Car-to-car

[AllYouCanEat]

Overnight or not, one thing is for sure - light and fast is the only way to go. I can't believe the heavy crap I carried early on.

 

You can't believe how much crap you used to carry! I brought 90lbs of gear into the pickets. I still tend to carry heavy crap (like skis ), though this time around I'm going lighter when I buy gear, especially since I can now afford more expensive stuff. Back in college I bought whatever was on sale. Cheap crap. What I am learning now is that I need to buy what is good. Nothing less! Spend the money and get what works the first time. For instance, buy the best light sleeping bag and the the best winter bag, not one in between that you use for everything (and is cheap and heavy to boot).

 

Light and fast is just a method of travel. It feels good to schuss across lots of terrain. My favorite is to go somewhere I haven't been and overcome the obstacles; correct turns, route decisions, and timing with weather, daylight and conditions. Anyhow, this weekend warrior likes to have a day to sit and do nothing before he goes back to work.

[Ireneo_Funes]

As you might expect, this is not a new question:

 

"Some mountaineers are proud of having done all their climbs without bivouac. How much they have missed! And the same applies to those who enjoy only rock climbing, or only the ice climbs, only the ridges or the faces. We should refuse none of the thousand and one joys that the mountains offer us at every turn. We should brush nothing aside, set no restrictions. We should experience hunger and thirst, be able to go fast, but also know how to go slowly and to contemplate."

 

--Gaston Rebuffat

Starlight and Storm

 

That's a great quote.

[sobo]

...Cheap crap. What I am learning now is that I need to buy what is good. Nothing less! Spend the money and get what works the first time.

 

There's an old saying of which I am continually finding myself needing to remind others:

 

A poor man can't afford to buy cheap shoes.

[Stefan]

how come none of you foo's said you driven to go car to car so you can get back and give the wife/girlfriend the old pickle-tickle 'fore you explode?

 

Becuase playing with your best friend is easier than getting the wife to be a hole. So being late when she is asleep is okay.

[sobo]

Oh, man! I didn't want to be the one to say it, but that is soooooooooo true!

[John Frieh]

yes, quality vs. quantity, but there's more than one way to define quality. the quality of my experience is inversely proportional to the amount of stuff i'm hauling. CTC lets me carry a daypack instead of overnight gear.

 

Me too! But in the end... do what make you the happiest... fast, slow, alone, expedition, in winter, naked... etc

[Dru]

Cars are aid. It's house-to-house.

[Squid]

houses are passe.

 

Hardmen do it from friend's-couch-to-friend's-couch.

[JoshK]

Lowell, that is a great quote. That is exactly how I feel. I think I moved myself too far to the "do everything one way" side and didn't allow myself to realize there are plenty of ways to accomplish the same goal. The quote also highlites a great quality of the cascades...so many types of climbing, often in one single climb. Can anything beat great rock with some sections of alpine ice, accessed via a great glacier approach and some good old steep schwacking??

[sobo]

houses are passe.

 

Men with Hard-ons do it from their friend's-girlfriend's-couch-to-friend's-girlfriend's-couch.

[JoshK]

houses are passe.

 

Hardmen do it from friend's-couch-to-friend's-couch.

 

And they use callgirls or random bar hookups, not those climbing-time-cutting-into girlfriends or wives.

[splittoe]

My preferred time frame for most cascade climbs is 1.5 days. Drive to TH, hike in to camp the afternoon the day before the climb then have a lavish dinner with copious amounts of liquor. Next day, climb at a leisurely pace and hike out with plenty of daylight left.

 

I unfortunately don't have that luxury very often. Car to car, Seattle to Seattle climbs in a day often result in a dangerous bleary eyed drive home. Thank god for those vibradores on the side of I5

[Ireneo_Funes]

I thought it was from your-mom's-bed to your-mom's-bed...?

[John Frieh]

I unfortunately don't have that luxury very often. Car to car, Seattle to Seattle climbs in a day often result in a dangerous bleary eyed drive home. Thank god for those vibradores on the side of I5

 

Try living in Portland!

[Blake]

I suppose I started to buy into the whole "enjoy the scenery" notion and all that.

 

Josh, are you saying you wont want to do all three Entiat 9ers in a day again?

 

Lowell, very germaine quote from Gaston!

[JAFO]

 

 

"Some mountaineers are proud of having done all their climbs without bivouac. How much they have missed! And the same applies to those who enjoy only rock climbing, or only the ice climbs, only the ridges or the faces. We should refuse none of the thousand and one joys that the mountains offer us at every turn. We should brush nothing aside, set no restrictions. We should experience hunger and thirst, be able to go fast, but also know how to go slowly and to contemplate."

 

--Gaston Rebuffat

Starlight and Storm

 

I agree with this completely. Take Big wall climbing. Many people are pushing for one day accents. While I strive for these feets of speed also it is not for the same reason. It is an awsome experiance to sleep on a wall with thousands of feet below you. however it is nice to have the efficiency and skill to control where and how long you choose to bivy. (as opposed to being strung out and taking bivys where you can get them) There is also something to be said for being able to get something climbed in a weekend that would have most people taking 3-5 days. I.E. you have a weekend and you climbed and they didn't.

[Couloir]

...with copious amounts of liquor.

THAT, my good friend, is a given!

[Dru]

I thought it was from your-mom's-bed to your-mom's-bed...?

 

It's hard to go car-to-car when you're living hand-to-mouth.

[Snickers]

"Climbing to me is a battle with yourself, your own shortcomings, It's not a religion, but it's damn close to being spiritual. It's a search inside yourself, to see whether you measure up."

 

- Dave Mahre

[Chad_A]

Interesting topic.

 

It is really nice to have a light daypack to get done what normally would take more than a day. Much more enjoyable in that respect.

 

On a recent trip up to Rainier, time constraints turned it into a "car to car" outing. I've found that, since I've been climbing, I've learned to go pretty light regardless, so when a "two day pack" turned into a "summit pack", I really didn't save much weigh, save for a 2 pound sleeping bag, my share of the fuel, and some food.

 

Like someone else said, it depends on what the schedule is like, but after doing a "car to car" or four, I'd rather enjoy the bivy. Of course, style will always be an issue, but, sometimes, with the normal clutter of life, I'm not in such a hurry to get back to civilization.

[Norman_Clyde]

I find that when I'm moving fast I enjoy the scenery just as much. Memories of my one day car-to-car outings are just as precious in general as overnighters. However, if my goal is not realistically achievable in the time I have, and I develop a sense of haste and urgency, this spoils my fun immediately. I guess my philosophy is that it's fine to go fast as long as your itinerary doesn't put you in a hurry.

[Alpine_Tom]

Around here, one significant issue is the size of a weather window. It's not uncommon to realize Friday that Saturday is actually going to be a good day, so you better go and get it before the next weather system comes in.

One reason it took me a while to do Liberty Ridge is finding a three-day window in June when I could go.

[JoshK]

I suppose I started to buy into the whole "enjoy the scenery" notion and all that.

 

Josh, are you saying you wont want to do all three Entiat 9ers in a day again?

 

Lowell, very germaine quote from Gaston!

 

Hehe...yeah, actually that was fun. Way easier than I expected. A camp in Leroy basin would be sweet tho! It's really nice up thar.

[EWolfe]

My preferred time frame for most cascade climbs is 1.5 days. Drive to TH, hike in to camp the afternoon the day before the climb then have a lavish dinner with copious amounts of liquor. Next day, climb at a leisurely pace and hike out with plenty of daylight left.

 

I agree completely. It takes the edge off the manic urgency.