tanstaafl

Color me devastated by the lack of butt shots. What were you thinking?

I can never see photos in any of your posts. It's very sad. Sounds like a great trip; I miss Zion.

If you drop your shoes off at Ramuta's downtown they'll ship em for free too AND you get to talk to his mom.

Sweet; thanks.

Anyone know the name/grade of the sport route at Royal Columns between Little Known Wonder and Gray Digger? It's listed in the guide as "project," but the book's nine years old, so it may have been there a while.

Belated thanks -- guess we'll have to content ourselves with the Lower Gorge.

So I presume Trout Creek is closed again since it's after Feb 1, but I couldn't find anything online to tell me how long the seasonal closure is. Anyone know?

Awesome ad dude. Where did you find that? (btw Spionin is still killing it, just a little less often for now.)

Fromage: Yes, Z-man was on scene and was instrumental in assessing and assisting the climber.

All I know is when we got there the rope was running through the first two pieces, but the top piece left in the crack had no biner on it.

A climber decked from 25 - 30 feet up on a trad route a few pillars left of Tangled Up in Blue, not sure of the route name. He said he landed on his feet. He never lost consciousness, was neurologically intact, chief complaint was low back pain. He did hit his head and had a laceration on his face, but seemed in remarkably good shape considering. I think they were going to fly him to Spokane. There was great response from all the climbers out there and fortunately a couple of them had extensive medical training. Best wishes to the injured party for a speedy recovery .

bad ass.

PM sent

Dood, Rat and I totally did Magic and Mixup in only two days a couple of weeks ago! I just wish we'd been able to see those two go by in a blur while we were hanging out at Cache Col.

Rad. Thanks for posting; I always enjoy seeing what you mutant types are up to.

Sleeping bag has been sold; thanks!

Posting this for a friend who is moving to Europe -- if you want a minus 40 degree bag, this is a great deal! Contact her at the phone/email below. Mountain Hardwear Ghost SL 800 fill down -40 deg sleeping bag Comes with storage sack and compression bag Excellent condition, fits up to 6ft and weighs 4lbs 12oz. Kept me toasty at 20,000ft on Acongagua! Storage sack and stuff sack included Retails for $880. Here's all the good stuff: AXF Super DWR finish repels water 5 times longer than standard DWRs Premium, 800-fill down provides outstanding, lightweight warmth Conduit SL shell is waterproof, breathable, windproof, durable and lightweight Patented welded baffle construction eliminates needle holes in shell fabric, yielding a waterproof construction and protecting the down from external moisture Laminated, double external zipper flaps keep water out 5" baffle spacing keeps down carefully controlled for even, predictable loft Six-chamber hood design maintains even loft around head for consistent warmth Ergonomic draft collar blocks the escape of heated air from inside the bag. The two-piece collar drapes naturally over neck and shoulders creating a soft comfortable seal. Two draw cords can snug down as needed to secure the collar. Down-filled face gasket comfortably blocks drafts at the hood opening. Only a slight tightening of the draw cord is required to seal in warmth. Two small pockets above collar provide storage for small items Double draft tubes along zipper prevent cold spots Comfort Footbox follows natural foot position for maximum warmth and comfort Erin (360) 689-5074 eshutes AT yahoo DOT com

Corgi ascents rock! No need for an expensive sleeping bag when you've got a dog.

chucK! I was just wondering what ever happened to you. Glad to see you're still getting after it and dragging Hansel along with you. Many thanks for the link to the JZ TR; I hadn't seen that one before.

I only met him for ten minutes, but he seemed like a really nice guy. Condolences to his family and his climbing partner who was with him.

Nice matching green shirts! Glad the routefinding difficulties were limited to the urban environment. Excellent writeup as always.

I think someone in the marketing department at black diamond took a mens harness wrote women's on it so they could sell more harness. Then everyone else followed. I think their coming out with all women's c4 cams next year. On the one hand, you're right, many women will fit just fine into men's harnesses. But many won't. According to a friend who was formerly a harness designer at BD, while there are some differences between the genders (women generally have a longer rise, for instance), the major factor is that the variation *between women* (waist to hip to thigh ratio, etc.) is much greater than the variation between men, so while five different sizes of harness, with adjustable leg loops, will fit most men reasonably well you need to add about five more to cover the greater variation between women. Like so many things, you've got to try them on to see what's going to work best for you. I've had both women's and unisex harnesses and I'd say the women's harnesses were generally a better fit on me, though not nearly as extreme as the difference in fit for pants, boots, rock shoes, ski boots, and jackets. (I'm 5'9" and so I often end up in men's smalls because stores often don't stock women's stuff in the larger sizes, even when it exists.)

I can't remember any more where I found this, but I pulled this off an internet site a few years ago: Day 1: From Seattle to a camp in Sulphur Creek valley. Day 2: Climbed to shoulder below SW peak of Dome Pk. Day 3: Traversed both peaks of Dome, walked to Spire Point and climbed it, returned to camp. Day 4: Moved camp to head of South Cascade Glacier. Day 5: Climbed Sentinel, Old Guard and Le Conte, moved camp to Yang Yang lakes. Day 6: Rest day. Day 7: Climbed Formidable, Spider and Magic, probably camped at Koolaid Lake. Day 8: Traversed to Cascade Pass, climbed Johannesburg, bivied on descent. Day 9: Returned to camp and rested. Day 10: Climbed Sahale, Boston and north face of Buckner. Day 11: Hiked down Stehekin River to Bridge Creek. Day 12: Hiked up Agnes Creek toward Suiattle Pass. Day 13: Hiked over Suiattle Pass and out Suiattle River back to Sulpur Creek. If memory serves, six of those twelve peaks were FAs. Hard men indeed.

nope, sorry, but if you go please report back; I was wondering the same thing myself last weekend.

It was a little hard on him eating Iberian cured ham and Manchego instead of canned tuna dumped in pasta, but he rallied. We did at least stay in some fleabag hotels, although I recommend the place we stayed in Finestrat if you ever want to do some limestone climbing in the Costa Blanca: http://www.casafigueretes.es/01_english.html Your trip to Cham looked pretty swank too!