worldbfree

Way to stick with it on a hot day. It was stop-making-sense hot out there.

each rope was in two hand coils, throwing middle coil first. never tried feeding out the rope while rapping, but it sounds like it might be a good option on lower-angle routes.

A friend & I climbed Infinite Bliss last weekend, which meant hours of double-rope rapping back to the base. I'd say 85% of the time the ropes got severely tangled somewhere along the way (I mean each individual rope getting tangled in itself, not the 2 ropes tangling together - although that happened too). Is this just a fact of life when it comes to double-rope raps? I don't have this problem with single ropes. Our method was to split up each rope into two separate coils, then throw the coils within a second or two of each other. Inevitably the rope ended tied up like a bird's nest, usually toward the bottom of the rap. Untangling the ropes probably cost us an hour total. Anybody have any techniques or suggestions to avoid this?

No pictures of Laura leading the crux? C'mon! I feel cheated!

nice trip. we're headed up this weekend, possibly for the full ridge. did you guys run across any snow patches and/or water trickles on route?

I was down there in Ecuador 3 years ago. There are a couple of interesting climbs with some technical ice - Antisana might be the best. The others that are commonly climbed - Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Cayembe - are basically long, Rainier-esque glacier slogs. Boring. But, depending on your goals and experience, it's a great place to get some exposure to high-altitude. I agree that the interesting climbing is to be found in Bolivia and elsewhere.

"We both decided aid climbing was for idiots. But I'm already thinking about doing some more. Sick." reminds of a line i recently read in The Onion: “the 'sweet spot' where self-hatred and physical suicidal ability overlap is extremely small.” nice work, guys.

nice work!!

for single pitch, flying circus is a fun, very manageable 10a. also, old age is a great 5.9, with lots more variety of climbing than i've found on other squamish single pitches.

i wonder if iceman would scale back to capri pants.

tuna and peanut butter sounded good on a particularly desperate hike out. the stench is still lodged high in my nasal cavity.

very nice - that's a solid day. a friend and i nicknamed baring "mt bitch" after getting foiled by crappy weather the past 2 years.

"This basin is full of old growth snow and would make an awesome tree-ski descent." sounds cool. any pics of this area?

"Back at the cars Dan opened a can of Spaghetti Oh's, wow that cold can sure tasted good at 8:30 in the morning!"

i recently ordered an alien from rei.com, well after the recall announcement. i got it, and it was part of the defective batch. the CS person didn't seem too impressed when i told her they were still selling gear that could, um, create some minor problems in case of a fall. but i bet their lawyers would shriek.

since you've got so much time, and since it sounds like you might actually want to enjoy the climb, you might consider switching to a different guide company. the first time i did rainier, i was new to mountaineering and had the misfortune of climbing with RMI. it was a terrible, grueling express trip - even though the weather was great and we made the summit, i still count it as one of the worst days of my life. the guides were screaming and cursing at the slower climbers in the group, basically trying to intimidate them into quitting so we could move faster. basically, RMI's modus operandi is to get you to the top and back, fast, and they don't give a shit if it's a pleasant experience. that might be changing now that there's competition on the mountain, but you might also want to check out alpine ascents international and the american alpine institute, who have a better reputation and (i think) are also leading trips there this year.

You also might want to check out the Boeing Alpine Club. Their classes are open to folks outside Boeing, and are just as comprehensive - while a little less rigid - than the mountaineers.

I did the Beckey route 3 saturdays ago and would recommend that you either sleep in or get there superearly. We arrived at the notch at 11 a.m. and were able to get on the route immediately...but there was a logjam of four parties ahead of us. We avoided it thanks to our late start, but had we gotten there earlier it would've been a frustrating day. Getting a late start also let us be the last ones down the gully, which was quite comforting. If rapple grapple is the main rappel route, maybe you should consider a night clime.

good one.