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telemarker

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Everything posted by telemarker

  1. Just wondering if muir snowfield was too suncupped to bother taking my skis along on weekend climb for ski back to the car. If anyone has any info, I'd much preciate it.
  2. I have a question that needs a more detailed answer: When a route description calls for a small rack, what does this mean in terms of cams (assuming camalots), nuts, etc...? Also, the same question for medium and large. Does a small rack consist roughly of one set of camalots-.5 to 3-plus one set of nuts and a set of hexes-5 to 9-? Or is rack size strictly subjective to the climber's comfort level on runouts vs. sewing it up?
  3. A buddy and I are going up St. Helens on Saturday,5-10, conditions look great, lotsa sun, good turns. Anyone interested in going, let me know-PM me, leaving from Marblemount parking area around 8am. I go every year, be happy to accommodate anyone who hasn't gone.
  4. I was jogging up the Icicle the other day and noticed a tiered system that I later learned was memorial buttress. I'd be interested to know of some of the routes up higher, although I respect that it's still an "adventure area." Just curious about how the climbing was up higher, nothing specific, just generally...
  5. Retro, It's bolted now, actually. Leave your #3 Crescent wrench at home.
  6. Retro, you bet after work Tues., but I'm in Seattle all week next week, but the Tuesday following...The o/w on meatgrinder takes a great left kneebar/jam that lets me get my left handjam higher and it's all good after that. I do it as combo handjam-lieback. I wanted to lead that bolted climb by dogleg too.
  7. Anyone ever climb meat grinder at alphabet rock? I led it for the first time last night, after top roping a few times last week. Great climb, in a great setting. The off width/flaring pod is a kick. Now, it'd be fun to lead Z-crack, but I don't think I want to commit yet to a dyno to fingerlock opening move.
  8. Yeah,, you're right about that. Would love to live in Leavenworth, but wouldn't like the 5 day-a-week commute, 50 mile daily roundtrip to Wesnatchee. I'm still new to the climbing game, so at least what I can hike to to avoid crowds, probably some other mob has already read about it and walked there too, trying to avoid other mobs. I'll learn soon enough, just like I've found my own B/C skiing locales where no one else would go.
  9. Pretty soon, "after work" starts at 4.30, then 4, then 3.30...it snowballs.
  10. Just enough time after work to lead that 5.9 climb just to right of flakefest on Trundle Dome. Friend and I made a couple laps just as it was getting dark. Trundle is a great area. Living in Wenatchee has its advantages...midweek in Icicle is the way to go. Fridays and Saturdays are bad, very, very bad.
  11. Ouch! Crusty skier!? Damn, you haven't seen my new telemark/alpine setup. I'll admit, I lock the heels to lay it out most the time. I have a homemade binding that lets me lock the heel if I wish, or tele, with just the flip of a switch. It works quite well and adds only a little extra weight. Wait, this is a cams thread...sorry.
  12. Okay, Matt, thanks for the suggestion. I'll get the .5 and the 3 camalot to round out the cam situation. Thanks for all the info. Downhill: Watch the eastside slams, eh? We're kinda unpredictable here in Wenatchee.....
  13. Yeah, that bonehead is nuts, eh? Oh, and the other piece of gear on his rack I forgot to mention was the crescent wrench!
  14. Thanks for the info. Of course, they're heavy so doubling up on them may not be the best option? Or does their range make up for all the xtra friends you'd carry? Matter of style, I guess. I've climbed with a guy whose rack consisted of 17 cams, all mismatched because 16 of them were what he's found over the years. Come to think of it, paying retail sucks shit. John
  15. Okay, if you had Camalots numbers .75 thru 3.5, and had the opportunity to double up on a couple cams, which would you choose? We're talking about gear climbs mostly in the Icicle.
  16. Oh, thanks for the info. I just assumed the last climber who climbed the route left all his/her qd's on the bolts, if nothing more than a gesture of courtesy and good will for the next party on the route.....
  17. Watching sport climbing videos I'm always struck with the same question...How does the climber pre-place their draws on such overhanging routes? Probably obvious to most, but not to me. Just wondering...
  18. Had a nice, isolated day on Rock Mtn. Conditions near hiway 2 were slush, but easy skinning. Up top, under the cornice, about foot and a half of powder. It's always great to ski powder and corn in the same day. Temps felt above freezing all day, but felt like 80F with the sun radiating off the baking snow. Some excellent spring skiing! Corn snow is washington's true asset.
  19. Geez, I don't know. They're not of the bootleg variety, for sure. They're from Pal Productions in Seattle. I have never seen them there before in any store. Here's the info. from the tape itself: Outdoor Adventure VideotapesDivision of Pal Productions Inc.511 Second West, Seatle, 98119206-282-2025 Good luck. I'd be surprised if this place still existed.
  20. Just got done watching the old Steve Marts videos his sister lent me. Speaking of accidents, one video is of Wickwire, Al Givler and Jagerskey making a first ascent in the Fairweather Range, with Givler and Jagerskey sliding to their deaths on the descent. It doesn't actually show them falling, but the narrator explains what happens, and is no less heart wrenching. Other video is of the '82 and '84 Chinese/American ascent of Everest, when in '82 Marty Hoey falls out of her harness. Watching the video, you can easily see she didn't double back through the buckle. The '84 footage is of Ershler summiting. Good footage of a struggling Roskelley giving all he has. Yet another video is of the first American attempt at the north ridge of K-2. Awesome footage on all the videos, if you can make it through the funky 70's acid-trip music. Just wondering if anyone else has these videos collecting dust somewhere.
  21. If you want a tour that has minimum effort for maximum payoffs, this is it. Skinned to the top of Arrowhead today, just east of Jim Hill. Even though the snow conditions were variable between windscoured crust to 4" of pow, the true point of the tour was the 360 view from the summit. Rainier was visible, Rock Mtn. and other Nason Ridge summits. Sloan to the west. Hinman and Daniels. But most impressive of all are the Chiwaukums. There is so much touring to be had back there. It felt like spring, warm and sunny, and no one else around for such a popular summit. Maybe it has something to do with being the middle of the work week? Sitting at the summit I made a promise to never get stuck in a cubicle again.
  22. Earlier in the week, a friend, his sled, and myself explored area around the end of the Icicle Road. There is some really awesome skiing to be had up there. Luckily, a better than average snowpack (just barely) made a direct descent from 6600 ridge possible. It's a grunt getting up there, steep bushwack, swear-like-a-drunken-sailor type approach. However, to be standing on top of the ridge just northwest of Stuart, looking north to Mt. Baker and spying a 3,500 foot descent on excellent pow, makes the ascent more than worth it. Why are all the best tours such a bitch to get to?
  23. Sure, I've been back to Earl, Ingalls, Longs Pass, Stuart. I guess I should've been more specific by saying right off the hiway near the pass. A couple times I've stopped the car and just started skinning a few miles north from the summit of Blewitt and found some nice glades and bowls w/o the use of sleds. Decent skiing with no one around. Low elevation and farther east can be a problem. But hit just right, very pleasant. Not amazing, but pleasant.
  24. I don't think anyone ever posts on this page, so my weekend should change that. Myself and Larry the Rabi skied the east side of Diamond peak. Anyone ever spend time in the Blewitt pass area? There really are some underrated descents there. Not a ton of vert but that just makes for some cool yo-yo skiing. Quick and easy access.
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