dberdinka

Yikes! I broke my ankle a couple years back, right when the weather was getting good. It sucked! But now it's like it never happened. Hope he's ok.

Hey Dru. How muc snow is there in the big,long gully leading up just north of N Illusion (access to N Illusion-W Buttress etc)? It crosses the road a km or 2 up from the Slesse parking lot. Thanks Darin

Wow. Nice work. It was miserable and dreary in town all day yesterday. Way to crush.

I've got 3 days left at this F%#King job and some sort of "Johnny-come-lately" work ethic has possessed me to not only show up today but actually be productive. I'm about to rip my friggin eyeballs out!

That is an awesome example of how changes in House Leadership directly affect us here. It had majority support for years, but there was some asshole chairman from Tex-ass or somewhere who continuously blocked it based on his "principles".

Thanks. Thats good info.

May I add to stoke? Steep, sunny, south facing. Could it be in??

Erie is definitely worth a day trip. It's gotta be one of the most scenic crags in the state if not the country and the climbing is pretty good too. It's also in a bit of rain shadow compared to most of the Puget Sound. Zig-Zag to Springboard is the classic 2-4 pitch 5.8 trad climb best approached from below. Lots of bolted pitches in the area as well in the 5.8-5.10 but nothing all that great and the bolting is pretty piss-poor. Powerline Wall is easy accessed TRing or sport climbing on off-vertical edges and sidepulls, 5.8-5.10+ Orange Wall is about 5-10 minutes below the Powerline Wall. Vertical to slightly-overhung 5.10 sport routes, more solitude, great views. Just before the Orange Wall are several lower-angle easier? climbs that look nice too. Rosario Beach at Deception Pass State Park is a fun place to drink beer, steep sport routes by the parking lot too.

Anyone been out there today or yesterday? Damp and Mossy or Sunbaked Goodness? Try to decide which direction drive come morning.... Thanks for the input! D

OK, so the glacier got turned to water vapor but what happened to the original second pitch of Town Crier? I can't be the only one who's curious?

Just picked up a new pair of twins. Finally retiring the old ones after (gulp!) 9 yrs I think? Thanks for the tip Billcoe!

AAJ Online Just the other day I was wondering how in the hell I was going to get my hands on a 1971 AAJ. Loe and Behold! Picked this up of the Alpinist Website.

How hard is the Compressor Route (in it's current state) anyway? Is it like a 15 pitch 5.8 A1? Or a 30 pitch pitch 5.11R A3? Anyone know, it never really seems to get a descriptive rating anywhere. There was great quote on Supertaco that went something like "Americans just showing up in our country thinkin they can do anything they want...". Made me think that this is climbings version of bringing democracy to the Middle East.

Oh the Life of Colin...

Drive to Manning Park. Park at Lightning Lakes (~4000'). Ski along Lighting Creek 8 or 9 absolutely flat to slightly downhill miles to the base of the NW Face of the North Peak. Easy, in good conditions you could get there in half-a-day. Looks like a wicked ski descent for those of you inot that sort of thing

Anotehr pic of Courtney from John Ropers Site.

Worth a look? Craigslist Ad

Thats COURTNEY PEAK. An old friend has climbed that face in summer (chossy) and done a couple easy to moderate mixed winter routes as well. She says they were pretty good. Way out the hell in the middle of nowhere near Twisp. Supposedly beautiful summer camping at lakes and some good skiing in the winter, like the alt-Silverstar tour.

Backpacking..... Late March there will probably still be a snowpack on the rims on the Grand Canyon. Check with the NPS there. In Zion (2+ hrs north of redrocks) the Narrows will be both cold and potentially closed due to flow volumes. Again check with the NPS. A good two night trip in the area is up in Kolob Canyons of the park. Hike 6+ miles back into La Verkin Creek (I think) Spend a day exploring up to Bear Trap Falls. If you really want the best Colorado Plateau Backpacking check out Coyote Gulch in the Escalante. This is probably a 5-6 hour drive from Vegas but absolutely incredible (and fairly crowded). 3 days is perfect. The real crown is the Paria River. A 30+ mile one way trip down an incredible canyon. Permits need to be arranged well in advance as well as a shuttle at the start of the trip. Again a 5-6 hr drive but well worth it. PM if you have any questions. D

I had a good look at Vesper a couple of weeks ago from a nearby peak. Yes the slab holds snow and the bottom half was streaked by thin runnels of ice. Still though it looked like a less-than-spectacular winter line. There were some enormous ice pillars situated in the basin west of the summit (draingae towards Spada Reservoir), but this is a stupidly remote place to get to in winter.

Nice work gentlemen! The"Slipstream" of the North Cascades has been climbed. Looks like you hit it in absolutely stellar conditions. Having been in there in the winter all I can say is, That is a hell of a lot of ground to cover in one day!

That sounds really smart. You guys must have been literaly flying to cover all that ground in sub-24. Nice piece of work. That full moon sure was beautiful.

Would that be Man ON Sheep rather than Man and Sheep? Leave your number next time you call redhead.

Doesn't "headpoint" mean to Top Rope The Shit out of something before leading it? If thats the case then the lack of bolts is not really a statement of boldness. Should everyone else be expected to rap in and TR the shit out of to before leading it? Seems like the route creator should equip a line in a way that they would be willing to lead it from ground up without preinspection.

Oh Man, I thought I got my fix, I really did. I was saying like "oh man that was great, I had a successful season, I don't need to go climbing again this winter" and then I looked at the forecast last night!!! 2000' freezing level with sunny skies through Saturday! Oh god this is friggin killing me having to be at work and god damn if I don't have family showing up this weekend. I'm, I'm feeling itchy all over. Things are set up (at least at lower elevations) I really hope someone is out there killin it. If you ever wanted to climb the North Face of Index RIGHT NOW (like right f#&kin NOW!) is the time to be doing it. Or go climb one of the other big friggin ice climbs there on Hall Peak. Big 4 is probably good to go as well. I wonder how things are at higher elevations? Probably not all that good, more freeze less thaw makes for rotten snow. Back to work.....Back to Work...... And Curt, Mtn Loop Highway is currently plowed to Deer Creek about a mile past Silverton. This would leave a short walk to Big 4 and about 7 miles to Barlow Pass.