JayB

Great Stuff

Cool. It'd be interesting to hear more information from the unnamed NW legend such about the rock. In the Beckey guide the average grade of the slabs looks moderate enough to be sub-5th, but it's hard to tell much from a single photo. Here's another look at the slabs that I'm linking from some dude's site: The ridgeline on the right looks like it would make for a decent route if the rock wasn't crap.

Went back to Darrington to hit Silent Running with another partner. A late start, looming darkness, and a haze of mosquitos convinced us to bail below the 10b pitch on Silent Running, thereby falling short of achieving the coveted Total Soul/Silent Runing difecta (mondance: ) which is only achieved by 94% of the parties that attempt it. It was well worth coming back - I think that the last pitch on Silent Running may have been my favorite out of the two climbs. Great day to be out.

Awesome

Has there ever been an ascent of the long slabs up Bear's Breast that rise out of Shovel Creek Basin? I didn't see any mention of one in the Becky Guide.

When I was there last weekend it seemed like the sun was off of 3:00 rock by early afternoon. I was wondering if this had something to do with the name... I will most likely be there tomorrow myself to investigate the matter further.

"Oh... I've also been working hard to get Washington people to support local farms and local food- making sure farmers can continue their way of life and that local folks have access to safe, healthy food." Serious question. Exactly how are you promoting these objectives?

How about renting it out for cheap to people who agree to use it to scope out new ice-climbing areas...so long as they swear to share the finds they uncover with it.

Singles in hand sizes in the best cams that you can afford. Double your coverage in hand sizes with hexes. Cover the rest with 1-2 sets of nuts, and add some tricams in the sizes between hands and fingers for a bonus.

Word. I've crashed there in my canopy a few times with no hassle, and on the last trip one of the guys even slept under the truck. We usually arrive late and leave early so that may help.

So are you the guy on the right or the left?

It would be interesting to compare the basic stats on professional rugby players versus the atheletes in the NFL. The rugby players are definitely good at what they do, but I wonder how they would stack up against 300 pound offensive linemen that bench 500+ and run a sub 5.0 40. The other thing that I always here from commonwealth folk is that their sports, whether A.R. Football or Rugby, is that they are tougher because they don't wear pads. I think the first year that no one was killed playing football in the US was 1992, and I wonder how the fatality/paralysis figures stack up vis-a-vis rugby. I always figured that the sports that require pads are the tougher ones. You see hockey players wearing pads but not figure skaters or ice-dancers.

The two pitches top out in the mid 50 degree range, and the total length of the pitches probably 350 to 500 feet (roughly two ropelengths). It all depends on your comfort level, but I suspect that the average party will be fine with 2-4 pickets and a couple of ice screws per team, and a third tool to accompany the standard ice axe. This should cover you in just about any conditions that you will run into, and most likely be overkill a good percentage of the time as the chute often has steps kicked into it the whole way up, and the conditions are usually a far cry from alpine ice. Even if were to run into blue ice the gear I suggested would probably be a bit on the light side unless your party is composed of reasonably proficient ice climbers.

First or second weekend in October in Icicle would be cool. My niece and nephew are old enough to go now and I'd like to take them climbing with other kids.

I'm sure she'll find a way to cope...but the spectacle of a bunch of single climbers - quite possibly one of the loneliest demographics outside of prisoners and trekkies - spouting off about how their standards are such that they would never even give a chick like that a second look, when in fact most of them would be stuttering and sporting wood if she so much as batted an eyelash at them is too much to take without calling it for what it is.

I made sure that the Toyota I bought was made in Japan... One of the other things you might want to take a quick look at on a truck of that vintage - same year as mine but mine's the V6 are the boots on the axles up front and the integrity of the ball joints. I think there's an outfit that will look up the vehicles history and have a mechanic come out and do a full eval for $100.

I don't think she'd get kicked out of your dorm room if she showed up Paul... I've seen this too many times - guys spouting off about how "that Heidi Klum is just way too primped for my tastes" or some other BS - and its usually to show off their sensitive, real, deep side that allows them to see beyond the exterior and appreciate a woman's inner beauty to the chick that's sitting next to them, who is 1/50th as hot as the woman they are dissing, who they are nonetheless attracted to mostly on the basis of their looks since they just met like 5 minutes ago.

I have heard this thing before, but when guys get a chance to walk the talk with a chick like this the truth comes out. Especially if we are talking climbers, who have been known to swoon over chicks in Chumstick after a long weekend in the woods. Bottom line is if she's snuggling up to you at a campfire there'll be no quibbles about the face. Most dudes that post on this site would be doing cartwheels all the way back to the tent.

I manged to teach a SO how to ski this winter and it turned out to be a net plus in the relationship, but the slopes are littered with the remains of many couples who never quite made it. I never thought it would be possible, and still would absolutely advice anyone who is thinking of doing so to reconsider. Much better to give the college kid $50, take the pain, and save the relationship IMO.

The bottom line is that if she gave 99.9999999999% of the single guys on this site a second look they'd be whupped for life. End of story.

Last Installment...

Also - Spliffy - this is a very new group - the idea is only a couple of months old and this will be the first public meeting - so that is probably why you haven't heard of it. My sense is that the WCC is/will be an independent entity that will work with/make use of the site to further its objectives. From what I understand, some of the people involved in setting this up are frequent contributors to the site, some are not. The impetus for forming this group came from a very recent threat to climbing access in this state, the nature of which prompted a number of people to conclude that climbers needed to form an effective lobby of their own to work with land management agencies, etc. Anyone directly involved with the WCC should feel free to chime in and correct this info if I am off base though.

Hey Michelle: Will this be an informal "open mic" sort of a meeting, or will there a specific agenda? I plan to attend in any event, but if there will be specific issues on the table it would be helpful to get a sense of what they are so we can think about them a bit in advance and provide more constructive input.

I think that your ratio is still a bit skewed towards the optimistic side. But hey - at least its skewed in your favor if you do find someone you like. If you are a guy trying to find a compatible climbing/life partner while climbing, I have a piece of advice for you. Kill yourself.