B Deleted_Beck

Well said, bro. Well said. Not to fuel the de-railment side of this thread, I think it really just comes down to some guys thinking their style of climbing is 'the' style of climbing, and any other way is unethical/inferior/noobish/whatever. For a sport with supposedly no rules, I've never felt a stronger vibe to conform than I have since I started climbing. Probably a big part of why I solo so much.

The pants too small? what size waist you usually wear? Smalls are too small on me and mediums are too big... trying to find something that fits right

r u hawt

I'm quickly becoming an almost exclusive soloist... I pretty much expect that if anything goes wrong at all, I'm going to die. While I don't want to die, and think a phone might, might help in some unlikely-but-fortunate scenarios, that's not actually why I take a phone into the alpine. I have no compunction about going into areas where there is NO service available (so long as I know it and have no expectation of being able to check my VM). I'd rather eat it in the alpine in my 30s than linger, debilitated, racking up hundreds of thousands in Romney bills, into my 90s. We can drop that whole bag.

I've got sap on a couple ropes... it dries out and flakes off on its own. Sort of sucks to get sticky shit on your gear in the mean time, but we're seriously only talking a week of use or so. Dont worry aboot it.

What phone? I've had great luck with LG phones in the past, making me a fan.. but the last couple I've used have been POSs. I totally admit to being pretty clueless about these things, though, and don't have any idea what to look for beyond web and email interface

Futile indeed. Nevermind.

I'm a family man and a business man. I guess you Beckeys are just pro-climbers and have no other responsibilities- but I don't get to shut the world off when I want to climb. Let's stay on task here, gentlemen.

That may be true, but I still can't get calls out while other guys on the same network, with better phones, can.. and it's consistent.

Howdy My phone is a POS. It's the "$100" phone your salesman pulls a string with his manager to get you for "free" when you sign up. I knew it was a POS when I bought it, but I was broke... now I am no longer broke. I think I've concluded that the problem is with the output of the phone. On Adams, for instance, I had 3 bars, and my phone tried and tried and tried to connect from the summit, but couldn't get the call out. Never got a call out that whole trip, in fact. On Rainier, I get no less than 3 bars, sometimes even full signal, but getting a call out is sort of spotty. Hood, oddly enough, is hard to get a call out from anywhere, the summit most of all.... yet always have full bars. I'm obviously getting signal, just gotta get the signal out. I have Verizon, which I switched to solely based on fellow climbers' recommendation for service in the alpine. What phones are you guys getting the best results with? I don't want to break the bank, but I'm willing to drop a pretty shiny penny for something that works good.

There's glacier-free routes on all of Colorado's 14ers?

woah dude... don't bogart the axes Put me in line for one, por favor.. I'll actually use it

RIP

Sleeping with an HH rep?

Wanna try this again before I buy a new 'un...

Do you think the occasional rap off the tree is going to taint the route more than the eroded holds, crusty chalk stains, and 6-odd rusted ass pins scarred into the rock?

Yup!

Nevermind. Have a safe trip, if you get a good partner!

Well I've simmered on 'em before, and I was able to get this one to simmer, after some frustration and finesse. I guess the problem is with my expectations- which have now been altered. Problem solved! Thanks for replies

Hood is really in her prime in the winter.. watch avy conditions and watch for a weather window, like Alex says, and you're gold. I'd definitely recommend going up with somebody who's got some winter climbing experience, though... so any unexpected weather that does roll in doesn't result in a giant ducks2013-flavored Otterpop.

Howdy I bought a new Jetboil Flash on Friday. This weekend I took it up on a climb and was irritated to discover the gas knob was super touchy and inconsistent- crank the gas up, it flares up then starts to die off and pitters out unless you crank it up even more.. then when your shit is boiling and starting to spill over, it seemed like it was all or nothing- full blast, or off. If I was SUPER careful, I could get a happy medium for simmering, but only after spilling soup all over the place and burning myself and forcefully stopping my angier alter-ego from throwing the thing into the void. Anyway... I was going to throw it in the truck tonight and take it back to REI tomorrow after work, but the thought just occurred to me- maybe it's just the gas canister that sucks. I don't have another one to try out... Experiences? Thanks -Ben

Little update on the Kautz- I just got back from a failed solo attempt. Unfortunately, I got no higher than 10,000'.. but from what I could see, the Chute looked in, and the glacier above lightly crevasses and easily passable. The approach is lame- lots of steep scree climbing (and descending). The best way to describe the snow is "oily." Once above the ramp connecting the Nisqual to the Wilson, the glacier is not bad- lots of crevasses, but very passable (if oily). My problem was that I didn't get out of the ranger station with an approved solo permit till AFTER TWO OCLOCK yesterday, didn't make it to Camp Hazard before dark, and then either slept through my alarm or it's time to get a new watch... whatever the case, I listened to serac and rockfall thundering all through the night, and watched a piece fall off the upper Kautz as I approached this morning.... not optimal, me thinks. Gonna have to wait till it's resolidified before I'll give it a go again. On another note.... What's up with all those waterfalls in the Nisqually canyon? Awesomer winter approach variation, I'm thinking...

Check your rack... you lost more than that. I got your helium- Ian has your matching walnut. Happy day, eh?

Were you the group of 4 that let us play through? My partner dropped his radio at the belay for pitch 3, so we went back around and looked for it after we topped out.. that's when we found the gear. Green and yeller marking tape, if that helps. More under Young Warriors than "at the base of SE Corner," I guess... but I'd just sort of assumed it'd all been dropped by somebody on pitch 3 of SEC.

Nor do I... however I happen to know for a fact that the final 200' is a steep scramble up perpetually falling melon-sized loose rock. Last year it was still climable right now. This year, not gonna be climbable again till we get some substantial snow this fall.