markwebster
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Posts posted by markwebster
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How about the fixed wired 3 inch hex on the crux move of catapult on Castle Rock in Leavenworth? Very handy piece.
Back when friends were first invented I couldn't afford them and built a 3 piece, one foot long friend extractor...got several out with it, including one on outer space.
I routinely pull stuck/fixed cams by sticking my handmade extra long nut pick in and manually levering the cams open enough to get them rocking again. Just because the trigger bar doesn't pull any further doesn't mean that there is not more rotation available in the cam.
stick in your nut tool and manually lever the individual cams lobes loose, then try the trigger bar again. If any cam lobe moves, they will all come loose if you are patient.
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Putting together a trip spring break (last week of March). We'd love to hit up Yosemite, but looks like 9 days of sun is unlikely.
With all this snow, I have no idea how much of leavenworth will be open at that time. Anybody been over there yet and seen how much snow is up the Icicle, Pinnacles, or at Castle Rock?
Bummer about Tieton being closed for eagle nesting.
Other than Smith and Vantage, which will be fine, and Red Rocks (too far) anybody have suggestions for dry rock?
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If you are serious about photography, nothing beats a digital slr. I lead up to 10a rock with mine. It's a pain to carry, but *so* worth the quality pictures. You get to have the fun, then more fun sharing photos with your friends afterwards.
Rangerfinders are so disappointing as far as dependable focus. They get it sometimes, but often they don't, especially in the complex rock climbing environment with cliffs above and below the climber.
the current cannon xti is over 800, but if you look around you can find older models like the xt, still brand new from big name retailers like circuit city or amazon for under $500. Used on craigslist would be even lower. You can easily test them before you buy...take a picture, view it on laptop. I shoot with a 2 year old xt, you can see my pictures in my trip reports. The cheap lens the camera comes with is just fine.
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My wife and I raised two climbers 20 and 23 now. My wife didn't bring him climbing until he was 5 weeks old, though she was in Joshua Tree at 6 months pregnant climbing.
We tried to continue climbing as before, bringing the baby along as if he was a dog or something. I remember being up on a 10a at Squamish. It was a bit run out on a bad wire and I asked Sue to watch me closely. Right then the baby, who had been sleeping on her back, started crying.
She had to choose between me and the baby. I realized then that we had to bring a third person, it couldn't be just me and my wife as it had been for 9 great years.
Once we had two kids, it got hard to find a third person who would put up with two small kids. Meanwhile our skill was dropping, and I fell into windsurfing as that didn't require partners. I still climbed, but only 30% of what I used to.
Once they got old enough to play by themselves, we would leave them at the base in safe areas like Morning Glory wall at Smith where we could see them from above.
We never considered stopping climbing because it is dangerous. I don't think rock climbing is any more dangerous than the drive over, assuming you are a cautious climber.
My interests and focus on climbing go through cycles. Because the kids are so much fun to be around, I was happy to back off a bit on climbing, choosing hobbies that fit the family lifestyle better like windsurfing and landscape painting.
My wife definitely backed way off on her climbing in their early years, probably 70%. They needed her, and she was happy to be there for them, even took 9 years off work to be a mom. They always came along to Leavenworth, but we had to have a baby sitter (grandparents who like camping!). There was no gym in Tacoma while they were growing up, so it was a slow process exposing them to the sport.
Now the kids are adults, it's been hard getting my old partner (my wife) enthused about climbing again, though she still goes 10 times a year or so.
I plan to take her to the peshastin pinnacles a lot this spring as she loves those easy slab climbs. My friction skills have been neglected as of late, so it will be good for both of us.
My kids have both stopped climbing for a while as college homework (nursing program) and jobs take precedence.
pictures of us on our last valley trip this summer here:
Hope that helps. You can have kids and keep climbing, but not as much as before. But it's ok as the kids are so much fun they more than make up the difference.
It's sad how many excellent women climbers choose not to have kids because they think it will "ruin" their lives. You see them walking around the crag with dogs and it's so sad to watch them pour all that love into a dog, when it could be their child.
I think it's all about balance.
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I got a hug this morning...maybe something more exciting later. After 28 years of marriage these commercial holidays don't seem to mean too much. I never give her anything, ever, and vice versa. We like it that way. Even better, she's letting me go to smith with friends, some of whom are other women. I invited her but she says it's too cold down there.
chocolate just makes you fat.
So happy valentines back at ya
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a friend of mine, aussie on this board, has the gzone mentioned above. To demonstrate how tough it was, he used it as a hackysack at the gym, repeatedly dropping it on the carpet. Says he likes it a lot. A great place to read cell phone reviews is http://www.phonescoop.com
I personally have a cingular 3125 which is one of the few flip phones with the windows operating system. I love it, but it would not fullfill all of your requirements as it's antenna is not as good as some phones, though that might be partly the att/cingular network.
If you just want safety in the mountains, as opposed to being able to take calls out there, rei sells those little walkie talkie radios (in pairs) that have a 25 mile range, and I think they are 5 watts. I've read about people using those to get rescued from up to 30 miles back in the hills, though it depends on ...line of sight?
there are much more expensive options out there depending on how badly you need this: satellite phones that can be rented for a weekend and portable ham radios being 2. One of my buddies used to bring his ham radio along, they are pretty amazing up high, and very light, though you have to take a test to get a license, but it's fairly easy.
Just remember, people were climbing out there long before cell phones arrived on the scene. Many climbers hate cell phones and love being "off the grid".
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partners found! thanks again to cc.com
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I wear one of those bright orange reflector vests when I ride my bicycle. I also have front and rear lights. I assume I am invisible at all times, and I don't wear an ipod. If you know for certain they won't see you, then you are prepared for the jerk who really doesn't see you.
I try to stay on jogging/bike paths, but when I have to ride on city streets...see above. When I was younger, I thought it was safer out there, but friends have died on bikes (larry kemp) and I know better now.
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yeah, the bolted routes 10a and under are usually busy, but you rarely have to wait more than 10 minutes unless there is a big party of beginners, which can happen, but just keep walking.
Like the man said, if you can lead trad, you can walk up to a crowd of 10 people waiting on an easy bolted route, and there can be a beautiful crack climb right there, with no one on it. Bunny face and helium woman are always busy, but the three moderate crack routes right there are seldom climbed. Same with Karate and new testament.
I expect grasslands will be nearly full.
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it's supposed to be mid fifties, 10 to 20 percent chance of rain. I've gone down there about 6 Presidents day and only lost one day to rain.
I think my balls will be just fine, but thank you for your concern
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Anybody up for presidents day at smith? I'd like to leave Friday night after work and come back Monday afternoon. I'd like to share gas from the Seattle-Tacoma area.
I usually start out on sixes and warm up to nines and low tens, cracks and bolts.
I've been known to play my blues harp around the campfire at night in grasslands, and I'll probably bring an old beater guitar.
I think I'm also meeting Jessica in Portland so it would be a threesome. She's an awesome lady, lots of fun and plays the violin like a dream.
Pictures of me, Jessica and my last road trip to Joshua Tree here:
And a fall trip around the west coast here:
summer break in Yose, smith and squamish
Lets go climbing
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I used to snow camp with the stevenson tent and stevenson bag, but that was before kids, who are 23 and 20 now. Ever since they were born, I just use the stevenson bag on rock climbing trips (yosemite, smith, Josh, etc) where I sleep in tents without an outer bivy shell. It stays quite dry because my humidity doesn't ever get past the inner vapor barrier. I don't mountain climb anymore, so I'm probably not a good source of information from that perspective.
In the summer I use beater bags, as I don't need the warmth, and the stevenson is too valuable to risk losing it.
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I'm fairly sold on the stevenson brand of sleeping bag, though many people are now copying his designs. He's been around since the late fifties but is a small company and doesn't advertise much:
http://www.warmlite.com/bags.htm
His main concept is that much of the moisture in a bag comes from your own body's humidity. He builds bags with an inner vapor barrier against your skin. I think his new material is soft, and not the plastic-ee stuff he used to use. With the inner vapor barrier, you can use something quite waterproof on the outside of the bag to keep moisture from the tent walls off the bag. That way the down stays dry. I've had one of his triple bags for 30 years of climbing, it's amazingly well built, haven't even had to replace a zipper.
Many people only know his company as "that weird company that uses nude models", and that's true, but he also makes great gear, lightweight, innovative and well built. I've not bought anything from him in 25 years, and don't use his tent anymore as it kind of wore out...but I assume he still builds good stuff.
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Nice TR! Loved the writing, nice touch. The new years party (drum circle) was awesome, wished I'd stayed up after the ranger busted it. I was dozing nearby and heard the live music start up again around one. I kind of felt bad for the rangers, everyone was so drunk and abusive to the poor guys, who were just doing their job.
Who was that chick with the shrooms anyway? I got my graduate degree in mind altering substances back in '74 and have never touched them since. I couldn't believe how many times I had to turn down that pipe going around the campfires. I was like, whatever, thanks, no. Beer is all this tired mind can handle these days. Loved making music though!
That was a life changing josh trip for some of us. I've started taking guitar lessons, first time ever though I've played (badly) for 40 years.
I'll be there with my blues harp for sure next year, same time, same place!
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I teach web design in a community college. I also worked for a year in a web shop where we had 4 macs doing pre-press graphic design, and 8 pc's doing web programming. The mac/pc debate went on continuously. Our graphics guys would push the macs pretty hard designing full color magazines for national publication so they had the best macs made. He loved to argue about how his macs were better than our pcs, but when it came right down to it, his mac crashed about as often as our pc's, which wasn't very often for either system.
If you are pushing a computer very hard (huge photoshop or inDesign files) and not using common sense, you can crash any machine, regardless of make.
My 3 year old toshiba laptop takes a while to start but I'm not in a hurry. It might lock up once every 3 months but big deal, no harm done. Most computer problems are operator error, not "because it's a pc"
My students bring in their sexy macs and plug into our all pc network no problem. As long as the software is the same version, macs and pc's play nicely together.
Based on what I've seen at the college where I work on 60 different pc's daily, help students who are bringing their own macs (cause they hate our pc's), you get more machine for your money in a pc, but it won't last as long as a mac.
mac books are definitely the sexiest laptop made. I've got students using 5 year old macs with dents in the case where they rolled a chair over it, and it still runs. My next laptop may be a mac as I've had two pcs laptops and they don't hold up as well as the macs I see, I'm talking 5 years.
What's stopping me is the cost of software. I have a business license so I have to buy software legally as opposed to the free hacked stuff. for me to buy photoshop, illustrator, flash, dreamweaver, inDesign in mac version would cost as much as a new pc laptop.
I am hearing good things about boot camp which would allow me to buy the mac to get the better hardware but run windows to keep my software...but that kind of defeats the purpose.
god those are sexy machines though, such fine engineering, why can't pc makers build hardware like that?
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Chris,
the link inside your image tags leads to an html page that shows an image, not the image itself. your http address must lead directly to a web page address that ends with a ".jpg" extension like this:
http://www.somewebpage.com/climbing.jpg
Picasa web might not allow you to show images outside of picasa in a forum like this...though I could be wrong. I tried to find a way to do it by viewing the source code of your picasa page using your address and gave up. The images are obviously there on their server, I'm just not sure how to make them show directly as an http: address without being part of the webpage. You are sort of taking advantage of their free hosting by doing it, which is probably why they don't make it easy. Another free hosting service may allow it if picasa doesn't.
I have my own domain name so it's easy for me. I checked out your pictures...the nude climbing was entertaining...ouch! Gotta love JT!
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pink is on the right here
Pink is a real gentleman. The rangers kicked us out after 14 days, and Pink lent us his car to drive our car into town so we could stay one more day.
Amy and James on top of intersection after the flake route
They left us a fixed rope and a headlamp so we could rap off faster in the dark.
This trip was simply too much fun. I need to stop spending time on it and get back to work. There is the trip, and then there is the reality of the office and earning money...sigh. Until next year...
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waterchute has been upgraded from 5.9 to 10b. I led it on this trip thinking it was still a 9. Either I'm getting to old for this stuff, or it's getting very slick from repeated ascents.
You've seen those gum ball machines where you put in a quarter and a gum ball rolls down the spout into your hand? The watershute is one of those, but you are the gumball, going the wrong way.
I lay there for a long time, my feet flopping in space and getting nowhere. Finally I found an elbow lock (upside down chickenwing) up high that actually still had some rough rock. That allowed me to wriggle my upper torso high enough to get my right hand in play with an awkward mantle.
It probably wasn't worth the 40 minutes of grunting, though the crowd that gathered seemed to enjoy it. It's still another 15 feet to the first bolt. That bolt used to be much lower. I got in a couple tiny cams on the way to the bolt, but they were probably bad. We had a crash pad as well.
There is good pro higher if you have a standard rack of cams, small to large, though they are all flaring placements.
Still and all, it's a fun route, and rarely done. I love those offwidth chimneys. I wouldn't want to try it without knee pads.
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Pink, Amy, awesome to meet you guys as well. Like I said when we left, climbing with the guys was fun, but we felt like a bunch of gold miners stuck up in the Yukon, starved for the sight of a real, live woman. When you, Jessica and Tucker showed up that morning with those big smiles, you brought the love.
And the music, god, thanks so much for reminding me how much I love making live music. I've already dusted off my Martin guitar and started playing again. I think I'll look for a group locally to jam with, it's a part of my life I've ignored for far too long.
I have more pictures but haven't posted them yet, let me know if you want them. I have a bunch of you and Jessica dancing around the campfire.
Presidents day at smith for sure, if not sooner!
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Does anyone know how to prevent new calluses from cracking on a climbing trip? I had this problem in both Yosemite and my recent trip to Joshua Tree. (see trip report)
On both trips, I was fine for the first week, but then I began to see hairline cracks in my tips, which soon turned into 3 millimeter deep bloody canyons, very painful.
None of my partners had the problem, which confuses me. I avoid salt, and don't eat a lot of meat. I'm wondering if I need to load up on olive oil, or lots of fatty beef. Once they came in, I couldn't climb slab anymore, had to stay on cracks. I tried various salves but nothing fixed the problem. Now that I've been home for a couple days, they're all healed over and fine...bad timing.
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the trip was awesome, trip report can be found here:
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Trip: Joshua Tree for Christmas - many and varied
Date: 1/1/2008
Trip Report:
Austin, James, Brett and I drove down to JT on 12-16 and returned on 1-2. It was sunny every day, very windy one day out of 5, and quite warm maybe 1 day a week. We never stopped climbing due to the cold, though one day we had to find a sunny route out of the wind to be able to climb (the watershute). Speaking just for myself, I’d have to say it was my best road trip in ten years.
The nightlife around the campfires at Hidden Valley was almost as much fun as the climbing. We ran into some very friendly climbers and put together a live blues band. We weren’t the only band either, the guys with the drums were rocking the crowds as well, but more on that later. Thanks to Austin for taking many of the best pictures. He seems to know my camera (Canon Digital Rebel XT) better than I do.
Brett and Austin at Quail Springs picnic area.
Jessica finishing Bat Crack. In the evening at the parties around the campfires, Jessica and I played duets; she on the violin, me on the harmonica. Her playing (all by ear) was flawless and brought tears to my eyes.
Tucker following Bat Crack 5.5 in the twilight.Tucker is a piano tuner and restorer from Portland and plays a mean blues guitar.
If only all climbs ended this way, Tucker and Jessica in the twilight on Intersection rock.
Cars leaving at sunset from Intersection rock.
After rapping off in the dark, we posed for pictures. Jessica, Amy, Tucker and me. Jessica, Amy and Tucker were from Portland, Oregon, and met us when they came looking for our neighbor (Pink, on this board).
Richard (from edgeworksclimbing.com) pointing at something in the morning.
Morning mist over the campground
Intersection rock, North Overhang 5.9, before the whipper.
Brett taking a 15 foot whipper off North Overhang. He hit the deck, or, at least the belay ledge but didn’t get hurt as I caught him right as he decked. Very scary fall on an exposed move 100 feet up.
Sunset on Intersection Rock walk off
Me following Brett up Pinched Rib, Chimney Rock.
Amy following a 5.7 at Quail Springs
Austin on the walk off from Double Dip at echo rock
Austin at Echo Rock
More Austin at Echo.
Me warming up for Bearded Cabbage.
Me facing the harsh reality that I can’t repeat certain climbs that I led 23 years ago...unless I start doing more pull ups. Brett finished this one: Bearded Cabbage, 5.10c
Austin trying Bearded Cabbage.
Brett and Austin in the Iron Door cave. According to the ranger, a retarded son was locked in here back in the 1930’s.
This was a very strong door, and an erie place to hang out, full of bad vibes.
Me on the infamous Watershute route, 5.10b, Intersection Rock. The first 10 inches took 40 minutes of work and involved a double elbow lock and a 30 foot runout…what was I thinking?!
Brett on the gunsmoke traverse.
Brett, Gunsmoke Traverse
A babe at Gunsmoke
Brett leading Dappled Mare, 5.8 at lost horse wall.
Brett and James on a 5.9 at Indian Cove
Me falling off Loose Lady, 5.10b. James had to finish it for me.
James on Loose Lady
Jame on Loose Lady
Austin and Jessica trying out party clothes in town. That night Tucker, Amy, Jessica and I entertained the big crowd in site 16 with our newly formed band. Two guitars, two singers (Tucker and Amy) me on the blues harmonica and Jessica on the violin. We rocked out. During a break we heard there was a ladies only hour in the sweat lodge and our band broke up for a while. I saw Austin step out of the lodge a while later, starkers, turning in the light of the headlamps to show off his tattoo to the crowd.
When I asked him later why he was in the lodge starkers during the ladies lodge hour, he just smiled. The guy has all the luck
Tucker had been telling us about the Burning Man festival and Austin got this bright idea to put up our own Joshua Tree Burning Man made from pallet scraps. We had no idea it would become such a spectacle. Amy and Jessica writing down things they want to burn on the “burning man”
Amy writing something (her ex-boyfriends name?) on the burning man
The burning man crowd, Austin’s idea turned into a crowd magnet.
Lighting the Joshua Tree Burning Man. Not sure how I got these double exposures but it may have involved a slow exposure, a flash and a headlamp.
Once word got around that Austin had put up a real burning man, the crowds gathered fast. We even had two drummers ask us to wait so they could drum during the burning.
it burns
I’m not sure at what point this burning thing got crazy, but suddenly the drums were throbbing in our brains and people started dancing around the burning man, whooping and hollering. Hmmm, maybe the chick with the can of psychedelic mushrooms was there…or maybe that was the next night, they all run together. I’ve not been offered so many bowls and bong hits since the Rainbow Family Festival of Life in 1972. Long live the sixties!
It got louder and crazier for a good half an hour until even this old ex hippy was about ready to start dancing. I heard a commotion and suddenly two rangers showed up and busted the party. They said our fire was too big, and no more than 6 people were allowed per site. What, did they think we were going to start a revolution?
This is new years eve, around 11:30. There were 5 drums, a guitarist, a flute and somebody with wooden spoons. I seriously wondered if it was all a big flashback to the sixties. There must have been about 60 climbers, with about 20 of them running and dancing around the fire to the beat of the drums. Several of the girls were trained dancers and making some very fine moves indeed. I wanted to let my hair down as well, but something held me back…maybe memories of my strange hippie days or just missing my wife and kids back home in Tacoma. Anyway it was cool being there and grooving to the drums.
Party down.
Group shot before we started home.
Gear Notes:
standard rack of stoppers and a few hexes. For some of the offwidth body slots I carried my old 10 and 11 hexes. I had two three inch cams, and one blue big bro which fits up to about 6 inches. The big bro worked great.
Approach Notes:
sit in car to belay, slam door if leader yells falling.
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there is quite a good listing here:
http://www.joshuatreeclimb.com/ClimbsGuest/goodleadsguest.htm
I'm going down there shortly, but have not been for 15 years so my memory is fuzzy. Routes I can't forget are
north overhang 5.9 on intersection rock
sail away 5.8
popes crack 5.9
bird on a wire - multi pitch
illusion dweller 5.10
run for your life (bolts) 10ish
ebgb's (bolts) 10ish
numerous mellow bolted routes at Echo rock
I'll post a TR on my return, hope to take lots of pictures.
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We have 4 people now and a minivan.Still looking for a couple more to share gas and the camping fees. December 16 to January 2.
New Female Posters
in Spray
Posted
I hesitate to enter a thread with this much subject drift...but the climbing with SO topic interests me.
I've been climbing with my wife for 30 years. She is my favorite partner and my number one choice every time I climb. That she chooses not to go much of the time now is fine, I have lots of friends, men and women to climb with.
We do enjoy climbing as three, so that when she decides she's had enough climbing for the day and wants to swim, I can climb with the guy and not have to lean on her to keep climbing.
There were times when I seriously thought about possibly breaking up (usually dumb reasons), but I always needed a climbing partner that weekend, and it held our marriage together.
I don't know why you wouldn't want to climb with your SO. Maybe you guys just don't have good relationship skills or something?
There is a tendency to not be on your best behavior when it's just the "old lady", but climbing usually puts us in a great mood, and I don't remember any arguments on the cliff, other than when I got her on something too hard during pms...but that was totally my fault.
I've seen couples climbing together and hating life, but I've seen far more who seemed to be having a great time. You've got a reliable partner, and you've got a babe at night, what's not to like?
Sue in 1983 in Yosemite on a rest day: