Paco

This dirtbag climbing trip was brought to you by the letter H. Heroin, which was avoided. Highschool chicks, which were spotted abundantly. Horsecock, which was sadly left behind and much missed. And, pressed Ham, which I believe was only spotted by TLG. Also sponsored in part by Team JD. It was a in' good time. Thanks all!

Didn't you see the Saturday Night Live skit with Eddie Murphy as James Brown. I think he made it abundantly clear that it was, in fact, too HOT in the HOT tub. "Will it make me wet? Yeah. Will it make me sweat? Yeah. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, too hot in the hot tub!!!"

ditto Have fun and cimb safe. Now go get them mountains.

But determining what is "safe" is somewhat debatable. What one person condiders safe might not be so to another. If you are three pitches up a route and the next pitch only has two bolts with no trad pro a fall would be long, but if you don't deck then some would consider the route safe, while others would argue that it is not safe due to long runouts. What about multi pitch routes where the crux goes at say 5.11. If this pitch has bolts every 8 feet, should a 5.8 pitch below have bolts every 8 ft? No, if you are going to do the 5.11, then running it out on 5.8 shouldn't be a problem. And I would argue against over bolting the 5.8 pitch just so someone who's leading limit is 5.8 will feel safe leading that particular pitch.

Absolutely! Check yo PM's!

I am open to suggestions. Craggin' at the smoke bluffs or a multi-pitch deal up the Apron or whatever. I will be looking at the guidebook tonight. Any of the following sound good... These routes!!!

Dirtbag wannabe climber would like to go to Squamish this weekend, but needs someone to hold the other end of the rope. Any takers?

I had a 17cm express screw hanger slide off the screw this winter. Last week I finally got around to sending it into BD, and today I got a new 16cm turbo express screw in the mail. Sucks that the hanger came off in the first place, but for BD warranty department.

Yeah, Hattie's was the place I was thinking about, but the Latona is a good idea...I can walk to that one from my place.

I'll booze with ya'. How about that joint in Ballard next to the Tractor Tavern. I don't think we've been there since last year.

Fleblebleb & JoshK Sounds like it was a burly climb. Nice job! Rock on mutha phuka's!

Well done!

I think it's time for sausage at Schultzy's in the U district.

I usually refer to those folk as gumbies or some such. The weekend warrior term really applies to those of us who hold regular 9-5 Monday thru Friday jobs and therefore cannot climb 24/7. Thus we only play on the weekends, albiet a lot of us play pretty hard on the weekends. I believe the term was created to distinguish those livin' the life as a climbing bum, and those that "sold out" by getting regular jobs and climbing only on the weekends.

Alright, maybe I haven't thought this one all the way through yet, but how bad is it (in terms of increased impact force) really if there is some extension in you anchor if a piece fails. I agree that you want to minimize the extension, which can be done when using the death x configuration by simply tying overhand knots in the runner, but the whole reason for "no extension" is so that you don't "shock load" any piece. By "shock loading" a piece I think we all mean loading a piece statically. Picture this: Two pieces equalized in said death X configuration with a 48" runner. The pieces are right next to each other so if one failed the anchor would extend 24". If a climber is out 30ft from the anchor and falls he falls 60ft, it's a fall factor of 2. If one piece fails then he falls 62 ft a fall factor of just a little over two. So the impact force in this case is just a little more than double on the single piece then each would carry if one piece did not fail. The system still does not get statically loaded because the rope stretches and absorbs the impact force. The only way the death x will statically load a piece if another piece in the anchor fails is if the climbing rope is not a part of the system. You can add a fat belayer into the equation because said belayer would be conected directly to the anchor. If one piece fails then the fat belayer would statically load the anchor, but how much force does this generate if the belayer weighs, say, 200 lbs?

Oh, and check some of David Allen Coe's stuff too.

Nanci Griffith Johnny Cash Gil Scott Heron, well sort of. And I second Bob Dylan.

While we are on the subject... work has been pissing me off recently and today it's really fucking annoying. Time to go mutha phukin' climbin'!

Yeah, Twight kinda came to mind when I posted this question. I was wondering if it worked for anyone else. I think Twight climbed more out of despair and anger at himself, not because someone else pissed him off.

Being really pissed off does little to help my technical climbing ability. Usually I end up climbing like shit and getting even more pissed off. The type of climbing that works well for me when I'm really angry are those long non-technical slogs. I find those climbs that take minimal technical ability, but large amounts of energy are great climbs to do when mad. That way the extra energy from being angry can get channeled and dissipated in physical exertion. Hope this helps. Sucks that you are pissed off.

Adventuregal

I'm down with the Sloop or how about the Old Peculiar, also in Ballard?

Nice job! Sounds like a fun route.

I thought that I should respond to Juan’s and others’ comments because it seems that my Dragontail TR post, at least in part, was responsible for him starting the thread. Here goes… Juan, your concern is appreciated and I share your sentiments in that I hope people are more careful out there. The main reason that I wrote and posted my trip report was to share a really intense personal experience with others in the climbing community. This climb was decidedly not just another ordinary experience for me. I do not regularly solo routes, and I consider myself, at best, to be just another climber. My plan for the climb was to take minimal gear. I even considered leaving my helmet at home to save weight, but thought the better of that. I didn’t take a rope so the only method I had for bailing was to down climb or traverse off, if possible. I was practically naked. I wore a thin polypro layer on my legs and two thin layers on my top. In my pack I carried an additional thin fleece layer for my top, and a pair of gore-tex pants for my legs. Wearing all I had would not have kept me warm at night if I were unable to move. I did, however, carry plenty of water, and plenty of food. Climbing in this fashion leaves little or no room for error. The margin of safety is significantly decreased. The importance of climbers’ actions and decisions are increased exponentially as less gear taken. Soloing further reduces the margin of safety. Soloing involves very serious consequences. Regardless of the difficulty of the route or the climber’s ability, soloing takes a full commitment and anything less will leave you in a heap at the bottom. Such is the nature of soloing. On the climb, after getting off route, I encountered harder technical climbing than I had expected. There were times during which I felt really exposed. I wasn’t sure what was ahead, and I knew that I couldn’t down climb what was below. There was never a moment where I felt like I was on the verge of pitching off, but by no means did I feel totally secure and comfortable. There was a brief moment when I thought to myself, “Man, I don’t know what the outcome of this is going to be.” This was my first experience of the kind. There was no panic, only a disheartening acceptance. The full effect of the commitment that I had made when starting was being reinforced. This thought lasted only for a few moments and then my attention focused rather intensely on the climbing. My moves were deliberate and methodical. I was surprised at how well my mind and body reacted to the situation. These situations do make an impression on you. Maybe these situations are common to great climbers who constantly push their limits or soloists who do the same, but for me this was a very new and very different experience. I got in a situation that was more difficult that I would have normally chosen to solo, but in the end when all was said and done I felt extremely rewarded. I liked how my body and mind reacted. I liked the intense emotion. I liked being able to rise to the occasion. I learned a lot about myself through this experience. I can’t say that I want to rush out and go through the same experience again, but I like how I have grown form it. The harder we push, the more we are rewarded when we succeed. Failure in this game occurs only once. Is this what is required to become a great climber, in particular a great alpinist, today? Do the best climbers succeed because they solo hard routes. It certainly indicates to the climbing community that they can hold their shit together. Does soloing hard routes allow one to push themselves that much harder when on lead with a rope? The difference in fear between a 20 ft fall and a 2000 ft fall is indeed significant. Is soloing hard routes the membership requirement for joining the ranks of elite alpinists, or is it merely a quick way to weed out those who are not qualified? Messner soloed hard routes in the Dolomites, the Alps, and on Everest. Twight soloed hard routes I the Alps. House soloed a new route, Beauty is a Rare Thing, on Denali. Muggs Stump soloed the Cassin on Denali. John Bouchard soloed the Black Dike and new routes in the Alps. Colin soloed the North Face of Graybeard last May. (I just had to plug one in there for Colin. He’s a badass!) The list goes on. This is what has plagued my mind for a few years now and caused me the greatest concern. Is there an unspoken need for today’s aspiring alpinists to solo hard routes in order to join the ranks of the elite?

Sweet photos josh! Nice job on the climb. Maybe I'll have to head back in there and do the route proper this time.