Pencil_Pusher

So basically the pope's beef is with folks that say they can climb at a grade higher than he thinks they should. You don't get to be a good climber unless you push your limits and mime, comb the hair, rehearse, fall, etc. Add "onsight" to your vocab, dude. That brings out the experienced, the gifted, and the poodles that are all yap and no go. The confessional here is a joke in itself. people don't have a conscience that they've cheated, it's all show here on the internet. On top of that, the very things you purport to claim hold no place in "real" climbing are the EXACT same things you yourself did!! Your screen name should be hang-dogger, eh? Or maybe Fluffy. Okay boys and girls, listen up. Cheating DOES make you a better climber. Cheat, but don't lie about it. Push your limits and have a fun time doing it. Then when the pope gets done sucking on his cigar, you can hear him say "Mack, mack mack mack mack mack. Mack mack mack. Mack mack mack, mack mack MAAACK!" Smile to yourself and think: wow, this was a great day climbing. Wait... I've got it all wrong... you belong to the Mountaineers, don't you, pope? That explains it.

No, I was the sorry, solo dude that wasn't successful at hitch-hiking down Icycle Creek Road yesterday. Once past 8 mile, I just got pissed and figured if I went this far I could finish it off without a damn ride. I only climbed Little Annapurna. I had no clue what Asgard held in store for me, that was my first time on it. A 13 hour day, so not too long.

Touching the void, part II. You could always leave the knife at home and just bring a razor blade. Saves weight. Other than that, no, sorry I don't have any useful info.

The shame I live with every day. The horror, complete horror... Everybody's a real tough guy over via keystrokes, huh? Hump x amount of miles to get to a TRAD (look it up sometime) route and you'll find that anything goes when push comes to shove. I feel so ashamed.

The 14th brought dry rock, so it's back in condition. Still snow going up Pineapple Pass. Great because we get to miss all that crappy scree and loose rock normally associated with this approach.

Went in via Snow Creek. No snow till Lake Viviane. Snow makes trail hard to follow thereon out. Little Annapurna pretty easy, at most you'd need 4-pt crampons with your ice axe. Spectacular views. Exited via Asgard. Still snow to Asgard Pass, going down pretty much snow free. Asgard Pass to Colchuck Lake was the most treacherous part of the trip with loose rocks and boulders. Staying on trail difficult, routefinding easy. Spectacular scenery again coming down Asgard. Most of the lakes up there have melted free of ice except for those lakes around Little Annapurna. Plenty of free flowing water all around so why bother packing extra weight when it's so readily available? I'd love to go back to Little Annapurna just for the awesome scenery it provided although I wouldn't do this as a day trip again... close to 27 miles r/t to car at Snow Creek?

Forgive me Pope, but when I climb I do not care if I sin. I do whatever necessary to get to the top. Etiquette is for those who care. Slap me silly, or have Donna do it.

There's a company out east that has a vaccination for Lyme Disease called Lyme-Rix. It's shown 70% effectiveness, which is 70% better protection than what you have now. It totally sucks that a little piss-ant tick can permanently screw us up for life, just with one bite. At least with a woman...

As of last night, June 12th, the approach to the Tooth via Source Lake trail is awesome. 10% loose rock, 90% solid snow steps; very different from the normal loose rock/slippery ground approach. Anyhow, some fresh sluff, Tooth looks like it got a good coating of snow. Pineapple Pass snow all the way up, very easy to ascend. Seems quite a bit of snow fell the past few days, I was breaking trail in calf-deep snow from basin up. By the weekend, assuming no more snow/rain accumulation, the climbing route might be dry.

Anybody know what kind of pro to bring for this? Anyone been up there lately? Looked snow free from Prusik, but that's a ways off.

savaisuni, works for me. different perceptions between the writer and reader as to the content

Sauvaisini, Do all authors climb every route they describe in their books? How could his route description get someone hurt, exactly? If the book says "Walk off cliff," are you going to do it? Rather, the book says, "Follow obvious notch/ledge/tree," and we're all left going, "Huh?" The book helps out, but it's up to you (a little personal responsibility lesson here) to make your own decisions regarding your safety. Granted, if the book says 50m rappel and it's 60m, there's good reason to complain. Which is why I want to here exactly how Nelson's description, "...could get someone hurt."

For all those that wonder, Prusik Peak is in condition to climb. We went up June 2-3 and the bivy was cold. From Lake Vivian, it was mainly 3/4 snow to Prusik Pass. Cold climbing brought us up the West Ridge. The first bit of snow you'll hit is after the cairn maze above Upper Snow Lake, and then only in patches. This route is do-able in a day, for those of you who don't have permits, so long as you leave the parking lot around 6am. You don't need crampons or an ice axe. Don't need a whole lot of gear either as the belays are solid with plenty of rocks to sling.