Alpinfox

Long-winded So you pulled all the fixed gear on Liberty Crack to leave no trace of climbers? Tom, It would be fine with me if the fixed gear (a dozen pins and three pieces of other stuff) on LC disappeared. LC would really be Grade V if that happened. I'd say the bolts should stay though. There is actually a new kind of cam-like thing I saw recently that works in bolt holes, so perhaps if those things work well, we could pull all the bolts and just leave the holes on LC. That would be fine with me too. I understand that the holes are still a "trace of man", but they are much less so than bolts themselves. The goal doesn't need to be to completely eliminate the trace of previous passage, but to AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE leave the route/mountain in such a condition that a climber can at least entertain the fantasy in his/her mind that they are the first one to ever set foot on that spot. BTW: I have a different set of ethical standards re: bolting in "sport climbing" areas. Let's try to stick to the summit register issue here.... Stefan, Removing summit registers = censorship? Sorry man, but that is a ridiculous arguement. Libraries are a place where books are stored and loaned out to any curious person. (As an aside, there IS censorship at public libraries. Try to find Penthouse magazine the next time you visit a public library). Summits are quiet, holy places where (some) people go to meditate and be away from the trappings of man for a brief time. Written documents belong in one of these places and not the other. Is it "censorship" that we don't allow people to spraypaint grafitti on publicly owned buildings? Would a "sidewalk register" chained to a lightpole in downtown Seattle be accepted? Dwayner, While you are correct that most climbers don't carry spraypaint and chisels in their packs, some apparently do. Have you seen the pictures from Dishman in eastern WA? And I have seen plenty of names and crap scratched into summit rocks. Granted most of those times were on summits that did not require technical "climbing", but not always. Climbers do tend to be more respectful of wilderness than your average troop of yahoos. Summit registers aren't permanent installations, true, but they don't seem to be going anywhere either. Those shiny steel boxes will survive a nuclear strike, and they are often CHAINED to a rock, making them pretty difficult to remove. I'm glad I got ya'll fired up about this issue.

I talked to two people in the Hoh parking lot last summer who claimed to have just returned from summiting Mt. Tom. I didn't realize it was such a rare event or I would have asked for more info.

Will, this question has been addressed MANY times on this website. Use the "Search" function to find those threads. The general consensus is Ramuta.

Innovation? You mean like?:

MisterE wants those 14yo girlies screamin' in HIS ear. YEOW!

Rock shoe on good foot, boot on bad foot. You climb like monkey. WA Pass best bet for "alpine" with short approach. You know this already. Go climb monkey.

But its OK that the MountainEars can "unilaterally decide" to put a summit register on a particular peak? I don't think they get permission from the Park Service/Forest Service/BLM/climbers-in-general/etc before they drop those things off. Sure it would be cool to find a film canister summit register on a remote/seldom-climbed peak with only a couple of names on it, but I don't see ANY historical value, or any OTHER value, in having a register on Das Toof, or Forbidden Peak, or any other commonly visited peak in WA. I don't like seeing big metal cans with "MOUNTAINEERS" stamped on them in the wilderness. Thier apparent sense of ownership of mountains in this state pisses me off. Those fuckers should keep a personal journal or a summit log at their denmother's house if they feel the need to keep track of their mighty accomplishments. Occasionally someone actually writes something worth reading in a summit register, but for the most part it is lame chestbeating and a surregate pissing post. Maybe it keeps people from carving/spraypainting their name into/onto the rock - that's good obviously. I'm surprised I'm in the minority here. Maybe I take the Leave-No-Trace ethic a little too seriously. WWJMD?

shut up bitch

Decided you didn't want to have a bunch of 14 year old girls screaming in your ear?

Robert Rogoz is supposed to be an excellent PT/massage therapist for injury recovery and such . He is a climber, so he "gets it".

Mtn Zone article about Stimson written by Sean Courage

SpecialEd, Are you thinking of the THIRD pitch? I know Jeff did a hook move in a drilled hole on p3; I didn't see any drilled holes (easy to miss) or do any hook moves on p2. Looking up the third pitch:

Yup.

I don't remember having to bust any free moves on p2. Maybe you ain't steppin' high enough in the stirrups? Wherz yer pictures?

Dru, How many napkins required for this trip? What is the pointy bit in the sunset photo? Nice!

The "Mckinely" experience on Baker. That's rich. Good luck on Cho "Oye".

Mt. Tom has certainly been climbed numerous times since 2001. Not everyone signs summit registers. Looks like a great trip. The way you did it, it was probably even worth carrying your packs past Glacier Meadows. Thanks for the TR and pictures.

The end is near...

You can upload the pictures to the gallery, or add them as attachments to your post. Click HERE for more info on pictures.

I didn't want to dump that water out, but the wombats were on fire.

There is really nothing better than a nice dry red wine when you are really dehydrated and sitting in the blazing sun.

An important correction: I have been informed that Brook won the ice-axe toss. I've filed a complaint with the international glacier games association and will be requesting drug testing of the "winner". Yes, skiing that line would be fun and better than downclimbing. Sure wish we had brought skis. The whiskey survived our five tent-bound days because we didn't want to endure the resulting frequent trips out of the tent to "shake the dew off the lily".

You are probably right. When I did it, I remember thinking, "Wow, I'm a long way off the ground, I'm glad I dragged another rope up here". I didn't think about rapping to the blocks.

Single 60m rope reaches fine. Two ropes ARE required for Princely Ambitions though.

"As your attorney I recommend you put me on belay." "WE CAN'T STOP HERE! THIS IS WOMBAT COUNTRY!!!"