downey

thanks for the advice

Does anyone know any ankle exercise to help stabilize my ankles while running? I've done a particularly large amount of crack climbing this year (for me). I'm no doc but I think that may be a contributing factor to my recent sprained ankles while trail running. any other thoughts on the subject are appreciated as well. thanks

glad you found it useful, Dave! there's a lot of good stuff on twight's site.

I came across this while on Mark Twight's site. I certainly took something from it. Maybe you will too. http://pindancing.blogspot.com/2010/12/answer-to-will-you-mentor-me-is.html

I had to drive a total of 100 miles one-way looking for condoms when I was there in 2007. Oh, and correction - you can find similar weirdness like that in Utah as well. Looks like a fun trip, btw! those pics brought back memories of the best roadtrip of my life... thanks!

Don't take it personally. If you scroll through my posts, you'll find a few unsuccessful solicits looking for a winter alpine mentor. It's easier to find partners for summer objectives when it's less serious. I finally had some luck with partnerfinder on mountainproject.com... but If I didn't have a relatively strong skill set (in the rock realm) to contribute to the partnership, he probably wouldn't be interested in taking me in for more alpine (snow, ice, mixed)-type objectives. One other bit of advice you didn't ask for... don't get impatient by finding a dangerous partner. The cascades in winter are unforgiving and bad partners can easily get you killed. Although I can't offer a mentorship because i'm broke and my time is valuable, feel free to pm me questions about climbing out here... it takes some figuring out and I have ideas for beginner winter routes if you're interested. Good luck PsychedWIll!

Thanks MtnBoy.. for the suggestion and reminding me of the positive side to the situation. The geko was a nice light, small unit, but it didn't work well under canopy which was a bummer. I'll look into the foretrex when I get a paycheck

well, if you go up to find it, you've earned it. that's the biggest chosspile and bushwack i've ever climbed.

yup... it's a garmin geko 300-ish. small, grey.

i think some people go overboard with electrolytes and suppliments in general, but i think these 'researchers' aren't spending their days on El Cap sweating their asses off for 10 hours or more! If you're not taking in something salty when you're sweating a lot, (salted almonds are one of my favorites), you're going to get severe hyponatremia http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001431/ drinking loads of water without enough salts will also dilute your system enough to make you very sick... I vomited the entire way down castelton tower to the TH because of hyponatremia (ahhh that sucked haha!). Less water and more salt would have prevented it. in the end it's whatever works for you. experiment.

With some experimentation, I've found that a liter or two of Nuun (in addition to plain water) throughout the day and a bananna (potassium) during breakfast fixed the annoying cramps I get in my forearms when wall climbing. Look for the fruit-leather type at Trader Joes... i don't like the taste but it does the trick for me. btw, on my last trip from sea level to 14,400' w/minimal time to acclimate, my climbing partner told me to cut back on the potassium intake because it inhibits acclimatization. I have no idea if this is true, but it's worth looking into if you're worrying about AMS.

it's officially lost - small grey gps may have fallen out of pocket somewhere on J-berg N rib (mid august) / descent to cascade pass, or possibly torment-forbidden traverse (mid-late aug). if you found one, i'd be stoked to have it back. thanks, Braden

way to get after it and thanks for getting me PSYCHED!!! GURR!

or pm me if u might be interested and have questions for me. Anyone?

NICE WORK GENTS!!! well written TR as well.

I'm planning a trip to the bugs around the first 2 weeks of Sept and am looking for a competent wall climber to join me. I prefer speed climbing longer routes but would enjoy free climbing shorter objectives as well. Here's a recent conditions report: http://www.mountainproject.com/v/bugaboo-conditions/107246380#a_107248513 PM me if interested. Thanks, Braden

AWESOME! thanks for sharing

sooo badass! super inspiring! nice work and TR

i'm looking for someone to climb ice/mixed stuff here in the cascades... I'm pretty new to the NW (bellingham) and could use a bit of guidance but could also be a great partner. Also, I would be psyched to climb some rock, from local b'ham crags to early winter spire walls and traverses. thanks for lookin

thanks wbk... nice job yourselves - you guys were moving pretty quick. I rounded the first step and you were gone, otherwise i would have said hi.

jens, i wouldn't be surprised if we bypassed the crux somehow, but i would be surprised if we were too far climber's right. we climbed past a pair of crampons on a hex if that indicates anything. The rock scar to the left looks like something from utah. Is that where you consider the crux? regardless, it was a fun time, we learned a lot, and that's what really matters to me.

bad ass! nice pics, nice work. looks like a great route.

i appreciate the enthusiasm from many of you as well as constructive feedback like wayne's

yup - it was great running into you. props for saying f*#$ the weather and getting after it.

Trip: Mt Stuart - Girth Pillar Date: 6/17/2011 Trip Report: Early last week, my buddy Trevor called me and asked, “... are you still on for Stuart this Thursday-Friday?” I strained to remember what I had committed to over beers a few nights before. A couple days later we agreed the forecast looked good enough to hike up to Stuart to climb the ice cliff glacier. When Trevor copied the beta for ice cliff from Nelson's guidebook and noticed, “... not one of the best routes he had done in the cascades, but the best...” describing the Girth Pillar, we decided to throw some extra hardware in the duffel. After driving from Bellingham and a bit of post-holing, we arrived at the foot of Stuart with time to catch some pics of the awesome landscape . Gazing around sweeping snow slopes and steep rocky buttresses, I realized that I’m in love with the Cascades - my new backyard and a range I am still very unfamiliar with. As I peered up at the improbable ice cliff glacier and steep rock buttress that is the Girth Pillar, I remembered the reason I was there and I began to feel quite small. Since this was my first route involving a glacier and I knew we would have to carry heavy boots, crampons, axe, etc., up the route, I tried my best not to acknowledge the intimidation I felt before turning my brain off in order to get some sleep. We just climbed past the ice cliff and were near the start of the rock when I heard Trevor yell, “ICE!” I put my head down and a lone chunk of ice hit me on the back. The 4am wakeup wasn’t early enough to eliminate icefall apparently. To gain the base of the rock, we belayed for the 2nd time. I place a picket and dash to the shelter of the rock, but not before a snowball from above hit me. I belayed Trevor up and he began the first rock pitch with crampons, wet rock, and delaminating ice. Eventually he donned his pack and crampons before a cruxy move and continued up a traversing runout on wet rock in mountain boots. This pitch epitomizes the entire climb. I arrived at the 2nd pitch, high five Trevor for the character-building lead, and we change into rock shoes. Being spooked by the nature of the climbing and the periodic snow blocks the size of houses sliding off the slabs to our right, I felt inclined to tell Trevor we should not let it affect us and that we both should try to keep climbing quickly and efficiently. This would turn out to be easier said than done... “What do you think of that mushroom?” He asked me. Being relatively new to this type of alpine-stuff, I admit I don’t know. After hucking a big rock at it from a ledge to test it’s stability, he proceeded quickly underneath it before working his way over a wet slab. His block ended at the base of the headwall, identified by a picture of Kit Lewis climbing this route in WINTER! We paused a moment to consider how ridiculous a proposition climbing the last few pitches in winter seemed. Although technically harder and having the added bonus pump of hauling packs and a few icy jams, the next few pitches (5.10-5.11) felt way less of an ordeal than the approach pitches. With massive snow blocks ripping off every 30 minutes and rocks chattering down the gully on our left on a regular basis, I was a bit spooked. Consequently, I pulled through in a couple spots despite good protection and clean fall... I couldn’t get my mind past the fact that a tweaked ankle would be a very, very bad thing with retreat not being a good option at all. I’m sure some seasoned Cascade hard men and women might say I wussed out... oh well. After much hesitation, I decided to traverse left into the rock scar when possible and up a 5.10ish offwidth/squeeze. With my last piece 50’ below me and confronted with a cruxy move that would have left me hyperventilating a couple years ago, I was thankful for every wide crack I’ve ever groveled in. This was the only pitch Trevor didn’t send onsight. After tiptoeing around some death blocks and excavating some spongey lichen, I built an anchor. At this point the angle kicked back and we climbed over more “moderate” wet, icy, snowy terrain in two more blocks - including a jammed rope requiring the 2nd to self belay and some snowy covered rock climbing in crampons. Of the 13 pitches we climbed on the Pillar, I would only consider a couple of them easy - I guess ‘easy’ is a relative term, but I'd like to warn others not to underestimate the bottom and top portions of this route. Although we climbed the rock portion of the route much slower than I thought we would (about 10 hours), I’m still pretty satisfied with how it went. This was a step up for both of us in terms of commitment and involvement, with moderate ice, challenging rock, little detailed beta, and plenty of stuff raining down around us, the route had quite an ominous and adventurous feel to it. I'm happy we had beautiful weather. I can see now how some strong climbers have come out of the Cascade Range and I am psyched to call this place my home. Gear Notes: we used: 50m lead rope, 100’ haul line (had to extend it with a sling to make it work a couple times), healthy selection alpine draws and nuts, double set cams from purple metolius to #2 C4, single #3, #4. *I was reluctant to bring the 4 but found it quite useful but not essential. We also brought a tblock for hauling packs and a hook in case wet holds demanded aid. We brought 3 screws and used one. Brought and used 3 pickets. Single tool or mountain axe each was adequate with the conditions but slowed us down a bit on the snow/ice. Later season ascents will probably want a second tool each. Steel (not aluminum) crampons. Old packs we didn’t mind beating up hauling. Approach Notes: Good luck with the cross country. It may not be a bad idea to mark the river crossing as a waypoint with a GPS. The approach pointed out my weakness in navigating so I might not be the best person to give advice here.