Stella

Wait - are we talking about the gritstone route, still? That's what I'm talking about. This is why I should never read spray threads...

I imagine it does look like a boulder problem if you have no idea what you're talking about.

Not to drift away from slaggin that raindawg dude, but how many 14c trad routes ARE there? By my count, there are 2 others in the world? But those two took a lot more time than 5 months.

I hate hearing about these kids climbing so hard. It always reminds me that when I started climbing (and still on certain days when there are only gumbies around) I feel unique and special because I climb harder than them. Then some kid I have never heard of comes along and shows me I am clueless. It's a really tough ego blow. So I have come up with an ego-protection mechanism: first, I try to compare myself to them by thinking of something they don't do - my choice is lawn darts ("Yeah, but how good are they at lawn darts?"). I used to ask how good they were at trad climbing until I actually realized that anyone sport climbing 14 and above can climb anything they want to on gear, which just made me feel worse. Next, I just denigrate them for their age and try to make people think that anyone who respects their accomplishments are beneath contempt. Works for me!

Did that hit a bit close to home, G-Spotter?

Tru dat

What is up with your focus on having fun? Is that ALL climbing has to offer you? How boring. Why not just sit around playing video games? Climbing wouldn't be any different than anything else if it was just some "fun" little diversion. Little Si and LTW and Washington Pass.

Travis - The funny thing about this post is how much harder sexual chocolate climbs than you, but in your ignorance you go off on a condescending kick about an innocent question about Mt. Index. You badass.

Don't be so hard on yourselves. The majority of hard climbs in the world (8b+ and up) are redpointed with at least 2 bolts clipped. And have you ever put in time on Scarface, for instance? There used to be a stick clip permanently stored under the Scarface Swing rock for stick clipping up to the hip scum bolt to work the lower half on TR. It ain't fun, doesn't sound very styley, but everybody does it at some point.

There's definitely dry stuff there. But bring a tarp, broom and propane torch just in case and you'll be fine. Also, call leavenworth mountain sports and check the town webcams. But hell, GB is dry now. Get on it

What I think is really cool about BWRTS' post is that it is almost a perfect regurgitation of the Bush party line on climate change, and the one constantly reiterated on Fox News, etc. Despite the fact that there are no peer-reviewed articles substantiating this position (i.e. this is a normal process and we just can't understand it because our records don't go back that far), and near-universal scientific consensus to the contrary, the Bushies still spout this crap. What's so cool is that bwrts' response shows how effective propaganda is: if you say something often enough, even if it is demonstrably false, people will believe you. Props to Rove and Rupert Murdoch! Goebbels would be proud.

At the risk of exacerbating a stupid debate that should never have started and is out of place in this thread: do you people harping on the "via ferrata" even climb at WWI? If not, I don't know that your input is that relevant, and maybe you could rant elsewhere and restrict your posts on this thread to well-wishing.

I realize it's stupid of me to get involved, especially because the people who chopped the bolts are likely immune to reason, but here goes: Using trees at the top of popular crags for TR anchors causes more problems than bolts. Those problems are: increased erosion and damage to vegetation at the cliff tops; damage to the "anchor" trees by ringing their bark, which eventually kills them; increased visual impact. These impacts often lead to increased access problems. You do not get any points from the ethics police for tying a knot in a sling instead of clipping a bolt. Nobody is more impressed with your badass self because you TR'ed a 5.9 off webbing instead of a chain. And you are not injecting any ethical purity into rocky butte by chopping bolts. It is a quarry surrounded by an interstate in the middle of a city. Jesus, people...

Maybe. But probably it just means that if you put in as much effort to knitting as you do to bouldering and still weren't good at it you are retarded. Peace. I'm outta here.

Yeah. It would be a hell of a lot funnier and more ironic if it were true. But it's cute of you to make that assumption - you say that because of my name? I started my climbing career mountaineering, then got into trad climbing and into big walls. As I got better at the actual physical aspects of climbing, I got into bouldering and sport climbing more. My personal ideal of the coolest climbing is long free routes on granite and sandstone, and in the global scale of climbing ability, I am a much better trad climber than a sport climber or boulderer. That's how I know they are more exacting disciplines.

Tell me about it. Those pads are heavy. I guess that's true about boulderers. Definitely the lowest common denominator in climbing. I think the most important skill in climbing (and in that sense, this site is full of skilled climbers) is finding out what part of the sport you are bad at, then saying that part is for poseurs and wannabes. It's a great way to save your ego and make you feel better about your desk job. I know it works for me. It's weird, though: I've never met an actually GOOD climber who criticizes other parts of the sport. Huh.

Exactly.

I guess that's the problem with ladders. You say something is the top rung, then somebody comes along, flips it upside down, and now that same rung is the bottom. Your tortured metaphor just died a painful death...

I don't think there's anything wrong with alpine climbing and longer roped climbs generally. I think the logical climbing progression is to start bouldering and sport climbing, and as you get older and weaker, start more alpine stuff. The lack of required power and skill is offset by other things that make it exciting, like, I guess, reaaaaallly long bushwhacks, or falling snow or crumbly rock or something. I for one fully plan on being a "V 5.9 A2" climber when I can't pull hard moves anymore.