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Rad

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    Camp / bivy sites in Inspiration Backcountry Zone

    in North Cascades

    Posted

    There is a toilet at the Eldo bivy, which might save you some blue bagging. Check w rangers or others on whether or not it's currently available. The Eldo bivy also has running water relatively close, though perhaps not this early in the season. On the flip side, the Eldo site can be a high traffic area and won't feel as remote as northern reaches of the glaciers. It can also be harder to get permits there.

    My very limited expereince in the zone you're talking about was a couple of years ago when we went to/from Early Morning Spire. We decided to camp at Eldo for a variety of reasons. There were several flat spots past Eldo on the way to our target couloir that would have made fine campsites. Some were more protected than others. I don't recall any having running water near them, but I wasn't really looking. If conditions are good and your permit allows, you could just go walk out there and stop at the spot that seems the best. Theh further North you go the more wild/remote/private your experience.

     

    Hood South Side TRs

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    22 hours ago, JasonG said:

    While we're at it, we should ban TRs from climbs that are too hard for most people. 

    I don't like TRs that make me feel weak!

     

    Yes, and we should ban TRs from people who carry SLRs into the back country with the express purpose of making my iphone 6S photos look like shite.

    • Like 1
    • That's funny! 1

    Hood South Side TRs

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    After long deliberation, we have come up with a solution:

    DON'T CLICK ON THOSE TRs.

    We want more TRs on this site, not less. Enthusiastic noobs are welcome and I think we shouldn't make them feel unimportant or small. Colin, Marc-Andre, Blake, and many others started out as enthusiastic noobs here. It was awesome to watch them develop into amazing and inspiring climbers.

    Thanks for the soft ball. You can come out from under your desk now. :)

     

    • Like 3

    Most REAL experiences climbing

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    If by "real" you mean experiences where you are really present in the moment because things have gone sideways, I've had a few. Thankfully no major injuries or deaths. One was when a long time partner and friend set off to lead that last pitch on Moby Grape on Cannon Cliff. He got stuck below a corner running with water and set up a belay to bring me up to see the situation for myself so we could decide what to do. Unfortunately, he set up the belay in the running water and was quickly becoming wet and hypothermic. It was twilight and we had about 30 minues before dark. I had to do a series of aid and free moves up that soaking steep corner quickly to get us out of there before we got in real trouble. That was my first time doing more than one or two moves of aid, and my inexperience heightened an already tense situation. Fortunately it all worked out. I remember crawling into the shrubbery at the summit just as it got dark and quickly setting up a spider web anchor to bring up my partner. We got him into dry clothes and walked down in the dark together via the top of the Old Man of the Mountain. Tragedy narrowly averted.

    Most REAL experiences climbing

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    By far the "most real" experiences for me involve exploring new terrain. There's nothing quite like it. Things rarely go as planned, senses are heightened. I put some of the stories in TRs here on cc.com in case you want to read them. Some of the greatest rewards I've found in climbing are the partnerships and friendships I've formed. 

    On the personal level, I grow and improve when I've pushed a little beyond what I thought was possible. These are the climbs where I couldn't sleep beforehand because I kept going over them in my head. An early one was the Inverted Staircase on Fairview. Another was a mini Pickets traverse, where I learned the importance of real bivy gear, hydration, and not pushing too many envelopes at once. 

    I've tried not to put myself in 'if you screw up you die' scenarios, but somehow I've ended up there a few times anyway. On Phobos in Tuolumne back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was feeling the pump on the twin crack pitch. I couldn't easily get a piece of gear in and was getting flamed fiddling with gear, so I gunned it for the anchors, running it out 25 -30 feet while redlining. I probably would have landed on my partner, so fortunately I didn't fall. 

    Some experiences lead to gear-related lessons. Bring gloves if you think you might be bushwhacking in the PNW: 

    I've learned and re-learned to always bring a headlamp and a backup or extra batteries. Hopefully I'm done learning this lesson! Experiences range from minor inconvenience to crawling down the Upper Cathedral gully in pitch darkness to trying to rap with my family with only a cell phone for light between 4 of us: 

     

    I''ve certainly made my share of mistakes. Thankfully none have involved major injury or death. I've tried to learn from my own experiences as well as from my partners. Reading ANAM is a good thing to do as well. I've observed in all of these that most accidents aren't the result of bold free soloing, they come from simple and preventable errors, often an assumption is made without verifying that it is true. Rappeling versus being lowered by your belayer. Clipped into the anchor properly versus wrong or not at all. Off route. Rope reaches the ground. And so forth.

    Pay attention and communicate. Your life and that of your partners depends on it.

    Come back in one piece, try hard, and have fun!

    2016 Mariners Whining Thread

    in Spray

    Posted

    If you listen to KIRO 710 ESPN radio in the evening you'll hear re-broadcasts of classic Mariner's games - I came across them training in my dungeon. The past few days have been the 95 ALDS playoff series against the Yankees. Big names, incredible games, great announcing. Maybe living in the past ain't so bad.

     

    Vibram XS Edge vs. Stealth Rubber

    in Rock Climbing Forum

    Posted

    Drew is certainly a star, but he's not on the Olympic team.

    Nathanial Coleman and Colin Duffy qualified for the two US men's olympic slots and there's a max of two slots per country.

    Brooke Rabatou and Kyra Condie qualified on the women's side. 

    Sadly, we're not likely to see any climbing comps anytime soon.

    • Like 2
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