tanstaafl

ha -- hope that's not someone's real number!

well look at you answering my question before I even asked it! maybe you can monetize that skill.

I will say that one of the most diverting parts of the day, aside from the pleasure of actually being able to climb a multipitch route for the first time since 2017, was listening to Rat periodically scream "WEASEL!" whilst on route, not to mention on the descent and while driving home. Rad, I'm assuming the "double rack to 3 inches plus a #4" for Revelation is correct? While I appreciated the extra training in my Training Day by carrying that rack up and down the route, I don't need to repeat the experience.

ouch, that must have been an unpleasant surprise; glad you were unhurt. Though to be fair, you also need to test rock in the alpine to be sure it's going to stay attached once you pull on it.....I certainly found some yesterday that was less than solid.

Kurt, thanks for your work on the guidebook! It's a nice addition to the library. And thanks for the note about the old bolt; I was wondering about that. For what my opinion is worth (i.e., not much) I can pull on tree branches as well as I can on a rope, and they're natural to the environment and don't decay in the elements. Does that route actually get guided? Just curious.

It's a good NW sampler route -- some clean slab, some not-so-clean slab, a couple of pitches of dirt weaseling through brush and pine needles and lichen, a wet traverse (easily aided), a start that's completely obvious when you can see but hard to find when it's totally socked in and misty -- all the good stuff. Certainly no routefinding difficulties, the most likely thing is you'll accidentally skip a bolt through just overlooking it. It was a good day to do it, as the morning fog didn't burn off until we were halfway up the route. It would be *hot* up there on a super sunny warm day.

Just did this yesterday—yes, pitch 6 goes with a 60 m rope. If you didn't like the brush on pitch 7, good thing you didn't climb to the top of the route! We also placed very few pieces—a red tricam, a couple of TCUs, and a #3 Camalot. Maybe the "double rack to 3 inches" was a cut and paste error from the Revelation Peak route description.

God isn't that the truth. Nice work on the climb!

I totally wear my DAS parka to work when it's really cold; I get colder standing around for an hour-plus waiting for a bus in Seattle's periodic snow events while dressed in office wear than I ever have ice climbing. And I used to wear my outdoor jackets to work all the time -- from my late 20s until my mid 40s, I didn't own any jackets that weren't outdoor jackets. Finally around age 43 I bought a nice wool peacoat and I felt so adult. Spotted in the elevator at one union square a few months ago: woman in stiletto heels, hose, pencil skirt, nice silk blouse, and a ratty old fleece jacket. Now that's Seattle.

RIP indeed. I still miss them. Also Swallows Nest. The thing about all the stores you mention -- they're predominantly clothing, which is where I understand the profits are. And very popular with people who never leave pavement.

Taming? hahahaha. Rather, I think our mutual affection for the phrase "do whatever you want -- you will anyway" is the key to making our household run smoothly.

Whether it was sterile with no soul or not, Hannah-Pandora was still working there as of a few months ago at least, and the other salespeople I engaged with there in the past few years clearly got out and knew their stuff, as opposed to the salesperson at REI who didn't know what I was talking about when I asked about accessory cord. I'm sad to see a shop that actually stocked gear instead of just clothing disappear. One recent example: unlike REI or Feathered Friends, Ascent actually had BD ice picks in stock in March, so my husband was able to buy them here instead of ordering them online. I suppose having historical equipment decorating the shop was nice, but what I like about Ascent was that if I needed gear, I could actually generally *find* it there, which has certainly not been true of REI for a long time. And while I too was bummed that the secondhand stuff disappeared, I don't see how anyone could make rent selling secondhand stuff on Ballard Ave—at least not to cheapo dirtbag climbers instead of hipsters willing to pay a premium for "vintage" tchotkes.

nope, apparently all it takes to fix an issue is to ask you why it's happening! Do you offer this kind of service in other areas of life as well? Cause that could come in handy. Why is my front derailleur not working?

Hey gents -- If I sign in to cc.com but then click any link to move to another page or view (for example if I decide to view "activity" or "forums" after I post this) I get automatically signed out. what's up with that? Or is it just set to log you out if you're inactive for a certain period of time?

Nice work gentlemen, way to keep those knees oiled up and mobile. Also, I'm having the last of your leftover post-climb pizza for lunch, so thanks Marko!

chossy, vegetated, and a long way from the road -- that sound right up your alley!

Yeah, Timson still basically looks like that too. Mutant.

RBW!!! well though this site has always had more than its share of jackasses, there have been many gems as well; sometimes they were even the same people. I've met many friends and climbing partners and even my charming (??) curmudgeonly husband because of this site; so I have a lot to thank it for. I met rbw through wreckdotclimbing, though; talk about the primitive pre-social media days, wow.

ooh, ooh, if you're sending out multiple copies I'd be interested in taking a look at that too....

There is also an excellent documentary entitled The Mountain Runners (available from Seattle Public Library) about the Mt. Baker Marathon, with a cameo by our own Chad Kellogg, who hilariously referred to a guy who spent ~6 hours in a crevasse during the third marathon as "popsicle material." I particularly loved the fact that the first marathon featured guys going by train via Glacier and others by car via Deming. A guy from the Glacier side was in the lead until the returning train hit a bull and derailed, leaving him to return via buggy, horseback, and auto while wearing a bathrobe. He came in second, and as I recall the bull was grilled for the afterparty. At any rate if you can get your hands on the DVD it's worth watching.

congrats you guys; looks awesome! I've been staying off cc.com since rotator cuff surgery has me sidelined 'n sedentary until ski season and hanging out here is just a little bit a bummer right now, but Ken told me about this report so I had to check it out. Killer.

Heck yeah that is a nice camp spot! Gorgeous photos as always, Jason. I did those two last year as part of a loop trip with Rolf, so my photos mostly just look like this:

Yeah Jon, that's it exactly. It's the only way I ever looked at the old cc.com and it was super easy to see if there was anything new that you were interested in or not. thanks!

Is there a way to view activity by topic rather than by post that I haven't figured out yet?

Thanks for reporting back! I actually thought long and hard about responding to your request and if I didn't have an aging parent I was dealing with intensively in August I might have done it; I *love* Ireland. Your partner request made me think of this story from a book by Jennifer Boylan, and in fact I had to go back and reread it to determine it wasn't actually the same island: We took a ferry to the Aran Islands and were shown an ancient fort on Inishmore by a man we called Seamus O'Twotimes because he said things like "The population here is nine hundred. Nine hundred." He was like a Celtic-fried version of a character from Goodfellas. The highlight of this tour was climbing a path to a mountain fort high above the sea, overlooking vast cliffs. Seamus O'Twotimes gleefully explained how several years earlier a Danish student had gone off the edge. "He just walked right out into space. Into space." I said to him, "Excuse me, but I have a question. This is a remarkable fort. But I was wondering, who was it the people who lived here were defending themselves against? I mean, who'd want to take over—this place? Wouldn't most warriors look at this cliff a half mile in the air at the top of an island in the middle of nowhere and just say, 'Okay, you guys can have it!' Who was it they were being attacked by?" Seamus O'Twotimes thought long and hard about this question. Then he said, "Persons such as themselves."