SemoreJugs
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Posts posted by SemoreJugs
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wow. That was quite a well-done piece. The fact that Madsen doesnt give one satisfying or even complete answer is the most revealing part. I wonder, how many members of cc.com are REI members? At least 1,000 I would bet, we would only need 20,000 more signatures to run for the board. If we replace the entire thing at once, we can set REI back in reverse. Downsize that bitch. Unwalmart it. Fire MAdsen. And get the fuck rid of the toblerones!!!!
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well, thats how hard i was laughing. Sorry if it was BIT loud!
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Goat Piss. I figured maybe they new something I didnt. Goddamned if the goat piss doesnt make me want to piss, and I do. Then, they lap it right up again. Add that to Newtons laws of conservation. Conservation of goat piss.
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always smoken the rock, never the poles, thats for Alpinfox...
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happiness is a pagetop
enlightenment is to envy those with pagetop status
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... but today after my run around greenlake...
You ran around greenlake!?!?!? Here is some advice for your next dance with death:
GEAR TO BRING (IF YOU LIKE LIFE):helmet!!!****** you are crazy if you would ever consider running around greelake, anytime of year, day, level of conditioning, etc, without a helmet.
After all, you can't achieve enlightenment with a baby stroller sticking out of your cerebellum!
Actually, I was wearing protective covering. MY ice ax was always at the ready in self-arrest position. i noticed that many of the MILFs with baby strollers were a bit melted out so I steered clear so I would not fall into their deep hole. That would take a SERIOUS rescue effort! This is why I am always wearing protective covering. Just in case
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I'm not so sure about the "low-fiber" thing. high fiber stuff burns slower. I guess low fiber foods can be good in camp, but keep them in moderation. There is nothing worse than being constipated at 13,000 ft. If you adjust the normal amount of fiber you recieve to much, it will throw your digestive system out of whacxk for sure!
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Enlightenment is found in a pic-a-nic basket...
You silly bastards stumble around looking forever in your minds for enlightenment; it's the misplaced eyeglasses that sit on top your heads.
Dont mock it till you tried it. I know this stuff sounds very alien and nonsnesical at times.
Mockery is often a manifestation of fear of the unknown. But know that there really is nothing to fear. We cling tightly to our attachments (personal relationships, life, your body, maybe some possessions). You innately must know somewhere that all these things are temporary and transitory. There is nothing wrong with celebrating them while they are here. The problem is that when you cling to them, they end up owning and posessing you. That is the pain of loss. We will all lose these things one day. Might as well come to terms with it now, so it has no dominion over you. Easier said than done to be sure. This is one of my own biggest challenges.
Here is a challenge. Ask yourself honestly many times: "why do I feel the need to mock these things? why do I feel the need to mock these things? why do I feel the need to mock these things? why do I feel the need to mock these things?"
If you do so, the answer will help guide you. Good luck.
It is not just in our minds that we seek enlightenment. The entire body yearns for it. The western social condition assumes that the mind is the only part of the body that has knowledge and power. Sadly, this is only about 1/7th of our selves. Maybe less!
Every climber should know this, whether they acknowledge it is another thing. When you have wired a route, when you climb "in the zone", what is guiding you? Is it your mind? nope. its your body, because your mind is quiet. It may be working with the rest of your body, but its role is very subdued. You dont think your way up a known route.
"You just go up it." But really, its more involved than that. Reflect on this, try to notice the subtle parts of yourself that guide you up a wired route (the longer the better since this allows more time to monitor your "flow"). Notice where you are centered. concentrate on the center where your movement originates from. concentrate on your balance. Think about how you are going against the pull of gravity, yet its pull seems diminished. Notice the rhythm of your breathing. Feel the energy of your body interfacing and flowing into the rock.
the trick is to do this without engaging the active mind. If you awaken it, it will try to take control and you will lose your flow. Here, you need to keep your mind in the role of an observer.
You will likely find a few of the Chakras. Likely the first you will encounter is the one a few inches above the navel.
I would be interested to hear anyone's similar experiences!!!
Cheers!
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This sort of nonsensical statement makes a mockery of your other assertions. At first you sound as if you seek to promote a Buddhist or Existential world view that human beings, lacking the power to satisfy their own desires, need to free themselves from the vicious cycle of material want. Then you come out with "you can create anything you desire." Right. That sort of rhetoric is right out of multinational corporation marketing pablum.
Wordly satisfaction is not about being able to get anything you want; it's about wanting the things you can actually have, that are worth having.
Norman. What seems a nonsensical statement to you actually makes a world of sense to me because I have been living it.
right now, this presents a paradox to you. But I promise you, countless beings have witnessed this paradox. Squid referred to power. But maybe its not in the sense you interpret it to be. Power and dominion over others is one thing. Power over your own condition is entirely another. this is what I believe squid refers to. Although I would say that true power arises out of the liberation from desire. This is something I have no esxperiience in. I still desire much, but I have learned how to minimize many of the lesser desires. Its a journey.
This may sound like complete bs to most, but today after my run around greenlake, I decided to stretch and do some tai chi. I've never taken a class or had an instructor. However, I have seen others practice it from afar and have read a little.
After about 10 minutes of stretching, deep, rhythmic breathing, clearing my mind, and finally some simple hand/arm movements, I achieved a trance-like state. I was hyper-aware of my body, its energy centers (or chakras), and their relation to one another. Then, I noticed that I was breathing thru not only my two nostrils, but also my right ear. Very strange and curious.
I then returned to deeper stretching. I was in a sitting position and sometimes on my back. Most of the time, I had my eyes shut. After a while, I noticed my hands and arms were feeling a pull and push. I tried to bring my hands together as effortlessly as possible, but noticed there was a subtle force resisting this. Very carefully, I pushed against this force with my hands until they were joined. Then, I released my effort and my hands returned to my sides, in an outstretched manner. All movement was done paralell to the ground, or horizontally. So gravity was not a factor.
Has anyone else experienced this? It was quite amazing.
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Salt is SUPER important. Try using an enegry drink mix for summit day. Potassium: found in nuts
TRy chewing minty gum! One of the best discoveries I have made. The mint settles your stomach, esp at altitude and the gum keeps your mouth from drying out. Whenever I get above 8,000 my mouth, eyes, and nose dry out big time. I bring saline spray, aloe to coat my nasal passages, and eye drops. I've also found this to help on long alpine rock routes!!!
Also, chewing gum is rythmic and helps you establish a good pace, at least for me.
Again, gu is good, but I find that if you dont back it up with something more solid you are going to likely bonk unless you have enough gu to pop every 20-30 minutes. That would be like 10-15 gu packets for a summit climb like rainier.
I find honey to be a cheap alternative to gu, plus its natural. You can stick it in one of those GU filler flasks. Even better, spike your honey with a dash of rum and mint (to be done at home)
Peakbetty I agree! dried mangos, luna bars, and a good nut mix (TRADER JOES HAS THE BEST AND CHEAPEST BY FAR)
Campfood: CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE! IN LARGE QUANTITITES. SOFT CHEESE like FONTINA is easier on the stomach. Chocolate just makes you feel good in general. Teas can help big time in settling and soothing stomach, nerves, etc. Chai is great for breakfast.
I have to say I am lucky. I have never lost my apetite at altitude. May get a little light headed or queasy around 13,000 but I can still get stuff down. Usually, I just need to belch and fart more and I'm fine. TOO much CO2 in the blood I guess.
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I agree. Ryland made some valid points. I tend to worry about others too much. I'm working on it. I also can be too intense with my beta, who the fuck am I anyway? Need to show more restraint.
The crampon-axe comment: I was referring to climbing snow or ice in exposed conditions where a slip could be baaaad. The context was climbing mt rainier. Not a snow or ice approach on a protected snow field or a mixed alpine route. Granted, most slopes on the Rainier Dog routes are not too exposed. But there are a few sections on all the climbs I've been on, Kautz, DC, Emmons, where a slip in icy conditions could be one wild ride. Am I wrong or off-base on this? Would you really want to be without an axe???
I just reread the OP. I realized you asked if poles were used on the route at all. MY bad. I thought you were asking if an axe was needed. I used either 2 poles, pole/axe, or just an ax (on the bergschrund and "steeper" sections).
Ryland, thanks for the reminder. I still have much to learn and reflect on.
Alpinfox, you might have a point, but regardless, you can still kiss my ass.
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my partner lost his camera somewhere between Upper Snow Lake and the first campsites at Lake Vivianne On Wed, July 27 sometime between 6 and 11PM.
If you found a digital camera please msg me and I will describe it.
Thanks kind soul! Feel free to look at the girly pics on there... j/k
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DAMN! I was one of those idiots walking unroped between the flats and schurman THAT SAME DAY! I hiked up around 4:30 PM to about 11,500 solo to preview the route and see how many people on the flats were planning on climbing sun morning. on the way down I passed a team of 4 and a team of two... Did you pass me? taking pics, red helmet, blue clothing, by myself.
I am shitting a brick in retrospect right now. Right before I crossed that crevasse I remeber yelling across to people at camp asking if it was safe to go unroped where the boot track was. What a stupid question in retrospect. Stupid stupid stupid. Thank God the mountain had mercy on my lack of respect!
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TIME YOU FELL IN! I wont be able to sleep until I find out.
f'ing a.
Oh and amazing, inspirational, write-up. 5 stars! Gonna post my own mini-epics from the mountain on that weekend soon!!!
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I was on Emmons 2 weekends ago.
GEAR TO BRING (IF YOU LIKE LIFE):
helmet!!!****** you are crazy if you would ever consider climbing rainier, anytime of year, day, level of conditioning, etc, without a helmet.
The exception being a select few climbers like gauthier and maybe some guides and rangers that know the mountain so well, they can guage exactly where you could get away relatively safely without one. Any route that is crowded, you are nutz to think you are immune to parties knocking down chunks of snow, ice, rocks, nalgenes, gear, or bodies on you. And then there is the possibility of slipping on ice and slamming your noggin or getting the smack-down in a crevasse fall.
The fact alone that you are asking is a big red rescue flag. This would be a good time to reassess if you have the experience to takle this mountain safely. Maybe you want to push yourself to the limit. it sounds like you will if you go, thats fine. just keep it in perspective. I hope your partners are more experienced.
Note: I am NOT trying to rip you a new one. Just trying to give you a wake-up call before you get yourself or someone else hurt.
Poles v Axe. This really depends on snow conditions and your level of proficiency decending and ascending. Again, it sounds like you dont really know what you are getting into.
I know Anatoli Boukreev was a fan of climbing many 5000 m ( a little higher than rainier) peaks in Kazykstan with just ski poles and sneakers. But he was in a class unto himself, and besides, now he's dead.
I hope you were planning on bringing crampons and know how to use them and when not to use them.
SIDENOTE: IS there anyone out there that would bring crampons on a climb and not an ice axe? it seems like I first consider bringing an axe, and then later crampons, if needed.
My suggestion: Set your sights a little lower or have a flexible plan. The climb just getting to camp Schurman can be pretty taxing especially if its a hot sunny day. Use the interglacier as your testing ground. We passed one party chasing its tent down the mountain, and another climber was being helicoptered out with a broken leg from glissading in crampons (the last 1000 ft of the interglacier). There is great potential to fuck up just getting to schurman. And if you make it with little incident then think about resting a full day before tackling the summit.
Thats about all the beta I want to give. I hope to god you are going to be with experienced people.
My best advice: Check your ego at the ranger station. HONESTLY assess your comfort, conditioning, objective dangers, your rate of ascent, if someone has constructive criticism (consider what they have to say but ultimately the choices you make, how effectively you comunicate and how honest you are with your partner, and how you listen to the mountain, and ultimately execute will determine your experience on rainier.
My wish is you return with an eye-opening experience, learn about yourself, and get a new perspective on life. Thats what its all about in my opinion.
(it generally takes at the very least as long to summit from schurman as it does to climb from glacier basin to schurman)
GEAR THAT WILL LIKELY BE DEAD WEIGHT: anything that makes your pack heavier than 45 lbs (but try to pare down to 35-40) may be impossible to achieve at your experience level.
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How to properly utilize your nearest REI:
"Gear Testing". 100% return policy. "Why am I returning it? Because I no longer need it, biatch."
Little known exchange tricks: Bought something on sale under your membership? Just tell them you got it as a gift from a non-member. Buy toblerone! tobler-load. Return with empty wrappers and complain there was just choclate in them. Redeem for a "massage" in the "repair shop"
Yeah thats right, REI is really a front for an elaborate, international boarding house for mail-order brides, massage parlors, and free masons.REI clerk: "Are you a member of REI?"
climber: "Are you a member of Al Qaida?"
REI clerk: "If you become a member you will save a lot of money."
climber: "If you work at a reputable gear shop, you will make a living wage."
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I couldnt agree more. I always yield out of courtesy and respect to faster parties. Please pass me if you are faster! I only ask that you pass safely and in respect (its a two way street).
Thats the whole point of my post. For 99.9% of all climbers, there is always gonna be someone more skilled, wiser, faster; and conversely, there will definitely be people with less experience, slower, dangerous because of their inexperince, etc.
So lets share the mountains when we encounter one another. It would be great to have a wilderness experience every time you go out, but thats hard to achieve if you want to climb "classic" routes. Lets try to reserve the attitudes for the spray board. Remember, the mountain and rock has been there much longer than we have been. We are fortunate and priveledged to climb there. I dont care if you are a friggin sherpa, death applies to all--its the great equalizer. We are insignicant compared to the mountains. Just think, if Rainier had consciousness, it would erupt in laughter with all the little "tiffs" that these ants climbing on it engage in. If she wanted, maybe she would decide to brew up a fierce storm up high where the faster, "more worthy" parties were just to make a point. All the slower parties live. Faster parties die. its all relative.
Granted, usually it is the newbies that blow it (its a sharp, deadly learning curve), but sometimes some of the greatest climbers have gone out in not-so glorious ways. Goran Kropp met his end on a "lowly" 5.10 trad climb at a crag one step away from an outdoor climbing gym. Alex Lowe died in an avalanche while doing a routine scouting for a bigger objective.
Death is always one step away and does not discrimate based on status: sponsorships, AMGA certifications, badassness, summit lists, Search and Rescue, ski patrolls, etc.
Death does however have a craving for over-inflated egos. Beware!
Just some perspective and sanity...
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I'm glad you are celebrating her death! Easy for me to say, hard for you to do. Keep her memory alive in your soul and keep celebrating the times that you were blessed to share. She is fortunate to die in such a way.
Here's to Katie
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I'm glad you have taken such an interest in me to share your comments. You must have a rich, full life lurking under bridges looking for billy goats to eat. Lets climb together!
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Need a partner!
Tick List:
Some of the objectives are Mythril Dihedral
http://patituccistock.com/stockclimbing/source/01cl-al0928.html
in the Mt. Whitney area (with tons of other possibilities very close by) and Red Dihedral up the Incredible Hulk.
http://www.supertopo.com/topos/reddihedral.pdf
Going with a group of 4, so I need a rope partner. We have one more permit spot for you available.
Options: FLy into LAX on 8/7 and hitch a ride with my friends from NC.
Fly in whenever and rent a car (expensive)
Road trip down! This is my favorite option but also the most time consuming. You would have to provide the car (i'd provide 70% of gas expenses to compensate for wear and tear). I've never driven down the coast and have wanted to see it for so long.
My climbing style:
I know the balance between fun, adventure, pushing limits, and safety. I tend to get along best with people that are jovial and open. Passive agressive types dont work for me. I expect a partner to be able to communicate effectively, and will give them nothing less in return. I would prefer that we climb a bit before commiting to such a large trip. I've been burned in the past (and lived to laugh about it after) by sight-unseen partners. Trust needs to be developed before we are on a totally committed rock route and I will not compromise on this.
Resume:
roguly a dozen Grade II-IV Alpine and Long Routes in:
Wyoming's Wind River Range, Eldorado Canyon, Squamish, Outer Space, Enchantments, Linville Gorge, NC , Looking Glass Rock, NC
I've been on Rainier twice:
once on Kautz Glacier Route (up to 13,400)
once on Emmons Glacier Route (summit)
Rock Climbing: 7 years of trad climbing, 9 of sport and TRing. I spent 7 years climbing on the EAst Coast: New River Gorge, NC (the trad bastion of the nation), Tennesse, and the REd River Gorge.
In the NW I've been climbing at, in order of decreasing frequency:
Index, exit 32, LEavenworth, Tieton, Vantage, Squamish, Smith Rock
I'll be taking a trip to the enchantments this July 27-31:
Ticks include Prusik (west ridge and maybe south face)
Dragontail, SErpentine Arete
Stuart NW face of W ridge
this will be good training for the Sierras trip and would be a great way to bond with a new partner
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check out Rad's excellent thread related to this topic. Especially discussions on Ego and Fear. That should really get some peeps fired up!
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I should have been more concise. Weakness and humblesness (by which I mean egolessness) do not have to be intertwined. I agree, often they are. But they do not have an intrisic quality of togetherness.
Granted, the ego, or self-seving mind, will always be present. It is nescessary for self preservation. When I said "kill the ego", I should have said master the ego. Control it rather than be controlled by it. Always be aware of it.
I agree, power or energy is something that flows thru everything. A being, like Ghandi, can learn how to harness this power. Yes, a permission is required to relinquish power to another entity, often the one giving permission is not even aware that they are giving their power over to something else (ie an angry mob or peaceful protesters). Accordingly, the mob ruled by fear is less likely to be able to make conscious decisions. They are acting on more primal forces whereas peaceful protesters are working from the "higher" mind and ideals and are thus more likely to be conscious of their decisions.
Again, killing was a poor metahphor. Maybe that word choice reveals something about myself? Thanks for the insight!Don't you find it odd that you refer to peaceful men using peaceful measures against oppression, but then use a violent, self-destructive image as a starting point?
I'm sure there are a few, but no generalization lacks exceptions. What I am talking about is an overarching pattern. But I'd love to be educated on heroic tyrants.I can think of some, and will be happy to get into history in a bit.But what comes to mind right now is that we all end up in an earthen hole--egomaniacs and humble leaders. All of us are equal in that.
how very true, but at least the humble leader has improved the lot of himself and mankind and can die with a smile on his face and a full heart.
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always happy to let you pass. Just please be safe about it. We didnt knock rocks and ice down on you from above. So dont do it to us if you get above.
Thanks
Secrets of Enlightenment
in Spray
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you sick bastard.
shame.