ryanb

How to deal with your fear of bears? Easy, show some self control and stop acting like you're a five years old who needs his favorite toy to feel safe. People run those trails with nothing but the clothes on their backs. I'd worry more about getting rid of that homophobia you got going there, ain't nothing wrong with the village people.

A friend and I were talking about Freedom of the Hills awhile back and concluded it is an awful book for a beginner to learn from...exhaustive in its coverage of certain minutia, it puts the emphasis on the wrong things and makes it hard for the young outdoors person to develop the skills to live well in the mountains. My buddy, who has since climbed some major alpine routes and index 5.12 on gear, described setting off on his first gear lead based solely on information from FOTH hills with a bunch of webbing and not enough carbiners and trying to run the rope through slings etc... Better, in my mind, are the shorter books by experts in their respective crafts...people like Peter Croft, John Long, Mark Twight, Ray Jardine, Craig Luben, John Midendorf...these expert climbers present the simple practical systems they have learned through years of experience...though they are all masters of things like self rescue, they stress the importance of dressing and eating well and getting by with minimal gear. It is amazing to me how any instructional material can attempt to teach leading by teaching gear placement but ignore the art of finding a good stance from which to place, fail to describe how to keep rope drag down and not even mention the single most important piece of staying safe on the sharp end : KEPP YOUR FOOT OUT FROM BEHIND THE ROPE. Climbing well does not come from memorizing knots and knowing how to place gear on the ground; those things are pretty trivial for some one with a reasonable amount of common sense. True climbing skill comes from mastering the fundamental aspects of living outside and moving over varying terrain. Hand jams, finger locks, rand jams, plunge steps, fig newtons, drop knees, gummy bears, water bottles, sun screen, headlamps, poofy coats, back steps, heel hooks... those are the climbing tools I break out the most.

I'd buy one or two

I learned on the things and carried the small and big ones for years as I worked my way from 5.6 to 5.8 and slowly bought cams. Then I got serious and decided it was time to cut the crap and concentrate on the stuff that worked well, was easy to use and fit in the the most placements. Now I lead 5.11 on nuts and cams. There is an art to the perfect tri cam placement, but it usually involves finding the perfect odd pod next to a good stance where you can hang out and fiddle one in and there is a high probability you will get them stuck or have them fall out entirely while you are learning...they are the MG's of climbing pro (fun only if you enjoy fiddling with them).

Most experienced climbers seem to choose one of the three options: 1) Leave the damn things at home. 2) Give the useless things away. 3) Never buy them in the first place. (PS go get some paint markers at your local art supply store and use those on the metal )

http://books.google.com/books?id=Tt0-o0IQopkC&lpg=PA170&ots=GTUdtjv0wk&dq=Russ%20mitrovich%20aid%20solo&pg=PA170#v=onepage&q=Russ%20mitrovich%20aid%20solo&f=false Russ Mitrovich daisy AID soloed most of zodiac but broke out the rope for the one bit of mandatory free climbing he did. I believe he also later backed down off a daisy solo of harder aid route after realizing he was asking for it. Dean potter free soloed most of the nose (no pieces) and only broke out the daisies for the aid sections. Attempting to daisy solo FREE as I believe the op wanted to do would be a hugh PITA on anything besides sinker jams with frequently spaced placements.

Spinner leashes are rated for like 2kn. Your system sounds like it would make you tired and more likely to fall...reaching up and down fucking with gear. Really strong people die soloing.

This is awesome! Keep up the exercise and you will find yourself getting hungry at the right times, good carbs before, after and during hikes are crucial to maintaining energy (granola bars work well). Don't just stop eating soda, replace it with something. You need liquids. Coffee, tea, sport drinks (the lower sugar/calorie the better...if you like the taste of nuun it is a great option). Mt Zion and Mt Townsen would both be good achievable goals in the Olympics. Mnt Eleanor is closer to home but slightly more technical depending on season/snow. Hiking some of the stuff from Hurricane ridge would give you a taste of getting up high and getting on top of something without having to hike all the way there. They also used to have awesome kid friendly winter snow shoe tours. Staying motivated through the winter months is definitely the crux of staying shape.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#3620t21/=3hk48t Aluminum chain links with a working load of 500lbs...I'd probably use two links to be safe.

I bought mine when they first came out used it for craging for a while and am letting it works its way to the bottom of the gear bin. For me, its been okay durability wise but handling is a bit reminiscent of a contractor grade extension cord. Not unmanageable, but usually leaves me wishing I had brought my monster 9.8 70 (that is a sweet rope bought off this thread for not that much more). If it wasn't so thin it would be retired to fixing/cleaning duty by now...I really only use it on alpine stuff any more and each trip swear i won't use it again. I do see hard people at index using what looks like this rope...the ugly teal color is somewhat unique... usually with a gri gri and ascender to top rope belay. You can definitely make it work but i'm not sure its worth it.

I have that rope, I wouldn't buy another for 94. It handles really poorly (stiff, tangle and jam prone).

All web developers etc need to test extensively in ie because it is such a piece of crap. It is also possible to run it "natively" under os x using darWINE but most use vmware or parallels. I buy my macs reconditioned and buy after market ram/monitors as others have suggested: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTE3NjY

the screen will be much nicer then a 1k toshiba. i found the built in apache is kind of limited for serious use but the os is quite flexible and can be extended etc if you know some linux admin tricks and are willing to go beyond the preferences dialogue. or just run a linux server in a vm for development.

Hey man, we talked to you and boyd on your way out, glad you are okay. You mentioned that the draws at the base didn't have anything left on them meaning the bolts broke through the eye I think.

Nice work! We did the traverse instead of the bombay as well it kind of seems like the better option...how hard is the bombay? Also did the right (wide) crack at the section you call awkward and dirty but can't say it wasn't awkward...

I was down there last time they cleaned it (2000 or 2001 ish?) with straight pressure washing. It just got a bit more gritty but none of the holds got much less greasy...the holds can stand up to some cleaning but the concrete turned to sand. Sandblasting would probably remove the patina on the stones? Maybe vinegar?

Roslyn is not super close to leavenworth unless you are taking highway 2 for another reason or accessing Stuart up mountaineers creek in which case its on the way...I think second ascent is your best bet and closest to north gate too...they have an eclectic selection with lots of discontinued models/odd sizes but stock more comfort/beginner shoes then any other store in town. Vertical world (not sure what they stock...anyone else know?) and stone gardens are in the same area too. Failing that head down to feathered friends and failing that rei is right across the street...

What is NE? Pro Mountain Sports has very limited rock shoe selection...awesome store for other stuff but abismal for rock shoes. Feathered Friends (across the street from rei) has these... mostly performance models: http://www.featheredfriendsretail.com/footwear-climbing.html Second ascent is a good bet, they tend to have the best variety of not-super-agro shoes that might work well for long routes...alot more then are listed on their website too. Stone gardens has anasazi vcs, mocasyms and mythos. If he is allready on the east side leavenworth mountain sports had a surprisingly good rock shoe selection last time i was in...lots of performance shoes from several brands but i don't remember if they had good long route shoes.

This may be a stupid question due to the hardness of metals in bolts or something but assuming you are in an area that allows power tools can you just drill the old bolt out of its hole with a normal drill bit?

I am trying to find a home (either long term loan or sell outright I guess) for a freestanding, variable angle wall. It requires a space 10' high, 8' deep and 14-16' long (it was built in an old high ceiling carriage house and has spent some time under tarps in a back yard). It is a really rad wall but big ... a couple of people are interested already but its hard to find a spot for something this big. I may post again once i get pics downloaded etc.

How big is your garage?

In the past there had been a note posted on the stop sign by the railroad tracks when cleaning is going on in the quarry, it is easy to miss though. Most of the talus below thin fingers came down on its own from the large overhanging white section left of where routes are going in...its not exactly a safe spot. Brad L and I gave the finger crack part of pressure drop a quick scrub a couple of weeks ago... it may need another once it is fully dry. There are lots of other routes in that area that could be re-de-mossed.

Dave Page's shop has ruined pairs of my shoes and pairs of my friends shoes. I hear he himself does a fine job but his help sucks. I just got my first pair (anasazi vcs) back from cascade cobblers via stone gardens. I'm letting them cure for a week before i use them (the key to a lasting resole or so they say) but they look great. He also sent me a partial refund because i paid for a rand job and he didn't think they needed one so the total was only 28 bucks. If they climb as well as they look they will be getting more of my business.

Do you have a Topo or pitch-by pitch beta for this route? I've been wanting to get on it for a while now. We used a topo out of brudo's "north cascades rock"...out of print but I think they might make you a photo copy at second ascent or feathered friends? Sol (poster below you) has a good pitch by pitch trip report... or mine is here. Going by Sol's pitches fitz face traversed below the roof to gain the cracks instead of (or before) chimneying on p5 and climbed the right wide crack on p6 (a bit of burly 5.9 wide without wide gear. ) I think mark westman said he left a cam in the roof at the start of p5 (we somehow missed it by traversing lower) so if you see one its his. Are newer routes like the hitchhiker in the new beckey book?

I don't think that is the passenger. Here is a photo overlay I made of it.