keenwesh

sorry for such a noobish question but the forest service website is confusing as hell. My forest service pass just expired today and I'm leaving next week for MT, do not plan on being back in WA for at least a year. going to go in and try the w ridge of stuart with my little brother before leaving. Do I need a NW forest pass to park at the ingalls lake trailhead? thanks team!

east buttress is a little harder than 5.7...

cyborgs/mono verson of the cyborgs (sidewinder?) are pretty good and are readily available and cheaper.

the right hand start off two tree is better than that bullshit glassy lieback. I'm always sketched doing the traverse but that's because I'm a fat puss and big flexing flakes give me the willies.

you know that spam is different than spray, right?

howdy ya'll. looking for a copy of the guidebook as I guess it's out of print. I can take your tattered old book and put it to good use. alternatively, recommended routes in the 5.8-5.10 range around the tellot glacier? thanks!

no idea, we had an 80. I remember reading a description somewhere saying that it could be done with a shorter cord....

Did the route 3 weeks ago, 4th pitch was super wet, a couple damp jams on P1 as well. We rapped heavens gate. super straightforward and can be done with a 60 (so I'm told). 70 makes it plush.

I can hang on to my tools, dropping other peoples screws is what I'm awesome at.

thanks guys! such a good route, pretty much anyone can go repeat it in better style I think. I know I for sure pulled on gear for any move harder than 5.7. I have a great video of marks take of jugging that I promised him to not post. if he gives me the go ahead I'll put it up. think everyone has felt the same way that he he did at some point if they've ever fucked around with ascenders.

just being in the valley is worth the risk of being crushed by 20000 dump truck loads of rock. Instead of closing campsites maybe they should implement a plan to shut down access for the tourons who take cell phone pictures of bears from 300 yards away through a bus window... just a thought.

Trip: Yosemite - Half Dome and others Date: 6/13/2012 Trip Report: Spent a week and a half in yosemite with friends and did some great climbs. Mark Straub met us down there and we teamed up to climb some longer routes. The crew from Olympia loaded up the troop and headed out at 10 pm, I drove until weed, CA, keeping myself awake by taking pictures of the other guys drooling on themselves. the oly crew approximately 5 minutes from launch time here's luke zonked out in the back We made it into the valley in the evening and climbed some single pitch 5.7 chimney to the left of the start of the salathe, plans to bandit camp at the base of el cap were scrapped by the large number of rangers out and about and we headed back to a dirt turnout off evergreen road outside of the park for a fitful 5 hours of sleep. in gathering up our shit at 5 am to go back in for the camp 4 site luke managed to leave his little sisters sleeping pad. We christened ourselves "Team Retardo" and elected luke as the head of the varsity squad. Mark and I climbed the east buttress of el cap, super fun route, I got the P1 chimney and he crushed the P2 crux. cheesin' on the east butt The alcove swing was good fun too Mark and I had been planning on doing Half Dome all week, and we carefully laid out a plan that we'd hike up the death slabs on monday, try and make the top on tuesday or consumate our climbing partnership on big sandy, and finish the climb/descent on wednesday. Starting up the trail to mirror lake at 9 am we reached the base of the NW face by 11.30, mark looked at me and said, "I don't want to sit around here all day, lets just start climbing now". so it was decided, we slammed as much water as we could from the spring and mark took off leading the first block, up to pitch 6. Along the way he went from a honorary to a full member of team retardo when he fumbled his entire set of brand new offsets. I couldn't help but laugh and welcome him on board! We began communicating completely in either pirate or terrible german accents at this point for some reason. I took over the lead and made it to the P11 ledge maybe half an hour after dark. the last couple we got bogged down behind a korean team who were chainsmoking their way up. waiting for them to jug as the sun goes down the language barrier was quite large, but they were in good spirits and fun to huddle with 1000 feet off the deck Mark and I didn't get much sleep that night, having only brought a few extra clothes. I shoved my feet in my backpack and shivered to stay warm. A couple tins of sardines in mustard sauce made it bearable. early on tuesday morning mark led off the ledge into the chimneys. for claiming to suck at the wide he cruised his way up them. Jugging these pitches sucked, I have a weepy sore on my left elbow that is oozing through my flannel shirt right now, so awesome two pitches below big sandy alas, I was also to be immortalized in team retardo, when I managed to unclip the rope from a yellow/orange tcu offset on the pitch below big sandy without cleaning it. some people leave gear bailing off routes, we leave gear while climbing routes. just make sure you're the party after us and you could score half a rack! whatever. I really liked the quote in an article in the latest R&I talking about the priorities of the climb as #1 stay alive, #2 stay good friends, and #3 make the top. I led the last 5 pitches off big sandy, linking the first two zig zags. the lack of sleep and low food intake of the last 2 days began to take their toll on mark and he started to slow down jugging. I amused myself while I waited by taking stupid pictures of myself On the final bolt ladder pitch I had to skyhook a pinscar after the pendulum as we had dropped all the offsets and the single camhook. Standing on that creaky piece of steel was a lot more fun than it would of been with the proper gear, don't bring offsets! We cruised up the last pitch and topped out right as the sun set. We then proceeded to descend the 4th class slabs below the notch between sub dome and half dome for several hours in the dark, securing our place in the halls of fame of team retardo. if anyone wants some cell phone batteries, trekking poles, or sluggs of 4 year old gatorade at 11 pm due to desperate dehydration (that shit tastes like death) head this way (seriously the amount of dropped garbage from the notch is astounding). Otherwise keep going till you reach the base of sub dome and head left through the woods until the climbers trail is reached. A little longer then the advertised 20 minutes in the supertopo description but really easy. a great climb with a great partner, mark is a fantastic climber who isn't afraid to admit that he's tired. He tried to apologize for being slow after we made it down and I was happy to admit that while I'd been short with him on the last few pitches I still totally understood his fatigue and didn't blame him for taking a while to squirm his way up the "5.8" squeeze after thank god ledge. (it's burly and you don't want to haul a #6 up for 10 feet of climbing, here's a tip: left side in and use the small edges for your feet) on the last day in the valley I got up early to climb the Grack on the apron with my friends max and luke, ended up simuling through pitch two and three, nothing like telling someone that they absolutely can't fall 200 feet off the deck on their first multi pitch. that climb is like a 130 meter version of libra crack at index. so good and classic, a perfect route to cap off the trip. Gear Notes: doubles up to #2 BD, lots of small aliens, a single #3 and #4. A set or two of nuts. Skyhook is useful on the first zig zag, and slab pitch if you drop your camhook. Approach Notes: Death Slabs are fast and easy, fixed ropes are up. hand over handing the ropes on the way down with massive gobies adds to the experience.

haha I just went on a short hike in the boundary waters of northern minnesota with my grandfather on a trail he built, he flagged it every 15 feet and was freely giving me info about the benefits of flagging. I kept my mouth shut but I'm with you in that trails don't need fluorescent orange plastic markers as lining. Good work pulling that shit down.

sasha and elmo are always pleasant to be around, even when they are humping each other.

my first multi pitch was white slabs! we must think in the same backwards way... I remember lots of dirt in the cracks, but it was also a blast being high off the ground. go check them out for yourself.

I was one of the 8 people on OS saturday, we were #3 in line. I stopped mid pitch on the headwall and took this pic. A guy seconding 20 feet above me, his belayer on library, and group #1 leading up P6. Our hopes to do orbit in the same day were dashed against the rocks when we spent about 3 and a half hours sitting around napping at the belays. at least there were plenty of people to shoot the shit with. saw you guys on champaign, I've always wanted to check that route out. thanks for cleaning it up a bit.

quarry wednesday tomorrow afternoon?

k cliff at index, 3 or 4 5.8's and 9's. There are a couple 5.10s that weren't too sandbagged. not many people go there, it's on the right as you head to the inner walls.

I've always wanted to try Natural Log Cabin, but the initial runout scares me off. and it's 11 I think.

how do you jack off automatically?

I've been trying to sell these things for years, I need to get some new O2 sensors for my car and figure it's worth another try to pony up the funds. brand new condition, nice lightweight boots that someone with huge feet can put to better use. $100

if you like oatmeal try and get some proatina, it's gluten free along with over 20% omega-3 content. I'm pretty sure it's only available here in MT but I'm sure it could be found online. Camalina oil can also be used in home made bread, although some people (myself included) don't really like the taste, which is similar to broccoli. Wheat really isn't that nutritious, for eons it has been selected for pest and disease resistance, not nutrition. The mice and bugs that eat wheat can tell what is good and they go after the most nutritious plants, therefore as time has gone on wheat has gotten worse and worse. I got to play around this semester crossing high lysine wheat varieties and I for sure will not become a plant breeder, plucking out the stamens and bagging each wheat sheaf was far to tedious for my add self.

date rape, not a big deal in the eyes of the law http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155304/nice

I dunno man, she personally thanked me for not fucking him up. The whole thing was a major cockblock. Made a fun lighthearted evening not as fun and lighthearted. Not many chicks in their late 20's dream about going back to a freshman dorm room.

hahah that mental image is the funniest thing I've heard all day. "GO LEFT OF THAT ROOF OR YOUR ASS IS GRASS!"