dberdinka

Jesus still loves you Rob.

What I found interesting was how... 1) a very factual account of what happened was posted on the internet. 2) family members came online looking for information 3) family members found information, then asked for it to be removed because it wasn't the sort of information they wanted to hear. The internet if anything is a vast bastion of unfiltered information. Seems like a lot of people struggle with that.

Now of course there are also three dead bears....

SOLD

Very lightly used (handful of days) portaledge needs to see more action than I can give it. $150 plus shipping (~$15) or pick up in B'ham. PM or e-mail dberdinka AT gmail DOT com if interested or have any questions. The fly has never been deployed and is pristine with heavily seam-gripped seams. Bed is in excellent condition, no holes, light scuffing and rubber marks from standing around on it. Interior dimensions are 71" by 24". It's probably best for someone no taller than 5' 10". I'm not sure of the weight but it's light. No more than 10lbs for the ledge and a couple more for the fly. Perfect for storming the direct north face of Bear Mountain. Or perfect for a first ledge if you're just getting into it and don't want to commit $1000+ dollars. Wow! My house is a real disaster tonight!

Crampons are full step in, require toe and heel welt.

WTF is up with those bears in Yosemite? Not enough berries or something?

If you dig around the TR section for a really old report from Forrest Murphy he apparently climbed the n ridge of the n peak from the west side at 5.8ish. He seemed unimpressed but maybe that was because his ambitions fir the west face were thwarted.

The Skoog Route is gone. A big white scar remains. I thought the SW Face/Buttress of the Main Peak looked beautiful even if it's only 5.6. I know a guy who climbed it and raved about it. The north ridge of the North Peak is really spectacular as well. (I rappelled it) 5.8? maybe a pendulum move? Not sure how you'd get on it. But definitely worth investigating. South Ridge of South Peak is ok and something to do if you're in there. Couple short high quality sections, one scary-ass step across and a bunch of mediocre looseness.

Brand New* Camp XLC 470 Semi-automatic aluminum crampons. Weighs 1 pound. Retails for $145. PM or e-mail dberdinka AT gmail DOT com. * (I'm fairly certain I did put these on once but it must have been exclusively in the snow as there is zero wear.) $80 pick up in B'ham or pay shipping.

I used all this gear for both waterice and technical alpine routes in the Cascades. Everything is in good condition. PM or e-mail dberdinka AT gmail DOT com. Pick up in B'ham or pay shipping. will consider trading some of it for Metolius Half Dome Haulbag in good shape if you got one laying around. Grivel Alp Wings with "horns" for leashless climbing. SOLD 9 Black Diamond Screws, 1 V-threader and 2 ice clippers. SOLD Well loved but still fine BD Sabertooths. Nice all around alpine crampon. $40

It's reminiscent of when the Adventure Race came to Darrington and they placed a shit ton of bolts on Blueberry Hill to rig jumar/rappel lines. Presumable these people are not "evil" or callous or totally indifferent. I'd guess the perspective is probably something like "well climbers need their bolts for climbing and movie producers need there bolts for movie producing and adventure racers need their bolts for adventure racing"

The website Rat posted is real interesting shit http://hunzalandslide.blogspot.com/ BIG landslide damned river. BIG lake has now formed behind the dam. A hastily excavated spillway was dug. Today is the day that the newly formed lake rises high enough to drain down the spillway. As it drains it's going to dig the spillway deeper. The question is will it be a steady and somewhat controlled process or will there be a catastrophic blowout.

Thanks for the offer Jon H, but I'll pass. Thats the one style I don't want.

I think if you go to rcnw.net you'll be able to find the entire mini-guide to Spring Mountain. Nice place.

I started blowing these things out. Nice to have, but they make falls damn expensive. If anyone has a pile collecting dust I'd be happy to take them off your hands for a reasonable price! PM me or e-mail at dberdinka AT gmail DOT com. Thanks

I love hating on that guy.

I'll take the #00 for $12 if you so desire. PM sent

All hail the great TheOatmeal

I don't know much about the Alaska Range but 12 hours up an apparently technical route on Mount Bradley sounds like some..."MAJOR HAULING FUCKING ASS!!!" Am I mistaken? How many pitches are thrown in there? Then to turn it around a day later and climb Ham & Eggs in a huge day! Wow! Thats some serious instant recovery! WTF are you eatin up there?

The Supertopo suggestion is probably more or less right on with the exception of recommending camhooks. I brought them and never used them and never felt the need to. There are many long, thin aid pitches on the Muir Wall section along with the Great Roof Pitch where a triple set of small cams and a double set of nuts would not go unused (though the triples in small cams might be a bit overkill). Above the Great Roof there are many long pitches that eat up larger cams, in particular the pitch before and the two pitches above Camp 6. A triple set of #2 and #3 Camalots would not go unused here at all. As well a single #4 C4. So at most triples of cams and at least doubles if you're comfortable backcleaning A LOT! I would highly recommend leaving Stoppers at home and bringing just DMM Offset nuts. Maybe from a #3 Brassie up to the #11 Al. Bring a double set, particularly of the Al if you've got them. Offset Aliens or MasterCams in the smallest 3 or 4 sizes are very useful as well, though I doubt it would be a show stopper without them. We had most of a set of Link Cams which I gorw more and more fond of for easy aid. They really allow you to punch it and spend less time worrying about running out of the right size gear. Piles of draws and some new tieoff webbing and you'll be good to go. Youths????? If we're young you must be in the old folks home!

A bunch of my coworkers like to gather round and ogle cigar catalogs. It always weirds me out. Road-trippin to Europe looks so sweet!

Does Puro translate as giant penis in Spanish? Looks rad!

Trip: El Capitan - Triple Direct Date: 5/19/2010 Trip Report: I basically lack words other than I feel really happy. If you develop some basic aid climbing skills, learn to be efficent and get in shape it's not hard, just a lot of work. Get on it! I spent what climbing time I could muster this spring dialing in the aid climbing while Owen just spent time being Owen, hiking pitches that I can barely follow. The hauling, jugging and leading seemed to take all of a pitch for him to sort out. We knocked this off in 5 days RT from home, our itinerary being... Day 1 (Wednesday, May 12th) Catch a 6 am flight from Seatac into San Fransisco. On the road by 9am. Grab two cases of bottled water in El Portal and pack the piglets just inside the park boundary. Pull into El Cap meadows at 2:30 pm. Immediately walk to the base of The Nose. Look at people scattered everywhere over the first four pitches. Move over to Free Blast which is essentially empty. Start climbing at 3:30 PM. Reach Triangle Ledge at the top of Pitch 6 by 9 PM. Bivi. Day 2 (Thursday, May 13th) Get up early. Start climbing, climb some more, keep climbing, race darkness across some big pendulums into the Grey Bands and a decent bivi at the end of Pitch 18. Day 3 (Friday, May 14th) Sleep in. Climb a nice Pitch of 5.9 into Camp 4. Apparently no one on the Nose has made it past El Cap Tower. Climb the Great Roof. Owen learns to lower out following it. Continue up the Pancake Flake, through Camp 5, up to the Glowering Spot and into Camp 6 by 6 pm. Camp 6 is a shower. Fix the ropes and rap back to a ridiculously exposed 18" wide ledge. Drop the food bag. Laugh. Have a surprisingly good nights sleep hanging in your harness. Day 4 (Saturday, May 15th) Start early. Get wet on the beginning of the Changing Corners pitch. Climb into the sun at a perfect belay stance at the top of Pitch 28. The exposure up here is beyond comprehension. Experience an overwhelming joy. Two short fun pitches, the last an overhanging bolt ladder and we're at the top by 3:30 PM. After a glorious descent, experience culture shock in the Mardi-Gra like atmosphere of Curry Village. Drink to much beer, eat to much pizza and crash out in the forest below El Cap where the constellations in the heavens are joined by a constellation of headlights from other climbers scattered across the wall. Breathe taking. Day 5 (Sunday, May 16th) Coffee and pastries in Curry Village. Then hike up to the base of the most beautiful thing ever. Perfect temps. Back to Curry Village to pilfer through all the cool gear in the Mountain Shop then on to El Cap meadows to repack the bags for the flight home. Leave Yosemite by 1 pm, catch a flight in the evening, stumble in the front door around midnight. Back to work! Enjoy the pics.... Geared Up Free Blast, Pitch 5 Into the aid climbing on the Muir Wall Racing darkness across the pendulum pitches in the Grey Band Climbing into Camp 4 on The Nose - no one around!? Approaching the Great Roof Owen survives the lower-outs under the Great Roof The spectacular Pancake Flake, first of many pitches in the upper dihedrals Unbelievable exposure at the top of Pitch 28 The end of it all Compulsory Team Picture at the Top-Out Tree The glorious descent down the East Ledges The Most Beautiful Thing Ever - Yosemite Falls Lazy afternoon repacking in El Cap Meadows Gear Notes: As many #7 and #8 al offset nuts as you can bring. Lots of #2 and #3 Camalots for the upper pitches.

Jermey put some serious work into cleaning that thing up. The crux pitch of Milk Run definitely seems a bit more stout than the Sword to me, but then again both have never anything but really hard.