Off_White

I don't know about anyone else here, but I have no idea what you're on about.

That's one of those trips I've wanted to do ever since I got a copy of Alpine Select, thanks for the TR. Sounds like you'd recommend it, eh?

I pretty much put together a new rack over the course of last winter, and I've been pretty pleased with it. Pretty similar to the first response, but it's one set of c3 and one set of master cams, with just one set of WC stoppers plus some Rockcentrics I already had. The RP's, pink & red tricams, and three smallest Chouinard hexes never left the rack, but my mishmash of old cams are hanging up waiting for a trip to Indian Creek or some such things. I've been happy enough with both the brands of small cams, but I've only ever had an amalgam of wired bliss tcu, hb quadcams, tech friends, one alien, and a few other bits as a small cam set, so as much as anything I'm appreciating having a cohesive set that spans a range of sizes. Oh, a pile of new light biners and those skinny skinny slings are sweet additions too. Its the perfect rack, mostly because its mine.

Yes, but still 10x the views behind!

Dane, we gotta get you dialed in for the fine art of scanning that vintage stuff, it's more than worth preserving! Great shots, I just want more.

If you and Choada are the poster children for "pesky sporto-whipper-snappers" then things aren't nearly as grim as people claim. Aren't you both primarily alpinists?

So, it's all good with ya'll if we pull photos from TR's and other websites, even work related ones, just for the purpose of making fun of each other? I know a number of people who don't post TR's to this site for fear of being made fun of, this sort of behavior is tasteless and boorish. Raindawg, for all that you bitterly complain when you're the subject of this sort of thing, you're the worst offender.

Oh no no no, you're wrong Lance, climbing is about cheating death and being special, haven't you been paying attention? In fact, climbing is about what I say it is, not what you say it is.

Yes, that looks like an awesome week out in the mountains (for some of us). Thanks for sharing your awesome photos, I always enjoy your TR's.

Oh no no no, you're wrong Dick. People stay away from this site because of the blatant pro-bolt policies of the admins and moderators, haven't you been reading this whole thread?

That's a little ambiguous Joe, are you the one wearing the halo and you're feeling disparaged? Is it you talking to people who clip bolts? Or are you drifting to target evangelical christians? I posted that cover awhile back because the tone of the title, I'm Okay and You're Not, is what often infects these debates. It's usually the anti bolt crowd who trots out that attitude, your assertion as to what is "real climbing" and what isn't is a prime example. What you do is okay, but what others do isn't. Climbing is only what you define it as. I'm completely fine with your style or Raindawgs admirable attachment to low impact climbing. But anyone who stands up to declare "what I do is pure and righteous and most of the rest of you are degenerates defiling all that is sacred" will find people tend to respond with a whole bucket of Fuck You. And voila, we're off, with name calling all around and another thread moved to Spray. It's the holier than thou dismissive tone that almost always cloak these anti bolt diatribes that drive the style of the interaction. As Peter Puget aptly pointed out, it's embedded in terms selected. Sport vs Trad? What, is this a wrestling match? You mentioned that like you, I'm old enough to remember when people just called it "climbing." Actually, I still call it that, the whole ball of wax, and I don't consider myself one "type" of climber or another. I think there are a lot of other people who feel the same.

I'll have to check that out when I've got time, TED has some great lectures.

Bigger loss than Michael Jackson if you ask me. Heart attack at 59? [video:youtube]

Wayne, did you guys bring the pins mentioned in prior ascents?

So it sounds like it's a great lonely wilderness traverse, but one should leave most of the gear behind, eh? I've looked at that route on a map, and at pictures of the peaks in the Green book, I'd have guessed there might be a few possible interesting lines too, but you and Blake suggest that's not really the case. Got any more details or photos of your descent, that sounds like the crux of the biscuit?

Damn that's a gripping report, glad you made it down. Some climbs you're just glad when they're over (and usually one vows to try to avoid that sort of thing in the future. I wonder if you were off route? A few years back we had a party of three share that sweet bivy ledge just above the NE Ridge notch. In the morning they went down to the notch and around to the N Face, we dawdled and went up the NE Ridge for a fun outing. They caught up to us on the descent just about back at the bivy, a super fast and competent crew. They reported the approach was fine, and the route to be mediocre but not bad, I think they did the two followers at once through the 5.10 lower and then two simuled and the third soloed the rest. They may have mentioned sparse pro, and I'm pretty sure they didn't bring pins. I'm beginning to suspect they may have severely understated the magnitude of their day. Someone who posts here, Dan Aylward maybe, knew those folks. There's two lower variations, aren't there? The original line and a Burdo line?

I had a great time talking about that Pemi West gig and the Olympics in general with Doug at the Ski-In this year. He made the case that the Olympics offer one of the best general wilderness experiences you can find in the lower 48, and your great TR confirms it. Thanks for the pics and story.

Great TR and photos. I've never met Silas, but I've admired his activities all over the Cascades for a long time. Good on ya for getting him back out to such a wild place.

whatsup? he's an eager 16 year old kid, right? kinda cold, methinks. Oh, he's a 15 year old kid with a bit of a disability, more of a compliment to him to suggest that mid fifties Joseph is on the same cognitive level. Seriously Kimmo, if someone asserts that climbing a ladder is no different than climbing a 5.13 sport route, do you think there is a cognitive ability worth engaging present? I know you're one of the more zen and accepting individuals who has ever posted on this board, so maybe I only show my own limitations by declaring some perceptual threshold as a minimum for discussion, but there you have it. Just like Popeye, I yam what I yam. (my forearms are smaller than his though, mores the pity)

Kimmo, I don't think that kind of climbing is dead, its just not spewed about on the internet. There's a lot of wild adventure climbing first ascents out there in the world still, its just not in the old familiar places. Hell, look at John Frieh's FA on Burkett Needle, does 5.7 get any more out there than that? Even in the cragging world, I bet there are still lots of places to go to have an unscripted adventure on whatever you want, and you don't even have to go far afield, I wager you can find it in the Castle Crags of Northern California or Hells Canyon on the Idaho/Oregon border. Eastern Washington is full of secrets so closely held they might as well be new discoveries for whoever finds them. The issue is not that that sort of climbing is dead, its that an individual's willingness to toss all to the winds and pursue it has passed.

Wednesdays? I never have time to spare on Wednesdays, that's the happening day I'm pretty much guaranteed to have partners at the 2 minute foot commute! In fact, this route, Shaking Hands With The Govenor (5.10b) is a classic example of the difference between toproping and leading. Ya'll are invited to come on down and check it out. (thanks K, this thread really needed a picture)

I don't know about you Resnarklican slackers, but I bought two new cars last week thanks to the Cash For Clunkers program. What have you done for me lately?

Well, back in bumfuck there some TR routes that command enough respect that folks have tried various means of pre-placing pro in them to lead them so they wouldn't have to step up to the TR. Pfft, there are always exceptions to the rule, and big roofs are an example. Come to Tenino and you'll eat your words.

Hey Dawg, I just had an idea. Have you ever climbed at exit 38? Isn't that considered the most execrable example of sport climbing in Washington? I've never climbed there myself, and have only been to Little Si maybe twice. What do you say you and I make a trip to check out the devil's sidewalk and post our separate trip reports? We might have really different experiences, but I'll be it will be entertaining both for us and anyone reading here!