Cpt.Caveman Posted September 12, 2002 Posted September 12, 2002 quote: Originally posted by matt warfield: Nice work: 1-day and up the gendarme no less. Maybe you're ready for Croft style next! I think he free soloed it Knowing Mitch. Quote
matt_warfield Posted September 12, 2002 Posted September 12, 2002 By Croft style I meant leave the pack and rope behind too! (And then maybe do some other peaks on the same trip). But Croft is (or was) in another world..... But I remember thinking of Croft when I was there and how crazy that would be to be solo. Hats off to Mitch! Â [ 09-12-2002, 03:11 PM: Message edited by: matt warfield ] Quote
Retrosaurus Posted September 13, 2002 Author Posted September 13, 2002 Dissappointment when my partner bailed on an outing to the Direct Northwest Face lead me to an alternate plan that I have often thought about: north ridge, solo. Â Pull the rack and slings out of the pack and the extra water bottles and most of the clothing and food. Crampons on tennies and an 3rd tool ice hammer for the glacier, an 8mm rope and light harness for the rappel. Good to go. Â Left the house in the morning when my wife left for work and was hiking from the Teanaway by 9am. Â Saw coneys or pikas (can anyone tell me the difference?) mounding up sprigs of lupine for winter. When the second one saw me he ran right up to me like he knew me or something. (Just thought that was cool.) Â Arrived at Goat Pass at about noon and fell into the moat (Dooh!) while stuffing ice into my lone water bottle. I was pleased with how well old strap-on crampons work on sneakers although with the straps on tight enough to be secure, they really hurt my downhill foot. (Maybe this is not a problem with a less primitive binding system.) Â I spent a few moments below the NWFace looking for the start of the direct route. Line diagram topos sure look a lot more straight forward than actual routes. Â Crampons off at the start of the couloir and rock shoes on near the upper part of the couloir where there is finally more rock than dirt. It felt good to be climbing with rock boots on solid stone. Â About halfway to the gendarme I noticed snow on the ledges off to the right. And yes, that was verglass. Hmm, 5.4 friction, verglass, a skiff of snow. I'm getting concerned. By the time I arrive at the gendarme I've had enough at looking at that dark, wet, icy chasm off to the right. I've never been down there either. The steep, solid, straight-forward 5.9 crack climbing on the gendarme looked inviting by comparison. Â A long runner stolen from the rap anchor wad rigs a hauling harness for the pack. Clip the rope to the pack and neatly stack the rope and bowline the other end to my waist. Â The first pitch was no problem, but when I reached the top of the pillar it was not one of those graceful mantle exits, but the grateful belly wallow/knees affairs. That said, it was not that tough and downclimbing the pitch would have been OK, although scary. Â Haul the pack and stack the rope again and up the second pitch. This pitch has some of the best fist jamming that I can remember ever doing. The only other time I was on the gendarme I exited left. I exited right this time which turns out to be a bit more direct and straight-forward. I was a bit concerned about the pack hauling over some of the lips on the rock. It came up just fine, but would not have without a hauling harness. Â I loaded the rope back into the pack and reached the summit at 5pm. Cloudless hazy vistas and warm sunshine. An orange and the rest of the water. Base of the mountain via Cascadian by 7. Longs Pass at 9. The truck at 10. Â I guess I can think about doing the complete north ridge next time. Â [ 09-12-2002, 06:57 PM: Message edited by: Retrosaurus ] Quote
Retrosaurus Posted September 13, 2002 Author Posted September 13, 2002 oops  [ 09-12-2002, 06:48 PM: Message edited by: Retrosaurus ] Quote
matt_warfield Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 Nice work: 1-day and up the gendarme no less. Maybe you're ready for Croft style next! Quote
Dru Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 A "coney" is a rabbit, and a pika is a pika. Quote
Retrosaurus Posted September 13, 2002 Author Posted September 13, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dru: A "coney" is a rabbit, and a pika is a pika. So does a coney have longer ears like a rabbit and a pika has the stubby little rounded ears? Â And which one makes that really high-pitched "EEEEP!" sound? Â This may sound a bit dopey, but I have been wondering about this stuff for years? Quote
Dru Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Retrosaurus: quote:Originally posted by Dru: A "coney" is a rabbit, and a pika is a pika. So does a coney have longer ears like a rabbit and a pika has the stubby little rounded ears?  And which one makes that really high-pitched "EEEEP!" sound?  This may sound a bit dopey, but I have been wondering about this stuff for years? Coney = rabbit = long ears. Pika = round short ears.  Pika goes EEEEP!  Quote
Terminal_Gravity Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 Nice job! Good TR...thanks. Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 Probably one of the best accomplishments I have read about here all year. I mean identifying what is a pika and all  Another being some of Colin's climbs like on Graybeard etc...  [ 09-13-2002, 09:05 AM: Message edited by: Cpt.Caveman ] Quote
Retrosaurus Posted September 13, 2002 Author Posted September 13, 2002 quote: Coney = rabbit = long ears. Â Pika = round short ears. Â Pika goes EEEEP! Â Thanks, Dru Quote
klenke Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 What the hell is that green thing in the pika's ear? (Cannabis stalk?) Quote
Retrosaurus Posted September 13, 2002 Author Posted September 13, 2002 quote: Originally posted by klenke: What the hell is that green thing in the pika's ear? (Cannabis stalk?) Looks like a hearing-aid to me. Quote
Dru Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 radio tag (so pika can listen to rush limbaugh.) Quote
Off_White Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 Ahhh, so its a pika from the eastern side of the range then. Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 At the risk of sounding like a total geek (like that ever happens to the Doctor around here), isn't it marmots that make the beeping sound? Quote
Dru Posted September 13, 2002 Posted September 13, 2002 Doc, when have you ever encountered a marmot OR a pika at a sport climbing crag? Â But no: pikas EEEP. Marmots whistle. Quote
Retrosaurus Posted September 14, 2002 Author Posted September 14, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Off White: Ahhh, so its a pika from the eastern side of the range then. Actually the eastern pika listens to Michael Savage. Quote
Guest Posted September 14, 2002 Posted September 14, 2002 Mitch my chestbeating brotha, congratulations on your hard man accomplishment. But why do you feel it necessary to publicly boast? Just curious. Quote
Off_White Posted September 14, 2002 Posted September 14, 2002 It seems to me that one of the principal drawbacks to soloing is that you have no one to say "whoa, isn't this cool" to. Three-ceeing the gendarme pitches is kinda bold, but as I'm sure Retro is aware, the North Ridge gets soloed on a reasonably regular basis, so my sense is that he just had a great time, and it only underlines the experience to tell someone else about it. Quote
chucK Posted September 14, 2002 Posted September 14, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Johnny Rebel: Mitch my chestbeating brotha, congratulations on your hard man accomplishment. But why do you feel it necessary to publicly boast? Just curious. Climbers often like to talk about climbing. Writing about his day out is like talking about climbing. Â Is that simple enough for you JR? Quote
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