willstrickland

Actually SpecEd, I think you're talking the North Chimneys. When I was meeting god on K-I, my bros Jim and Benji were on the NC's. While I was struggling to pull into the squeeze after the constriction (just below the dreaded OW) Jim sounded like he was right next to me. I was grunting, cussing, and generally making a ruckus. He was over there laughing his ass off. You're right, it's definitely a rite of passage, I was a fledgling 5.10 leader when I did it the first time and it made me respect old school 5.9 as being hard as shit.

Holy shit, I think Dick and I are in agreement...can't you feel the love

It's the only one I own. The #5 camalot will cover anything smaller. I've only placed it like 3 times, but it's one of those "when you need it, you REALLY need it" deals. After all, I'm not Chuck Pratt. I bought it after I almost soiled my drawers on Kor-Ingalls when I liebacked the OW section and almost pitched trying to get back in the squeeze chimney.

quote: Originally posted by Richard Pumpington: I'm a fan of some of his ideals, but not his gigantic ego and attitude. Coulda fooled me Dick. Pot-kettle-black eh? And hey Dick, how come you let little Scottyteryx punk your ass on SummitPost.com? Like this: "This Pumpington character seems to be "above" us all. A "real" climber. Maybe he needs to create "epicsummitpost.com" or "techclimber.com". I know for me, my home is here amongst a few others on the web.I have had personal emails with Dick P before via cascadeclimbers.com, and I cannot remember but I think it had tension in it as well." And while we're at it, Scott if you don't care for this site, fuck off and go twiddle your pecker over there where you have your little admin spot. Don't be knocking CC in another public forum because you were too much of a pussy to ask K to smoke outside. here's a little snippet of Scotty's babble: "As moderator of this board I am really pissed off. What the hell just went on here? I was gone for 8 hours and all hell broke loose. This is not freakin elementary school here kiddies! Listen everyone, if you want spray, then go to cascadeclimbers.com, not here. This is an incredibly informative website for people of all skill levels, and I will not allow this crap to go on here. If Mr Pumpington wishes to leave with his mountains, that is fine - unfair, but fine. It is a community website that has been graciously donated to us the climbers." And you pay how much to use CC? Jerkoff.

quote: Originally posted by crack addict: i agree with rob. this is very bad advice. It wasn't advice, it was pair of options.

Check out the ASCA page if you really want info. You can find a link on Chris's Supertopo site. I won't ever encourage bolting, but if you're going to do it, at least do it right. You might consider just taking them to the local TR crag, then if they hate it, you've not wasted your time with the bolts, plus you can put them on a few different routes. I'd say they'd get "over" the backyard boulder after a couple of ascents. But, I guess you could always use the bolts to hang a swing, animal carcass, etc.

quote: Originally posted by jules: Do you think that the assortment is good in ANY of the categories? Very lacking in most catagories (especially Ice tools, axes, cramps). Those categories which are better I've noted below along with my perception of the deficiencies in these. 1. Non-lock crabs has OK selection, but although they have OP, they don't have the two lightest models of OP (JC and the Doval) 2. Harness selection is OK, would be nice to see Yates in there. 3. Shoes: Lots of models, but no Anasazis velcro or lace up? This is one of the most popualr shoes on the planet (although I don't use them). No Newtons? No Scarpas at all? 4.Climbing packs has 7 models, only one of which I'd actually use for climbing. 5. Helmet selection: No problems I see Finally, the leather ice/mtneering boot selection is pitiful.

quote: Originally posted by jules: What do you think REI climbing dept. (mainly in Seattle, Redmond, and online) does well? Not much What don't we do well?Stock enough variety, give good advice, care for the equipment (i.e. you don't leave ropes that you plan to sell in full-on lighting not knowing how long they will be there before they sell), provide closeout gear (not REI couldn't sell it, but the manufcaturer changed color/model/etc), have great prices (uh wasn't the whole idea behind this co-op to get cheap climbing gear from Europe by using collective buying power...10% back is not utilizing that power) How can we add authenticity to the dept.?Hire people who know what the hell they're talking about. Carry a "real" selection of climbing gear...REI is the biggest store carrying climbing goods with the weakest selection of those goods. Climbmax has more selection in a store the size of an apartment. How do we meet/miss meeting your needs?Oooh, this could be a can of worms. You don't meet my needs because my needs are two: 1. stock a wide variety of gear and 2. Use the co-op power to get me deals at slightly above wholesale. You say admin, I say no marketing, you say overhead, I say no stupid f&@%$ glossy mail-out catalogs. The co-op is lost, it has reached the state of a typical department type store. When "profit margins" and things of that ilk influence decision making, the NON-PROFIT co-op is screwed. I've actually thought about starting a climbers' co-op myself to return to what REI used to be. Of course the manufacturers would probably have none of it, but I have my ways. Who do you think is our core customer (in the cimbing dept)? Are you a part of that group? Youth starting out needing the basic get-up (harness/shoes/belay device/etc) and the yuppster sport climbers. No, I am not a part of those groups. Any other comments? Yeah, the spirit of the co-op is lost. I still like the fact that I can walk in there and have a 90% chance of leaving with what I came for as long as it's not CLIMBING gear. It's one-stop camp shopping, and that's not bad, but the focus on apparrel, and non-technical apparel to be specific is a joke. In my mind "Recreational Equipment Inc" does not equal "Leisure Clothing Ltd" Not trying to be caustic in my statements above Jules, but I think the "flagship" store concept and all the "gee whiz" crap that went in it was a signal of the end. REI is solidly on the road that LL Bean and Eddie Bauer took. Just my $0.02

It's that time of year ya'll, the ice is gone and wall season is upon us so get psyched! Here's a memory of days gone by to help stimulate your appetite.

Here's the view I was treated to on my way home from restoring a route. The old man in the sky appears to be pleased.

quote: Originally posted by CraigA: So, Friday I climbed Hood and was checking out the upper part of Cooper Spur.....to which I said "@%, that's insane." I'm still going to climb it this year, but... Buck-up man, 'cause unless you plan to shuttle back to around to your car, you're gonna be downclimbing that section too...after that climbing up it will seem tame in comparison

When I lived in Utah, I knew of a crag that was similar to the fabled Mill Creek...unknown to about everyone, no guide, few routes but great potential, occasionally a pic would hit the mags and I'd hold my breath hoping the caption didn't give it away. Basically a few hardcore from SLC were the only ones in the know beyond the five or six climbers in my town (of 300) which was as close to "local" for this crag as you get. I;ve seen at least five or six photos of this area in the mags always caption simply "southern Utah". I've told a total of 4 people about this place, 2 boulderers and 2 trad climbers, all good friends and partners. I doubt it would be an issue even if people knew where it was because it's remote, but people used to think that about Indian Creek/Canyonlands/etc too ehh? I'm not giving up the stash and it's bomber granite in the high desert. More of an issue is the fact that there is a rad boulder field at the base of the wall. Yes, as an American it's your land too, but so what, you go find it. I put up some FAs in the Hood Nat Forest last year. I told several people where, what, how to get there, how to avoid the bushwhack we enjoyed. Nobody was much interested...new crags are work! Anyone with an interest, USGS topo, and middle-school level research skills can find this 1-2 pitch basalt wall, with a 15 minute approach and start cleaning, trundling, etc. You can clearly see this thing across the drainage from a prominent hiking trail. I feel no need to develop (i.e. alter the area) it or publicize it...for many reasons, but the biggest being that the it would take a crew of 6 or 10 a whole weekend to clean, trundle, etc and make the place a safe spot to try FAs without pulling a ton of loose rock off. I don't know 6 people in PDX (not saying they aren't here, I just don't know them) who I'd trust to put up good thoughtful routes, on gear, from the ground up. I know of two areas in Utah awaiting first ascents. I don't say awaiting "development", because I don't crave development. It brings people and all their baggage...trash, pets, cars. Sometimes just going in to try some lines, with no idea of how hard it will be, and leaving nothing beyond a rap sling or two is the way to go. No trails, no parking hassles, no garbage. Also, no squeeze jobs, or routes for the sake of number of routes. I see crappy routes all over because someone felt the need to establish more climbs beyond the good stuff to accomodate the increase in numbers of climbers. These two areas are also remote and since I don't know the ownership status of the land in either case, I'm definitely not sending anyone in there (and because I haven't gotten the pick of the stash yet). For me the reasons boil down to this: 1. I'm selfish, I want the cherry FAs. You want a pristine new area...do the research both on paper and in the field.2. I don't like "development" much, especially in the case of a new area where adventure is part of the game.3. I know eventually word gets 'round to the "community" and next thing I know there are bolts, hangers,bolt thieves, car break-ins, etc. It's selfish, and I'll be the first to admit it, but I honestly believe that anyone with the real desire for FAs, new crags, etc can easily get the info. Spend the time talking to people, doing research, and climbing with a wide variety of partners and you'll find the goods. Remember seeing a cool outcropping 2 miles cross country from where you picnicked with your SO? Well hike your ass in there and check it out. I remember some Jeff Apple-Benowitz article where he talked of pouring over a topo and finding a likely spot for ice, then skiing six miles in to see what was there. Ever see a crag that retained it's "secret" status for more than a few years?

OK, The pictures as promised: The Falls from a few viewsRoping UpWes on the first pitchRapping Off - The "pointer" shows Will for perspectiveand TG and Will chillin on the belay ledge I think we could grade this SI-Fading for Slurpee Ice-quickly melting. Seriously though, any guesstimate at the rating for this thing? [ 04-02-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ] [ 04-02-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

Here's a pic from when we were out there mid-Jan. Lots of snowcover! [ 04-01-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

I'll second that opinion, nothing but good experiences dealing with these guys (Brian and Mark? I believe). Quick delivery, good prices, lots of cosmetic blem items. Bought screws, ropes, biners from them in the last year and highly recommend them. $0.02

quote: Originally posted by DCramer: If you take them down, you don't need to send them too me. But if you do remove them don't chop - pull and fill the holes. Don't worry man, Ray knows how to pull them bolts out the right way. I hear he's been practicing.

quote: Originally posted by lizard brain: Noone wants to wade though pages of mouldy old song lyrics to figure out your cryptic message. Ahh ha, I see your reptilian cerebrum is in action. You only need to read the first paragraph of lyrics, the whole message is there...it works much better to just put a copy of Rastaman Vibration on the hi-fi, preferably on vinyl, and fire up a spliff...by the time the record gets to the track War, you'll hear and feel the message.

Seems that I remember quite a few folks looking for some non-wired hexes a while back. I noticed Climbmax CLimbaxehas a set of the 8 larger sized pre-slung with spectra webbing for about $50.

Yeah, so whadya want, a fuckin cookie?

Sounds great Jon, I also noticed that you guys re-scripted the code to auto-load the last page of a thread, that's a nice change! Thanks for all the work, makes my workday much more enjoyable.

quote: Originally posted by klar404: I believe that i was more interested in having more people read the entertaining story surronding the dicovery of this picture.cheers Yeah, sorry if I'm a little caustic, just carryover from a previous posting I guess.No doubt some entertaining, albeit slightly strange and hard to read, stories on that site. Check it out ya'll! The guy is maybe the worst html coder in history, but the stories are pretty funny. Check out the bit on Bridwell's slideshow from a few years ago and the "Jim Bridwell sucks hat". Also got a great logo appropriation idea from one of his stories..."The Shit Faced"

Whatever man, it's fairly standard protocol to post images without crediting them here because they are all (for the most part) hosted on their source site. If you wanna know the source info, right click on the image and then click on "properties"

quote: Originally posted by Richard Pumpington: Hey Will, You going to warm up for your Yosemite trip withanother "onsight" ascent of the Reid Glacier Headwall? Alright shithead, I'll bite on your troll. Even though you have said in the past that you don't fire unless fired upon (see Trask Anger Management seminar thread), you seem to be intent on messing with me. I see that you're a partner of my online feud bro Billy, ahh so that's how it works ehh. So be it, it's ON bitch. No Dick, I think for Yosemite it would be much more conducive to practice my fist jamming technique...on your mom. I'm glad you've enlightened us that you're the ripe old age of 36, that's good because I won't get arrested for child abuse when I open up about six cans of whup-ass on your head. Keep trolling,it suits you because you belong on a boat, in fact you belong on a ship...a pirate ship, to be precise a Butt Pirate ship. Go troll someone else jerky, you don't have what it takes to tangle with a witty redneck.

Yeah, that's Lynn Hill...many years ago

Erik, what are you Crack now?