dmuja

Way to go Mr Klenke!

Joseph, Have you fallen on the Edelrid Eddy? It looks intriguing to me and may be worth a try. Looks easy on the rope (relatively). Its funny, but I worry more about falling with a bit of slack on TR solo because of so little rope being out = bigger fall forces = possible severed rope if you have the wrong device. Most people think TR solo is safer but if you got something with teeth and some slack built up and then very little dynamics in the rope compared to leading.. I wonder.. sorry for the drift

dass da place, thanx!

Who around Seattle might do it? Stuff like adding gear loops to a pack - sewing cord attachment points to sil nylon tents - adding down to a golite sleeping bag - cutting and sewing a light weight synthetic sleeping bag into an emergency bivy blanket??? JN at pro mountain mentioned someone (some company) but I cant remember.. Thanks for responses

Way to go man! Sounds like you came prepared. Congrats. No real trip report here but, http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/810546#Post810546 just a brief description and a couple pics from our trip on the 24th. Ours became an epic for several reasons and we descended the WR coulior in the dark - not fun. Its a fairly big route, and personally I think its good to bring bivy gear on this one.

Tuesday, we did some of this.. and some of this.. and unfortunately, some of this too.. over 24 hours on the WR, down climbing in the dark, spanked by a big complex and underrated hill. Go prepared or be lucky.

Now that's funny Dane, Ok 99% maybe too high, lets say 90 % if you include all the 5.4-5.6 unrehearsed "approach scrambles"...

Sure, I think it can work both ways. Maybe Im over emphasizing the "ego" thing here and I don't mean to cuz thats not the point. I'll just say that Im not ashamed of my ego and further that there is little in this endeavor -no matter what form it takes- that is not about ego in some respect. Re: "First Ascent" credits etc.. Some are less willing to admit that, while others simply aknowledge it and move on. Its fun, and gratifies my ego, so what, lets get on with it. I am not questioning the motives of any climber or style of climbing for mine are as impure as the next guys. (I will admit however that I never really got the modern "project" type of climbing where you work something from the top down for weeks and then claim a first ascent - but again thats just me and there's plenty to critisize on my side of the fence as well). All Im saying is that free solo climbing is 99% of the time rehearsed climbing. You can take that fact however you want to, for some it will mean nothing, while for others it puts the feat in a clearer perspective (clearer for them). One thing I really like about solo'rs is that they probly make good partners in that they are less likely to call "take".

Well as a musician, I always try to hear my music the way a non-musician listener might hear it, raw. That way I get the perspective of what is "honest" in the music, no trade secrets that only the musician knows - ei polished, overly produced, rehearsed, they even have gadgets that will correct your tone if it's off pitch! So from a non-climbers perspective, (ie beginners mind Zen sorta thing) it looks like this: Whoa! dude climbed that freakin mountain without a rope! Man is he crazy? Dude gets the girl and golden cookie award for his ego and for having giant size gonads! But the climber (solo'r) knows that half the battle never really happened. The intricacies of working out the moves has at least been greatly diminished if not removed entirely. Route finding - a fundamental problem (challenge) that is essential to what most people think of as climbing - has been taken out of the equation. Tell the girl (ego) that "well, really I have done this route a dozen times before.. etc.." and see if she still goes home with you. Im not saying that there is no challenge to soloing, just that if were honest about it, we will see it for what it really is - ei Dru's "..driving without a seatbelt..". I guess im simply saying lets get honest about this and trash the image of the solitary super human zen solo'r, completely one with the rock who wants nothing to do with ego, an audience, topo or rope for that matter. Its mostly illusion (rehearsed) with few (maybe a handful in the world) exceptions. Personally, I believe safe climbing is an art in itself. I like this saying I read hear a while ago, "if you can't protect the pitch, you got no buisness climbing it." Not that that is completely the case here, but it illustrates that there are things about climbing that only climbers know. So have at it, it's cool and all that - and yes Ive "soloed" easy shit 5.6 and below - mostly when I wanted to get the hell off of it. But in fact, I'll revoke my earlier statement and say that I am probably impressed by intentional free solo climbing to an extent - just not as much as I would be if I didn't know certain things about it. And like other aspects of climbing "sport" and "siege climbing" it's just not what I got into it for. Mountains dudes, I want to climb mountains, with ropes and gear and well.., thats just me.

Anything within the red line below is in the 'North Cascades grizzly bear recovery area'. Estimates are between 5-20 bears in the Washington state cascades. Don't know about this particular "sighting" but I wou'int be surprised - to see one attending Belvue Community College some day. "A recovery plan has been in place since 1997, but the federal government hasn't yet begun to implement it. " http://www.conservationnw.org/wildlife-habitat/grizzly-bear http://www.bearinfo.org/recovery.htm http://www.nps.gov/noca/naturescience/bear-safety.htm

Its mostly relative.. Personally im not impressed at all by solo'rs (no matter how difficult the climbing is) who Know the route because its their home crag or because they have rehearsed every move a kazillion times- its just a simple monkey concentration game then. (this is soloing's dirty little secret) Now onsighting the unknown - and if it's near or at your physical limit- that's impressive.

Thanks people Just to follow up.. Yeah, the cough starts while on the climb, and then it continues for a few days afterwards as well (dry up high, then produces phlem beginning on the drive home usually). I don't keep records of it (maybe I should) but it seems to be confined to Mt Hood climbs only which I tend to do in one day - departing from sea level. All other volcano climbs are multi day trips for me (felt fine on Rainier, Adams, Baker) - which perhaps is allowing my body to acclimatize somewhat Im guessing. It usually hits me around the fumerals on Hood which might be the (or part of the problem) OR it may just be that they (fumerals) are at the right altitude for problems to start rather than the fumes themselves. [bTW, The fumes vary depending on the wind direction etc,. Ive been up there when you could not smell them and also when they nearly cause you to pass out.] Also want to particularly thank iluka for responding as he is a Doc who has spent quite a bit of time studying in the Himalaya and lecturing about Altitude related illness. Check out one of his talks when they come around if you can.

Sheeite, this one had so much dumb written all over it that I found myself getting more and more pissed just reading as I knew what was coming! Not that I don't error on occasion, but getting a partner like this (or these) is probly what scares me the most about climbing. Glad it ended relatively well though.

one nice thing 'bout "rock fest" is that it emptied out the gym. Me and my kid (dads day weekend ya know) had a total blast with the whole thing to ourselves!

Whoa, lotta snow indeed! Thanks for the beta and pics guys.

So right now I use my old Solomon SM lights for volcanoe hiking and even occasional steep alpine ice (with pons). The climbing Id like to get more into may require going from that (see previous sentence) to mixed ice/rock to vertical rock face and cracks etc, all in one pitch. I don't mind switching from pons to no-pons when terrain calls for a change but, id like to keep the same boots on for the "harder" ("harder" for me) alpine rock climbing say 5.8 to 5.10. So, whats the best boot for technical rock? Should be: ~light weight and flexi for the approach and possible carries. ~stiff enough to climb steep snice ~crampon compatible of coarse ~Super grippy and with good edging suggestions are greatly appreciated..thnx

Looking for any recent up to date beta on the route (west ridge stu) and Longs pass approach conditions. Our plan is to camp, so not a one day. Mostly looking for snow report on route and approach, temps to be expected. Were going next week. pertinent info welcome and much apreciated

for viruses, "coldeze" and "zicam"

Or, maybe because the LaFarge cement plant creates jobs and because this city needs concrete, which requires cement. Gee, concrete requires cement? Who woulda thought.. I call BS in your general direction.. You think maybe there have been some advances in production methods and stack emissions reducing technology in the years since the Lafarge plant began spewing out dioxin all over the Duwamish valley populations? Its not a question of "jobs vs clean air", it's a question of usually lazy, short sighted, greedy people in positions of power (whether private or public) actually caring (or not?) enough to do something helpful for people who -for mostly economic reasons- are too easily brushed aside. In other words, do they want to bother, do they want to spend a little to benefit some folks who they could really just ignore? No one says you have to have jobs at the expense of our health anymore -unless youre still stuck in the 1930's- you can have both. But whats a few hundred cancer deaths per year as long as we can fool ourselves with the thought that we're keeping the trains running on time or some other out dated slogan.. So, you are weaving some emotionally-charged hatred for LaFarge, without even the slightest bit of evidence that their operation violates mandated industrial emissions requirements? That's bright. If any of you treehuggers really cared about this "carbon footprint" crap, you wouldn't be singing the praises of the Toyota Prius (and it's ilk). The "carbon footprint" on those cars are worse than most. Lafarge, poor little 1.2 billion dollar company.. Mandated emissions standards? You tell me what the product of burning tires is? Want your kids breathing it? On certain days, I look up when the wind is right and see a yellow cone of toxic haze coming off the Lafarge stack. To the south, down wind, the yellow haze eventually covers the sky and goes from horizon to horizon. To the north, up wind, the sky is bright and clear. Im not the only one to observe this as there is some history behind the issue with the residents of southwest seattle. Also, no one claims that Lafarge is the only source of toxic air in the Duamish basin, just that they are one of the more obvious. So what do you do when you're not trying to run tree huggin Prius owners off West Marginal with your cement truck? hard to tell from the pic..

Go ahead, laugh it up if you want to, I can take it.. We stayed at the koa in 11town last week cuz my partner jumped the gun when he heard some camps were closed in Icicle. Turns out, it coulda been worse. We actually got some sleep because most people had young kids with them (early bed time) and they werent up drinkin all night, we had a corner shaded spot, got a free burger dinner and had a 5 buck cakes and eggs breakfast to boot. and there's showers for the dirt bags..

my excuse this weekend (and possibly the next 2) is my quarterly occurring ankle sprain - this time an eversion (inside ankle) sprain, quite unusual for normal people, not for me though..

Or, maybe because the LaFarge cement plant creates jobs and because this city needs concrete, which requires cement. Gee, concrete requires cement? Who woulda thought.. I call BS in your general direction.. You think maybe there have been some advances in production methods and stack emissions reducing technology in the years since the Lafarge plant began spewing out dioxin all over the Duwamish valley populations? Its not a question of "jobs vs clean air", it's a question of usually lazy, short sighted, greedy people in positions of power (whether private or public) actually caring (or not?) enough to do something helpful for people who -for mostly economic reasons- are too easily brushed aside. In other words, do they want to bother, do they want to spend a little to benefit some folks who they could really just ignore? No one says you have to have jobs at the expense of our health anymore -unless youre still stuck in the 1930's- you can have both. But whats a few hundred cancer deaths per year as long as we can fool ourselves with the thought that we're keeping the trains running on time or some other out dated slogan..

Not sure but I thought I jus heard on the "news" that that mayor no-fun may be backing off a bit on this one. Maybe he got flooded with with emails or something - hope it continues. First the dumb fuck went after the strip clubs, red light runners, and now this (tongue a bit in cheek) I could see limiting the days to say one or two days a weekend between certain hours and so on (7pm-2am for example).. But a total ban is fuckin stupid. Just to appease the newb yuppie condo owners. Why dont they fucking clean up the Lafarge cement plants genuinely carcinogenic emissions that paint the entire sky yellow on many summer days? Maybe because it only really impacts the lower economic areas of south and southwest seattle.

round trip... If yr in good (climbers) shape, up and down in 3-5 hours might be in the ball park. If yr a weekend hiker (or less) , it might be double that. In good conditions, you can practically fly up with light boots on and little els. In bad conditions, it can turn into a long scary slog and if you werent prepared with the right gear you might disappear - as a number of folks have done in the past.

bruces boulder is a beginners area with large steel anchors on top (walk up). If you learn to build safe anchors with gear it will open up a lot of stuff to top rope in the canyon- 'coarse you'll probly be leading by then..