JayB

I'm largely in agreement with Dru, but also think that anyone ripping on TR's should keep their own talents in mind before criticizing those produced by others. This is especially true for folks that can't seem to produce a coherent sentence, average little better than a fifty percent success rate when attempting to spell "the" correctly, and still can't seem to get the hang of that tricky subject--->verb---->noun convention.

I've got a pair that I'd sell for $20 shipped, not because I think that they are worth that much but because anything less isn't worth the effort to make the trip to the post office.

Back when I was young people who made such statements about the cowardice of others were not afraid to use their real names while doing so. Golden Age indeed. If it weren't for the juvenile language and obscene images of perverted toads one encounters on this site, I could probably post from my workplace using my real name and not feel embarassed about it. Whatever. You can post from libraries, kiosks, friend's computers, etc, etc, etc and even then it's not like you'd have to re-register to disclose your true identity. All it takes is typing "my name is________." Strange posture coming from the apostle of boldness.

Back when I was young people who made such statements about the cowardice of others were not afraid to use their real names while doing so. Golden Age indeed.

Source?

Yes, tell me about class.

GK/CPB's Comments "Alpine climbing starts with good sport climbing background. Hey champ, if you can’t hang on to a 5.10 or a 5.11 clip up at the crag, how can you hang-on on vertical mixed pitch? How fast can you send 5.11 or 12, have you ever done 5.13, how about 14? Sport climbing builds strength, strength gives confidence, confidence gives speed and speed IS safety. I don’t say you’ll be able to start cranking hard alpine routes right away, but it is the necessary step every climber has to take. "

Sport climbing provides a means of developing strength and technique that top climbers use to send trad/alpine lines that would have been beyond them otherwise, for one thing - I think that Polish Bob had a good rant about this a while back - besides being a legitimate pursuit in its own right.

If you really are all about wild adventure lines, bold-leads with sketchy pro, etc, etc, etc - crowds will not deter you from such pursuits no matter how many people there are out there calling themselves climbers. If this is what you were actually up to these days, then I doubt you'd be so upset by the line-ups at the popular roadside crags.

I was not serious - just hoping to aggravate you by pretending to misunderstand/misrepresent what you have been saying. I have understood your point all along. But as long as I am messing with you... MATTP WANTS TO KILL NEWBIE CLIMBERS BY ENCOURAGING THEM TO BUILD SKETCHY ANCHORS WHILE WEARING ALL COTTON UNITARDS IN SNOWSTORMS AND HEAD UP RANIER WITH DIME-STORE TARPS AS THEIR PRIMARY SHELTER WHILE DOWN-SOLOING LIBERTY RIDGE WITH ONE BAMBOO SHAFT TOOL AND 10-POINT CRAMPONS. MATTP IS A FALSE PROPHET OF THE OLD SCHOOL WHO MUST BE SILENCED BEFORE HE COMMITS FURTHER HERESY AND ENDANDGERS UNTOLD NUMBERS OF NEWBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, in summary, what you are saying Matt is that it is not important for beginning trad leaders to learn how to construct solid anchors.

I personally think that it's high time that we extended the parameters of this debate to include the relative merits of and technique relating to the proper use of frozen moss as protection for the leader and in anchor construction. The root structure of some species of moss is known to be more diffuse and fibrous than others, and hence more resistant to fracture under dynamic loading when frozen, while others have a more mat-like root structure which provides greater density for pick placements on lead. One cannot overstimate the importance of knowing one's moss IMO, and it should be noted that both F.O.T.H. and the Mountaineers Advanced course stress the importance of girth hitching at least two distinct species at the belay anchor when possible for maximum safety.

Sweet. From Shuksan it looked like every drainage point beneath a glacier or snowfield on Baker was frozen solid. Post some pics if you have any.

Jesus. How terrible. I was inspired and humbled every time that I looked at his site, admired the way he lived his life, and amazed by the way he excelled at whatever he chose to do. I never met him, but this makes me very, very sad and I truly feel for those that he left behind. What a horrible loss.

Posted some more photos of the route in the Ice gallery.... Looking up at the first mixed pitch Paco leading the mixed pitch Paco manning the first belay atop P1 Paco heading up to the anchor atop P2

Check Paco's TR in the Ice Conditions forum for more details. He's far too modest to toot his own horn, but his lead up the mixed section was the boldest I have ever personally witnessed, let alone followed. After following the pitch and arriving at the belay I am not sure which was worse - looking at the anchor and moving towards the ice - or having Snoop Dogg and Warren G's "I'm Fly" stuck in my head....

Nice. Photos?

Looks like Kennedy Hot springs got covered by a debris flow during Le Deluge.Link

Classy.

Sweet early season weather-window, no holliday-plan conflicts to work around, and (surprise) no one's talking about their plans for the weekend for fear of generating the giga-gaper infestation on their chosen line. Use this thread to: 1. Talk about your secret line on Monday once the weather window has closed. 2. Vote for The Line Most Likely to Be Seiged by the Multi-Man Megacluster. (My votes: 1. The North Face of Hood. Hands down favorite. 2. NW Couloir on Eldo - a close second with a minumum of seven parties on it by noon on Saturday). 3. Any ice near the Coleman Glacier on Baker.) 3. Avenge past slights or poached lines of the past by making up avatars to disclose your enemy's secret project to the lurking hordes and watch as they descend upon it with lemmingesque abandon.

Just finished "Among the Believers" by V.S. Naipul - his tour through Iran, Pakistan, and Indondesia in the months just following the Iranian revolution. Waiting for "Anti-Americanism" by Jean Francois Revel - currently a best-seller in France and Josephson's guide to ice in the GWN.

Seems like some of the stuff in MRNP might be worth looking into this weekend as well.

Omega Pacific JC's are light (35g), cheap, and seem to work pretty well. I think you can get a 10 pack for around $60 at www.linkupgear.com

I was checking out the bulletin board outside of Feathered Friends today looking to see if anyone was selling some of the gear that I need for cheap, and overheard two guys talking about these lines in rather giddy (yet hushed) tones - until they realized that I was eavesdropping - at which point they shot me an annoyed look and took off. I didn't catch everything that they said - in part because on of the guys had a fairly thick accent that I couldn't quite make out (Czech?) but the guy doing most of the talking mentioned something about crossing private property so you might want to keep that in mind if you decide to check this area out. It also sounded as though they were saying that these flows are fed from seeps that result from a leak in an underground pipe of some sort that may have cracked during the recent cold snap, rather than a natural spring or runoff - so this flow might be a onetime thing as any pipe leaking that much water will likely be fixed by the time the next cold front rolls in. From what I gathered these guys were trying to keep this area under wraps so that the could keep it for themselves an their friends, so you might not get the warmest response if you crash their little "secret" stash of ice anytime soon. Sounds like the ice itself is on public property though, so they have no business hoarding it or pretending like they own it IMO.

Guess that depends on how you define in - looks a bit thin for my taste. Many thanks for sharing the photos.