Bug

Dude. That was me with a new batch of mounties.

Is the ridge below Schurman clear of snow? Enough to bivy on dry ground?

Yes. It is stained by iodine tablets. I'll bring it to the barbQ tonight. 8ish

IMPEACH BUSH!!!!! I'll be late. See you there.

It does if you have a #4 and a #5 Camalot . And with respect to bailing. I don't think you want to have to bail off of any of those long Dragontail climbs. You'd need to do a ton of downclimbing or a ton of rap webbing. I guess Backbone is more a committment in that respect because it's got two actual climbing sections (OW and a pitch or two after it) then the Fin. So you might get by the first but get stopped by the Fin and bailing from that far up would be bad news. On the Serpentine Arete you've only got one section of truly technical rock, right in the middle. So if you get by that section you might as well just go to the top as go down. All pretty true. When I think of "bailing" on a face that big, I think of finding the easiest way up. Especially since the walk-off can be done in the dark (with headlamps). In terms of bailing up, the ledges that cross the fin are easy and fast 3rd or 4th class. From the ledges you go up a 5.5 corner. There is a 5.6 traverse with a pin. Then follow the ledge to a 5.7 crack.Then you skirt around left to the ridge. But if you have any time left, do the Fin. It's a little scary for new 5.9 leaders but some of the best air in the enchantments.

You won't have trouble finding an apartment right now. It's finding a climber who isn't too stoned to climb you need to worry about.

Woops. Make that the 27th-28th.

None of you are capitalists. You are all pinko commie rats! I fart in your wallets.

I'm looking for a partner for the 28th 29th. Light and fast.

OK so as I unsderstand what you said, continue up the Stuart lake trail 5 minutes past the swamp. If that is the case, I did that once but still had some bottomland BW2 between there and the hill up into the basin. Is there a semblence of a trail through there?

What are you flaggin there dude?

Yeah. No shit. Who knows where that trail goes through there anyway?

I would be interested on the 28th, 29th.

You can find your own way all over that mountain. No telling what you will find tho. Serpentine is worth doing once. But I would do the toe route that I mentioned first. Especially if you two are up for the fin instead of the ledges below the fin. Either way is pretty cool. At that level on Serpentine, you've been doing simul-climbing for several pitches and have a few more to go - all through slabby and sloping ledges with loose blocks abounding. N ridge of Stuart is also better (in my opinion). Again, if you are leading 5.9 comfortably, do the gendarme. It is really cool. The gully is OK but just more alpine 3rd & 4th class.

Serpintine has 4 good pitches. The rest are medeocre. What level do you want to climb at? If Serpintine is at your highest level, Connect the routes up the center face from the lowest part of the toe to the ledges on the fin (look in the brown Becky guide). That goes at 5.7 with lots of clean pitches (20+). If Serpintine is right in the middle of your range, do the Fin. Routes criss cross all over that face, but most people do the Backbone Ridge route when they do the fin (5.9). After that, do the Balance rock route (5.10-5.11). Or push on and do the South Face of Prussik (5.9).

1 quart. Size matters. Wide mouth is prefered. Don't spill.

No mule carries load, My pack weighed heavy with wine, I lay as beached whale.

It was father's day so I "climbed" to Barclay lake with my little fire starters. They got one going. I polished off a bottle of red. We took the beach condo with a view of the north face of Mt. Baring. There was not much else to mention except that I got a box of malted milk balls as a present. I had my 10x25's and spent hours scoping potential routes. There are none. The mountain is choss.

Is that a bi, swingin' climber thing? I am SO out of touch... Woohoo! First pagetop! (Sorry, Klenke! My Bad!) Don't get your hopes up big guy. I'm a little more selective than that.

I once found a summit register on the side of a mountain. We were about a thousand feet below the summit at the base of a wall. We signed it and threw it in a crevasse. Now that's archiving.

You are correct Stephan. That is also my point. Its usually not the technigue (SP?) used, but those using it. But I do agree with him that the example of the six tied together on Lib-ridge is not safe, and that the "I'll belay you up" while he simply coiled rope withoput any actual belay is a totally unsafe and crazy way to do it. I bet he hit it on idiot day. I agree. The K2 arrest involved two separate ropes of three with one in a makeshift stretcher. The arrest was made by driving his ax shaft into a crack in a rock, not snow or ice. Very specific details involving very intensely experienced climbers.

I have done it three ways. Up Mountaineer crk day1. Up and over and out Ingalls day2. OK but need a shuttle. Up Mountaineer crk day1. Bivy above gulley day 2. Around Sherpa pass and back up mountaineer and all the way out. day3. This way really sucks. Especially with a slow partner. Up to Stuart Lk Friday evening. Day 1/2. Summit, and descend W Ridge couilour and traverse west and back to Stuart lk and out Day2. Long day 2 could be broken up obviously. I prefer the Stuart lk approach because the trail is obvious and can be hiked at night. I prefer the W Ridge descent because it drops you about 3.5 miles from lk Stuart. 2 short raps off the summit block and 3rd & 4th class down the (dry) gulley. The only hard work involved is traversing from stuart pass to Jack ridge.

I am an east sider and I think it is obvious that more people will show up if it is at Magnuson. Last time we had a "gear swap" at Marymoor, three people showed up. Magnuson Thursday, 6/12. Bring a dead cow.