KeithKSchultz

I was there for the first time so I didn't pay for any beer. How long do I get that? It was good to see some of the faces I wondered about. Hopefully we'll meet on the rock and you can buy me more beer. That was great!

Alpine on Snow creek wall? OK. Orbit and OuterSpace were good but I really liked MaryJane Dihedral. It reminded me of the South Face of Flathead. My all time favorite is the combination of routes that take you from the very bottom of the west face of Dragontail to the very top. You can do the ledge traverse if your partner is dragging or the fin if you are cruisin. Either way, you get 2200 ft of climbing in. North Ridge of Stuart is good too. I've never understood the draw to Serpentine Arete. But South face of Prussick is way up there. From there I go back to Montana again and for that tour you'll need more time.

Dear boys and girls from Never Never Land. The boogie man does exist. He will destroy Castleton Tower if there is a profit involved. If you think you are going to stop the boogieman by holding bake sales and gathering a bunch of hippies on the street yelling reeeeeaaaaaallyy cool slogans then you are a dumbshit and Castlteton tower is doomed. It will be by political force that Castleton tower is saved. In other words, money talks. If everyone who has posted on this site were every ecohippie in the world then what percentage of ecohippies vote? Send letters to Congress? Are politically active in any piddlyass way? My guess is that it is a pretty pathetic percentage. Without the money eco groups get from dastardly corporations like North Face and Patagonia, the public who actually vote and actually get involved in political movements would probably never hear about the political movements in the first place. Pop quiz: Who represents you in congress? (Hint; Senator xxx, Congress person xxx).

Seems like everytime I climbed at Pinnacles I came home with pockets full of choss. For an extra hour of driving you could be in the valley. I guess if you live in the southern end of the Bay Area it would be better. I lived in beautiful downtown San Mateao and really prefferred driving to the paradise of granite. I can't imagine going to Pinnacles over Yosemite if you live anywhere on the east side of the Bay.

afabcaae

Hi Nadia. If you are not running for your life, send me a PM. I have been trad climbing for many years and would be happy to go out for an afternoon or two. I have all the gear and have taught lots of people. My focus is on having fun and being safe.

Yeah. Nice weather until Friday night. A lenticular formed about 9PM and was followed by a little snow. Not bad up to 11000 but it would have been white out conditions above. There was probably some serious cross loading above the chute. But I saw it all from below so I don't know jack.

How deep are the crevasses? Do you want to fall that far? Definately rope up on a glacier.

hmmmmmmmm. If you are not clipped in while belaying me, I will drag your skinny butt UP the rock at a high rate of speed. If you are not wearing a helmet, your head will get smashed on something and you will die and I will fall to the ground or at least to the end of the rope. This happened to a husband wife team at Smith rock about ten years ago. Both died. If you are wearing a helmet, you will break your neck on some overhang and die and I will etc. etc. This happened to a two man party in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison about 5-9 years ago. The belayer should be clipped in so as not to get jerked into anything uncomfortable. If a dynamic rope (any standard perlon climbing rope) does not provide enough cushion for you (it has always been enough for me), then clip your belayer in with a little slack and make sure you know where he/she is going to end up when they are snapped to the end of their tether. As far as the slack thing goes, you will get it with experience and a patient leader/teacher. Not too much not too little. Feed it out when the leader needs it. Reel it in when the leader backs off. You have to watch the leader constantly to learn his/her movements and patterns at placements. After awhile you will be able to second guess them. Wow. You sound responsible. Will you belay me?

Don't panic! One spring I was fatter than usual and went to Yosemite to work back into shape. I found a guy who lead 5.12 who was looking for a partner. We discussed my disgust and elected to do Angeline or something like that - a 15 pitch 5.8 slab route on the apron. We got up about 5 pitches and the route was a waterfall. There were old rusty 1/4 inch bolts out to the right so we followed those. They got spaced out and into harder climbing where I learned how to deal with "falling" on granite slabs and it should work on just about anything. Keep your head. Keep your balance. Stay in position and beleive that you will stop. Walk your hands down and even your feet if you have have have to. But if you move your feet, your position all of a sudden sucks. We each took some slides. Some for as far as 15 ft. But neither of us ever had to be caught by a rusty old 1/4" bolt. It was a very warm fuzzy feeling of freedom to realize that this could be done. We ended up doing some really hard friction climbing while feeling relaxed. I have a friend who once slid 150' to the ground on a hard slab problem. He hit the ground at a slow walk with a big smile on his face. He had to resole his shoes though. That was almost the first ascent of Pink Poodle Buttress in Roaring Lion Creek in the Bitterroots. We went home to get a bolt kit.

See?

I have an old BD hammer without the hole for $25. Assorted pins for sale $5 apiece. rurps thru angles. Diablos size 11 used once. $35. Forrest ice tool. Straight shaft, two picks-alpine and recurve. $30 Super light Grivel ice ax. Unused (I changed my mind) Aluminum pick. $50. 300 ft of 11mm nylon static line (not perlon). Used for climbing trees. $30. Tree spurs with aluminum shin guards. $40. I will throw in the home made lanyard harness.

Personally, I find rapelling repelling. To put all that trust in a rope some stranger made and then lower yourself over a jagged edge to God only knows where...........What if you fall off the end of the rope? Or your spike thing comes out of the rock? Or my alltime favorite from a nice old lady in a Winnebago parked at the cattle guard below SuperCrack -"There is no climbing here. The rock is too unstable. My Son knows. He reeppels." OK. To be informitive, I use twin 9mm 50m ropes for my serious climbing. Since ropes continue to get stronger I will buy 8.5mm ropes next time. I have a 7mm 60m half rope for soloing on less technical routes such as North Index Spire. I double it for leading short steep sections and for rapelling off. I pack it up and carry it for unroped scrambling. I usually do big walls in alpine settings. This means that I am way up in the mountains where nobody goes so there can be lots of loose rock to fall off and smash one of my ropes. If that happens I cuss and swear at my belay partner for not being quick enough to move the damn thing but we are both still alive as we go our separate ways. I prefer 50m ropes to 60m ropes because they are lighter and there is less rope to pile and sort on ledges. I have never run out of rope with a 50m. Also, the more rope you have, the more pieces of protection you tend to carry. I like to go very light taking 15 or 20 pieces including small wired stoppers. With a 50m rope that is a piece every 10 feet or less. With a 60m rope that is a piece every ten feet or more. When I am about to do moves through a very dificult section I am likely to put in two or three pieces in one place as extra safety and less mind f__k. I know if I fall, there is enough protection at that spot to hang a truck and I have TWO ropes going through that part so there is no way my safety system is going to fail. Unless my belayer is stoned. But that's a different lecture. I'm sure there are a couple of guys on line that can help you with that.

Circa 1985. Two picks - alpine and recurve. 45cm. Hammer (as apposed to adze). $40

I really like mine for climbing. It sticks to my back and is very compressable. This would be a good deal for anyone looking for a climbing/alpine pack.

I bought a Parbat a couple months ago and sent it back. It is sewn through. No baffles. For a little more money you can get a much better coat. I ended up finding a Mountain Hardware sub zero for $250. Just be patient and persistant. This web site is how I found mine. Goose luck.

Yeah. Fall. But make sure your pro is good first. How will you know? Fall on it and live? Hmmmmmm. The chicken or the egg? Or try doing some aiding with your trad gear. Every placement is tested right at your face. Get enough in that something's gotta hold. It isn't glamorous but your alternatives are much more dangerous. Until you are really f%#$ing good at placements your fear is justified. I've seen lots of placements pull. It's almost always a bummer. One guy I was belaying ran out past a piece then got gripped putting in the next one. It wasn't any good and by the time he thought it was, he was too pumped to climb. When he pealed, I reeled. His face ended up about three inches from the dirt. Bad placement. There is no substitute for repetition.

The Expedition pack was made by PCP, a company that went out of business in the late 80's. This was a prototype that was designed for heavy abuse such as rock climbing and military adventures. It is balistics nylon Cordura. The suspension system is similar to Lowe Alpine systems but the belt is detachable so it hugs your hips better. It is both top loading and front loading. There is a separate bottom compartment for sleeping bags etc.

Cordura nylon haul bag. 5500 cu in plus top pocket. Detachable straps and belt. Never hauled. Like brand new. $40. Heavy duty expedition pack. Modular. 6000 down to 3500. Very used but still totally functional. Excellent suspension system for huge loads. Totally resizable. $25.

Years ago I read an article about webbing strengths after sun bleaching etc. They took a bunch of old totally bleached out webbing from anchors in Yosimite and tested it. When it had no cuts or holes it tested out at 50% of it's original strength. I always make sure old webbing is at least doubled. If it is, I'm happy. If you shop at the hardware store, take lots of epoxy to weatherproof anything that might rust.

Got Overflow, need ski gear. Check your PM's

I have the old BD hammer before they put the hole in it. I'll sell it for $40. While you're at, buy some pins too. 1 BD rurp, 1 CMI 21 rurp, 1 peck, 2 KB, 2 LA, 1 baby angle, 3 angles. Some scratches. Nothing major. $7 apiece OBO.

I have the old BD hammer before they put the hole in it. I'll sell it for $40. While you're at, buy some pins too. 1 BD rurp, 1 CMI 21 rurp, 1 peck, 2 KB, 2 LA, 1 baby angle, 3 angles. Some scratches. Nothing major. $7 apiece OBO.

OK. I'll go $6.

This is kind of a different subject but I have a bricklayer hammer that I cut both ends of the head off of. I use it for cleaning those hard to floss wires. It isn't quite heavy enough to sink a pin but I don't use it for that. Sometimes I like to give my stacked wires a little love tap with the help of a stiff cleaning tool. I find that it makes a lot of "clean" pieces just a little bit more family friendly.