Jump to content

Toast

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1437

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Toast

    Cumulative Stress on Gear

    in The Gear Critic

    Posted

    So you take a whipper on a new cam. There's no visible damage. Do you treat it as suspect and toss $50 down the drain or keep it for another fall some other day?

     

    I think the CE tests are static pulls until failure. Most leader falls don't ever approach the rated breaking strength, but doesn't that stress add up? Does anybody know whether cumulative stress from multiple impacts is tested? Isn't it relevant?

     

    Thanks wave.gif

    Omega Pacific Doval wire?

    in The Gear Critic

    Posted

    True, the Doval is shorter and a full sized rope in a biner biner brake has a lot of friction, but it'll work. Also, I had a chance to chat with one of the OP reps this week and asked him point blank, is the Doval okay for the biner brake? He said yes. I asked is this an official OP position? according to him, it is.

    First Aid Kits

    in The Gear Critic

    Posted

    GU.

     

    People bonk on hard trips. GU is a good thing to toss in the kit. It's come in handy several times.

     

    Also, I have a film canister filled with clay. You can get bentonite clay at PCC. It's sterile and forms an instant bandage for minor cuts and scrapes. Add a little water to form a paste for bee stings and bug bites. Add a tablespoon to a cup of water and it'll plug up the Hershey sqirts.

    [TR] The Tooth!- South Face 4/2/2004

    in Alpine Lakes

    Posted

    The usual gulley to access the South Face looked too difficult for me (steep snow on slopey rock right under a big cornice)

     

    Approach Notes:

    Usual approach gulley currently blocked.

     

    I went up today. There's a path slightly to the left of the cornice obstruction. It's a little dicey with a patch of ice to gingerly step around but fun bigdrink.gif

    [TR] Greenway Mountain- North Ridge 3/10/2004

    in Alpine Lakes

    Posted

    Climb: Greenway Mountain-North Ridge

     

    Date of Climb: 3/10/2004

     

    Trip Report:

    Greenway Mountain (a.k.a. Peak 4440) is so inconsequential it barely warrants a TR, but Klenke dared me to. Besides, if one measures alpine fun by adventure a’la Klenke, (i.e. bushwhacking, creative route finding and raw struggle) this one kicks ass. This is an off trail scramble that threads its way along a ridge of cliff bands and clear cuts to the edge of the Cedar River Watershed just above Chester Morse Lake. The peak itself has more than 400’ of prominence and looks out to mountain views to all directions. Unfortunately, evidence of man’s extractive industries scar the nearby hillsides leaving obstacles to the traveler. The area receives little if any traffic as there are no trails and little reason to venture out this way for the average Joe. However, if you’re looking for tranquility, good views and alpine challenge, this is a fun trip. It’s probably best done in winter when snow covers most brush and the devil’s club is dormant.

     

    Getting to the peak is pretty straight forward. See the route description that follows. Returning to the road, however, was a different story. Klenke and I opted to drop down the ridge to the Northeast into the main Hall Creek Drainage. There’s an old logging road that traverses the opposite ridge due east. By the looks of the map and distant views we should have had a reasonable descent back down to the Iron Goat from there. Unfortunately, things wouldn’t be so easy.

     

    The brush that filled in the clear cut slope was thick and the distance back to the Iron Goat was a lot further than we’d initially thought. It’d be slow going that way. We decided to continue on the road to see if things broke. We came across an abandoned spur that angled down back towards Hall Creek where we’d started. Knowing that the road we were on would traverse the entire ridge back to the next drainage with no certainty that it would be a path out, we opted to investigate. Typical signs of growth retaking the land filled the spur, but it was going in the right direction and descending at a steady pace. The deeper we dropped, however, the more committed we were and the denser the growth became. For a half mile stretch we swam through young alder denser than I’d ever seen. This was my first exposure to BW4.

     

    Finally things broke and I’d assumed that we’d found the other end of the road leading back to civilization. That wasn’t the case though. All traces of the road suddenly vanished and we teetered on the edge of cliffy ground. Klenke threaded his way down a thin passage. When it was too late to retreat, we found ourselves amidst a forest of Devil’s Club on steep ground. Fortunately, most of it was dormant. Regardless, you could see little green buds just ready to sprout, and I felt like the guys in Alien looking at the little Alien embryos ready to hatch. We eventually made it back down to safety, but in hindsight, I’d probably opt to return via the ascent path.

     

     

    Gear Notes:

    Snowshoes... a 100' handline would have come in handy.

     

    Approach Notes:

    Approach Notes: Park a the main Tressle parking lot at Exit 38. Hike up to the Iron Goat Trail where the easy sport routes are and head East 0.5 miles. From the West side of the Hull Creek tressle (Hall Creek) jump the fence and traverse uphill. Attain ridge and follow it south tagging several minor high points along the way. About 4200' you'll come across an abandoned logging road that intersects the ridge at a viewpoint. Continue following ridgeline southbound to Greenway Mountain.

     

    Variations exist on how to return back to the road. Use your own best judgement.

    [TR] McClellan Butte - North Couloir 3/13/2004

    in Alpine Lakes

    Posted

    Climb: McClellan Butte -North Couloir

     

    Date of Climb: 3/13/2004

     

    Trip Report:

    This weekend I was itching for a little alpine adventure. I credit Paul Klenke with suggesting McClellan Butte. We’d climbed a nearby peak a few days earlier, and it was a real sight. I ran into Dave Whitelaw on Friday, and he confirmed it’d be a goodie. Sure enough it was.

     

    Climbing Party: Tony Brodek, Dustin Balderach, Ken Puhn, Tony Tsuboi

    Trailhead: 1500’

    Summit: 5162’

    Difficulty: Grade II, 5.6 mixed climbing with snow to 50 degrees.

     

    The trail up had a few blow downs across our path, but otherwise the approach was straight forward. Snow appeared about 2500’, and we turned off onto the snowfield about 3400’. We ascended steep hard snow to a small shelf where we roped up and belayed from a sturdy tree at the base of the rock pitch. The quality of the rock itself was pretty chossy with razor sharp edges and snow and ice mixed in. Pro was questionable, but I did find a few decent placements. I’d missed a trusty rusty on the way up that later proved to be not so trusty after all. Topping out I was treated to a stellar view of Mt Rainier and peaks all around. We descended to the South ridge to a saddle then dropped off the East side of the ridge into the Alice Creek drainage. We traversed NE back to where we’d left the trail and the rest is history. All in all, I’d call McClellan Butte an overlooked gem.

    2712McClellan_Butte.jpg

     

    Gear Notes:

    Snowshoes, crampons, ice axe, second tool, pro to 1

     

    Approach Notes:

    Drive I-90 East to Exit 42. Park at the McClellan Butte Trailhead. Follow the trail up to roughly 3400'. Veer off to the right into a snowfield. Follow upwards to obvious gully. Ascend steep snow up to 50 degrees. Anchor in at stout tree at base of the rock pitch. Climb dihedral crack to the left of the summit. Rock to the right is very loose and extremely questionable. True summit is a short scramble from the top of the rock pitch. Descend off the South Ridge. Drop off into the Alice Creek drainage and traverse NE back to where you left the trail. Be careful, the snow is steep, and there’s plenty of cliff bands to thread through. As an alternate, it's probably possible to rap down the original climb route and down climb the couloir, but the snow was quite hard so we opted for the soft snow variation.

    Worst Newbie Climbs

    in Newbies

    Posted

    The Mountaineers take more newbies up Yellow Jacket Tower than you can shake a stick at. It's one of the worst climbs I can think of. I mean the actual climbing is good, all fifty feet of of it... but the whole way up you're dodging rockfall and eroding the hillside. An hour and a half later you get to climb all of twenty minutes. I nominate Yallow Jacket Tower for the Worst Newbie Climb thumbs_down.gif

    Faster Summer! Faster!

    in Rock Climbing Forum

    Posted

    Summer Babe - Stephe Malkmus

     

    Ice baby,

    I saw your girlfriend and she was

    eating her fingers like they're just another meal

    but she waits there

    in the levee wash she's

    mixin' cocktails with a plastic-tipped cigar

     

    My eyes stick to all the shiny robes

    you wear on the protein delta strip

    in abandoned house but i will wait there

    i'll be waiting forever...

    i'm waiting (waiting 8x)...(oh)

     

    Minerals, ice deposit daily, drop off

    the first shiny robe

    i've got a lot of things i want to sell, but

    not here, babe-- you took them all

     

    every time i sit around i find i'm shot

    every time i sit around i find i'm shot

    every time i turn around i find

    every time i sit around i find

    every time (6x)...

    you're my... summer babe

    summer babe

×
×
  • Create New...