Winter

"Al ban i a Al ban i a. It borders on the A dri atic." - Coach

Well that's obviously a well thought out article from someone who is interested only in the validity of statistial analysis and not any predetermined policy position.

maybe he should work the special olympics?

Obviously JayB hasn't seen the hotties in the "New Age Sensitivity for the 21st Century" class that Layton enrolled in.

Ok ok in all seriousness then you need to go to yoga class. Yoga class is still the undefeated unanimous #1 place to meet hotties in this town. If you can't get laid in yoga class then hang it up and head for Sassy's.

Check out the New Copper Penny. Or Sassy's. Both excellent places to find a date. Or the Ace of Hearts. The possibilities are endless in this town.

Yeah I was too drunk to keep track of time. Y'all can blame TG. It ain't my fault! - Chris

Climb Max usually meets or beats any price I can find on gear they carry.

Thanks to TG and the folks that showed up. Good times. TG's Revenge is having its way with me.

I've got the keg! Thanks TG. Hope there's some left when the rest of yall show up.

5.6 and under in Moab? Even the Owl goes at an easy 5.8.

Good job. We looked at Lane all weekend and wondered whether those dark spots in the Zipper were actually cliffs. Shitty year down low. Looks better up high.

“Holy Shit look at the size of that thing!” That’s all Kristin could say … when she saw Mt. Tabor from a distance. “What a monster!” We had been looking for the right weather window to make a single push ascent of the mighty Mt. Tabor door-to-door in a single day. Just think, no cars, no ropes, no snow, no ice and almost no elevation gain. Simple is beautiful. It doesn’t get any simpler than this. Monday’s weather looked ideal. I left early from work and mentally prepared for the long road ahead. Kristin picked me up and drove down Alder St. towards the Morrison St. bridge. In the distance loomed mighty Mt. Hood and underneath, sat the even mightier MT. TABOR. My first glimpse of this monster sent shivers down my spine. Could we really pull this off? We walked out the front door of our SE 26th house at 5:15 pm. Gear? Pffffttt … light and fast. We paired it down to 4 PBRs, a frap, 1 8mm 30 m rope, two PB&J sandwiches, a half dozen ice screws and a snarg. The first 4 vertical feet may have been the toughest. From our house to the corner of SE 26th and Clinton proved treacherous – exposed and runout. The 10 almost ran us over crossing the street, and the cops in Noho’s looked bored. Keep you head down and move quick. Once we got to Harrison though we got into a rhythm and made some up some serious vertical from 39th to 60th. When we got to the base of the route proper, the weather really moved in. The sun went down and it got cold – real cold. The coffee shop was closed and we tried spooning in a bus shelter, but we were still freezing. Suffering from exhaustion and bordering on hypothermia, we lowered into the crevasse of Portland’s combined sewer system to warm up with some horse cock and gu. After a good mouthful and a few minutes rest to warm up, we jugged the lines back to the sidewalk. We got some pretty strange looks from other climbers. What the hell do they know?! Gumbies. With renewed spirits, we climbed the initial headwall to the reservoir edge. Traversing the reservoir, we stopped to gear up for our ascent to the second tier reservoir. Someone had chopped some sweet cement steps (and installed a handrail) all the way to the second bench. Fixed lines! By the time we topped out, Kristin was suffering under the weight of our gear, and she had lost feeling in her toes. I had no choice, and left her behind. Without a partner I climbed on in the heart of the storm. I chugged the 4 PBRs and left the rope and gear behind, because they were useless against the mighty Mt. Tabor. 6 more feet up the face I got to a sweet Redwood tree and sat down to catch my breath. The storm raged on around me and spindrift poured down my face. I passed out from exhaustion. I left Kristin for dead. But she would not give up. 20 seconds later she emerged from the storm, covered in ice, stumbling from exhaustion. She screamed out into the storm – “Your asshole!” Like this is the time to talk sexy? After fending off Kristin’s delusional attacks, I finally got her pointed up the mountain. We walked on and on … each in our own painful world. Will we freeze? Are we stretched too thin? Is there somewhere to catch the bus? The last 20’ up the Southeast Ride were the scariest. The sun had set and we could barely see the trail. Roots stuck out from all over, the mountain dropped away on both sides of the ridge and all we could see were the lights of the city all around us. We were utterly alone – except for a woman walking her dog – and a couple bikers. The last few stone steps to the statute were the most rewarding and difficult I’ve taken in my entire life. It feels good to be alive!! Man, after an experience like that I could really go for sushi! Kristin just about jumped off the mountain when I mentioned that idea, but I insisted on first taking a safety break. After teaching her about the important of self-rescue, we started the treacherous descent. It took 35 rappels down Hawthorne to get to Mio Sushi, but we were seriously determined to get some albacore tuna. Despite the sewer incident, they let us sit at the sushi bar, and they showered us with raw fish and wasabi. God I love these meals. Food tastes best in the mountains. From Mio Sushi, it took us another 25 rappels to get back home, and we completed the door-to-door ascent of Mt. Tabor in a little over three hours with a sushi and safety break. I love Portland. 2-21-05 – First ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Mt. Tabor (IV PBRs, 2+ safety brakes, $35 for the sushi dinner)

Sometimes I just want to be outside.

Just an FYI for those headed up there that the Polallie Ridge trail is probably in much better condition right now. TJ tends to get icy and crappy when there is low snow like this year, and Polallie Ridge will be snow free and will dump you off in a pretty good spot to get onto the Elliot. Just a heads up.

Summit shot Rainier

The Tatoosh were nice. And the TR function is broken or down.

Chicken and egg argument, same as most other security measures. They won't use planes again, because we are watching. If we weren't, they would use them. You do it so they won't use them - exactly. Is that proof that the security measures are working or that they were unnecessary to begin with?

The Tatoosh were incredible all weekend. Shoulda been up norht!

Jeff Alzner and I climber the North Ridge of Pinnacle Peak yesterday. We poked around up at Mikey's on Saturday. We weren't hoping for much and found pretty bad conditions. Hye Mikey was barely touching down and looked in 5+ conditions with little protection. The other two lines weren't in shape either. We hiked in on Sat. afternoon, took the Pinnacle Peak trail from the road and set up camp on the east side of the peak. After many safety breaks and a pint of scotch, we passed out. What a great day! The weather gods were smiling all weekend. Saturday was calm, sunny and beautiful. We slept in. Brrrr. Got moving and traversed underneath the northeast face on 45-60 degree shit convered in 2-5 inches on unconsolidated snows. We charged into the middle of it without crampons or axes out, so we both had to stop midway in sans rope to pull out the axes. Uggh. Once through the crap we traversed into the bowl under the north face and found the gully. No snow or ice. All rock. We climbed 2 pitches of very loose rock with almost zero pro to the saddle, took a right on an 8 inch ledge and then climbed up another gully with somewhat better rock. Once we actually got onto the North Ridge up high, the climbing was fantastic. Solid rock, some pro, great position and views. Lots of rock climbing in the plastics. Schweet. Gear: 4 nuts, 1 cam, 4-5 slings and biners, 1 8mm 60 m rope, mountain axe and tool Overall a great day. How the hell do you post this as a trip report?!

That sucks. I'll get wasted in his honor for sure.

Steve you da man. Glad to hear you will be able to make it. Bring whatever you want. I think we trust your judgment - at least until you've had a few of your own.

My hat looks like a vagina.

Hey just a reminder to folks on the slide show. PM me if you need address, phone #, directions. All are welcome. There's room to crash if you don't have to crawl into work the next morning. I'll have a slide projector and screen, beer and food and . If folks are bringing digital stuff, then someone will need to provide the projector and computer.