John Frieh

I will assume you are referring to snow conditions? cc.com it thee site for that kind of info. I haven't seen any TRs recently, but TRs for recent climbs on peaks located geographically close do exist and should serve as a good guide to snow pack. Also consider pming gaper timmy... As far as the route goes bring if you plan to traditionally lead things (the route does go at 5.0 so many solo): a few large nuts (10-13 BD or equivilant) 2-3 48" runners some monster slings (6-12') for slinging the larger choss and will be your rap anchor off the summit (don't forget your rap rings). If you need to purchase this or for future purchases: please buy natural colored webbing... no bright orange please. Also if you leave new webbing; write the month and year you left it in sharpie and remove all the old webbing and hike it out with you. Post any other specific questions you have here. And remember... for the OR cascades: if you like a particular hold, take it with you… Good luck!

Anybody got it yet?

mmm... pink.

Regardless of what you look like or what you think you look like do both... think of it as multitasking...

Ptarmigan ridge beeyotch (weather permitting of course)! And I'm gonna wear all soft shell just for you. I just need to find someone who makes schoeller boxers...

Weak sauce dude... How are you spraying so much these days? Aren't you working this summer? Rainer is looking good this weekend...

Get yourself a big stick and avoid wearing orange (he is drawn to it for some reason...) And be careful mentioning climbing plans in public... you'll get 80 pms from random strangers wanting to join you. PM Pandora... she can fill you in on the dos and don'ts of cc.com female users.

Just when Pandora starts climbing rock; another girl steps in to fill her niche. Welcome to cc.com: beware the turds that float here (chances are you already got a pm from cracked...). Good luck on Baker Round 3!

I considered posting this in the events forum but knew it would end up here at some point or another... And it gets better; the band scheduled to preform: Perhaps we should coordinate a rope up with this weekend...?

Mammut doesn't have a monopoly per say, but the method in which they produce the slings kinda creates one... they actually weave the sling wider at specific points (12", 24", and 48" etc.) to allow for the stitching/bar tacks... that is to say one can't just whack off a specific length and sew it together. You might be able to purchase 24" runners from mammut unsewn and then get mammut (or someone else… I’m willing to bet Metolius would do it for you… let me know if you need a contact name) to sew what you are describing. I do believe the mammut rep posts on the page semi regularly (at least that is his avatar); perhaps you should pm him. Something I do often to get around this is to girth hitch 12" runners to the sewn runner on the cam... just clip the appropriate length and run... make sense? Hope this helps!

Hate the game, not the player Paul.

No helmet? You must have good looks to spare or suddenly adze scars are the latest rage. Congrats on the climb.

Thrutch and Ivan: How am I suppose to take that?

what is he, like 17? emotionally... Well... now that we have a new room mate...

Didn't you mean this ?

Perhaps this will sway you: I can put you in touch with the guy who owns this... he lives there.

Go see your friends in WA; OR is nothing more than the world's largest collection of gravel piles. Thielsen is tolerable at best... when I lived in Eugene I would run it car to car (once the approach was snow free) for training. Bailey is shit (unless you enjoy climbing 3rd class scree) and diamond is worth it only if you ski (and even that is debatable). What are you in search of? Alpine rock? Post it and the board will gladly steer you towards some fine climbs in WA.

I know this sounds wack, but is some what accurate. A few reasons for plateauing are: Doing the same workout (same number of reps and lifts) day in and out only results in your body acclimating to it which results in plateauing over time. Secondly (and more important) bulk and pure strength tends to increase from high weight/low rep work outs where as endurance is the opposite: lower weights/higher reps (too many reps will result in no gain or even loss in max lift). You can still increase you max lift through a lean muscle mass approach, but it is much slower compared to the bulk approach. Generally one can lift 80-65% of their max for a few reps (which results in bulking) and 65% or less many times (which results in endurance). The whole idea behind it is how much muscle you are destroying; with a few reps not that much is destroyed so each time your body recovers you build a little more than last time hence the bulking. On the flip side lots of reps results in more damage, so only the endurance muscle fibers (I am glossing over a lot of science here sorry) last and over time you build more and more of those (bulking is slower, if not at all). The workout I use specifies how much percentage of your max you should lift for that particular set in addition to recovery times. It’s scary; when I first started doing it I almost puked a few times as the amount (high rep volume) in combo with the time frame (it tell you how long to rest in between sets) beat the shit out of me. One other thing: generally I ignore climbing books advice on weight training as I lift weight for alpine, not rock climbing. I would recommend these: Conditioning for Outdoor Fitness: A Comprehensive Training Guide, A Step Beyond: A Definitive Guide to Ultrarunning , and How to be a badass for some good reading.

Yes (kinda). The amount of reps and amount of time you take to complete the program (no more than 1 hour a day) is structured to increase muscle endurance (high rep low weight) more than strength (low rep high weight). As you get stronger you will gain some weight, but overall your strength to weight ratio will increase and you will benefit. That is why lifting is better for alpine as the increased body weight is worth the increase in strength, where in sport or aid it isn’t. Make sense?

No; football players aren't looking to bulk up; bulking up = slower. The scary part is when they build enough lean muscle mass that they appear bulky but are actually fast. Case in point Igor Olshansky: he can bench press 225 lbs 41 times (his max is over 500 lbs) but he can run a sub 5 second 40. You better hope he doesn't catch you... And please don't turn this perfectly applicable thread into squabbling over whose team is better... college is about who offers the best education; not whose football team is best. If football was what matter then how do you explain all the people who would go to Harvard or MIT if given the chance (does MIT even have a football team?)? If you want to debate football, please go to rivals.com.

Blake: I cycle lifting weights (months on followed by a month off) with other forms of exercise. I use the U. of Oregon's football team lifting program that is designed to build lean muscle mass... i.e strength without the bulk. I have found it helps me in the alpine realm when combined with excellent cardio conditioning (though I would say cardio is much more important for alpine than strength). Speaking of which; lifting weights will help for alpine climbing the most; all other types it is debatable, if not detrimental (i.e. sport and aid). The way to look at it is if you increase you maximum squat (one rep) for example; you can then do more reps at a lower weight than someone whose maximum squat is less than yours. Translate this to alpine and you can carry more weight in your pack as fast as someone with a lighter pack or…. even better you can go further and/or longer with a pack weight than someone with the same weight on their back but squats less than you. The big disclaimer is that both people have the same cardio. You have to be careful not to bulk though; my trad leading ability jumped a grade once I stopped lifting weights in a manner oriented to benefit me for football… when I stopped I could bench 290 and squat 350; these days there is no way I could put that up, however by lifting in a manner geared towards lean muscle mass I can do more reps with lower weights (ex: as many reps before burnout with 100 lbs) then I could when I was a meat head. I would recommend reading a few books before you go throwing iron around; I can gladly provide you with some titles or the lifting program I use. And before all you flame on about football players or lifting weights; remember Mugs Stumps was a linebacker at Penn State (if you even know who that is ).

You can do thielsen (the climb and the approach) year round... blue diamonds mark the way, but if ample snow coverage exists (which might still be the case) you can cut some time off the approach by taking a more east heading out of the parking lot. Are you looking to ski or climb or both?

Hey Justin: What size and hand (left or right) is the new ice glove? I might be interested... pm me.

Holla!

JoshK!