Alpinfox

Eulogy Final paragraph: "May the kindly trickster gods collect you, Hunter Thompson, and drive you to where the buffalo roam, where your mind can unspool itself forever and your spirit can go on groping unsuspecting tits and trashing hotel rooms. You have earned it, Golden and Immortal Son of Classic Letters. Rest in Whatever You Would Prefer to Peace. We, the filthy and leaderless children who cherish your legacy, salute you, and will honor you with every bullet fired out of our car windows toward the unmarked desert sky. "

We got 2.5 days of good tuff pullin' you smartass Kanuck! Viva Americana!

Drove down to Smith with Mr.E on Wednesday night. This was to give us four days of mud-pullin, but it started raining on Saturday afternoon, so we came home. I feel sorry for the folks who drove down Friday night or Saturday morning. One of the highlights of the trip was a two pitch mid-5.10 bolted route called "Bay of Pigs" on the Red Wall just to the right of "Dances with Clams". I highly recommend it. It features zenolith tuggin' and edge crimpin' on a very steep wall. The second pitch features a section that is very steep (>90degrees), and looks really intimidating, but is actually pretty easy (5.9ish). We also climbed "The John Galt Line" (10+/11-) which is my favorite of E's routes at Smith. It features a lunging move to a big pocket. Good sporty fun. It starts in a little alcove behind some blocks to the right of the "Jete" + "Easy Reader" area. On Saturday we started to climb "Free Lunch", a 5-pitch free route that ascends Picnic Lunch Wall. The first two pitches involve some terrifying traversing on some of the worst rock I have ever climbed on (5.10-). Supposedly it gets a lot better after that and has a **** 5.8 handcrack up high, but we bailed due to approaching rain clouds after the first pitch. We were right above "Five Easy Pieces", so we TRed that a couple of times. It's not easy, but it's FUN! I've heard that it is a good route for those trying to break into the 5.12 range. While none of the moves are all that difficult (I don't think there is a "5.12" move on it), the pump is fierce! I need to get into much better shape if I'm to get that one. After flailing on 5EP a while, it was raining so we drove home.

Dru said: and

Sounds like Elmer took another shot at Diedre.

Middendorf's Home Page His BIG WALL SLIDESHOW is especially cool.

Another FredHead must read.

I haven't done it, but a friend of mine told me that some guy was soloing it last year or the year before and got freaked out on the hook traverse so he hammered the hook placements pretty hard making them much more secure. Doesn't this belong in the new AID CLIMBING FORUM ? LINK to SuperTOPO. Excerpt:

"We are all wired into a survival trip now. No more of the speed that fueled that 60's. That was the fatal flaw in Tim Leary's trip. He crashed around America selling "consciousness expansion" without ever giving a thought to the grim meat-hook realities that were lying in wait for all the people who took him seriously... All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy Peace and Understanding for three bucks a hit. But their loss and failure is ours too. What Leary took down with him was the central illusion of a whole life-style that he helped create... a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old-mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody... or at least some force - is tending the light at the end of the tunnel. "

SOURCE I heard (unsubstantiated rumor) that the entire road is passable via car although it is gated. There are a couple avy paths where one has to drive through some deep snow and it is down to a single lane, but that the road is passable. That was about two weeks ago and I don't even know if it was true then.

"San Fransisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run... There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda... You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning... And that, I think, was the handle -- that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark -- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back." -HST

A book review w/ some great HST quotes Excerpts: "There is an eerie sense of Panic in the air, a silent Fear and uncertainty that comes with once-reliable faiths and truths and solid Institutions that are no longer safe to believe in," he writes in his column of Nov. 20, 2000. "There is a Presidential election, right on schedule, but somehow there is no President." Once there is an outcome, he labels George W. Bush "the goofy child-President" and Al Gore "the Hapless, worm-eaten Dunce who fumbled the White House away." The day after the terrorist attacks, he presciently warns "that we are At War now — with somebody — and we will stay At War with that strange and mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives." As time passes, Thompson's frustration heightens, and he begins to sound like Fahrenheit 9/11 director Michael Moore. "We will all be even sicker tomorrow if this wretched half-bright swine of a president gets re-elected in November," he writes. Thompson's classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was billed as a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream. By the end of Hey Rube, he sounds truly fearful for what he calls the squandering of that dream. "I am surprised and embarrassed," he writes in a column in July 2003, "to be a part of the first American generation to leave the country in far worse shape than it was when we first came into it."

Did you top out? How do you get down? Did you cause any accidents? Looks like using only the tree that sticks out would be tough.

Sculptures are dedicated to: Mother Theresa Victims of the Holocaust Native Americans and A M E R I C A ! ! ! It's how rich Christians put their millions of dollars to work for the poor and downtrodden. Just think of all the uplifted spirits! Personally, I like the "Uncle Sam Says: ___________" billboard better.

Actually when I saw that area (Sunset Slabs) I assumed it must be exactly that - a Mountie practice area. I wonder how people feel about that as a justification for what many people would consider overbolting?

Those jackets have been a "piece de rigeur" since they were introduced. I heard that for a season Koflach plastic boots were a must have item in the NY dance club scene.

I wouldn't really know since my "fluid replacement drink" is water (It's amazing how cheap the stuff is and how well it works!) However, if you want some foofoo techie shit, REI is a good place to check. Be sure to wear your spandex walking suit when you go; you'll be able to get through the aisles 0.04% faster. It might also be a good opportunity to try out that new heart monitor; lots of stairs at REI.

Hey plexus, I didn't express a "lot of opinions" about Mt. Erie in my post. I stated that in the posted photograph, the anchor did not look to me to be a rappel anchor. It is obvious in that photo that the tree could easily be used as an anchor thereby obviating the need for the bolts. AlpineK made a good point that using the tree as an anchor may trample the "root zone" and injure the tree; something I hadn't considered. I then said that I had only been to Erie once (full disclosure) and that I saw one area that was IN MY OPINION overbolted. That is the only opinion interjected into my post. I'm sorry if I ruffled your feathers with that one opinion. I have a great deal of respect for Dallas Kloke and others who put their time, energy, and money into route development. However, bolting is a very contentious issue and I feel we climbers should try to limit bolting whenever possible in order to avoid conflict. In my experience at Erie (limited as it is) I saw what I consider to be overbolting in one area. I don't think I have to visit an area 40 times a year to know that 4 bolted anchor stations within 25ft is "overbolted". (I believe this was the "Sunshine Slab" area, but I'm not sure). You are correct that I have not visited all of the crags and I did not mean to cast judgement upon the entire area.

girth hitch the shoulder straps with a sling for hauling. Shoulder straps should be the strongest attachment point.

The BD tents are EPIC fabric; apparently not such a good choice for winter camping. COLIN SAID :

WRONG? PLANTS FEEL PAIN!!!

w00t!

I don't think that is a rap anchor (no rings). Maybe the hangers are those fat metolius rap hangers, I can't tell from the picture. In any case, I thought just about everything at Erie had a walkoff so rappelling is usually not necessary.

birth hitch* - when protection fails resulting in the cream of sum young guide impregnating an impressionable young client leading to a shotgun wedding. *A typo of mine from another thread.

I think that's an "Irish Carbomb" or something like that. edit: Belfast carbomb = 1/2 shot whiskey, 1/2 shot Bailey's Irish Cream, drop shot into pint O' Guiness, finish immediately. Boilermaker = 1.5oz whiskey dropped into 12oz beer.