Dannible

This is pretty darn cool.

I'll take the reverso. I'll get it from you soon.

Soreness on all of the pulleys sounds bad. Maybe take it back a notch for a while. If you feel any kind of pop or just slightly more serious tweek, stop and ice it for a couple of days. I screwed myself a couple of years ago by ignoring a little pain and not letting it rest at all, and now it still hurts sometimes. I try to avoid really crimpy stuff, and always use tape on the bad joint.

+1 Teens buy the cheapest stuff (beer, generally) they can get their hands on. I'd say these days highschoolers drink more liquor because it's easier to buy in large quantities, which is important when some much older person is doing you a favor in buying it. As teens get older they have more older friends and friends with fake IDs, so they drink more and more beer because it's more convenient to just go down to the gas station. I think I usually drank better stuff as a teenager because my income wasn't going to things like rent and expensive gas, and because snoopdogg recommended it. I was young not that long ago. I'm too tired to write anything about the real issue at hand.

I didn't know that pullups on tools were bad for you. Good to know. A hang board helps (might not be able to hang it in a dorm though). Does your school not have a rec center with stuff like that though? I lived in dorms in my first year of school and got in good shape for my first time ever for the by climbing inside some, spending some time in the weight room, and running up and down the stairs over and over in my 10 story building (late at night, when there was no one around to think I was crazy). Will Gadd's site has a lot of good stuff. Read what he has to say about core strength. It can be pretty boring at first, but actually working at this stuff some really makes things a lot more fun and less scary. Also when you are young if you do this kind of stuff enough you don't have to worry about what you eat much, within reason. The probably have fruit there. Climb outside every chance you get. It sounds like you aren't using your feet enough. Stem like you're rock climbing, keep your heels low, and shake out all the time. Don't take anything too seriously. Climb, train a little, party, and do some school stuff all in moderation and things should turn out pretty well.

Thats funny, I think I bought similar tools from you this time last year. I took a lead fall when a tool blew on a sketchy early season climb and somehow the tether on the other tool caught me. I was shocked that the little red cord didn't break. How much were you hoping to get for the picks?

I took my money out of BofA yesterday. Gonna give BECU a try. I've had a couple of big issues with BofA in the past, and the $5 debit thing was the end of the line. I know they went back on that, but it's the principle. My bank account rarely breaks three digits though, so I doubt they'll miss me.

Very cool. When you say this is a seasonal line you mean because the road will close? I know it's subject to change but how far were you guys able to drive?

I've used the Adventure Medical bivy a handful of times years ago and pretty much hated it. A few nights in particular I remember waking up drenched in sweat, but very cold, and having to wait out the rest of the night like that. On one long trip I stopped using it after a few days, so I must have decided that it was worse than nothing. I do sweat more than most people though, and it wasn't paired with a real bag, so maybe it would work fine for you. When trying to be really light I now use a stupid 1 lb synthetic bag that I got for cheap along with a bivy sack or firstlight and rarely get a good night's sleep, so I can't help you. One of these nice light bags is going to be my next big purchase.

This would be a fine setup to start out on for mellow path of least resistance type touring. Those bindings will work with with your Sportiva boots, which is why these days they are mostly used by climbers approaching ice and winter routes. That said, leather climbing boots and ski boots serve pretty much opposite purposes in terms of ankle flexibility, so if you want to enjoy yourself and really learn to ski you might look into a cheap pair of alpine touring ski boots. It took me a couple of years of skiing in climbing boots with a setup similar to this to realize that modern ski gear is a game changer.

Cool! Nice to be getting some conditions updates, I'm sure a lot of people have been wondering about that couloir.

10 years ago I went on my first overnight hike (with an external frame pack and big, heavy tent) without my parents, and my friends and I did some class 3 scrambling on a little cliff that I'm sure our parents wouldn't have approved of. It would be over a year before I first really climbed outside. 9 years ago I joined a search and rescue group, and during our training found that some strange part of me enjoys being cold, wet, and tired. Extreme Alpinism is a great book. I probably read it fifty times in my first few years of alpine climbing, and still look at the pictures now and then to get stoked. Kiss or Kill too.

Personally I really prefer a synthetic (like the compressor) because you don't have to worry about it and manage it like you might with down. Down has its place. For overnighters in the summer you can avoid getting wet or just head home when the rain starts, but if you are gonna be out in any other season, or for multiple days in the summer, you are going to find yourself getting wet from time to time. I would never bring a down jacket on a long winter route around here because of spindrift, and because when it's really cold I might climb in it a bit, which leads to snow melting on it. Hardshell over down isn't a great solution (at least for a really thick puffy) because it will compress the down and limit how much heat it can hold. Also, as the sweat evaporates from your inner layers, it will make the down damp, and the hardshell will prevent it from breathing well and drying out. Again this is not really an issue on shorter trips, but something to think about. I think about my puffy as a piece of survival equipment for unexpected weather and unplanned bivies, and when things are starting to get weird up there you don't want to be worrying about proper layering and keeping things dry.

On the descent and walk out from Goode last year we saw one and heard a few running away from us in the brush after dark. The one we saw was my only worrying bear experience, and I've seen a bunch. We were bushwhacking down towards it, and I saw it standing still watching us from about 100 feet away. It was light brown, and bigger than any black bear I'd seen. What worried me was that it stood its ground against two loud guys, when every other bear I've come across just ran away. We backtracked and let it have its space. Always assumed it was just a big black, but who knows? Bears are cool. Here are a few, the first (black) is from right outside of Leavenworth, the other two are browns up in Bristol Bay, AK.

Thanks everyone. This may have been an attempt at something bigger but by the time we got off the southern traverse we were all pretty stoked to have done it. It was a strange feeling as we set off towards picket pass, celebrating what we had done, but knowing that we had a few days of movement left to get out where there could be no mistakes. I knew that there was a good chance that we'd only finish the southern (or less) which is why I went in and sussed out the crescent creek approach the week before. This is also why I lobbied to push on to Outrigger, Luna, and Access Creek: covering new ground seemed like a lot more fun than going down the crescent twice in two weeks. Also, that dotted line running over Picket Pass in the Beckey Guide has always spurred my imagination and been "the middle of nowhere" in my mind. As for finishing it next year, it's hard to imagine. I've been thinking about this really hard for a couple of years and it's freeing to have gone and given it a go. When you are really set on trying something like this it can dominate so much of your life and thoughts that it's nice to be able to put it on the back burner for a while. Also, there were parts of the Southern Traverse that were pretty dangerous (following over loose rock with a friend right below you is scary) and one must let those memories fade a bit before going and doing it again. Just to go and do the Northern Traverse would be pretty cool.

I doubt many people would call it safe; for that you would use a good single rope. That said, it's something that I've done a lot. I do it sometimes while roped soloing, because I try to only solo things that I don't plan on falling off of, and on long moderate routes with a partner, mostly so the second can relax. I believe all half ropes are rated to hold a lead fall in normal conditions (not running over sharp edges for example) but really this should only be done in places where the leader is not going to fall. It's just not fun to test these things. On harder routes pull on gear and rest to avoid falling if it comes down to it. They make nice light single ropes as skinny as 8.9 that will give you a lot more peace of mind. A better option might be to fold that half rope in half and simul climb (because you aren't going to fall anyway, right?) or do 30 meter leads. A single strand of skinny rope isn't great for glacier travel because they can be harder to prussic on and I've heard that crevasse rescue can put a lot of force on the rope.

Fun stuff in a crazy place. I had only been rock climbing a handful of times this summer because I was in AK for a while, so my fingers got pretty worked by all the lichen. Now they are all peeling and weird. I posted some of my thoughts and some pics on the other thread.

Didn't see a rope on inspiration, but I think there are a few different ways down. Fun trip indeed. So much climbing. Props to all the people who have done big things in the Pickets; it's such a crazy place. Whenever you thing something is gonna be quick and easy there is always another cliff/tower/creek/basin in your way. Big country. A few notes: Our packs were too heavy. A huge cache would go a long way. Wayne, Colin and Mark killed it and hauled ass on the Southern Traverse in 2003. Pretty hard to keep up with their itinerary without knowing a lot about the route and having a cache. A rest day at Picket Pass is recommended for people trying the full ridge traverse. There was a lot of moderately loose rock before Terror, but it got a lot better after the first pitch of the Rake. Pyramid, The Rake, and the first Twin Needle were really good. The class 3 route on Ottohorn seems to have fallen down. September is obviously not the time to be doing this: shorter days, moats, and no snow covering the dirt and choss in the cols. Bring more adzes than hammers. We only used one pin (as a rap anchor) but had to chop and dig a lot at bivys. I got cell service below the Chopping Block the week before, but never up on the ridge, which was a bummer. A sat phone would be nice for a weather forecast before committing to the northern ridge and for other obvious reasons. If you want to try just the southern traverse or the full ridge, ask one of us for beta. There are a few spots where you just really want to go the right way. We talked to Wayne on the phone just before heading up and without his beta things might not have gone so smoothly. Thanks again Wayne! By the way, having spent most of a week staring at Mongo Ridge, I'll say that him soloing that is one of the boldest things I've ever heard of. More photos here: http://www.danhilden.com/Adventure/The-Picket-Range/19038718_DcMrBq#1484363495_d3dgjB2

First off, I hope you got a job. Second, winter is the best season we have here (ok, maybe not counting spring and summer) if you pay attention to the weather. That's the key: do whatever you can where weather and condition allow. Check the noaa and nwac websites every day, for anywhere where there might be something to do. Pretty sure I've skiied, ice climbed, and climbed rock all in one day here, which is really winning, and doing two of those things in one day was pretty common last winter.

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Nice, Dome looks great. As for Gunsight, I climbed some as good as it gets rock there (2006 East Face), and some horribly scary stuff as well (Accidental Discharge).

I'd suggest bivying on the summit and descending into Park Creek; it's pretty easy even if you end up bushwhacking. I and several other people I know have enjoyed unplanned bivys thanks to Storm King Col.

I just got back from Alaska yesterday, where I met Nate and his cousin Andrew on the Ruth Glacier back in May. They were camped next to us, and after a few stormy days we were all pretty good friends. They managed to climb Dickey, Barrill, did some rock climbing, and made two attempts on Dan Beard, one of which we joined them for. The breakfast that they made on my birthday stands out as one of the best meals of my life: a huge scramble, eaten on a sunny morning in one of the most beautiful places in the world, with music and good friends. We later met up and partied in Talkeetna. In a big volleyball game that some locals organized, Nate turned out to be the key player, quietly and humbly scoring about 90% of the points. Nate seemed to be a solid, responsible climber, and I could tell that he was at home in the mountains. I had been looking forward to having him show me around Beacon, and we had talked about doing some climbs in the North Cascades as well. In all of my memories of him he has a big smile on his face. Condolences to his other friends and his family. Peace be with you all.

Scenic: Northern Lights from Black Peak Alpine: Aaron Scott on Triumph Doing this from a slow connection in AK so thats all.