NoahT

Summitchaser's antics are the most entertaining thing on this site since Jamin. Gotta love it...N

...same here

I owned a 2000 impreza 2.5RS for a number of years. My second subaru. First was a '97 Legacy wagon. IMO, nothing beats the AWD on a subes in compact snow and ice. Even in my newer 4x4 now, I was jealous of the little subarus zipping around in our recent "snowpacolypse." The head gaskets on the 2.5L engines between '97 and '01 go bad around 75,000 miles. Mechanic said they tried a new material/design, and it just doesn't hold up. Mine lasted till 95,000. The repair was around $1800. My experience on both subes was that above 100K, they are not the cheapest car to maintain. Some of this is due to the AWD. This is compared to something like my wifes '97 Camry, which we spend almost no money on. As I sold it (to my brother), the catalytic converter was on its last legs. This necessitated replacing the oxygen and knock sensor every year or two, and constantly staring at the "check engine" light. From what I've heard, very common with subarus to have the check engine light on. Usually has to do with sensors related to emissions , so not necessarily critical, but sort of annoying none-the-less. The mechanic would just tell me, "bring it in when it is actually running bad. Until then, just deal with it." I'd get 19 mpg in the city, and 25ish on the highway. AWD eats into your mpg's quite a bit. A 2.5L engine will too. The 2.5L engine put out 165hp, and was plenty powerful. As much power as you'll see out of similarly sized engine. Very zippy. I had a sedan, so can't comment on the bigger outbacks. I feel like subaru gives you a lot of car for a relatively small price. It seems like most of their value is in the drive train, and less in the creature comforts and more polished feel you might find in a toyota or honda. But what do they offer in the same price range with equivalent performance? Definitely not a yuppie-car. Yuppies would much rather buy an Audi. The subes has a true mechanical limited slip differential, strong engine, good size, average mpg, and time tested reliability. A solid buy if you choose to go that way. What about an element? Kind of funny looking, but lots of room. Good luck--N

As one who hasn't climbed the route, but enjoys the challenge of a solid 5.10 climb, I'll enjoy it either way. 99% sure I'll clip a bolt when I see it, but equally sure I won't miss any lack of sketch. Anytime spent on Dragontail is good. Also, I most certainly will be headed for the top, rap route or otherwise. I love walk-offs. N

I've used 5mm for pulling, and when it gets wet it gets super stretchy. MAkes it hard to pull...4mm prolly even worse.

My guess is SC is best climber in his circle of friends. This can be dangerous. One needs to hang out with better climbers than oneself to be infused with a proper amount of self-deprecating humor. When you go out and go big, you've got to fool yourself into thinking you know what you're doing. But in the "privacy" of your own community of climbers who know what's up, its always better to just admit you got lucky were considering bailing the whole time. N

I hadn't even seen that linked thread, but I knew who Dane was talking about right away.

Agreed, the more experience you get, the less you carry pickets.

For me, 1-3 day trips in the cascades year round = down bag. Even if it gets wet, I'm not out long enough for it to really matter. All my clothing, including belay jacket = synthetic. The same logic might hold true, except it spends a lot more time getting wet than packed up nicely in my backpack. N

If this had been a TR, where someone genuinely wanted to share their recent experience, I'd understand the selective editing. But this thing was a joke from the get-go..."I'm freeing city park," and then a 10 minute video of him aiding it. He got exactly what he came for. Edits not necessary. N

Well said.

Looks like nice stuff!

I knew a guy from the US (climbed together a couple times) who went to NZ to "guide" a stranger up a couple peaks. Sounds similar to what you're looking for. I only mention it to reinforce that it's possible. Feel free to ignore the haters. Lots of people would love a free to trip to NZ. Cheers, N

Looks money! Not a bad line on that piece of rock, yet. N

Awesome, as usual. Thanks for the hard work! Noah

A true noob question...

You should get CCW's opinion, if they'll work with you like that. Seems like they'd be the best resource for all the technical stuff. Or get crackers to make you one. I'm sure he'd set you up with exactly what you need...and he's the quintesential "little guy." Good luck. --N

I'm sure they're well aware if how the trail looked last year, and now it looks BETTER! Thanks guys! --N

Nicely written...I love self-deprecation. N

In a word, yes. The more curvy the tool, the harder it's going to be to plunge it. But I'd suggest there's a fairly narrow range of snow conditions where plunging is actually any good for anything other than just stabilizing yourself. I spend a lot of time choked up on my older quarks, pick in, spike in, hand halfway in between. If you need a solid anchor in your average cascade snowpack, a tool dead-manned will do you much better. If you just need a third-leg for stability, really anything will do. I beat my balled up crampons with the side of the tool's head. I guess it depends what you're trying to do. The premise is you want to sacrifice some performance for the sake of your wallet, AND you want to get into waterfall, mixed, winter alpine maybe. IMHO, the benefits of a more aggressive tool on the steeps will outweigh the benefits of a half & half tool on the mellows. Happy searching! --N

IMO, If you think you're going to want to be climbing anything steep in a year or two, just swallow hard and buy a legit tool: quark, fusion, nomic, etc. Otherwise you'll probably find the 200 bucks you spend now on a straighter-shafted, half and half type tool wasted. You can press any of the more agressive tools into service on the mellower routes with an open mind to technique, but you'll have a hard time making an aztar-type tool feel right on the steep stuff. Just my opinion. --N

That's huge...inspiring! --N

I think there have been some serious attempts, but maybe it'll keep them from having any ascents.

Thanks for sharing! Impressive, to say the least.