catbirdseat

This thread is a hidden gem. Some of the guys are adding some great thoughts, but Dru seems to be adding mostly chestbeating. The point is not whether highly experienced and competetent climbers should be doing ultralight climbs, but whether less experienced ones like myself should be doing it. Dru sounds like a guy who seldom will take out a newbie, which would explain why he has so little empathy. My two cents.

Klenke and I had a similar trip much earlier in the season on Lewis Peak which is right next to Morning Star Peak. We got very wet, but did make the summit. We had a lot of brush to contend with. You might have had a chance to summit with a larger party, but I kind of doubt it given your description.

...From a married man, no doubt.

That was that flaky dude from Spokane, eh? Ah, yes, but we did get a little climbing in that day anyway, didn't we?

I shouldn't say there was nothing falling. A couple of small rocks came down. One pebble hit Tomcat on his (helmeted) head. It was about 7 or 8 am and the temperature was about 20-25 degrees F. The sun can warm the rock even if the temperatures are below freezing. The entrance to the ledges faces south. You want to get there before sunrise. The exit of the ledges faces more west. As long as you are onto the exit chute before mid-day, the rock above will remain in shade. In the afternoon, it is all in the sun, then watchout, here it comes!

Oh, you mean Do Not Eats?

"I tweaked my arm in the gym yesterday".

SML isn't caused directly by fear. It is caused by fatigue, although fear slows you down, and that leads to fatigue.

I see no good reason to descend via Gib Ledges, except in mid winter and even then Ingraham Direct is faster if you take Cadaver Gap. The descent ends up being much later in the day when rock fall increases. Go down via Ingraham Direct or DC.

Josh, I know a guy whos hands sweat so bad that the chalk turns into library paste. Yuck. I heard about this cloth ball thingy filled with some material that sucks up the water from your hands. You kind of roll it around in your hands and it dries them without a lot of chalk. Know any thing about that?

You should know. You practice what you preach.

I think that Turkey is the model we should look to for the new government of Iraq. It is an islamic country with a strong secular tradition. It took a very strong leader like Mustafa Kemal Attaturk to make Turkey what it is today. I don't know if such a leader exists for Iraq.

Seriously, I happen to have very dry hands and I just don't seem to need it.

Hydrophobic Chalk = Aid

So true, so true. How about keeping the heels down. Does that help? Also, I imagine that if you can get more of your foot to support your weight, as opposed to just the toes, that would help take pressure off the calf muscle too.

I had a bout of SML, otherwise known as Elvis Syndrome, while leading a 5.7 pitch at Royal Columns this weekend. My right leg just wouldn't stay still. It wasn't particularly tired, either. I was trying to concentrate on getting a stopper into the crack, but I had to keep shifting my weight back and forth and climbing up and down so I could straighten the leg. What are some strategies for dealing with this problem?

Elvis Syndrome = Sewing Machine Leg

I went to a bachelor party once to which a stripper was invited. The groom got so drunk that he stripped naked and danced with the stripper. He made such a complete ass of himself that someone must have told his fiancee. The wedding was called off as a result. There were other shenanigans that I won't even go into. Suffice it to say I had not seen such debauchery before or since.

Bush is a big hypocrite. He'd turn the US into a theocracy if it would serve his purposes, which are to enrich himself and all his buddies.

The fact is that they are not anti-American. You want us to believe that because they disagree with us on one issue, such as the Iraq war, that they are now our enemy. That's a lot of hooey and you know it.

I've got a temporary consulting thing lined up with my former employer starting next week. It should last about a month. Hopefully, the economy will get turned around by the time that runs out.

Crikey, you got the worst medical care money can buy. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

Erik, you mean yes, it seems harder and yes, it will get easier?

What is it with the ratings at Royal Columns anyway? Everything seems way harder for its rating than anywhere I've climbed before. Harder than Leavenworth, Index, Mt. Erie, or Vantage. Is it just because it is generally more sustained climbing, or what? I've done some 5.3's at RC that seem harder than 5.6's at Great Northern Slab. Does it get easier as you get used to that kind of rock?