jordansahls

As for you choosing not to teach me to climb, that is understandable... I guess that means I'll have to get even more inventive. For the love of Buddah, don't.

Thanks, their route seems like a mix of the Beckey and the Kearny route. I think the Kearny route starts at the lowest point on the Buttress, and meets up with their route around the 6th pitch mark.

Is there any way that I can get hold of a topo for the Kearny variation on the NEB of Colchuck? Or do I have to spend the 20$ on the book.

I'm normal functioning non-autistic and I find this thread weird.

Thanks for the correction, it is actually the NW Rib, my bad. I changed what I could in the body of the TR, but it seems that the title under the TR forum will stay as the NE rib, oops.

I think that the results of many "stupid" rescues are punishment enough, especially when someone dies. There are always 'special' cases, but I find it strange that the government always seems to feel that it has to spank the child for playing with fire, after he has already been burned.

Yeah, there is a little bit of snow in the Chimneys, but nothing that gets in the way. The packs weren't a big problem, annoying, but very manageable. The route is very interesting, but by no means is it a classic. I will say that the views and the vantage point are very distinct from most any other route I have climbed on Shuksan. If you have climbed most all of the other classics, this one is a good one to go do.

All of this spray spray is making my head hurt.

All of this spray spray is making my head hurt.

Trip: Shuksan - NW Rib Date: 7/11/2009 Trip Report: Well, the weather report was a bit conflicted, but that didn't stop me and Stanislav from getting out. The original plan was to approach and camp Friday night on the top of the Fischer Chimneys, then climb the NE Rib and NW Arete on Saturday, then climb the NW Arayete on Sunday. Anyway, that didn't happen. We ended up just climbing the NW Rib in a day, which was enough in my opinion. All in all, it took us 17 hrs round trip. Enough with the boring details, here are some pics. chimney shinannigans Down climbing the Whinney's slide route (White Salmon Glacier?) sucked a fat one. Soft enough to ball up on your crampons, but hard enough to make plunge stepping a worthless proposition. Low on the Route Hanging glacier goodness High on the Route We spent a few minutes lounging on the top of the route, but eventually decided that a beer sounded really good, so we marched our asses down. We had spent about 4 hrs on the route. All in all, the climb is mostly a scramble with a fair amount of low 5th class interspersed throughout. With the exception of one 5.7 pitch (sorry, no pictures) we soloed the whole thing. Its a long route at 2000 feet from the base to the top.Not to much more to say, I thought it was a fun route but I don't think I will be going back to do it again any time soon. Gear Notes: Small stoppers and cams in the 1" to 2" range should do you just fine. However, the 5.7 pitch ate pieces into the 3" range, which I didn't expect for the type of rock we were on. Approach Notes: Approached via the Fischer Chimneys

Here is a good paper: the National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for Athletes

With regards to Mark Twight's book "Extreme Alpinism", you can look at it for free right now on Google books, scroll down to page 65 to get his take on nutrition. Unfortunately, the pages on hydration have been blocked. link: http://books.google.com/books?id=Y_26yT9Nn7UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=extreme+alpinism#PPT68,M1

You don't want to just drink copious amounts of water, it will lead to hyponatremia (low concentrations of sodium in the blood). Its why you need electrolytes with your water if you are going to be exerting yourself hard for more than a few hours. The problem with hyponatremia is that your body will get rid of other electrolytes to make sure that your bodies electrolyte ratio's are all 'proper'. Basically, if you get low in sodium, your going to probably get low in potassium and magnesium. I cant get access to this research paper, but here is the abstract: ====================================================== Exercise-associated hyponatremia: A review. Ask the experts Emergency Medicine. 13(1):17-27, March 2001. Speedy, Dale B 1; Noakes, Timothy D 2; Schneider, Claudia 3 Abstract: This paper reviews the extensive literature on hyponatremia, a common and potentially serious complication of ultra-distance exercise. Fluid overload is the likely aetiology. Fluid intakes are typically high in athletes who develop hyponatremia, although hyponatremia can occur with relatively modest fluid intakes. The development of fluid overload and hyponatremia in the presence of a modest fluid intake raises the possibility that athletes with this condition may have an impaired renal capacity to excrete a fluid load. The bulk of evidence favours fluid retention in the extracellular space (dilutional hyponatremia) rather than fluid remaining unabsorbed in the intestine. Female gender is an important risk factor for the development of hyponatremia. Management and prevention of exercise-associated hyponatremia are discussed. See Commentary, page 5. © 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd. =================================================================== Also, not going for a sales pitch, but if you want to hydrate will, get some of this stuff: http://www.nuun.com/ If I don't hydrate well, I get premature heartbeats (heart skips a beat). If I didn't use NUUN tablets in my water, I would be a wreck. The tablets are especially nice because they are lighter than something like Gatorade, and they have no High Fructose Corn syrup in them. Anyway, check it out.

when you talk about the second grip rest, your talking about something similar to this picture:

It’s really great to get so much input from the old school crowd. I'm at a bit of a cross road. Should I get a pair of better tools, or should I mod the ones I have now? I feel like there is a point when a climber gets strong enough that tool choice really may have an effect on his climbing ability, and then there is the climber who has yet to reach that level. I think I’m more in the second category. General mental toughness and skill are more likely to benefit my climbing then a pair of nice tools. That said, there is an advantage into playing with all the options available. I hate the idea of limiting myself by refusing to explore the other options out there. Still, I have yet to explore leashless climbing, so it would be a new thing for me to mod my aztars and climb on them for a few seasons. I think back to the old school climbers and the routes they did with 8lb ice hammers with wooden handles and realize that tools, while important, wont substitute for grit, and general toughness in the outdoors. So what do you older folks think? Did you notice an improvement when switching to something like the quarks or Nomics, how has it effected your climbing to date?

PM sent on purple cam.

FUCK BEIJING – Rescuers struggling through high winds and blizzards recovered the body of a second American climber Monday after an avalanche buried a team of three U.S. mountaineers in southwestern China last week, an official said. One of the Americans was still missing. The body of photographer Wade Johnson, 24, of Arden Hills, Minn., was uncovered Monday morning by a team of Chinese rescuers. The rescue team had been scouring Mount Gongga in Sichuan province for the two missing U.S. mountain climbers after the body of Jonathan "Jonny" Copp of Boulder, Colorado, was found Saturday. Three search teams are now on the mountain but are facing rough conditions, said Gao Min, a spokesman for the Sichuan Mountaineering Association. "Our search team has encountered extremely challenging conditions today with the intense winds, potential for avalanches and heavy snowfall," Gao said. Johnson was working for Boulder-based Sender Films, which makes climbing and outdoor adventure films. Johnson was a 2007 graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., where a memorial service was scheduled for Monday afternoon. In a statement distributed by the college, Johnson's mother, Susan Johnson, said, "Wade is someone to truly celebrate — and I continue to be amazed as to how vast the network is of the many people who knew and loved him." The deaths of Copp, 35, and Johnson were the first on Mount Gongga since 2001, Gao said. Micah Dash, 32, also of Boulder, remains missing. The three men were last heard from on May 20 at the base camp of Mount Edgar, a Mount Gongga peak. Gongga, Tibetan for "highest snowcapped mountain," attracts both tourists and mountaineers. It is 24,790 feet (7,556 meters) above sea level, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Wow, lots of good info comming in. Thanks for the break down Dane, definatly making me think harder about this.

Dane, how do you feel about climbing without a hammer and an adze? Cool pics, by the way.

Sweet! thanks for the Photos!

I would be worried about the ability of the tool to plunge. It seems like Marko's post talks about that nicely. I would also be interested to hear how this meathod has been working/evolving for those who use it. For those of you that do use leashless tools in the alpine (or teathered tools), how does the pinky rest effect the tools ability to plunge? I would think that it would be a problem, but I have always used leashes, that and most of the alpine routes I have been on that required my tools were cold enough that plunging wasnt really an issue.

For sure, Alan's screw placement proficiency wasn't from his set-up, But you could tell that it worked well for him. Also, I'm not sure if he does this all the time, or only for short ice climbs. Either way, that guy is fun to watch. Thanks for all the input, it seems fairly strait forward but its always nice to hear from others about their experiences.

Thanks for the Info! I'm not sure why he had that particular set up, but watching him was a trip. He basically used his leashless hand to place screws, and he did it faster than anyone I have seen before. I wasn't keeping time, but it couldn't have taken him more than 15 or 20 second per screw. If I see him ice climbing again, I will ask him about his set up.

Yes its rock season, I am well aware, but I pulled my back out and I have some free time so here it goes. Does anyone have any experience with modifying the Griprest attachment for the Quark to work with the Aztar model ice tool? I was lucky enough to climb Pan Dome falls when Alan Kearney was in the area. He used a system where his non-dominate hand was leashed, and his dominate, gear placing hand, was leashless. It was a cool set up. Anyway, I'm looking to do something like that with my Aztars. Thoughts?

Hey, as climbers we all understand what its like to get stoked on a climb, but judging by your posts, your not ready for Shuksan. Shuksan is a "walk" up by the Sulfide route, but its a glaciated walk up. Also, lots of people consider the cow routes on Rainier to be walk ups. And like you said, climbers tend to have egos, so we down play things sometimes forgetting that our defenition of "walk up" is much different than a newbs defenition. Also, its hard to describe what a class 3 scramble is like. Many people dont think about ropeing up on that sort of thing, while others wouldn't be caught dead without one. Basically, the nomenclature used by climbers to grade routes is ambigious, especially in the lower ranges. There is a reason that you wont see many routes with a grade of 5.0 or 5.2, because the lines of class 4 and low grade 5 are blurred. You need to get out on some scrambles and get a feel for what its like before you do something like shuksan. Why not try Black Peak off of HW 20, or Del Campo peak off of the mountain loop HW? There are many climbs that you can do that will be challenging, and a bit more suited for your present skill level. Still, when I was starting out, I did some climbs that were out of my skill range. I survived, and learned a lot, but I was lucky. Most climbers have similar expiriences during their careers. If you want to do it, and you are set on it, then go ahead, but remember that you are responsible for your actions. Most likely, you will have no problem, but you will start to attribute your success to skill instead of luck and fortune, and that sort of climbing has a way of catching up with people real fast. So please, start out with something more suitible, then work up to a climb like Shuksan.