NoahT

Agree with Rad... I don't think one can faithfully argue that grabbing a draw off the harness and slapping it on a bolt is equivalent to: noting a good placement, grabbing a biner full of nuts, fanning em out, picking the one you knew you wanted, and setting it so it doesn't suck. You can be absolutely dead on with all your gear fiddling and placements, and its still quicker to grab a draw and clip it. Trad climbing is generally more involved, thus what some might consider a bit harder. Not any one move, just overall.

This was early May this year. Wouldn't have been any good at the time, too far gone for the season--but it looks like a reliable weakness for collecting ice. N

I don't have a green beckey here. Has anyone explored that runnel to the left of girth pillar?

The dynamic properties of cordelette or your rope are nice to incorporate into your anchor, vs just spectra slings or whatever. It's good to know how to build 1000 different anchors out everything from a pink tricam to your chalk bag, but some good advice might be try to avoid being creative 9 times out of 10. Pick a simple, fast and bomber way (a couple pieces, equalized cord with a power point), and that should suffice most of the time. Go to the store, buy 30 ft of 7mm, cut it in half, tie each piece in a loop with double-fishermen, and you have plenty of cord for two anchors most of the time. Then replace that cord early and often, and chop it up when you need rap tat. Cheers, N

It obviously did the job it was intended to do... That's the important part! Cheers, N

Knowing and trusting a partner obviously opens to the door to much simpler systems. It's the "getting to know your partner" phase where things have to be hammered out with signals defined. With the partners I've come to know and love, when the rope comes tight on me as the belayer, I know they either need me to move up so they can reach a belay, or they've already set one. The jiggle-jaggle of the rope can be like morse code. Up, up, up...pause...up, up...pause...pause...pause...then really reeling it in...pause...a little slack comes down...pause...up, up, tight on me...must be time to go. And if I move up a bit, and the rope comes tight again, I really know its time. Study your partner and how they use the rope, their habits and patterns. A good climber has lots of routines, with the same things happening every time. What else is there to do while your standing there. Enjoy the view...riiight. Cheers, N

Your angles look a bit obtuse there...

I'm no photographer, but I've done well with couple 70-80$ kodak digitals. They're relatively cheap so you wouldn't cry if you fumbled it off something high, and they're not super slim designs so I can manipulate it with gloves. I can also take great video with it--with an 8 GB flash card I can get 80 min. You may already have this in mind, but I recommend something that takes AA batts, so you can put lithium ions in it. It seems often the wierd fancy rechargable batt that comes with a really slim camera is not actually the highest quality, and will die quick in cold temps. You usually only have one, and obviously can't sub batteries from something else. --N

Just offer to pay for stuff--let your partner either take you up on it or not. If the flow of money becomes one-sided, invest in a new partner. N

Thanks for the honest writeup. It seems only a select few have to bear the (unfortuneate) burden of reality for similar decisions we all make every time we go up. But good honest reports like yours can bring home some of those lessons/perspectives for all of us to reflect on. Cheers to a speedy recovery, and getting back out to whatever degree you choose to pursue, Noah

I've had trouble with regular 5mm cord when it gets wet and super stretchy--trying to pull 60m of wet 9.7 single it was close. Unless I went with the 5.5 spectra cord, it seems that my 8mm doubles give the best rap security for alpine. As soon as you start bumping your rap cord up to 6-7mm, I'm carrying the same amount of rope, but not reaping the rewards of having that second one on the way up. With new additions to the family as of late, I'm also sold on the added security of doubling up on my main piece of protection. Doubles work well on a couple levels for me. If set on going rap cord, I'd say cough up for the spectra laced stuff.

Glad to see someone got on it this weekend. Nicely done, and thanks for relaying the info... Cheers, N

The more I get out, in a constant effort to work towards those "dream climbs," the more I realize our wee-cascades have all the adventure and challenge I really need to feel truely satisfied. Then the big opportunities present themselves, and you take 'em, with deserved confidence.

Circa $50 dollar schoeller-type gloves are good stuff. Don't baby them--beat the hell out them, and then buy a new pair. Mammut comets are one of my better feeling pairs. Schoeller, padded knuckles, leather palm. I have the punishers now too (very similar), and while I have enjoyed the "waterproof" insert, I didn't appreciate the extra cost or the inner liner that kinda slips around when you pull them off. They don't feel quite as "thin" either, the trade-off being I've been a bit warmer in them.

Hello Admin, I'm still getting this error message when I try to upload photos (it's been happening for months now, although at some point someone maybe tried to fix it?): error creating thumbnail: error code 1 Command: "/usr/bin/mogrify"+profile"*"-size100x75-unsharp 10'home/climb/cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/thumbs/100_0460.JPG Can you wipe out my queue, or bitch slap it, or something to make it work. TRs are borrring without pics... Cheers, Noah

Wow!, killin it on some REAL routes...love a couple of those watchtower pics--talk about dream route. Noah

Can you imagine sleeping under JDJs p.o.s walmart tarp with him-- or trying to fill a water bottle next to him--it's bad enough just trying to avoid his babblings online...I imagine many solo outings have past, with many more to come.

shit--that's awesome!

Nicely done, and thanks for a good read. Your "sun setting over stuart" pic on your webpage brings a little chill to my extremities...long day behind you, kinda long finish still ahead of you--nobody waiting up to find out how it all goes. Cheers, Noah

EXTREME in a nutshell...(from nwac, for tues-thurs) In any case, some slides should run full depth and range up to 6 to 10 feet deep or more, with some running full path distance, expanding or extending current paths and destroying mature timber. Note that while some very large avalanches are expected, even small slides may produce injury or death. In some ways, extreme danger does not adequately emphasize the extent of the anticipated avalanche potential. Back country travel near or on steeper snow covered terrain should be avoided, and travelers should confine travel to flat terrain well away from avalanche path runouts.

I don't have one, but was looking at integral designs' bags. Everything else they make is bombproof, so it stands to reason...

For sure--so it goes poking around for that diamond in the rough. Looks like fun piece of rock, though, when it's kicking ass up there!

For some reason I keep getting an "error creating thumbnail. Error code 1" when I try to post some pics. So...either someone can problem solve that one, or you'll just have to accept a little text. We waded up to Abiel on Sunday. Wanted to test our mettle a bit in the cool conditions. She's definitely got some ice forming, but the established routes aren't there yet. We climbed a pitch up the main couloir on a mix of snice and turf. All good fun. The approach was sweet with mostly waist deep drifts above the lake. It took us 5.5 hrs to get up there...woah! My PSA for the season: Get your car ready for winter...! The truck greeted us with at the end of the day with some ultra corroded battery terminals and wouldn't start. We got a jump from a friend from North Bend, but were mostly thankful that it didn't happen a month ago up around Eldorado. Could have been a two day affair instead of a 1/2 hour...phew. And it could have just as easily been my car Brian, so no worries . Here's to a good season, Noah

Holy shit! Is the road still driveable?

Ya I think you did. You must have been the guy bouldering around the seracs? I was the one with the orange pack and rope you saw first. Well, you didn't miss out on anything that great up there. 3rd time would not have been a charm.