billcoe

Well spoken dude. My only comment is "there, but for the grace of God, go I". You get out enough and you wind up with some of these stories. I remember once soloing Wyeast, choosing to cross over White river canyon via Timberline. Thinking I remembered the location of the now covered crevases from the previous year ...until I got out there anyway, then I wasn't so sure. I knew better too. I pulled off so many stupid things as a pup without getting tagged I'd need my own thread to list them all. Real glad for your happy finish...so to speak.

I have too many to list. Heresa stupid one: the very last time I did Super Slab (this is after having probably done it at least 20-30 times previosuly) we got offroute on the descent and all kinds of F*ed up. Long story. Glad to have gotten down safetly. On topic- a bit: Here's an interesing historical aside. Steve told me Danny and him had been buzzing hard for 3 days on crank when they hit that cliff. They looked up and thought it would go, and they were wayyy cramped up in the forearms when they topped out and kissed the ground in glee. Imagine that cliff with loose stuff on it. Having no knowlege if it would go. Now imagine no sleep for the last couple of days. "Amphetimine Grip" - truth in advertising

Yup, and all the routes at hetch-hetchy are shorter now too. I pulled a 100# flake off the first 10A pitch of Free-Lunch on Picnic Lunch wall at Smith. harder now. 1st pitch of Gandolphs Grip use to be 5.6 and is now 5.9, conversly the crux 5.9 pitch use to have a piton driven straight up into the roof, now it's a bolt. Strauck told me once @ 1998 or so that he was surprised the pin was still there, ie, no one had done a horrendous screaming fall and ripped the little piton right out of the Gollums Hang. I think the little sucker was gone like next year. Bet that's a story. Birds of Paradise use to have a little loose block in it, was 10.d, now 10.c. White rabbit, next to birds has gotten slicker, was 10B, now?? Slick 10B? When I went for the FFA on the first pitch of Ground Zero, the guy seconding me, Frank Cornieius, could easily and repeatly onsite lead 5.12 trad cracks -but couldn't follow the pitch. It was hard. He hung-then hung some more, I pulled and pulled, and he "took" somemore. Frank took his nut tool out and dug and dug the mud out of the crack. Then he tryed it again, and then took again and dug and dug some more some more. Later, it got cleaned more, and that first 165 pitch was broken up into 3 pitchs and freed, now it's like 11.d . There's probably more.

Never had it on my feet. Have it on both my arms a bit right now, probably from diving for the trash in the brush on Sat at the Butte. Fortunately the tool is currently dry.

Pleaseeeeee: Both of course. I'd offer that guy from save toby money to put that thing down. save toby

Well that sucks! Worst place is getting it on your dick. Thats my #2 most common place after my arms Legs rarely see it, and I wear shorts a lot: pretty strange.

They were with me. Whats your point?

Sorry no one answered you yet. I do not to have the definative answer as I haven't been up there this year yet. Hmmm, last year either. But: I would suppose it's open, but if not, park below and walk up. Probably a hike with some snow, if not then it's a ski with some hiking I'd suspect, but who can say as it's been in the 50's but we had a lot of snow this year. What is it, 3 mi if you don't do the road? Buller...........? Buller............? Bulllllerrrr? Anyone? God I'm lame: not much help either I suspect. That was always my favorite part of the mountain, going in from Cloud Cap.

Uhhhh Dude, you missed a major window of opprotunity. The lovely Kellie Rice of the Access Fund along with some Mazamas and a few of us cc.com low-lifes went up and picked up the garbage up there today. Every damn scrap. Except for a few spots anyway:-) Now it's raining. You could have gotten free Access Fund Nalagene bottles and fought Aracia for free baby clif bars.

Jim did clean a route on the west face, I'm thinking Kevin (who says he's immune from poison oak) must have helped with that. I'm out of here now, last cup of coffee, it's set to rain in 3 hours, got to go do something. Take care: B

E - It is. The problem is, nobody knows how much will put you over the line. At one time, coal miners were unaware that the coal and rock dust in the air would kill them. So hears a question to you: did managining a rock gym contribute to Staceys strange lung cancer? Story: lymphangioleiomyomatosis in Stacey Lim, she needed a lung transplant Iamthe wallress on RC.com says: " Stacey Li Colver manages Twisters climbing gym in Mountain View and coaches their childrens competative team. She founded the SF Bay Area Chapert of SheClimbs several years ago, and this last year went on to become the national president of this large women's climbing organization. In my time with SheClimbs, I've seen her get so many young girls and women of all ages stoked on this amazing activity. In fact, it's through SheClimbs that I took my first 'real' climbing trip, and Stacey stepped up to be my partner. Sadly, Stacey has recently been diagnosed with an incredibly rare disease known as lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Statistically, it is fatal within 10 years of diagnosis unless she can get a lung transplant. Her case is in an advanced state. " BTW, she got the transplant and finally pulled through. I had read earlier of anothor chica dying of some strange sounding lung cancer - disease. Did being in a rock gym contribute to it? Nobody knows with certainty, we all are left to draw our own conclusions. I try to avoid chalking up if I don't need it. Like in the gym, like 90 percent of the time bouldering, like just doing laps - most of the time. Like doing a classic with Joseph well, most of the time. Staceys journal here: No fucking fun at all She's still fighting rejection of the transplanted lung, good luck girl!

My older brother (as a pup) could get up 70-80 degree ice on 10 point crampons and a single axe. Not tough at all, it just simply involved slicing or hacking a spot for your off hand which would later become your foot placement if you were on a steep bit of ice. How strong and accurate you could swing to get that handhold would dictate your speed on the steep stuff. Sharp tools mattered. Lower angled ice you could punch in the crampon points, and, how do do you say "Pied au le Plat" or whatever, to get better speed and skip all that hacking. But why learn all that horseshit today? Just buy modern gear and skip all of that stuff. I bet John on his worse day today would be faster and stronger than my bro on the top of his game. Bro was good with it too. Real good. If your calves need a rest, hack a spot and put your midpoints on it. Place a screw and shake out. The only time you might need old school: my now deceased aquaintance Roger Smith was soloing that ridge on Hood. After an ice storm. In January. Had not sharpend his crampons. That's NOT sharpend. The Eskimos have 20 words for ice and on that day it would have been "cold and hard". He gets 1/2 way up and feels like it's bad ju ju, death is right there. Decides to downclimb. 1/2 way down, and this is the Castle Crags route on Hood so you know how steep it is, he knows he's gonna lose it and die. No screws, no rope, no nothing but skill, a single axe and 12 point crampons. He asks himself, "What would Chouinard do"?. (Honest to God truth here) Voila, Piad le plat or whatever, he's canting his ankles and slowly maintaining a desent................living the moment like Chouinard would, he lived through that descent and got down anywhy. BTW, I thought Dru would have had some sex comment by now about the "French Technique" header. Pretty surprised really.

Sounds like 5 bottles of 2 buck chuck and a cliff bar or 2, whats to complain about?

Going from memory- and I don't get to Smith much: (wine binge after work, I'll try to fill in some blanks later). Eveyone thinks Smith is all about bolt clipping, but there's some great cracks there, my list and I'll dress it up later. 5.6 Cinnamon slab Super Slab Moscow 5.7 Spiderman Lions chair or maybe it's Lions Jaw -the 5.7 one. 1st pitch of Trezlar (Scratch this, it's part slab) Lycopodopha (awesome now that the loose stuff is gone) 5.8 West Face Variaton on the Monkee Last pitch of Zebra Zion 3rd pitch of Picnic Lunch wall 2nd pitch of White Satin (abite a little strange to climb over a pinacle at the end) 5.9 Moonshine (this use to be 5.8 and may still be once you get off the ground) ummmmmmmmm White Satin 3nd/final pitch Peking (it's 9 not 8.) King Kong ( this would be the graduation excercise) 5.10a Karate Crack Route up on Standers ridge.... Trezlar p2, best route at Smith. New Testament, good pro with the crux up high so if you biff you get scraped, not pancaked. 5.10b Monkee Farce Pack Animal Direct 5.10C Lions chair p1 5.10D Last Pitch of Abraxas, rap down to it. Probably something else. 5.11a Crack on the East side of Monkee Face (the one closest to Pioneer route-not the real east face) Chairman Maos little red book (but too short) Lions Chair P2 5.11b Wartleys (thanks Rumr) 5.11c Shoes of the Fisherman 5.11D Sunshine Dihedral, great route. (ps, this use to be 5.12, I can't think of any current Smith 5.12's which I have done that would be recommended cracks. I think that good pro and a real crack would be prime criteria, at least for my list. There's probably more but that will get you started. It took me two beer glasses of wine to type that list out so show a little appreciation eh? Rumr has different grades on Wartleys and Shoes, I'd go with his.

Good luck with the survey. However, the quesiton "Do you use chalk while climbing". Yes No. May not be the best choices. For me, the correct answer is "usually not". Respiratory and health issues are important to me. I've noted at least 1 death of a young indoor gym worker to some strange lung disease to know to avoid chalk generally. good luck dude. BTW: added us govenment: No long term studies

Next question.

it is.!

Sorry, I'm too anti-social. Otherwise it's a great offer John. _______________________________________________________ Ivan, you got the wife, the kids, the bills, the house.........the whole disaster. My sympathies, I'm just starting to crawl out of that (often pretty good) pit myself, the eldest is a sophmore in college: whoo hooo..

Sorry, I'm too anti-social. Otherwise it sounds like a great offer John.

I'm out for tonight. Nolse and PDK made me hurt my foot Sat. and Tue evening I was reminded of it again. Gawd I'm such a whinning pussy.

Mammut rep said: I take a magic marker and put a date on mine. It's shocking how fast time goes, and one day you're sitting there squinting to read a faded date on one of your newer slings which you vaguely remember thinking is a fairly recent purchase, and realize with a big assed hard-rain fu*cking jolt that '92 was actually ,ummmmmmmmmm 2006-1992 = Uhhhh, like 12-14 years ago or something close to that. Shocking. Rep, that was great info, a late thanks to you sir.

Mike said: Mike: are you suggesting that seeing 2 million skiers on the lift overhead as you hike up above Timberline should affect him slightly more than seeing a dog? Have we even ascertained what kind of dog it was? It could have been a Schnauzer or teacup poodle for Christ sake. Just kidding about that last part, I just wanted to say Schnauzer. I was wondering what Chris meant by this: ? : Chris asked : This one I can answer. I've been up many of the Cascade Shield volcanos, often by several routes. I might have seen dogs on probably all of them. Propably every damn one at one time or another. Especially a crowded weekend on Adams or Helens, pretty much guarenteed. I don't remember any on Raineer, but thats probably just faulty memory. There use to be a Mazama guy around here named Peter Gaeska, I heard someone say his dog had summited most of the big Cascade mountains, and I think I heard Mt Hood alone like 20 times, by a bunch of different routes as well. Some of those damn dogs can climb close to 70-80 degree slopes on a less than hard ice day. The part that always gets me is not seeing any goggles on the pooches. You't think they 'd be tearing their eyes up from the UV rays. A better thread might be where all those lazy F*en Cats are? You ever see any Cats on anthing from a slog to WI2 or up? NO! It's astounding I say. Hey, my cat just sits on it's ass, I'm not saying she's anything different or special.

Thanks

I want to eat at Garys house. From the pinot gris cookbook Braised Rabbit with Pancetta, Mushrooms and Tarragon by Stephanie Pearl Kimmel Serves 4 Ingredients: * 7 tablespoons unsalted butter * 1 large rabbit fryer (about 3-1/2 pounds) cut into 6 pieces (reserve liver) * Salt and freshly ground pepper * 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots or green onions * 1 cup dry white wine * 1 cup chicken stock * 1 branch fresh tarragon, about 4 inches long * 2 bay leaves * 4 ounce pancetta (unsmoked Italian-style bacon that can be found at specialty markets, or substitute blanched salt pork), cut into 1/4-inch cubes * 6 ounce pearl onions, blanched, trimmed and peeled * 4 ounce mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and sliced * 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard * 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves, plus additional for garnish * 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley In a medium flame-proof casserole or Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the rabbit pieces and brown on all sides, removing the pieces to a plate in a warm spot as they brown. Salt and pepper to taste. Add another tablespoon of butter to the pot, add the shallots and sauté until translucent. Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula. Add the chicken stock, the branch of tarragon and the bay leaves. Return rabbit pieces to pan, bring the liquid to a simmer and braise, covered, for 25 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a sauté pan over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter and add pancetta. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, until very lightly browned. Remove to drain on paper towels. Discard fat from pan and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Add pearl onions and cook, covered, over medium-low heat until tender. This will take about 20 minutes. Set aside in a warm spot. In another sauté pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add mushrooms and cook gently over medium heat until the mushrooms have reabsorbed their juices. Add the mushrooms to the pan with the pearl onions. In the pan that the mushrooms were cooked in, melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season the liver with salt and pepper and sauté briefly, about 2 minutes on each side. Keep warm. When the rabbit is done, remove the rabbit pieces from the casserole and hold, covered, in a warm place. Discard the bay leaves and the tarragon branch. Whisk in mustard and boil rapidly until the braising liquid is reduced to a sauce-like consistency. Adjust seasoning. Reduce the heat to low. Add the pancetta, pearl onions, and mushrooms to the casserole and stir to combine. Add the rabbit pieces back to the casserole and turn to coat evenly with the sauce. Ladle some of the sauce on the liver to coat and slice into four pieces. Place the rabbit pieces and the liver on a platter and spoon the sauce around. This is a delightful dish for spring, made with morels and served with egg noodles and asparagus or fiddlehead ferns. A variation we do for summer substitutes basil or summer savory for the tarragon and is served with new potatoes, tiny green beans and yellow and red cherry tomatoes. In the fall, try using chanterelle mushrooms and thyme accompanied by puréed root vegetables.

ARHHHHGGGG, they be changin the swillin world by sellin the Grog called the 2 buck Chuck exclusivly there ......Arrrggggh. Good stuff mateys, and if that don't blow yer bloomers up the $99 cent Clif bars will.