Dannible

Actually, most places worth visiting in the US have good free camping if you look for it (Leavenworth too), and I'm pretty sure the only place I've ever gotten giardia was in the Squamish campground, when I never treat my water in the US. Just saying. We all like Canada too; of course I liked it a little more when the exchange rate was so good that no one knew the difference and you could lie and talk your into some pretty good deals.

I had pretty much forgotten how much I used to use a munter, but before I got a reverso (found one a few years ago in the enchantments) I used a munter often for belaying seconds so that I could take my hands off the rope. I remember rope twist issues getting annoying sometimes, but it wasn't so bad. Using a device is faster and easier to manage especially if you are using double ropes or belaying 2 people. Also, they don't really weigh that much.

Its still winter up there. http://jensholsten.blogspot.com/ Give it at least a month.

Yep, I'd say Friday was the first hot day in the Stuart range since the big early April dumps. Pretty dramatic up there.

I'd say on a climb like that as long as you brought the guidebook, map, compass, and something to get a fire going in case you got benighted you should be able to make due. Seriously though good work Dan. I'm sure you'll make a fine climber.

baa

Yep, its been good over here for a month or two. Its snowing a bit right now, but the forecast looks nice.

I've used Dynafits for 100+ days this winter, mostly on groomers, ice, and bumpy chunder kind of stuff because I worked at a ski area and that's all we had through most of the winter. Broke one part on a heel tower at one point but I bought the bindings very used and I think that it was set too close to the boot, putting extra stress on the tower as the ski flexed. They take some getting used to as far as clicking and and keeping them ice free, but its not a huge issue. The one big advantage is obviously how light they are so if you are thinking of just doing short tours out of ski areas, you probably don't need to be as worried about the weight. Can't comment on Markers.

The book is really good. I thought the old one was good enough but was in LMS when they were delivered and after standing there going through almost the whole book I got one. Pretty pictures, way better topos, and an alpine rock section sold me on it. Lots of cc.com folk represented, including Lancegranite on a four star route that he recently helped clean. Gonna be a good, long climbing season over here.

Crushing the enchantments like it aint no thang. The bit about bringing the book along on all of your trips up there made me laugh. Training weight I guess.

Gene beat me to it.

Some might think he's joking, but Dirtyleaf's words have a lot of truth to them. If money is an issue one doesn't need to go out and buy the 8-15 screws that could be needed to climb multi pitch routes, buy half that with the assumption that the people you climb with will have some too. If your partner has no screws, maybe spend the day toproping or climbing easier routes to help them get to the point where they want to get some gear for themselves. I've come to find that this works with rock gear too. I don't have doubles of cams in all sizes, but if I'm climbing something that requires them usually I'm with someone who has at least a set to add. If I'm climbing with Dirtyleaf I don't bring shit because he has everything (except a helmet).

Cool. Mountains can be neat sometimes. Your helmet has been in my truck for months. I figured you knew that.

I tend to agree with Marc. The closest I ever came to getting myself killed was when I was a 5.8 to 5.9 climber. Didn't fully understand all of the risks (mostly in the mountains) and didn't completely know what I was doing. The worst situation I've ever been in involved climbing no harder than 5.4 but it was loose and I was alone. Now I find myself in similar situations, but I know how to deal them a better. What it comes down to is the more you climb, the more you know what you are doing. I'd guess that most 5.14 climbers know a whole lot about getting up 5.12's without killing themselves. Mistakes are a part of climbing. They will happen less often with experience, but we are human. Sometimes good climbers make mistakes and die, sometimes new climbers make mistakes and die. Sometimes things just go wrong and people die and the only mistake made was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fact is that most of us, bold or not (we are all bold by most standards) will live long, healthy lives. But the bold will be the ones advancing the sport.

If we're talking single pitch I'd say something in Squamish, but I'm no good at remembering route names. Overall for local routes they would be the NW Face of Forbidden and the 2006 East Face of Gunsight. Out of state is Wall of the Worlds on Cal Dome in Cali. Every pitch stands out as one of the coolest I have ever climbed, and it is right next to the road, and no other climbers were anywhere to be seen.

I guess I've always pictured myself taking up racquetball when I am middle aged and golf once I retire, so I figure climbing is just a fantastic way to stay in shape in the meantime.

Good answer. As long as you downclimb the route instead of going down the north face that's pretty safe most all of the time.

I've found that even in my worst times nothing will make me appreciate my life more than the realization that a tiny mistake would end it all.

So, you climb well feeling anger and hate but climb poorly when you are happy? Did I get that right? You hit the nail on the head there. I've seen him. When happy he is a weak, giggly school girl who would rather look at the clouds and drink soda pop and talk about life. When the hate and anger flows is when all he can do is climb. Geoff, from the start of this whole thing I was gonna ask why you don't just embrace the fear and the anger, but I figured you'd come around on your own. It's funny, while I was reading this a missionary guy came to my door and asked me to answer some questions and prayed for me. I should have asked him for you.

Purity of Essence.

It always depends on the situation. One weighs nothing and the other tends to be a bit too heavy if you have much of an approach. Having said that I've been known to forgo a sleeping bag so that I could bring the canned bivy on a couple of occasions. Very light weight on the way out going that way. Obviously a pint in a plastic bottle is faster and lighter than bringing beer, but sometimes a guy just wants to drink some beer. What was this thread about? I guess it doesn't really matter.

Thats how a belay jacket should be. They aren't meant for long periods of movement, just for when you are resting or belaying unless it's really cold. I'm completly sold on the Mammut Stratus hooded jacket. Weighs 2 pounds and has kept me warm through sub zero montana winter climbing and a lot of cold damp cascade climbing. Almost two years of very heavy use (three winters because I spent one of our summers in Peru) and I'm just now starting to want a new one.

I just took a little drive (five minutes from home) to see if all is lost in the rain we've been getting. The Rainbow and Careno climbs are getting thinner but will be back in good shape pretty quick as long as some coldness comes in. One can assume that the same is true for most of the climbs that have been in recently. Poor ice conditions, rain, bad skiing. Thank jesus for whiskey.

Get rich or die tryin.

Word. More snow followed by a bit of warmth followed by cold is a good deal. Lets hope it stays cold.