dberdinka

Mattps advice was to follow my nose......looking for something a little more specific, but I'll check!

Does anyone have any recent (i.e. last year or two) experience getting into White Chuck Mtn just outside of Darrington? The maps just show a confusing jumble of logging roads. Looking for specifics on how to get to the "new" TH inparticular. Thanks! DB

Ba-aaah--ZAT!

At least those that weren't married off at the age of 14 their 67 year old grand-uncle.

For those of us who only vaguely recognize the name "Corderoy-Cotter" yet are well aware of the angst it draws out of those more in the know...maybe a little history is in order. Whats the story?

retired & bigwalling: One more question When using just two Yates aiders how do you have them set up? Sounds like each daisy is permanently clipped to one aider. How do you go from piece to piece? After testing with one aider and getting on a piece of gear, do you clip the second daisy/aider into the biner of the first daisy/aider, while you sus out the next placement? Assuming this is the case I would guess that the ladders are slightly offset, is this at all an issue? Thanks DB

On Ropes I once had a 9.6mm Sterling Marathon that rocked for freeclimbing. The rope fed very smoothly, it was very light (which makes a difference when you have to hump all the shit to the base of the cliff alone) and was surprisingly durable. Soloing walls fills me up with fear so I went and bought a 10.5mm Stratos. One less thing to worry about. The feed is poor for freeclimbing but works just fine for aid. One benefit of it's high-friction feed is that you don't have to prusik the rope to pieces of gear to prevent excess feed from happening. Still though the rope is a clunker, I wouldn't get another one. Jugging is hard on ropes I would get something with a very durable sheath. A Sterling Marathon 10mm or maybe one of those skinny "Big Wall" ropes marketed by that harness manufacturer in CA.

Evidently Metoloius developed that rating out of a fear of liability should the daisy be miss-used. The carabiner is clipped into a small loop of webbing located within a much bigger loop that one grabs with their hand to adjust the length of the daisy. If the carabiner is loosely clipped into that much bigger loop then the breaking strength is 300 lbs. When used correctly it is much, much stronger. Webbing gets frayed pretty quickly but is replacable for like $5.

Hey foo I use a single Petzl AM'D (regular locking) carabiner to attach the Silent Partner to my harness. (I don't use that carabiner for anything else) Certainly not as multi-directionally strong as a stainless steel screwlink but a hell of a lot easier to deal with each time you need to detach the rope from the SP. (once on once off each pitch) I orient it so if the SP is hanging off the biner (rope feeding down) the gate is facing the harness. In the event of a fall (theoretically) the SP and carabiner should be able to cleanly pivot 180 degrees without the gate mechanisim catching on anything. Between the SP, your backup, your daisy(s) and whatever else you have attached to your harness (I don't tie into the end of the rope) you have to work hard to keep things from becoming a total clusterfuck. I can't imagine using two carabiners or anything smaller than the AM'D, which is pretty damn big. (See more detail below) Yes, crossloading is a potential issue, but it's worked just fine. Plus this is why you always remain clipped into a back up knot. You're using a backup right!? More detail on how everything is organized on my harness Daisies (Metolious adjustable) are girthitched in middle, one to either side of the rappel loop, yellow always on left, blue always on right. On either side of that I have a locking AM'D carabiner, gate facing out when carabiner is oriented such that opening is at top. If the pitch trends left clip SP to righthand carabiner or vise versa. Other AM'D serves as backup knot carabiner. This will help cutdown on backclips through the loop formed by the backup knot and other rope mismanagement issues. By organizing carabiners outside of daisies you can actually open these things when you're weighting the daisies. If you don't turn into a hermit now that you got your SP lets go climbing sometime!

go back to stalking attractive women...

Go read it again. When setting up a top rope it is important to make sure the the locking carabiner(s) the rope is doubled through is actually attached to the anchor.

I was with Bob on Sunday and I refused to have anything to do with White Blotter. He did a fine job of hiding his disappointment, and seemed fairly content to stick to plain ole' unsandbagged WI5.

"PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. RAINFALL TOTALS EXCEEDING 10 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS WITH TOTALS OF 6 TO 9 INCHES LIKELY IN THE CENTRAL AND NORTH CASCADES. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL RISE TO AROUND 9000 FEET BY TUESDAY." Seriously Fucked

I once made a double bivi sack out of a cheap roll of clear plastic sheeting and a roll of duct tape. It looked like the worlds largest sandwich bag. Cost ~ $5 Weight < 1 lb. We spent one night in it, during a continous light drizel, on the Grandstand of the Grand Teton. Spongy in there to say the least! Oh the memories....

JayB has confused Sloan Peak with White Chuck Mountain. Or maybe he's trying to confuse you. Regardless he's describing the West Coulior route (II 5.7) which might also be a decent winters outing.

So holy s!#t, two years ago these images were posted. Did anyone ever get on this stuff? It looks sweet! Pray for a good freeze-thaw cycle later this winter.... Here are the orginal posts. Phils Original Post with Photos Crackbolters lil bitchfest

+5 degrees Celsius in Hope today. It's gonna fall down in hurry, better get going Drew!

There is actually a book called "EPICS: Stories of Survival from the worlds highest peaks" It's quite good, and for $12 is cheaper than a single copy of Alpinist and has about 20 times the content. Amazon Link

I'll chime in. I've only read one of their news letters but it is very ANTI-ACCESS for everyone. If I remember correctly the entire article was about flood damage to the Mtn Loop Highway and how "we" need to make sure it doesn't get fixed. There was an article by Harvey Manning (sp?) that pretty much bashed everyone who hiked faster than he did, rode a bike, climbed etc. Came across as a real bitter, crusty toad. My take on it all was... NCCC is not the recreationists ally!

How long before Layton stops bitching about not being in a relationship and starts bitching about how the relationship is cutting into his climb time?

Looks like another great moderate! I predict crowding next weekend...... Climbed Mousetrap yesterday. 7 pitch WI 3+. Fun, asthetic climbing, the last steep pitch is a beauty. Lots of traffic in the last week and sounds like it will be good to go for another week still. We couldn't figure out where the walk-off was so we rapped the route via v-threads. Hope is highly worth a visit right now if you haven't been.

Are there any good BC websites for road conditions? I-5 through Bellingham was slow and icy. Supposedly it's a lot worse further north in the county. Semis jack-knifed, cars in the ditch etc.

Re-edited with pics. There was NO snow on the first 2.5 miles of road to the first junction. Then very little increasing to maybe 6" at Daily Prairie. That is all changing right now as we have 4" of snow outside my window here in Bellingham.

That blows. The new owner is "a new company owned by lenders that hold some $500 million of Crown Pacific's debt." A group that just wants their money back. Wonder how they'll manage the land