LowLife

Last minute shout out to offer a ride from Missoula to the valley on Sunday, September 29. It's just me, so just split some gas and maybe driving if you can drive a manual. Skip school, go climbing! Four oh six, 581 - two five eight one - Phil

-September 29ish (I'm flexible by a few days) -Yosemite -Missoula, MT -Just me, have room for one more, could maybe do two (it'd be tight, but could probably get it done) -1988 Saab 900 Turbo, baby! Heading down one way and will be there for most of October. Back to Seattle probably no later than Oct. 25th. One of the best months in the Valley awaits, split some gas on the way, could even climb something when we get there! C'mon fellow Montuckians!

I've got two separate 8 day stretches in August and am looking to hit the Bugs on one of them and the Winds on the other. Not really picky about the order. I live in Hamilton, MT south of Missoula, so could potentially pick you up in Missoula for Bugs, and Bozeman for Winds. I've got rack and ropes, just can't find anyone with that much time right now. More than happy to put up anything up to .10s/maybe low .11s, and follow/get thrashed on anything harder. Would love to get the Beckey/Chouinard, but am up for just about anything. I'll be in the Sawtooths this week, but I'll check this when I get out next week.

Sawtooths anyone? Right now we've got three including Fred, who was hoping for four. Would really help with hauling gear. Heading up to Elephants Perch. Should be pretty low key, probably just aiming for mountaineers route, but would probably be able to sneak in a day or two of something harder if you were up for it. We're planning on meeting in Hamilton, MT on the evening of the 16th. C'mon, come steal some napkins with the man and hang out in the mountains. You know you want to...

Ha, awesome! That reminds me of the Dirtbag Diaries bit about the Disneyland climbers who used to get paid to climb on that thing: Matterhorn

Trip: Mt. Rainier - Gib Ledges Date: 2/4/2012 Trip Report: Big high pressure meant a mad dash for the mountain on Friday morning. Stayed at the shelter Friday night, left from Muir at 3:30 am and topped out at 11:30 am. The weather was damn pleasant on the upper mountain. The route was in great shape, with variable snow but predominantly nice styrofoam for most of the climb. Sure felt nice to have to throw sunscreen on in February. Pics: Sunrise from the Ledges. Dan with the Nisqually Ice Cliff on his right. The top of Gib chute. Saddle between Gib rock and the mountain. Just as the route joins the upper DC/ID, Lil' T in the background. Obligatory summit shot. Thanks to the two skiers we met up top for taking this! Also of note, I'll bet my pants in this photo look more like General Patton's than your's do. This is my "I can't believe I just slogged up this damn thing again and now I've gotta slog back down too" face. On the way back through Cadaver Gap. Looking up from Ingraham Flats. Thanks to Dan E. for a great trip. The rest of the Cascades were lookin' good dressed in their winter whites - hope everyone got out to enjoy them over the weekend! Gear Notes: Standard glacier kit. This is the second time I've brought a 2nd tool up the Ledges, and haven't used it. One axe will do ya just fine. Approach Notes: We brought slowshoes for the approach to Muir. Don't do this. Learn to ski. And if anyone catches me with those damned things on my feet again, please, slap me.

The Torres are burning! What a season down there, I can barely keep up with all this. Between the events themselves and the varied reactions of several generations of climbers, this has been one helluva fascinating week. Look forward to a little time passing and hearing full disclosure from all those involved.

Great tr Mark! Just awesome. So glad you had another stellar trip to the desert this year. You got some amazing shots down there! Also, you're definitely right, most often it seems to be the people you spend time with and the stories they tell that make climbing so damn hard to stay away from. Nice work!

That is one sweet lookin' piece of ice. Seeing a tr like that sure makes it tough to show up at the office the next day! Strong work up there, and thanks for sharing some serious stoke!

Kirkpatrick has a great site (anyone ever look through his book about pins? I've always been curious). I think Chris McNamara's online guide is also extremely helpful, at least it has been for me: How To Big Wall Climb I haven't used a silent partner (would like to, i'm usually just too much of a broke ass), but a gri-gri seems to work just fine, and is cheaper too.

Trip: The Cap'n - Mescalito Date: 9/7/2011 Trip Report: So, after chewing on the idea since about this time last year, I was finally able to crawl my way up Mescalito for my first solo on the Big Stone. Total time on the wall was 12 days, with a day hiking loads to the base, and a day and a half getting the loads back down. I was slow, it was scary, there were storms, and soloing 26 pitches was a ton of work, but hands down it was one of the best adventures I've ever had. 'Nuff said, here's some photos: [img:center]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GBmfVAg7pug/TouyKJSWOLI/AAAAAAAAAAs/jnwXxI-DDKU/s800/DSC_0084.jpg[/img] My dad and I in the meadow pre-climb. My folks were able to come down for a few days while I was gearing up and starting the climb. I was worried this might freak them out, but now my dad wants to do a wall next year! How cool is that? Mescalito shoots right up the wall between the Nose and North America. [img:center]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QpajIh4kZaM/TouyJUeb3xI/AAAAAAAAAAo/zdHxkrBZWN0/s800/DSC_0074.jpg[/img] Packing the bags in the meadow and getting ready to hike loads. 5 trips in all to the base, thank god this wasn't the Half Dome approach. [img:center]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hmnaH7V9Zgg/Tou03suQwoI/AAAAAAAAABk/SsUhLWmcCzo/s800/IMGP0438.jpg[/img] Mmm, wall food. I was worried the spam might get old, but it really just got better and better as the climb went on. [img:center]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pkaGq3aGefs/TouyUjNYQ5I/AAAAAAAAABY/wZDghzD5kUw/s800/DSC_0407.jpg[/img] Hauling the first pitch. 3 to 1 hauling sucks, by the way. Won't be doing that in the future. [img:center]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-NswnxMhVUKg/TouyPW1PCDI/AAAAAAAAABA/A6VSxZGpbUk/s800/IMGP1241.jpg[/img] "Hmm, what the hell am I getting myself into?" [img:center]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Fo9d8Zjob4g/TouyVRBP7XI/AAAAAAAAABc/sr_Y6aXcjmA/s800/DSC_0421.jpg[/img] I'm in the bottom left, pondering just how far I have to go. [img:center]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OkChhoG4A2c/TouyQHvSwiI/AAAAAAAAABE/zVPbtnZkakE/s800/IMGP1258.jpg[/img] Lotta rock, lotta air. [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-X9BTpuAkc8M/Tou053giUhI/AAAAAAAAABw/VlpMwSvTUxA/s800/IMGP0468.jpg[/img] This is right after I finally got a piece in following a 20 foot whipper into a pendulum swing when I tried to lower out on the seagull pitch (shoulda penji-ed). Self belays are exciting! [img:center]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pxwGZrQcq9o/Tou06qfCnuI/AAAAAAAAAB0/iW8vyYUBVtk/s800/IMGP0482.jpg[/img] Lounging in the evening, the best part of wall climbing. The East wall of El Cap looms over you (and eventually under you) for the duration of Mescalito. [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-bTPSSqCp2uc/Tou07pS_CKI/AAAAAAAAAB4/wTzGtBp8y-c/s800/IMGP0483.jpg[/img] Mornin' light on the Dawn Wall. Helluva start to every day. [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ha5LfiliMbc/Tou08iBn9MI/AAAAAAAAAB8/OBjQtktkUaA/s800/IMGP0487.jpg[/img] Flagging the ledge is sweet. So is free-hanging hauling. At this point I was back to 1 to 1 hauling for the rest of the climb. [img:center]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z9bxgLJ9rGg/Tou0-tVlkFI/AAAAAAAAACI/U71ALwxcdHU/s800/IMGP0552.jpg[/img] That wall is sheer! [img:center]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wMBrCfRZ9HY/Tou1A7IQZDI/AAAAAAAAACU/SJcc4XJcRYg/s800/IMGP0561.jpg[/img] Here it comes. Thunderstorms kept hitting me for my first week up there. It was frustrating to keep having to set up the ledge fly and take shelter, but I sure was glad to have it on several occasions. [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2i-lMnYYgFE/Tou1BfAEuaI/AAAAAAAAACY/woYk5LjFmqs/s800/Nose%252520Storm%252520Panorama.jpg[/img] Right after the big one hit. The wind was blowing so hard up the face that it lifted the portaledge with me on it several times! Grab the straps and surf it out! The guys on El Cap Tower in this photo got caught out in it and had a wet and cold night as a result, but dried out in the morning and finished the Nose in good style (nice work guys!). [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cgBoa-Yd9K8/Touv-rQvmLI/AAAAAAAAAAY/1GllGo0DF4Y/s800/IMG_6509.jpg[/img] Tom Evans is a stud for taking photos of everyone up there. This is two pitches below the Bismark. [img:center]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2ilQfykrdF0/Tou1EPiH9mI/AAAAAAAAACo/N40WScdLJ_E/s800/IMGP0640.jpg[/img] Gotta love it when they're half way out of the wall. [img:center]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JZutwYwpL1I/Tou1AFb7j9I/AAAAAAAAADo/7cLotqCija4/s800/IMGP0559.jpg[/img] This pretty much sums up how I felt about standing on that and the other ones like it. [img:center]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7zMt-nAY-VE/Touv_7nX65I/AAAAAAAAAAc/FWG5zbBOoWU/s800/IMG_6661.jpg[/img] The Bismark. This is one of the best places I've ever been to. [img:center]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G_eYVH9nhuw/Tou1E4roUNI/AAAAAAAAACs/x11OwRKFymQ/s800/IMGP0664.jpg[/img] Dangling the feet off a ledge like this one just never gets old for me. Three pitches to the top from here. [img:center]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U0k7NKUACdc/Tou1F_MTHZI/AAAAAAAAACw/94rk6arVEEo/s800/IMGP0678.jpg[/img] One of the final bag lower-outs. Gettin' close. [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IvzN1ozfKQ0/Tou1KZYYAzI/AAAAAAAAADA/7gCHBH6KsFE/s800/IMGP0693.jpg[/img] Looking down from the final pitch. Ridiculous drop. [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Z6NGnJ4tvh4/TouxrRIoM_I/AAAAAAAAAAg/qm-pCNz_xQg/s800/IMG_7187.jpg[/img] On the headwall, just below the top. Not a bad place to find yourself on a sunny morning. [img:center]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xZlHKL619LM/Tou1LO5kKaI/AAAAAAAAADE/gFxTrksgDao/s800/Mescalito%252520Summit%252520Panorama.jpg[/img] The view of the East wall is great from here. You can really see just how overhung that thing is. Zodiac this winter anyone? [img:center]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1ilaQfPMlIw/Tou1OR7MGeI/AAAAAAAAADQ/clPRV0502hU/s800/IMGP0705.jpg[/img] Dirty. Tired. Sore. Fired up! On top of it all, 26 pitches later. I hit the unroping spot with all the gear at 2 pm on the 12th day of climbing. Hiked loads down to a bivy spot above the fixed lines on the East Ledges and stayed there. I arrived at the 4Runner (which was thankfully unmolested by any bears after two weeks) in the early afternoon the next day, and spent the rest of the week sunning myself in the meadows and drinking beer (just in time for Facelift week and its refillable beer mug and slideshows in the evenings!), living like a marmot. Big thanks to all those who lent me gear, especially Tom, Dan E., Brett M., and Ben S. - you guys rock. Also, huge thanks to all my climbing partners and mentors, I could never have dreamed of tackling a project like this without you. Big thanks as well to Remote Medical International for letting me off the leash for a full three week window to get this done - you guys are awesome! Massive respect for the first ascensionists on this one too - Porter, Sutton, Burton, and Nelson putting this rig up in the early 70's, and in the style they did, is bad ass on a level I'll never know. All in all, it was a hell of a trip. I learned a ton, and was able to enjoy one of the best adventures I've ever had. I couldn't ask for a better way to say farewell to my 20's. Yosemite is such an inspiring and humbling place to climb, and it only seems to grow with every visit. As always, I can't wait to get back, and look forward to the future. Now who's up for the Shield?! Gear Notes: I went with the full supertopo recommended rack, but didn't touch the iron once. Don't even take a leader's hammer, just one for the second to clean with. It's a bunch of offset cams, offset nuts, and some hooks. If I can do it clean (I'm no aid master), anyone can. Approach Notes: It doesn't get any easier than the Captain. The descent still sucks though, especially if you have to double carry the whole thing.

Colin, it was great meeting you, and a really fun climb. You took some awesome photos, thanks man! Phil

This is hands down the best tr I've ever read on cc. Awesome! That last pic is very reminiscent of your average tabloid shot of Lindsay Yoehan, err, I mean Lohan.

Good work up there. Sweet photos, too. Had fun hiking up there with you guys on saturday!

Is that the REI warehouse in Sumner?