ivan

kev - what in the hell is that second pic of jim all about? w/ the traintrack below i assume it's beacon but looks wierd! looks like a goddamn spider shit all over him fun times out at the zone 2night! almost earned my sport-climbers merit badge

what's the deal w/ the huge rockfall looking thign in the middle of the coe?

you shoulda seen him 'fore he went home - he looked like al jolson! ...least, that's what my hazy recollection of the day can summon...

moses - mt sinai FA w/ the old school gear bitches!

bummer. that's gotta hurt. can't imagine why he'd have a problem being in a john-boat in 50 foot seas? so what's his next step then?

"A helicopter with heat-seeking equipment was called in"

now that's starting to sound like the alpinek i remember!

nice - i assume the stuart th road is still closed too?

where do you work?

nice shot of the coe glacier

was i channeling abba or wierd al that day? i can't recall... bill, i know you gotz problems man, but damn - anyone who considers me a hero must have issues...with hair on them!

those climbs rarely get tr's - most folks don't wander onto the n side of the mtn anyhow, that's why it's fun to visit

was thinking of doing the same thing - i'd imagine it'll be great corn and no crevasse issues at all, given the snowpack and the fact that the great heatwave just broke, bringign fresh precip

who gives a shit what it would be in the valley? it'd still be karate crack, and it'd still suck

as a side note, isn't it vaguely ghey to have heroes?

its unnatural, when pissing, NOT to piss all over the place for jeebus' sake, lions piss on themselves intentionally - at least we've evolved beyond that...

and while on the subject, jimmy buffet's "volcano" is a great one when scaling such beasts "i don't know where i'm gonna go when the volcano erupts"

no lionel terray yet? "Philistines may think that we were madmen indeed to go through such suffering and danger to arrive at this lonely spot. What did you hope to find there, they may ask. Glory? Nobody cares about young fools who waste their best years in meaningless combats far from the eyes of the world. Fortune? Our clothes were in rags and next day we would go back down to a life of slaving for the barest essentials. What we sought was the unbounded and essential joy that boils in the heart and penetrates every fibre of our being when, after long hours skirting the borders of death, we can again hug life to us with all our strength. Nietzsche defined it thus: `The secret of knowing the most fertile experiences and the greatest joys in life is to live dangerously.'"

in the civil war, soldiers likened seeing war on to seeing an elephant, as that was about the most fantastical thing they could imagine seeing in real life, having read about it in books at the end of the war, no one gave a shit about seeing elephants any more hoping for a 2nd round tomorrow to escape this infernal heat

bjork's "hyperballad" often comes to my mind, especially when sketchign on lead, the line "i imagine what my body would sound like slamming against those rocks and when it lands, will my eyes be closed or open?" "We live on a mountain Right at the top There's a beautiful view From the top of the mountain Every morning I walk towards the edge And throw little things off Like car-parts, bottles and cutlery Or whatever I find lying around It's become a habit A way to start the day I go through all this Before you wake up So I can feel happier To be safe up here with you It's real early morning No-one is awake I'm back at my cliff Still throwing things off I listen to the sounds they make On their way down I follow with my eyes 'til they crash Imagine what my body would sound like Slamming against those rocks When it lands Will my eyes Be closed or open? I go through all this Before you wake up So I can feel happier To be safe up here with you"

get nelson's select guide or do a tr search here for those peaks prusik's west ridge is a good starter alpine crag climb stuarts west ridge is a step up from that

jane's addiction's "mountain song" is good for descents

Jenny said when she was just five years old You know there's nothing happenin' at all Every time she puts on the radio There was nothing going down at all Then one fine mornin' she puts on a New York station She couldn't believe what she heard at all She started dancin' to that fine fine music You know her life was saved by rock 'n' roll Despite all the amputations You could just dance to a rock 'n' roll station And it was alright Jenny said when she was just five years old My parents are gonna be the death of us all Two TV sets and two Cadillac cars Ain't gonna help us at all Then one fine mornin' she puts on a New York station She don't believe what she heard at all She started dancin' to that fine fine music You know her life was saved by rock 'n' roll Despite all the computations You could just dance to a rock 'n ' roll station And it was alright

nothing like a blissful mass-transit experience to get good n' centered w/ your zen-thing makes me miss the random ghetto-insanity of my richmond-days...

that'd be fine by me and provide some distraction during the drizzly winter months too