selkirk

I got chased by a heard of pack goats a few years ago. Wandered into camp very late (12:00?), after a mini-epic with a small herd of newbies on the trail (1/2 dollar sized blisters, puking from trying to go too fast and inexperience with a pack, falling into rivers, becoming part of a parade route,.... twice.... flat tires, cowboys driving cattle). Got to our expected camp at midnight, and see this group of disembodies eyes floating 4 ft off the ground in the middle of the Sawtooths, and I start to get nervous. I'm thinking WTF has eyes that are 4 ft off the ground way the hell out here and travel in packs , racoon... too high, deer... to low, bear... too many.... cougar... way to many ? At which time I see this small herd of domestic goats with 16 inch horns wander into headlamp range, as I breath a sigh of relief. ..... Followed shortly by a disembodied voice in the unmistakable southern Idaho redneck drawl...."ya'll got dawgs?" me... "Yeah we got dogs" ...."Them goats is wild, they'll kill your dawgs" so we grab the dogs and start heading the other direction around the lake with all possible haste. Of course, being well trained pack goat, they like to follow people.....so we end up with 2 people holding the very curious dogs and 3 people running interference with the goats until the owner comes to get them one at a time. Was a very freaky experience. Turns out this family goes up there (Goat Lake believe it or not) every year with their pack goats, whom they leave untehtered over night so they can defend themselves with their big pointy horns should a predator come around. Hell of a trip. Shit just kept going. Didn't actually end until my wife and I were in the air on the way home (prior to which I managed to lose my wallet, and there were "electrical" difficulties with the plane.", all in 2 1/2 days). freakin pack goats.....

I'll give second votes to Freedom and Accidents. Freedom would perfect broke into 10 minute chunks. For some reason my wife considers ANAM bedtime reading Still don't quite get that one, though it's a good way to learn what not to do. Second only to listening to Dru

Has anybody heard about the frog that freeze solid every winter! Pretty cool stuff. They release a chemical into their cells that keeps the water from crystalizing kind of like an organic anti freeze. My sister had a prof. who brought one to a biology close, froze it, tapped it on the desk a few times to show it was solid then let it thaw out. Seems like that would be a better option, considering they can stay frozen for months at a time.

Effecitvely just as strong as 1" mil-spec. Should be good for 2 or 3 seasons maybe? Or at least until the snaffles and sunlight degrade it to sketchiness.

Is it climb spec or mil spec 9/16? Not that it should matter for 1 rap. Don't think i'd trust the mil spec 9/16, without a rap ring for more than 1 rap though. Stuff is pretty thin and it seems rope/sling friction would probably weakn it significantly, though the climb-spec should be fine for as long at 1 inch mil-spec.

Lots of organizations in the area offer climbing courses (Boe-Alps, various Mountaineer Branches.) If you've done a reasonable amount of climbing/scrambling, have a few summits, and know the basics (z-pulley's, how to tie off a fallen/injured climber, how not to kill yourself or anyone else.) and are interested in the Mounties you might look into the Basic Equivalency thing and the Intermediate course. (Much better than the Basic class for someone who already has some technical experience, and more focused on leading; trad, easy ice, some rescue methods etc.) Only problem is most of the courses start in the spring, not summer/fall. And while htey get dogged pretty hard on hear, they've got their supporters as well (of whom i'm one.) If you have questions PM me and I can give you some details. Other option would be to post looking for a partner and volunteer to be a belay slave in exchange for some help learning to lead stuff, or hire a guide? Though I imagine guides get pricy for the amount of time/instruction you get. The course take longer, and progress at a fairly slow pace but net cost is like $250 for the instruction.

dude probably shouldn't be allowed to walk unsupervised. did anyone read the latest alpinist? Had a great description of guys like that (and we probably all know one or two)... "Been climbing for 20 years, but only has 1 year of experience 20 times."

If they are attractive I flip my hair, stick out my necklace, and play with my chest. If not hot...then I look straight ahead pretend i'm dressed, and then smile kindly as they pass.

The Mammut equivalents to the Trango Lightweights, for $5.25 at Pro Mountain Sports and come in at 36 gm. I've got a whole bunch and love em, a bit of a narrow rope bearing radius but a really nice clip, while lightweight, cheap, and a nice size for racking. Maybe not full size, but not the mini's like neutrinos.

An interesing side bar is that groups don't always make better decisions. With increases in group size the dynamics of the group can lead to riskier behaviour. As memory serves the optimal size is something like parties of 2 or 3. Too many people can lead to too large a percieved loss of face for backing down (at least for guys). My impression is that people who are thoughtful, focused and very aware are probably just fine doing solo stuff, though it certainly is inherently more risky than small parties. For the inexperienced/deluded/unthinking that voice of reason by others may be the only thing that keeps them alive. Speaking of which did anybody read the article in the last Alpinist about the moron who unbuckled his harness from 15 ft off the deck, immediately after taking a 40 ft sans gear and having a miraculous rope snag. I feel sorry for the guy, but some people are too dumb to climb.

Wow, no wonder I got spanked !! I led to the first bulge, but got utterly stumped there and bailed left.

Managed to get 2 nice days in the Icicle, though sans parents. Took a bunch of folks getting back into leading on gear after an almost year hiatus up Givlers . They cursed me a bit, but all did incredibly. For the first time ever, my net contribution on sat. was to belay 1 pitch Did manage to lose 1 big hex behind the flake though. I kind of wondered how much loose shit is back there? Saw three people take falls on the first move off the deck though. The one from our party had protected the move but the other two decked from a few fee up. Good sized scratches and bruised egos only. Were just coming down for the afternoon when the rain hit. Felt really sorry for the two parties that had just headed up when we were heading down. Even saw one party mid-route in the downpour when we hit the car Braver folks than I to keep climbing. I would have sacrificied a nut or two and bailed. Sunday was relaxing. Watched some friends put up the Arch, Spaghetti Sauce, Dog-leg and some un-named 5.7 crack over at Alphabet. Then managed to figure out the crux on Hindquarters. 10- my Felt good to get it after getting rebuffed last year though. Anyone know what the semi-bolted pitch between the Arch and Spaghetti Sauce is and the rating? I took a look but wow, a little thin/empty for me trying to follow the bolt line.

Nevermind. My brain is spend. I thought I had finally figured out the last aspect of my research and it turns out i'm still partially screwed. , slightly less screwed than yesterday, but still screwed. I think I need many drinks. research sucks. If not as much as an actual job it's damn close.

offer or request?

We should probably let Fern comment on that herself.

Post of the day.

Stemming always seems to be the solution when the route is rated easier than it seems. Have you taken a shot at Zebra-Zion yet? Mixed thin fingers, hands, fists, stemming, liebacking mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm droooling mmmmmmmmmmm

Dude, where are those? I need to find them. Finger jammin' The Vertical World in Ballard has a nice finger crack

Does anyone remember the nutria fur had episode from Seinfeld? Maybe this will just lead to a population explosion of martins. They seem about the right size to eat those things. Either that or it's time for a Nutria/Hook Guy

As usual i'm pretty much talking out of my ass, but these trends and suggestions seem pretty similar the recent studies of heuristic avalanche traps, and the group dynamics factor that sometimes causes people to be willing to take greater risks without even realizing is. (i.e. Group of guys gets the testosterone flowing, racing up the approach, and generally pushing each other. In mixed sex groups, women in general tend to defer to the men with more aggresive personalities, and the guys tend to feel like they want to impress the ladies, resulting in higher risk levels. Similar issues when you have multiple parties in the area, compounded with a potentially false sense of safety due to having additional people nearby.) While I don't know that there's any stastical data on east-coasters and firefighters (and if you don't want generalizations about Cfire, watch making them about East Coasters. Just because a few get in over their heads doesn't mean that as a whole they aren't qualified.) There has been some good stuff done on general group dynamics. Heuristic Traps I don't see any reason why climbers wouldn't be prone to the same behaviours when choosing and attempting routes and weather windows. But for more moderate routes it's possible to back off or hunker down safely. Throw in something more serious like Lib. Ridge, and you don't have those escape options anymore. On a different note.... ever notice that most of the accidents that seem to pop up are all male parties? Firefighters aren't the only ones susceptible to testosterone poisoning.

That's very helpful the those of us poor bastards who haven't climbed in Yos. yet. Care to throw up some appropriate local benchmarks? Otherwise i'll have to declare Air Guitar a solid, sustained, 10a

Ummm... how else do you propose to ascend the rope? Bite the rope with your mouth while you slide the other one up? 2 ascenders per person is standard. One wants two ascenders/team (not person) dumbshit. So how exactly would 2 people ascend the fixed lines on the second day with only 1 ascender each? If you were short fixing and completing the climb in one day from the ground up then you'd only need 2 per/team as 1 person is always on lead and 1 belaying the jugging. But if you fix the first 3 pitches on day 1 you have 2 people jugging on day 2 which certainly seems like it would require at least 2 ascenders each.

damn straight! I have no clue how to aid! Which is why I wanted to try to aid at least a few pitches before I take a shot at it. And yes, i'm a reasonably solid 5.9/5.10- climber, at least in the gym anyways! As for the gear.... So what you recommend for gear to take in addition to free climbing gear? Any prefered brands of offset nuts? And for the small nuts do you mean small but standard BD's or DMM Peanuts, or something else? Thanks

Only the first one, after all the other lines count as having been scouted so they're only a flash. says the guy who hasn't established jack shit I think it's only a flash if the beta you had was actualy useful/important. If it amounts to "it looks like it takes pro well and it'll go" seems to me it should still be an onsight.

I'm interested in taking a shot at Liberty Crack eventually (possibly this fall?) I'm not worried about the free climbing sections, but I was wondering what sort of aid gear I need to fix the first three pitches? I'm assuming some of the standard stuff 2x aiders per person, 2x ascenders per person, 1 or 2 fifi hooks per person, 1-2 daisy chains (or equivalent personal anchors) per person. My real quesion is .... What aid-pro will I need? micro nuts, ball nuts, cam hooks, regular hooks, this part I have no idea on. I'm planning on doing some practice aid pitches before trying it of course to get familiar with the gear so I oculd also use some recommendations on good pitches (Vantage, Leavenworth, or E-38) Thanks in advance all.