Winter

If its the one with the single small pole, then I have one. I have spent a couple of cold nights in it and some time in heavy snow. Generally, I like the performance and the light weight. In really bad weather, I think you may either get wet or suffacate, because I keep waking up having to open the zipper gasping for breath.

We warmed up on those slabby routes on the right side of Picnic Lunch Wall ... fun routes with a short little boulder problem off the ground. Then we went over to the Phoenix area. I watched a friend take five falls on Phoenix right at the crux ... she just got over her fear of falling, and I thrashed on Fred on Air. Then we finished up on the Testament Slab. It was a great day dodging some intermittent rain.

Hey we were there on Sunday. Where were you guys?

skiable terrain doesn't have to be a slog... Whoa sweet pick dude. That's way better than recycling the "Is Washington choss or not?" argument. I still want to climb the East Butt even though I think the whole mountain is going to collapse one of these days.

Here's my two cents ... Smoot's a JACKASS.

Elk are not browsers... the were a plains animal before major civilization got here... their mouth and stomacs are very simalar to cows... they eat more grass than shrubs... thats why ranchers run them off their land... Cows don't do any more damage than elk do, but if there are a lot of them than its a big problem... I rarely eat beef, I mostly eat thsoe deer and elk... the pork, beef, chicken and such comes from small frams or ranches around eugene... Hey guys - Cows suck. The main environmental problems with grazing on public lands are: 1) water quality and aquatic habitat as a result of trampling and shitting in streams, and 2) invasive species. The economics are completely screwed up as the federal government subsidizes another extractive industry like mining and timber. We need them off the public lands. It one of the worst economic policies of DOI and it completely screws up thousands of miles of prime salmonid habitat. I also hate sleeping next to a bunch of cow shit in the Grasslands. Cows suck. cows.

Uhhh ... that would be the guys that own the cows for the 6.5 mil and you and me for all the rest of the costs of the program. Pretty neat huh?

(insert oriental massage joke about Trask here)

Smell the glove.

I was up at Cloudcap this weekend. We showed up on Friday afternoon at the Tilly Jane traihead around 4 pm and started up the trail. As we got to the top of the ski area, our party was on the way back down. The two leaders had been breaking trail on the TJ for about 6 hours in 4 ft of heavy snow. Brutal. A group of Crag Rats caught up and finished off the job, but our group bailed, because we were with a few young kids. We went up on Saturday instead. The temps began to rise, and the snow turned to mud. We got in a few minimal turns after dumping our stuff at Cloudcap. There is about 4 ft. of super heavy snow on top of about 2 inches of hore. Above treeline, the avyconditions will be skethy depending on exposure. I would wait until it consolidates until trying the spur. We woke up on Sunday to 40-50 mph winds on 35 degree temps. Blech. We skied down the trail in two feet of thick soup.

The Black Spider. Free solo Stein's Pillar.

No fall, but the mountain did rain heavy ice down upon us. Funguy took the brunt of it! Still a fun trip. Did some exploring around on the Reid. Craig Good. Glad to hear there was no falling involved.

I'm headed south for about 10 days in the beginning of April. I've never been to Bishop and am too lazy to type it into google. I know there's tons of stuff there, but what type of climbing is it mostly?

Do you want to smoke my honeybear?

Does this mean FUnguy took another fall in a Leuthold's attempt?

I hope you've relayed this info. to the SAR folks.

I love Johnny Walker.

Keep on eye on the avy conditions. We're getting dumped on ... may be a foot or two of unconsolidated on top of a week layer. I'll be up on the north side skiing and perhaps climbing his weekend and will have more information early next week

Ditto on Mt. Kenya. I didn't climb the route but circunavigated the mountain and climbed Pt. Lenana. I spent some time at high camp so here are my thoughts. One, build in some extra time. You gain a lot of altitude quickly, and its a long route once you get to high camp. Give yourself a rest day or two and plan for weather contingencies. Honestly assess how fast your climb and plan accordingly. Its like 25 pitches? 5.6-ish. You could probably simul-climb the whole thing in a few hourse if you're strong. If your belaying, its going to take you a LONG time. Most folks stay on the route in one of the old tin huts. You shouldn't need a very big rack. You probably will need crampons and maybe an axe for the party to cross the glacier. There is a new rap route. Talk to one of the guides up at high camp and have somone point it out. It will save you a long timeon the descent. Other than that, there are cool porters around to get your stuff up there, and the local guides have been trained by NOLS and are techincally competent. Let me know if there is anything else I can do. I used a local guy named Francis to arrange transport to the park. Look for him, because he is honest and reliable. Watch out for the baboons at the park entrance campsite as well as the buffalos on the trail. Stay at the Sirona Lodge in Nairobi ... do not stay downtown. The Sirona will treat you exceptionally well. All the cabies at the airport will know where it is. DON'T let them talk you into something different. Good luck and have fun. That place is amazing ... high rock quality with lots of potential. Oh yeah ... we went the normal approach ... but the Chogoria route is beautiful with better wildlife.

Hey now! Why the animosity? King5News asked permission didn't she??? And come on down for your ass stomping. It's been a while since I kicked some ass and I'm rarin' to go!

$7.63!! I'm gettin myself one half of an Attache biner.

If NEWSTIPS uses those pics without permisison we're all gonna stomp some live at 5 ass.

No way .. I had friends up there last weekend and the road is closed. I'm headed up to Cloud Cap next weekend and fully expect to hoof it up the trail. Enjoy!

Come on, I'd much rather ski White Pass than the Wallowas.