Alpinfox

It was chopped.

Dave, Micah, and I left the car at ~3am on Saturday morning to answer this question for ourselves. The answer is "no". The crux pitch (2nd pitch) has no ice, but plenty of running water. The first pitch required some difficult (for me) mixed climbing, but had some spots of good ice and nice neve. Dave tore off a big chunk of some of the best stuff on the first pitch and tried to kill Micah and me with it. We did some cool "extreme snowshoeing" on the way out. BTW: There are some of the most beautiful boulders I've seen anywhere in Washington located in the basin below the east face of Cutthroat. Start scrubbin'!

That depends. How do you plan to use the windshirt? -------------------------------------------------------------------- p.s. The route is pretty obvious and straightforward. If you don't own it already, buy "selected climbs in the Cascades - Nelson/Potterfeld" for a good description. Get an early start as you have lots of crevasses and snow bridges to negotiate on the Coleman. Try not to fall in any of them. There is very little technical climbing on the NR (maybe 1.5 pitches) so make sure you get to lead the "first" pitch. "Hey bro, I'll take this one and you can get the next one, OK?" Skis would be a good thing to take to your high camp - maybe even up the route if you're feelin' spunky. The NR can easily be done in a day from the trailhead, but camping up there is nice. No need to go very high - heliotrope ridge is fine. Two tools, a picket or two, and a handful of screws should lead you to glory. It's fun poppin' over the top and seeing the hordes that just swarmed up the CD/EG routes staring at you thinkin', "Where did those guys come from?" If you want a quieter -more wildernessesque- experience, try to climb the route mid-week. Enjoy and be sure to post a Trip Report here when you get back.

Thanks Iain! Anybody want to guess how many "established" routes there are at SR?

Hey, A friend of mine is workin' on a book and has a few general questions about Smiffay: 1) Approx how many established routes are there at Smith now? 2) What are those fast, small birds that swoop around the cliffs. They are all over the place at Leavenworth too. I think they are "swifts", but I'm not sure. And there is probably a more proper name like horny-toed, yellow-backed, sap-suckin' swift or something like that. I eagerly await your answers oh wise ones.

There are some great big boulders precariously balanced on the PCT at the Kendall Katwalk. They are just PERFECT for trundling. GO GET 'EM!!!

Review of REI Half Dome Plus Two Scroll down and read my review. It's the only one worth reading.

Another one star post from Mr. Nolse.

It looked dry on Sunday from Pearly Gates. It's certainly more awkward (chimney moves at beginning of p1) and more runout (changing corners pitch). A pink tricam is nice for that section. You'll see where to put it. Correction. I believe most people bypass the thin crack by climbing to the RIGHT of the crack for a few moves (there is a nice big knob to stand on) and then heading back left into the crack. It's well protected, but you are above a ledge, so you gotta think about that.

For anyone else whose knows him and whose heart took a jump reading the title of this thread, Brook Alongi and his team are fine. EverestNews Alongi link Condolences to the O'Brien family.

In Da Club Go, go, go, go Go, go, go Olympia-Climber It's your birthday We gon' party like it's yo birthday We gon' sip Fat Tire like it's your birthday And you know we don't give a fuck It's not your birthday!

Any of you huskies wanna meet at Agua Verde? I'll be there sippin' a margarita in 10 minutes.

That topo is from the Cummins guide circa '91 I think. Yeah, I don't remember those last two bolts either, just the A0 bolt. But I didn't lead that pitch, so I could be The last pitch IS poorly protected, but it's FUN FUN FUN! Feldspar edges & jugs on a STEEP face. Many people, including myself, consider this to be one of the best 5.10 rock climbs in the state. ENJOY!

Dimethylide? "Don't take the brown acid!" Facts Hoffman and Burroughs:

Spec-freakin'-tacular. You have just created a great resource - a masterpiece of Klenkitude.

Nice work Klenke. So the dip just north of Mt. Phelps ("F" in my second pic) is the South Fork of Tolt River? According to my topo program, McClain Pk is North of Phelps. Maybe you have those two backwards?* *edit: Duh. I should have read your note about Phelps being mislabelled on maps.

Happy Birthday!!!! for Fern: for Dave:

Another one:

...or anyone else: D = Black Tusk I = Baring

Hey Mike, Where the fuck are you? I did Triassic Sands today. Some old guy here says you should clean up yer act and you'd have better luck with the lizzzzadys. Pillow biter. Campsite #52, leavin' tomorrow.

I climbed "Johnny Vegas" with 7 people!

Yes. I conferred with my colleagues and analyzed recordings from the secret Infinite Bliss webcam (www.infinitebliss.com) and we have decided it has been chopped. Any evidence that anyone might find in the future, like, say.... lots of bolts in the rock, is mere fantasy. It has definitely been chopped. Although there may exist parallel universes in which it has NOT been chopped. We can't rule that out. Yet. Thank you for allow CIT to post. p.s. But seriously, why are there crowbars up there? Did the authors of IB forget to take their tools home with them? Is someone working on a new route? Is someone chopping?

This is a very interesting discussion. My initial reaction to the question was, "hell ya, Al pons would be fine", so I was surprised to hear so many people say "bad idea". I climbed the west butt in crappy boots (old style everest one sports) with Grivel G10 pons (steel). The boots weren't very stiff so they didn't frontpoint well. This was no big deal except on the headwall (between 14K-16K) which was steep and icy because a windstorm the previous three days had blown all of the snow off. Fortunately this wasn't a big deal because of the fixed lines. Other than that section, there is nowhere on the WB that is steeper than 35 degrees and nothing was very icy and I think Al Pons would have done fine. Obviously, conditions change from year to year. Erewhon makes a good case for the benefits of Al and I think if I did the WB again, I'd take Al pons. My $.02. p.s. Aren't the guide companies fixing the Denali Pass section these days? I think I heard something about that...

I wonder if whoever is chopping IB will take public responsibility for their actions?