willstrickland

There's more people opining on this topic on the web that probably anything else. For people who don't want to play it like an odds game (e.g. making lots of trades with a positive expectancy -akin to counting cards in blackjack- and taking lots of small losses, using technical indicators, quant stuff, and charts as your primary tools) then I like the simplicity of Bill Cara's approach. Essentially buying only the highest quality companies when their share prices are beaten down, and raising your stops as the price cycle swings high. It's a simple accumulation zone/distribution zone concept that works well in the middle of market cycles. Currently, in the early stages of a bear market, probably best to sit in short maturation debt instruments and wait out the capitulation that typically marks true market bottoms.

Hey Mark, I was guiding some folks in the area the day your friends in the pic climbed the Flake. Had just been up the Flake myself earlier in the day. So I wanted to pass along a couple of points. I am trying not to spray on your TR or be a dick about this issue...here goes: First, that day (a Sat if I recall correctly) was the most crowded day I've seen in the monument all season. There were mob scenes all around the campground, it was a nice sunny day. Naturally, there were lines for the popular easy routes. Communication with other parties was necessary to figure out who was doing what or waiting for what. As we were gathering some gear from the base of Intersection to head to another area, we saw your friend above starting up the West Chimney. Now not many people do the W.Chim, but it was crowded and I'd already seen a party go up it that day. Another party was just starting the Flake simulatenously. The bottom of the Flake is the crux, a section of 5.8 squeeze and OW. The leader was solid and moving right along, although wide climbing does tend to be a tad slower than other types. Your pal there proceeds to leave the W.chim at about the 30' level and traverse into the Flake, stepping into the route literally just above the guy leading the actual start to the Flake. The leader on the Flake could have easily reached up and grabbed his ankle as he stepped into the crack. Now imagine the situation this leaves the other party in...the leader is 30' off the deck, a guy has just merged into his route off an adjacent line and the guy (your pal) isn't climbing quickly. The guy can either hang out until your buddy finishes the route and his second follows (probably an hour at the rate they were moving), he can lower off and wait on the ground, he can keep climbing with another party's rope and pro in the crack creating an even bigger clusterfuck with two ropes and sets of pro. It would seem that a reasonable party would have at least made the guys on the real start to the route aware that they planned to leave the line they were climbing and merge into the other line. It wasn't as if they were on an alternate start, they were on an independent route. When I realized what was happening, I was like "WTF?!" Your buddy created a giant clusterfuck. I didn't know either party (your friends or the guys they cut off) so there's no playing favorites in this. I would have been PISSED if I were the guy leading the Flake. Probably would have taken your friend's lead rope, clove hitched it into the first of his pieces I came to, stopping him cold, and climbed by him, or came to blows when he got down. Now maybe I have this all wrong and the two parties had some communication and agreement beforehand, I didn't talk to either party, I only observed the action but it certainly appeared to be a clueless guy creating easily avoidable issues. At the minimum, your buddy didn't climb the Flake, he climbed some mash up of the W. Chim and the Flake, avoiding the crux. Sorry to put negative stuff in your TR. Maybe have a talk with your pal and teach him a little common courtesy/crag etiquette. I'm glad you all enjoyed it down here, don't wait so long between trips next time. And don't sweat the Bearded Cabbage, that move is hard, especially if that ghey tick mark is still next to the crack. I did it a few days before you were on it, someone had ticked a ridiculous spot on the crack way above the good jam you really want when making the crux move. If you hit the right spot, it's not bad, wrong spot and it's desperate and forces you into a lieback. (today was gorgeous).

Dean Scream

That Pearson kid from the UK flashed a couple different V13s last year, AND put up and repeated some hard/scary routes on the Grit in the E10 range. What use is all that strength/power/ability if you don't take it to the routes?

1. Climbing quartz monzonite on the sunny aspects, with a possible exception for Wangerbanger/O'Kelly's because they're just that good. 2. Who cares?

Dan asked: "Any difference between Trango's ball nuts and the Camp version?" No. They are identical, made in the same factory.

The 5.7 crack in the pic is Toe Jam. Mediocre, but right in campground and sees a ton of traffic. Super polished in the finishing crack. The 10c is Clean and Jerk, a definite sandbag if you're under 5'10, and a bit tough for the grade even if you can easily make the long crux reach at the bottom. For Fisticuffs, just wear your approach shoes, it will actually make the climbing easier. But kevbone, the real question is: Why are you aiding those cracks? Or did you have a boxing match before going cragging?

Must do from .7-10a? 5.7/5.7+: Mr. Misty Kiss Frosty Cone Leap Year Flake White Lightning Lazy Day Double Cross Double Dogleg Mental Physics Walk on the Wild Side Skinny Dip Overhang Bypass Dolphin Stichter Quits 5.8 The Flake (one of my three favorite routes here, do it in a single pitch) Sail Away Cake Walk Dappled Mare Hands Off The Flue Gem 5.9 Overseer Super Roof The Damper North Overhang Sexy Grandma Sphincter Quits Ace of Spades Popular Mechanics Rock Candy Dummy's Delight Alice in Wonderjam Loose Lady Colorado Crack .10a Heart and Soul Taxman Bird of Fire Bird on a Wire Dos Chi Chis Illusion Dweller Watanobe Wall Exorcist Tossed Green Right Baskerville Head over Heals Ball Bearing Chalk Up Another One Championship Wrestling Good Bad & Ugly

Pretty long list really, but at the top: Dwayner & Puget. Just figured out recently that I met Snugtop in Vedauwoo over the summer.

I've used alot of things for this application, gri-gri, modified gri-gri, silent partner, various ascenders. And nothing tops the mini-traxion. I use mine down here all the time. Ideal set-up is two mini-traxions, the lower one on a 4" sling to the belay loop as a back-up, the top one clipped directly to the belay loop with a short loop of shock cord girth hitched through the clip-in hole and worn over one shoulder bandolier style. The shock cord holds the trax upright and makes it engage almost immediately, without having slack out. Personally, I use a pro-traxion as my backup device because I already owned it and couldn't justify the extra money for a second mini. It's a little bulky, but works fine. One thing you may want to do with a mini-traxion is to cut off or grind down the little metal stud that allows you to lock the cam open. It's possible, but highely unlikely that it could get brushed against something and end up locked open. NOTE: This is for fixed line TRing only. For solo leading, I prefer the modified gri-gri. Silent partner is just too much prep work, too big, etc.

Trip: Yosemite Valley - Cocaine Corner V5 Date: 9/30/2007 Trip Report: Cocaine Corner: An eight year love affair. How do you write a trip report about 15 feet of climbing? Usually, you don't. But this one was different. This one bouted me off and on for eight years. Summer 1998: I roll into the valley for the first time, feeling strong but slack jawed and intimidated by the huge walls. I work my way up through alot of long moderate classics, but am most intrigued by the bouldering where I can pull hard without worrying about taking whippers on gear. Of course Midnight Lightning is the grand prize, but well beyond me at this point in my climbing career. But just on the edge of camp, on the main circuit, is a beautiful slanting arete with a low angle face on one side and a vertical face on the other. It's gorgeous, a fantastic line, perfectly cleaved with just enough tiny feet to look reasonable. The drop zone has a horrendous chopper block sticking up a few feet, directly under the crux, which has claimed many broken ankles and legs. With a partner I start working it and holy shit, this thing is hard right off the ground. Slippery, technical, and powerful. It must be 90 degrees in the ditch, and with nothing but slopers for the left hand, conditions are grim. But we work it almost every afternoon anyway. At the end of the trip, I've got the bottom wired and am almost halfway up, thinking I'm close. Little do I know that the crux is yet to come. Spring 1999: Ahh, back in the ditch. More long moderate classics, a first valley wall route, and more bouldering. Many classic problems go down for the first time, but it takes me an entire session just to work out the bottom sequence that I'd done the previous year. Shortly after, a tendon pulley explodes on a tips crack, and my hard pulling is over for the season. Back to the moderate classics, ibuprofen, and alot of tape. Summer 2000: More wall routes, harder free climbs, and finally the Lightning goes down after falling off the mantle at least 15 times. I should be ecstatic. I am not. Cocaine Corner resists all attempts. I've still not made it to the crux move. Fall 2001: I've only got a week or so this time. An El Cap route gets started, but we bail at pitch 4. I try to do Half Dome in a day, and we never even get onto the route itself after marching up the slabs. I work on the problem a few times, but my head and heart is not in it. I hate this place, I want to be anywhere besides here. Fall 2003: On my way to Alaska for a three year job stint, I'll be damned if I'm driving from Atlanta to Alaska without spending time in the ditch. I try it a couple of times while looking for a wall partner. I can't even do the bottom anymore. A wall gets done, but takes so much out of me that I lay in the meadow drinking King Cobras for a day or two afterwards and then leave. I won't see the valley again for 3 1/2 years. Spring 2007: After quitting my job the previous fall, and spending all winter climbing in Joshua Tree, I somehow score a position as a Camp 4 campground host. I arrive to cold, wet, snowy conditions in early April. I'm feeling reasonably strong, fit, and tuned. Showing some euros around the bouldering circuit one blustery afternoon, we tick classic after classic, from slabs to mantles to aretes to cracks. Initial Friction, Blue Suede Shoes, Bachar Cracker, Ament Arete, Kor Face all get done . We lounge on pads near the Dominator, directly across from Cocaine Corner, drinking Olde E tallboys, talking maximum shit. Restless, I boot up and work out the bottom sequence. It's about 40 degrees with a slight breeze. Amazing what good conditions will do. Soon I'm at the crux but can't commit. Over the next week or two I put in a couple of sessions on it by myself between free soloing and seeking out the few longer climbs that are dry and sunny. I've got the section up to the crux ruthelessly wired. A plan is hatched to get 3 pads, and the biggest spotter I know, a 6'2" german kid named Martin who we call the Bezerker, and come back the next day. Overnight, a warm front rolls in with some rain and temps rise 20 degrees. By the time everything dries out, it's in the 80s and too hot for the sloping arete holds. "Shit! Now I'll have to wait until October to have a chance". September 2007: I climb in the ditch until August, go to Vedauwoo to climb wide cracks for a month, then Darrington, Leavenworth, two weeks of bouldering and fly fishing in Bishop, and at the end of Sept, go back over the pass for the Yosemite Facelift cleanup event. My only goal is Cocaine Corner. After picking up trash for a day, I set to work. Temps are good, but ten degrees colder would be perfect. I have the bottom wired and show up late one afternoon to see Uncle Stu and some YOSAR guys with a stack of pads over the chopper block. We work it together and I am sticking the extremely tenuous crux move, but falling off the last move with my hand brushing the top jug over and over. I do some other problems and after firing Bachar Cracker again am feeling pretty good watching friends work this classic crack problem...until Sweeney does the Cracker like it's 5.6 and then repeats it in flip-flops. Two days later I'm back at the Corner, to find James Lucas (the kid who decked free soloing North Overhang at Josh) and crew working it. What luck! I rarely see people working it, and the multiple pads and spotters makes commiting at the crux trivial. But I do no better, falling off the last move over and over. The forecast calls for cooling temps by the weekend. I have only a few more days, and Saturday is the best chance for a crowd with pads to be there. Saturday, September 29 2007: I show up mid afternoon, crank the iPod, and wait. Sure enough, an hour or two later a posse of pad people come rolling through and I join in the crew. We warm up on alot of things and then go to the corner. I see a climber who has it wired use a subly different sequence at the crux. I fall off three more times. The crew is about to wrap it up for the day. They ask if I want to try a couple more times before they split with all the pads. I clear up my vision with a little glaucoma medication and nod yes. Cleaning my shoes, cranking some Crystal Method on the headphones, and zoning out I get into a meditative breathing rhythm. The jacket comes off, and I pull into the bottom moves that I know so well. I botch a sequence, but recover and hit the giant high step in control, pulling to the crux. Chalking off a good foothold, the murmur of the crowd gets louder. It's the usual cacophany of "C'MON!"s and "You Got It!"s. I paste my foot onto the black diorite sloper, adjust my hands on the arete, a high upside down thumbcatch pinch for the right, and a subtle more acute angle on the arete for a pinch with the left down low. Rocking onto the sloper foothold I squeeze the arete with all I've got and stab my left foot up onto another smear. The foot sticks and I'm stable. Adjusting the right foot up two inches, there is only the final move to the jug remaining. Normally, the yelling and enouragement from the spotters doesn't do much for me. I tune it out and only notice the general hum and roar, the volume, the urgency. But this time was different. As I'm contemplating adjusting my feet again, a girl is yelling "LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT!". I look up at the jug and it's right there, just at the end of my reach. Forget moving the feet again, I lunge. As my hand latches the top it's like waking up from a dream. The roar rising from the crowd blends with the one coming from my chest and I'm standing on top, vibrating, stoked. I must have sat at the bottom for an hour afterwards, trying to make sense of it all. What will I do now? The eight year project is over. Am I happy to have finally done it, or sad that the process is over? Is it a validation of my improving skills, or just a load of attempts and good conditions? I leave the valley with these questions still swirling. Cocaine Corner V5, Camp4, Yosemite Valley: Gear Notes: A few pads and spotters. Approach Notes: Two minute walk from the center of Camp4 along the old horse trail.

Blowhole & Mecca areas, most of the day. Chapel Wall, Public Sanitation areas, early Cookie, Church Bowl, New Diversions areas, late. Five Open Books, late. Keystone Corner and Travesty @ 5-dime, late Yes, people still cimb on the apron, particularly in the middle where H-D, Grack etc are. I did Mr. Natural and Cold Fusion earlier this year and didn't see another soul at the apron, but then again that young kid got the chop at the base of the approach pitch to Mr. Natural. Goodrich Pinnacle right side has been seeing alot of action after inclusion in the Supertaco free guide. Just go to the Meadows, too hot in the ditch.

i'll see you there Matt, probably be there tonight as well. In transit from PDX now.

i'll see you there Matt, probably be there tonight as well. In transit from PDX now.

Yo Matt, Where exactly is this shindig, specifically the camping?

"Where are you off to next"? I'm near Castle Crags, CA right now. Plan to do a little fly fishing/resting/recovering for a couple days, then headed to the PNW.

Trip: Vedauwoo, Wyoming - Date: 8/1/2007 Trip Report: On the windswept plains of southeastern Wyoming, well above 8000ft, lies Joshua Tree's summertime cousin. Vedauwoo is a land of painfully sharp lichen streaked domes and outcrops spread about rolling hills covered with sage, pine, and aspen, and of course the incessant wind. It looks something like this: Saying this rock is sharp is a big understatement. I climbed all winter in Josh and taped maybe once. Taping here is a must. The feldspar crystals are big, sharp, bloodthirsty monsters. Even with tape, long pants, long shirt, knee pads, and high tops...you will still draw blood. And then there is the gear. Take every big cam you can find. Although the routes tend toward the short side, many are continuously wide. Here's a typical rack, in this case for a mega-classic 5.9 wide deal called Fantasia: And the route itself While the 'Voo is known for it's wide cracks, there is plenty there for the slab conisseur as well as cracks of all sizes. If anything characterizes this places more than the abundance of wide cracks, it's the flaring nature of all the cracks. Here are a couple of classic pitches we did that don't go wide: The first pitch of Friday the 13th: and the somewhat heady slabby seam of "5.11 Crack" (that's the name, it's rated 9+) We started on the easy classics and worked up until we got spanked. Edward's Crack was our first pitch and when done in a single pitch might be the best 5.7 pitch I've ever done anywhere. Not every wide thing here is hard. We did what the guidebook calls "the best 5.7 chimney in North America", the TM Chimney 5.7+. Really nice and varied. And another mellow one, Satterfield's Crack (5.8) Grug put up some hard stuff like October Light, which was one of the hardest efforts I've ever put forth trying to follow the thing. We learned that in many places the "watch out" grade is 5.9+. In Vedauwoo, it's .11b with wide on it. It's not the .11 hands or fists through a roof bulge that get you, it's the endless .10 OW that kicks your ass into submission. Grug running it out into the wide through one of many bulges during a proud onsight of October Light: The individual crags here are typically pretty broken and complex, but there are still some amazingly striking lines. One of the most aesthetic we did was Mainstreet: Another was Spectreman, steep, steep hands to thin hands with one fingerlock. Probably my favorite pitch of everything I got on. And of course there is an abundance of crack bouldering. Nat's 3 Star Roof is fantastic hands out a roof, and Cupcake is a highball, leaning and overhanging .10c with long reaches between good jams and terrible feet. But in the Valley I'd been focusing on wide roof crack problems. I was not dissappointed. Managed to flash Spinning the Wind and get Desiderata 2nd try, but got smoked on Life Without Parole. Spinning the Wind was alot like a problem I established near Camp 4 this spring called Recreational Struggling. It took some trickery and I got one leg stuck for a minute, but hung in there and sent. Here is Steve on an attempt and a view from above: And Jay on Desiderata: And me getting spanked on Life Without Parole. Close, but not close enough. Other highlights included climbing with and getting the tour from one of the best wide climbers ever who was also a prolific Vedauwoo first ascensionist. Climb and Punishment was great perfect hands, Gloria was a short but fun and challenging finger crack, while Max Factor was a difficult fingers to flaring hands crack. Gunga Din is a great, steep, thin slab route and Finally is a classic workshop on 5.9 wide techniques. Cornelius is an aesthetic, easy finger to hand crack on a slab that would have a que at the base at any other area. Even on the weekends during the prime seasons here, "crowded" is hardly that. And there are so many outlying areas that you could easily have your entire chosen formation, let alone routes, completely to yourself. Also, don't miss Flying Buttress, Beefeater, Currey's Diagonal, and if you're up to it, Horn's Mother. Middle of summer is an ideal time to visit here. There is plenty of free camping as well as a pay campground. Both are within easy walking distance of a ton of climbing and a short ~15mi drive to Laramie for resupply. My only regret is not getting out to attempt Squat. With the wide roofy bouldering I've been concentrating on, it seemed like a natural candidate. But this stuff is pre-Cambrian granite. It's not going anywhere....which is exactly how I felt in some of the wide stuff...not going anywhere. Go check it out, it's one of the iconic climbing areas of North America. Spray on this TR if you want. I know it's customary to keep the spray out, but in this case, you have my blessing...go nuts. Gear Notes: Lots of big gear. Approach Notes: Right off I-80, 16 mi east of Laramie.

Went to Vedauwoo. Climbed lots o wide stuff, some thin stuff, and some thinner stuff. Wrestled some difficult pebbles. Got one of the harder roof OW boulder probs 2nd try and flashed another one. Came close to puking several times...something about highly aerobic wide climbing at over 8000ft. If I can get a stable internet connection, I'll try to do a proper TR. Right now, I'm poaching off a Quizno's hotspot from across the street and it's sporadic.

Hey All, Just back in CA from a few weeks in Vedauwoo and am headed north for a few weeks. Looking to climb classic rock routes, alpine or cragging. WA Pass, Index, Darrington, Enchantments, Snow Creek Wall, Castle Rock or similar. Not too interested in sport cragging, but it's something to do if there's no better options. PM or e-mail. I plan to rest and make my way north over the next several days and will be sporadically checking in. I don't have a cell, but please leave a number and I'll contact you.

Bill, I was at the Cookie when you guys were there. I remember things a little differently. Quite a few people there had a different perception of "low of the day" that involved a certain yellow clad fellow and a sprayfest of unsolicited advice, criticism, and beta to a group of strong young women. Btw, Butterballs = .11c. Cheers.

Get some.

Base of El Cap has been seeing tons of traffic on weekends. That said, p1 of Salathe at .10c is great, Moby Dick center .10a is good (take multiple 3.5" pieces), Sacherer Cracker is very nice, but I think a horrendous sandbag at .10a (and I don't mean because of the OW at the top). Pinky isn't really isolated, there are starred .10a, .10c, .10d pitches right there that very nice, Arch and Generator are only about a mile away. Super Slide is a good easier multipitch right by Serenity. Seems like everyone I see here is walking around with the Supertopo free climbs book, so maybe avoid most of that stuff. Kor Beck is probably getting done more times in a week now that in previous years because of that book...ditto the Swan Slab Aid route. I'll be here until Oct as one of the Camp 4 Campground Hosts. Drop by and say hello.

Reeds will be hot, getting full sun, ditto the Cookie until late afternoon. If you do go to Reeds, drop down to Five and Dime cliff afterwards (same parking). The namesake pitch on that crag is fantastic. Being the weekend, I'd skip the sure to be crowded Reeds/Cookie stuff and go to the Finger Lickin' area for cragging from .10a to .11c. Jawbone, Snatch Power, Finger Lickin', Pinky Paralasis are all nice. If you don't mind a long approach, Arrowhead Arete is a fun day. East Butt of El Cap is wet on P7 and P8 right now. Could be dry by then.

Mike, I don't want to get rid of mine, but I do have 10.4 discs you could use and will be in the valley from April 16 until the fall. I'll be in the host site in C4. I'll be off-line after sunday night. Just come find me if you want to use them.

Because you can more easily maniupulate the length with a clove to fine-tune your length to the anchor, and it's easier to untie if it gets loaded.