mike1

been on it a few times today without issues or black balls.

Glad he's gonna be ok.

Thanks Wayne. Late August though? I was assuming we would be dealing with some bergshrund issues, but recent information coming to light leads me to believe we should be able to rappel past the cracks onto the Mustard glacier. Good to go! Thanks all. Mike

still working on my plan for the pickets... does anyone have any first hand beta on this potential link up?

Maybe they black-balled you.

You should where sturdy boots made to accept crampons and bring crampons & axe.

I have one too. Everything you said =

Yeah... Okay, I made that up. So I had this pain for the first time while hiking out from an attempt on Stuart last season. I started feeling it near Ingalls and by the time I was on the trail to the parking lot it was causing me some good pain (maybe an 8). It was a deep pain in the front sole of my right foot just at the back edge of the ball or at the beginning of the arch and centered. It only really hurt on flat ground, but I felt fine when it was unweighted. Since I felt fine after the trip and never felt it again I figured it was some minor foot injury that healed... until yesterday. I did a 9 mile gorge hike and began to feel it again on the decent, though no where near as bad. But now I know it's not gone. I had done other climbs and hikes and jog 6 miles a day without issue. After a search of previous discussions, I see a few possible diagnosis. Bursitis and Morton's Neuroma. Does anyone have any other thoughts? Since this has only happened twice and over a good 9 months apart I'm having difficulty deciding on seeing a Dr. yet. Thanks in advance! Mike

bad rope, go lay down...

I should of had a few belts of whiskey before I watched it...

Can someone tell me where "Take" came from? My "take" on it is that it must have come from "take up slack". Bummer if your belay only heard "tamrrumr slack!" NOLS-WM has a pretty good section on safe communications separating the meanings of words by syllables and obvious sound differences like on-belay and belay-off in order to reduce confusion. Double syllables like tension, up rope, falling, got me, all mean the same to the belayer as well as single syllable words like slack... good stuff - except for "take". Something to talk about at the crag...

You should wear your helmet though. Those 40 OZers will put you on your knees for sure... Do any Vancouver WA folks know if the bleachers at the Washington State School for the Blind are open to the public?

falling debris, human error, equipment failure... The local crag is not immune to these. But, I'd say I see about 10% of the people at my local crag with helmets on. I understand the freedom aspect and am temped from time to time myself, but it just doesn't outweigh the safety aspect. The last thing I want is for my wife to have to decide when to pull the plug on my brain dead body. I wear my helemt always.

I want to believe...

Stinky.......

We discuss communication signals and define them before we leave the ground so there is no confusion. "Off belay!" (in my circle) is your signal that the lead is safe and beginning to set up the belay station. It's up to you to decide how far you can break things down and still remain safely attached as each situation will be different.

I found it very creepy.

Nice report. Way to get after it! Too bad about the camera...

Well, since you put it hat way... it does sounds like a good if not pleasant option. Something we can decide when we're looking at the route from Perfect Pass though? Thanks! I shot him a PM.

No worries really... just thinking ahead is all. I was planning it from Perfect Pass end and I'd take a technical glacier problem over a shwack any day.

I'm looking at the Pickets in late August early September and I’m assuming the Challenger will be completely opened up by then... Does anyone have any war stories about traversing it that late? Good? Bad? Ugly? Or just Challenging? Any late season pictures? We'll probably try it either way... just thinking it may add some time... THX!

Roll up your pants and do a little dance...

I know how you feel tvash... Fell a big ole birch a couple feet from the house piece by piece; removed a dozen arborvitae, a hawthorn tree, a few other smaller trees, and a couple rhododendrons, all said and done - 10 trailer loads of yard debris to the recycle center. Built 3 raised beds, a chicken coup and a rabbit hutch. Oh yeah, and I bought a few more cams!

I was climbing up there last summer and someone was pissing off the top. Just about hit some climbers to our left. They stopped after I screamed at them.... or maybe they were just done. Would it be so bad if cabbages were throwing heads of people off the cliffs?

in my own world.