OlympicMtnBoy

Cool. I saw those big guns hanging out when I was there several years ago. There is a military base not far off on the shoulder of Mt. Cheget too, so they probably have a dual purpose of avalanche control and border defense. We got run off when out acclimatization hike got too close to the border control area.

I think the Grivel Eagle is the only ice axe I can think of with a plastic grip area. I actually find some insulation most useful for spring climbs where it's generaly too hot in the sun to want gloves but your ice axe gets cold in the snow. My solution was a piece of bicycle tire innertube. I took a short (3 inches?) section and cut a round hole in the middle, then stretched it over the head so the shaft poked through the hole. It's held up for several years and makes it warmer to gram with or without gloves and doesn't interfere with grip any.

Interesting. It would be cool to see those results broken out by respondent age group and climber type.

When actually climbing I just have a tiny Spyderco Ladybug clipped to a biner. I find I rarely need a multi-tool on routes. The tiny knife works for cutting tat and lunch purposes. Otherwise I still use my Leatherman (CS4? Blue one). It's heavy buy has everything I want (pliers, scissors, saw, screwdrivers, wine opener, bottle opener). I normally only use it for non-ultralight backpacking and ski touring (when i might need to adjust bindings or something). They do have some newer micro tools that look nice though but I haven't handled one.

You might try asking at one of the ultralight backpacking site, but I think Evazote just defines the type of foam, but that there are different grades (densities) that will have different r-values and may be available in different thicknesses. All grades may not be available in all thicknesses, and different companies sell slightly different varieties. http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=15694 The main thing for me in this type of bad is that it is pretty durable (especially compared to inflatable pads) and works great as a half pad strapped to my pack on climbs where it gets scraped over rocks and laid out on uneven rocky bivy sites with no ground cloth or anything. I have no idea what exact grade I use, the weight differences for my cut down torso sized pad are pretty minimal.

It's a rope stretching 60 so make sure you have the exact middle, but it works fine. I wouldn't take two ropes if that was all I needed to do.

I've still got a pair of Vetta Plus's sitting in my closet too, size 10.5 if Lovetoclimb's are too small for ya. Good boot, just a bit small for me. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/975945/

It's been a long time since I've been there, but at sea level you won't find any snow. It's not a huge park so I'd suggest beach combing and exploring, I don't think you could get more than a mile of hiking if that. Or are you referring to the Dosewallips River and not the state park? If you head up there I don't think you will hit snow before the old ranger station/campground which is ~3 miles past the road closure/washout (several years ago). Just hiking up the old road can be a nice mellow hike. The worst part will be getting around the washout but I think they may have completed a bypass trail since i was last there a few years ago. nwhikers.net may have more hiking info/conditions.

I dunno, we had a grand time there yesterday just chillin and climbing at the far end of sunshine. No crowds and mostly t-shirt's till the clouds came in in the afternoon. I was smiling! We didn't camp though, although I've had fun doing that too aside from the occasional loud music/generator/shit pile.

Nice TR! Your trip sounds eerily similar to our climb of Gib Ledges a couple Januaries ago, complete with malfunctioning stove, crappy skiing down from Muir at 4 PM, and the locked gate at the bottom/hotel visit. :-)

Oh and don't do what I did when they finally let you ride a real bike, and crash it. I looked pretty funny trying to get back into climbing with a walking cast on my foot and one hand wrapped in bandages with stitches from the bike wreck.

Yikes, quite the ordeal but you are right about the positive attitude. I found your journal quite fascinating and it made me feel very lucky about my own much less complicated fractures. I can't help with a bike but I think you'll find that it will help quite a bit with both the physical and mental aspects of recovery. I also found swimming to help quite a bit for strength, cardio, and mobility during my "limited weight bearing" phase, once I figured out how to stop swimming in circles anyways. Yoga as well, even if you do a funny one-legged version and make creative use of those foam blocks. It's still up hill from here, but you like going up hills. ;-) Good luck and best wishes! - Stewart

I think JK is referring to the drill tip, which is pointed in that picture. See the old Middendorf hand drilling/bolting article for a picture of the different types and some discussion. http://bigwalls.net/climb/bolts.pdf Also I noticed this thread on supertopo. "A taper" refers to the tapered shank, might still be able to find some new: http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1267216/Taper-shank-drills

Sweet, looks like my kind of fun in the sun!

If you're purely going for pull cord and aren't worried about tangles, check out Amsteel too, 100% dyneema braided line. I think Matt Maddaloni even jugged on some 4mm or something silly, but it seems like an option for super light yet super strong skinny pull line. Gotta be a pain for handling though.

Let's keep it real in da hood and call em the "Bad Cops", kinda rhymes with Rad Mocs and sounds better than "Bad Lawyers". Get some more cachet with the urban climber folk that way!

Marmot Mountain Works in Bellevue had one or two of these old bits in their bargain bin yesterday.

I use a 7.1 half of a twin setup, but it's certainly not static. Mostly cause that's what I have and it works. Might be better options out there, wasn't Mikey or Colin talking about some "Alpine Escape Line" a few threads back? Maybe in that rehash of Colin's Mountie talk.

Since this has turned into a Feathered Friends bash, I just want to share that in general I have always had GOOD experiences there. Feathered Friends has often had things in stock that their neighbor across the street didn't, sometimes had better prices, and generally been friendly. I even had someone spend a good 45 minutes with me once helping to fit a pair of boots that I had not even bought there! And yes, I did tell them that first, and I bought a pair of footbeds afterwards. I also appreciate the numerous slide shows, gear nights, free beer events etc that they sponsor and that they support this very forum/website. Do I want to snuggle with every person there in a giant group hug, probably not. Did someone maybe not do the best job in terms of customer service, maybe so. I don't do my best job 100% of the time either and sometimes I come off as a jerk too. Thanks Feathered Friends (and Eddie)! - Stewart

So what's the cheapest dirk bike out there to haul lazy climbers up closed roads? http://www.powersportsmax.com/product_info.php/products_id/818?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Dirt%20Bikes ;-)

Yeah, sounds exciting, nice blog!

My memory of that road is vague, how long is the walk/bike after this to get to the 3 O'Clock Rock trail? Is it before or after the turn-off for Exfoliation Dome?

Before that degenerates any further, I would suggest you try some clean routes at Index first and learn to aid climb clean (plenty of great routes, try City Park, Iron Horse, or TMPV for a good intro). Many of the aid routes listed in the guidebook have long since been climbed clean or freed (and you should try not to use a hammer on free routes). I've only done the bottom part of Snow White but you can use cam hooks instead of pitons easily and then clip the bolts (added for the free route). No need to scar it up further for that part. After you have done all those and Town Crier and Green Dragon clean then you might think about learning pin craft, but it isn't the place to start for modern aid climbing. If I had been the clerk I probably would have done my best to not sell you pitons if your stated experience was "beginner" and you were talking about using them on the Lower Town Wall. Obviously this can be done in a more or less friendly manner and it sucks if you got a bitch out lecture or something. I think it's a point in favor of the store that they still have some ethics though. I'd hope the hardware store clerk wouldn't sell me a sledge hammer if I told them I was trying to hang a picture on the wall too.

What? No pictures of this rodent architecture masterpiece?

Just edit your post, you can change the date of the trip, it doesn't have to be the same as the day of your post. I think it's great to see TR's even if they are six months after the fact, but putting the correct date on it means several years from now someone looking for past TRs might be able to find it and not think it really was a winter climb.