Rad

Cell phones, ice axes, ropes, and wool knickers are all just tools people have used in the mountains. Each has its uses and limitations, but none can replace good judgment. Suggesting one tool, whether a cell phone or anything else, can save the day is just plain stupid. I like the Shackleton reference above because it provides an amazing example of how men could, through wit and will, survive some of the most atrocious conditions imaginable for over a year. They didn't need a cell phone, and no one died.

I have a Hilti TE4 (I think that's the number). I paid $260 for one in good shape with an extra battery and a few bits. I bought it used and had the owner charge it so we could test it. I brought over a granite stone and we drilled 11 3/8" 5 inch deep holes before the battery went into protection mode halfway through the 12th. That's about the same as what I'd been getting when borrowing Alex's hilti when his battery was working. If the battery is crappy you get fewer holes. If the bit is old you get fewer holes. I'd echo what Bill says: if you don't expect to drill a lot of holes just borrow someone else's drill and buy them some bits and bolts and hangers, which also cost $$$. If you're in Seattle and want access to one send me a pm.

Thanks J. Nice job on backbone.

Bump. Where does one find topos for these routes?

I can easily think of a dozen husbands and dads on this site who still climb. I have a wife and 3 kids (0.1, 3, and 4.5) and probably climb more now than I ever have, though overnight alpine trips are harder to justify. There is hope for you yet. If your marriage is based on a relationship with solid trust, respect, consideration, and communication you should be ok. If not, you're in for trouble regardless of whether climbing is part of the picture. Finally, don't be someone who says "I can't FIND the time", or "I don't HAVE time to do X, Y, or Z". What these people are really saying is that they don't MAKE time or CHOOSE TO SPEND their time doing X, Y, or Z. "The bed that you make is the one that you will lie in" Dire Straits

sports bra rescue article Would have been even better if they used the bra to short haul her off the ledge... .................... Sports bra saves U.S. hiker trapped in Alps Stranded after fall, plucky climber attracts lumberjacks with undergarment Jessica Bruinsma, shown here in an undated photo, spent 70 hours on a ledge after a fall while hiking in the German Alps. BERLIN - An American hiker stranded in the Bavarian Alps for nearly three days was rescued after using her sports bra as a signal, police in southern Germany said Monday. Berchtesgaden police officer Lorenz Rasp said that he helped lift 24-year-old Jessica Bruinsma of Colorado to safety by helicopter on Thursday after she attracted the attention of lumberjacks by attaching her sports bra to a cable used to move timber down the mountain. "She's a very smart girl, and she acted very resourcefully," said Rasp. "She kept her shirt and jacket for warmth, but thought the sports bra could work as a signal." An Alpine rescue team, including five helicopters and 80 emergency workers, had been searching for Bruinsma since she went missing June 16 after losing her way in bad weather while hiking with a friend near the Austrian border. Repairman sees bra She fell about 15 feet to a rocky overhang, where she spent the next 70 hours on the narrow ledge, sustained by water that she found by breaking into a supply box on the ledge. She badly bruised a leg and dislocated a shoulder in the fall, and the cliff was too isolated for her to climb free, Rasp said. Rasp said the cable was only within reach because the timber transport system was out of service. When a repairman restored the line on Thursday, the cable car started moving up the mountain and Bruinsma's bra reached the worker at the base. He knew of the missing hiker and immediately called police. Woman waves to rescuers Rasp said his team followed the cable line up the cliffside in a helicopter and found Bruinsma standing on the ledge, waving with her good arm. After circling once, they lowered a winch to Bruinsma and lifted her aboard. "She did so well because she is in very good shape," Rasp said. "She has been training for a marathon — her goal is to finish in 3 hours and 10 minutes." Bruinsma told Rasp that she has scrapped plans to stay in Berchtesgaden to learn German and plans to return home to Colorado Springs with her parents. He said she still plans to run the marathon, if she recovers in time to keep training.

Bill, You are sick, but that's why we like you. Many routes at Pinnacles were put in ground up, drilled by hand on hooks. You could try ground up on hooks for extra spice. Or perhaps go up the backside and then lower down the frontside with your drill for the quickie. I'll be watching on google earth, the 0.001M resolution version, to properly time my pebble poaching pinkpoint! R

Interesting rock. Looks a bit like Pinnacles Natl Monument. Hope those bolts are long glue-ins!

Free the mind and the body will follow. That could be interesting this time of year...

Blake!

From Seattle to the Aleutian islands by human power An amazing trip that makes N cascade approaches sound pretty tame.

Yikes! I'm sending you non-denominational prayers, Dane. Sobo, it sounds like you did an amazing job as crash pad and first-responder! You can belay for me any time. Med bills are the fastest route to bankruptcy known. Let's hope our next prez will figure out a way to make sure everyone gets covered. BTW, no insurance company pays all of your bills. They may pay 50%. You shouldn't pay more than them... A good friend of mine was first on the scene of a nasty accident at one of Trapp rock crags in CT. The leader was off route, ran it out past small stopper over small roof above a ledge, fell, somehow flipped, clipped hit on ledge on the way down, and continued on another 10 ft down. He had no helmet on and his head was cracked open like an egg. His belayer (who had done nothing wrong) completely freaked and was running down the trail for help when he ran into my friend and her partner. The partner ran down for help and my friend and the belayer went back up. It was a gruesome scene. At least he was killed instantly. I don't know enough to know if a helmet would have saved his life, and I'm glad I didn't learn more details... Sadly, bad shite can happen to good people.

The Mission Impossible theme is for twilight 4th class descents without a headlamp.

Similar discussion for rock climbing

Cool. Thanks for cleaning the route! I was not able to convince my partner to head over there after we went up Prussik. Do you think that thing could go free at 5.11 or under, perhaps if bolts were placed in different spots? Is there quality climbing (at least 5.8, sustained, clean, protectable, interesting) in your approach? Just curious.

Be safe as you gain experience. Epics are surely more memorable than uneventful outings, but don't let them kill you. These two simple things could save your life: Pay attention to the weather. You can die of hypothermia at any time of year. Froze to death on Rainier in June storm and Died on Hood in giant winter storm It's OK to turn around or back off a climb. You can always come back to it later. Turned around when rockfall cut the rope and From this thread, "...We hiked in to do N Ridge Sherpa but were met by wet, icy, snowy rock. We managed a couple of pitches but we were moving very slowly. I smelled an epic in the making so we bailed before we got too committed. It was a great day in the hills none the less." Now go have fun out there!

Jim, June is unpredictable. They are expecting about a foot of fresh snow up there tonight. For current conditions, check this NPS site: NCNP current conditions website For more info call the NCNP ranger station in Marblemount. You should not need any rock pitons. Removable protection (nuts, cams, long slings) should suffice. Please do not hammer pitons into any of the classic routes up there. Thanks. Rad

Glad you are ok Joe. Whatever lesson you learned is not one you're soon likely to forget.

FWIW, I thought the last pitch of GM (3+ inch corner crack, not the lower squeeze) was harder than the gendarme OW on Stuart, or for that matter the first gendarme lieback pitch on Stuart. If you can do GM you should be able to cruise on Stuart. Go get it!

Sobo, I once had a guide, perhaps now in the basement, to the Owens River Gorge that defined pinkpointing, redpointing, brownpointing, and at least two other colors. One may have corresponded to dogging on lead (hanging/falling and then continuing to the top). Not sure. You're not missing much by ignoring all of these. R

Pinkpointing trad routes, or even sport routes, seems pretty silly to me too, but if that makes people happy who cares? I might imagine there are routes truly at one's limit that one can pinkpoint but not redpoint.

Flash is what I did on the Sword after seeing pics from every possible angle and reading every TR I could find. Certainly not an onsight. Right.

Perhaps I misunderstood and Rob was talking about redpointing (placing all gear/draws on lead) versus pinkpointing (clipping pre-placed draws/gear). We can probably all agree that leading onsight > flashing > redpointing > pinkpointing > hangdogging on lead > TRing > couch surfing > spraying on CC.

Yes, Rob, easy for you to say. As you may know, some highly respected climbs are hard headpoints in the UK. These routes are typically toproped ad infinitum prior to R/X lead attempts. Is that cheating too? Many threads have dealt with FA style before. It often boils down to whether the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. In other words, is the style and experience of the first ascent (the one) more important than the final product that subsequent climbers (the many) will experience? In one example, bolts placed from hooks may not be in places that make sense for free climbing (e.g. near a clipping stance and protecting the right part of the climb). Cleaning loose rock off a route from hook placements sounds really scary! Besides, hooks are aid, so perhaps you should drill bolts by hand from stances. It's a fine goal to make a first ascent onsight ground up while placing all protection from stances, with an eye to developing a classic route worth repeating. I agree with you that ground-up is better provided it does not compromise the resulting product. We look forward to seeing your FA TRs.