Alpinfox

A google image search for "close talker" returned this result:

You can check out AlpineDave's trip report HERE

Yeah but you're part Sasquatch aren't you? 400lbs or something? My Neutrinos work just fine for my average-sized mits. Another thread about lightweight biners

I climbed CA with Fred Beckey on Wednesday (5/19/04). It was his idea. I don't know who told him about the route, but he somehow got his mind set on it. I was a bit surprised that he wanted to climb a [cough]overbolted[/cough] "alpine" sport route, but what the hell. We drove out Tuesday night and made the mistake of pulling into one of the official campgrounds. The next morning we were just about packed up and ready to pull out of there without paying when ranger rick pulled up and asked for $10 . I won't do that again. Fred and I seem to share the dirtbag climbers' disdain for these campgrounds and the exorbitant fee they charge. He said, "Damn government... you might as well just throw the money out the window...they're just gonna spend it on the fuckin war" The hike up to Bathtub dome took a while. We stopped at that slabby thing just east of BD and did a one-pitch route called "Chitlins" (I think) that seemed pretty hard for 5.8. We then hiked up to Condor Buttress and started on Condorphamine Addiction. Condor Buttress. CA is white streak at far right of buttress: I led pitches 1&2 and spotted a nice pair of boxer shorts at the belay. Read more about that HERE. Then, to my surprise, Fred said he wanted to lead the next pitch! Here he is starting pitch # three: Here is another picture, note the hat rotated into "sendbot" position: Fred also decided he wanted to lead pitch #4, so here he is starting that one too: We took a break at the top of pitch four and surveyed the Icicle Valley. I quizzed Fred on the names of all the visible peaks and who climbed what on them when. "That's the blockhouse, I did the second ascent on that... That's the lighthouse", etc. etc. He knows a lot of stuff (duh) but he also kept saying, "it's in the guidebook". We stopped at the top of pitch four because Fred's back was hurting a bit and some storm clouds were rolling in. Two quick 50m double-rope raps got us to the base of the route and we started hiking down. A beautiful hike down from Condor Buttress: When we got back to the car, we ran into a couple from Bend (Travis and Sophia I think?) who had climbed the central route on Bathtub Dome. Fred is pretty stingy with his praise for climbing routes, so I knew he enjoyed the route when he said, "Yeah... It was pretty good". We left the car at about 8am and returned at around 5pm. I believe this constitutes a new octagenarian speed ascent for the routes we did and I can provide a GPS record and several snaffle-eye witnesses for verification. Stimson Bullit eat your heart out!

STEAKSAUCE!!! Sorry...

What if the rope momentarily parted like those metal rings magicians use and then fused back together right after passing through the slings? You didn't happen to say "Abracadabra" or anything like that while rappelling did you?

Yeah, but is it being held by two gay guys in speedos with dirtlips?

Yeah, those were the ones I wanted too, but I couldn't find them on sale anywhere. The Burton "Trampons", which are exactly the same as the Stubai pons, can be found on Ebay for ~$30, so I bought em. Thread

So here is the story as I imagine it: Setting: A beautiful spring day at condor buttress. A light breeze carries the scent of lupine and wild onion up to the two intrepid MountainEars as they scramble their way up the bold new alpine testpiece "Condorphamine Addiction". We join the story at the top of pitch two. MountainEarOne: "Damn its hot up here!" MountainEarTwo: "Yeah, it's hot" MountainEarOne: "I think I'll take my boxer shorts off" MountainEarTwo: "Yeah, that's a good idea" MountainEarOne performs the dramatic, and non-UIAGM-approved, removal-of-skivies-while-wearing-climbing-harness trick. Houdini would be very impressed. MountainEarTwo: "Damn those things are stinky!" MountainEarOne: "Um, yeah" MountainEarTwo: "And they are pretty worn out too" MountainEarOne: "Yeah. I think I'll just leave them here" And here they are: Please remember to pack out your trash.

What? Huh? Snugtop is an ice climber now? Sniff... Sniff.... Is that French cheese I smell?

Nice shots JT, Thanks for sharing!

Nepal Extremes are INSULATED and weigh >4lbs. They are designed/intended for winter mountaineering and technical ice climbing. Olympus is a LOOOOOOOONG hike on a flat trail with a little snow slog at the end done in spring/summer. Nuf said. Edit: BTW, I apologize for the "snipeyness" of my "common sense" comment.

I would wager that Liberty Ridge does indeed have a higher rate of accidents per ascent than any other route in the cascades except maybe obscure routes that only a few people have done like the Eve Dearborne Mem. Route. In addition to the reasons mentioned previously, I believe the reasons for this are: The "rock" on Liberty Ridge is shit... big plates of basalt and gobs of loosely congealed pumice. So rockfall is more common on LR. The rock on NF Shuksan is actually pretty good (green schist right Dru?). Also, I'd say the length of the route (5000') and continual exposure on LR means if anyone slips, or a moderate rockfall or avalanche occurs anywhere on the route, chances are it's gonna be bad news. It's inclusion in the "50 crowded climbs" means you get folks from Florida on the route, and gumbies = accidents, whereas most people have never heard of Shuksan. I'd be interested in seeing those statistics as well. Is Mike Gauthier lurking?

Thanks for that post Don! I might have to check those DMM screws out. Only $40 at Mtn Tools <--- Click I find the little handle dealie on BD screws pretty useless while PLACING the screw, especially at the beginning, but it sure speeds up the REMOVAL of the screw. I am pretty much a newbie/gumby ice climber, so am I missing something? I placed one of those Grivel 360 screws once and you can get a nice grip on the head of it and the big handle was actually effective while PLACING the screw. I agree they are funky to rack/carry though. RE: N.Face of Shuksan - Unless you climb in pretty late in the season, you probably won't see a lot of ice. I've only climbed it once (mid-may) and there wasn't anywhere to place a screw. We took a few pickets and they would have worked for pro if we had placed any.

OUCH! So they don't teach common sense at Conservative State U?

OK. Mailbox it is. You haven't gotten me a job yet!

hmmm... AlpineDave and I speculated that LW and co. probably approached the route from that backside and did the route top-down. If it's a "nightmare" I guess they didn't do it that way. Sure was a lot of hardware to haul up that route. All the more reason to leave the 4th class sections unbolted.

DOOD! are you ignoring me or sumfin? Hello? ***You are ignoring this guidebook offer***

You can borrow my "Rock Climbing Washington" book if you want. I'm leaving for Leavenworth in a couple of hours, but I can leave it in the mailbox or with my housies or something if you want it. Lemme know.

Sure! I'll show up at your work and do a strip-o-gram for your boss and tell him that it's from you. That outta work, eh? p.s. Note the lack of an "e" anywhere in my name...

Weird. I remember going right up a sandy slab (a bit scary) to the top as well. Definitely not 5.10 though; more like 5.8. Guess I'm nutzy too.

DUDE! You can come over and borrow my Rock CLimbing Washington book if'n you wanna.

MattP said: 4. The descent off the back is probably not a good option, despite apparent rappel anchors that would indicate a possible route that way. The last time somebody went down there, they described it as an absolute nightmare. It is much safer to retreat way you came. ______________ Matt, could you please elaborate on the above? That descent down to the Taylor River road looks pretty easy (albeit currently snowy). Looks like one single-rope rappel and then a ~two mile walk down the road back to the car versus the mind-numbingly dull and potentially rockfall riddled 3.5+hrs of rappeling. To the person who asked about approach shoes: I think wearing comfy rock shoes and not having to change back and forth is the way to go. Ken Ford wore approach shoes for a good portion of the climb when he did it, but I tried it and didn't feel very confident in my footing, so I kept my rock shoes on. Maybe I'm just a wuss. To the Awagen guy: Dude! The unbolted stuff is 4th class! Grow some testes and quitcher whinin! I would say that there are parts of it that are definately overbolted. I suppose I'm in the minority there, but there ARE places where you could easily Z-clip if you weren't paying attention. Furthermore, I skipped many bolts and backcleaned several; more evidence that it's overbolted in spots. I felt that in some spots the bolts were more useful for route-finding than for protection. It's a fun route and I commend the FAs on their hard work and financial contribution. The Alpinfox has spoken.

I also have the Gust and I like it. A lot of the newer GoLite packs have a lot more "features" but are also getting up over the 2lb mark. I like the lighter weight packs. I've used the gust for everything from a two week-long PCT trip to two/three day mountaineering/alpine trips. I think it's a damn fine pack and I bought it from Jim at PMS. It's not as comfortable as the Dana Designs Astralplane I had before, but it is about 1/5th the weight! So I don't mind. The stock foam "framesheet" is a piece of flimsy crap and is best replaced with a piece of thicker foam cut from a ridgerest or similar pad. Weight Function Comfort Durability