dalius

Climbed the NBC Sat, 5/3. The weather was perfect. Forcast called for rain/snow and thunderstorms, but ended up being a pretty damn fine day, with lots of sunshine. You could see the clouds/storms breaking up to the west of Stuart. The hike in was over solid hard snow. I was surprised to see that even Colchuck Lake was still frozen over and completely walkable. Don't know exacly when we started going up the NBC, but topped between 10 & 11? The NBC proper was pretty rock solid snow and ice in the lower half, with softer, but till hard snow in the upper half. The rock step 1/3 way up couloir that could be a problem later in the season is still cover in snow and ice, so you don't have to go over rock (yet). Conditions were completely different once on the north face section. There was lots of fresh unconsolidated snow, don't know from when. I imagine that snow takes a long time to age up there. I think the sketchiest part of the climb was right after starting across and up this face, you had to step across some exposed sloping rock with little ice, snow for purchase, directly above some cliffs. You'd be so fucked if you slipped. Was surprised to find the little bit of rock climbing at the very top. Made the route a little more interesting. All in all a great alpine experience, in one of the coolest settings in the cascades. The views from all parts of this climb are amazing. This was my first time on snow/ice that steep, and I had a blast. I highly recommend it for novice snow/ice folks. The descent wasn't that great. I was expecting a long stellar glissade back down to the lake, but the snow was a weak crust over soft snow. All glissading effort was stopped by constant punching through the crust. Closer to the lake every step was a posthole and is very slow going. The hike out was definitely harder in softer conditions. We were punching through things left and right that we walked right over in the frozen morning. Start and finish as early as possible.

Today's story Climber to get prosthetic arm Monday, May 5, 2003 Posted: 10:21 AM EDT (1421 GMT) MOAB, Utah (AP) -- Thirteen park rangers lugged equipment into Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah and lifted an 800-pound boulder that had trapped a mountain climber until he amputated his arm with a pocketknife. After hiking three miles to the remote canyon Sunday, the crew was able to lift the egg-shaped boulder and push it into a space where it fit securely. The rangers also recovered the arm of Aron Ralston, who was pinned for five nights before cutting off his arm below the elbow with a pocketknife on Thursday. Ralston, 27, hiked out of the canyon for help and remained hospitalized in fair condition in Grand Junction, Colorado. He was to undergo surgery Monday to close the wound in preparation for a prosthetic arm. His parents say his spirits remain high. On Sunday, the rangers slung the chalkstone rock with 2-inch webbing and moved it up about 11/2 feet until they found a spot where it could fit, said river ranger Steve Young. A grip hoist, a type of strong winch that uses half-inch steel cable, was used to pull the boulder up. Hydraulic jacks were placed on top of wooden cribbing on the floor of the narrow canyon. The jacks were used to push the boulder up and keep it from getting caught on the craggy canyon wall. The rock apparently had fallen about 2 feet when it trapped Ralston, Young said. The lower portion of Ralston's right arm was recovered Sunday and taken to a mortuary, said Young, who helped move the boulder. It took about two hours to lift the rock and push it into a new spot. It is still possible the boulder will move again, Young said. The narrow canyon is prone to flash flooding whenever it rains, and the water could sweep it away. Sunday was the second time rangers attempted to recover the arm; a previous attempt Friday was unsuccessful.

Don't mess around with anything but Old Style. Simply the best...

No, not something you'd ever expect. I've never ever heard of such a thing. Sounds like some sort of freak accident for sure. Sorry to hear about your friend TTT. Damn.

Last I checked, bouldering doesn't require setting up anchors and rapping off. Sounds like he was climbing.

Just go to any drugstore in Canada and ask the Pharmacist. When I bought 'em they weren't on the main shelves probably because of theft from addcits I'm guessing. My only gripe about those T3's is that while they've got the codein, they've also got CAFFEINE in them to offset that great drowsey opiate feeling you get from codein. Bastards! You have to be careful with that stuff though, because although the codein isn't dangerous (pretty hard to OD on that stuff), the Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is pretty toxic and you can destroy your liver pretty easily. Same deal with Percocet. That shit rocks this world, but can't take too much because of the Tylenol it's got in it.

Ever here of the English chap who tried to climb the north side of Everest back in the 30's(??), with nothing but "God's Will" on his side? I read about this in some book of short essays about soloing. He showed up with nothing but his boots and maybe an ice axe, some wool knickers, not much else. He brought NO FOOD or DRINK!!! This guy thought that he could survive on air alone, and if it was God's Will then he's make it to the summit. Can you say Looney Tunes? Needless to say, the guy went up and never returned. Supposedly his body was found and thrown in a crevasse, but even the mountain doesn't want his sorry ass! The crevasses keep spitting him out and I guess he's been thrown and rethrown into many crevasses over the years. Mountain Gods don't want that shit though. True story. Sometimes Darwinism does indeed work.

Sweet. Thanks. I was confused because I was looking for Colchuck, didn't realize you were standing on it.

Allison- did you try doing a system restore or try fixing your OS before reformatting? Backup, backup, backup, save, save, save...

Is Traku Pilis beer still something like 12%? Did you get a chance to drink some of the ol' rye moonshine? Lithuania's finest.

Hey Alex, it's probably obvious, but I have to admit I'm a bit confused with your pano-shot. Which peaks are which here, from where was it taken, in which direction, etc?

Greg- Magnuson Park is over in Sand Point, part of the old naval base complex there. The place is big though, and I thought there were several enterances. Mattp, can you be more specific as to where in Magnuson?

There are a really limited number of sport routes around there. It's mostly a trad only area. And the scariest trad climbing area I've ever climbed at. Can you say RUNOUT, FLARING, CHOSSY, OUTMEAL GRANITE!!!!!???? Holy shit! That place is definitely an eye opener. There's good reason that though the place is huge with endless granite everywhere, the guidebook is only 20 pages! Most all of that stuff is just unprotectable. There are a few bolted lines on the way up the Castle Dome trail, though not many. Check out Windsong Wall, Pin Cushion Wall.

Check out Second Ascent in Ballard. Lots of used boots, shoes, gear galore.

All of these antics belong in that movie, Jackass. They do some seriously stupid shit to themselves in that movie/show.

lates from canada.com

No, but I think it's probably a good idea if you don't have much time to get down or just want to speed up the descent (racing against the sun, weather, etc...)

I have to admit that the only gripe I have with the Adj.Fifi is that I find it a bit tricky to lengthenit when you want to top step and it's under tension. I definitely take a bit of finesse. Never tried the Yates Adj.Daisy. I'd like to try it though.

How are you bounce testing with a fifi? When I'm aiding, I usually have my fifi holding me in nice and tight into my lower piece, especially if I'm top stepping, so it's not available for any other use. I test the next piece by clipping a set of etriers in and tugging and weighting those. Am I missing some trick here?

I was there just the other day and the sign said around $225k for the entire 40 acres. Doubt no more.

They said 70 degrees. 'Nuf said.

patchouli alpineK your my new hero...after rat of course! It ain't just hippies wearing that stuff, that's for sure. I used to smell it all of the time at punk rock shows. I thought it was some special soap all the punk scene was into. Called it "that punk rock smell". So does that make punk rockers the same as hippies? Kill your mother! Love your brother! Fuck the police! Love the one you're with! Anarchy in the UK! One Love, one heart!

I didn't realize there was a dress code at the Camlin. I swear I've been there in jeans and sneakers before. There's some bar over at Fisherman's Terminal that I've been to once. I think it may be called the Highliner? I've seen some music there before. It's right next to Chinook's restaurant. Pretty damn unassuming place. Anyone else been there?

AlpineK, if you think the BigTime is a hippie hole, then you don't even want to know that I was going to suggest the Blue Moon Saloon. It's technically the oldest pub in seattle. That place is full of deadheads, beatniks who've taken so much heroin they still think it's the 50's, and just hopeless drunks. Then you've also got the occassional college kids strollin' through, but not many. Definitely an ecclectic mix of folks, unlike most any other mainstream americana place you'll find in town. I held off on suggesting it though, cuz I know you hate the dead and all things hippie! So what's it going to be folks? Any other suggestions other than Hale's and Ballard Ale House? I've only gone to a few pub clubs and I know there's more on your regular pub club list than the few I've been to. What are yer favorite drinkin' holes, you fuck fuck fern climbin' holes?