Sol

thanks for the photo and the contact beta. what do other folks think about the modified gri-gri, solid or shady? I know there was a lengthy report in a recent AINAM about a guy whose gri-gri failed while soloing on el cap but I beleive that had to do with the guy's biner becoming cross-loaded and breaking. anybody have any expereinces or stories they would like to share? my only concern is that as the gri-gri was not designed for this purpose it may lack the strength to catch big falls.

ya know i've heard something like that too. what kind of experiences have y'all had with different diameter ropes on the sp. ideally i'd like to use a 10.5 to 11mm rope for aid, and a 9.8 for free climbing. i've heard that with a thick rope that it does not feed well, any thoughts?

thanks for the info folks.

i'd plan on wearing it on my harness. kinda sounds like a hassle for the lower out. does anybody out there use the gri-gri for soloing? have you fallen on it?

i've been pondering buying a silent partner lately and having done some research I have a couple of questions? 1. How would one lower out on a pendulum whilst using the silent partner? I could imagine placing a gri-gri or belay device above the sp and working the rope through both devices but that just sounds like a bag...? 2. After taking a fall on the sp is there any way to gain your previous high point by using just the sp, or would you have to use your jumars to jug back up? I know a lot of people use gri-gri's to solo because they are very easy to use in the above 2 situations. Because the gri-gri is not designed for soloing i'm just not into it. any thoughts on how the sp would work in these scenarios greatly appreciated, thanks.

thanks.

i did something to my arm yesterday while climbing in the gym. I was locked off underneath a roof with my right arm on a positive 5 inch knob that was pointing away from me,parallel to the ground, my body was horizontal and i repeatedly attempted and pulled a cross over move above the right arm with my left ( hope that makes sense). after being lowered i felt a soreness on the outside of my right arm (brachioradialis, i think). Later that night i could also feel pain on the other side of my elbow, towards my hand, while extending and stretching out my arm. I iced it and took ibu. any thoughts as to what i may have done? treatment ideas? thanks in advance for any info.

thanks, i'll have to check out osprey.

So, i've been looking for a pack to use in and out of bounds, and all i've been finding is stupid gizmo ridden bullshit. what I want: the ability to carry either a snowboard or skis, plus a way to carry tools, enough room for skins, water, shovel, probe, and a puffy, and for god sakes it should be under 3 pounds(preferably around 2 lbs). i've checked out da kine's heli pro but there's no way to carry tools, BD dosen't think snowboarders would have anything to do with alpinism so there's no way to carry a board, BCA are just crazy heavy and expensive. anybody out there have any suggestions? thanks.

I solo-ed the ruth icy traverse last spring on my splitboard. If your not using some type of snow travel gear faster then snowshoes it will take a very long time. When descending from ruth to the icy col I had two options. I ended up riding the upper coul0our which was quite steep and then on the return ascent booted up the lower coulour which was a bit less steep. I think this section would be quite interesting right now (mixed, not filled in). the traverse takes longer than you think. I got a late start the first day and bivied near hannegan pass. the next day I skinned up ruth with my bivy gear, stashed bivy gear on summit, descended to col, climbed icy rode icy, climbed back up to ruth, picked up bivy gear and then rode that big old face on ruth (awesome, awesome ,awesome). a traverse that shouldn't be missed, but might now be in stellar conditions right now. but,on a side note, a friend of mine just rode 5 ft of fresh on goat mtn on sunday, and said it was awesome. anyhoo, good luck.

Cool. sounds great. thanks.

long time snowboarder looking for size 10-10.5 tele boots so I can use my girlfriends extra tele setup on groomer days. not picky at all, if they fit i'm game. cheap is good. will barter.

thanks for the link. sound badass! I still have questions about that roof? any info would be appreciated. thanks.

Torment-Forbidden Traverse: many different challenges, hardest route climbed with my girlfriend. Davis Holland/Lovin Arms: Classic granite. Enough said. Mt. Baker N.Ridge: Way more interesting than any other route I've climbed on Baker. It was all about style though: car to car in 12 hours. Clean Break, juno tower: it's all about the line. NE Butt of Goode: A little ice, a bunch of rock, a chunk of wilderness, and a damn near circumnavigation of the peak.

thanks guys, great info. Keep it coming if you got info to add.

Went out to colchuck lake this september with my girlfriend with plans to climb serpentine on dragontail first, then the west face of colchuck balanced rock. luckily for me we got snowed out near the top of dragontail and had to abandon the balanced rock climb (I was super intimidated of that roof). Wondering how often the west face gets climbed? how stout is the 5.11 up there? I'm into attempting to free the long corner crack I just don't know about the roof. what's the roof pitch like for the leader if it is aided(gear, grade,etc.)? or the follower, if jugging? thanks.

There is proabaly worse routes out there but some of these "classics" just didn't live up to their reputation. 1. Northeast ridge of trimuph: hyped-up vegetated climbing with 9 ft. of real climbing, and some of the worst rappel anchors around. 2.Condorphamine Addiction route: over-rappel-bolted nightmare. only route i've ever climbedn where my partner and I were able to repeatedly clean two quickdraws at the same stance. 3.NE Buttress of Sleese: Like triumph, vegetated and chossy. the worst part being the ability to see the clean granite on the north rib the entire time(next year ). 4.East Butt Direct, South Early Winter Spire: just did not live up to the hype. mostly chossy, funky. 5.Diedre. boring, over-rated, tick-marked, over-hyped, busy.

So i've got a few aluma-heads that i've been practicing placing in choss rock on the ground. they ususally seem to stick for about 20 seconds or about two bounce tests before they rip depositing me in a pile on the ground. granted, I usually place them in very shallow placements in an effort to see the limits of this type of protection. i've been using a stubby lost arrow or the back of my hammer to place them. My question: what is in your head kit? chisels, wire brushes, chewing gum? any do you have any beta on placing them. i've clipped some really bomber ones up north on cannabis wall that were absolutely welded to the rock, i.e. bomber. i have not been able to replicate such placements and i think it is because I do not have the right tools. any thoughts? thanks.

thanks coondog. any other thoughts folks?

I think I may have a hernia but i'm not sure. I feel an uncomfortable feeling behing the family jewels that isn't exactly painful, more like something is in the wrong position creating a feeling of uncomfort. I am a waiter and after working last weekend if felt aggravated. Today after my PE class it also feels aggravated. Is there any way I can figure out on my own if I have a hernia (in between medical insurance right now)? Will physical activity make it worse? thanks ahead for any info.

Late evening last halloween my bro tyree and I were descending from the upper town wall after climbing the green dragon when we met this crazy mad scientist locking up the tunnel. we were picking his brain about what went down in there. in a really creepy mad scientist halloween voice he told us, " experiments....with gravity....experiments." from what we gathered its used by the university of washington to conduct experiements on gravity. they use the tunnel because the solid index granite that surrounds the tunnel prevents the gravitaional pull of the poles from affecting the....experiments.

nope too wide, actually i just scored a 172 off of ebay. word, stoked.

i'm looking for last year's Burton Cascade 168( it's a snowboard ). if anyone knows where i can find one please holler at me. thanks

Rumor has it that the golden arch is the best aid line on the upper town wall, anyone agree, disagree? also, any special trickery or rack recommendations? and, what's up with the crux a3+ pitch? Is it still a3+, and what exactly does a3+ mean at index? some may think that last question is stoo-pid but I've noticed quite a disceprancy between aid ratings at index and those at squamish, any thoughts?

what up softy? clip that angle and send. ha.