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Rad

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Posts posted by Rad

  1. IMO, knot in dyneema doesn't sound good. Options include: double it. triple it. set up a sliding x between pieces. if suitable (e.g. multipitch) use clove hitches or figure eight in rope to allow rope to help equalize pieces leading in to a power point. Equalizing is most important for less than perfect placements. Bomber pieces need not always be equalized.

  2. work routes from the top down before the red-point attempts.. it helps a lot. Just go from the last bolt/rest stance ect.. to the top then from one lower and so on. After that work on red pointing, pulling the rope after each attempt.

     

    This is what I've read as well, and it makes good sense for reasons too verbose to include here. But how do you put it into practice? How do you get to the upper section of lead-only routes (which is most) without having climbed or french-freed the lower parts? I am a noob in this as well but would like to improve.

     

  3. There are a lot more variables in play in the mountains than at most rock climbing crags. We each develop our own risk profile. It's probably best to climb with people who have similar risk profiles and to generally refrain from imposing our own ideas about risk on other adults as they should be free to make their own choices.

     

    "Fall mountains, just don't fall on me......."

     

    "I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die. So let me live my life the way I want to"

     

    If 6 Was 9.

     

    James Marshall Hendrix.

  4. You might emphasize to your sport partners that the 'rock climbing' on this hike is short, very easy, and uninteresting. At least that was my impression of the uphill lines. Combine with Castle and Pinnacle for a nice x-country outing. The real reason to go is the front row view of the big R.

    RAD

    Did you climb the many routes on the horn of the Unicorn?

     

    Not quite sure what you mean. I chose a line climber's left of the rap line because it looked harder and more interesting- and we'd humped rock gear up there so by golly I was going to use it. It was still only a few moves of 5.6 or so protected by a couple of nuts. I'd agree that the rap route is probably low 5th class and could be easily soloed by a competent party, though a fall wouldn't be pretty.

  5. Matt's right about sandblasting. It will wear away softer material much, much faster than hard material. Obviously, concrete is WAY softer than those granite chips.

     

    More labor, but scrubbing holds by hand with 409 or goof off or something should work and be less obnoxious than large volumes in the sprayer.

  6. Holy Smokes! Amazing story. Thanks for posting.

    So you took a 100 footer a mile up and were unscathed. Then you took a 200 footer sans cord and sans helmet (lost in first fall) and crawled away with one fib fracture. Then a plane appeared just as your last fuel was running out. Sounds like you still had some luck after all. Bummer about your foot.

     

  7. As alluded to by Off-White apparently the edge of the schrund collapsed beneath him.

     

    Link to Article in Times

     

    How many times a year do you put yourself in a similar situation?

     

    Hopefully I'll get in the alpine without exposing myself or partners to these risks. This is exactly why I prefer rock to ice/glacier and why I refuse to do Slesse until the Pocket Glacier has slid. I'd guess that within a decade the glacier(s) on the S of Forbidden will be much like the Slesse Pocket Glacier, sliding off the slabs entirely by late summer and creating terrible hazards during the June/July transition period.

  8. Nice positive post Dawg.

     

    I've taken my kids there twice, and am grateful the Mtneers made this open to the public. It would be easy for lawyers to get in the way of that.

     

    The only thing that could be improved is holds. It looks like there are t-nuts all over the main wall but no holds on any of them (last I checked). Are there plans to put holds on them? That would make the 5.4s more friendly for small kids.

     

    Don't worry Pete, the UW rock is still there, and it just gets slicker every year. If you're affiliated with the UW you can get in the gym and boulder there too.

  9. Well, I thought of GM for general crack challenges and difficulty.

     

    Warning: unsolicited beta/spoiler alert:

     

    GM P1 off the ledge has a cool committing undercling and then when it gets wide there is a hidden crack to hold (yummy). Solid crack and jams to the belay. GM P2 has a squeeze/OW that is awkward but short. But I was really thinking of GM P3. It starts with committing moves past a crack and then to a dihedral with a large crack in back. That crack reminded me of the Gendarme p2: fist or a bit larger and strenuous. Either go straight in or, as I did, work some liebacking in there. A few easy lieback moves got me past the OW crux on the gendarme. Others may find other solutions. Basically, if you have some crack skills and the instincts about when to abandon one approach and switch to another (e.g. lieback vs jam) then you'll be totally fine. Worst case is you hang on solid gear and french free it.

     

    AND you should do the FULL NR because the second pitch of the lower N Ridge is the best pitch on the whole line IMHO.

     

    Heart of the Country is fun, but it's straight-in hand jamming that isn't really like the gendarme.

     

  10. Yep. The Gendarme is not as fearsome as some would have you believe. BOTH pitches are short, with good rests between moves.

     

    If you can do Godzilla and Toxic Shock you'll have no trouble with the lieback moves of Gend p1. If you can do GM you'll sail up Gend p2 (actually, I thought parts of GM were a good bit harder than the gendarme, though rated the same).

     

    Go get it! (and write a TR)

  11. Ratings schmatings. This perennial debate is boring, particularly when people feel that the so-called hardest rated area is somehow the most valid. Why is no one arguing that the so-called easiest area is the most valid? The answer = ego. It's all about your ego. Get over yourselves.

     

    If a route is rated 5.9+ and it kicks your ass does that make it cool? If the same route is rated 11a will your griping about its soft rating somehow diminish its quality? It's the same freakin route! Just shut up and climb your 60m.

  12. You might emphasize to your sport partners that the 'rock climbing' on this hike is short, very easy, and uninteresting. At least that was my impression of the uphill lines. Combine with Castle and Pinnacle for a nice x-country outing. The real reason to go is the front row view of the big R.

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