David_Parker

quote: Originally posted by mattp: Actually, pubclub has been alive and well. We're just sick of people who don't show up and why the hell did you put the boat away? See you at the rope up. I guess I just jumped to conclusions based on the fact the pub club threads get off track quickly and it's been hard to decipher if it's really going on and where. Ditto rope up. I usually can't wait until 4:00 on Tuesday to finally get the final decision. At least this week it is decided quickly. Actually, my boat sits on a trailer and is ready to go anytime. Just not the best boating weather and it would be dark for any boatrides. Not really worth the effort of launching, hauling out, etc. Next summer! Now Seton lake for ice climbing is another story!! [ 10-08-2002, 12:17 PM: Message edited by: David Parker ]

quote: Originally posted by Alex: making it all the more pleasant boulder hopping. Alex Ahhhh, yet another climber who didn't know that you don't have to go thru the boulder field. Path along creek WAY easier!

I put my boat away so it doesn't matter! Can't go this week anyway. I do plan at being at the rope fest if it's still on. Interest in pub-club and the Rope fest seems low these days. Maybe we're just sick of each other!

quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: Yeah dude the Russian Route on Inspiration or Bonanza in a day. Fury in a day would be fun to hear about too. I'll buy all the beer you and your partner can drink in 24 hours if you do N. Buttress of Fury car to car in 24 hours. After that you can star in the next superman movie! BTW, there are MANY routes you can't do in a day. That's just one! Overall, this is a stupid topic and I should probably be ashamed I even responded. [ 10-07-2002, 11:01 AM: Message edited by: David Parker ]

First my condolences to all. This defines tragedy. I went out and bought Goran's book on Monday immediately upon hearing of the accident. Near the begining he mentions how it is truly a tragedy when people die needlessly in the mountains. A tad ironic here. I missed all of yesterdays' posts so I have just read them all through for the first time. This is a scary accident in that it seems Goran didn't do anything wrong really and certainly not anything many of us wouldn't have done ourselves. The theory on mixing cams and nuts captured my attention. I have always prefered nuts over cams, mostly because I started climbing before cams were readily available. A few partners have questioned my use of nuts over a "quick" cam placement, but I just tell them I like them better. Now obviously if this is mostly a parallel crack then maybe "all" cams were necessary. More conjecture... What no one has mentioned that I ask....is this a classic case where maybe using two double ropes would have made a difference? Not something you usually think you need on a straight up sport climb, but hey, maybe this proves it is worthy of more consideration. If double ropes had been clipped alternately in the sequence of applied gear by Goran, maybe that biner wouldn't have broken. I'm an advocate of learning from accidents thus the only reason I bring this up; I'm definitely not criticising Goran's approach to gear on the climb. [ 10-05-2002, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: David Parker ]

quote: Originally posted by JayB: Howdy: Ice. 1. Always place a good screw before you top out. It's tempting to get off of the scary stuff as quickly as possible andhead for the big tree with the slings or some other oasis of security that beckons beyond the easy ground atop an ice route. However, lots of times the ice just beyond the apex of an ice climb is horrible, unprotectable slushy crap. Take advantage of the last good ice that you can find and crank in a screw before you commit to clearing the bulge and/or the easy but unprotectable ground above it. 2. Never use your knees to clear a bulge. When you top out on an ice climb it's tempting to lurch over the edge and swing your tools as far onto the ledge as you can. Avoid this temptation as it will more or less force you to clamber over the top with your knees or shins in contact with the ice instead of your front points. Find good ice near or over the top of the climb to sink your tool into, work your front points up from below, then incrementally advance your tools away from the edge until you can step over the top and stink your crampon points onto the top of the ice instead of your slippery, goretex-clad knees. This is good stuff and where I think many mistakes are made. This is also why I won't use any leash system that prevents me from grabbing the head of the tool. Too many ice climbers think you always have to hold the tool at the bottom of the shaft only. A couple solid tool placements on top of the bulge can get you a long way and help you manage your feet properly. As I move up, I slide my hands up and "mantle" off the tool heads. Sometimes my feet will be right there next to my tools when I finish. Often you can then just stand up and walk. You don't have to worry about making tool placements in the slushy/snowy stuff with insecure placements.

quote: Originally posted by trask: Man that thing rocks! I want one for the eight mile road in Icicle!

quote: Originally posted by dbconlin: I agree that you should definitly learn the art of chockcraft before getting too many cams. When I first started leading trad, I had a set of BD nuts and a set of hexes. That's it. I climbed up to 5.8 with that before I ever bought a cam. Also, a really good way to learn about placing nuts is to lead an easy aid pitch--you will really learn to trust a solid placement with one of those little suckers, a great psychological boost. Aid climbing is a great way to learn chockcraft and understanding "good" placements. Go do City Park at Index although you'll need to borrow a bunch of smaller stuff if your partner doesn't have enough to supplement. Check the Yard sale, I'll bet there are some folks that will sell some "spare" chocks. I like the Wild Country Rocks. Also, WC tech friends are still good (and lighter than BD) in the mid to big range. I like TCU's or Aliens in the smaller range. I started with chocks/hexes only before I bought cams. Looking back I'm glad I did because I still use them alot, mostly because I know how to place them and trust them!

Was that Roosevelt? According to my calculations, I'd have to go thru the locks to get there by boat. Ah, boating season is almost over anyway.

That's about as difficult to fathom as the 5th dimension or the end of space!

Hey Cave, is that Ice Nine on the Parkway? Just curious?

What are these books you guys are talking about? Where do I get one? I only have these old green, red and brown books by some guy named Booky or something like that. They're so old, Mt. St. Helens still has her top on.

DaveW, I was only implying changing the massive amounts of webbing to chains, using the existing bolts and hangers. The best example is the belay at the top of the 10.b of Urban Bypass. While at times I like the high visibility of the colorful webbings so I can see where I'm trying to get to, I'd still prefer the chains and bolts for overall disguise,safety and piece-of-mind. Russ, in '86 I remember an old logging road with thousands of new alders that you could barely fit between. These have obviously grown significantly and have appear to have been thinned out by man. Way easier now. The trail through the forest is obvious the whole way now. The section after the woods is also much easier to follow. Before it was mostly bushwacking and I remember not being able to see the ground and tripping over the boulders. Of course, I was on drugs in the 80's a lot more too!

A direct and seperate rap route makes total sense. Although we had the whole wall to ourselves, I'd imagine it would be a cluster fuck rapping down onto others still going up and trying to share the anchors. Not to mention creating a route off the "up" line makes it safer and could avoid rope eating flakes. Also, Tom's pitch numbers above do not co-incide with Matt P's topo after pitch #1. Belay for pitch "2" is same for regular and direct on Matts topo. The blue crack pitch is only pitch #6 on the Matt P. topo. FYI [ 09-26-2002, 06:03 PM: Message edited by: David Parker ]

I was also just on dreamer this week, but being we didn't get to the base and start roped climbing until noon, only made it to the top of the Blue Crack pitch via Urban Bypass. We also started too far left of direct start, but found our way with natural pro to the belay behind the bush which I think is pitch #1 belay for "direct" dreamer. The last time I was on this climb was 1986 and I distinctly remember the last 2-3 pitches as extremely runout with no bolts and I also girth-hitched chicken heads when possible. The beauty of the "character" of the climb back then was that by the time you get to those final pitches, you are pretty used to the slab-friction climbing on smaller stuff, so the bigger knobs higher up inspire confidence to see you through the long runouts. This to me was what made these pitches some of the funnest also. I remember feeling totally stoked that I had lead these major run-out pitches. So I think if there are a bunch of bolts up there, in a way it's too bad because the character IS different. Not that I wouldn't clip them, but I'm a weenie anyway. Tom, maybe we should post fresh rap beta too...I think many "up" pitches can be combined on the way down and there sure is a sea of anchors hap hazard all over the place to be used, due to all the different routes. Also, I was thinking all the belay stations on Dreamer (and Safe Sex) should be changed to chains. Since I didn't finish it 2 days ago, I'd go back with chain and links. I hate that rat nest shit of webbing! Also, the approach is a total piece of cake compared to 1986! No trail whatsoever back then! [ 09-26-2002, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: David Parker ]

Yeh, it looked really cool from Green Giant Butress yesterday. This is the best time of year to visit Darrington! It was absolutely gorgeous with the leaves just starting to turn and beautiful sunshine. We were the only ones up there and it's a great way to get into a pretty remote area for a day. Get an early start and make your turn around time at 4:00 lest you be walking out in the dark!

RE: Russian avalanche. 113 missing... That's a lot of climbers on one rope. Did the mountaineers start up a Russian branch?

Any comments on the direct start? Also, Is Urban Bypass sustained 10.b or or just a few moves?

I did Dreamer in 1986 and thought I'd go back since I thought it was so awesome back then. In the mean time, Safe Sex has been put up so I'm just wondering if anyone has an opinion as to which one they prefer and why. Minor approach beta requested, but not required. Oh, and where is Pub club this week? I'm gonna be thirsty!

As I topped out on the Great White Popsicle in LCC Utah last year, I heard a guy talking to his wife on the cell. "Hi honey, it took a little longer than I thought, but we're all safe at the top now so I expect I'll be home in about an hour. I'm really sorry I'm late but don't worry. I'll be home for dinner soon." The guy ends up breaking his leg on the way down! Funny thing was I was just telling my partner I would never make a call like that. I don't tell anyone "I'm safe" or "We're done" until I walk in the door!

quote: Originally posted by goatboy: I have images of the NE Face of Fury from our climb last week. We climbed from Luna Lake to a camp high on the SE Glacier route in 13 hours camp to camp, through the Fury Icefall and rock bands onto the ice shield, joining the snow arete of the upper N Buttress near the summit ridge. Outstanding route, great snow/ice conditions and a very narrow window of weather in otherwise crappy weather. Encountered whiteout on the glacier the next morning, made for an "interesting " descent. PM me for more info if anyone is interested. I would post images here but don't know how to do so without having a URL for them -- I just have them on my hard drive. Steve Steve, try Shutterfly.com for posting photos. It's a FREE service and pretty easy. See my post on "GO GET GOODE" for an example.

Actually, I secretly came to Pub Club in my boat, but it broke down so I stole the truck. Once my boat was fixed, I returned the truck and went home.

I did the Price in early season, May I think. I saw a late fall photo later and barely recognized the place! It is obviously a very active glacier and when shit falls down it, it's pretty big and scary! IMO you shouldn't just plan on coming in and "doing it" regardless of conditions. I think you'll want a cold snap...very possible in October, but not a for sure thing. Don't obsess with just that route if it's not in the right condition. I'm not saying it's not, but you may have to go all the way up there to find out. Nooksack Tower would be a real feather if the glacier is too messed up.

I have quit using the phrase "on/off belay." It's too confusing in dubious hearing conditions. I now use "secure" when I reach the belay as the leader and then "on belay" to let my partner know it's ok to start climbing. "Belay" is an easy word to understand but the "on" or "off" can be easily lost in the wind. A good tug system is mandatory for back up. Discuss it with your partner prior to the first pitch as often you find out sooner than later communication is a problem. As a leader, when I arrive at a belay, I tie myself in and leave all slack below until after I have set up the anchor. Only when all is ready to belay do I pull up the slack. When my partner knows and understands this, he knows that when the slack comes up, he can climb immediately after. Of course this can become confuing when you stretch the rope to reach the belay. Then the tug system works. I have the radios but have not tried them yet. Sounds like it's time! [ 09-09-2002, 11:07 AM: Message edited by: David Parker ]

I'd say the (one) move is about 5.6. The rest is easy. You can do it in mountain boots as all the moves are edges or friction; no feet jambing. It's a complete joke to bring rock shoes on Challenger! You should bring about 4-6 pieces in the 1-3 inch range. If you need a 3 point anchor for alpine climbing, bring more.