hefeweizen

After having sunset copulation at Lunch Counter with my GF, I'd never go up there again without the option of a private tent. Bring the two person love shack for the two of you, send your buddy with a bivy sack however far away you need for your GF to feel comfortable, bring some courvosier and a fish sandwich and enjoy.

Okay, the 5.11 next to Cruel Sister?

Cruel Sister?

I grew up in Portland and if I was moving back there I would certainly consider Troutdale. Here's why: -I ski, it's 1 hour 15 minutes to Meadows. -Broughton's (not the best climbing in Portland, but accessable and decent) -Columbia River Gorge kicks ass -Closer to Beacon -The Flying J truckstop has cheap gas Here's why not: -No real nightlife or good pubs (at least when I lived there) -You might be tempted to climb at Broughton's too much - Depending on where you work the commute up and down I-84 is a pain in the ass. My 2 cents.

A valid point. Supply and demand will certainly be at work. I've also argued for Meadows to go back to their $895 passes because I believe the overcrowding there is a direct result of the $400 pass. People who would've never before purchased a pass do now and make the trip on more "marginal" days. Maybe the $1000 crystal pass is really a blessing in disguise. I don't actually ski there much during their open season so I'm not familiar with the crowding issue, perhaps it would be much more of a circus with a cheaper pass?

Jackson Hole unlimited pass: buy in August- $1625 buy in October- $1970

Actually the pass prices in CO are ridiculously cheap in some areas. In summit county you get Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, and Breckenridge for around $300. For another $50 you get 10 days at Vail and Beaver Creek (holiday restrictions of course). Granted, Summit County is the only place in CO where passes are that cheap. Aspen and it's conglomeration of 4 different resorts isn't giving in to the old "quantity discount." Regardless of what CO is doing, I fail to see where Crystal can justify $1000 passes. Mt. Hood Meadows is going for $400, an early season (before May 31) purchase at Stevens is $475, Snoqualmie is around $350, Baker is $650, Mission Ridge early season purchase is $339 and I don't think any of those places charge more for a day ticket than Crystal. It really doesn't matter. The ski areas will always charge more than they used to. I'm only 26 and I already bitch about the good old days when lift tickets were reasonable and a high school kid could afford to go somewhere in the middle of winter without having a season pass. My advice and the path I've chosen: use that season pass money for a pair of skins and a whole lot of beer.

P3 Matt pulling around onto the beautiful orange wall That's a stellar pic!! Exemplifies alpine rock climbing. Nicely done.

I was thinking there may be some debate about continuing to nail routes that have gone free.

Should we just go ahead and take this to spray right now?

Bump. C'mon, I know somebody wants some!

Who's still skiing? Looking for one or two to do Coleman-Deming, open to suggestions. My plan would be to leave Seattle in the wee hours and go home the same day. It might even snow up there this week!

I have a biner with a tibloc and a small pulley on it. It lives on my harness and I never take it off whether I'm 2 days into the wilderness on alpine rock or 5 minutes from the parking lot at Smith. For two small items to carry I believe it gives me the most options for the weight. It's a good point that you bring up, and one that unfortuanetly isn't thought of by most novice climbers who have been hatched in a gym/strictly sport environment. I'm not knocking those disciplines, but they are bred out of a culture of minimal gear and generally very little self-reliance. It's much more reassuring to be with a partner who has considered the worst case scenario and is at least somewhat prepared for it.

Sweaty Feet Orchid

Who's up for afternoon craggin? I can be there around 3pm.

Times 2.

How long until the first passenger tourist heli-ride to the top of Everest? They've already flown up there. I give it 3 years tops.

Armchair mountianeering novels are replete with stories of hash-smoking bus drivers coaxing their gypsy jalopies over 1000' ravines on the "roads" that lead to the last outpost before you strap up your camel and make for your 8,000m peak of choice. As a novice when I was growing up these parts of the stories always seemed like part of the adventure of travelling in that part of the world. I know that improvements will always happen, and I sure aint bitchen about Hwy 20 getting me to the Liberty Bell group, but it begs the question of where the line between preserving adventure and reasonable access is. At what point do they halt development for the sake of shipping more and more humanity to the fucking "holy grail" of Everest? Hotels are aid. The nicest accomodations any climber should have the night before is a flat spot in the parking lot.

That is really tragic. It appears obvious to me that the whole excuse of paving and improving the roads is a cover to increase infrastucture so that it's easier to take advantage of the natural resources in Tibet. I drive a car, I have a cell phone, I work in the building industry, so I'm certainly not entitled to be on a soap box condemning the actions of the rest of the world. But the state of affairs that our world has sunk to is disappointing.

Ruckle Ridge in the Gorge.

There is another advantage to using wire gates on your rope end besides the weight savings. Whiplash of the gate. The mass of a typical aluminum gate allows it to bounce open sometimes (slap the spine of a conventional biner against your hand and listen for the click of the gate opening and closing). If the impact of your fall hits the carabiner at the exact instant that your gate is open, the strength of the carabiner is greatly reduced. Wire gates don't have that problem. Also, wire gates don't freeze up as easy and don't have as many moving parts.

If I'm reading dmuja's question correctly, he isn't asking if he should place what fits best. He's asking about the pros and cons of nuts vs. cams and the outward force they produce in relation to being placed behind loose blocks. In my experience, it all depends. A lot of times you can tell the way the block is stacked whether it is tending to want to pull out, or if the block itself is "cammed" inbetween the others around it. What are the sizes of the blocks? Is it fractured rock or are they 1,000lb boulders that you can sling to use as one of your protection points? Also, if you have a lot of slings or cordelette you can build an anchor utilizing several pieces and compensate for a questionable cam placement by bringing in a cluster of nuts from somewhere else. Again, it all depends, but to answer your question I have always preferred to go with a combination of types of protection based on the specific situation.

Go to the Mt. Bachy web site and look under conditions, then look at the web cams. If you click on the cam showing south sister and broken top, it will enlarge and give you a better view. Keep in mind that it's about 4 miles of trail before you even get to the base of the climber's trail up south. But there are snowfields up there! Git after it!

I met that guy when I was working at Copper Mountain, CO! He's super cool, some days he would ride the magic carpet up the tubing hill just to make his requisite turns.