Gary_Yngve

A friend of mine's wife was at a corporate picnic for a certain large software corporation and decided to have her first climbing experience be one of the inflated climbing wall they had there. Well, she had no problem climbing up. Then the "belayer" (some 15-year-old minimum-wage punk) told her to lean back to get lowered. The dumbfuck was "belaying" by holding the rope directly, with maybe 50% friction from the TR setup. So he gets rope burns on his hands and LETS GO of the rope, dropping her about ten feet (though onto soft inflated stuff). But the other half of the rope gave her nasty rope burns across her back (they had some weird rigging with a pulley at the base as well). So the jackass wasn't even using a hip-belay. And he let go of the rope. And to make matters worse, he blamed everything on her. No surprise she never wants to try climbing ever again. I tried to explain to her that nothing was her fault and that the asshole deserves to be sodomized with horsecock, but you cannot argue with the pain from bad rope burn... Next time I see one of those inflatable wall setups and I see that their setup is unsafe and they have an incompetent belayer, I'm going to dry tool it...

quote: Originally posted by MATT B: If you where to label someone as experienced, what would you mean? Knows where to secretly cache the beers so we magically find some cold ones on the descent.

quote: Originally posted by two_banana: "Someone postulated on National Public Radio a week or so ago that Lance Armstrong was the greatest athlete in the world. Greatest athlete in the world? I wonder if he’s an athlete at all." http://www.msnbc.com/news/785267.asp?cp1=1 This bozo must be a friend of Ken Schram's. The bozo wrote: "For my money, being the greatest athlete in the world involves strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness and the ability to make your body do things that defy description. " In that case, the greatest athlete ever was Alex Lowe.

quote: Originally posted by dbb: I say buy your big cams as forged friends: #2, 3, 4. As ppl have said, they're light, cheap ($25-35 at MEC) and bomber. Then drop the cash for Metolious or somthing good for the small stuff. Does anyone have any opinions on DMM 4CUs? (They are at Jim's store and are also available for cheap at MEC.)

quote: Originally posted by Lowell Skoog: I'll second the comment about the wind. It was strong all day. I cleared the clouds above 6500 feet after 1pm. The wind was blowing wild looking cloud plumes over Rainier. Willis Wall was covered with spindrift--blowing dirt. Ah, so the clouds cleared up... at about 7000 feet we found some shelter and waited from 9:30 to 10:30 to see if conditions would improve, but no such luck. There was a huge lenticular over Rainier last night. About 3 AM I got a picture of it lit by the moonlight. As someone posted elsewhere, what's up with those meteorologists with the forecast on Sunday? Usually they do better than that.

Mowich Lake Road is open all the way to the lake. Just came back from there; we were about a quarter mile from Echo and Observation and decided not to go further in whiteout and high winds that would not go away. But the flowers are great, and there are no mosquitos yet on the peaks on the western perimeter of Lake Mowich. I used the trip to introduce a friend to alpine scrambling... He started off extremely hesitant about descending a 3rd class gully, but by the end of the trip, he was referring to Spray Park Trail as the Grandma Trail.

quote: Originally posted by Lambone: Any good bivi site recomendations? Thanks If you don't mind camping on snow, Eldorado Basin (6100), the ridge between Eldorado Basin and Rouch Basin (6300) or the ridge between Eldorado Glacier and Inspiration Glacier (7200). There is also a rocky place on the Inspiration Glacier (kinda where you stop traversing and start going up) where some jackasses built somewhat of a rock wall.

quote: Originally posted by Matt: Question for Gary: How bad were the mosquitos? I didn't get bitten up at all. But you know how the mosquitos are -- a new batch might have hatched by the weekend.

quote: Originally posted by Matt: How hard is it to climb Eldorado in a day? It looks reasonable, but Nelson's book makes it sound like a death march. I don't think it would be too bad. We pushed from 2100 to camp at 7200 casually in 7 hours, and the next morning, it was only an hour to summit. Without bag, bivy, pad, stove, pot, doing the remaining 1600 feet the first day would have been no big deal. The main problem is the terrain is kinda hairy. Climbing through the forest (the first 1700 feet or so) in the dark would take longer because of the roots, muddy spots, trying to stay on-trail, etc. Maybe you could start at 7:00 and be at the talus before sunset. The talus isn't actually so bad because after the lower talus field, there is a trail to the right that mostly skirts the rest of the talus. Maybe take the rest of the route at an easy pace to top out around 4 AM? I prefer the two-day version because the sunrise and sunset are so spectacular up there.

quote: Originally posted by enem: has anyone been on eldorado recently ? are there any open crevasses ? how is the river crossing, is the customary large log still in place ? thx in advance A new tree just caved in and bridged the gap. The crevasses on the glacier are just beginning to open up. Things are melting out fast up there. We summitted at 5:45 this morning. The snow was so soft that we didn't use crampons, and we didn't place any pickets because they probably wouldn't have held.

quote: Originally posted by wotan of ballard: Crossing the North Fork of the Cascade River is rather gnarly now. A 3 foot step across from a bare log to the root wall of an overturned huge tree, with the racing waters below. Kind of like the step across from Jello Tower on Castle Rock, reversing the move is more dicey because its balancey. Blow it and your body will be floating past Marblemount before your buddies could drive there. A tight handline or good extension to the log (well secured board) could significantly reduce the risk. Not any more. Yesterday: Today: But I make no guarantees on how long it will last -- the river is high and eroding everything in sight. Oh yeah... the bad thing about the tree falling there: the second half of the tree fell on the trail.

quote: Originally posted by tomrogers: Hello, we are going to climb the NE Ridge of Black Peak this weekend (and the East Facetime permitting). Are there any snow updates or suggestions regarding these routes? Here's a pic of it from last weekend from Cutthroat Pass. Maybe it will help.

quote: Originally posted by forrest_m: ...so it's too much of a pain to figure out who is a motorist making a potty break and who is the scofflaw climber? Nah, those forestry losers would probably give the motorists a ticket and make them prove that their pot[ty] break is not recreational.

quote: Originally posted by thelawgoddess: quote:Originally posted by chris_w: Somebody got hit in the head by a rock on the Carbon Glacier. Ouch! They said on the news that his helmet was shattered by the rock.

quote: Originally posted by sk: Trask, I believe that would be negative style points, as it would detract from the otherwise pleasing display of skin and rock. I have a friend who does some modeling and did a series with a photographer. i have not seen the pics, but imagine they are quite beautiful www.stonenudes.com has calendars and posters of nude rock climbers of both genders

quote: Originally posted by lizard brain: -a picket for running belays -a deadman to anchor your tent -a weapon -a backscratcher -a sex toy[/QB] It's also an active camming device... place it in the crack and then rub...

Sweet! Too bad old, ugly Sieg Hall (where I work) isn't listed in there. I've been eyeing the broad north face of it lately... I've bouldered up to the second floor, going higher is basically repeating the same easy moves over again. (Stem between the two columns, lieback to gain the small overhang, mantle to the next window ledge.) If the windows are open and the window sills are padded, the route can be protected with slings around the columns. I'm still freaking out though about the possibility of the bacon showing up.

I climbed Colchuck a few days ago and ran into two surprises along the way: Are these two bugs doing what I think they are doing? On the summit, there were thousands of ladybugs... you couldn't sit down without crushing one. They weren't anywhere else around -- just the summit. What's with that?

We were at The Tooth Saturday morning. We rolled into the parking lot a little after 7 AM and got to Pineapple Pass where we merged into the middle of a Mountaineers group (who had left the TH around 6 AM). No snow on any of the pitches. There's some snow on the short scramble between the first and second pitch. There's a cute moat in the notch at Pineapple Pass. No snowshoes necessary -- there are nice steps in the snow going all the way up. I had an axe and my partner had poles, and we were each fine. As long as you didn't use the rap trees as anchors while climbing, the climbing went pretty fast. But the the rapping went really slow. Back on the trail, we ran into a pair who had planned to climb The Tooth after the Mounties had left. We told them that they should be gone by then but added that Washington Alpine Club was also there, to which they responded, "Oh no, they're the worst!" All in all, it was a gorgeous day and got a chance to really soak up the views.

Hi all, I'm a new guy here and I want to climb really cool mountains, so I'm taking this really cool course from the Mountaineers. They decided to replace the 10+ essentials with 20+ essentials, because the 10+ essentials are now obsolete with the changing world. Last lecture they outlined the additional essentials. and the reasons for them I don't think they are all necessary, but I was wondering what your opinions are: 11) GPS: The earth's magnetic pole is drifting, and we won't know how to adjust our declination. In fact, the pole may switch from North to South without us knowing! 12) Men/Women signs: So stragglers know which side of the trail to wander off during a party separation. Note: this item may be shared by the group. 13) Ice axe: You never know when you'll have to self-arrest or splint a leg. 14) Helmet: Masking tape with your name on it doesn't stick well on your forehead. 15) Blood pressure cuff. It is important to check the vital signs of a wounded person, such as one who has a sunburn. 16) Extra extra food. 17) Duct tape repair kit. How are you going to repair your duct tape when it breaks? 18) Mountaineer student pin. If you do not wear the pin in a visible location on your climb, you may not get credit for the summit. You may take off the pin only when sleeping or in a crevasse. 19) Really expensive watch with all sorts of fancy features. For maximum effectiveness on trail, it must be bought at REI. 20) Sherpa: To carry all the extra gear.

My mom had a weird knee injury (not from sudden trauma but rather from extended squatting while working in the garden). It left her nearly unable to walk for months as she went through several doctors who had no idea what the hell it was and recommended surgery. She recovered on her own through stretching, exercise, and glucosamine. She's in her fifties now and her knee feels better than ever. I'm not sure if she still uses the gluc, but she still stretches and exercises regularly and did Granite Mountain in 3 hours last summer. This summer she wants to explore the Enchantments.

This summer I did a 72-hour scrambling binge in the Cascades and on two parts of Rainier, from the time that I rented the car to the time I returned it. I was sleep-depped from the start from trying toget ahead on research. I drove about 500 miles,hiked about 50 miles, and had a vertical gain ofabout 15000 feet. I had no problems at all scrambling, but the driving was a royal bitch. It was like every twenty minutes I'd need to pull over andrun some laps around my car and do some pushups. This winter I ended up doing a snowshoe trip after being up for more than 24 hours and had no trouble -- I wasn't the driver.

quote: Originally posted by Jens: Question: Is the Chimney glacier the closest real glacier to Seattle as a CROW flies? It has got be closer than the moutnain loop stuff.I'll be willing to bet yes. There is the Columbia Glacier above Blanca Lake between Monte Cristo, Columbia, and Kyes. It's 15-20 mi NE of Index.

quote: Originally posted by klenke: Okay, here's the joke (irony) of the GAP clothing:No climber-type would shop at The Gap. The Gap's clothing is for wannabe outdoor enthusiasts...or sorority girls looking for just the right type of flashy gear to stand out on campus. Heh, I have never worn Gap until the other day. I found myself stuck in the lab at night during that snowstorm, and I wanted to go outside and peg some frat boys with snowballs, build some snow cocks, standard stuff... I didn't have a jacket, hat, or gloves at the time, so I took a Gap bag I found lying around and poked one of the corners into the other for the instant hat/hood. Kept me quite cozy.

One of the instructors at the Basic field trip on Sunday had his nut tool attached to his harness by a telephone cord.