Bill_Simpkins

The first time I went up this my hands felt like hamburger. I havn't had that problem the last few times. Just used my hands less.

I am going to be in Vegas this weekend. Looking for a local resident with wheels to climb with on Saturday. Just checking the area out is good enough, but climbing a little would be a bonus. I need to be back on the strip in the evening for a B-day party. pm me.

Lot's of water. Breathing. Light pack. Sweat Less. If your getting warm, shed the layers! The biggest thing that helps me is just staying calm. I try to stay relaxed as if I'm parked on the couch watching infommercials. If you stay relaxed your more likely to eat when your hungry, drink when your thirsty, and keep a comfortable pace. Taking in the veiw and reflecting why you got yourself up there in the first place helps a lot, that this is where you want to be. Last time I was on Rainier, I noticed that 75% of the people of there were all stressing out. WHY??? They were soooooo just fixed on the summit. They looked totally wasted and miserable. They weren't thinking clearly. One sign of this is almost everyone was wearing black gortex and long underwear at Camp Muir when it was like 70 degrees out! Holy crap people, THINK!!!!!! When even a little anxiety kicks in, the body goes to shit. Pack light! What would make altitude easier? Less work! The lighter you pack, the easier it is. A Shasta Pack shouldn't weigh over 20 pounds. A Rainier pack shouldn't weigh over 30. That's max. Camping up high the night before helps to. Pretty much all the same stuff you heard before. Just keep in mind that there seems to be a bit of randomness to how some people handle altitude. One time it can be a breeze. The next time your puking in a crevasse. My opinion spoken. Good luck with this and take care!

St. Josephs is in B'ham. Stop wasting your sick days being sick! Hope everything goes smoothly Friday. Be Well. -Bill

I have one. There are also two little tie points on each end. You tie a piece of cord between them and you have a regular gear loop on one side and the separated loops on the other. Best of both worlds. Sweet!

The Grivel 3rd tool works nice! Plus you can climb and self arrest with it! I've used it on aid routes too. The pick is good for pulling pins.

America needs to wake up. The problem is, no one wants to. It's too much work. It seems impossible, so we just accept it.

Does NOFX noodle around much?

Being inside solid rock is a definate advantage for a physics lab. Leavenworth, and the souranding area is probably the most solid place in Washington, acre to acre. Index might be a good canidate, but the weather is so shotty there it could interfer with certain particle detectors. This large area of solid rock might help in gravitational experiments. The Black Hills in SD would be good also. Dry climate, solid rock.

Aid climbing helped my placments a ton. Now I can pretty much just look at the spot and grab axactly what will fit. Plus almost every piece on an aid climb has to support body weight. The down side is cleaning. But learning to clean is almost just as important.

"The needs of many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one! You will always be my friend. Live long, and prosper"

Yeah, I heard straight from someone who climbed it last year. Someone said that new roads made the approach to the Southwest Route a lot shorter, to about half an hour or so. From this discussion, it's sounds like he was full of it, or he was thinking baout something else, or I misunderstood him. Next time I see him I'll ask him about it.

My altimiter was $15.00 brand new. It's one of those small ones you stick to the dash of your RV. It's actually not that bad, and is never far off from the digital ones. However, I've only brought it along a few times. I rarely ever bring a map or anything. Once though, a compass, map and altimeter saved me and a friend in heavy fog in the N. Cascades. It's all personal preference. For me, if the weather looks questionable, if the route is complicated, or there is lots of schwack'in, I'll bring a map and compass.

I have a set of the DMM TCU's. I love them. They have the doubled up sling, they are solid and lite. I agree that they can over cam and get stuck if you really cram them in. However I've only had this problem with the 0.5 purple. Other than that I use a set of WC tech friends, which are super solid, and doubles with forged friends because they are super lite.

Ruth Mt. Lady Peak-Cheam Range Sahale

Sunday was nice. There were just a couple of wet spots on Banana Peel. The smoke bluffs were sunny and warm and dry.

Use the rope or a runner. No daiseys or cord.

Not any more. I'm no longer a poor man! I just use the large Tech Friends now ! heheheh If I'm in somewhere where I'm saving weight, I belay/rappel on a munter. The munters work great, I use them all the time, although I prefer an ATC. As far as were to put the biner...If your harness has a belay loop...USE IT! If not, do it the other way.

Classic Crack Area - Leavenworth is ok at best. Start of Exasperator- Squish The start of the cracks at Shannon falls are good. I think the best thing to do around here is to throw a top rope at Octopus Gardens at Squish start at the left then switch anchors to the right and keep going. Tons of good cracks...its like crack school. Long pitches of hand cracks and others. I can't think of better place to learn around here. The route that goes through that small tree is very good for techique, so is the Octopus Garden route. That's my 2 cents. Good luck. My friend has a good way to make solid cracks out of 2 x 6's at home. They are solid and adjustable. PM me and I'll put you in touch. He lives down there he might be able to help you build them.

E-mail the factory and ask them what they think. To tell you the truth, I personally would just put it in an aid rack for C0-C1 stuff. It's not worth it to take the chance or to have that doubt if your about to peel off and that thing is 5 feet below you. The cam that broke in Vantage a while back comes to mind. They can break. Dru had a good idea to bounce test it, but still I personally would get wigged-out free climbing above it.

I tried thrashing over there from 3 'O Clock Rock two years ago and suffered greatly. Not reccommended.

A ball nut is helpful on the first pitch of Iron Horse. Even though most of it is C1, I would say there is one C2 move between the pins and the anchor. But the gear around the move is solid. A sky hook was helpful for the flake below the first anchors.

Going to Vantage to jam cracks on Sunday.

For glacier I use a 30m, 8.3 mm dry rope. I've led lot's of rock pitches with it in the mountains also. Regular cord works well for ascending, but I use the skinny, thin tubular webbing.

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