Terminal_Gravity

Messner used to support him and thinks he did it but has retracted his support. There are also discussions in "Kiss or Kill" and mentions in "Over the Edge"

There is plenty of ice here. some easy to get to & some not. Some fat and solid; and some as bit more tenous. WI1+ to WI6 maybe. I've been ice climbing 1 or 2 times a week for the past month but I can't garuntee the weather. We occasionally get a few days of really warm winds that screw every thing up. Right now I would say it is a 7 on a scale of 1-10 for Wallwa Ice. I have never posted a photo & don't really know how but I do have a few marginal one's I could post if somebody really cares. At most I could climb 1 day this weekend, so if a couple people meet out here I could point you in the right direction and maybe could rope up on a climb or two. but you can't count on me for a partner all weekend long. ....and this is about all the time I have to write about it. If you PM me include your phone# or I may not respond...sorry I'm just pretty busy today.

Simple....come out & climb some ( a lot) more ice with me.

That fine piece of german engineering gets 46mpg in the city.

nice, Rob. If you read it backwards it says PDX cops suck the hind tit.

After almost two years of field trials, I would like to retract my earlier recomendation. The problems with the petzl still exist but there are two problems with the Princtontec LED that I think make it totally unsuitable for mountaineering. The battery contacts are two flimsy. A drop of only 2 feet on the ground will cause the contacts to deform and the light will fail. Also, the case plastic is inferior and embrittles at colder temps. I've gone through two of these lights and will not buy another. When I buy another sub-compact LED headlight it will be a BD

My favorite soft shell fabric is Patagonia. They do not contain lycra; which is water absorbant. And to confirm Mary Lou's post. Wind stopper is a joke if your working hard it is barely breathable...good lounge wear though.

Wrong...I-84 MP121

"Fuck 'em; they're all posers anyway" I've never climbed it; but it's my favorite name of a bolivian climb

Okay, since we're all talking about it. The west side of the Matterhorn is indeed a face. In fact it is the largest rock face in Oregon. Unfortunately, even though there is plenty of granite out here, it is limestone. The face is roughly 1700' high after a fairly long 4th scramble to the base. It is similar to a 1/2 sized mirror image of El Cap...The overhanging side is on the left and it has a prominate nose in the middle. The central part of the face has been climed only twice by two different routes. One on each side of the nose. Yes, it was in the late 70's and the "doods" name is Dave Jensen. He still lives in the area, is a brilliant photographer but does not climb anymore...blown knees. If you look at old Sierra climbing guides, his name shows up on FA lists. I have on sight free soloed a route (5.4) far right of the main face, in part to get a close up of the nose. The nose has not been climbed. It is arguably the most desirable FA in Oregon. The two routes Dave did involved loose rock and he rated them 5.8 A4 on the left and 5.9 A3 on the right. I expect that Dave rates them very conservatively...ie they are harder than the rating. Both routes involved a night on the wall...duh. Another concern is tourist hikers, trundling from the top. Dave said that on one route he almost was taken out by idiots trundlers above. Both of his routes are funnels at the top. I think I have figured out a line up the nose, I expect it to involve long Hook sections and 5.10/11 face moves. If I see any of you out here putting up a bolt ladder, I will dump rocks on you from above ( really ). But if somebody wants to give it a try with honest style, I might be of some use.

S & Sniff, I agree with you on the un-likly hood of there being very many FA's available on the obvious lines. But who care's anyway...I just climb. One question; what do you mean by the North face of the Matterhorn? There really is no North side to the peak, it is just a ridge that continues on over to Sac. Do you still climb here? Do I know you? - steve

This is certainly an interesting topic. Especially when you factor High altittude brain degridation into it. Messner has made many statements on the topic of honesty in mountaineering. He supported Tomo Cesan's Lohtse claim and then recently retracted his support. One thing I have to call bullshit on is the press (and some of the cc.com posters) claim that Messner's traverse of NP was pivotal in his career. He was so badass, that he would have been at the top of the high altitude game anyway

I love the photo. Way to go Ivan & Jen.... Ivan, I think you should stay home & let Jen go out for some revelry. & while we're showing off our kids, My 9 year old, Claire, got to a saddle at 15,035 feet on her own power last year ( when she was eight). Congrates

I fell on the same screw about 20 times on top rope bouldering around on a wildly overhanging serac just above powder snow once. The screw was fine. I also took about a 5 footer on an abakalov thread once, just to see if it would hold...it did.

you wanna suck O's as well?

Sobo; Yes, that is refered to as the NW ridge...again most people around here call it "Dragon's back" It is a fun climb any time of year. It is a little tricky finding the start of it though...sounds like you did everything right. Wazzu: there is acctually less snow now than when you were here a week ago. As far as the N face. There is acctually 2 couliors and a head wall that splits them. You can see the right one and the head wall. The left is hidden from view behind Dragon's back in you photo. All have been climbed and a friend of mine has skied the couliors. All of the above not withstanding; the snow field right of the summit with the step about 1/3 of the way up is a plum I want to pick. The crux is at the ridge and hard to see in your photo. To me it is the best line on the mountain in terms of severity and as far as I know is un-climbed. If you want to give it a go with me let me know, But you'll have to retract the bastard comment. Or do it yourself; I lay no claim.

Jeez you guys, Let's see, I haven't climbed in the Eagle Cap since this morning. Last week we had a chinook wind- most of the ice melted. The snow is still rock skiing below 6500 ft- but good above. Yes, the North face has been climbed ( I soloed it 2 years ago, and that was not a first ascent...It's trivial (AI2)). The North Ridge ( called Dragon's Back by locals) has been climbed countless times, winter and summer. The left sky line in the photo is the yak route. The right skiline of the photo is a much more fun climb than the North ridge. Sorry, don't mean to be an ass. I will give anyone info or beta for any climb in the Wallowas anytime they ask me.

Matt, I respect your opinins a great deal, but I'll have to be the contrarian this time around...I'll Climb with RBW any day of the week; I just prefer to lead.

I don't carry them very often. But when I carry pins for potentially loose alpine rock this is the order of value ( weight over usebility) Baby angles Short LA's KB's Medium angles Long La's just my 2 cents

Arlene Blum? She didn't mention you in her book Why would she?? I was just a punk assed, cut off jeans wearing, climbin' fool kid.

I spent an afternoon teaching several of the "Women's place is on top" team, rock climbing technique at Stoney Point ( LA )...just befor they headed off to Annapurna.

I don't care about dirt or smudges on my light coloured soft shells, but I prefer dark for heat absorption. I wash only when they stink. But the true bottom line is; I think soft shells truly rock only below freezing temps. I have had very good luck with Patagonia after several washings below freezing even if I am getting splashed by liquid water from a water fall that is still partially flowing. With wear they do start to soak in warmer temps. Shoeller may be alot worse than Patagonia because it contains Lycra, which is hydrophylic. I love my soft shell, but I don't ask it to be completely waterproof in warm weather

The little red ones I used to eat on occasion were not lemon like at all, they were a little bitter and spicy like cayenne.

But you'll waste your time writing to say you won't waste your time with it?? ... and waste our time in the process

how come you gave up the veggie diet? I started craving meat, thinking about meat, dreaming of meat, salivating when I saw others eating meat. After a year of thick headed denial I finnally admited that my body was trying to tell me something. I was in the valley and made reservations at the Mountain Room Broiler. I choked down a whole slab of rare prime rib. Back at camp 4 I think I managed to keep most of the people up all night with my pitiful moans and sounds of wretching. I have never felt so much pain as that given me by my insensed and tortured stomach as it tried to cope. By dawn the pain had subsided and I was able to uncurl out the fetal position. I made it down to camp curry for BACON and eggs just before they closed breakfast.