OlympicMtnBoy

Bump, going to UPS tomorrow.

So i got these from STP ( http://www.sierratradingpost.com/Reviews/96435_Tecnica-Mountain-Approach-Shoes-For-Men.html ) but then decided I wanted a 10.5 for a little tighter fit. I can pay the $6 to send the size 11 back, or I can pass my good deal on to you (now they're $40 + shipping at STP). I'm in Fremont and I'd prefer you pick them up, since otherwise it's easier to slap the preprinted UPS return label on then. If no one wants these in a day or two off they go. :-) It's a pretty good deal for a decent approach shoe, seems like they'll scramble well and they're fairly comfortable. I normally wear a 11 or 11.5 if that helps. - OMB

A friend of mine had the same thing happen on his gregory pack a couple years ago. He sent the strap back to gregory and they sent him a new sternum strap free. Might be worth a try unless you need on ASAP.

Awww, yer just trying too hard to get good at something . . .

Back to the original topic, thanks for putting those up! It was fun to get a little drytool fix a couple times this winter when I could only get out after work. I hope you guys will do the same thing next year! :-)

Hehe, this seems like a good way to wake up. I seem to have the same problem. Also being lazy I'm pretty sure I won't ever be an expert at most of these, but maybe I can get "pretty good". Variety is the spice of life eh? This year: Rock Climbing Ice Climbing Aid Climbing Mountaineering Backpacking Day Hiking Sea Kayaking Sewing clothes/outdoor gear Skiing Snowshoeing Muzzeloader shooting Hunting Scuba diving Snorkeling Traveling Cooking Drawing Welding (for fun) Gardening Sailing Remodeling the boat Canyoneering Mountain Biking And there is a whole 'nother list of things I'd LIKE to do if the opportunity arises for me to try them (paragliding, whitewater kayaking, etc).

It would be possible in something like that, but you'll likely have to take some of the creek wash crossings and such out of the road ruts, meaning you might be scraping against the bushes and stuff. If you have a rent a car this can be an issue. I'd go for something with a bit more ground clearance and 4wd if you can. Or maybe the road topo lists a better route, there are roads crisscrossing that area, you might be able to patch together a decent route, but it won't be the obvious one.

Trip: Red Rocks - Frogland and Epinephrine Date: 3/8/2008 Trip Report: It seemed like a good week to start the weekend real early, so I hopped on the plane on Wednesday after work (ok, so i bought my tickets a couple months ago when they were super cheap), and met up with an old friend from the Peace Corps and hung out on the strip for a day. On Thursday my climbing partner Brendan showed up so on Friday we headed out to the Black Velvet Canyon trailhead to warm up on Frogland, a nice 6 pitch 5.8. Problem was we couldn't find the road to the trailhead. After driving up and down the highway a few times, we finally realized that the road we wanted now lay behind a gate and a construction site. There is an alternate road, but it required a high clearance vehicle, not our VW Rabbit rental. Hey, it's only like a 3 mile walk though, so off we trudge into the sun and dust. Fortunately we only had to walk for 3 or 4 minutes before someone came along and stopped for my outstretched thumb and sad look. Of course they already had a truck box and two bikes and three people in the vehicle, but we crammed, me on top of the boc, and Brendan sandwiched with the bikes. We made it to the TH and picked up Josh who we decided would follow behind us and solo TR on rope we'd fix for each pitch. Brendan and I wanted to make sure our two person team was up to speed for Epinephrine, so that method was easiest and Josh would get a lot more climbing than rope soloing on his own. By now it was nearly 1 PM. But we got to the base of the route without much delay. Frogland was a good solid fun time and a highly recommended route. We summited Whiskey Peak and then made our way down the descent (which is also the last 1/3 of the descent from Epinephrine) and back to the packs before dark. We stashed some gear knowing we'd be back that way early in the morning and likely hiking in. After a quick bit back in town we were in bed, and then out again at 3 AM. Some truck stop coffee got us to the right spot on the side of the road and we started hiking. It only took us 45 mins or so to hike to the TH and we quickly found our stashed gear and loaded up with another team just arriving in their truck. We made it to the base of Epinephrine about 15 mins ahead of another party of two but got on the route first. Unfortunately I got off route in the middle of the first pitch (missed a key bolt to head towards) and the other party caught up on the alternate start. They said one of them had done the route before and they were going to do some linking/simuling so we let them go ahead (I know, I know). We followed on their heels, but without too much waiting to the base of the 5.9 chimney fun. The day before, when discussing if we wanted to do Epi or not, I had volunteered to lead a block of the first 5 pitches, including all the chimneys, if Brendan would haul both our packs, so we lashed out two tiny packs together for him to dangle off a sling. As soon as the other team cleared them I started up. For me it was one of the funnest pitches of the route, fairly slick but solid chimneying, and only really runout for one section near the top. I actually missed the "real" belay and went nearly a full rope length to an alternate station. From there some more fun 5.9 bulges, and a scary 5.8 runout bolted chimney that felt harder for me, finally got us to the top of that bit. Then the route changed to mostly face climbing with big patina holds and I let Brendan take over the leading for the next 5 pitches. You really get some good exposure from up there, especially since the climbing feel like the gym with such huge holds. The party ahead of us finally realized we were probably slightly faster than them and waited for us to pass (thanks guys!) at pitch 7 and we cruised the rest. The last runout bit wasn't bad, then past a super juggy roof and on to the easy stuff. We mostly simuled and swung long leads for the last 6 pitches. We hit the summit, snapped a few more pics and then headed down, managing the descent in the last remaining light. Back at the parking lot we could see some headlamps on various descent routes, but no one nearby, so we opted to hike back out instead of trying to bum a ride, thus making our trip "car to car from the highway". We thought that should be a milestone of some sort, at least it encouraged us for the last bit of hiking. Chile's fed us and we camped out in the wind for a final night. Our last day was spent just hiking around and checking stuff out before heading back to town. I picked up a couple women in the Bellagio and won and lost some of their money playing roulette, but that's another story for another board. All in all, a fricking awesome couple of days of climbing for my first Red Rocks trip. And the scary chimneys ended up being the highlight for me! More pictures are up here (cause they aren't showing up right inline right now): http://picasaweb.google.com/brendan.mcmahan/RedRocksWithStewart Gear Notes: Nuts, double set of cams from green alien to #3 camalot, plus one #4. Approach Notes: Main road to Black Velvet is closed due to construction, take a 4WD or high clearance vehicle on the back road or hike.

Nice job, lookin good there.

Nylon repair tape, works great and you might find a color to match, check REI or most sporting goods stores (Swains or Browns in your area). Or Seattle Outdoor Fabrics. If the hole is really big I normally hand stitch it shut and then cut a patch with rounded edges of the repair tape. I find running a warm iron over the patch helps make it more permanent. The patches on my Wildthings Epic jacket are still there after several washes and 3 years.

Don't forget the Needles in the Olympics!

Oooh, ooh, pick me! Pick me! I volunteer for the Committee to Fix Everything! Oh and the one to execute the bad people! Is there a committee to choke Steven Segal? I'll be on that one too!

I have the little Garmin Geko with the barometer too. I've had it for about four years now and it's been through a lot of crap unprotected in my pack and pocket through all sorts of conditions. I managed to scratch the screen when I stupidly put a crystal in the same pocket and walked around with it rubbing, but nothing else has gone wrong with it yet. It doesn't have the greatest reception as mentioned above, but works for my purposes 95% of the time.

Looks great guys! Nice job.

Sweet! Nice pics all around too, I love the climber dot pic. I was just bruising my hands on basalt columns, glad someone was out getting bigger stuff in the stellar weather.

Looks like a good time Kevin, good to see you back on the board!

Now if all that snow would just settle down so we could get somewhere. Thanks for the pics!

I did Pine Canyon a few years ago in the spring and had a blast. I think the last rappel needed a 60m rope but my memory is fuzzy. I would definitely recommend renting or borrowing a wetsuit, we were semi-hypothermic towards to end, even with suits. We had to run laps on tin sand bars between some of the swims to build up body heat. It stays dark and cold down there in the spring. Awesome times though!

Way to get out there! Aiding gets faster with practice, but the snow probably slows things a bit. :-)

If I have a tear, and not an actually hole (ie: you can pull the edges back together), then I just pull out my sewing machine. Set it for a wide zig-zag stitch and just stitch the sides back together. It works pretty well and if you do a tight stitch with polyester thread it will be as waterproof as the softshell material and not look too bad. Or have your mom or girlfriend do it if you don't have a sewing machine. That's how I fix crampon holes in my pants and gaiters. For a real patch I had a pair of softshell pants I took an extraneous pocket off of and I use that for patch material. That McNett stuff probably works well too, or check Seattle Outdoor Fabrics for material. I don't know about the durability of seam grip though, I just don't worry about it since softshells aren't really waterproof to begin with, a good sewing job should be fine.

The ones I bought from MEC several years ago have stylin round real glass lenses. It doesn't look like they sell em anymore though (they were fairly cheap too). You can watch ebay for those old swiss army glacier goggles. Those have real glass and will totally get you old school points.

I have to work on Sunday so I've only got one day this weekend, but I'd like to get out on some ice. I'm up for anything within a few hours of Seattle, maybe Vantage or Leavenworth or ?. I've got gear and a car and lead around WI 3-4, follow harder. Drop me a PM. - Stewart

I favor the laser sonics, cept for being a bit pricey. I got one on REI closeout last year and kick myself for not getting a few more. At the Feathered Friends gear demo night they had clear ice blocks set up for the v thread contest and I got to watch a CM screw driven right next to a BD screw. With the clear ice it was obvious that there was a whole lot less internal fracturing with the CM screw than the BD screw. I'm not sure how much this really related to the real world, but it was eye opening. My laser sonic starts super easy and the handle doesn't bind on me. I do unscrew it with the sling attached some of the time. Just my $0.02.

I might be interested. Any idea what the actual weight on this one is? How old is it?

When I used to do SAR they weren't that uncommon. So yes, people actually used em. You also might look at any of a variety of pants made for alpine or expedition climbing with a zipper seat (whatever you call it) for the very purpose you're needing. I've used that feature on my shell pants many times, dropping the leg loops of my harness and just holding stuff out of the way. I imagine it wouldn't be that much different for your elimination needs, a bit of practice and it's not so hard. Why am I reading this thread anyways?!? :-)