scheissami

Sick! I guess your toes held up okay....good enough to get third place, eh? Nice work!

Nick, Probably not up for a Rainier climb, but if you're heading up to Lillooet, definitely holler at me. I'll also have a ton of time off in January and February. Cheers, Erik

Sweet, thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for. Any recs on when to get out there? We were planning last week of April but I wonder if it'd maybe be a little warmer and pleasant in the beginning of May. From what I gather there will still be a ton of snow around.

Hoping to head down to Crater Lake this spring to tour around the park (about thirty miles, very moderate skiing). I poked around the park's website but didn't find any great information about the routes. Does anyone have the scoop on trail-guides or maps I can find online? Anyone done this tour? Cheers

Sadly, I'm lame and haven't climbed too much water ice. Have done a bit in the Gorge and some alpine ice (mostly snow/glacial stuff) with the shield biners. So, not a lot of milage but I haven't had any problems. FYI, the nose of the shield biner is pretty large, and I've had problems trying to clip them to old bolts--not sure if that will be an issue with screws, especially some of the older models.

Anybody wanna get out tomorrow, Thursday afternoon, or anytime during the day on Friday?

Dude, nice work. Shitty skiers, unite! BTW, sport climbing in Utah is rad, dude--can't believe you were hating on me....

My head hurts. Definitely too many beers. I'm still drinking away the sorrows of losing a soccer match to Germany. Ugh. Well, I apologize in advance for the photo assault. This climb is spectacular and very picturesque, even if the climbing itself isn't incredibly sustained. Definitely bring DEET for the approach and climb. I was surprised how high those blood-suckers made it up the route... Anyway, the goods: The line on the hike in: Alpenglow at camp the night before the climb: Above the lake ascending Colchuck glacier: The base of the route. If you're a hardman, you probably wouldn't rope-up for this, but Rob and I don't qualify for that title. The exposure was pretty significant so we decided to break out the rope and simul-climb. This is where we started getting lost. We tried to follow Beckey's description and got a little confused. I would say, once you make it up the upper slabby stuff, follow the rightward trending gulley until it ends in a giant pillar. Traverse around that, and you should be at the base of the crux pitch. We think this is the 5.6 OW pitch described in Beckey's...Rob at the OW section: Me heading out on the crux. Thanks to Rob's picture taking, this looks pretty wicked; the route is not overhung and is maybe 80 degrees. Very fun pitch: weird fingers to bomber hands. Rob making his way across the slabby start to the subsequent 5.7 pitch and the last of the real sustained difficulties. Pro was awkward on this pitch and the climbing spicy but interesting. The sight that greeted us at the top of the pillar...time to scramble the rest of this. We stayed roped and simul-climbed just about all of it, belaying a few spots of low 5th class. Though exceptionally beautiful, neither Rob nor I really appreciated the views of oncoming storm clouds. Thankfully, the storm never made it to Dragontail... Rob topping out: Hydrating on the descent down Aasgard: Due to our route-finding issues and general slowness, we made it to the bottom of the pass just at dark, in time to enjoy prolonged searching for our campsite. Oh, well, all fun has it's price. Although the climbing isn't sustained, the money pitches are fun, and the route has a big-mountain feel. As soon as I brush-up my off-width skills I'd like to tackle Backbone ridge....

Thanks for a great trip, dude. Here are some pics of our climb on SEWS. The first belay: Rob contemplating his odds on the bear-hug pitch: The upper slab: We were pretty damn lucky about the storm. Sadly, no pictures were taken of the double rainbow....didn't have time to take a shot what with the hail and impending lightning and all. This route is rad...go get it!

We ran into them as we were hiking out after doing the same route. They had planned to bivy on the route above the pillar anyway, so hopefully they were well prepared. One of them is a regular here, so I expect we'll hear from him soon.

Hope you guys have fun. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it after all. Maybe another day....

I may join you....where are you fellas planning to climb?

So how was it? Sehr gut? Oder scheisse?

If you jokers end up going Thursday, I'm game. I live half a block away...happy to grab beers before and/or after. And, well, gotta love the Krauts... (even if the Krauts did beat the Austrians in EURO 2008 today, wankers)

Check your PMs.

Never trust a german doctor, let alone two!

Nice...I wish I had made it out today (stupid work). Did you need skis or slowshoes for the approach? Was the S. Face snow-free? Cheers!

Anyone have tomorrow off and want to climb? Ozone? Holler at me...

I'd be down for that. See you there? -erik

I'm off tomorrow...anyone wanna get out all day? Otherwise I'd be happy to get some laps in after you fools get off work.

Hmmm...I'm not sure that's gonna help ME too much! Still, I suppose the stuff way climber's right at Broughton's should stay dry (Rat wall? Red wall? I can't remember).

Although, the weather looks REALLY shit...

How wet/mossy was the rock? Was the overhanging stuff seeping? Anybody game for Ozone this weekend? Or maybe Broughton's?

Before I bought mine (r320), I emailed Arcteryx about the haul loop, since it definitely seems pretty flimsy. This is how they replied: "Thank you for your interest in ARC'TERYX. The Haul Loop is not made for anchoring, belaying or rappelling from but it was tested to hold atleast a person's body weight. (up to 400 lbs) A plastic loop was used to discourage it being used other than a haul loop. Replacing the plastic haul loop with a metal one, it won't increase the strength of it." Overall I'm pretty happy with mine. I haven't used it in the mountains yet, but have done long multi-pitch at Red Rocks, offwidth climbing in Moab (yuck!), and sport climbing and it's been super comfy throughout. Very unobtrusive and easily packable. A few gripes include the flimsy haul loop (why not a slightly beefier one?). Also, be sure to check the size. I have a 28-30" waist and the men's small is only just small enough if I cinch it down all of the way...smaller waist and I'd probably check out the women's version. This is my first harness with non-adjustable leg loops and they're sometimes a little snug but haven't had any problems fitting layers underneath. Not sure if any of this helps. Cheers.

Fine Jade on the Rectory, North Chimney on Castleton, Ancient Art (of course)....