Bosterson

Trip: Indian Point - Shooting Gallery Date: 4/17/2013 Trip Report: A bit of nonsense from Gorge Classic Climbs. The roof is a few rocks solidly wedged between the gully walls. There's around five feet between them and a little bump below that you can stand on. We had no rock protection, but if you did, you might be able to place something in the rocks in the roof - they seem solid. The solution to this obstacle ended up being a chimney between the two walls, underclinging the rock roof, and while stemming, reaching up around the left side of the block to grab a solid tree branch that's buried in rocks and dirt. Once there, you can walk your feet up the wall until you're sitting on the block. I was hesitant to commit to this move as the left wall was wet, but it turned out to be pretty easy. After surmounting the roof, you can hitch some slings to the solid tree branch for other people to grab or use as an aider. (You might be able to do this from below the roof if you're tall.) After surmounting the roof, I hauled my pack up, and then climbed the upper gully. There are no pictures of this, because my partner was under the roof to stay out of the way of any rocks I might dislodge (and dislodge I did). About 10 or 15 ft up the gully there was a flat rock in the middle of the route - getting around it was, we both agree, the technical and physical crux of the route, involving stemming, pressing on the side walls, and marginal axe placements. It was really important to not have your full weight ever rest on any single point of contact, but rather to keep it evenly distributed. In sum, the upper gully is steep, loose, slippery, featureless, and a slip might send in you sliding down and sailing off the rock roof onto the talus of the lower gully, resulting in broken bones for sure, or worse depending on how you land. Needless to say, this put the fear of death into me, as once you turn the roof, you're pretty committed, and once you pass the flat rock crux, there is really no way to downclimb as the terrain is so loose and slippery. Being in the zone is crucial. Gear Notes: Ice axe and helmet are essential. Slings for the roof crux. Rope might be useful. Approach Notes: Herman Creek, 400 trail, talus field.

Trip: Hood - Old Chute Date: 3/31/2013 Trip Report: The Old Chute is ice-free after the nice weather we've had. There's a good staircase up at the top, though lower on the chute it's kinda slushy and goopy. The snow was so soft even before the light hit it that you can just walk down it without downclimbing. Dawn summit light Going down the top of the Chute Cutoff path over to the top of the Hogsback - easier walking, might be less safe once the sun hits it. Gear Notes: Ice axe, crampons, helmet. Approach Notes: Walking up the sno-cat tracks.

I'm not an ice climber and so while I get that ice comes in different forms and different degrees of solidity (just like rock!), I've seen a variety of terms on here for different types of ice and don't have a good idea of what they mean. Can anyone give me a rundown on sytrofoam vs snice vs plastic vs dinner plates, etc? Thanks!

The current Houdini has been sublty restyled for "running" - not sure if this has any effect on its mountain-worthiness or not. I have had no problems with the one I got last fall, and it's obviously a super useful piece, but like a lot of Patagonia stuff the cut of the shoulders is a little narrow for the climber build, and in order to not have it poof out around my torso, I wear a size that's a little tight under the arms, especially if I have it over a layer. Most of the time it's not an issue, but other brands sometimes fit better.

"Numbered, limited edition." Be sure not to take it out of the package in order to preserve full collector's resale value.

Mosquitos at the Devil's Lake trailhead tried to eat us alive when we got back to the car and were lazying around with the car doors open while we waited for the rest of our party to show up. I don't think there were any bugs at all on the trail.

Trip: South Sister - South spur Date: 7/7/2012 Trip Report: Some pics from a South Sister climb last weekend. Snow is melting out fast! We left Portland after work around 6:30pm and got to Devil's Lake around 10:30; on the trail around 11. Weather was super balmy on the Moraine Lake plateau - I was in Cap 1 L/S with no hat or gloves, and no headlamp because of the moonlight. We aimed to summit at sunrise but didn't quite make it due to a couple of party members not feeling 100%. Hit Lewis Tarn a little past dawn, on the summit at 7am, spent a few hours up there (napping?) and then went down into the hordes of people lining up the last ridge. Crossing the plateau under midday sun was brutal. After Lewis Tarn the snow disappears and it's a scree slog up the last ridge. Napping on the summit after being up all night. I think this was almost comfortable... Get up there early to avoid the crowds and the slush. Gear Notes: Poles, crampons, axe, snowshoes. Axe was only useful as a glissade brake and the snowshoes were dead weight so we stashed them behind a tree early on. Crampons not necessary but useful for kicking steps up to Lewis Tarn if the snow is colder.

Found safe.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Just for clarity, I am not looking for a climbing jacket. This would be mostly for backpacking/hiking, as something to wear in cold weather when I stop moving and am starting to chill. Thus, no need for a hood, and I'd like to keep it a bit lighter/more packable than the usual belay jacket. The EB stuff has the worst fit of all - totally too narrow under the arms. The MEC Uplink seems cool but I don't think it'd be warm enough. Is the Arc'teryx Atom LT Hoody different from the jacket? Cause the jacket doesn't have a hem drawcord, just a tensioned bit of fabric that's supposed to lie flat around your hips, but no way to cinch it in to keep out cold air. I've been interested in checking out Rab stuff for a while (Wild Things too). Anyone know if there's anywhere in the Portland area where you can try their stuff on, or is it only a mailorder type thing?

I'm in the market for a new puffy jacket. My current one is a Patagonia Micro Puff pullover, which is a good weight but the cut is really boxy (and thus baggy) and it has the worst designed (half-elasticized) cuffs ever. I'm having trouble finding a good replacement, though. My criteria: lightweight (not belay jacket warm, but also not super UL - maybe like old midweight fleece warmth), synthetic fill (cause we're in the NW), and the main debacle I'm having is the cut. My shoulders are way wider than my torso, so for jackets that aren't baggy, I can barely cross my arms, but when I can, there's tons of dead space around the waist. I thought I'd found a winner with the Arc'teryx Atom LT, but it was just a little too tight under the arms/across the back in medium (I'd like to be able to put a light fleece under it), and while the large fixed that problem, it was then baggy and way too long. It also turns out that the Atom LT doesn't have a hem drawcord, so that sealed the deal against it. Arc'teryx's cut usually fits me pretty well, and that jacket was the right amount of warmth. (The SV is too heavy.) The Patagonia Nano is too boxy; Montbell isn't wide enough in the shoulders; ditto for Mountain Hardwear; etc. I'm stumped. Anyone have suggestions before I turn to trying to sew together a custom fit jacket for myself?

Also: call your insurance provider and ask them why your rates are going up, and when they tell you about the state of the economy and costs of doing business and increased regulation, ask them why their CEO's paycheck is unaffected by those same factors.

If only Obama actually were a socialist, then shit would get done around here...

Yo FW: please explain your Ted Kaczynski was a liberal theory. (We addressed it back on page 8 or so; this thread has spiraled into a monster.)

I think you misunderstand what Reagan was doing... It's true that deinstitutionalization basically shifted some of the burden of health care onto law enforcement, but what this means is that a lot of mentally ill people are in jail, a place where their treatment options are greatly reduced. I would not use anything the Portland cops do as evidence of any trend besides the fact that they like to shoot individuals of varying minority status (homeless, mentally ill, black, etc.) regardless of their being armed or being any kind of actual threat. I'm not really sure what this has to do with anything - that happened on an army base, which is not usually a place included under "free society." At the very least, what happens on army bases does not necessarily reflect/influence what's happening in society at large. For this one, you might want to look at our country's role in various "wars" in the Middle East, and how that's been playing out for the past 30 years... Nobody said democracy wasn't a messy business, but I'm pretty sure that semiautomatic weapons could be illegal and we could still have quite a bit of freedom...

Ok. As I said before, this shooting is not really a political issue (unless you're talking about gun control) because the kid was clearly suffering from some sort of mental disorder and wasn't acting out party politics of some kind. But you threw down that gauntlet, so I thought I'd take it up out of curiosity. I don't know much about Ted Kaczynski, and I turned to Wikipedia, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here. But that said, wasn't he an anarchist of some kind? He doesn't appear to be at all associated with "leftist" politics, unless you're implying that environmentalism is by default leftist. (But that'd be silly. Environmentalism in its true form should not be a party issue; it just becomes one due to its connection to government and regulation, where party lines split.) Describing Kaczynski's manifesto (italics added): Again, this has absolutely nothing to do with the shooting in Arizona.

I think you're misusing this word... You must be confusing this with corporate America...

Dude, the Elizabeth Ann Duke thing happened like twenty years ago. Not so relevant to the current climate of anything... And if that's your point, I completely agree with you. Contemporary US politics are retarded on both sides. However, political polarization and politically-motivated violence are different things. Just so's we're clear.

Also, as enlightening as it is to debate over which political party has more violent rhetoric, it's about as relevant as the more general discussion post-shooting about political rhetorical vitriol in general. That's a totally legitimate subject (why is political rhretoric so vitriolic right now, and why do we stand for it?), but doesn't really have that much to do with Saturday's shooting (as the details stand now, at least). The kid seems like he had some serious mental illness issues going on. I am interested to hear more about that once the details are released. That kind of thing transcends political party affiliation and really makes the politics irrelevant to any discussion of what happened. Yes, he may have targeted a politician (a highly visibile target, it should be said), and he may have discussed issues relevant to politics, but he also made nonsensical Youtube videos about mind control. The political vitriol makes a good story, but as some Tea Party founder said on NPR (and loathe as I am to agree with anything he'd say), you can't blame Sarah Palin for this. He also noted that one of his neighbors was killed in the shooting, and really, no one is discussing the other victims in detail. It was a tragedy for a lot of people, not the least of which are the ones who weren't politicians or judges or 9 year old girls. If we insist on turning this event into the genesis of a political discussion, what is relevant is how this obviously unwell kid got ahold of a semiautomatic Glock in the first place...

Did you read the article about the crimes she was accused of? This is the first sentence. (italics added) Again, explain to me how property damage and murder are equivalent in any way.

Everyone has "condemned" this attack, though do note that most politicians have lead their statements with the words "I am horrified" (note the prominence of the first person singular), and then continue with what could be summarized as: Eric McDavid??? Rob, are you really trying to convince us that damage to property (industrial/environmental sabotage) is the equivalent of murder?

Well played, sir: "You can't prove anything, and neither can I, so you're wrong!" So neither side can prove anything, therefore I am wrong? hahahahaha, I hope you see the irony as clear as I do in your post. No dude, what you quoted was me restating what you'd said. If you'd bothered to quote my next sentence, I said that the rational, non-conspiracy explanation seems pretty well proved. Stop being retarded.

Well played, sir: "You can't prove anything, and neither can I, so you're wrong!" Actually, from what I've seen, the "plane flew into building and it collapsed" explanation is pretty well supported by video footage, photos, eyewitness accounts, laws of physics, etc. I thought you were talking about wool? I don't think "but what if it had been a conspiracy" is a convincing argument to people who were educated past preschool... Also: I would like to see someone do a study that measures the correlation between people's beliefs in retarded 9/11 conspiracy theories and their levels of implicit racism towards poor, brown Muslims from other countries. Cause seriously, a bunch of dirty towelheads punked the greatest country in the free world? No way, brah. Must have been a government conspiracy!

Loose Change is just about the dumbest movie ever: college kids with too much money and free time set out to "debunk" 9/11. Hijinks ensue.