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pindude

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Everything posted by pindude

  1. Remember to cinch that cord REAL TIGHT.
  2. You got it, Sobo. Right, actually Idaho Rock, even though the furthest south it covers is Laclede, several miles north of Spokane and CDA. I see it's available at Amazon: quite a few cheap used books plus a couple new, by one seller, at about its original price.
  3. Great TR and photos punk rocker, and way to get on some of the better routes on Chimney. Like punk rocker says, quickest access is from the west side via Priest Lake. From the Priest Lk East Side Road, take the Hunt Creek and Horton Ridge Roads, with the last half-mile of road requiring 4WD and high clearance. Parking & car camping is at the old Horton Ridge Lookout location. The east side access via the Pack River Road is a longer drive and longer hike in, although is at least as aesthetic. I don't recommend the access from the north via Indian Creek unless you like to spend all your time bushwhacking. Current book for routes is Thad Laird's Climber's Guide to North Idaho. As far as his Chimney route info goes, almost all is taken from Randall Green's out-of-print North Idaho Rock, which many still consider a better guide for Chimney, if you can find it.
  4. I wanted to try, too, but haven't pursued it since a good friend, also a climber, died 6 years ago about the Fourth of July in an accident during the US paragliding nationals out of Chelan. Several other friends, also climbers, paraglide and love it. Another source for info including instructors is the USHPA: http://www.ushpa.aero/instructors_map.asp It's a great sport, and I'm not sure if the risks are any greater than what we take in our various types of climbing. It certainly complements climbing well. Best wishes, Bill, on your pursuit of it. You too, Sobo and OMB!
  5. Hey, real climbers know it's spelled Beckey. And if you want to up the fun factor, bring your skis/board.
  6. Beautiful climb indeed. RIP Mike and Mark; condolences to all. From the Billings Gazette : Ice-climbers die in Yellowstone: 'Just great individuals' Two Bozeman men in their late 20s were killed this weekend in Yellowstone National Park while climbing a frozen waterfall below the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. Park officials did not release the names of the victims, but they were identified by Steve Langlas, who had employed both men, as Mike Kellch, 29, and Mark Ehrich, 28. Langlas, of the construction company Langlas and Associates, said Kellch and Ehrich were childhood friends in Casper and were living together in Bozeman. Yellowstone National Park spokesman Al Nash said one of the bodies had been recovered about noon on Tuesday, but deteriorating conditions forced suspension of efforts to recover the second body. He said rescue crews hope to complete the recovery Wednesday morning. A search for the two men began Monday afternoon, after a friend contacted park officials and said the two men had not returned from a weekend outing. Nash said the men were ice-climbing Silver Cord Cascade, a steep, narrow series of waterfalls that drops nearly 1,000 from the south rim of the canyon to the valley floor. Silver Cord Cascade is about three miles downstream of the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone. Joe Josephson of Livingston, who has climbed Silver Cord and has written a book about ice-climbing in southern Montana and northern Wyoming, said climbers ski to the site from Artist’s Point, rappel down and then climb back up. Generally speaking, it’s not considered all that difficult a climb, he said, but “it’s quite spectacular.” A press release from the park said a technical rescue team rappelled into the canyon Monday night and spotted the bodies of both men lying on a rock ledge about 300 feet below the canyon rim. Rescuers said it appeared that the ice column the men were ascending had collapsed. The Yellowstone rescue team of about 20 people was assisted by three climbing rangers from Grand Teton National Park and a helicopter provided by a private contractor. Nash said the elevation of the canyon rims is about 7,800 feet, and though it is still quite cold there, the ice on Silver Cord Cascade was getting “rotten” in the afternoon, which was one reason recovery efforts were suspended Tuesday. It had been snowing off and on for several days, Nash said, and there had been temporary road closures in the park because of the snow. A low cloud ceiling also made it difficult to use the helicopter. Langlas said Kellch started working for his construction company in Bozeman in 2001 and graduated from the Montana State University engineering program in 2005. After a year in Alaska, Kellch returned to work for Langlas as a field engineer and superintendent. At just 26, Kellch was the field engineer on the construction of the Dehler Park baseball stadium in Billings. Langlas described him as a dedicated, hard-working young man, “our top draft choice, so to speak, in the last eight years.” “He was a real star in the construction business,” Langlas said. “He was really something else.” After a recent three-week climbing trip to Alaska, Kellch had just returned to start work on a school construction project in Ennis. It was his work mates on that project who reported his absence on Monday, Langlas said. Ehrich also worked for Langlas, from 2002 to 2006, when he quit and went back to school in Bozeman. Langlas’ nephew, Bill Langlas, gathered Tuesday with a few friends of both men at their residence in Bozeman. He said they were “just great individuals, the nicest guys you’d meet.” He said they were also experienced ice-climbers. “They must have had some bad luck, because they’re both definitely trained,” he said. Nash said the last fatality in Yellowstone occurred on Sept. 10, 2009, when a woman drowned in the Bechler River in the southwest corner of the park. Josephson said he climbed Silver Cord Cascade six years ago with a friend of his, a Yellowstone National Park ranger. He said the climb would probably be considered intermediate in terms of difficulty, but ice conditions can change so quickly that it’s hard to say what the difficulty is from day to day. Silver Cord would be frozen nearly solid in mid-winter, Josephson said, but from March on, the flow of water beneath the ice grows steadily and can make climbing conditions dangerous. Hiking and climbing in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are prohibited from the brink of the Upper Falls downriver to the Silver Cord Cascade drainage. Park rangers said climbers attempt Silver Cord Cascade maybe one to three times a year.
  7. ASmith: Thanks for your words. Much needed with the many naysayers on this thread and site, which, interestingly, I don't think are as bad as the general populace--as evidenced by most comments posted on the net.
  8. Paul, Sorry you have to go under the knife--heal fast once you do. Me, headed to Canada, or skiing, if I get my chores done.
  9. Hot indeed if you like British accents. And, if you'd like, she'll twitter you: http://www.bonitanorris.com/
  10. Happy Birthday OMB. I was going to school in Pullman. Thought the approaching clouds were a repeat of the previous morning, only these clouds looked much more menacing. Neighbor came out from her apartment and told us the news. Then surmised that ash + H2O = sulfuric acid (goes right along with my geology knowledge, and yes, I 'd taken a couple chem courses at that point). Discovered soon enough that wasn't true, and with classes eventually cancelled for an entire week, friends and I partied like the Cougs we were.
  11. I've followed this thread with interest, as a Hwy 20 user, and am surprised there's been no follow-up by original poster Dan Miller or anyone associated with WADOT. I normally appreciate his postings here at cc.com, and the info they provide at their own website. It's obvious there's a problem on WADOT's end regarding avy control on Hwy 20, and they may be still working through their bureaucracy to sort out a response. Hopefully it comes soon.
  12. +1 Thanks Mark--the knowledge is appreciated.
  13. Kinni, you may likely know more than I regarding geology. Are you a geologist? I admit I know only a little. However, basalt, as an igneous rock, *can* be metamorphosed to host a variety of minerals. At least that's my understanding. Regardless, I think you're right about it being iron oxidation.
  14. I'm not a geologist, so my rock study knowledge is limited to the basic stuff. Sobo certainly knows more than me. So when I see those black and orange swirls all I can think of is Really, there is obviously another mineral present in the basalt. Talk to any of the prof's or grad students in EWU's Geology Dept, and they'll likely be able to i.d. the mineral and tell you the exact metamorphic event that created the band of basalt you've got your eyes on.
  15. OK Dustin, "in the Spokane area" is close enough. It's pillow basalt, basically the same stuff as at Deep Creek. What you've pictured looks fairly sound for pillow basalt. Hopefully it's not too chossy on top as both columnar and pillow basalt can tend to be. Have fun climbing it!
  16. Tell me exactly where it is, and I'll tell you exactly what type of rock. Here it is, resized for ya.
  17. Most people boot it up from just above the Lunch Counter, with their boards on their packs. More likely you'll need regular crampons for your boots as you head up in the a.m. Plan it so you have as much sweet corn as possible, at least down from Pikers Peak. Edit to add: Like with most of the volcanoes and big mountains, people use a combo of skinning on the lower angled slopes, and booting it up on the steeper--whatever is most efficient. A good site for info is Amar's http://www.skimountaineer.com/
  18. Woops! Sorry Kim... I still think it's a cool bit of trivia. Naw, Kim ain't ugly. Although his ankles are. He's a fairly humble man, especially with all he's been through. Lots of stories--he was at the fore of US climbing here and abroad for many years. He'd likely tell you some of those stories himself: hire him as a guide through Exum next time you're doing the Grand or anything in the Tetons. Yeah, I know, many of you don't need a guide, but to spend a day or two with Kim would be well worth it.
  19. As Off White seems to imply, it looks like the price hangtags are REI's, but I'm not certain. I recall Redpoint's hangtags weren't SKU'd such as these. Agreed that price is way too high, and goes against the maxim of selling used gear at roughly "one-third to two-thirds of original retail value, depending on condition." [Edit to add: Even new climbing gear, sold outside of a legitimate retailer such as somebody on craigslist, is considered used.] And it would be REALLY GOOD if RedpointSupply responded to keep us up-to-date, and deny or confirm if any of these items being sold are his, including what is upthread. I sent a PM to him more than a week ago, but no response. Not sure how much he can be helped with him being incommunicado on his own thread.
  20. Updated, more objective info from the Mt. Hood Meadows blog.
  21. Lots of people. While I have several belay devices, I prefer a Sticht Plate for glacier/alpine climbing. They work great as an autoblock for a crevasse rescue system, in addition to being a good belay or rap device. The green things are bottle openers. All shiny new gear, including 6 brand new belay devices, no shoes, no chalkbag (for someone supposedly getting out of climbing): sure does smell like this stuff is stolen. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been lifted from another shop, if not Redpoint. Strangely coiled rope, too.
  22. I love it!!! All this enlightened and spirited discussion, that is. Thanks, Bill, for weighing in. And welcome to the show that is cascadeclimbers. The website you provided is informative. Here's your link hypered: http://www.alloysteel.net/english/techlib_factors.asp
  23. Eric, Don't overlook pawn shops. I had a full rack-plus stolen just a few years ago in Spokane. The fuckheads sold it to a Boise pawn shop owner--Broadway Pawn--which I didn't discover until more than a couple years later (but did discover it because of the good folks on this site). So whoever stole it could be trying to sell it to a pawn shop many miles away. Sounds like your best lead is the video. Best wishes for a favorable outcome for you. --Steve Reynolds, Spokane
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