sobo

Colored 3M electrician's tape. I use a strip of white above a strip of red. Poland's national flag! It's fitting for me - and mebbe polishbob...

Timcb, I'll save you the time of trying this yourself, as I and my mountain rescue unit have already done this to teach prospective members/newbies how important this aspect of mountaineering can be while in crevasse territory. Mind you, I had a secondary (redundant) belay on me by one of my unit members in case the "student" messed up the belay being tested. Student was approximately 25 feet back from the crevasse lip. Last year on the Nisqually, I "guinea pigged" myself as the unlucky pilot for some crevasse air-time. Results follow: 1) Me standing at edge, belayer in arrest position (prone and dug in): My stepping "into thin air" caused a fall of ~8 feet into the crevasse. This is with little to no slack in the rope at time of departure. It includes the length of "rope bury" into the crevasse lip and a drag of student of ~3 feet. Things got a lot more interesting after that... 2) Me standing at edge, belayer standing in ready position (standing, axe at the ready), little to no slack in the rope: After landing, I was ~15 below the lip, and I had dragged the student off his feet and about 10 feet closer to the lip. He did manage to stop me before the back-up belay went into full-on mode. 3) Me walking toward the edge, belayer walking at same pace about 25 feet behind me, 5-6 feet of slack in rope (rope was intentionally dragging on ground), axe in piolet position (just like you'd be doing walking around on a glacier, except the distance between climbers was closer): At engine shut-down, I was suspended about 20 feet below the lip, and had pulled the then-terrified student to within a few scant feet of the edge, and the back-up belayer was totally involved in the final braking maneuver. We had introduced a second back-up belayer attached to the student as well for this test, and that second belayer was also employed to make the stop of the student. Testing ceased after this third demonstration (as planned). Conclusion: You'll zip a lot faster than you ever would imagine, and 5 feet of slack isn't going to give you any time at all to think about what to do. Review Case #2 above. The student knew that I was going in, and exactly when that would happen. There was little to no slack in the rope, and I still ended up about 15 feet below the lip. Now Review Case #3, which is the case that you would be reenacting whilst glacier traveling, i.e. carrying a small coil in your hand or slack rope dragging on the ground. Had there not been a redundant belay system employed, it is very likely that I would have pulled this guy in with me. Granted that the distance between us for this test was much less than is customary while roped up for glacier travel, he very likely would have stopped me if we were 50 feet or so apart on a rope. Still, the point was made to all attendees regarding the attentiveness that is encumbent while negotitating crevasse terrain. One last thought: I was not wearing a pack during these exercises. Draw your own conclusions of what could happen to you if you are wearing an additional 25 to 40 pounds on your back and you punch through... "Thus endeth the lesson." Sean Connery, The Untouchables

Hey alpinfox, You should PM RobBob for a partner. I think he's living out there in NC somewhere.

And yes, there is incredible ice climbing in VA and WVA as well as in NC. It's where I started that shizzle, too. And it's not THAT far of a drive to Pinkham Notch, NH, for a Christmas Break trip.

Whitesides, near Brevard, NC (big wall) Stone Mountain, NC (bolted multi-pitch sport) Looking Glass, also near Brevard, NC (just too awesome! trad, sport, and aid) Moore's Wall, NC (been mentioned) Search the net for Tim Toula's Rock-n-Road on-line guide to get the driving beta and route info, or buy it here. Have fun, ya bastard. I started climbing on those crags when I was at school at VA Tech. First big wall was Whitesides Original Route. Yummmmmmm.

just watched the vid. Hilarious, especially the final scene!

for the sponsorship money you frigin mo-ron. Why is it that it's always the negative waves with you, man? Give peace a chance.

I'm with Alex on this one. But really, WTF does it matter - redpoint, pinkpoint, onsite, French free? What is all this shizzle anyway? Just fahq'n climb it, and have some fun ferchrissakes!

Sweeeet! Glad to hear that Taz is OK.

Wrap it around your upper ankle oncet or twicet??? I wouldn't know, on account of my ob-stac-cles.

Updated info. Click above link. Cross post to updated info.

Just got off the phone with John McGowan. The Tieton, from Moon Rocks to Royal Columns, is open as of today, April 1. One nest has been established just east of The Bend climbing area, just around the corner from the left-hand-most climbs (climber's left). Signs are posted along the trail designating the area that should not be accessed. As long as you stay on the trail, and don't venture around the lefthand corner of the last climb at The Bend, we'll be all right. Now go get some!

Doesn't matter. I flake the ones that are stored in rope bags (cuz that's why you buy rope bags - so you can just throw it open out on the ground and start climbing), and butterfly coil the ones in sleeping bag stuff sacks (cuz it's easier to deal with them at the crag that way).

The OP, as you described it, would be my first choice as a 2nd alpine tool (to be used rather infrequently), followed by the CM, which sounds like a heavier, albeit more versatile, tool. The BD, IMHO, is over the top for mountaineering of this sort. Your choice for the OP as your 2nd tool will depend upon how comfortable/confident you are/feel with your technique. My $0.02

...and to my parents.

Ya couldn'ta waited another 11 days couldn'cha? It woulda been a whole year between death and resurrection. Yeesh!

Double that. Righteous, you two!

minx, Dru mentioned a route at Peshastin Pinnacles. You might also want to consider Lightning Crack over on Grand Central Tower. Skip the bulgy thrashing (5.9) of the first pitch by sending him up the 5.8 bolt ladder on West Face Direct, then traverse far left to the bottom of the 2nd pitch of LC, and lead LC from there to the top. It's about 5.7, great exposure, and good gear placements all the way up. Rap off the back of GCT. If he enjoys that, and looks solid, move over to Sickle Slab and get him on Windward Direct (5.8). The crack flares a bit, but the footwork is good. The flaring cracks may spook him with nut/hex placements, but he'd have to be the judge of that. It takes SLCDs better than nuts and hexes. Enjoy!

I was thinking more about Givler's as being a multipitch and a bit much, but R&D sounds great. You just want to be able to concentrate on gear organization and placement with relatively easy climbing. Agreed on that, matt, absolutely! There is no sense futzing around with crazy gear placements on a lead that's at the top of one's leading ability for one's first lead (unlike like what my climbing mentor did to me on my first lead ).

I don't agree with matt warfield, at least as far as R&D goes. It's a great route for a newbie leader who is already defined as a "strong climber", and the leader would never really be out of contact with minx, and it's easy for the grade. It sucks up pro of all kinds (nuts, hexes, SLCDs, etc.) and the exposure on the upper pitch after the chimney is great for a new leader. Bottom line: Send him up R&D. He'll love it.

So jon/timmy, Now that all our PMs are shot to shit, how does one get into one's PM mailbox to delete the gumnutblendersybians shizzle that is left there? When I click on Received or Sent PMs, all I get is a bunch of code and no option to delete all contents of the PM mailboxes. Any hints?

Not exactly, jk. You just get an email message that tells you that you have received a PM, and gives a hotlink to get to your My Home page on cc.com. At least, I haven't been able to go to a PM directly from my email inbox.

I might wander up to the Tieton if I can drag my sure-to-be-hung-over ass out of bed Saturday morning.

Here's a suggestion: Store in cool, dark, dry place, not humid or wet, in a rope bag. I keep mine in rope bags (or old sleeping bag stuff sacks) on a shelf (off the floor!!) in the garage, away from the area where the truck and power lawn/garden tools are kept. This keeps the ropes away from fuel fumes, anti-freeze, windshield cleaners, Gum-Out, battery acids, and other volatile organic compounds. Ventilation is good. Or keep them in their bags in your upstairs clothes closet. DO NOT STORE THEM IN YOUR CAR TRUNK!! And yes, it DOES matter.