YocumRidge

Nice, Drew. May be see you out there? Yes, the Skullhollow is open, just don't use the bathroom. It's worse than the one @ the BLM CG in Red Rocks.

Left one Edelrid sling, 2 wiregates and 1 Petzl Attache at the anchors on the top of the Virgin Slayer or nearby columns in the Lower Gorge at Smith. If you find these, please PM me. Thanks in advance, Anastasia

Canrockies. Fat ice and balmy -17C. Certainly an improvement over the early March when it was -30C.

Yesterday (03/23/14) we lost a 19 cm BD Express (marked with orange tape) at the base of Weathering Heights. If someone finds it, please PM me. Thanks in advance, Anastasia

I would second what Dan said re: Price Glacier - he *liked* it as much as I did . Having climbed both Lib Ridge and Price gl., Price is NOT by any means a "preparation" for Lib. ridge, it is actually the other way around: more vertical gain on more technical terrain (albeit Shuksan is only 9131'), and way more dangerous objective hazards: ice avalanches and breaking seracs. I would compare Price to a mini-version of the Will-It-Kill me wall on Rainier. That said, Price is still a beautiful route that can be enjoyed during a high snow year. IMO, there is nothing tricky about Lib Ridge that needs a special "preparation". The route is knowingly over-hyped due to its 50 classic climbs status. Ptarmigan Ridge is way more scenic. Be in good cardio and high altitude shape and know how to use two tools plus crevassed glacier travel - its what it takes. Do some long carryover-style moderate routes like Sunset Amphitheater on R as a prior conditioning.

Leave that sheep alone, playa ... You were supposed to take pics of my new harness, because it looks cool.

Nice! The Eliot HW looks *thin*. In January. Seriously? What a year: We climbed it last June in full on winter conditions.

Is anyone interested in heading to South Fork to hit long ice routes in the end of Jan - early Feb (flexible on timing)? Cody is having a fantastic season this year and most routes are in good shape: I have just got from there and need to get back before the ice falls apart. Prefer to stay at the DDX ranch @ South Fork. Lead WI4, have full rack, double ropes and a rig. Canmore/Icefields is the second choice if the temps will rise. Please, PM. Anastasia

No. Only for the Horndogger. And you can borrow them from me tomorrow .

Ivan. Bastard, damn you and red rawks! I just got back from there . Stay away from the Black Velvet canyon in December as those temps are 10 deg lower than elsewhere in RR and stick with the routes that are in the sun for the most of a day. I thought Birdland was a pretty good warm up, a sunny moderate 6p Beacon 5.6 . Rap with one 70 (a better option) or doubles (expect stuck ropes). Horndog-Sundog link-up on the Solar Slab. A full value. In the sun all day. Routefinding on the Horndog is convoluted, very long winding pitches and a full set of tri-cams is needed for p2-3 which was kind of sketchy for people like me who never placed a tri-cam before . Tunnel Vision on the Angels Food is your carrot. Although p1 is in the shade in the morning, the new and improved 5.9 variation on the right has two new bolts through the roof. The right chimney of the P2 gets the morning sun, while the left OW is in the shade and freaking cold. We did the 5.8 left var for pp3-4, as that side is in the sun and there are 2 sets of new bolted anchors before you get to the "Tunnel". Bring the headlamp for the Tunnel - it is going to be your favorite pitch - one crappy piece of gear for 150' in the dark! The summit of the Angels Food is very cool with a very scenic descent that you don't need to haul you approach shoes for. Anything on Mescalito tower from where you can tag the actual summit via the OW chimney and the open book above it - extra 700'of climbing. If you have done Cat in the Hat, there is a 5.10 d bolted arete variation to the left on P5 that stays in the sun all day. The descent off the summit was however a total suck. Out of the three available options, we chose the "best" one - involving 7 rappels, and bushwhack scrambling, that took almost as long to get down as to climb the whole thing.

Yep, that's right, crawling like wet rats on that freaking slab while we could have got up the dry "siege tactics" the rack for which we both ingeniously forgot .

I hear that like a proper nazi, he is just following the orders, Pat

But now you've got a minivan...OMFG

That cam might originate from a very slow party on the corner we spotted while Sue and I climbed YW on Mon. Very nice and relaxing day for a change, after being brutalized on Monkey Face last weekend.

That is on J-burg, but so typical you

Haha, that was fun, Ivan. Next time I will try to be faster . Love Beacon. Too bad it starts raining soon. I think I will head to Yos then to continue my pathetic solo-aiding.

Now you like slow sex? I bet you wanna know, Oleg, but keep reality and your fantasies apart .

Fuck that. Big walls now.

Haha, awesome report, Oleg! Now that I am driving back from Yosemite I seriously doubt that the Gendarme bivy was that bad. Sleeping in the portaledge on the Prow beats it all. Wonder how Ivan is still alive

If someone finds my Ultradistance trekking pole, I would like to get it back please. It was left at the base of the lower North Ridge just above the bivy site on Sat 09/14/2013. Thanks in advance. Anastasia

Trip: Dragontail - Le Serpent Date: 8/31/2013 Trip Report: Although it is impossible to get bored of the beautiful Beacon rock, I decided to change a venue and headed to Dragontail over the Labor day weekend with my Seattle friend Gerry. The short approach is always appealing but the daylight is not as long as a couple months ago and the Stuart lake p-lot, like Heathrow airport, never disappoints: my faint attempts to get any sleep are pretty much zero. Coffee helped and we hit the trail at 3 a.m. Beacon Rock, just twice as big, at sunrise: There is still some ice connecting the lateral moraine and the base of Serpentine but no need for pons/axes as it goes well in the approach shoes. On the approach from the car, cragging style: Rolling on route at 7 a.m.: We quickly simul-climbed the first 500’ below the steeper pitches. The fixed gear is everywhere - a good sign that we are on route. In the awkward corner on p1: In the OW on p2: Gerry in the twin cracks on p3: In the dihedral on p4: We reached the Beckey pin, located the bailout slings and gear to the right and decided to climb left through the steep tower, way harder than anything below we just did, but managed to get back on route. We simul-climb again on cl. 4/easy 5 trying to follow the arête before getting to a 3 way intersection. So far we moved pretty efficiently, until we did not. With the headwall in my face, my smart ass after having remembered the beta “to follow the arête and to bypass difficulties on the right” decided to go right towards the Bovine route and then up. Do not do that – a major time sucker. It is amazing how fast things can change on this route from being good to poor. I lead an aweful dihedral placing micronuts that keep falling out and we loose more time. At the base of the dihedral (pp8-9?) that needs to be avoided: After Gerry comes up, he finds a better looking crack system going left and then right. He disappears around the corner but then announces that there are more blank headwalls above and requests to be lowered. Off a micronut. After rigging a 30 m rap, we get down on the easier terrain where we were able to traverse left. It is not a hard 5 anymore, but not easily simul-climbable either. By the time we reached the blocky tower below the summit pyramid, the naturally triggered rockfall greeted us and necessitated some elaborate dodging. OK, so we dodge and manage to stay alive in the process. Finally the terrain eases up and we go around the blocky tower on the right, then left, then right and left towards the Fin. Le Serpent. Only at 7 p.m. we arrive on the summit ridge and surprisingly enough still have some water left. On the summit ridge: Gerry on the summit: We hike down the trail to the notch for the snowfield leading to Aasgard just to realize that kicking in steps on the quickly hardening snow in the approaching darkness might not the be best thing in the world. Rainier in repose: We continued down south in the bowl by Witches tower and spent a few hours next to running water under the boulder while waiting for the sun. In not so cragging style. The goats running those icy slopes like it is not a big deal whereas I had to rely on my Neanderthal self-arrest rock: Gear Notes: A set of stoppers, singles 0.3 - 0.5, doubles 0.75 - 3 Approach Notes: Colchuck Lake

I talked your russkiy priyatel' Oleg into joining as well, for some X-fit action

Cool, thanks! See you there!