terrible_ted

Along the same lines, the first lesson I got on waterfall ice was to climb up a WI3 line (on TR, natch) without tools. It really wasn't too surprising that the "secret" was once again to be found in footwork. It's a great way to start the season, and get out of the "all pullups all the time approach". Placing screws on a mock TR lead, especially something well above your ability, is a nice way to get a sense of what you need to be working on as well. It's also nice practice to try some downclimbing on TR. You'd hate to try that the first time on lead... Cool TR. On to the Rockies!!! -t

The weather was cold and the routes were great. Except for the ones that weren't so great. You and "vanisle" are quite gifted at eliciting beta... Hmmmmm...? -t

Well, they aren't the lightest crampons out there, but they really weren't significantly heavier than my old Grivels. As for the secondary points, once I adjusted the front bail to where the primary points "bottom out" even with the front of the boot, I seemed to get enough support to make for a stable platform. Over the course of five climbing days on 3's and 4's (and on some pretty cold mornings), I never popped. But once again, I didn't log any lead time on 5's, which is where I think you start to get a better feel for the fine differences on front points. -t

I spent all last week in the Can. Rockies using the latest BD Bionics, set as dual points. They fit very nicely. The heel now has a "microadjustment" to get a tighter fit on in-between sizes, and the front bail can be adjusted so that the amount the front points extend from the toe can be optimized. I'm only on 3's and 4's (no real mixed stuff, yet...), but I had no boot/crampon slippage issues and had a fairly comfortable platform feel. -t

I saved about two bills last night making some major equip. upgrades (new tools, new ropes). I e-mailed earlier in the week, and asked them to advance me the sales prices because I'd be in town Thursday night. No problem. Service and selection rock. Where else in town are you going to find an Ablakov hooker, anyways? You're lucky to find an ice axe at REI... A few years ago a woman at the Redmond REI blushed when I said I was looking for an ice screw... -t

The Canadian Costco sucks. No alcohol, they couldn't run either my debit or my credit card and the house ATM wouldn't work either. Apparantly Bank of America isn't a widely recognized financial institution. So then they were going to re-ring everything to refigure the price in US$ rather than Canadian pesos - I suggested maybe we just use the exchange rate to recalculate? (Oh yeah, that'll work too!) Then the woman at the food stand warned me that my hot dog contained... Pork! I told her, "sounds fine, just don't douse it in that goddamned gravy..." BC Bud clearly has had it's way with these people... -t

I only wear my fleece jacket when I'm out working in my shop or on my yard. Although it's a bit bulky, I don't have to worry about getting glue or paint on it. The only fleece I still carry on climbs is an old balaclava and some extra camp gloves. I'm anxiously awaiting my new beyondfleece jacket... -t

CNN travel

Which gloves did you use last time? I have BD's Dry Ice gloves and they're very nice, but not warm enough when air temp is in the 20's (F), at least for me. I just picked up a pair of Cloud Veil Ice Floes, and I'm sure they'll be a bit warmer, but not a whole lot. I'd be interested in hearing what other folks are using as well. Of course, none of them are worth a shit when they're soaked...

I think the Metolius is too heavy as well, but I think they're on the right track. I like the idea of engineering the harness to hold 10kN when the belt isn't doubled back. Most of the time, it is a tired, experienced climber that forgets this, not an inexperienced novice. Labelling the underside of the belt is also a reasonable idea: I put little notes like this on my shop equipment all of the time (e.g. KEEP FINGERS BACK!). The other thing I like is the idea of a second tie in point on the harness, preferably towards the back. I think it would be nice to free up space in the front of the harness, particularly when handling double-rope hanging belays. I don't necessarily need all of the gear loops able to do this, but it would be a little problematic to differentiate the 'second belay/anchor loop' from a nearby gear loop. It probably is easiest to just beef up the haul loop. -t

It's cool to get the same story from multiple viewpoints. Chris 'fessed up about this trip a few weeks ago, so his version is pretty fresh in my mind. I remember spending a lot of time trying to figure out how I'd deal with the same scenario. Your partner's mangled, you have one other person and a rope to either 1. climb up and hope to find help from the West ridge crowd (probably a decent chance of lining up a cell phone) knowing that you'd be climbing a new route under serious pressure without any guarantees of finding help OR 2. descending to a 2-person glacier re-crossing to retrace back to BB to find help, knowing that it will take most of a day to travel. A good exercise in risk management. As a complete aside, I only found out this summer that the backcountry permitting process (where they ask for everything from phone #, license # time spent in wilderness areas, itinerary, etc...) for issuing camping permits does not cross populate the voluntary climbing register. Which means unless you also fill out the paper register, no one comes looking for you if you're 'waylaid.' Oops! -t

I have the first generation MSR shoes and find them fairly versatile. The metal cleats that run along the sides create greater traction on icier/steeper terrain. The rubber straps lasted a lot longer than I initially expected, but sometimes I have to fiddle with them a bit before I get a good seating. I've never needed the extensions to get a good float (I'm ~ 160#). The shoes handle sidehilling better than the conventional tube-type constucts because they dig in more. They are kind of ugly, and noisy as hell. They used to be notably cheaper than the competition. Now: less so. -t

Here's the only on-line article on the accident I've been able to find, so far.

Thanks. Here's a closer look at Ines: By the way, her feet are not on the ice. The depth of field has been flattened. That roof is protruding ca. 2M out from the face of the cliff. How many one-armed pullups can YOU do?

I only saw IP and Sean Isaak compete, and they both had spurs. I recall overhearing someone saying "...and he wasn't even wearing fruit boots" as I walked up to the bridge, but I never got the rest of the story. I can't imagine anyone completing the route spurless (entering/exiting the roof is gonad-busting enough), but then again, I have trouble imagining anyone completing the route, period! -t

Alright, I'm going to fiddle around here a bit, and try to get some images from the comp uploaded. The first is Ines Papert hitting the stick that gets her out from the roof portion of the competition route. Basically , this stick is the one that wins it. Once she got the stick, she swung out on it to get the second stick. She isn't flailing here: this is a deliberate move! Ouray 2005 comp 1 This next picture is her completing the moves to get her up and over. Sick. Totally sick. Ouray Comp 2005 2 I hope this works... Unfortunately, the one image I don't have, and the one I'm afraid I'll never be able to burn from my mind, is the one of Jim Donini leaning over me with his low cut black Tango dress pulled down while telling me to "slip it in here" (the $20 bill that had fallen on the floor)... -t

Fired. Oops, I'm sorry, "laid off." I got a very modest severence, and a week of 'wrap-up' access. Would it kill them to do this shit in the summer??? Maybe someone ought to push to declare June the end of the fiscal year. Oh well, I hope it's a cold winter... I just got a bunch of new ice gear! -t

I hope the weather clears up. I have a "mandatory" meeting scheduled for 1:00pm. Half of the company is at 1:00 and half is at 2:00. It's one of those rare moments in life when you can smile and say "work sucks!" It does, and I suspect in about 30 minutes it isn't going to be my problem any more. -t

If you aren't paying attention to Colorado, then you really have no sense of the legal quagmire the upcoming election's results may sink into.

You almost can't go wrong here. <uh RHET>, <ahr ah TEE> and <uh REE tee> are all correct. It's all Greek to me. Clatskanie (town), Klaskanine (river) is a good matched set on the north Oregon coast. When I lived in P-town I was asked more than once for directions to the "Willametty" river... I love watching new TV weatherreaders. It's great imagining an entire county or city groaning in unison... Folks in Verlot say <ver LOT>. Of course, folks out in Indiana refer to their hometown as <ver SAILS> (Versailles)... -t

Good call. I recall climbing that route in '99 or '00. We hiked up the day before and bivied at the base of the route. We got back to our cars around 2 or 3am that night. Bedal Creek was a ball-busting late night bushwhack/descent. I kind of figured that the trail might be more established now, given the greater number of folks that seem to be using it to approach the Corkscrew route. We hiked up to Crater Lake, WA on Saturday. After about a half hour standing around in the light drizzle, we figured Jack probably wasn't going to go on Sunday. The hike down was the swansong for my fairly new LaSportiva Trango S boots. How a pair of boots could feel so good on ascent and so torturous on descent is amazing. Coming soon to a yard sale near you. -t

I'd still go in and try Challenger. If nothing else you'll have some firsthand knowledge of a N. Picket route that will serve you well on a more ambitious future trip. Redoubt and Spickard makes a nice 4 day trip, although mostly slogging. How about Dorado needle or the Dome traverse? The west arete of Eldorado? That's a bit tougher (5.8, grade IV). The NE butt. of Goode? -t

Don't think for a minute that a GOP governor would have been under any less pressure to do the exact same thing. It was most convenient for the lame-duck governor to take the hit on that, otherwise you'd have seen an interesting tango between the state house and the governors mansion. Everyone in Olympia wanted to see the decision go down that way, but no one wanted their fingerprints on it.

I think you could pull off the trek to Luna if you had a few breaks: 1. An early start w/the water taxi 2. The sign Dave Parker placed on the BB trail pointing out the Access creek cutoff was removed. I carved a replacement when we returned, but who's to say how long it will last? We spent an extra hour and half finding a log crossing on our way up. 3. Weather: the traverse about Luna to get to the col was pretty straightforward - the problem would be if it got wet. That would definitely slow you down. 4. Luna looks like a bitch from the false summit. It's probably much quicker to do the traverse route from about 150' below the false summit. It would seem like a shame to go that way and not even consider Fury, but given the ass-kicking I got - I can't say I'd blame you! -t

Congratulations guys!! And a good job on the two link sections! It looked like the Challenger to Luna traverse would be pretty straightforward, but the push from Fury to Terror looked a bit sporty. I was up on Sourdough this Sunday looking over at Fury. It's been a month since we were on it and it still looks like the demon's eye is scanning the horizon for us... Curiously enough, we were at the fire lookout on Sourdough (which is currently manned) drinking wine and shooting the breeze when I looked back towards the Pickets. A big plume of smoke had rolled up in the five or ten minutes since we had last looked. After the lookout finished reporting it, he told us that he'd been waiting awhile: lightning had touched down there on Friday/Saturday. He said it was probably on the flanks of Luna. Wouldn't that be a hell of an additional hazard! Climbing the endless rock and snow of Fury with hot smoke and ashes all around! Might cut down on the bugs, though!