sobo

...about a thousand feet... How close to 1,000 feet is it to claim the record? The New River Gorge Bridge outside of Fayetteville, WV is 974 feet from deck to waves, and gets rappelled every year by hundreds of peeps on Bridge Day (one direction of the span is completely closed to vehicular traffic and opened to peds, rappellers, bungee jumpers, parapente pilots, etc., in honor of the people that helped fund the bridge construction - that's you, the Taxpayer!). I'd be curious to know more about the RG Bridge record...

pffft! Whadarya, new? El Pastor, in Yakivegas, on Walnut.

Climb: Bob's Keg & Cork Date of Climb: 5/25/2004 Trip Report: I arrived at work this Tuesday morning, after celebrating the 3rd anniversary of our blissful marriage the day before and what did I find? A PM from Ducknut, requesting a meeting and proposing the first recorded Yakima PC. Ducknut was going to be in The Palm Springs of Washington for a business meeting, and wanted to meet up with yet another brethren of this board. Having met only a scant handful of cc.com’ers in the past, and living so far from the highest concentration of same, I replied in the affirmative. Tackling pesky engineering problems all day, and tweaking scopes of work for future projects, left me thirsty by mid-afternoon. I was all atwitter with PC excitement when the phone call came at 3:30. Brad was done early, and was looking to hook up for cask-conditioned aleage immediately. Alas, I was far from able to depart the confines of the rectangle jungle at so early an hour, and I sorrowfully begged off the rendezvous. However, I provided Brad with explicit directions to allow him to locate Bob’s Keg & Cork, my favorite local watering hole, and wished him a fine trip back to the Portland environs after the imbibing of libations. My judgment clouded by what was truly unimportant, and unable to focus clearly on the task at hand, it was a full ten minutes later when I left the office, informing the receptionists that I had a “personal errand” that needed attention. I motored swiftly in the direction of my favorite drinking establishment, and dutifully parked the gas-guzzling Exploder behind a Dodge of questionable reliability (more about this later). Just before turning the entrance into Bob’s, my plan well in hand as to how I would identify someone I had no idea of what the person looked like, I heard my name, as if in a chorus of angelic voices from on high, call to me. Stopping dead in my tracks and turning around, there was Brad, the Ducknut, fresh from concluding his occupational duties and quite thirsty. There was to be a Yakima PC after all! After a few pints of Boundary Bay cask-conditioned ales (a Tightwad Tuesday special at Bob’s) and exchange of personal stories, some funny, some sad, it was time for Brad to hit the road. Brad indicated that I still had to get back to work, but that I probably wouldn’t accomplish much after our PC. He was right, so here I am, writing up the TR! Outside the pub, we were bidding our adieus when the owner of the unreliable Dodge was attempting to put some gas into the tank without a funnel. Massive spillage ensued. He went off somewhere, we don’t know where, and his female friend lights up in the front seat! Brad informs me of this, and noting that I parked behind this bomb, I sauntered over to let her know that she was lighting the fuse of a possible IED. Being the proud owner of a gas-guzzling Exploder (c’mon – it’s only the 2-door version!), I really didn’t want to see it live up to its name. Shrugged off by the white trash SO of the beater Dodge owner, Brad and I departed before things blew up, he to points south, and I back to work. Salute', Brad. I enjoyed it! Gear Notes: beer $$$ Approach Notes: roadway bare and dry, no cops

That's about the funniest thing I've ever read on this board. Righteous! Fredroglyphics and Helmyskrit...

Uhhh, ever see of one of these? Start out with a bar or two for those really long raps, stop periodically on the way down to add on more bars. Voila! It is kinda fun. I was in the Va Tech Cave Club before I became a climber. Rapped off Whitesides in NC, and off the New River Gorge Bridge in WV every year on Bridge Day (altho we cave clubbers were smarter than the averge dick and didn't speed rap ) Once I finally emerged from the mud, cold, and darkness and discovered climbing in the outdoors, I hung up my brake rack, wetsuit, and carbide lamp and joined the sunlovers. Never went back... And yup, rappelling in a climbing scenario scares the hell outta me every time. My mantra to my partner, just before every departure, is "I hate rappelling." That way peeps will know what to put on my headstone...

IIRC, the PCT does not go directly over Old Snowy. The trail to the summit is a side trail off the PCT, and the main PCT is in the meadow (Strawberry Meadows??) below and to the west. But it's been about 5 years or so since I've been up there, so what do I know?

The Goat Rocks Wilderness Area is that section of basaltic/andesitic choss between White Pass and Walupt Lake, containing the peaks of Old Snowy, Ives, and Mt. Curtis Gilbert. The PCT runs right through it.

Watcha plannin' on doin'?

Still lots of slushy snow above 4500 feet (elevation of White Pass parking lot). The parking area is clear of snow. However, most mountain trails still covered (PCT north to Chinook and beyond, PCT and GR trails south of WP to Old Snowy/Ives/Curtis Gilbert). The forecast is calling for snow tonight and tomorrow (SL = 4500 feet, accumulations of 1" to 3" above 5500 feet), and T-storms Saturday night. Windy. Temps will be nice, tho; in the mid-50s during the day. You're just gonna get wet, that's all.

Make sure you really want to buy what you want to buy at Marmot. Unless they've changed their policy, you can't bring it back, even with the tags still on it, never ever used, and with the receipt! I don't shop there anymore just for that reason. Anyone want a brand new pair of Marmot Aplinist GT sidezip pants? I still have the receipt, and the tags are still on 'em.

To clarify: Both climbers were from the same town; Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Send a PM to Doug of this board. He's in Skagit MR. He may know some details that he may be allowed to release. Or not.

Wow! Three pages worth, worldwide, in the current news! Scary!

Didn't you know? Liberty Ridge was first climbed by the French, looooong before Ome Daiber and company.

And has about one-third the thread depth. As mentioned, don't point them for downward-angled placements. I use Irbuses (the cheap ones) just for rappel leavers on ice climbs, if I can't get anything more solid, like an Abolakov, tree, or sumpin.

Well, not exactly true, Lambone, but sorta. We come back because we've dedicated ourselves to saving lives. See MRA's mission statement here. If you need us, we'll be there.

Lucky dog, RuMR. Good to hear that no one got seriously hurt.

As a member of Central Washington Mountain Rescue (CWMR), I can tell you that any (cash) donation is greatly appreciated by a MR unit. CWMR is totally funded by donations and any fundraisers we put on, and all the unit members are unpaid volunteers. It's pretty much that way thoughout the MR community, for the most part. I'm sure that SMR and TMRU would be most thrilled if you guys made a donation (please don't donate gear, unless it's brand new - safety reasons and that "unknown history" thing, ya know). My personal kudos to the rescuers.

Sorry for the drift, michelle.

Shameless!! I love it!

From what I've read, he was wearing a helmet. As ivan inferred, helmets, while being a valuable accoutrement, are not a cure-all for all accidents involving head injury. It's possible a side impact could have been the culprit. Also, heads in helmets subjected to vertical impacts, while protecting the head, can transmit large impact forces to the neck, causing serious injury, paralysis, or worse. In the recent Frenchman's Coulee accident, Robert Peruchini's head suffered a side impact (one of many head impacts) of such force that it shattered the helmet at the chinstrap anchorage and the helmet "blew apart" there. FWIW.

You mean Chantal Maudit? Yeah, sad story there.

Ah! So it could have been a 'schrund lower down the mountain. Makes all the sense in the world. Pretty wierd to have that melting out this early in the year. Shitty accumulation over this last winter, eh? Hope that they get him out of there quickly.

Hmmmm, crevasse below Crater Rock? Could it have been a bergschrund (not the usual one higher up the Hogsback)? Wierd, never heard/seen anything more than the berg on that route.

Try this.