Pencil_Pusher

I spoke to an ultra-marathon dude I met on the trail who had done the western states 100. He made it sound like doing the Wonderland in under 24 would be a walk in the park (relatively speaking), even self-supported. He said something about a "Plain 100" here in WA that is self-supported and a bit harder.

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess Verizon it is. I too have heard good things about them. That does sound like a grand idea, calling MRNP greenies if I get lost. "Hi, I'm lost, can you tell me where I am? Yes, I'm on snow and I see a rock over there. Does that help?"

I didn't have any funky cold medina, so I figured the next best way to get more chicks would be to join the Mountaineers. Unfortunately, I never did a single thing with that club in the one year I was a member. Anyhow, the hardest part about the equivalency test was keeping my mouth shut while getting the encyclopedia lecture on whatever/nothing. "Self, you want to get this equivalency so stay quiet." "But this is a crock of shit!" "Be quiet, get the equivalency." Be quiet, nod and agree and it's a cakewalk. I've heard good things of the Mounties Intermediate course too. My preference is boealps, but that's not an objective opinion. Boealps population: 300, Seattle Mounties: 9000... that was my math reasoning for single women odds. For this thread, yeah, hire a guide. It may cost more but it's quick and you can do it now versus waiting for whenever these classes start through the various clubs. Whichever guide you hire, make sure she has pretty eyes

Hey all, I'm thinking of upgrading to whatever century we're living in and getting a cell phone. There are a few providers to choose from, I was wondering what y'all thought of the various ones and their coverage? All those schnazzy extras don't mean much to me (games/text msg/photos). I just want one to talk on while I weave slowly in the left lane. Thanks mucho.

Ditto with Castle Rock and Icycle Creek wall in Leavenworth. You could lead Castle Rock's Saber (5.5) to the ledge then your ropegun could tackle Canary (5.8) for the next pitch. R&D (5.6) on Icycle followed by that Cocaine Crack(I think that's the name, ~5.10) for ropegun.

Rainier, Olympus and Goode in three consecutive days is not impossible. I assume the time would start at the first trailhead and end at the third summit. Assuming the trips are self-supported, folks could still have a driver with a van (bed/crash pad equipped). Still sound crazy/impossible? How about adding an alpinist paraglide rig? Self-supported, baby, and one fast-ass descent.

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The helmet's "suspension system"??? Is that the same as a box of grid squares? For going light, what everyone said about losing that flab on your body as being the easiest way to go light. Take a crap before you hit the trail too. Of fast, how do we know what 'fast' is without a reference (time)?

Ditto ehmic, though this thread was a hilarious read!

Good job you two, that's the way to kick ass and take names!

Not really knowing where else this'd go, I'll put it in this shiny new forum. I got rained out of climbing at the Gunks so went to Niagara Falls instead. Get there before 8am and you can avoid paying the parking fee! Hold on tight to the kids and pets because there's no last-chance safety wire to grab onto and the current is swift. Only about 150ft with a river pounding on top of you, if you take the plunge. Nice ice climbing in the winter though. The name "Bridal Veil Falls" stumped me as I thought I'd heard that here before too. Is there such a falls here??? But back on topic. Being a bit stumped at hauling all my climbing shit in a check-in bag and then getting rained out of the Gunks, I was all too happy to jump on this "rock" right off the interstate. There sure was a lot of beach sand all over the dang place and I thought maybe that was a way to keep climbers from climbing this thing. Little did I know the whole thing was made out of beach sand. So I made my first go at solo roped climbing. Probably the biggest problem I had was not taking the rope with me and thereby having to figure out which was the free end and which to clip the pro to. Nevermind about the pro holding in such "rock". That's just a minor technicality I found myself not commiting to moves unless I was sure I could reverse them and I didn't much like the consistent fall-distance potential due to lack of a soloist device. Instead it was two clove hitches on two lockers although the way I used them, I should've used figure eights on a bite instead. I used a chest harness for all but the last part, when I needed a long sling. The anchor was a tree and I did manage to traverse a ledge with other trees, so there was some solid protection. I didn't stand on the summit because it was a bit exposed and the sand/rock was a bit more crumbly up there. The whole thing was almost exactly a rope length long. No real route, I just picked an easy one and meandered my way up. Others had been up there many a time, it looked like with the etched graffiti. Without a rope no doubt, but that's not me. I left a green sling on a tree to clean the hard part on rappel. Someone that doesn't mind the exposure nor sometimes crumbly hold, could free solo up this no problem. Had I planned ahead, I would've asked Carolyn to go climbing as I passed through her state. From the western edge of North Dakota and all the way to Spokane there was nary a blue sky to be found. The whole way across Montana, on the interstate, there was smoke in the sky and all over the place. Another motorist said South Dakota was the same way... wow. That's a butt-load of smoke considering the I-90/94 distance was around 700 miles through Montana. I stopped by the EMS shop in Lebanon, VT, looking for any info on local climbing areas. Two employees said "Rumney" although neither of them had a clue where that was. A cool thing I saw there were those Mammut butt-floss runners that make the spectra ones seem big. Mo' money, mo' money.

Partners may be good for company on the south spur (I think I'm thinking about the same south route everyone takes) but not much else. I have literally seen a dog on the summit, that ascended via the south route. Even have a photo, but no scanner nor knowledge of how to post the photo...

Had I been more tech savy or internet friendly (or just plain planned ahead a little bit) I would've asked Carolyn to go climbing as I just drove through Minne-SO-ta this week.

I don't know either, I've only used them under the same theory. I've put them on rusty pitons I've come across and a couple of times on a picket or screw. I think Craig Lueben used them as part of his testing of screws and such for that Falcon Press "How to Ice Climb" book. It's all theory I guess. Hearing about that Goran accident at Vantage isn't too reassuring for the trust in gear, I think. That he was "a big guy" means nothing for those of us tipping over 200 pounds as well. If I actually did ice climb, I'd use those screamers for sure.

I don't think the cable is so hard to cut. A few years ago (and maybe even now) the city of Seattle was giving out free gun locks... basically a cable lock. I inadvertantly forgot the key whilst hunting one time near Sloan Peak and managed to snip each individual wire with wire cutters while at the car. It was a bit hard and time consuming, but well worth doing considering the long drive back to Seattle otherwise. I don't remember where or when, but there was a time in my life where high school padlocks were relatively easy to break... I'd think if someone couldn't cut the cable, they could cut the pack to get to the goodies much like the gas station would-be-robber could shoot through the wall, underneath the bullet-resistant glass. Sadly: where there's a will, there's a way.

What's so about that? It's all easily soloable terrain. Umm... yeah right Funny how things look better on paper and the rock easier from the bottom, when looking up. So have you soloed this or are you just talking smack?

We bailed on an attempt of the east ridge this morning due to weather, but at the TH yesterday met three guys who did the W Ridge. They scrambled up where the snow stopped in the coulior. It looked like it was broke in half, about midway up. The snow for the east ridge approach was done in trail shoes and insteps. Sketchy for sure, but do-able. There are a couple of really nice and flat dirt bivy spots about 200ft below the start of the route. It sucked bailing, that looks like a neat route. Sharkfin Tower stumped the hell out of us although the approach gully directly underneath it is far better than the first orange gully on the approach. We climbed a side... which side I don't recall but it was green and from the notch where the snow goes up to the base of Sharkfin. We went down about 20ft towards the Boston Glacier and then started a rising traverse. That was mega-annoying, trying to find the route. We think we saw it on the rappel into the other notch??? There are no biting flies in Boston Basin. No mosquitos either, both due (I think) to the nearby fire that is spewing out smoke and ash. There are marmots that will customize your foam sleeping pad, at no charge. If it wasn't illegal, I'd be eating marmot soup right now, those little bastards. Saw a nice guy on the way out who was going to solo the Torment/Forbidden traverse

Or for more info on Rainier, refer to Alex Van Steen's Climbing Rainier book or ask the dude himself. E-mail unknown but I bet the guy has a bit more experience than G-man. Alex is a guide though, so getting ahold of him may be harder than the dude sitting in a shack with a shitter (with appropriate khaki/green MRNP attire)

You can add Mt Adams to that list. Something like a trail park pass, a volcano pass, camping fee, and climber's permit. Rainier you can get around all the fees by getting there before the entrance people do and then not register, even if you climb. REI was selling the annual national park pass for $40 a while back... saves you ten bucks. I think the Mounties did a good job of keeping the annual climbing fee down for MRNP. I could be wrong, but I thought the Gauthier-types wanted to raise it to $60. So long as they double the parking lot and put in a tram to Muir (so that toilet with a folding wheelchair can be put to use), raising the fees ten times over is fine by me.

The Mounties should have an Intermediate equivalency test. I'd argue for it, but it's like shouting into the wind. Boealps has an intermediate course which lasts six months for every other weekend covering the same stuff and there's no commitment to teach the basic class. It's a bit more laid back in that the club is much smaller but there are plenty of anal-retentive and frat-pack 90210 members. The class culminates in a student-chosen graduation climb (unless the instructors wuss out) and if you bring a six-pack for this, make sure everyone drinks. Five out of six drinkers leaves one narc.

Good job, Norman and skykilo! Shee-it, nine hours after leaving the car you two were on the summit? Right on. Did you hit your projected time? The WT has your name written all over it. It'll be better than Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier...

Radon, Good job doing the WT in 52 hours! I've heard that if you're over 40 years old and you wake up in the morning with nothing hurting, you're dead. Did you wear your "Boeing Sucks" label for the trip?

I'm not sure how this post wound up in Spray but... I'll be heading out east next month and was wondering if any of y'all knew of some fun routes I could do at the Gunks? I can lead 5.7 trad here, so whatever that computes to out there...?? 50 or 60m rope and are there rap points for a single rope or is it a walk off?

I use a Jansport pack(~3000ci) for the small one and a Kelty pack (~4200ci) for the big one. The Jansport was about 60 bucks while the Kelty was 52. Check out those two brands for some cheaper packs. The Jansport has been one helluva pack, too bad they don't make it anymore. It is now sewn together with plenty of dental floss. Dental floss holds up well if you think you can sew that shoulder strap. Big 5 Sporting Goods has some good, cheap, alpine packs too.

How about www.barrabes.es? Or bring avy poodles.