ivan

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

what became of him?

jah, the rope pulled fine - just thought it was bad ethics to put wear on belay bolts by pulling ropes through them on a regular basis? would love to see the middle of the roof go - much more badass than what i can do, though the holds are so sweet maybe if i had an extra-helping of badass some day....

yeah that's it - it was pouring rain but pefectly dry under that monster - really sucked trying to exit onto the mossy slab but i went 100% on aid on that and it woulda been fine if not for the rope issue - the view from the roof back down is awesome, as is the eventual rap back down (the bolts could use a chain, no?)

word - i tried doing just that but got nowhere (it's weird and has multiple pinch spots over a 2-3 foot length), but then i am very, very dim...i'm be very willing to second it though just to enjoy it

cool - yeah, a second pitch appeared to be dealing mostly in jungle shit and lacked the great aesthetics of the first one. again though, do you remember how shane prevents the rope catching? i've never seen or dealt w/ a more devilish feature...

you said lone bolt jh - the twin bolt anchor looked new - did ya'll put that in? it looked like a route might continue above - is there any more fixed gear/anchors up that way?

fine quality, but the stories been overdone by now...

yeah, no shit - but how? the rope gobbler is a large feature and i fucked with it for a long, long time trying to prevent it from doing it's thing and still ended up fucking meself - did shane use a nut on a single biner under that wobbly flake a foot left of the lip? i really would like to do this climb again but gotta figure out how to avoid the suck! the trad corner that goes up to the same roof also looks fun, though there's some shrubbery that'd have to go...

the driving rain threatened my perfect plan to climb today - ended up passing by the 'zone in order to have some fun on beacon - it had been too long - had passed the obvious route on the north side on several occasions before and bouldering around it and knew it would be hard and that it would be perfect for an uber shitty day - having done it i'd like to know more now its just 40 yards or some left of the trail where it splits off towards the gate - the route climbs the face to the left of a diherdal below an immense roof/cave, the biggest on the whole massif from ground level i'd think - there a bolt shortly off the ground followed by a mix of gear placements and pins, eventually ending a hard traverse left past the roof - i was fine to here, but as i passed the roof i emerged onto the hellaciously wet/mossy slab only to discover the rock feature at the end of the roof traverse was absolutely perfect at catching the rope - muthafucka! fucked w/ that crack forever tryign to find a way to prevent the rope from getting stuck in this thing, but ended up getting above it anyway, getting stuck, and then having to finish the climb tied into the tow-rope i'd hauled w/ me - the last piece below the double bolt anchor was a zany tree growing downhill at a crazy angle and shaking like a leaf in the breeze under strain, but still somehow alive and thriving. so what the hell did i do and how can it be done so as to prevent the rope sticking? seemed liked it needs a bolt way left of the roof to redirect the cord away from the thread-gobbler (my name for the route until i hear the proper one) other than that one total pisser, a spectatacular route i thought on the rare-side of beacon - very solid rock, crazy steep but w/ many secretive and soul-thrillingly bomber holds up until it got hard, hard...

i don't know if beck weather's friend are calling him stumpy or not, but goddamit they should!

great idea - luckily theres a whole new n-hood getting put up behidn mine....

twist on an old muse: if everyone put kevbone on ignore, would he really be spraying?

lasagna please...