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Rad

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Posts posted by Rad

  1. Climbing ice is flat out dangerous.

     

    However, crossing the Wenatchee river in a 30$ raft in the dark without very careful scouting during daylight is even more dangerous. If you do something like cross rivers to get to avalanche threatened ice climbs this season, PLEASE scout the crossing during daylight hours, wear a PFD and a helmet during your transit across the water, and come back alive. Dying whilst ice climbing is dumb, but dying while "river rafting" and not wearing a PFD is even dumber.

     

    Yeah I read a news article from last year about some idiots doing that. :rolleyes:

     

    WAY TOO SUBTLE FOR THIS CROWD. POST PICS INSTEAD ;)

     

  2. I think VW Redmond > Stoned Gardens for Bouldering.

     

    I don't remember it being that great, but it's been a while since I've been over there. I still have a few chads on my punch card so I'll check it out again sometime.

     

    VW Tacoma has very good bouldering.

  3. Real rock is the best, but I do enjoy climbing indoors too, particularly good bouldering. So here's my two cents on the Seattle area gyms. Anyone else got opinions. You know you do!

     

    Bouldering: Stone Gardens > UW IMA > VW Seattle.

    Roped climbing VW Seattle > UW IMA > Stone Gardens.

     

    Main factors: wall space and variety, setter quality, and hold quality and variety.

     

    Anyone going to the SG comp this Saturday? I'll be flailing in the >35 division and look forward to seeing the open dudes and chicas strut their stuff.

     

    (full disclosure: I'm a UW volunteer setter so I may be biased)

  4. Google pulls up a few incidents that may provide ideas. What I don't see right away was a case where a spring boarder rode into a crevasse and survived - and it was caught on video. Anyone?

     

    http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/backcounty_snowboarder_dies_at.html

     

    Looks like the Mooz character here has a video loop that might fit with your book:

     

    http://www.snowboardingforum.com/back-country-travel/16393-tr-another-mt-hood-climb.html

     

    http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/Report_Hood_Bergschrund.htm

     

     

     

  5. I went 11 yrs ago and trekked in the Kanchenjunga region. We didn't see any other trekkers and stayed in fantastic villages. It wasn't a climbing trip, but I used one of our rest days at the highest camp to scramble a 6111 meter unnamed peak. It was fabulous. It may be too sketchy to head that far into the sticks now, but after that trip and many other travels in foreign lands I'll share my 2 cents:

     

    - People - Choose partners, guides, porters, etc, based on character and reputation. If you go trekking/climbing for a month you don't want to be stuck with someone who will steal your stuff or be causing you endless headaches.

     

    - Patience - Expect things will cost more and take longer than you think. Nepal and other developing nations move at a different pace. Not necessarily slower, but if you are in a hurry you'll invariably get stressed out and spend more money than you intended.

     

    - Learn to bargain. In the US we generally don't have bargaining as part of our daily lives, but it is an important skill and one that most everyone else does on a daily basis.

     

    - NEVER part with all of your money up front.

     

    - Culture - expect that the people and places you see, perhaps more than the peaks you tick, will bring the best memories of your trip.

     

    - Bring your lessons home. All of the things above will enrich your life back home too.

     

    :yoda:

  6. included.If the area had a good earthquake I believe it would make the climb 3x safer :)

     

    Doug Robinson told me that he and others believe that the southern sections of the Eastern Sierras were cleared of a lot of loose rock by nuclear testing in the Mojave. Hearsay upon hearsay, but it's an interesting idea.

     

    Maybe if Rainier blows up Tieton will be cleared of loose rock. Then again, St Helens didn't seem to help.

  7. So I got out and did the plank today. We decided to just take one rope and got down in two raps on a 60 (rap from top anchor over the edge to an anchor just under a large tree, then to the ground from there). If you had two 60s you could go all the way to the ground from the top anchor. The 10s on the vertical wall look like fun - will have to return for those.

  8. so it depends what you're looking for: are you looking to leave behind a legacy of routes that are safe that others will want to do? or are you looking for those few and intense moments of survival, and to hell with the route you leave behind?

     

    I agree with your assessment and personally believe that the needs of the many outweight the needs of the view (insert Spock emoticon). I also believe that one can find a middle ground between the extremees you mention, where there protection is spaced far enough apart to keep the leader engaged but close enough so no one gets killed or paralyzed. This is true regardless of whether you go ground up or top down.

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