Crillz

Like everyone's said, for the most part bears want nothing to do with you. They want to stay the hell away, and they want you to stay the hell away. We were face to face with a mother black bear and her 3 cubs a few years ago somewhere between stevens and snoqualmie pass on the PCT. There was no attack - all of us, including the bears wanted nothing to do with eachother. We slowly backed up, and the bears quickly went the other way.

Damn. Who's hand jamming orange metolius size? Better be careful "aiding" this way because you can quickly turn that good placement into junk.

9/26/09 I had heard bad things from some people and good things from others about Darrington. "Long runnout slabs" was the description that stuck out in my mind. However, I was assured that the old hardman mantra had been somewhat tamed. So, it was decided that we (my visiting friend from France and I) would do Dreamer. We got an early enough start, got to the end of the road with nothing more than a few scratches on the car, and headed off toward Green Giant Buttress. The approach was going fine until we missed the gully turnoff at the water slide area. We would discover the error of our ways, but not soon enough. In an effort to keep this TR short, let’s just say we spent a couple of hours bushwacking up towards the buttress, as we were unable to locate anything that would pass as a trail. At the time, it seamed best to shoot for the closest rock and then traverse from that location toward the base of the route(s). We soon found ourselves traversing/ climbing the 4th class death slabs toward the steeper part of the wall. After one rap, and some sketchfest downclimbing, we had found the “base” of our route. What should have taken about two hours, by our estimation, had taken five. Now at the bottom, we were unable to accurately find the start of any pitches. We thought we had seen the “white corner” called out in the route description. Hell, it was the whitest corner on the wall. At this point, we needed to haul ass, so we just started climbing up, agreeing to tie in when things got too dicey. We could see two other parties higher up on either Dreamer or Safe Sex (at this point we couldn’t make out the route even though we had the topo). We finally roped up and convinced ourselves that we were going up Dreamer Direct, old bolts lead us to believe as much anyway. After one of the most F’d up gripped pitches I ever lead, and running short on rope, I was blessed with a crack, so I made an anchor. I got one piece of pro in the entire rope length. On this pitch I was aiming for an old ¼” bolt with faded tat (5.8/5.9 XXX). The next pitch had an offwidth crack which actually had good pro (5.8ish) and ended at an old ¼” bolted anchor. Immediately off the anchor were two closely spaced rusty bolts (you could have clipped both from the same stance). Being gripped from the day’s adventure, we agreed that if the next pitch looked runnout, we would bail off the last bolt we could see – we bailed. We made one double rope rap and scrambled off. During all of this, we could see the other parties rapping (not sure either finished the route). So, maybe some Darrington smarties can chime in (mattp?). What were we on? We were climber’s right of the huge corner that splits the main steeper wall from the slabby, bushy wall on the left (climber’s left of Dreamer). Bolts might have been from a Model-T. We rapped down two chimneys. I now know the approach, and the likely location of the start of Dreamer/Safe Sex (thanks to watching a few raps). Gear: Napalm.

He must be a climber. He's got a biner on his belt loop.

When I did the route, we linked the two flake pitches into one, but it's the upper undercling that we're talking about. You can easily get a #4 at the bottom, and then it's sending time. I didn't mean walking a #4 up this part - What good is stopping halfway through this crux to place gear? I was talking about walking the #4 up the wide section off the big horn belay. I've seen someone whip off the the flake in question too! Exciting and a pretty decent sized fall for sure!

hmmmmm. Sherri, how was the rock this week/end?

Yup, you're right on the 5.10 line in blue. I'm not sure I would call the 2nd pitch 5.8 either, if it is, it's only for 1 move or so. Anyway, thanks for the TR and pics. That mountain is Saweeeet!

Nice TR. Yeah, it looks like you guys took the 5.9 (really 5.8) variation. There's another line to the right that's supposedly 5.10 (haven't been on it though). At first, by 5.10b variation, I thought you were going to do the Bovine Roof. You don't need that much big gear for the NW Corner on the NEWS. You could get by with a single #3 and #4 BD. If you're uncomfortable on the wider part of the "offwidth" corner, you can always walk the #4 for a few moves.

Here's the response directly from the company: Dear: Customer We are sorry about what happened., Please do not worry about health issue. We use silicone ceramic coating which is proved have no health issue even if you consume it. Lots of users keep using the pot with damaged surface. If you would like to buy a new one, let me know. I can get you a deal. THank you Takashi Fukuchi

Ingestion may cause nonspecific discomfort, such as nausea, headache, or weakness, heartburn, vomiting, or diarrhea. Ingestion of Hexylene glycol may cause temporary nervous system depression with anaesthetic effects such as dizziness, headache, confusion, incoordination, and loss of consciousness.

Long story short, I scraped a bunch of the non stick surface off of my titanium pot. I looked for a bit on-line, but found no real health concerns. Anyone know of a reason(s) I shouldn't continue to use the pot?

I think you could go in via Denny Creek and leave via Denny Creek. You'll basically be on a trail(s) the whole time. If you scramble up Kaleetan from the east you could save some time - if you do it 2nd. If you want to do it in 2 days, dump your gear below Kaleetan so you don't have to carry it the whole way. You could also take the ridge traverse. It looked pretty airy. You may want a rope depending on what you do.

What's the Shirtless Kirk Award? I have a buddy named Kirk who sometimes gets drunk enough to run around the bar with his shirt off.

There was no increase in coverage for the short term policy renewal. I didn't compare the new plan side by side with the old plan, so I don't know if the coverage is better in any specific areas - overall, it's really similar though. Basically, I spent a few weeks researching the most basic plan that I fealt comfortable with, and tried to find the best price. Maybe the price went up because I turned 30 this month. Such bullshit.

Besides cost, I don't have any complaints yet (haven't used it and don't plan on it). Last year and this year, I did have two 6-month catastrophic temporary plans through Assurant I think. So, I quit working, wanted to be responsible and got the short term policy. Paid the "startup fee (maybe $30) and then about $60/month. Kept this up for 6 months. Policy set to expire, so I was allowed to renew one time. Had to pay the fucking fee again, and then the premium was about 10% higher - this increase was over the course of six months (WTF ) Never once used the policy! Couldn't get another short term policy, so had to get what I have now. Another 40% increase in 6 months 8D. The short term policy was better than the catastrophic plan I have now - lower deductable.

I also didn't want to read the babble, but if this post is still about trying to obtain coverage... I just got a plan from Regence (Blue Shield). The plan is an individual plan PPO for $92/month. Comes with a few office visits a year, but you can go wherever the fuck you want to get care. I think the out of pocket limit is $7,500/Year - but what does that cover - a simple bone break at best. I read the policy very carefully, no disclaimer for anything other than professional type sports where you compete for money.

Earlier this year I could fire off 20. Didn't think it would, and it didn't do a damn thing for my climbing.

Or... For some of the old hardmen to come back and climb some of today's cutting edge routes with a vintage rack.

Anyone else have this problem?

Anyone need a partner for this evening? I'm working today, but could be there about 5 or so. Leaves a few hours for some climbing goodness. Or even one of the exits.

Saweeet!

You're gold on the webolette issue. I was really laughing about the funeral comment - almost spit water on my desk. Also, don't forget, depending on the situation - wrapping the rope around the boulder a few times might save time!

All I can think is - ur gonna die!

I'd say you're gold!

Is there a quick visual way to determine whether a hanger is this Kong type that failed - for future reference? Is Kong stamped onto it, or certain numbers that we could memorize? I'd likely still clip them, but it would be nice to know if you're really hanging it out or not. Side note: I don't really know how to, or have the tools to replace hardware, but I wouldn't mind giving a few bucks to those who do this work at Index.