scheissami

I may try to make it if I get out of work in time (5-ish).

Sorry it took so long, homes. Been getting my ass handed to me at work. Anyway, John, Lani, and I were able to get in half a dozen pitches or more on the Decadent Wall before the weather got shittay. Me geeking out on a sporto route (Nipples and Clits): Lani seconding the same: John on FDC: We got to climb some classics on the wall, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to hit up some of the excellent routes in other locales. Gear: hot tub proved quite handy! Be sure to bring Hungarian salami to share with your tub-mates... Had a good time, though the weather forced an early retreat. Cheers to everyone I got to climb with

Noob question: how is the adjustable fifi setup? I have adjustable daisies; is the fifi on something similar? Cheers.

Irvine Welsh--if you liked the movie "Trainspotting," you should check out the novel upon which it was based, not to mention some of his other fiction. Rad.

I'm no skier, so I won't make any promises but the snow cover definitely extends to the lot. While we were up on the rock we saw one skier drop into the bowl below the Tooth. I'd say you're probably good to go. I appreciate the lack of spray, too, though having spent a reasonable amount of time reading stuff on this site I can assure you that I'm always prepared for the worst. In any case, we had a pretty rad trip. Cheers.

The saddle to get up to Pineapple Pass is still very much full of snow but made for good step-kicking. You shouldn't need crampons, though an ice axe would probably be nice for peace of mind (didn't need mine yesterday). You can rap the gully below the pass rather than downclimbing the usual approach (the top of which is a little tricky now as the snow is starting to melt away from the rock). Super fun route, your friend will love it. TR here.

Climb: The Tooth-South Face Date of Climb: 5/16/2006 Trip Report: With the onset of warm weather lately, my buddy Jim and I thought we'd try out the Tooth yesterday. Since we live in PDX it'd be an all-day trip for us, but that suited us fine--since we're novices, we figured it'd fill up our day nicely. I noticed a request for a TR in another thread, so here we go... Left PDX around 3:30am. Got to the TH just after 7am. The hike in was pleasant--cool initially, but we quickly warmed up. The snow was quite soft already, making kicking steps easy wherever there wasn't a bootpack. Didn't know what to expect so I brought crampons but certainly didn't need them. Actually, we got more of a workout than we had planned for--I learned my beginner's lesson yesterday, which is don't rely on just one guidebook. Nelson's approach notes probably would've been fine, but the trail diverging wasn't marked and we didn't see it due to snowcover. That added up to about a 2 hour detour as we headed "along the right-hand (east) side of the valley." Big oops. We ended up on the slope east of Source Lake. Anyway, after a couple of extra hours backtracking and a bunch of cursing, we made it to the base of the climb about noon. There was a party of five ahead of us, climbing as a group of three with a group of two at the top of the first pitch. We waited for over ONE HOUR for them to get up the second pitch. The two groups were jibber-jabbering at each other with walkie-talkies! This was probably fine, though, since my legs felt like jello from tripling the approach time. Anyway, we got on the route at 1:30pm. Here's me heading up the first pitch: The route was in fine condition--no snow anywhere. The sun was absolutely pummelling us, though it was a nice change after a long winter. I did a good job of messing everything up yesterday--I managed to link together the pitches in such a way as to create as much rope drag as possible. Although a 60m rope will reach, don't combine pitch 3 & 4 (I did it just so I wouldn't have to wait for all five of those above us to rap through us, but on more mature reflection, I probably would've enjoyed the final pitch more if I had waited). Here's Jim showing me how to live at the top of the second pitch: We topped out via the direct variation just as the party above us was beginning to rap down. Jim reaching the summit: Stellar views from the top: We got back down after 5pm. As we were hiking out we passed two guys headed for a quick lap. Looking back at the Tooth from the southeast: Despite the major screw up on the way in, we had an awesome time. Definitely a fun, easy route. I'm gonna head back in another month or two to share the love with some of my other friends new to climbing. Gear Notes: Used: 60m rope, set of stoppers, set of cams Didn't need: crampons Approach Notes: Still lots of snow--boots/gaiters probably a good idea. Trekking poles super nice; didn't need the ice axe but probably would still take it. Learned my lesson: check out a map before heading out.

That's right--Leuthold's Thursday morning, short nap, SEWS, short nap, work. Luckily pilots don't need to be too alert for work...

Nope, no pitons. TR here. Thanks for everyone's help. Cheers!

Climb: South Early Winter Spire-SW Couloir and S Arete Date of Climb: 5/12/2006 Trip Report: On Friday Bill and I headed up to WA Pass to climb SEWS. Not the most outrageous objective, I know, but it was my first alpine climb so I figured I’d mouth off and share some pics. Feel free to spray away. We left PDX Thursday night and made it to Seattle by 11pm. Had a brief nap at a buddy’s (thanks Annie! ) and then headed to the pass. We made it to the hairpin around 7am Friday. The weather didn’t look too hot during the drive up, with scattered rain showers and a low ceiling, but we were hoping things would start to clear a bit later in the day. By 7:30 we were heading up the snow. Conditions were great and there was a good bootpack heading up from the roadside. The cloud cover was helping to keep the snow firm. SEWS from the SE: SEWS from the south, with both the SW couloir and the S. Arete visible. Not too much snow on the S. Arete… (who’s that loser in the way?) We stashed our packs at the base of the S. Arete and headed up the SW couloir just after 9am. The snow held crampons and axes well—windswept with solid crust. Since I’m a goon, I brought my tools—certainly didn’t need them, but, well, I wanted to play with my new toys. I played around a bit, practicing different techniques. There were even a couple of small patches of water ice in the upper couloir. The climb was exceptionally fun—easy climbing with good snow. Bill in the upper couloir: The scramble to the summit: The enormous cornice over the east face: Looking south we could see a couple of skiers climbing under a giant cornice (don’t know the peak’s name) to ski the backside of the ridge. Was it any of you folk? Skiers just beneath the cornice: We descended the couloir via down-climbing and rappelling (should have just down-climbed) and made it back down to our packs a bit after 1pm. The S. Arete was up next. I decided to climb in rock shoes since there didn’t seem to be too much snow. By this time, the sun had started to come out, though the wind was still gusting occasionally and temps were dropping. The climbing was fun and easy with good pro. Bill nearing the first belay: Bill on the second pitch: Though I ran into patches of snow and ice in some of the gullies, the route was mostly dry. We climbed five pitches but hadn’t planned on summiting again. By this time it was getting fairly late, and I didn’t feel like tramping through the snow in my rock shoes. With temps starting to drop, we called it a day and start to rap down. Our high point on the arete: Views on the way down were spectacular: We made it down to our gear about 7pm. An hour of plunge-stepping later and we were at the car. After a six-hour drive, we made it back to PDX just before 3am (Bill had to be up for work at five—sucky). We’d been awake for 24 hours, but managed to climb two easy but totally fun routes. I am now absolutely stoked to go get after some other easy routes. Thanks to everybody for their help and beta. Gear Notes: Two ice tools (certainly could’ve just used an axe), crampons Set of stoppers, set of cams 60m rope P.S.--any way to get the pics to load larger (but not monster-sized)?

Rad pics!! I'm looking forward to heading up there Friday. The S. Arete looks pretty snow free, too.

What about climbing the S. Arete--could you do it in rock shoes? It sounds like you're saying the snow is mostly at the top right now. I'm supposed to head up there this Friday. We were going to climb the SW couloir and rap the S. arete to see if it was dry; if so, climb that, too. Pics would be awesome. I'm stoked--sounds like you had a rad time. Cheers.

My bad... yeah, I meant the SW couloir.

I may be off here, but I recall something about him trying to increase the number of supreme court judges. He would then be responsible for appointing these new judges; usurping the idea of checks and balances by stacking the odds in his favor! Pretty crafty (if I remembered correctly).

Thanks! Yeah, North Cascades (oops). Also, someone kindly pointed out that it probably hasn't seen too much traffic yet since the pass just opened yesterday (oops #2). Anyway, past info is certainly still helpful for me. Toodles.

I was thinking about trying my hand at the SEWS couloir this week (maybe tomorrow). Anybody been up by there recently? What are conditions like? I've not done this climb before and am quite the noob--any particular concerns? I've done straightforward stuff like the south routes on Adams and Hood, and I understand this to be relatively simple as well (as described in Nelson's). Also, any other recs for routes of this caliber/commitment that might be in right now? Thanks for your help... Cheers. P.S.--If any are interested in joining me, well, the more the merrier....

Mountainmatt, whatcha mean about the Tooth? Tons of wet, slushy snow, or what? Which route did you climb? Cheers...

Some of you may have seen this before, but I feel it's worth another look, as it displays the dichotomy we've been examining lately. Cheers. ------------------------------------------- A supposed assignment actually turned in by two English students: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca and Gary English 44A Creative Writing Prof Miller In-class Assignment for Wednesday Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth. Remember to reread what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached. * * * * * * At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked camomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So camomile was out of the question. Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit. He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth — when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully. Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out of the sky!" This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent. Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. You total $*&. Stupid %$!.

I'm probably out this week--I aggravated a foot injury last week and wanna take it easy.

Hey, I know that guy....

Sweet. Any word on a projected date the pass will be clear?

I'm down. Sometime after four-ish? Where should I drop my rope?

Thanks for all of the good tips...looks like it depends on what my wallet can handle. The Heliums seem pretty sexy, but twelve draws with dyneema slings would be over 300 bucks! The Superflys seem quite nice. Does anybody think that the keynose actually makes that much of a difference in the alpine (not really clipping a ton of bolts, eh?). Cheers.

Are any of the Portland crew interested in climbing Hood tonight?

What's everybody's favorite wiregate carabiner? I'm looking for lightweight biners for alpine draws. I like the Wild Country Helium Clean-Wire (cuz of the clean nose) and the BD Livewire. Any thoughts?