Toast

Hey now, that might impact my road beers. Back at ya

Climb: Forbidden-East Ridge Direct Date of Climb: 7/23/2005 Trip Report: Klenke called me the other day. I've wanted to do the East Ridge Direct on Forbidden for a while now, so I threw that at him. To my surprise, he said, sure. The hills must be running out of Devil's Club or something. Anyway, we started off from the trailhead about 5:30, made it up to the high camp before 8:00 and were at the base of the climb by 10:00. The snow on the way up was hard and crusty. I noticed a pair of old school crampons with Swiss Straps at the col. If you're looking for them, there still there. Klenke pops one of them energy drinks. Then this happens... The next thing I know, he's doing this. I gotta get me some of that stuff. All in all, the climb is super fun with lots of exposure. The climbing isn't too hard, but there's plenty of exhiliration from not really knowing what to expect. You know, what line to take, which hold is gonna hold and which isn't - there's a few loose blocks, watch out. For the most part, though, the rock is solid, grippy, and with positive holds all around. We simuled the first half then put on shoes and pitched out the second half. Bring a few extra double length slings. Rope drag was really bad in a few spots. And if you take Klenke along, you'll need to steer him away from the nearest sprig that looks like brush and keep him focused on the ridge line. We took the NE Face descent, followed the previously posted beta, and rapped/downclimbed five or six single rope pitches down then began our traverse back to the col. Nelson makes it sound like there's an obvious ledge system to follow. There is, but it's not obvious at first. We picked up cairns after a while and half way along there was evidence of other tromplings. Before we knew it the gulley to the col was right there where it's supposed to be. Be warned, the NE Face descent route is not for those squeamish about unroped, exposed, class 3 terrain. We made it back to car sometime before 10:00. I only needed my headlamp for that big ass log at the beginning of the trail. Gear Notes: Light crampons, ice axe, set of nuts, cams through 2", and lots of double length slings. Approach Notes: The trail into Boston Basin is super brushy and overgrown. Most of the snow is gone, but snow on the permanent snowfields was hard in the morning and soft and plungy on the way down.

Try pinging Chris Atkinson or Marc Piche at thebugaboos@yahoo.com. They were headed back towards Howser while I was there. We weren't equipped for winter, so we didn't even think about it.

Well now, there, you have to ask Mr. Klenke.

The Bulger top 100 list

Um, I'll take one in blue please

Yeah, I know the feeling, sigh. I was curious about this last year. I rigged a bomber multi directional anchor and proceeded up the way you described. The problem is it's really tiring to hang by one hand and fiddle with tying and untying knots, clipping and unclipping one handed all the while dragging a rope that seems to catch on every crack or horn along the way. you need to pay out enough slack to allow you to get to the next stance where you'll place pro. If you short yourself, you'll fat boy which is really frustrating. If you pay out too much, you risk decking. I found that the 5.6 that I would otherwise be able to solo turned into a challenging route with a lot of exhertion. It would have been fun if I wasn't worried the whole time about pro pulling and me decking. My advice is find a route well within your soloing abilities. Make sure it's vertical and has cracks that take pro that will be bomber. Keep yourself backed up. Make sure your anchor at the bottom is fixed in opposition and absolutely bomber. A grigri or soloist device would make the exercise a lot more fun. That said, be safe and have a cold ready afterwards.

it's a pain in the ass

The new Tieton guide looks awesome. I'm psyched to go explore

So fucking typical

What if the alternative is leaving it only to have it pop on it's own in a less controlled manner (i.e. messy, dirty and gaping?) I know what you're saying Dru and I agree, but for something like a blister on the foot or somewhere other than a hairy palm it's apt to pop anyway. Why not bleed it out?

I have the rock, it's sitting on my dash, next to the dented speaker grill. fuckers... I like the idea of sicking OSHA on them.

What's Dave got to do with Snugtop... Nothing

"It's an act of god... It's not a police matter, it's a civil matter... You can report the issue to the Better Business Bureau." I hate this line, but is this where our taxes go?

This was Howser last Tuesday, but snow on routes of the lower peaks are melting fast.

So, I'm driving down the road on my way to my parents' house and there's this rock crushing outfit on the side of the road. I've always though it was one of those... um, you know, Tony Soprano type outfits that covers for the local mafia. Anyway, they crush rock, recycle bricks and probably dispose of a few bodies every so often. I'm doing about 50 and all of a sudden I hear this big bang, I feel pin pricks on the side of my face, and a chunk of rock the size of my fist whizzes though the passenger side window and crashes onto my dashboard. I pass two kids walking down the road and almost hit one. I'm thinking, what the fuck! I dial 911, get the runaround and end up on hold for a "non-emergency" operator. Ten minutes later an operator finally answers, and I explain the situation. I'm told it's a non-police matter, It's an act of god. I reply, if a meteor falls out of the sky, through my sunroof and onto my dashboard, it's an act of god, but this is clearly a negligent business operator playing with explosives and being a hazard in public space. I ask, isn't there something the police should do to keep rock shrapnel from taking some kid's head off as they walk home from library? I mean if I were playing with explosives at home and a chunk of flower pot shot into my neighbor's yard, I'm pretty fucking sure the police would be knocking on my door. I'm told it's a civil matter and I could complain to the Better Business Bureau about it. Am I crazy, or what?

Fuckin' cool bro

ditto

I've been out for a week and just got home. I'm so sorry to hear about this. My condolences to the family and friends.

Thanks guys. This is actually for a friend who should be lurking here shortly

I must be a climber

Anybody know anything about the Carney Mountain High Route? Apparently it's a non-maintained trail that's used by climbers to approach Mt Maude. TIA

My agent said the "average" for somebody like me was about $30K. I don't know if that's high, low or about right. Chris has a good point about upping the replacement value on Sporting Goods. I think that's 50% of my total net worth