line.

So this probably means you're not old enough to drive, right? You might want to reconsider that age thing...

In one of the threads here, Fred Beckey was looking for folks to rent out a room at his place off Lake City Way, in Seattle. Don't remember where the thread was.

Nice and funny TR, Josh. Sounds like y'all had a killer time out there.

Keep an eye out for the looking-for-partners forum. Distel did a pretty good job getting into the sport, from what I've read here over the months. So long as you can belay and have the hunger to learn, you should do fine.

News This sucks to hear of so many deaths on the same route over a relatively short time period. This second group requesting assistance is going to get eaten alive for their reason calling 911. Well, be careful out there.

A single dude arguing this to a married dude... I'm mum on this subject, if I knew what I was talking about I'd be married with kids already.

Good reply, I agree. Though looking at the two photos preceding the bergschrund, I'm a little more pessimistic about the ability to self arrest. Still a great trip report, those photos really add to the reading.

Nice TR, great photos. If your first piece of pro was at the bergschrund, why tie in before that?

Thanks for the email and password, Josh. I hate those registration deals too, good way to bypass it for yourself and others.

I've rafted the royal gorge in CO a couple of times. The swift stuff is before the bridge and it's relatively calm underneath. Come to think of it, it was about ten years ago and we were on the river and watched one of those Magnum PI helicopters fly over the bridge, do a 180 while doing this massive dive underneath the bridge and then buzzing the river. Looked very cool, but I didn't have the dinero (it was a tourist helicopter). Heard an incident that happened with two skydivers with wingsuits at this bridge. One was to wingfly under the bridge and the other over, both at nearly the same time, as some sort of promotion. Apparently 'over' dude decides it would be cool to thread the needle between the wires, his legs hit the bridge and either kills him immediately or when he hit the ground. Last, but not least, the wood planks have about a half inch to an inch between them so as you're walking along you can see the bottom between the planks. Then when the cars drive over, the planks shake. MisterE, if folks have bushwhacking grades, rap grades seem reasonable

I think rappelling could be considered a sport. I remember as a kid watching these guys rappel these cliffs every time we drove by in the summer. Australian style, it was impressive. I've met a few rappel groups all over the US and when I learned to climb, I forced myself to rappel just for the fun of it. Well, I did rappel for fun afterwards, but had to 'force' myself to overcome memories of sadistic army drill instructors. I suppose it's like aid climbing in that you're forced to rely on the equipment, whereas in climbing, the equipment is your backup. Maybe people don't like it because they don't do it much. Or maybe it's because climbers rappel after the climb, when they're tired and more prone to making mistakes. I've always wanted to rappel the Aurora Bridge, but don't really want to get arrested for it. As for the Royal Gorge bridge in Colorado, yeah I remember there's a plaque about midway that tells of the rappel dude that did some record rappel from that location. It's about a thousand feet down to the water or railroad tracks.

That sucks. I've been there unroped too (winter) and it was getting on and off that shoulder at the top that really put the scare in me. Glad to hear he's alive. It's too steep there to self arrest.

Spin it, baby, spin it...

It would seem the safest and quickest way off would be to parapente. Ten or twelve pounds of extra weight equals maybe 20 minutes to the car.

Yeah and if you don't have bad BO, a bathroom will suffice. Just some water on the face to make you feel good and a couple handfuls of water through the hair to get rid of helmet head. Take sweaty clothes off, put clothes that were rolled up in pack on, add some deodorant and off to work. I usually wore dockers and a nice shirt. I guess because of the humidity I never really had a problem with wrinkles. The thing I really hated about riding in the rain was the limited visibility and distraction factor for the auto drivers. Seattle is awesome for bus transportation, so the above reference to being near or knowing where the bus routes are, is a great one. Especially during the morning commute, you probably won't have to wait more than 15 minutes for the next bus to come along. I wore a whistle around my neck that I'd mouth when downtown. Too many cars trying to turn or park or peds trying to jaywalk. Never had any maintenance problems and only carried a scewdriver, tiny patch kit, and pump.

Man I would love to see someone's TR of how they went light and took up a big bag of weed to trade for food and fuel while on the route. What do they call it, an 'urban legend'? God, just think of the weight savings...

In addition to his already famous homemade Gu recipes, UW buildings climbing guide and fall factor calculator, Alpine Dave now has a 'how to' for making your very own indoor climbing holds. Topnotch stuff and it includes photos.

"But we don't need a permit if we're not going to camp, right?" Make Whitney a day trip!

What's the big deal? Carry your downhill skis like everyone else and have fun. Be sure to wear your styling sunglasses.

JoshK, you pollute the atmosphere worse than a guy on his sled. Spin it any way you want, but that's a fact. I don't know what their mpg is, but I'd imagine quite high. Their season is short and it's a recreation. Versus you drive your ass-hauler probably every day, all year long. Gas is something like six pounds per gallon, average car goes 12-15,000 miles per year... how many pounds of pollution are you putting in the atmosphere each year? I think others have summed it up well. I've gotten a real kick in the pants sledding in Colorado. It sure is fun. The sledders I've come across here have been nice and slowed down as they drove by. In fact, two sledders drove an injured climber and her boyfriend back down to the trailhead, a few years back. We didn't know these guys, but they happened upon our group and helped out, at Mt Baker no less.

I'm more in agreement with mattp. Add to climbers' impact us driving our smelly polluting cars to trailheads and destroying alpine vegetation in the name of 'routes'. Snowmobiles and dirt bikes are a real kick in the pants. As for pollution, even the peacenicks contribute significant amounts of pollution to our environment while yelling at others for doing the same.

Wow, thanks for the news. I always thought one had to have a porter or guide. To hear you can trek alone... hmm, the brain starts thinking... Hope the weather is good to you, enjoy!

Only fitting you got to use der munter hitch, climbing with the deutschlander. Saber is so funny in the stories it produces. Nice TR, dorkus