A2THEK

Rests sure can be key if you can collect yourself, yer head & yer mind before moving quickly & smoothly through the crux,I'm always up for a good rest.

I think it shows good style to offer replacement of a piece you overcammed & stuck or dropped, although I wouldnt demand it, cause you know there's always a sacrifice to the mountain gods. As far as using dropped gear, how much do you value your life? If I gotta ask if it's still good, I replace the piece in question. I dont worry about left nuts & rap slings, that's just part of the game. Doesn't mean I wont give my buddy a load of crap if he's the butterfingers of the day, haha.

Not rock, but I took a 40 footer onto a stubby ice screw without a screamer on Kitty hawk in the canadian rockies.The piece was in chandeliery aeriated ice, I was very surprised it held.My partner was more rattled than I, although my heartrate was plenty fast.

ok,last interjection, first, thanks for gettin my back Wade, you rock! Second, now you know Kloke was in on it, all the sudden the rack seems reasonable?? Come on "off white"!Besides, Dallas & I compared racks the day before,& mine was SMALLER so now everyone can kiss my ass. Thanks for the photos Steve, they're awesome.

I'm a mid 10's rock climber with 20 yrs experience, I feel that if you're going to bring protection you should make an honest effort to minimize the chance of injury if you do fall. Alpine rock can be more friable, there are different route conditions, and if theres any kind of epic / rescue, that rack could be burned through in a hurry. I'm not opposed to soloing or running it out when necessary, but taking the few minutes to pop in a piece every 30 or 40 feet is responsible and kind of fun! Imagine simulclimbing, your second falling 25 feet over the other side of the ridge & you are 20 feet past your last# 4 nut. That makes a heck of a double whipper & high possibilities for injury.No thanks. Iguess the other option is to be peter croft.riight...

Trip: Forbidden peak - East ridge direct Date: 7/12/2008 Trip Report: We headed up cascade river road friday afternoon, arriving at the trailhead(much to my surprise the road is now open) about 2 ;30 or so, took the leisurely stroll to boston basin & set up the bivvy. After a calm, starry night with only minimal rodent attacks & someone's aching left buttock, we started climbing about 4:45am. The snow was perfect for cramponing, & we made the ridge in something like 2 hrs where I promptly sent my helmet into the great unknown. Watching it ricochet hundreds of meters down the gully was entertaining, like giant pinball with appropriate comments from the peanut gallery . The climbing was varied with sustained, wildass exposure, mostly low 5th class with the occaisional spicy move to keep it interesting. Pay attention to potential ropedrag, as you will likely cross & recross the ridge many times & there's lots of ups & downs. The stiffer pitches had strightforward & quality protection. we were able to simulclimb most of the route, basically two pitches with actual anchors & belay.summitted in 5 hrs from low in the basin, just as becky's description says. The descent raps are quite easy to locate & in good condition. All of them are creatively set up & fairly solid. Traversing the east ledges took some time, a bit tricky in rock shoes, but decent cairns along the way. There are multiple rap slings along the ridge,but The best option is to take all 5 raps directly off the summit and then traverse low & east to the final gully west of the first gendarme, which is dirty but ends exactly where you probably left your packs & boots. The descent was a pleasure of glissading &quick back to the bivvy site. We hiked out in a couple hrs, picked up some frosty beers & had burgers at Good Food.Overall one of my favorite routes in the cascades!! Gear Notes: crampons & iceaxe, 8 full length runners, 2 doublelength, could use 2 more, lots of horns to sling.1 set nuts, doubles 4,5,6. 1 blue,1 orange, 1 yellow tcus. 1 #.75, 1 #2 camelot. 4 big hexes. 2 cordalettes. We used every piece on the rack, I felt well protected & not one ounce too much weight! Approach Notes: trail is brushy & not too well maintained expect maybe 3hrs up. creek crossing slightly spicy during high water.