Redoubt

Oh come on! You think dying is the most dangerous part of climbing? I don't think it comes close to blisters, or the time I scraped the back of my hand in a jam crack.

Whether it comes in one or not, it can be decanted into that Jack Daniels traveler you drained on the last trip. Always a good idea to hang onto one or two empty plastic travelers for whatever you want to fill them with. My choice for backcountry sipping is either single malt or, when funds are tight, a small batch bourbon like Knob Creek. Small batch bourbons are basically select barrel bourbons not blended with water, which regular bourbons are. Really like carrying bourbon concentrate. Wonderful right out of the bottle, but if you like don't like your bourbon quite that strong, or need to stretch the supply one more night, a bit of water thins it down to the strength of most regular bourbons. Hmmmm. 8 AM. I wonder if it's too early......

Well, I'm all for self-sufficiency out there, and I'm bothered by people needing rescue because of "preventable" things like poor preparation, poor conditioning, and poor decision-making, and I'd love to see fewer rescues hitting the news and using my tax dollars. But I also know that shit happens out there even to the best. And when it does, I'd want a trained SAR team coming in for me if at all possible. First of all, I think this personal rescue squad idea would only make sense if there is some communication with the injured climber (i.e. cell phone, word sent out with another party, etc.). Otherwise, how do you know that it is a relatively tame broken ankle or a life-threatening compound fracture or a head injury? Were I the victim, I would not want any rescuers assuming my injuries were not serious. I'd prefer they assume that the clock is ticking and speed was of the essence. As far as one's own buddies doing the rescue, we all know that the vast majority of climbers (including me and my usual partners) are far better at climbing than at rescue. Most of us can figure a lot of things out on the fly, but how many of us practice lowering and raising and carrying techniques, and first aid, enough to do a better job than the typical SAR team? Maybe you have buddies that are stronger and faster than 95% of the SAR people out there. But there's more to a rescue than getting there fast and being able to lift a lot. I've got some good partners, but I would rather have a large number of trained SAR people, with all the resources they can call on, coming in to get me. And I really don't care if the SAR team has a bunch of out-of-shape trainees as long as the team is led by some people who know their stuff. Pride? No problem there for me. If I need a rescue, I need a rescue, and I don't really care at that point about keeping it a secret. I like to think I'd never let pride get in the way of my safety. With proper advance training, a spouse can be taught to know that MOST rescues that occur are not life or death situations, even when SAR is called in. And, finally, that "no chopper" con is a big one. Conditions allowing, they can speed a search tremendously. And when one is able to safely get in and pluck someone out of there, the victim will very quickly get to wherever he/she should be and won't get dropped onto that bad ankle, and rescuers can get out of harm's way. Having said all of that, I think lots of things are possible if you have a cell phone with you. That is not a recommendation for one. I do, turned off and in the bottom of my pack, in case the shit hits the fan, but I understand the position of people who don't want one with them out there. But the fact is that they open up rescue possibilities, and my guess is that satellite phones will eventually be commonly seen in the backcountry. If one has a phone with them, and something happens where you need some help but are not seriously threatened, you have lots of possibilities for getting help. Calling in SAR, calling your climbing buddies, or (ready for this?) using your high-tech phone to make a real-time post to the new RESCUERS WANTED forum on cc.com! Vigilante rescue! I'd be interested in the comments of any SAR people on Jens original post.

Chris, I would give some more thought to why you wear a helmet and why you take it off at belays when it's hot. You won't fall and hit your head while belaying (I hope!), but belays are generally no safer from rockfall than the pitch you just climbed. Tim, I'd agree that there may be no right or wrong here, but there is certainly more safe and less safe. And I make judgements about climbers all the time based on how much avoidable risk they are exposing themselves to. There are times and places when not wearing a helmet is absolutely stupid.

Priceless.

Geez, dude, 3 or 4 years old? I'd suggest that you keep that to yourself if you want anyone to take your opinions as clear, logical, thoughtful and reasoned. You obviously quit thinking at a very young age. Thanks for putting all your previous posts into such clear perspective.

I'm sure you're correct on the first point. And on the one hand I think you're probably right about the second. On the other hand, however one feels about what we're doing over there, no one will be exactly shocked if we're hearing these same two themes next year, or the year after. "Eventually" is a pretty easy deadline to make.

I agree that cycling is much more specific to climbing than is running. I still do both. I like to run and can train in a higher HR zone running than I can cycling. And I really think that running, especially downhill, alleviates the problem Jon mentions about downhill kicking his ass. A couple of my old climbing partners got into bike racing. They became animals on the uphill, and cramped and tired terribly on the downhill. They were getting no eccentric training on their quads. They tossed in just a bit of running and it seemed to take care of the problem. They had the quad strength - just needed to hit the eccentric phase a bit to prepare for what the quads need to do coming downhill.

8.5 inches does seem a bit short, especially when you had to double it. Those 4.25 inch pitches just seem to be over before you know it. But I guess if you can stretch it out full length for simul-climbing..., and the weight savings are undeniable. Still, I think I'd go with 17 or 18 inches at least, extra weight be damned!

This thread just jumped the shark. Big time.

Just curious, do you feel the same way about North Cascades National Park? A trail up Access Creek to Luna Col to make Fury more accessable? A new bridge over the Chilliwack and rebuild the Easy Ridge trail to make it easier to get to Perfect Pass and Challenger? Both of these would very likely take some heat off of Boston Basin and other heavily used areas. And if the West Side Road did not exist, would you be in favor of building a new road in that area to "open it up so we can enjoy it?" I'm not trying to be contentious as much as to point out that this is obviously (I think) a tough balancing act. Some of us do value a wilderness experience, and it's getting harder to find as more and more people are seeking the same. Keeping some areas hard to reach, and having quotas in popular areas, are really the only things that will make that experience at all available in the future.

I also think that by the time the second gets to the squeeze, you're close enough to the belay above for the leader to drop you a bight of rope and haul the pack before you climb the chimney. As far as not doing the chimney, there is a variation to the Burgner-Stanley that moves right well below the chimney and then regains the route at the base of the final pitch. Never done it, but I think I'll try it next time, 'cause I think the squeeze sucks.

I don't, unless you are going to do the climb with doubles or twins anyway. It's a very straightforward single rope descent and there's no reason to lug an extra rope just for the descent. Four raps from good stations, as I recall, but toss in some extra webbing. And rapping the W Ridge does work okay. Just more downclimbing and some rope tossing issues since you're traversing so much. I've done both a few times and prefer the north side.

NOHHH shit.... one of the biggest hypocracies of modern times. Yeah, how can anyone be AGAINST offing an innocent fetus and FOR frying someone who rapes and murders a 12-year old? Incredible! Definitely "one of the biggest hypocracies of modern times."

Sometimes a TR comes along that reminds us all just why it is we climb. It's times like this when I wish we could all have a big group hug, and not be ashamed of the tears that slowly slide down our faces. Thanks, Ivan, ya big palooka, for helping us remember why we play this crazy game called climbing.

No pictures?

Three and a half hours for us last time, at a moderate pace, packs around 50 pounds, and 20 minute stop at Horse Camp. From what I could tell, that was a pretty typical pace for others on the approach.

Do what I did. Yank out the worthless elastic belt it came with (I think I had to remove a couple stitches) and replace it with a $2.50 3/4" non elastic belt that REI sells. Slides easily into the belt slots and those pants will quit trying to constantly ride halfway down your butt.

It was the fact that your name was prominently written, Mountie-style, on the front of your helmet.

No. The fit of the Mistrals is terrible. And I think everyone here is avoiding the obvious. The best system is shorts over polypro and you all know it!

This is from the Biceps Curl description in Clyde Soles' training book. I had forgotten this until reading about Layton's recent transgressions in Anatomy lab. "A single-joint exercise to isolate and build the big guns for climbing greatness. Since males subconsciously associate biceps girth with penis size, there are numerous exercise options available at most gyms." Keep those measurements comin' boys!

I'd say you've got it exactly right. But because of the setting, if you like alpine bivies, spending a night on the ledge Off_White mentions really elevates the climb's appeal. Highly recommended.

Several (probably most) of the bags I looked at said that the shells were water repellent, or had a DWR finish, or something like that. How well any of them work is a mystery to me. FF has an EPIC option and I felt that might be the most water resistant, but that's probably just because I've been hit with all the marketing hype. I haven't seen anything about any comparative testing that's been done on any of these.

I just spent quite a while looking at down bags with a 15 to 20 degree rating and somewhere around 2 pounds. I needed a bit of extra shoulder girth and wanted some water repellency in the shell. I ended up with a Marmot Helium. Great loft and more shoulder girth than most others, no collar but a good top closure, and a Pertex Quantum shell and lining. Downsides were a shorter zipper than others and a retail of $359 (less 20% with the latest REI coupon). I am 6 feet 1/2 inch tall and this also was the only bag I found where the regular length was long enough for me. The other bags I liked were the WM Ultralite (awesome bag but a bit tight for me) and the Mountain Hardware Phantom 15 (has a collar, almost went with this but the Helium had a slightly better fit for me). The REI Sub Kilo is great for the price, but also narrow and I don't think as good a loft as some of the others and maybe a bit overstated as to its warmth. The Moonstone Lucid 800 is one to look at. Ugly as sin white/transparent color but nice loft. Mont Bell makes a few bags (Alpine Huggers?) that might work for you but seemed to have the lightest and least durable shells that I saw (also saw one MB with no zipper at all!). I didn't think the Mountainsmith Vision had the loft of the others, otherwise a nice bag. I don't think you can go wrong with a FF Swallow with an EPIC shell. Very nice bags. I would have had to go to the Swift for the shoulder room I wanted and the weight starts to climb. And I didn't want to wait to have it made. Lots of good bags and there's a lot of personal preference involved. My choice was made largely on fit. I would get into all of them and see how cramped you feel (if 60" shoulder girth is enough for you then you'll have a larger selection than I did), check out the zipper length if that's important to you (several have short zippers), see how easy it is to zip everything up snug and then get unzipped (not so easy sometimes!), not all of them have collars, not all have water repellent shells (and those that do are all different!), if you're anywhere near 6 feet tall you need to see if you need a long instead of a regular, and lay them out and look at the loft. The temperature ratings just get you in the ballpark. And be aware that all bags in this range are getting some of their weight savings from lightweight fabric and will need a bit of extra care. Good luck!

Yeah, good point. Except maybe for one or two things that generally don't apply to single pitch climbs, like reracking and organizing and making sure the leader has all the gear including the slings, possibly reflaking the rope, maybe reinforcing the anchor now that all the gear is available, dealing with the pack and making sure you get anything out of it you need before leaving, how to handle the changeover if you are leading in blocks vs swinging leads, making sure the next leader has the autoblock belay device if you're using one, making sure the belayer has the nut tool if you're sharing one, making sure the leader has the topo, making sure the leader uses part of the anchor as a first clip if appropriate, making sure the leader places something soon to protect against the factor 2 fall, maybe repositioning and resetting stuff to belay a leader instead of a follower, and a few other minor details. But yeah, it's mostly just about building a multi-directional belay anchor. Just go out and do it. Or do some reading and shorten your learning curve.