mvs

Awesome, Daniel's a great guy. Thanks for reminding me to email him again. When we were on top of Ruth Mountain, he was like, "Something's missing here... where's the biergarten and the telepherique?" in his classic satirical voice. Haha! Hell, he does that on peaks over here too. There are a _few_ left without the amenities

Yeah, but just barely...you would laugh...hard!

Holy crap, that is scary! I'm glad you are getting better. Mmmm...nurse fantasies...

Those are great pics! It is a small world, nowadays I climb with Daniel Arndt in Munich.

I guess it's over but I wanted to share one. For the "Ice" category, this is my friend Cyrille on the north face of the Wildspitze in Austria.

This was the most entertaining read (sometimes in a gruesome way!) in years. I guess I've been pretty lucky...but one time, I was a burden on people and it sucked terribly. I just starting hiking, and somehow thought I should be in a "club:" The Mazamas. So I signed up for a Columbia Gorge hike I'd never been on, and joined the "fast" group. I'd learned that was good after a previous slow group trip with lots of stopping and flower-identifying and such. I didn't have a map or know the way, but I was with 6 people anyway, so that didn't matter. I carpooled from Portland with this guy who I really hit it off with. He talked about multi-day hikes and borderline climbing trips. I was psyched! Maybe we'd do something together in the summer! We got to the trailhead and immediately set off with the Fast Group. Right away, I couldn't keep up. My heart was pounding, I was breathing like a locomotive, legs pistoning rapidly and full of lactic acid. Slowly I lost the battle, becoming the guy who appears around the bend just when people are like "wheres the other guy?" Eventually, I would catch up to the others who had clearly been resting for a while. They would see me and stow their Nalgene bottles and take off. I realized I'd never get a rest. Finally, I lost them for good. Then I didn't know where I was. I had to glumly hike down, though I was excited to meet the slow group. They'll take me, I thought. But no, they were already 12 people, a maximum for the Wilderness Area! "You can't join us or trail us, young man," said the wizened leader. I spent humiliating hours at the parking lot, then another one on the drive home. There was no more talk of doing a trip together. I had achieved Pariah status.

but the strongest climber might be better at routefinding, and less likely to lead up into sketchy situations. If "stronger climber" means something more than strength, I'd say they should lead.

Who are these ninnies in waiting rooms? What's the world coming to? "Son, that's the smell of someone who goes out to play in the mountains rather than playing their xbox."

I think it is in South Korea. I couldn't find this exact mountain, but I notice they do have large granite peaks near Seoul. Summitpost has a little bit of info: http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/154845/pukhan-san.html

He sent me some mail earlier this week. He is still around.

$40-$60 a day for a mattress and food adds up. That is correct. I spent over $100 at one hut because I also had lunch and 2 beers there. I was tempted to bring a bivy sack and sleeping bag instead, but with the grim weather and snow I chickened out. It was much less crowded than I thought it would be. You won't get Cascades-style solitude, but you can go for several hours without seeing anyone.

Hi all, I went for a hike from Zermatt to Chamonix in August/September. It was really fun, despite some unsettled snowy weather on the first part of the trip. I made a Picasa slideshow here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ripsawridge/SwitzerlandTrip/photo#s4992277144860164114 Upside - hardly had to carry anything to go from hut to hut. Downside - gets pretty expensive!!

really enjoyed those!

July, 2003. There is an ice bulge on the right that is definitely gone in the new picture. Damn!

What an adventure. Really impressive Wayne! The words of a pissed off boss must have just floated over your head like so much Muzak

Collapse, by Jared Diamond. I second the recommendation for "Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich" too, super book.

I will be climbing there from Aug 26 to Sep 3. Sorry to miss you. However, I need a partner too, anybody coming over here?

Ah, right on, I often don't see the forest for the trees!

What a cool area, and a neat trip! "Bonanza to Luahna from Kimtah.." Are you sure that's not Goode and Storm King instead?

The rappel knot is so controversial, I always defer to my partner(s) on what to tie! If they agree, I'll choose EDK. I don't know why it bothers folks so much. I love the way the knot is small and stays flipped up when pulling. Among folks I know here in Germany, the term "Euro-death knot" seems to be unknown.

yep, I've seen the books, but didn't know bergsteigen.at had so many topos...thx!

Verz neat, thanks Armin I look forward to climbing that. I did try the standing way, finding a few suspicious (chipped?) handholds. But my pack was tipping me backwards, and I couldn't find the next hold. I gave up and crawled, probably scarier!

Yes, that was the one, and then we continued on to the mountain behind on the ridge (Hintere Goinger Halt). The Predigtstuhl route had this scary crawling ledge with a huge drop beneath you. All the holds were polished, and especially with a pack, the overhang above tries to push you off. The first guy to climb it (over 100 years ago, jeez), did it solo, and I have fun wondering what he was thinking!

Way to get in there! I think we'll see you next year, eh?

Hi everyone, I just had a really fun day in the Wilder Kaiser. It's in Austria near the German border, about 1.5 hours drive from Munich. We climbed a long 5.6 route, about 16 pitches with friendly bolted belay stances. This range is like a mini-Dolomites, with great rock, and long climbs of all difficulties. No boring TR, just some pics: The mountain on the right is Predigtstuhl, festooned with climbs! Pretty cool terrain for 5.6! On the easy, solid ridge of Hintere Goinger Halt. Keeping an eye on the car. Here's some real climbers on the Fleischbank (literally, "meat bank"). Happy 4th!