Dannible

I think the number would be a whole lot higher (like, twice as many) if you said 5.7 or harder because that would include things like the west ridge of Prusik and the Beckey on LB. From what I have seen it seems like there are a lot of people who only have time to get out a few times a year and can climb 5.9 on a good day or year, but would rarely actually do that in the alpine.

Why not just go out there and take a picture? You can probably get a better one than that.

Pretty sure I've posted a list like this before but I'm stoked that it's almost summer so I'll do again. I'll only comment on things I've done: East Face of Gunsight (which has now been on the lists of three of the four people who have done it as far as I know, so more people should get in there). NEB Slesse NW Face of Forbidden NEB of Goode Gunsight Traverse I love summer. I'm over all of this cold and snow stuff (for now).

I've looked at that. Its just choss. I did see ice growing on it once though, could be a fun mixed nightime toprope for about two days a year.

Cool, good job on not dieing and getting yourself out.

<1 hour from Olympia, but if you are on foot the approach is almost long enough to justify driving somewhere worthwhile.

So where are you gonna go that doesn't have taxes that are spent on the unproductive? I hear there are some good opportunities to be had in Somalia right now. The world is pretty black and white, isn't it?

I went there a couple of times a couple of years ago. There are maybe 10 bolted routes in the main area on some wierd rock that is steep but covered in knobs that look like they will break off but are actually ok. Most of the routes are fairly hard if I remember right. Bikes are the best option to get in there, as the walk/ride in is a few miles on logging roads. Parking didn't seem to be a problem, just make sure you aren't in the way of anything. The best way to do it is to get yourself some beer, head up after work with a sleeping bag, start a fire right next to the wall and climb into the night. Overall I would say that is is worth checking out if you live in Olympia, just don't expect too much. Some good views and neat madrona forests.

Does he have long shaggy curly black hair? Sounds like the same dude!

Could be, I've only climbed with him a couple of times, he seems to know his way around the area.

Climbed six or seven pitches in Hylite yesterday, which is a lot better than my average day of two or three pitches, but there was a lot less time for photos. The first is my friend Spencer on Dribbles, the second is of Specter. I also took a neat picture of some friends kayaking in the moonlight on Saturday.

Lame for sure, but I'm not sure wishing whoever it is will die is the best way to reason with them.

I'm over here for a while and am super stoked on that. Crazy weather though, last week it was almost short sleeve weather, now it's -10 in the city. Too cold for climbing if you have time to wait it out.

Having had the pleasure both of Giardia (Baker) and Salmonella (Peru) over the last few years, I consider myself an expert on the subject of GI problems. In Washington I hardly ever treat my water; only in popular areas, or when the water is in or came from a questionable source (lakes or ponds mostly). I have even drank untreated water running alongside logging roads a few times when I was really thirsty (descent from Slesse comes to mind). I figure it's good to let your ammune system stretch it's legs from time to time. When I do treat it I use iodine because it's light and I don't mind the taste. If you do use a filter remember to replace the O rings and filter sometimes. In Peru this last summer I spent a lot of time sick, in part because I forgot to do this on my old filter which I was using to treat tap water for the first couple of weeks. Another option is to take a shot of bleach after you drink water.

Apparently I drank a good chunk of someones expensive bottle of tequila not long after telling my friends why I don't drink the stuff, and then narrowly missed walking over a bunch of people in bivy sacks on the way back to our site. I woke up half in my sleeping bag with no idea why I was in the middle of the desert. No one seems to question that kind of thing there. The only place that I've been more sloppy is in the Squamish campground after a few days of steady rain in the summer.

Off topic for this thread, but I've got a Marmot pack that I got for like, $40 on sale, and I love it. Under 3 lbs, big enough to haul a weeks worth of stuff (in the summer), and it has stood up to a few years of hard use. I second the no REI bag thing. I had a 0 degree synth and it was super bulky and only good to about 30 degrees. Now I have a Moonstone 20 degree, which is ok for what I paid for it, but not great.

If you really have nothing to do you can always find a place to fill sandbags!

"Whilst soling you are naturally going to be taking your time making sure that you are fully relaxed and that all placements are good ones- on the flip side a speed soloist cant afford this kind of attitude and has to just assume that every first time placement isn’t going to rip. As Steck pointed out you really just have to go for it and even if you know the axe is wobbly or the crampon point could rip at any second you just have to put it out of your mind and keep moving on up- if you take time to replace all your dodgy placements then you can say goodbye to your speed record." To each his own, but a speed record is a silly thing to kill yourself for in my opinion. Still impressive as all hell.

If indeed the weather is delightful I'll be sleeping soundly under the stars, which are free for all of us to enjoy, and weigh less than a one person tent.

Very cool. That actually looks like fun. I climbed some low 5th on the south ridge of Buckhorn a few years ago and to this day I'm shocked that I lived through it. Thanks for posting those.

A tad east of Larabee. It's a group of peaks along a ridge, on the far right in this picture: http://danhilden.smugmug.com/gallery/4602605_QEUuc#422250763_k4AYU-L-LB Sorry that I'm too lazy to post it here.

The problem with Salt Lake City is that it's in Utah. We have a lot of good alpine stuff in the summer here, and enough good local breweries to make it through the winter.

A mess indeed. I don't think that going back to the Taliban would work out so well at this point because there are so many warlord and northern alliance types that have been armed and funded by us for so long that they could keep a full on civil war going without our continued support. The Taliban were a pretty bad group live under and I don't think that the Afgan people would let themselves go back to living that way without a fight. Going back to the days of warlords seems like a better bet, but I would assume that the Taliban or whoever has the most guns would rise up and take everyone over. As for your third point, that's what we have been trying to do, but there is no end in sight. Afganistan has a long history of beating off foreign influence. It's a terrible situation. Hopefully someone who is smarter than most of us will come along with some better ideas. Another good book on the subject is "The Lion's Grave" written by a journalist named Jon Lee Anderson, who was in Afganistan in the late 80's, and went back just after 9/11. It talks about the assassination of Ahmed Shah Masood, a northern alliance leader who seemed to have more support than anyone else in the country. He was killed on 9/10/01.

I got hit by a big rock while rapping in the summer of 2007 and now have a hard time feeling good about climbing on loose rock (even if it's easy) and only in the last few weeks have been able to bring myself to climb more near my limits. Part of that is because I was in South America this summer and was sick when I was trying to go climbing, so I haven't had much of a chance to get back to it. I hope that by getting out a lot in the spring I'll be back up to par in the summer. Just take some time off and take it slow when you start up again. When your really ready you'll know.

http://www.skagitlandtrust.org/ I don't know much about this group other than that I donated a picture for use in their new book and also that there is apparently free wine at their book release party.