DPS Posted October 19, 2001 Posted October 19, 2001 Thanks for your concern folks. I am recovering from what is apparently a fungal infection. Makes influenza seem like the sniffles. Quote
TimL Posted October 19, 2001 Posted October 19, 2001 DPS - I hope you get to feeling better. Spoke to Nick and he wants to get together and see the slids of the Bugs and show the slides of your Alaska trip. What really gets me psyched in no particular order... full time climbing, women, a full time job and the thought of maybe coming close to being as bad ass as the dudes in the below story. Fast and light in Baffin Wright and Smith nab second ascent of Charlie Porter Route October 5, 2001 Though it hasn't had a successful ascent in more than 25 years, the Charlie Porter Route (VII 5.10+ A4) on Baffin Island's Mt. Asgard got the attention of Cedar Wright and Jason "Singer" Smith last August, when they became the second to climb the mighty line. The route, established in nine days by the gifted soloist Charlie Porter in 1975, was the first Grade VII in the world and a line that had been aptly described by Doug Scott in Heroic Climbs: A Celebration of World Mountaineering as “the greatest achievement in Baffin, the Arctic and probably anywhere.” Wright and Smith successfully completed the route in a 38-hour continuous push, logging 54 waking hours from base camp to base camp. On a roll during their visit, the pair also climbed the 4000-foot Scott Route (5.10+ A1) on Asgard in 3 hours, 56 minutes, free soloing more than half the route and according to Wright, marking “the birth of modern Yosemite speed-climbing tactics in Baffin.” Quote
haireball Posted October 19, 2001 Posted October 19, 2001 Gill was more inspiring than you credit him for. I once read that he had trained himself to the point of being able to do a one-finger pullup on ANY of his fingers! (yup, all ten of them!!!) These days, I find my wife and three sons the most inpiring items in my world. Been training aggressively for thirty years and still can't do a one-arm pullup - but, I am closer now, at age 49 than I have ever been. If I continue to train and improve at the same rate for the next thirty years, I might come close... the trainers and sports physiologist-types that I've consulted all agree that the capacity for a one-arm pullup is genetic - either ya got it or ya don't. An informal sampling of friends and acquaintances who do have this capacity reveals that 100% of them could perform the feat before they ever trained formally... oh well... I'm still training, getting stronger, and hoping I live long enough to prove the experts wrong... which leads to another phenomenon that often inspires me - tell me something can't be done! Quote
Wallstein Posted October 19, 2001 Posted October 19, 2001 About the thing on Asgard. I heard Cedar lead all but 4 hours of the route. Singer had a rock hit his leg just a few pitches into the route. Cedar is a freak of nature. Quote
sexual_chocolate Posted October 19, 2001 Author Posted October 19, 2001 haireball. I think with hard and smart training, you can do it. I'm tall and lanky, so my predisposition for one-arms is non-existent, yet I've been able to do one, albeit with a lot of training. How useful is it? Well, it probably isn't, (Dave Graham can't do one) but it's kind of a neat trick. Gill's pretty amazing. He's in his sixties, and he claims to be able to still do a one-arm doorjamber. I bet a friend $20 that I could do a one-arm pinkie pull-up in six months. I started training, trying to hang off of webbing with my pinky. Well, I guess I pre-disposed myself to injury, 'cause the next time I went bouldering, I tore up that pinkie pretty good, and now six mo's later, it still sometimes hurts. I better start a little slower next time. Quote
Wallstein Posted October 19, 2001 Posted October 19, 2001 I did a one arm pull up ONCE. It took a lot of drinkin and a real pretty lady to get me to do it. She wasn't one to be impressed by those sorts of things though. She has soloed el cap a few times and has been to Baffin Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted October 19, 2001 Posted October 19, 2001 quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: 5.9 rubble is more like it True True! 5.9 Dirt is hard [small print] at least for me [/small print]! I can point people at a couple of examples if you like. The Eiger's North Face is 5.7 right [This message has been edited by Cpt.Caveman (edited 10-19-2001).] Quote
sexual_chocolate Posted October 20, 2001 Author Posted October 20, 2001 Speaking of burly, Mt. Robson has an unrepeated route on it still, at 5.9 A2, no less. (Only a ten-hour drive from here!) The Stumps/Logan on the north face. I looked at it last summer while up there, and I for one have NO desire to repeat it... IT DOESN'T HAVE BOLTS BY MY FEET,HIPS, AND SHOULDER! Anyone here had thoughts about trying it? Unrepeated, and only ten hours away....5.9 A2.... The glory! DanielPatrickSmith. Sounds like you're feeling better. Cool. Quote
tasmith513 Posted October 20, 2001 Posted October 20, 2001 Isn't "5.9 A2" in the Canadian Rockies just Canuck speak for "Stupid-hard"? Quote
tasmith513 Posted October 20, 2001 Posted October 20, 2001 Isn't "5.9 A2" in the Canadian Rockies just Canuck speak for "Stupid-hard"? Quote
freeclimb9 Posted October 20, 2001 Posted October 20, 2001 sidenote: what's interesting about Charlie Porter's route on the North tower of Mt. Asgaard is that it was originally rated 5.8, A2, WI3. It's an obvious and beautiful line that follows a handcrack for a couple thousand feet. That the route was done solo by Charlie Porter is inspiring (especially given the epic he had on his attempt with frostbite: he crawled 35 miles out to the fijord). Quote
nolanr Posted October 21, 2001 Posted October 21, 2001 Lizardbrain, No, I don't play any stringed instruments. I'd like to, but I don't think I'm willing to put the time and effort into learning right now. Maybe when I'm old and decrepit I can take up a new hobby. Quote
freak Posted October 21, 2001 Posted October 21, 2001 One arms, I cant do one but i've heard its all in your abdominal, muscles, nic Quote
Dru Posted October 22, 2001 Posted October 22, 2001 5.9 A2 in the Rockies is like a5, it is the top of the grading scale. if youthink its the hardest possible thing doable you give it 5.9 a2. of course many old 5.9 a2 single pitches are now m9's... the new sandbag grade is "m6+ and they can choke on that!" (this quote courtesy of Steve House of Mazama, Wa.) Quote
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