selkirk

Heading there tonight for a little fall cragging and can't wait I love Smith this time of year!

meh. sure, he'll be a thomas edison type figure for the future to revere, but i'm not certain that his contributions haven't had some drawbacks - the whole iLife, propped up by endless iGadgets, leads to a lotta self-obsessed motherfuckers i'll forgive him for the starry night ap on those goddamn phones though - that thing is fuckign cool! The mofo's were already self obsessed, now we just have facebook so we can be self obsessed voyeur's looking through the living room windows of other self obsessed mofo's, and do it without having to actually you know, deal with other people. Wasn't is Sartre who said the hell is other people anyway?

votes for favorite Gin? Bombay Saphire is yummy 10 is awfully nice too. Lately i've been a big fan of the Cascade Mountain Gin as well. Always nice to go quasi local.

I only have the gold, but have used the Red some and I like both, but neither form the backbone of any rack I climb on, they are nice suplemental pieces. IMHO they are a nice 2nd piece in a range that give you some extra coverage for not much additional weight. That said at the #2 Camalot size (gold link cam) I prefer the Metolius Super-cam. Not quite the range, but it strikes me as a more robust design.

Dry, with damn good gin. poor a teaspoon full of vermouth, wave it around the glass and poor it back in the bottle.

Fred's local, I'm sure he'd pose with you and Archie! Maybe it's time to dust off the cc.com calendar? cc.com calendar

So we should insert Steph Davis and Beth Rodden instead?

If his buddy didn't have a SPOT then his actions would have been totally justified. Getting his ass out would be the fastest way to initiate a rescue and give the rangers accurate beta as to where the other climber was. As for leaving the rope, if his buddy isn't going up or down, what good does a rope do him anyway ???

If you're in the area then DEB on SEWS makes for a nice warm up climb to LC. Slightly longer approach, good sustained climbing, lots of pitches, similar walkout, but it doesn't have the full blown aid of LC. You can get through the 2 bolt ladders just pulling on draws.

What Buckaroo said. From the Rotten Block you could easily bail with 1x 60m rope leaving a minimum of gear (if any). Above the rotten block the climbing eases significantly. So the commitment level is really minimal. I'm by no means an experienced aid climber (the Lithuanian was my first roof lead ), or some rockstar free climber but a buddy and I did it last year in a long day in August. I think we averaged 1:45 per aid pitch and just under 1 hr per free pitch (with some french free thrown in a few place like the rotten block. Totally doable and a stellar climb! Just plan to start climbing at or before first light and you'll have plenty of time. For us it was worth walking up to the base with no packs the night before to be sure we wouldn't get lost in the dark the next morning.

Cutthroat Prusik

A horse is a big dumb animal that can kill you. but of course so are NRA members.

Why, it's part of the kindler, gentler cc.com... didn't you get the memo? Why do you hate women, Rob? Apparently someone isn't getting any, but I'm not sure which one of you it is!

2 words, "Be Flexible" and plan on driving a bit. Smith and Vantage are clime-able for a significant part of the winter. I've seen people in t-shirts in Feb. out at Vantage. If your desperate to get your suffer on you can always go aid climbing in the rain at Index Ice does come in all over the place you just have to be able to jump on it when it's in, because it can disapear in a heartbeat. Check here on CC.com and here. http://www.wastateice.net/ You can always go drytooling at E38 or the SR900 crag. Great snowshoeing, and cc-skiing in the Cascades. Reasonably good downhill both at the resorts and in the backcountry. Mt. Baker is the snowiest place on earth after all. Not Colorado powder, but there's usually good skiing to be found somewhere. Lots of good beer to be had. Tis the time of the year for stouts and porters! Best plan is to watch the forecast, see where the weather is good, go there and do something. Successful more weekends then not. Having rigid plans, and destinations = disappointment though! The weather here is actually very mild. We don't get that much rain or precip, it's just grey a lot. I think most transplants spend the first winter thinking clouds = rain, and the 2nd winter realize clouds = clouds and when it does rain it's more heavy mist then downpour.

The Goose will be 2 in November. Very much looking forward to the day she decides that bouldering / climbing is cool We took her hiking a couple of weeks ago and figure she walked at least a good mile or more of the trail up to Wallace falls So far she's an adrenaline junky who is obsessed with shoes, wallets, keys, driving, and cams. I've already accepted that fact that I'm screwed!

Sprained and ankle relatively badly in college playing volleyball (at least a grade II). It was about 2 weeks on crutches, and probably another 4 or 6 weeks hobbling about. After it was more or less healed I used an in-shoe lace up ankle brace for several years afterwords whenever I played. Damn thing was noticeably looser for years, but like JosephH careful attention to how I walked and I've managed not to roll it again. I also got good at learning to collapse over it if I started to feel it roll on a rock or something.

I was always amused by that reasonably big erratic sitting on the top of Eagle Cap. How in the world did that end up there?

I'll second the BD Couloir, though I don't have one. I think the current generation Alpine Bod's also have a belay loop.

The expert mountaineers who die are typically pushing very hard, in very remote regions, on exceptionally difficult routes where they consciously chose to climb with very little margin. They still to do everything they can to mitigate risk, but by necessity they expose themselves to more risk. That does not apply in any way to climbing Rainier on a sunny day in August. More people die every year because they were unprepared, were using equipment they didn't understand or weren't experienced with, and were in places they were not prepared to be, that does apply. If you want to climb for very long learning to mitigate as many risks as possible is a must. There are plenty of things out there that aren't under your control and can kill you climbing. Only an imbecile would add to the number by knowingly using unsafe gear, going unprepared, etc.. I whole heartedly agree that humilitiy is part of being safe, but surrendering all responsibility for you own well being is not humility it's foolish.

Other things I wouldn't go used on are a harness an helmet. You can get both for reasonable prices and like a rope these things are your lifeline. Go look at Second Ascent in Ballard. Great place to find used and clearance, packs, clothes, boots, rock shoes, etc. You might able to find a lower price on here, craigslist, ebay, etc. but it's hard to beat being able to try and on and fondle the gear before you buy something. Good folks there also know their sports and could provide good guidance. It's a slightly different story of course if you're buying from a friend whom you have complete faith in, and know the full history on a piece of gear, but I think that as a rule of thumb, if they sell it used at Second Ascent, then buying it used elsewhere is probably fine. If they don't than I would be a little wary.

No shit, but its hard to find good cracks at the office!

Alas no CNR appeared to be more than we were ready to bite off, especially considering none of us had summitted Stuart before by any route My stomach was rebelling a bit at the base so I baked off. My 2 compatriots did the first few pitches, but between hauling packs, climbing with heavy packs, and a being a bit uncertain as to route finding they were moving too slowly to feel confident about completing it in good style. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor I suppose. Going to make a go at just the upper N. Ridge next time.

Killed off a bottle of White Dog Whiskey out of Woodinville. Was really rather dissapointing. Had a funny bite at the end that was very un-whisky like, Almost vodka-ish. Currently on to a Bourbon

mmmmmmm, working on a bottle of 1790 at the moment. Tasty stuff Anyone made any good finds lately?

Thought I would revive this thread. I haven't done nearly enough crack climbing lately and hands are soft and weak I compiled all the posts into a single listing of grade, name, location, and crux/notes. A few of the climbs I don't know or don't know the grade on so I could use some help! Cheers! Josh 4488.txt