Rad

Lovely. I've spent a lot of time looking at that face for reasons you might guess. It looked too ledgy and brushy and low angle to be of much interest for rock climbing, plus the fact that if you trundled things off the face they could easily hit people on the trail. Your ice line concept seems like a good idea. The window would be small each year given the seasonal road closure. I look forward to seeing more of your adventures up there!

Sounds like an amazing adventure. I'm not one to tell you what to do or not to do. As Jimi Hendrix said, "I'm the one that's going to have to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my own life the way I want to" (If 6 was 9). Risk is an essential part of climbing for many of us, and we all have to find the level that suits us best. However, with maturity most of us come to realize that the pain our death or disability would inflict on our families, friends, partners, and communities is greater than we would experience ourselves. Read this thoughtful piece from Colin Haley, a local legend who did a lot of soloing in his younger years.... https://www.colinhaley.com/a-brief-visit-to-patagonia-and-reflections-on-hard-solo-climbing/

Beautiful. Thanks for posting. Heads up: messaging in the climbing community and more broadly has strongly suggested not climbing and dialling back risk taking so as not to occupy the health care system, SAR people and equipment, and the rest of the SAR chain in the event of an accident/injury. If you do get out, act as if you're on Baffin Island, with no possibility of a rescue, and understand that there will be a lot of armchair second guessing of your decisions. The mountains will still be there.

Some scary ass shit for realz.

You sure are a smart ass.

Laps in knee deep pow sounds like a pretty good consolation prize.

A few weeks ago we went to Canada to ski and sadly hit a skunk shortly before arriving at the Canadian border. The whole car reeked. We didn't say anything and Canadian border guard didn't ask about it or say anything. Then coming back into the US a few days later the car still smelled slightly of skunk, which some think smells like weed. For the first time I can remember, the US border guard opened the back of our van. He didn't go digging through bags or anything, and he didn't comment on the smell. He shut the back and sent us on or way. As a family of 5 in a minivan we probably don't fit their profile of drug smugglers.

Well, you can do this but you need notarized forms.

Wow! Scary and inspiring all at once. I'm really glad you're going to be OK. Doing a self-rescue from a serious injury that high on a face is something you should be proud of, and perhaps will be in time. It seems you guys did a lot of things right. Many years ago, in early fall Alex and I ascended a rock line right around where your red line is. The rock climbing was super fun and solid and moderate, but the line meandered back and forth, ascending from ledge to ledge, so the aesthetics weren't quite so great. The upper half of Sloan is like a multi-tiered wedding cake. I can only imagine how beautiful it would be with winter frosting. I'm glad to see someone get up there. Great job and thanks for posting!

Thanks for the heads up. The "check for more than the amount" is a classic scam. They've prob stolen or forged the checks and want to pocket some cash before the check bounces. Glad you didn't fall for it.

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing that.

Wow! Nice work! As you prepare for bigger objectives, consider watching the Alpine Mentors videos from Steve House to up your mental game. Really good stuff. They are on the page here: https://www.alpinementors.org/ Happy New Year y'all!

Ivan on lap 187 of Das Baconlard in a Class 3 atmospheric river, then getting a speedy 188 in a sun break: Video

What's the difference between a sewer and a sewer? . . . One sews shit and the other sows shit (I have to pay $$$ to fix the latter recently so that shit is on my mind).

Brad Gobright died in a fall in Potrero Chico. Kyra Condie and Nathanial Coleman qualified for the Olympics and local star Sean Bailey came super close (videos on IFSC Youtube). Emily Harrington had a big fall on El Cap but walked away with only minor injuries. I think I have emotional whiplash.

Ditto. I often get sweaty hiking to the start of technical climbing and will change into a clean dry base layer before roping up and launching. Best to avoid getting sweaty in the first place, if possible, but carrying a pack swiftly uphill is going to lead to sweat for me in most conditions. Don't be silly, start chilly!

The heli pilots should have a good indication of where these goodies were tossed. Or maybe we can look for nibbling goats and snaffles acting strangely.

A complicated selection process is turning into a hot mess as the japanese climbing federation sues IFSC over Olympic selection issues. I know some of you old curmudgeons don't care about climbing in the Olympics, but it's a big deal, and Team Japan has been dominating comps for a few years now. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Hopefully IFSC can fix this mess sooner rather than later. Japanese article on JMSCA suing IFSC Discussion of same

Abandoned property. Climbers usually only leave gear mid-route when they are retreating. My partner and I bailed off Gorillas in the Mist a few years ago when we got off route up high in the face of approaching wet weather. We rapped down complex, overhanging terrain in the dark, leaving multiple nuts, slings, and carabiners. We split the cost of the gear we left behind. It's loss was a small price to pay for safely getting off the route. It didn't occur to me then, and doesn't now, that we might ask future parties to collect our abandoned gear and return it to us. That seems like a very entitled attitude. Whoever finds these things is welcome to keep them. If that person chooses to search for the owners because that's what they want to do, then that's their prerogative. In another example, I inadvertently left my helmet high on the corkscrew trail on Sloan when Brandon and I unroped to scramble for the summit after climbing Diamond in the Rough. A few years later, I was communicating with another Sloan climber and learned that he had found my helmet and brought it down the mountain. He kindly offered to return it, but at that point I had chalked it up as lost for good and had replaced it. I told him he could keep it or pass it on to someone else who could use it.

One person's bolt ladder is another person's free climbing project: NOT BOOTY. Bolt ladder leading up to the Kompressor on Fitz Roy: BOOTY.

Can you keep the gear you find at a climbing area or not? That is the question. Apparently, some people don't understand this important part of climbing culture, so here is a reminder in the form of a case study. BOOTY = Finder may keep it without guilt or return it at their discretion. Loser should not expect gear returned. NOT BOOTY = finder should attempt to find the loser and return his/her gear, a finder's fee or some other form of gratitude is generally appropriate. Single biner or quickdraw and/or piece of removable protection on a climb that was probably left by someone who bailed because it was too hard/scary. BOOTY. 1-2 cams/nuts on a route, probably by left by someone who bailed or a partner who couldn't clean them or some stoners who just forgot them. BOOTY. Biner on slings or otherwise in an anchor where it looks like people belay and/or rappel, particularly in the alpine. NOT BOOTY. Quickdraws or perma-draws on every bolt of a steep sport route where it's difficult to clean/place quickdraws. NOT BOOTY. Nut or other removable protection in an anchor in the alpine. Probably NOT BOOTY unless the rest of the anchor is super solid. Gear left in a bucket/bag under a rock/tree near climbs where route development/maintenance is happening. NOT BOOTY. Someone's cute ass. Definitely BOOTY, but you need consent to grab it and/or take it home. Feel free to add your own cases and spread the word.

Beowulf said, "Let whoever can win glory before death."

I feel like we are watching Groundhog Day for Beowulf, who sets out each day to slay the dragon, returns in drunken triumph each night, and in a curious and cruel twist, each morning wakes to learn that the dreaded dragon yet lives, and the epic battle must be fought all over again. The cycle must repeat until our hero finally learns that the dragon is not his true nemesis, the battle is not the real battle, and victory, it seems, is simply the act of getting out of bed each day, drawing in a lungful of clean air, and yet feeling the beating of his heart, a metronome in flesh and bone, counting the seconds to his eventual death.

The reporting on the report was a non-report. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzz.

Yep. It tastes like..................................wait for it..............................chicken. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus