ColinB

Julian, I'd be the BS is still in what with the melt-thaw cycle that's been going on. It'd be worth a hike up there for sure. Also, things on the N side of Illumination Rock are most likely in great condition for some mixed cragging. You might see me up there this weekend.

I totally read bridge troll and was severely let down until ScottP posted this. Trolls not tolls?

Kickass, John. Glad to finally see the TR! Looks like you two had a blast up there.

Sorry to hear about your accident Kenny. I've had one major accident climbing (broken talus & dislocated ankle) that resulted in 6 months of crutches and another 6 months of physical therapy. I still have metal in me, don't have full range of motion, and have a great excuse to not lead shitty slab pitches. Doctors and physical therapists were great, though I found that it was a lot easier/more fun to follow how my ankle was feeling day to day instead of their general advice. Started TRing ice 3 months into my PT (9 months after the accident), but it took about a year and a half before I could be on the ball rock climbing. I still have a lingering weakness in my ankle that becomes a bitch when climbing slabs or a lot of 35 degree ice. During recovery, I found that even the little things that involved pushing myself were the best way to stay sane. Same went for mellow camping trips where I could do the approach on crutches. Anything that involved the mental and spiritual sides of climbing kept my spirits up. Meditation can help, but only if you're actually interested in it. I also drank a lot (it was winter in the PNW) and managed to be a stupid teenager as much as possible on crutches. Anything to get your kicks in. Just remember that these things pass and in the meantime pick up a less intensive hobby or activity instead of obsessing over the climbing you'll do when you're better. Hope you get back in action soon. We'll have to get some climbing in once Beacon opens up again. I'm down to bring a pony keg up to the tree ledge.

d00d, this post is from 2009...

I'm curious to hear if anyone here has had the discipline to time GU shots (like Twight's one per 30 minutes of climbing, on a watch timer) while climbing as opposed to using while running a race where the environment is much more heavily controlled. Perhaps the blood sugar issues are from waiting until you are seriously hypoglycemic to eat a GU. The few times I believe I've been able to maintain proper blood sugar levels constantly did make a difference, even for my poorly-trained n00b ass. Similarly, Twight seemed to explain GU as a tool that got you between actual meals where you were setting up camp/bivy and could properly ingest food, not as a substitute for "real" food.

I was thinking the same Dane, but this is a protein/carbs/fat mix as opposed to just amino acids and maltodextrin thats in Gu. Pretty much something is food, or it isn't Not true at all. Haven't you seen the KFC Double Down? Distinctly not food.

So I found this stuff called Peronin. Pretty much pre-digested edible food-like substance so you don't have to divert extra blood to your stomach to bother with things like digestion. Anyone on here used it alpine climbing? Seems disgusting but potentially useful. Here's a link. Peronin

That means that pretty much every TR of Ivan's in EPIC. Also, don't diss the taco till you've seen it. It could have been a bear taco.

Geo-tectonically speaking, California would drift south and Washington would drift north if Oregon didn't suck so bad. And you're right in the middle of suckola You suck worse than your avatar photograph. I hope you get goat inflicted sex herpes WOW, got issues? Corgis, and he hates Oregonians? Obviously problems.

Situation resolved. Woo. Everyone enjoy their sunshine this weekend.

I've finally got more than 4 free hours and am looking for a partner for this weekend. I'm in Portland but mobile if necessary. Prefer tools to bare hands, but am open to possibilities. WA Pass, Stuart, Illumination Rock, etc. Drop me a line at colin.bohannan@gmail.com

In a passage from "The Philosophy of Risk" Jeff Connor describes a scene in which a client, who was over-the-top full of himself blathered, "I did this, and I did that" hoping to impress Dougal Haston with his accomplishments. According to a witness Haston "was just standing humming away quietly, and the guy stopped for a while, and Dougal butted in: 'No, tell us some more about how great you are.'" My god, spray is awesome.

Drive to Banff/Canmore. Its an hour more than Bozeman and well worth that hour. Locally, there's ice off of Cooper Spur but its a long walk for something that is probably buried by new snow now. The north face gullies are probably more snow than ice now, even when it is ice, the ice isn't harder than 3/3+. If mixed is your game, there's plenty of climbing on Illumination Rock but its all trad protected. The rime on I-Rock should survive at least until the end of this month. I hear rumors of ice out in NE Oregon but there's no official guide to the area or any such. Good luck out there!

Flamethrowers you mean?

Snargs? Fuck yes. Old skoooool.

pjc, with searches further back in time it helps to narrow your search criteria down to a single route so it don't overload the search engine. Good luck with the climbing adventures. You might like the Sandy HW or Cathedral Ridge. Far far away from the crowds.

I haven't seen any Converge yet... [video:youtube]

Whats the pro like? Screws, pins, nuts? Too bad weather rolled in... Congrats on finally getting the line done. A few of us were gunning for the same route on Thurs and bailed because we didn't like the snow stability.

Trip: Illumination Rock - Northern Skylight - II M5+ Date: 3/4/2010 Trip Report: Thursday morning, Daniel Harro, Nate Farr, and I climbed another line on the north (northwest?) face of I-Rock. No idea who's climbed it before or if it has been climbed, not that it matters much. 2 60 meter pitches starting about 100 ft left of Skylight Direct (or about 250 ft left of Skylight). The 2nd pitch had some burly mixed followed by half a pitch of mostly vertical rime. Much more ice than in December, but it was mostly rime with some good sticks in runnels and cracks. Decent gear the whole way, most of it being cams. So much potential on this mini-alpine crag! Daniel leading up the 1st pitch at dawn, right before knocking off a torso-sized block. A boatload of mini-alpine fun. Having two people second makes for better photo opportunities. Myself starting up the 2nd pitch. Daniel fighting his way up the crux. Daniel about to top out on the last bit of steep rime. Gear Notes: Cams to 3", handful of nuts, small selection of pins, 1 picket, 2 screws (not needed) Approach Notes: Walk up under the ski lifts.

What about the Grivel Lil Monster? http://www.libertymountain.com/shop/product.asp?p=6844&pg=2&c=801&o=0&s=5 No experience with them myself, but just an idea.

Too bad the 10th Mountain Division doesn't ride bears into combat.

I'm with you on this. Its 50 degrees and raining here. EPIC WEATHER FAIL.

"Our address is our production facility. We don't have a retail store front. That said, CiloGear's "visiting hours" are on Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 5 PM. Please feel free to stop by and visit us during those hours." http://cilogear.com/info.html That said, Climb Max also has some of Cilogear's packs.

So, ice has arrived. Any word from folks on how the Monster Picks/Quantum/Matrix Tech tools preform?