jonthomp

#1 hex held a fall on the first climb I ever led and kept me from splattin' on the ground. Held my gf (now wife) after she did the same. She didn't have my faith and scraped down the wall rather than leaping like I did when I knew the fall was imminent.

I'll be taking my 6 year old up for some turns above Paradise. He's been pissed I haven't let him come along on other outings so now is his chance to play in the slushfest.

Part of the joy of putting up new routes is allowing others to enjoy the creation one has finished. The cleaning, bolting, etc. is often just dirty, hard work that should be rewarded by a reasonble amount of time get the FA. Skinner's reaction and others who like to camp on a project far longer than their prep efforts warrant strikes me as nothing more than territorial pissing and a sign of an ego that can't admit there's better climbers out there. Dru is right on the mark on this one.

Turns are turns are turns wherever you find them and Donnelly is great at making something out of nothing with whatever time he has available no matter the seeming insanity/absurdity of it all. It's not like that is the only patch of snow he's been skiing. Now for a "real" streak check out the movie "Step into Liquid". One guy hasn't missed a day of surfing for over 30 years. That is some true insanity/absurdity/obsession at work.

[quoteI'm going to attempt to use the kids as leverage/extortion!! I've tried that with skiing and it seems I just spend more time skiing with the kids wondering when my wife will join us. I ain't holding my breath. It does have that tit for tat, I've got the kids today so I'm outta here tomorrow thing going for it, though.

Climb: Melawkwa Pass-Snow Lake to Gem Lake to the pass Date of Climb: 6/15/2004 Trip Report: What a great day to be alive and in the mountains! Donnelly and I left the Snow Lake TH at 6:05am, hiking under clear skies with wisps of fog moving up the valley. A leisurely pace put atop the ridge above Snow Lake an hour later. We pulled on our boots, hopped on our skis, and chattered and thrutched our way down frozen, suncupped snow. We took our skis off to continue the hike to Gem Lake. Once there I climbed to the top of the knoll at the Gem's south end while Donnelly yo-yoed a small bump and caught a little air. I was more than happy to snag first turns down a chute which ran from near the top of the knoll to the very edge of the lake. Donnelly caught up to me and we each hit the chute two more times then skied a little bit onto the lake itself to traverse below some rocks and connect to a gentle, cruiser of a slope leading to about 45 minutes of booting to reach Melawkwa Pass. After a quick snack, I tore off into the basin below the pass, retracing our steps but at a much more thrilling speed—fast, hero corn! Donnelly aired it off the cornice at the top of the pass a couple times and we continued to rip up the slopes we had ascended. Back into running shoes at the ridge above Snow Lake and a 26 minute run back down put us at the car at 3:30 after about a 16 mile day of fun skiing, hiking, a bit of trail running and not a soul around until the very end. A great day in the sunshine!

Since no one has gotten the ball rolling, I'll start. We climbed the north face about a month ago and descended the White Salmon (which if I'm correct is near the FC's). Anyway, our route was quite snow covered as was the descent. Road access to TH's doesn't seem to be an issue right now. While things I'm sure have changed in a month, I would think you'd be good to go. Maybe someone has more recent info?

I like skyclimb's idea and it gets you mentally ready for the delirium you experience on those really long alpine days. On a more serious note--I did lift for awhile to rehab after breaking my wrist. I followed John Long's "workout from hell". It basically involves three 6-8 week sessions. One that focuses on endurance, one on power, and one that combines the two. It is a two day on, two day off routine. The first day on focuses on chest/arms, the second day shoulders/back with 2-4 exercises per muscle group. For the endurance phase, crank out 3 sets of 30 reps apiece. Be sure that the weight is such that you reach failure at 30. Keep the recovery pretty minimal and the puke bucket handy for the first weeks. For power, do the same routine, but up the weight so you reach failure by no more than 6 reps. Again do three sets of each exercise. I felt good enough after eight weeks of this that I just started climbing for more training, but the results seemed pretty incredible. It's a mentally tough workout to sustain and you can't expect to climb well while doing it. You'll just be too tired and the muscles need recovery. Lower body? I don't know. I just run and ski and climb and hike. Now that you've got me contemplating lifting weights, I think I'll have another PS--the WFH was more thoroughly described in Rock and Ice from many, many years ago.

At risk of giving away a great source of rocks to drill, check out Bedrock on Galer and Elliott (near the grain elevators where the old, old Vertical World was, but on the other side of the street beneath the Magnolia Bridge). They often have presawed river rocks as well as a constant supply of broken pieces of countertop which make for great crimpers on steep walls (the thinner pieces make great screw-on jibs as well). All rocks are sold by the pound and I have put many on my home wall. The river rocks tend to drill easily (I don't know about sawing them) and depending on the countertop pieces, pretty easily as well. Often you can find rocks that just have a flat side as well. When drilling I have just used a 1/2" drill with a mortar bit. I used a 3/4" bit to drill in partway first so the bolt would be recessed and not in the way of your grip. While some holds will shatter while drilling most will hold up just fine and I have never had one snap off my wall even yarding on the 50deg. overhang. I use a Dremel with a grinding bit to frequently sharpen the drill bits as they will dull with every other rock or so. A drill press would help get a better hole with less effort, but the handheld works fine. Enjoy, it's a great cheap source of holds.

Hit the Tietons. There's plenty of moderate stuff that puts you to the top of many peaks. Plus, it's not that far of a drive really. Trail runs also to log lots of mileage. There is a guide book available. I've climbed there in June and July and trails were mostly melted out with snow higher up.

Relative to last year (2002-03) I thought this winter was pretty good. At least it seemed fewer days were spent in the rain. Late spring, though...a different story. The rain has been bumming me out and lots of snow higher up to cover what was rapidly melting but not enough to give it a winter-fill kind of feel. Given the long range summer forecast I saw, I'm waiting for the predicted dry weather to hit for the summer months, especially when I have time off to take advantage. Until then I'll plan my summer climbs, scope lines for next year, and . PS--JoshK from the looks of your TR's you should hook up with Donnelly. He's looking for partners and is a calm, collected, crazy man on the slopes with some wicked endurance.

Right on! Cool looking line and nice pics on the link. Got any predictions on how much longer it might stay in shape?

Got soaked booting toward Camp Muir on Sat. Found fun turns though (see TR in freshieszone) and enjoyed being inspired by Donnelly. Playing with the kids, yardwork, laundry , and Sunday.

Climb: Camp Muir-yo-yo-yo-yo Date of Climb: 6/5/2004 Trip Report: Waking to rain drove home the fact that the weather window had slammed shut on plan A--to ski from as high up Little Tahoma as snow would allow. Nonetheless Aaron, Peter, Donnelly, and I had agreed to meet at the Mercer Island park and ride at 4:30 Saturday morning, so there we stood in the rain hashing out a plan B in the damp, yellow darkness. Camp Muir won out as we could be on the snow from the car where we booted up to about 8200' before deciding that the crusting snow, rain, sleet, and hammering wind wasn't worth the effort. We skied down in thirty foot visibility to Pan Point where the clouds began to thin and the wind slow. Donnelly tucked a chute speeding past a trio going up who remarked, "Who's the crazy guy?" as we cruised by. We found a wind-protected basin (the Paradise water source) and yo-yoed several runs, finding good turns and decent snow. Donnelly aired it out over a couple cornices (see the pics for shots of one of them) and tucked another chute to hit 53mph according to his GPS. The rain cut loose after our last run and soaked us by the time we reached the car. Not a bad day afterall and even enough sun to just redden the skin. (sorry about the grainy pics; they were pulled from video) Gear Notes: skis (2 tele, 1 AT, and Donnelly in his full-on alpine get up) Approach Notes: snow from the lot

What ya' bruised from?

Ain't no biggie. Wish I could go tomorrow in the sun. Enjoy

Perhaps. I'm hoping that early start gets in just ahead of the thickening clouds, then back down before it all turns to hell.

, Why so glum?

The game plan as it stands so far is-- leave Seattle at 5 Am to hit the TH around 7 then hike to the snow, hike/skin from there, and continue until reach the summit, a high point to be determined by weather, conditions, motivation, and time, or until some other appealing looking line attracts out attention. Several people have said they are planning on going so PM me or post here and we'll sort out a definite game plan, carpooling, etc.

Frypan is pretty flat. The Whitman (which leads to Little T's summit) is fairly steep. You can check out this link and read two TR's about it: http://cascadeclassics.org/MountRainier/MountRainier.htm then scroll down to Little Tahoma

Even Bush supporters are welcome to join in for some sloggin' and turnin'. You in, Wally? BTW, who's ass is Bush whoopin'? Would that be the American public and it's future generations?

Looking for people to ski/ride from as far up Little T as weather, conditions, and motivation allow. Early TH start, hike to snow, hike/skin frypan and whitman, maybe summit, and rip it down. Any takers? Am also open to other outings people may want to do.

Rubbing alcohol takes it off skin nicely. Might work on fabric.

I can tell you it'll be better, but that doesn't mean nothin'. There have been a couple days to consolidate and dry out some. It will be better by Saturday and we'll sneak one in right ahead of the weather, guaranteed ( ). If you can't find takers for midweek here, check at turns-all-year. Many people are looking for midweek partners. Unfortunately, I'm a slave to work until after June 23rd when I'm off for the summer!

Can't hit it midweek, but am planning on Sat. the 5th. While the weather window will be crumbling, it should still be good. As high up Little T as feel like going. Interested?