Gary_Yngve

Ah, that makes sense now... We belayed up to the large ledge and walked around it to belay again... we climbed through your belay on our second pitch:

Where on the corner is this? We did it as three pitches, with the zig-zag flakes as the second pitch. It must be from somewhere on the first pitch? I have absolutely no recollection of it...

Does anyone know any secret tricks for managing ropes better for the low angle slab rappels at the top with bushy crap in the way? We coiled up each rope and tossed them (more like tried to toss them) in separate directions to keep them from getting tangled together. However, given that we could only toss them about thirty feet, the ropes would eventually get tangled up in themselves or a bush or something... Maybe feeding one of the ropes out of a pack would be better? As soon as we got to Westward Ho, things became infinitely better -- the ropes would slide down the slabs because they wouldn't get caught on any crap.

How about suing former US Presidents for their lame foreign policy?

Ah, I'll have to try that way some other time. Going left does have a finger traverse (steeper but shorter) followed by a mantle to a lieback/jam crack up a ramp... around the corner to the tree belay... pretty fun. We swung leads so I followed the second pitch, but I remember it was fun in boots; I found a lot of toe-heel jams that would have been more awkward in rock shoes.

Good job, Dryad! Haha, a silly picture of me from last year: http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/gyngve/gary-past-hand-traverse.jpg Note: roughly the same pro placements the pack the boots the gaiters (there was a lot of snow in early July) However, no polypro under my shorts, so I guess I fail.

I do believe at least one of the plaques was from the WAC.

The rap route you described is from the terrace. How do you get there from the summit? I guess we could have rapped the route that we came up to the summit., and then rapped your way. It certainly sounds nicer. But although I would enjoy doing W Butt to the Terrace again, I'm not in the mood yet to do the summit again. Yeah, she's picking up this stuff amazingly fast. I took her to Index two weeks ago and had her lead a bunch of stuff from 5.6-5.8, and based on that, i felt she was ready for this. She's lead sport for many years and has the engineer's mindset for pro placing, but I'm still impressed how quickly she has picked it up. She even scored a booty orange alien last weekend in Tahquitz!

I couldn't commit to any advance mtn plans this weekend given my workload, etc., but luckily a friend of mine who had started leading trad a few weeks ago was looking for a trip. We soloed up the first two pitches, and then she led the crux pitch, placing gear instead of clipping the bolts. I took the next pitch, belaying at a tree with a few feet of simul-climbing. She took the final pitch to the terraces. From there, we traversed left on the ledges, a little down, and around a corner where we started up for the summit. I took the first pitch out a full ropelength, only to be forty feet above my last piece and out of rope... downclimbed some and built a mediocre anchor with some pieces in a small crack and behind a questionable block. WIth a good stance, I belayed her up, and about sixty feet below me, she was able to traverse to a tree to set up a happier anchor. I then led up from there for a full ropelength, placing only one other piece... a pink tricam in a shallow slot. Pro certainly is crappy up there. A short bushwhack uphill took us to the summit. Descent was a real hassle... couldn't toss ropes far on the upper rappels, and they had a knack for getting tangled in themselves or nearby brush. Did a double rope rap off a tree and ended up, out of rope, about 20 feet above the Westward Ho anchors... grrr... another few silly antics on the way down and we were back at the packs. Walk down sidewalk was uneventful -- we wore our rockshoes, given the poorer traction with our old sneakers that we used going up.

The dude fell after being stuck in the cave for two days. http://www.nps.gov/grte/news/2003/03-55.pdf

Is it smoky up in Darrington now?

Are there any parts of the Cascades that are smoke-free? My parents are coming into town in a couple days, and I want to take them somewhere... thinking about besieging S Ridge of Ingalls. It's especially important that I find a smoke-free place; otherwise my Jewish mom will complain incessantly and make me feel guilty for making her nose act up.

nah, just lots of people hating work... (i've been working all weekend and need to work until tues 3pm)

LUMMOX makes no point, lummox idiot.. i go climb ERD now, goodbye What's ERD?

more random pics: http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/gyngve/Darrington/

Yep, first is Zig-Zag Flakes on NW Corner of NEWS. Second is the 5.9 fingercrack variation on SEWS SW Rib. The fingercrack plus slabs takes you to the bearhug. I thought it was a little stout for 5.9. The nice thing about climbing as a group of 3 is you always have a designated photographer.

Woohoo, I just lost 12 hours from debugging because of a floating point roundoff error. And now I'm waiting for some tests to finish... So here are some pics:

I'd have to disagree on being a moron to go up O-Rock... it has nice views from the Carbon Glacier to Mowich Face. And the classic view of the toilet bowl.

In August (especially back then), the N Face of O-Rock is still pretty snowy. By October it can be bulletproof ice. It's about 400 vertical feet, steepening towards the top to about 60 degrees. The ice slope doesn't go up to the true summit. It levels off, and then it's a few hundred feet of scree scrambling to get to the summit. [edit] Am I a kool kat now?

Nice! I climbed the route a few weeks ago and enjoyed it as well. On some of the pitches you have to be a little careful routefinding to avoid the granola granite. I remember there being a lot of loose stuff on the approach up Bong... I wasn't so worried about falling as I was worried about kicking rocks on the people below me (we were a party of four). The route does give you tremendous position on a steep face:

well, so much for moping about jobs... the topic of conversation quickly changed to mountains

June I did one 2-day trip. July I did one 2-day trip. August I did one 2-day trip and one 4-day trip. I don't expect to be able to even go out every weekend. All I know is that it seems like I am sacrificing my entire life outside of research and my advisor still is not satisfied. From having talked with several people since yesterday, I've come to realize several things: Many other people have had issues with my advisor. We have fundamental communication barriers. He'll be optimistic and say that I can get X done by Y time. I'll think he's crazy. I'll be realistic and say it's not possible to get W done by Z time. He'll think I'm fatalistic. He gets offended when I speak of work in terms of hours. He thinks I should be so passionate about my work that hours don't matter. I want him to appreciate and respect the sacrifices I make to put in long hours. My advisor is not known for his ability to be supportive and encouraging.

This one thing that I don't understand about America. It seems that if you are a lawyer, doctor, professor, etc., you get paid a lot, but you are expected to put in >60 hrs a week. It seems my ideal job would be to work 30 hrs a week and get half the pay (or even a third the pay). But those jobs don't exist. Am I the only one who would appreciate a job like that? How come they don't exist?

A friend of mine got a bonus the other day worth more than my annual stipend. That was news I really did not want to hear.

Explain to him that you were brought up in a repressive environment and don't openly express love. You are terribly passionate about your project even though you don't appear to be. Then show him your prescription for anti-depressants. That's actually half-true... I'm not very open with my emotions.