Alpinfox

w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t

Nice TR smiley! Thanks for sharing and welcome to cc.com.

"MMMmmm.... that sure tasted good!" My two partners were cold, tired, and incredibly hungry after lugging tons of crap up a never-ending slope in the Alaska range, and a huge bowl of TVP chili seemed to be just the thing to rejuvenate us. And it was. Sitting under the clear blue sky and the intense sun with our bellies full of warm food, we were happy climbers. Over the next couple of hours however, building lenticular clouds and increasing winds belied a brewing storm while curious gurgles, twists, and bloating foretold an equally ferocious storm brewing in our bellies. As the sun set, the temperature dropped 20 degrees almost immediately and the wind kicked up to 40-50 miles/hour forcing the three of us to cram into our undersized tent for shelter. It was then that the second storm struck, even more powerful and ominous than the first. The gusts of foul winds from this gastronomic maelstrom had an odd, almost corrosive smell and came with incredible frequency. While the storm outside shook our tent like a giant two year old guessing the contents of a birthday present, the other storm forced us to keep the tent door fully open to prevent asphyxiation and fistfights. Fortunately, after the first 18 hours of calls for mercy from the brown smog, our olfactory bulbs became seared to the point of relative insensitivity and we were able to zip up the tent, thereby saving us from the swirling, freezing winds outside and possible frostbite. However, for the next two and half days, the storm, both internal and external, raged, forcing us to endure an unexpected and particularly torturous hell. When the sky, and our stomachs, finally cleared, we continued on up the mountain, but not before discarding our remaining rations of TVP chili. We would be satisfied with our mac and cheese or cheese and mac or, for variety, cheese and cheese and mac for the rest of the trip. Since returning from that trip, I read an article stating that the human body does not digest fats and proteins as well at altitude as it does at sea level. My personal research corroborates this. Vegetarian mountaineers are at a disadvantage when looking for protein-rich, lightweight, easy-to-prepare meals, but my advice is, for the love of all that is holy! DO NOT EAT TVP AT ALTITUDE!"

Thanks for the beta everybody. Salsa's Barley's Yuengling (or similarly spelled beer) Climbing Unfortunately I didn't get to do any climbing because there were too many wedding/family activites and I didn't have my own wheels. However, I got in lots of quality Asheville is a very cool town with one of the best art scenes I have seen anywhere. I'd like to go back sometime and check out some of the climbing/rafting/kayaking/mtn biking, but I'm glad to be back in the PNW now.

This is my 1000th post on www.cascadeclimbers.com. In recognition of this dubious milestone, some reflections: -I never thought I would become a bulletin board adict, but here I am. -I have wasted a shitload of time on this website. -I have met some great people and great climbing partners. -I have laughed my ass off. -I have been inspired and entertained by some of the best climbing writing and photography I've seen anywhere. -I have learned to love emoticons/graemlins -I have been educated by some of the incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent people that post here. -I have gotten pissed off and probably pissed others off Overall, I'm glad for the existence of this website and I wish you all well. In conclusion, to all my friends (virtual and actual) on cc.com, a toast: "Here's to you and here's to me, The best friends that shall ever be, But if we should ever disagree, FUCK YOU here's to me!" p.s. Jon and Timmy, you can expect a check from me just as soon as I get a job.

I haven't used the dovals, but they are very light and supposedly you can make carabiner brakes and all that shizzle with them. I think I'd prefer a true oval for pulleys, tiblocs, and racking stoppers though. I have some Kong wiregate ovals , but I'm NOT very impressed with them. The gates get gummed up easily and don't spring closed completely. Periodic WD40 applications fix the problem, but it's still annoying.

JoshK said I second this. I climbed the S.G.C. in mid-May 2002 and we had 2-3ft of loose snow covering all of the rock with HUGE mushrooms on the summit (20ft tall) and ridgecrests. This forced us to traverse out across the North face a bit and we ended up reaching the summit via the last pitch or so of the NW buttress (I think). It was a little freaky and I was glad to be in one piece when I finally got to the summit. Your pictures show a LOT less snow than we encountered. Congratulations!

There is a very big difference ChucK. People usually talk quite a bit louder on the phone than they do in person and the syncopation (talk.... silence.... talk.... silence...) is really distracting. Use your freaking cell phones in private and where you don't have a captive audience (bus, restaurant, elevator, etc). And if you use them in the wilderness near me, you can expect some rude behavior in return.

Here are some piggies for you

nice one Greg. Just about any alpine summit in WA/BC/AK or Sierra with a view, a breeze, and some peace. WA Pass/Methow Valley, WA Any of the few remaining redwood groves in N. CA/S. OR (big trees are ) A secret high alpine meadow on the west side of Pike's Peak in Colorado (I used to work + live on top) Feather River Wilderness, CA (Bears and real wilderness!) Kenai Penninsula, AK Most of SE AK and Yukon are special to me (the small parts of them that I have seen) No one has mentioned Yosemite/Tuolumne??? Too crowded? Tourists turn you off? Nice post Mr.E

Sorry I didn't detect your sarcasm. It's a hard thing to convey with the written word. Perhaps we should use [sarcasm] [/sarcasm]? Anyway, I don't think you should get so upset about someone climbing near you in a style that you don't appreciate. Just treat them like you would treat any other climber leading a route; e.g. be quiet, don't talk to them (unless they talk to you), don't throw your ropes down on them, allow them to pass you if it's safe, etc. Cheers.

That last picture (magic bus?) is really cool and makes me want to go to Darrington. MMMmmm..... Knobs....

You plan to interview/interogate each climber before they leave the ground to make sure they fit YOUR definition of "competent/knowledgable" before YOU ALLOW them to climb? I assume you are trolling here? How about just minding your own business and leaving the free-soloists alone if you happen to see them? If they fall and injure/kill themselves, then that's a tragedy and you would probably feel compelled to help out. However, you are much more likely to see a newbie climber deck due to bad gear/technique or some roped climber rap off the end than see a soloist fall. And, as I said before, intentionally trying to distract a soloist while they are climbing is reckless and hostile and will hopefully get you beaten to a pulp.

Yeah but I didn't KNOW you were soloing and I didn't start speculating about how much I could get for your kidneys on the black market.

Ashhole_justin, Free-soloing is the ultimate form of climbing. Period. If you don't want to do it, fine, but you will never know the depth of focus and transcendent level of awareness that comes from relying on your mind and body to briefly overcome gravity. "It's like having sex with death". dumbass said: As for your threats against free-soloists; you are an immature fuck and if you ever do that shit to me I'll climb back down and wallop you with a big hex. You suck, "go gargle butt-gravy asseyes". Hey FF, "Yabo" = John Yablonski. 1970s era Yosemite climber who once fell from the top of "short circuit (12a)" and was saved by getting his shirt caught on a tree which bent down and deposited him gently and safely on the ground. He is also the person who, late one night while tripping "saw" midnight lightning (famous boulder problem in Camp 4) and woke up John Bachar and someone else and made them send it for him.

YEAH!

He did not endanger you or put any burden of responsibility on you; I don't see the problem. Any time you climb near other climbers, roped or not, there is a possibility that someone will fall and you will probably choose to help deal with their mangled corpse or render aid or whatever, but I don't think this guy put any additional burden of responsibility on you by free soloing. Dude had da skillz to pay da billz. I free solo schtuff and I try not to climb above other people when I'm doing it (sometime hard on routes like Das Toof), but other than that, I don't think it's any different than roped climbing.

I do. My crevasse rescue gear: One small basic pulley two tiblocs one locking oval biner one regular oval biner texas prusik foot loop (with smaller top loop cuz when using tibloc instead of prusik knot, you don't need as much rope) regular prusik loop for harness This gear allows me to climb the rope and setup a basic 3:1 "Z" pulley. If I need to add on a "C" I'll use slings and biners (higher friction, but it'll work). p.s. I don't use these: because in my brief experience with them, the rope can slip off the side of the wheel and jam up in between the side of the wheel and the biner. I prefer something like this:

Thanks again for info everybody. The date is approaching, any partners out there?

Oh... You're THAT "Dru"!

Perhaps tomtom is alluding to the fact that Camalots are heavy whereas most of PMS's stuff is carefully selected for lightweight? His concern being this might signal a shift from PMS's original philosophy of only selling the best, lightestweight shizzle to more of a "whatever sells" mentality? Perhaps I'm reading too much into this? In any case, I own camalots and like them a lot even though they are heavy and expensive.

What?

One thread A detailed account