BirdDog

The US Bureau of Wreck-the-Nation has announced it found yet another avenue to piss away tax dollars while saving the jobs of career bureaucrats.

Does having seat belts and an air bag in your car affect your driving decisions? I sure as hell hope not. I always take my cell with me, turned off and in the bottom of my pack. Just like my air bag, I hope I don't have to use either of them.

Fantastic, thanks for posting.

I'm more scared of gun toting macho men than I am of bears.

Trip: Frenchman's - Choss Master Date: 10/4/2009 Trip Report: Ever since taking both my boys, ages 9 & 14, to Vantage earlier this; my oldest has wanted to go back. So weekend before last we headed over Saturday afternoon. Did a few routes at The Feathers, where he cruised up the 5.8's. Sunday he says "Dad, I want to do some of those high ones at Sunshine Wall". So I took him up Choss Master, as a two pitch. It was all thumbs up and smiles. He did real well, no shaky knees or anything, then rapped off. Fun to able climb with your 14 yo. And yes, he belays very well. Did a great job catching Dad peeling off in Moab back in July. Gear Notes: Barbeque Approach Notes: Ford F-350

Interesting. I don't know if it's a sin, but is sure is bullshit. Who the hell buys gear on the basis that's it's used by some asshole who gets it free and flys around the world on some corporate $$$$'s all the while professing some shit like "first ascent of the East Face of Mt. Dogshit to draw attention to global warming."

Good thing these folks weren't around when the Colorado was eroding the Grand Canyon. They'd have had the whole southwest US tarped in Tyvek, or it's prehistoric equivilant.

Das Beerd: I assume you're coming down US 395 from Reno area. If so, take a right at Lee Vining and head up to Tioga Pass, it's just shy of 10K. Hike around, then drive back down and sleep low that night. Spend as much time up there as you can, then descend for the night. Tioga is only about 30-45 minutes out of Lee Vining.

To add to this - the autoblocking devices seem to lock up pretty easily, even if the rope is newer and more supple than an old rope. I put a second biner through the device to keep it from locking up as easily (here come the naysayers!!!) and I haven't had a problem even with a rope as stiff as a cable, and Jim's rope is nearly that! And no, the xtra biner hasn't kept the device from operating in this mode safely! LCK; Have you tested the 2 'biner method? Will it hold a falling second, without a brake hand from the leader? Not being a naysayer, just asking.

Every year I buy the $80 access pass; covers NPS entry fees, some BLM fees, and works as a NW FS pass. That work out to $6.66 a month; a fraction of what I spend gear/food/gas etc... The pass is a great deal when compared to $15-$25 entrance fees; which I feel are reasonable for the value received. The article ignored the fact that the more fees are raised, the less visits the parks will get, especially from families who may only visit one or two parks a year; thus negating any increase in revenue. Note: Flame suit on and fully zipped.

I have a Reverso 3 and have used it with my 10.3 Edelwiess. It's a little stiff with the 10.3. The key is having a little slack in the climbers end, and using a push/pull technique. Like penoyar said "rotator cuff is tired at the end of the day." Works real well with thinner ropes.

Great write up Steph, thanks. Glad all turned out well as it did. We would all be lucky to climb with a great team, such as yours.

Congrats on getting Buck! More snow up there than I would have expected. Very nice pics!!

"Me and Sue, still climbing together after all these years." That's awesome! Nice TR, I'm heading down there with my boys on Wed.

Yes you do - caught on film. Tazz sniffing the repel line - mmmmmm good!

I checked out the Flash 30 too, certainly not a bad value; but I wanted something a little more substantial for carrying heavier loads (rock rack, etc..) I got a Black Diamond Speed 30. I can remove the hip belt, top pocket, and frame sheet/stay; to strip it down to 1 lb 3 oz. Still carries 15 - 20lbs nicely, stripped. Small and light enough to stuff into my overnight pack for summit day. Has rope strap, tool loops etc... Very comfortable.

Nice work! Great photos. Glad to hear you had good conditions, we bailed on the Boulder route last weekend due to soft slop above 8k. We had the mountain to ourselves as well though, nice huh?

Sounds like a cool project. I also do high rises, although I'm laid off currently and climbing instead. Sorry, but I don't have a helmet cam to lend you.

Fun climb Tazz! SE Rib is a fun variation. Easy climbing with enchanting exposure on the north side. Tazz and I canceled a planned Shuksan trip a month ago due to weather. We hit it Tuesday under a perfect forecast and weather. NWS forecast an 11,000' freezing level, although it was damned close to cold @ our 6000' bivy castle. Visability was awesome from the summit - Rainier to the BC coast range and out to the Straits - wow, oh yea the pickets too. Here's a few of my pics. We probably would got off the mountain sooner if we hadn't had stopped every 6 feet to take another pic. wakey, wakey, sun's coming upTopping out! Tazz; Smelling the repel rope? Holy God girl, you're strange. Your mountain savy, great sense of humor, and appreciation of the alpine, made the trip - thanks. FUN

Not sure where this guy is from - eh? But around here (Washington), don't lower off chains. First off, chain links are not the smoothest things around, you'll wear your rope out pretty quick lowering off links. Second, in many of the sport areas around Washington top anchors/chains have been installed by climbers on there own time and with their own money. Lowering from the chains, especially in the desert areas that have a lot of fine abrasive sand, rapidly wears out the links. Unless you going to go back up there and replace the chains on your own time/money; show some gratitude to those who have placed the anchors/chains and rap off. If you're going to top rope it, set it up with a couple of draws or whatever; and then when you're done climb it again, clean the anchor, and rap it.

Way to go Sister(s)!

I use 6mm prussiks with my 8mm. You just have to make 3 full wraps.

I have the same rope, and use it with a Reverso 3; works well in high friction mode. If you're trying to use that rope as a single lead line, you're probably taking a big chance. Use it as a twin rope with a Reverso or BD XP or guide, you'll be fine. The BD ATC you show does not have a high friction mode.

Thanks for the reply Matt, we'll check these out when were there.