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Anymore Weekend TRs ?

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Adam S.

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Oct 21, 2002, 12:25:57 PM10/21/02
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Hello,

So I that I might "live" at work vicariously through you, I was hoping
to read about what people may have climbed lately. After trying to
write my own full length TR for Selaginella last week, I realize how
time consuming it is to write them. So hats off to all you prolific
posters. However if, like me, you didn't climb anything spectacular
enough to merit a whole TR, I thought we could post some shorties.
Lacking the multiple drafts, etc. of a full TR they may not be as
polished but in my own case, it may be the only way I'll ever find
time to post about non-epics. I saw a similar thread by Chiloe in
July and thought it was a good idea.

My own "weekend TR" consists of Mt. Diablo on Saturday and Glen Canyon
Park on Sunday. Several times I've made plans to climb at Mt. Diablo
but either rain, closure due to high winds (fire hazard), or flaking
partners kept me from this goal. Finally Kjetl and I actually made it
there. Mt. Diablo is about 1-1/2 hours from San Francisco. It is
classic "Golden California" country in that all the hills are barren
except for sparse dark twisted Oak trees against a brown/beige
background of the dead grass that makes California "golden." "Mount"
Diablo is only 3800 or so feet and the formation we went to, Boy Scout
Rocks, is just past the Park's Danville entrance.

We elected for a late start hoping this very hot and arid area would
be in the shade and in fact it was: our 3pm arrival was perfect. Not
only was everythng in the shade but the guy just coming off Amazing
Face said he'd had to wait forever for multiple parties and groups to
get on what Thornburg's Bay Area Rock mini-guide calls the "best climb
in the Bay Area in it's grade." What that grade would be is somewhat
in dispute as is the "best climb" designation but it is still a very
nice climb. We were trying to puzzle out just what about the climb
made it great. What makes a "classic?" Beats me. What is "amazing"
about Amazing Face is that it is so straight up and from the bottom
looks quite thin. So since no one was waiting for it (!), we setup a
top rope instead of leading it as I had planned. The minute I was on
the face I realized that that was a mistake and that it would have
been an easy lead. Once on the face you see that there are very small
but solid edges and mini-ledges and corners - tons of places to put
your hands and feet. In fact once I went back to lead it, I tried to
veer over to the right of the bolts (most of which are spinners) but
it got way thinner than I thought (maybe now being on lead just made
me more scared) so I backed down and followed the easier route. Kjetl
rightly observed that while a great climb, the "stair like" effect did
kind of get monotonous after a while. I guess I now know what they
mean when various guidebooks extol a climb for it's "varied climbing."
At first the finding of small footholds was fun, but then it was just
more of the same. Kjetl and I both observed that the climb required a
fair amount of high-stepping to get to the best holds.

After TR'ing, we were going to lead it but then an acquaintance from
the gym came by so I belayed her. Then the young ladies top-roping
the face to the left (where Stegasauraus is) were done thrashing on
their TR so I suggested we swap ropes (we'd seen them setting up their
TR and it looked pretty solid). So while they climbed Amazing Face,
which was more within their abilities, we hopped on their rope. I
think it happens too many who TR but the natural line of of the top
rope didn't really follow a route. So we did what they did: climb the
face below the left leaning crack, follow the crack up some until it
gets too thin, then more face, then traversing towards but not quite
too the unnamed bolted route on the right of the crack. I.e. we were
following the rope's path more than any distinct route. One of the
girls had made it most of the way up, flailing quite a bit, but made
it none-the-less so we figured it was doable. Kjetl used all his
strength and made it up to the top after hang-dogging a few times, so
I figured I had to do the same. For me it was quite thin and
strenuous, crimpy with few footholds. Again the few footholds were
all a high step away. Still it was fun to top rope something harder
than I would normally do.

I would have liked to try the crack itself which a helpful local named
Mark said was probably 10b, but it was beginning to get darker so we
gave the ladies back their rope and I quickly lead Amazing Face. It
was pretty much like top-roping it had been, except for the bottom
part where I tried to veer to the thinner right and then had to back
down. One interesting thing about leading a bolted climb is I felt I
was always on a mini top-rope because inch by inch you clip your rope
into a bolt above you. I haven't climbed many bolted (sport?) route
so it made me wonder "Why bolt the thing at all?" and why not just
leave it as a TR? Not a clue. Kjetl quickly followed and cleaned
and then we broke down the anchor and got out just as it was
darkening. It ended up being a very nice half day on the rock.
P.S.: Many had warned me about the poison oak up there and in fact I
washed with Tecnu once home (just in case) but we didn't actually see
any poison oak (and I grew up with a bush along our fence!). Either
they'd pulled it from near the trails or it had already lost its
foliage.

Sunday a group of us went to Glen Canyon Park in San Francisco. Dan
Z. says the climber's name for the main/largest rock grouping there is
"Miraloma rock." And so that is where we bouldered a bit. We did
some traverses and Dan remembered a problem called "the Postage stamp"
because of a small square little nubbin hold you work your way up to.
Working this problem from the left was pretty easy: lots of good
holds, but working it from the righthand side was quite difficult and
it was Kjetl who came up with a good way of doing it: instead of
trying to hug the rock with both arms outstretched he kept both left
and right hands near his righthand side in good holds and then leaned
his body to the left, kind of like liebacking it. This put one in a
solid/comfortable position from which you could extend your left hand
out and up, grab the postage stamp, and then work your way up to
larger juggier holds above and then hop off.

After some time on the main rock, Mark, Jenny and Dan went up to setup
a top-rope on a crack on a rock further up the hill. This crack was
short and there were lots of pockets/mini-ledges to put your feet and
hands so for our second run up we made only the crack itself "on."
There were little ledges in the crack you could stand on but it wasn't
wide enough to get your foot or even toe into. Still it made it much
more fun to try it like that. Only at the top did the crack widen
enough to get a hand jam into. However it was so glassy smooth, and I
mean *glassy* inside the crack that most of us had a hard time
sticking in there. We wondered if you lead it whether an unweighted
cam would even hold or if it wouldn't just slip out. The rock is the
same kind as the TR at Beaver Street wall, also in San Francisco, near
the Castro. There the climbable parts are only those bits where the
glassy surface has fallen or eroded away. There is a main 5.9 crack
that is runs between the glassy bits. I've TR'd it once and it was
quite fun so if anyone would like to go back to that, just let me know
as I'd be glad to try it again. Anyhow we did a few more interesting
problems on the upper rock and by 3 or 4 the fog was rolling in so we
broke it up.

Anyhow that's my weekend TR. Anyone else?

Adam

rich rookie

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Oct 21, 2002, 1:05:24 PM10/21/02
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"Adam S." <p...@post.here> wrote in message
news:u778ruk9ne9sdmmfl...@4ax.com...

>
> Anyhow that's my weekend TR. Anyone else?
>
> Adam

I don't think anyone was climbing. I was on Cathedral Sunday. Beautiful
weather, warm, nary a breeze. I had the whole mountain to myself. Or at
least I didn't see anyone else, anywhere, while I was up there. I think it
might be because it's late in the season, but with such nice weather it's
worth a trip.

rich rookie

Dingus Milktoast

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Oct 21, 2002, 1:15:30 PM10/21/02
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"Adam S." <p...@post.here> wrote in message
news:u778ruk9ne9sdmmfl...@4ax.com...
> Hello,
>
> So I that I might "live" at work vicariously through you, I was hoping
> to read about what people may have climbed lately.

Below I have copied a private email of an ascent of Half Dome. I removed any
reference to the people involved as I don't have their permission to do
this. I could just as easily have paraphrased the whole thing, so I'm not
really violating anything and as you'll see, it's a true trip report, just
the facts ma'am. Ah, but these facts are impressive! Anyway, I went sport
climbing on Sunday with Jason and Em. Had a great time but that sort of
thing is just not trip report worthy to me. So in the vicarious spirit, I
give you HDIAHD...

" We did it! Here's how the day went.

We bivied outside the park below El Portel Friday night. Set our alarms for
4:00am, I actually slept through it. At 4:05am I awoke and realized what
had happened. We hadn't even started and we had already lost 5 precious
minutes. We arrived at the stables just before 5am, quickly racked and we'
re on the trail by 5:10am. Now 10 minutes behind schedule.

We charged to the base unknowingly fast (for us) and reached the start in
2hrs 15min. Dood and I started climbing at exactly 8am. We planned on
breaking the route into four blocks. There was one rule, "Anything goes".

First block pitches 1-6 (Dood leading)

2 hours

(Dood climbed this block in 3 long pitches with a total of 100' feet of
simul climbing)

Second block pitches 7-12 (my block)

2 hours

(We simuled the first 3 pitches of this block)

Third block pitches 13-17 (Dood block)

2 hours

(This blocked was done in two long pitches with approx 150' of simul
climbing)

Fourth block to summit (my block)

3 hours 26 minutes

(The Zig Zags slowed me way down)

<DMT comment - yeah, the zig zags slowed him WAY DOWN! Sheesh!>

Total elapsed time 9hrs 26min. (Last years time 12:45)

We topped out at 5:26pm. Took about an hour to return to our packs at the
base. We headed down the slabs at 7pm. Returned to the car by 9pm.

16hrs of none stop adventure. Wow that was a long day.

*Spray session complete*

Thanks for listening. Sorry for the dissection."

So there you have it, a vicarious half day ascent of the Regular Route on
Half Dome.

DMT


Julie

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Oct 21, 2002, 1:55:09 PM10/21/02
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> Anyhow that's my weekend TR. Anyone else?

Saturday
--------
Rain: 1 cats, 0.5 dogs
Trip-to-town yield: 1 loaf sourdough, 1 bottle Pinot, 1 crossword
Coal stove: all day
Cider: hot
Work: @ 6 hours of numbermunching.
( 0*log2(0/eps) == NaN; log2(0/eps) == -inf; and then
0*log2(-inf) == NaN + NaNi;)
Friends arrived: 8 PM
Lasagna: sausage and roasted red peppers, almost enough
Desert: ice cream in popovers

Sunday
------
Sun: all day
Breakfast: waffles
Coffee: "adequate"
Deli: surprisingly fast
Parking: last car in Upper Trapps lot, 9:30 AM
Story told to distract visitors from long walk:
'How I f*%&ed up a rescue on Shockley's'
Warmup: Moxie / Giddah
Then: Hang 10
Followed by: Main Line / Outsider, Short and Sassy
Capped off with: Avoid Where Inhibited
Camera: dead dumb weight in my pack, sorry, no pics
Walk-out: In the dark, definitely longer than without a story
New marks in book: 2 (Scott), 2 (Julie), 2 (Greg), 1 (Wanda)
Grades broken into: Scott, 5.11
New trad leader: Wanda!
Dinner: Bacchus (the fries rock)

JSH


Melissa

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Oct 21, 2002, 2:31:14 PM10/21/02
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When your wall TRs sound like sport TRs you're climbing too damn fast and
too damn hard.

My Yosemite TR:

Noon Sat. Picnic in El Cap Meadow with Karl, J., and Lg.

2:00 Some PT in El Cap Meadow.

4:00 'Hike' the bike trail by the Awahnee. Contemplate a one legged TR
of something easy. Test ability to scramble a bit over by Aunt Fanny's Pantry.
Crouch at sound of "ROCK, ROCK, ROCK" from party learning to lead on Aunt
Fanny. Decide to play game of chess instead.

7:00 Get drunk on dinner wine while boys cook for me.

Sun 10:30 Wake up. Have final breakfast at seasonal rental with Hans, Jackie,
Lg, and J.

11:30 Clean out belongings and vacuum room. Stand in living room remembering
the post-wall rest day when we moved out the furniture and speant the day
practicing the cha-cha and the waltz. Cry a little because this spectactular
season is now so very over.

12:30 Drive to the Valley. Cry about the stuff that I'm not going to be
doing for a while on the way out of the West. Get happy again about the
stuff that I've done when I go throught he Wawona tunnel and see the Leaning
Tower. (Thanks, Jason!)

1:30 Fly kites on butt in the Meadow with Bernardo and J.

4:00 Say goodbye for now to Bernie.

5:00 Say goodbye for now to Jo.

5:30 Make the Sunday evening journey back to the Bay Area. Count all of
the goals for the year that still remain to be accomplished. Talk about
which climbs of the past season were the most fun, most epic, etc. Sad song
comes on the radio. Get teary again. Start listing milestone comeback climbs
and setting rehab goals. Eat taco.

Melissa

Bill Folk

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Oct 21, 2002, 2:33:31 PM10/21/02
to
On Mon, 21 Oct 2002 16:25:57 GMT, Adam S. <p...@post.here> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> So I that I might "live" at work vicariously through you, I was hoping
> to read about what people may have climbed lately.

Climbed North Couloir on North Peak/North Ridge on Conness. I've wanted
to do this linkup for a long time, but got shut down by warm slushy
conditions in the couloir on my previous attempt. Left San Francisco at
about 10 PM, reached Saddlebag Lake around 2:00 AM. Slept in the car
for 3 hours, got up, grabbed my ax, and started out.

Beautiful hike around the lake and up to the base of the couloir. Cold,
clear conditions, nice alpenglow. Left couloir was showing a significant
rock band, so I decided to play it safe and take the easier right couloir.

Started up the snowfield to the bergschrund at around 7:00 AM. There
were some remnants of the late September - early October snows lower
down, but as the angle steepened it was hard solid ice, and I switched
to ancre/troisieme for security. Dinner-plating pretty bad, but there
were little depressions and tool scars filled by the recent snow which
yielded good sticks.

On my way up the snow field I came across and ice axe sticking out of
the snow. Odd. My axe was nicer, and I didn't feel like carrying it up
and over two routes, so I left it. At the bergschrund there was a snow
bridge, but still a bit of a bulge to get into the lower angled couloir
above. Fortunately, here was a north wall hammer sticking in the snow!
Apparently someone decided to bail at the bergschrund, didn't know how
to down-climb or chop a bollard, and rapped off their tools. That's the
only scenario I can imagine. Anyway, the hammer came in handy getting
over the bulge.

Above the bulge the angle eased, and I put away the hammer and continued
up in ancre/troisieme. Coming from sea level to 12000' was kicking my ass,
and I had to stop often to rest. Higher up the ice was dinner-plating
pretty bad, and I pulled out the hammer and continued up in full traction
for security. I felt like a wimp for using a second tool, but so what.

I topped out of the couloir at about 8:00, and cruised up the easy rock to
the summit. It felt great - I'd had a disappointing summer, with too much
work and too little climbing, so it was nice to actually get up something.

Looking over at Conness, I was feeling a little intimidated. I had a ton
of beta that the route was a cruise, but without having been there myself,
I wasn't sure what to expect. I tried to keep in mind what Jim Curl told me:
he downclimbed the 5.6 section in his mountain boots, and it was no big deal.
I tried to suppress the memory of Dingus' recent TR, where they got off-route
on the downclimb into harder climbing. It was cold and the wind had picked up,
but I decided to keep going and see how it went.

The ridge is very cool looking, snaking it's way up from the col from
North Peak, until it merges with the main bulk of Conness. The climbing to
the second tower was standard Sierra 3rd class ridge climbing - easy, with
great exposure, but I was moving slowly because of the altitude. The face of
Conness above the ridge began to look steep and intimidating, but I reminded
myself that it was supposed to be easy, and this was just a foreshortening
effect.

I finally reached the top of the second tower, and found the first rap
station. The climbing below looked fairly straightforward and solid, so I
grabbed a flake and swung down into a good hand crack. The jams were solid,
although I couldn't fit the the toes of my leather ice boots into the crack.
There were good edges and knobs for feet though, so it still felt pretty sane.
A bit of wider crack, some more flakes, a solid lieback section, and a
traverse on good knobs lead to a good ramp angling up and right into the main
face of Conness.

I was past the crux, and the climbing above looked moderate. My beta was to
stay right of the crest of the ridge lower down, moving left onto the crest
higher up. I had pieced together a line up the face, and started up. The
climbing was moderate 3rd-4th, occasionally 5th class, but very fun, and
in a great position. On the crest of the ridge the views down the North Face
are spectacular, and if you really stick to the edge, you get to the location
in the photo of Croft on the route in Moynier/Fiddler - very cool.

All to soon the angle eased, and suddenly I was at the summit. The views were
beginning to deteriorate because of smoke from burns in Yosemite, and it was
cold and windy, so I didn't stay long. The descent sucked, and the drive back
to San Francisco was worse, but it was okay. I had had a great day in the
mountains - two Sierra summits in 20 hours from SF, and the only question now
was how many more Sierra summits I could squeeze in before ski season.
Fuck work, I'm going climbing.

Bill

Mike Garrison

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Oct 21, 2002, 2:40:32 PM10/21/02
to
Julie wrote:
>
> > Anyhow that's my weekend TR. Anyone else?
>
> Saturday
> --------
> Rain: 1 cats, 0.5 dogs
> Trip-to-town yield: 1 loaf sourdough, 1 bottle Pinot, 1 crossword

Noir or Gris?

> Friends arrived: 8 PM
> Lasagna: sausage and roasted red peppers, almost enough

Hmm, I'll guess Noir.

-Mike

Jason Liebgott

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Oct 21, 2002, 3:56:13 PM10/21/02
to
"Melissa" wrote ...

> 12:30 Drive to the Valley. Cry about the stuff that I'm not going to be
> doing for a while on the way out of the West. Get happy again about the
> stuff that I've done when I go throught he Wawona tunnel and see the
Leaning
> Tower. (Thanks, Jason!)

Thank you.

I hope you know how many folks are pulling for you. Plus, it sounds like you
guys are really enjoying yourselves... so take your time and do it right.
That leg will be back before you know it, and it'll just be a good excuse
for down the road. (ex: I'd make that high step, but my knee is acting up.)

j.e. liebgott


Sue

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Oct 21, 2002, 4:23:51 PM10/21/02
to
3 days in the valley
Sue's first Valley trip.

went to valley thurs aft.

met craig.
experienced Camp 4.
climbed cracks all weekend.

valley rating same as Tahquitz/Josh
Thin cracks. mmm. mmmmm.
Valley fun.


drive home Sunday night.
arrive late. get up early to drive to Irvine to give lecture.
work yuck.

Sue
"there's a lifetime of granite thin cracks out there. why climb
anything else?"

Jason Liebgott

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Oct 21, 2002, 5:07:32 PM10/21/02
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"Dingus Milktoast" wrote ...
<snip>

> the facts ma'am. Ah, but these facts are impressive! Anyway, I went sport
> climbing on Sunday with Jason and Em.
<snip>

Sport? DMT is the only guy I know who'll trad climb 5.10 thin cracks and
call it sport climbing. LOL!

Sport in the sense that it wasn't on a mountain and we didn't use crampons!

j.e. liebgott

ps - yeah, we did do *some* sport climbing


Andy Gale

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Oct 21, 2002, 5:14:07 PM10/21/02
to

Sue wrote:

> Sue
> "there's a lifetime of granite thin cracks out there. why climb
> anything else?"

How about sandstone thin cracks?

Andy

Sue

unread,
Oct 21, 2002, 5:51:09 PM10/21/02
to
In article <3DB46E1F...@scripps.edu>, Andy Gale
<ag...@scripps.edu> wrote:

hey Andy. I can see you!
hurray you're back.

sandstone? it's your lead.

Andy Gale

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Oct 21, 2002, 6:06:21 PM10/21/02
to

Sue wrote:

> hey Andy. I can see you!
> hurray you're back.

I switched to the german server. :)

>
> sandstone? it's your lead.

Come on. You'd love Indian Creek.

Here's my weekend TR.

-----

Friday, noon - I walk quietly out the door at work and head to the
airport. A few hours later, Nancy picks me up at the airport in Tucson.
We get something to eat before meeting friends of hers for drinks.

Saturday AM - We hit the road for Cochise Stronghold, reputedly The trad
destination of the Tucson area. To my surprise there is not a soul to
be found when we arrive at around 10 on the East side. This ain't
California. Our goal is a fun moderate called Wasteland. The guidebook
says, "Best 5.8 in Arizona". I'm expecting something other than what we
get. Admittedly the third pitch is pretty cool, a nice chimney behind a
pillar, then a step across followed by steep jug hauling out next to an
arete. Nancy leads it in style. But the first two are nondescript at
best and the last two are strictly average. Though belaying off three
tied-off chickenheads is interesting. At any rate, we mosy on up to the
top in perfect weather, enjoying the solitude one might expect courtesy
of a 6 hour approach in California.

The next day we get a lazy start for a day of sport climbing on Mt
Lemmon. We hook up with a friend of Nancy’s over breakfast and head on
up the mountain. At the crag we meet up with a host of Nancy's friends
and immediately start climbing on draws they have already set up. The
routes are vertical to very slightly overhanging. My feet grip the rock
like crazy and the moves are fun and interesting. So I'm feeling good
and I climb one route after another. On the last I suddenly realize
that my fingertips are raw so we call it a day at only 3:30. I actually
only climb 6 routes. My muscles are still willing but my tips are done.

Monday morning - Up before the crack of dawn, my plane touches down in
SD promptly at 8:05. I'm starting to recognize all the Park & Ride
drivers. I hit The Broken Yolk on the way to work and sit down at my
desk at 9:30. Back to work.

Andy

Guido

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Oct 21, 2002, 6:16:53 PM10/21/02
to
rich rookie wrote:
> I was on Cathedral Sunday. Beautiful weather,
> warm, nary a breeze. I had the whole mountain to myself.

I spent two days widening backcountry ski trails, in fanciful anticipation
of a snowy winter out East.

'Had that whole mountain to myself as well....

G


Dingus Milktoast

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Oct 21, 2002, 6:27:46 PM10/21/02
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"Jason Liebgott" <jlie...@hotmail.com> wrote

> Sport? DMT is the only guy I know who'll trad climb 5.10 thin cracks and
> call it sport climbing. LOL!

I can't think of that place in any other sense. Slime's definition, the
emphasis of difficulty and safety applies. They're short lines - lowering
off and top roping are easy to do. Bolted anchors the rule. And some of the
cracks sport (get it, sport???) bolts right next to em. Blasphemy!

Call it sport crack climbing. Fun, huh? I had a great time! Thanks for
putting up with me.

Jason kicked some ass, sending some sport clippo's and cracks on-site like
they twern't nothing. Em styled her way up some hand cracks like the rock
goddess she is.

DMT

Rob Williams

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Oct 21, 2002, 6:30:31 PM10/21/02
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Mike Garrison <mike.g...@boeing.com> wrote in message news:<3DB44A20...@boeing.com>...

I'll try and write a trip report about our climb of Mt. Washington
(OR) if Ican get my hands to stop shaking enough. What a stinking
choss pile.

Chiloe

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Oct 21, 2002, 7:01:24 PM10/21/02
to
Sunday morning we woke up in a Tarrytown hotel, feeling
none-too-sharp after last night's wedding party. It took
hours to pack up and find breakfast. As my caffeine
deficiency eased we began discussing the fact that by making
a 150-mile detour, we could visit the Gunks on our way home.
My wife had never seen the Gunks, but at the wedding
reception she'd been seated next to a New York enthusiast
who told her that she was missing a great thing. She
recounted this conversation over breakfast and, because the
sun was shining and my queasiness was losing its grip, I
soon was persuaded too.

Amidst the piles of wedding clothes in our car, we uncovered
a 150' rope, shoes and harnesses, a handful of cams and
three quickdraws. That ought to be enough to climb
something. We bought two runners and four biners in New
Paltz, detoured around a grim-looking accident, and parked
next to a 30 Minute Parking sign below the crag. Knowing no
beta, we walked up and down the road looking for a trail,
then asked climbers along the path where our route was.
(Oddly, the first two who answered pointed in opposite
directions.)

That afternoon we climbed Pas de Deux in the gorgeous
October light. Fun moves, fine views. The crowds were
thick and yet nice as they queued below routes, climbed
parallel lines at 10-foot intervals, and hung about like
gargoyle gangs on every ledge. When I finished the first
pitch I faced the double challenge of locating anchor
placements not already in use that would fit the two cams I
had left.

After admiring fall colors from the summit we rapped off and
climbed City Lights, a stout little 5.7d. We reached the
ground again as sun left the crag. The temperature began to
fall, and the long drive home was calling. We agreed that
there is decent climbing at the Gunks, though, and someday
we might have to go back.


Julie

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Oct 21, 2002, 7:07:04 PM10/21/02
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"Mike Garrison" <mike.g...@boeing.com> wrote

> Julie wrote:
> >
> > Saturday
> > --------
> > Rain: 1 cats, 0.5 dogs
> > Trip-to-town yield: 1 loaf sourdough, 1 bottle Pinot, 1 crossword
>
> Noir or Gris?
>
> > Friends arrived: 8 PM
> > Lasagna: sausage and roasted red peppers, almost enough
>
> Hmm, I'll guess Noir.

Yep. Elke, 1999. Good!

JSH


colleen

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Oct 21, 2002, 8:26:01 PM10/21/02
to
p...@post.here (Adam S.) wrote in message
>
> So I that I might "live" at work vicariously through you, I was hoping
> to read about what people may have climbed lately. After trying to
> write my own full length TR for Selaginella last week, I realize how
> time consuming it is to write them. So hats off to all you prolific
> posters.

I have not been climbing much this summer (too much swimming in the
ocean and travel to non-climbing oriented events/places). Thanks to
all of the people who write the TRs about the climbs that I will never
get up even when I do get out climbing. They are much appreciated.

It was the first trip out since doing Snake Dike in July, so it is a
bit ironic that I went with the same partner (and another friend) to
high desert in Victorville, CA for a bit of sport climbing. The goal
for the day was to remember what real rock was without being overly
ambitious.

We started the day on Sunset Wall (I think) which we were later told
was now part of the shooting range there. We did not hear any guns or
see any signs, but the word was that you were not supposed to go
beyond the brown corridor. I have no idea if the person was correct,
but it is worth making a mental note. I bravely started the day
leading the 5.6, mostly because I did not want to lead the 5.8 with
the scary move above the last clip which was bravely lead by Jochen.
We were all reminded that friction is a good thing and that our feet
do stick far better on real rock than they do in the gym.

We went to the brown corridor where Lisa was supposed to lead the 5.6
which had been my first outdoor lead. (I said, it was not an
ambitious day.) There was party on it, so I lead the 5.8 which I
lead before, but it was a complete alzheimer's onsight. It was
somewhat satisfying to watch Lisa and Jochen pop off where I had been
completely horrified. Lisa lead up the 5.6 being completely
comfortable over her pro. Jochen decided to lead femme fatale, 5.10a.
Both he and I remember that there was a misleading hold and the
height that it was at, but neither of us could remember if it was to
the right or to the left. As is always the case, Jochen worked the
wrong (but at least well protected) move a few times before he
realized where he was going. Lisa followed in good style and I
struggled a bit more than her with it. We all agreed that it would go
better next time. I remembered the last time that we had been to high
desert with Craig "the leading machine" Clarence, we had all decided
that the 10c to the right of femme fatale was easier. Well, either
something fell off or we were all off route, but the route was
declared more difficult than the 10a (as it should be).

The sun was coming into the corridor making it impossible to look up
while climbing. We went down to the cemetary wall where I was going
to finish up the day leading what I thought was a 10a which had seemed
so much easier than the 5.9 that I had fought my way up on a previous
trip there. There was no way that what I did could have been called
climbing. There were two other parties in the area. We were pointing
at different lines and were informed that we were off by one-- what I
had thought was the 5.9 from hell, was actually a 10c. The "easy" 10a
that I was looking to lead was actually the 5.9. After looking at the
guide book a bit more, we decided that the person who said that that
climb was a 10c was wrong. It was actually a 10a/b. I happily lead
up the 5.9 but was acutely aware that my fingertips were starting to
feel like hamburger and it had been a long time since my feet had
spent that much time in climbing shoes. Lisa and Jochen followed and
we called it a day.

We made the traditional stop at In and Out for yummies and
complimented eachother on our various accomplishments for the day. I
can feel the callouses building on my fingertips already.

Colleen

Fred

unread,
Oct 21, 2002, 8:46:31 PM10/21/02
to
Last weekend was the worst climbing-wise in about 6 months... When it
wasn't very windy it was either raining, snowing, dark, or the three at a
time. So how about a TR from the weekend before?


Mount Wright
Stoneham, Qc
Oct. 12

Friday night had been a though one, so we eventually all got up by about
2pm. The weather was perfect and liver in acceptable condition, so all
five of us headed to Mount Wright for a short afternoon of top-roping.
That crag would be the best bet for the day because the golden granite
faces south (important point for late-season climbing in Quebec.) The
foliage was at its peak and it was so warm that we climbed in t-shirts.

We decided start on the two best moderates of the area; a vertical 5.8
hand crack and a 5.9 overhanging arete. Nancy, Stephanie, Jeff, and J-P
all got to try the routes, feeling great about the crack and then cursing
the overhanging nature of the arete. I then quickly climbed them to
retrieve the ropes (quickly because I've climbed these routes many times;
not because I'm talented).

The most stunning line of the cliff starts as an off-fingers crack that
peters out under a large (2-3 feet) roof. You have to climb over it, and
then over another slightly larger roof. I had tried it a few times
before, always falling at the place where the crack turns thinner - a bit
too thin for my likes. Once again, I fell right after the "easy" 5.10a/b
section. I managed to stick it on my second try, and even pulled to large
roof using good underclings. I was surprised (but happy) to find a great
flake that you can side-pull as well as good finger pockets higher up. I
was less pleased by the lack of foot holds though. I guess that's why
they call it 5.11. I fell 3 or 4 times at the very same place, but
finally got it right and reached the last roof. There I could stand on
good foot holds with my upper back wedged against the ceiling; a no-hands
rest with nothing but air under me! I was nicely wedged, too nicely...
There was no way I could reach out to find the holds that *have* to be
over the lip of the roof, and no way of looking at it because my head was
wedged, too. After some contortions, I've been able to put my fingers in
a thin crack in the back of the roof, undercling it and blindly reach out
with my other hand. Incredibly, I found a nice hold that turned the
sequence into manageable 5.10. At last I was on top, tired but happy. A
hang-dog session if there ever was one, but a satisfying one nonetheless.

Meanwhile, J-P had tied-in at the base of a truely great climb; a slightly
overhanging 5.10 crack. There is an exposed 5.6 variation to the hard
start that turns the route into a 5.9, much more manageable for my
partners of the day. He totally disapproved the
overhanging-finger-crack-with-no-feet start and instead jumped onto the
5.6. He climbed a corner with big flakes and got under the massive 12
feet or so horizontal roof. To exit, he made the exposed blind traverse
over an arete and onto a little pedestal. The next move was an exposed
lieback executed to turn a roof, but the climbs he did earlier in the day
had left him exhausted so he didn't made it.

Nancy, Jeff and Stephanie worked an easy-looking 5.8, but in reality it's
a sandbag. They had fun nonetheless and were very tired afterwards. I
had to retrieve the ropes, but instead of walking to the top I decided to
try the 5.10 overhanging crack, a route I had done twice previously. I
knew the route was burly, so I had to climb very fast if I wanted to have
enough strength to top out. Nancy wanted to take a few pictures of me as
I climbed, so she went to pick her camera in her pack. By the time she
was back, I had finished the finger crack and was standing under the
lieback/roof move. She found a nice place to take a picture, but I was
already well up the 5.9 crack above the roof. She found another place
providing a good view of that crack, but I was then climbing the
overhanging 5.7 terrain above and since it would not make a good picture,
she didn't take any...

We quickly put our gear back into our packs and reached the car as it got
dark. A short drive back home soon saw us seated on the same couch as the
night before, drinking more beer, and telling more climbing tales...

--

Marc from Quebec
http://pages.infinit.net/emah
Home of the Rec.climbers' Personnal Pages Directory
and the Climbing in Québec Page.


Christian :?

unread,
Oct 21, 2002, 11:52:16 PM10/21/02
to
Chiloe <ich...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<1104_10...@netnews.attbi.com>...

Sounds great! Nice to happen to have a rack in the car ;?)
Tarrytown - funny, I was born there.

Fall in the Gunks- honestly, give me a few bottles of wine, a nice
cottage, and I could live in that environment for the rest of my
entire life.

Be well, and don't get scared of winter climbing there. You can have
many sunny days and mellow temps with narry a person at the trapps.

Enjoy and be well,
Cheers,
Christian :?)

Tom Stybr

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 10:44:48 AM10/22/02
to
"Adam S." wrote:

> Anyone else?

I made banana pancakes for my wife and daughters Saturday morning before
heading out the door to Kansas Cliff Club. We would be hosting a large
church group today (West-Wichita Latterday Sainter's) and it was up to
me to prepare for them. Harnesses - check, run ropes up the begineer
routes - check, make two gallons of gatorade - check.

Early week forecast called for cold rain but luckily it was merely
overcast and cool. I say luckily because the 80-foot, outdoor 5.4 will
be open for business. Our goal is to provide a fun-filled afternoon of
climbing challenges. Our ulterior motive is to wear them out and the
long route never fails to deliver.

One by one, my belay slaves saunter in. We'll be five strong today, a
good force to keep the ropes moving. Without my presence, they vote that
I will be relegated to the outdoor route because of the chill. Fine with
me, I say, berating them all for their lack of steel, that's where I'd
rather be. At 1:00, the clock starts ticking without the group but they
show up shortly thereafter.

We take care of waivers and money before anyone gets in and when all is
in order, we set to the task of saddling up 19 teenagers and two adults
with unisize ABC's. We give them a few short rules to follow: Don't step
on the rope, don't run while at the club, check with us if they take off
their harness for any reason, and have fun. I do my carnival barker
routine offering up my fine, blue/white 5.4 in a 90 degree dihedral.
Happily I get a taker right off.

I tie the lad in, give him one pointer, "Think feet before hands", let
him know what to do when he gets to the top, and send him on his way.
With a struggle or two at the usual cruxes, he sends it to a few cheers.
I give him a chance to untie himself but he's pumped. They're lining up
to take the ride now.

A pair of petite cheerleader types, eyes lined darkly, start egging each
other to the forefront until one finally steps up - thinking there's no
way she'll make it up there. She's slow but works the cruxes well. At
the top, she even takes a look around, amazed she can look all the way
to downtown. Few people bother to take in one of the best views in the
area. She's got bragging rights now. Her friend is shaking her head now
but finally relents and cruises it. All told, I send twelve beaming
youngsters and two adults up the wall and only one takes a brief hang.

I string up a nearby 5.6 for a couple of the boys - I couldn't persuade
the one girl I felt was the strongest climber of the bunch. One flails
at the midway crux, another works through to the end, then a dad,
outweighing me by at least 60 pounds, takes several falls at the crux
before conceding defeat and asking for the lower off. It's 3:30 now and
we can see they're getting weary.

Most have had at least five climbs on the 30 foot routes inside. A few
are still working some other routes in The Chamber that we've now hung
ropes on, one on our seven degree overhanging wall. We try to
demonstrate the backstep and twistlock that will ease the route but they
just look at us suspiciously. Even with big holds, not one makes it more
than three feet off the ground. With that, they're done.

Though we would allow them until 5:00, by 4:30 they were gone. A few had
interest enough to inquire about membership. I handed out the usual info
and thanked everyone for visiting - they were an enjoyable group. No
whiners, no disrespect, intelligent questions, and but for a bit of teen
bravado, no posers. As good a time as I've ever had with a group.

I went up a few routes myself, ticking a 65-foot 11-minus that I usually
blow at the crux, before I was back home, greeted by the smell of beef
barley stew and fresh sourdough rolls. I popped a Guiness Pub Draught
and plopped down into the overstuffed chair and a half. Three-year-old
Emily curled up next to me with a book, "Aurthur's Neighborhood", and we
happily read it together.

Tom Stybr

rich rookie

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 11:26:19 AM10/22/02
to

"Tom Stybr" <tom....@boeingmakesgoodplanes.com> wrote in message
news:3DB56460...@boeingmakesgoodplanes.com...


> I went up a few routes myself, ticking a 65-foot 11-minus that I usually
> blow at the crux, before I was back home, greeted by the smell of beef
> barley stew and fresh sourdough rolls. I popped a Guiness Pub Draught
> and plopped down into the overstuffed chair and a half. Three-year-old
> Emily curled up next to me with a book, "Aurthur's Neighborhood", and we
> happily read it together.
>
> Tom Stybr

Those last few lines epitomize a great day out. Whether up high and alone or
over at the local spot with buddies. Sounds like a perfect day.

rich rookie

Crotch Robbins

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 1:19:55 PM10/22/02
to
Thursday 5pm: Leave work with 2 packed haulbags and commence 8 hour
drive. Stop at Nomad to get heads and bungie cord for cheater stick.
Budha's Delight and House Special Chicken at Valencia south of Magic
Mountain.

1am: Arrive at secret spot to find it full of garbage. It's been a
tough summer for the secret spot.

Friday 5:30am: Alarm rings. Get in car. Discover that cold House
Special Chicken for breakfast is somewhere between warm vomit and cold
diarhea.

6:30am: Bridalveil Falls parking area. Share patstries with Jordie,
Axel, and Jim. Begin hike through boulderfield. Vow not to get
passed on the way to the base. Get passed on the way to the base. At
least it was Todd Skinner and partner going to work the free variation
to Wet Denim, rather than another West Face party.

9:30am: On belay, clipping bolts and heads for 200' fun, overhanging
feet. Exchange brief mid-air "good morning" with Leo Houlding.

3pm: Pull onto Guano Ledge and drag the bags over to Awahnee. Start
evil traversing pitch. Bitch, whine, watch me, moan, bitch. Off
belay.

6:30pm: Ilona on belay for pitch 6.

9:30pm: Dinner of chili on Awahnee.

Saturday 5:30am: Jordie's alarm rings. A WFLTIAD party, as well as
Jordie, Axel, and Jim jug our lines to 6. Clusterfuck at the p6
belay. We eat breakfast, crap out the chili, and relax.

10:30am: On belay for the long C1 pitch. Leave too many nuts for
Ilona to clean. Enjoy my first non-hanging belay of the climb. Ilona
leads roof pitch. Watch Jordie, Axel, and Jim rap the grossly
overhanging fixed lines down Wet Denim with white-knuckle grips on the
rope, and lots of air. Enjoy the patchwork of yellows and reds layed
out below me in the see of green. Foot cams, armbars, and liebacks to
clean pins and cams. Grunt, sweat, curse, spin sickeningly 1000' off
the deck with nothing but air below.

4pm: Whine, bitch, watch me, moan. Off belay.

6pm: Pitch 10 ledge. Haul, empty pigs, set up bivvy, enjoy chili and
snickers. Lean back against rock in Lazy Boy position. Remove
harness and helmet. Aaahhh. Dream wall dreams.

Sunday 7am: Mellow morning. Pack pigs, scramble over top, great
view, begin raps. Loose rock, top-heavy pigs, hanging station, on the
ground, pull ropes, walk down.

1pm: Dump poop bag and garbage in dumpster. Shower, pizza, ice
cream.

3:30pm: Wawona tunnel. 8 hour drive. Feed cats. Sleep.

2am: Ilona and I wake up throughout the night with numb hands. What
the fuck???

Phantom Fugitive

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 1:55:21 PM10/22/02
to
Here's a short one...

September 30th, 2002:

I yank back my hand and wince in pain as blood dribbles down onto my
clean shirt. I don't notice the blood, but groan as the pain sensors
reach my brain. However, my brain has become quite accustomed to this
pain thing and ignores the message. A room full of in-laws who also
happen to be nurses in one way or another rush to my rescue, taping up
my fingertip and handing me some rather large white pills. These were
not over the counter, homogenized "pain pills". These were the real
deal. My sister in law said one should do…but two will really hit the
spot. I held up two of my remaining un-sliced fingers and smiled. I
didn't know the handle had broken off the fan that sit beside me. I
was fairly relaxed in the recliner, half watching the Chiefs and the
Dolphins duke it out, half reliving and reviewing the action of the
last 48 hours. I stuck my hand straight into the fan when I tried to
move it. BZZZZZ! Red blood oozed out onto the first clean clothes I
had worn in a week. I stared at the mangled paw reflectively and
wondered if anything worse could be done to my rather "expensive"
hands. Already the fam was giving me concerned looks as my arms
looked as if they had been hit by a meat truck and dragged through
downtown traffic. I wish I would have worn a long sleeve shirt to the
barbeque. The pills started to take affect and I faded into dreams of
the big stone.

Two months ago I received an email from my main climbing partner ,
Al Curano. Al and I attempt some sort of adventure every six months,
and usually we both have something similar in mind as we try to up the
ante each time we rack up. This outing was no different. Al had spent
the summer in Yosemite, and I had spent the summer slack-lining and
swimming. Both of us had one thing in mind though- a one day ascent
of the Nose on El Capitan. Al had bagged this route in three days a
few years back, and had many other walls under his belt. I, on the
other hand had never been on anything over Grade IV. The Nose is a
Grade VI…which basically means be ready for a long week on the wall…or
be ready to suffer. Guess which one we chose.
We warmed up on the East Buttress of El Cap. which in itself is
quite a beautiful route, dropping you a few hundred yards short of the
real summit. Thirteen pitches with one or two moves of 10b; the crux
came trying to pass a party of 6 (!!!) who had their ropes strung all
over the wall in hopes of only having one leader and one follower
climbing at a time. Needless to say it was a relaxing and slow day
as we started climbing at 11:30. Six Hundred feet up the route, we
chilled on a small ledge, sucking down agua and cliff bars. From three
pitches above, an Argentinean team shrieked ROCK-ROCK-ROCK!! We had
read that there was some loose rock sections at the top and hunkered
down for the worst, looking up to see something red floating our way.
It's a, it's a…CAM! The red alien landed in small bush 50 feet below
us. I quickly set myself up for a top rope then climbed down and
rescued the little fella…along with some other captives of the bush-
two quick draws, and a new hat for Al.
The next day we woke up just as relaxed and both decided that I
needed to get on some tough free climbing and also learn that "Aid
climbing thing." Where better than on the route that we had come to
do? So we sauntered off to the base of the Nose at a leisurely 9:30
a.m.. The goal was to get comfortable with aid climbing (directly
pulling on gear using webbing ladders and other tomfoolery) and free
climbing as fast as possible close to our limits. I realized really
soon that I was in for some suffering. Learning to Aid climb was a
bit of a curve, but I had experimented and played around with the game
before. The free climbing however, was quite a challenge. Freeing up
to 11b was my goal on the route, and in the first three pitches, there
was plenty at the level to get my feet wet. I was introduced to
something I had never climbed before- ‘pin scars'. Pin scars are
basically the remaining holes left from years and years of climbers
using hammers and piton like pins to make their ascent. This was long
before the advent of climbing 'clean'; using passive and active
protection such as nuts and cams. However damaging these scars are to
the rock- they do allow for freeclimbing passage through challenging
sections. And challenging they were. I became pretty concerned at the
top of the 7th pitch as we began the painful process of rappelling
down in some heinous wind. I expressed my concern to Al- that if the
next 30 –some pitches were like that- I wasn't sure I could make it.
He assured me that the first 5 pitches are the worst on the route in
difficulty and awkwardness…and lucky for both of us in the end- he was
right.

The next day was our first rest day. I was fairly wasted from the
last two days and needed a day to recoup. We spent the long hot day
(mid-90's in the valley) relaxing, reading, and of course- EATING!
We discussed our battle plan and decided that IF we were going to
attempt this, we needed ANOTHER day of rest. And so we did. These
two days of rest proved to be exactly what the Doctor ordered.
Mentally and physically we felt ready when Wednesday night came. Over
the last couple days I had flushed many doubtful and negative thoughts
out of my head and came to the conclusion that this is what I came
here to do- and fail or succeed I will give it my best shot. As I
was relaxing in Camp 4 and exorcizing these ‘doubtful demons'; a
visitor came by our camp. It was Timmy O'Neil, the recent co-record
holder of the fastest recorded time on The Nose, accomplished earlier
this year. Timmy and I have met up with each other a few times over
the last year, not because of my involvement with climbing, but
specifically with my involvement in climbing media…which has also
provided Timmy with a way to fund his adventures. Along with other
valley locals, Timmy has "superhuman powers" in the way they approach
climbing the mighty walls in Yosemite. His humbleness and good nature
are an inspiration to anyone involved in the sport. I'd report on how
fast he climbs the Nose…but it will detract from my exciting story.
Just know that it is jaw dropping, mind numbing, and ground breaking.
Anyhow, Timmy came and asked about our plans, gave some advice, and
gave us a thumbs up and some encouragement. We discussed some of the
politics and business of this weird world of climbing media we are
involved in and discussed future projects…then he was on his way.
Whatever doubts I felt before where vanquished by his visit. Having
the record holder bless your adventure was about as good a vibe as
possible.

Psalm 121
A song of Ascents:

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My
help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip- He who watches over you will not
slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor
sleep.

The Lord watches over you-The Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day , nor the moon by night.

The lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life; the
Lord will watch over your coming and going—
both now and forevermore."


This became my verse of confidence for our adventure. I referenced it
many times in the next few days, and was amazed at how many promises
from this excerpt were fulfilled. I read it and memorized it to
repeat to myself under my breath as I climbed. I wasn't taking this
adventure lightly. Al and I were discussing our plans as we drove
into the valley realizing that we had never failed on a goal of ours.
Every time we plan to do something, we prepare, make a battle plan and
accomplish. Each time we get together, the stakes get higher and the
commitment grows. This battle was no different…except that I felt as
though I was cheating the system somehow. There is an unwritten rule
that anyone attempting a grade VI in a day should at least have a few
grade V days on their resume; and at the very least, a grade VI
climbed in "regular" style- hauling sleeping gear, water, and food
along for 2-5 days. I had no such experience. I have never really
been too attracted to hauling that gear up with me on a climb. I revel
in the beauty of unhindered movement on the stone, and to me, however
"normal" it may be these days to do a Big Wall with every drop of gear
you own, climbing it without all that sounded much more attractive and
committing. I felt a small tinge of guilt- a feeling that I may be a
bit assumptive, cocky even, for thinking I could hop on the most
classic long route in the world without paying my dues. Despite this
doubt, Al and I racked up at 2:30 in the morning and began our day.
Our plan was to have Al do the majority of the aid climbing, as I
still had only 30-40 feet of aid climbing experience (which is
absurdly small, when attempting a big wall). With my miserable
experience freeing the first few pitches, Al took these, as my hands
were still aching in memory. Our plan was to lead in "blocks", taking
numerous pitches at a time, so that we could keep moving. We were
also "short fixing" which was new to both of us, and under a full moon
and donning headlamps, we learned that this was definitely a big time
saver. Short fixing means that after you have finished your pitch,
you pull up all the slack; fix it to the anchor, then as the second
ascends the rope, you continue climbing with a self belay until your
rope runs out. When the second arrives at the belay, you resume
leading as normal, and restock your gear from what the follower has
cleaned. Definitely complicated…but after a couple pitches, we had it
figured out and it became the norm.
After Al completed the first block of seven pitches(800 ft.?), I
racked up and began my block. We were at the base of the "Stovelegs";
the famed splitter cracks that Warren Harding protected on the first
ascent in 1953 by using sawed off legs from a steel stove found at the
Berkeley city dump. Fifty years later, I smiled as I slapped in a
bomber cam every 30-40 feet. The stove legs were as beautiful crack
climbing as I have done ANYWHERE…possibly the BEST I have ever
encountered. It's hard to explain the overwhelming feeling of being
completely ALIVE, as I plugged in jam after jam as the sun rose to my
right hand. This first pitch was a sign of great things to come, as I
lead non-stop for the next 12 hours on pitch after pitch of perfect
jams, liebacks, offwidths, fingerlocks and even face climbing. The
crux for me is partially shown in the scabs you may see on forearms.
Two or three of these pitches were dramatic mid 10 liebacks on cracks
5-6 inches wide. We had brought a fairly sparse rack in the wide range
in hopes of saving weight; so needless to say, I wasn't to comfortable
lying back the whole way, squirming farther and farther away from my
gear. So I did what any self respecting grovel-er from Misery would
do-I shoved a shoulder into those cracks and climbed them as
offwidths, inching my way up in relative security, compared to the
exposed and wild laybacks. My "block" lasted 17 pitches, from the
base of the stove legs to the base of the "Great Roof". Here Al took
over the lead as the sun was setting. He was in for a long night of
aiding(with some free climbing) and did an excellent job dealing with
the darkness. Our headlamps became our best friends from here on, and
it would have been dire without them.

It was at this belay that our water supply became non-existent.
We had been eyeing it all day long and in our hearts believed that
somewhere along the way the numerous parties we had seen earlier in
the week would have left some of their water behind for us. We were
wrong. We had the entire nose to ourselves and were enjoying being in
such a ridiculous and popular place alone. Luckily we had water that
lasted throughout the heat of the day…but the night was enveloping us
and I was quickly becoming dehydrated. I could feel my body slowly
begin to shrivel up as I jugged pitch after pitch of Al's fantastic
late night leads. We had at least an hour of debate down at camp as
to how much water we should bring. We interviewed some locals and got
their opinions…then basically brought double of what they suggested.
Each of us had four and a half liters a piece…and this panned out to
be almost half of what we needed. I told Al the day before-"there is
no reason we should be dehydrated up there- we should bring as much
water as possible, and not be concerned with the weight." Little did
we know how much MORE we should have brought. Along the route, there
are 5 popular bivy spots. In my mind I had envisioned these elaborate
ledge systems, fit for a king- a place to sprawl and relax from a long
day of vertical movement. Again- I was wrong. These bivy ledges are no
larger than the desk I am typing from, most barely wide enough to
accept a couple skinny climbers and their gear. My spirits were
pretty high when I arrived at the first bivy at the top of Dolt tower.
There to my surprise was a bounty of large jugs of water and
Gatorade, left by parties who had bailed from here from technical
failure, fear or simply getting in over their heads. However ominous,
these bottles were a welcome relief and gave me confidence that I
would run into the same thing, some 1000 feet higher when I
encountered the next bivy ledges. I took a swig of water, and looked
down below as Al sucked down some Gatorade as well. Little did we
know; this was the last cached water we would see till the summit.


"…The Lord watches over you-The Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day , nor the moon by night…"


Halfway through the night, perched on a ledge the size of a folding
chair, I sat and enjoyed the darkness. I was completely dehydrated at
this point, too thirsty to even attempt eating...but enjoying our
situation and the cool night air. Al had been on a heinous A2 lead
for over an hour(heinous only because of the dark, mind you). From
above I didn't hear the normal "LINE FIXED!", but instead some
mumbling that resembled conversation. Eventually Al informed me that
he was off belay and the line was ready to be jugged. I painfully
rose from my little perch. And began my way to Camp 6, some 150 feet
above me. As I pulled a few free moves up over the ledge, I moaned as
my body was spanking me for not providing what it needed. Who was it
on the ledge up here? Was there a team who was well-stocked with water
and willing to share? Maybe they had hauled a cooler and ice up here
too!!?! Maybe they had plenty of cold drinks and possibly cheese and
sandwiches to share? Maybe my emergency 5 dollars would come into
play.(I keep some cash in my pocket on long crazy adventures, vertical
or otherwise to entice or purchase food or water from others in cases
like this.)
As I humped over onto the ledge I was greeted by a headlamp and a
familiar voice, but it wasn't Al's. Three days earlier when Al and I
did our practice run, we passed a team of two- a father and son from
Oregon doing their second big wall together. Here they were 2000 feet
higher and wondering who these crazy night crawlers were pulling onto
their bed. We were the only climbers they saw on their four days on
the wall…and they were the only climbers we saw in our long day of
fun. Kendal and Eric kept me company as I sat with them through
another long lead by Al. As I began to belay I realized that
something was wrong with the slack in the rope- it was getting heavier
and heavier with every move he made. Kendal leaned over and said "I
hate to tell you this, but we got our ropes stuck and had to rappel,
then re-ascend this pitch". "No way", I muttered under my parched
breath. We had succeeded in having no rope problems, no stuck gear,
and had even rescued plenty of fixed gear along the way (included a
full anchor that these two had somehow left behind-which I happily
returned to them ). After a lot of yanking, sweating and well…you
know…I gave up, tied Al off and rappelled back down the line to find
two knots stuck at the roof of a fingercrack below. I quickly cleaned
them, then enjoyed a toprope from Kendal up the beautiful(by headlamp)
5.7 face climbing back to the ledge. Here I put Al back on belay and
got down to business with my ledge mates. "Okay, I'm sure Al told you
we are out of water." Kendal , the dad, a dentist in his mid-50's,
replied with a shrug-"Yeah- he said you might be a bit thirsty"
Dreams of big gulps danced in my head. He continued-"but...We barely
have enough water for ourselves, but your welcome to have a swig of
this." He pointed to an almost empty two liter hanging from his
anchor. What a welcome sight this was. I was disappointed that they
couldn't rehydrate me, but at least a little something to tide me
over. For the next hour, I sat and made small talk with guys,
encouraging them to go to sleep, as it was now past 1 AM, but Kendal
refused saying he was more than happy to keep me company. In the end
I think it was more a way of keeping an eye on me and the remaining
swig in the bottom of the two liter. It was obvious I had hit bottom,
as my conversation was kind of confusing, and I kept asking the same
questions over and over again "So- where are you guys from?"
Finally I made my offer- "So this may sound weird…but I am pretty
miserable- would you guys be willing to take 5 bucks for the remaining
swig in the bottom of this two liter?" Kendal instantly replied, "
well I don't see why no…" His generous reply was interrupted by Eric
who informed us that they " barely had enough water as it was and he
was sorry but they better not." That pretty much settled that and I
stalled as long as possible after Al fixed the line for them to change
their minds. They didn't; and Al informed me the next belay was
hanging and wondered if I could hurry it up. Uggh.
The next few hours sort of floated by as I dazed in and out dreams
awakening each time to a large yank on the rope from above, sometimes
accompanied by "SLAAAACK!"; and me mumbling something about "sorry-
and- do you see any water- and-how's it going up there? A search
light shined on the face, illuminating all around me. The rescue team
from the valley must do nightly checks on freaks climbing all night.
They blinked their search lights at us for the next 20 minutes,
assumedly awaiting a blinking response. I figured it best to not even
respond , for fear of inviting a rescue. A helicopter with a long
water hose would be welcome though, and I drifted off again; dreaming
of a lake of Gatorade, full of fishes shaped like individually wrapped
Twinkies that moved slow enough to catch by hand.

"LINES FIXED!!!" It was time to move again.
It had been 12 hours since I had eaten or drank(except for the swig
from the Dentist). I arrived at the belay and knew my topo well. This
was the last pitch. Sneaky little Al handed me the nozzle of his
camelback and said I have had two sips waiting for you. I didn't say
a word, grabbed the blessed snake and treasured those moments of
moisture trickling down the back of my throat. I thanked him, patted
him on the back and told him he was my hero for such a beautiful job
through the night. It was 5 A.M. and the sun was peaking up behind
Half Dome as we topped out.

"…The lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going—
both now and forevermore."

I didn't know what to expect from myself summit-ing the biggest chunk
of exposed rock in the world. I had heard stories of experienced
climbers dropping to the ground in tears, laying down their gear and
never returning to the sport. I had also heard of people turning over
new leaves in life and "findin' religion". Whatever epiphany or
grand moment I could have had was shadowed by my desire to find water.
I peeled my gear, ropes, and harness from my body and Al said "what
now?"… I got the joke, but didn't laugh. I stumbled off in to the
sunrise and mumbled something about water being first priority. After
what seemed like hours, I found someone had left two two-liter
bottles, one with about 6 ounces of water; the other containing about
20 ounces of what looked to be window washing fluid. I smelled it
and confirmed my hopes that it was some sort of Kool-Aid…possibly
Berry Blast…which happens to be my favorite. Needless to say, I
stumbled quickly back to Allen and we drank up, savoring every last
bit of it. After quickly packing up, We knew we had to fight the
rising sun on the descent. We were both still a long way from being
re-hydrated, and I was in pretty bad shape.
I stopped for a moment though, and sat on a rock, my legs still
moving up and down becoming accustomed to being on horizontal ground.
I prayed and thanked God for our safety, our experience and our
friendship. I also thanked him for creating such a majestic and
incredible place to appreciate his power, creativity and beauty. Al
and I have been through many adventures in the last 5 or 6 years, and
this was the accumulation of this friendship- our highpoint. I was so
thankful to be experiencing this with him- and as he noted- him with
me.
I looked at my watch-5:30; 27 hours after we had started. Our goal
was to climb it in a push. If it was under 24 hours, so be it…but
that was a question mark…our only goal being getting the top without
stopping. And we accomplished that. The descent took us about 3
hours, with a few raps and a lot of scrambling down the east ledges.
Luckily from our ascent a few days earlier, we knew the way fairly
well. We even had a pair of sandals stashed along the way for relief
from our shoes.
After a long drive home and a incredible meal prepared by Al's
girlfriend Jennifer, we finally laid our heads down to sleep. It was
10:30 PM; we had been awake for 44 hours or so…after a sleepless night
of only 2 hours the night before. I was wretched, I was exhausted, I
was spent, I was happy. This was the biggest accomplishment of my
climbing career, possibly of my life, second to getting married.
Tricia told me before I left she knew I could do it, but she hoped I
didn't like it. Despite my mistakes with water planning, it was an
amazing experience that I can't possibly miss out on sometime in the
future. I am sure the debates will start as soon as the scabs are
healed and the pain forgotten. For now, I am flipping through my
guidebooks wondering what I need to do to get ready for our next
adventure.


Some technical notes: I freed most of my leads, cracks up to 10d, and
face Climbing up to 11b, relenting to aid on a 11c fingercrack that
was a bit bushy. In retrospect, I probably should have simply led this
and "French freed" pulling past the crux moves- as it was fairly
straight forward. When climbing walls in speed style; it is generally
accepted that all style goes out the door and a "anything goes"
attitude is accepted. With this in mind, I did pull past a few
cruxes, and really adapted well to the small pendulums here and there.
We chose to do the quicker "Jardine Traverse" rather than the time
consuming "King Swing". We also did a 5.12 or 5.10 A0 R variation
at pitch 19.We ate Cliff bars, GU pouches and Dried fruit until our
water and "CytoMax" ran out. In the follower pack we hauled an
emergency 7 mil rope , extra water, food, headlamps, and a Ziploc
taped shut with my defecation from the second(!) pitch. I refused to
toss or leave it. The stench built character to say the least. In
3300 feet we only had one fall. On pitch 21, I was trying to move
past a 11c layback crux, and took a little 12 footer. No biggie, I
grabbed my aiders and voila'- crux avoided. For anyone seriously
considering doing this route in a day- I suggest more than enough
water- while jugging a fixed line- you hardly feel the extra weight.
I also suggest climbing earlier in the season when the days are a bit
longer. If you're training primarily away from any real crack
climbing, I suggest getting on a crack machine, jugging, and sport
climbing as fast and long as possible. Also…Learn to aid climb BEFORE
you get on the Nose.

God Bless,

Jer Collins

PS-Hans and Yugi cruised the route behind us as we were walking off.
They were at the summit before we were at the base. Inhuman. Sick.
Twisted...and AMAzing!

Jason Liebgott

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 2:03:53 PM10/22/02
to

> 9:30am: On belay, clipping bolts and heads for 200' fun, overhanging
> feet. Exchange brief mid-air "good morning" with Leo Houlding.

Congrats on the route...

Glad to hear that Leo is back on his feet after the accident in Patagonia.

j.


Melissa

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 3:20:46 PM10/22/02
to

'Back' is relative. It makes me optimistic for gimpy adventures though.
Anyone need a jugger?

According to Chongo as of Sunday there are were about 5 or 6 of people including
a couple of belay/hauling gimps (i.e. Leo) crawling up the NA with a string
of haulbags long enough to rival the famous 'Chuck Wagon'. I believe he
said 30 ft. end to end but I could be mistaken. Woohoo!


Jason Liebgott

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 3:31:23 PM10/22/02
to

"Melissa" wrote ...

> 'Back' is relative. It makes me optimistic for gimpy adventures though.
> Anyone need a jugger?

Ah, I see. I heard "Leo" and "Leaning Tower" and thought he's back to his
free climbing ways.

He's just jugging and hauling on two broken legs, I see.

:-)

j.

ps - I might need a driver to the needles...


Melissa

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 3:51:37 PM10/22/02
to

"Jason Liebgott" <jlie...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>"Melissa" wrote ...
>
>> 'Back' is relative. It makes me optimistic for gimpy adventures
>though.
>> Anyone need a jugger?
>
>Ah, I see. I heard "Leo" and "Leaning Tower" and thought he's back
>to his
>free climbing ways.

I have no idea what he was doing on LT. If was free climbing, my hat is
definately off to him! I'm impressed that he even got up there!

>ps - I might need a driver to the needles...

Does this mean that you've decimated another vehicle?

Jason Liebgott

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 4:10:09 PM10/22/02
to
"Melissa" wrote...

ha ha. No, I just like to nap - remember?

j.

ps - no heavy metal, no country please.


Andy Gale

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 4:20:28 PM10/22/02
to

Melissa wrote:

>

> a couple of belay/hauling gimps


Slime's got a phrase for that.


Andy

Guillaume Dargaud

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 5:18:34 PM10/22/02
to

Yup, same here. Were on Moses near Moab. Not a soul in the entire canyon.
Didn't see a car or biker either way. No wind, perfect day, eery silence on
top [after all my bitching on the route].

TR pending scans.
--
Guillaume Dargaud
Colorado State University - Dept of Atmospheric Science
http://www.gdargaud.net/
"Heaven sent and hell bent over the mountain tops we go !" — Lyrics
from Sweet Bird of Truth by The The.

Melissa

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 5:21:23 PM10/22/02
to

Well???

Michael A. Riches

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 6:14:05 PM10/22/02
to

> Anyone else?

Hey...all these TR's are great. Thanks to everyone that has taken the time
to write.

My weekend consisted of getting grease and grime clear to my....uhhhh,
elbows and beyond. Next weekend, I might be able to get on some rock...

See y'all

Ratzzz...

Andy Gale

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 7:08:38 PM10/22/02
to


Come on, where've you been? I'm talking about that n-word phrase
everyone's been ranting about. That's the definition (someone who just
belays and hauls on a wall ascent). I guess according to Slime Leo
Houlding is now reduced to being a 'rope-n*****'.

Andy

Dave Buchanan

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 7:27:15 PM10/22/02
to
Andy Gale <ag...@scripps.edu> wrote:


> I guess according to Slime Leo
> Houlding is now reduced to being a 'rope-n*****'.

Actually, he's much more of a rope-niggard...

Hardman Knott

Melissa

unread,
Oct 22, 2002, 8:55:43 PM10/22/02
to

Andy Gale <ag...@scripps.edu> wrote:
>
>
>Melissa wrote:
>> Andy Gale <ag...@scripps.edu> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>Melissa wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>a couple of belay/hauling gimps
>>>
>>>
>>>Slime's got a phrase for that.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Well???
>
>
>Come on, where've you been? I'm talking about that n-word phrase
>
>everyone's been ranting about.

I checked out of that thread about 5 messages into it. In general I try
to avoid discussions that are just going to be upsetting and aren't going
to sway or enlighten anyone. We all have our own feelings about 'the n-word',
and no ones' will change based on what they read here. Funny how 'belay
bitch' doesn't get people as steamed though.

Melissa


Adam S.

unread,
Oct 23, 2002, 12:23:51 AM10/23/02
to
Tom Stybr <tom....@boeingmakesgoodplanes.com> wrote:
>they were an enjoyable group. No
>whiners, no disrespect, intelligent questions, and but for a bit of teen
>bravado, no posers. As good a time as I've ever had with a group.
>

Wow what a lot of great mini (and longer) TR's. Thanks to all of you.
Tom I really like yours, I guess cuz I think it is great teaching
others this fine activity and the fact you got a good group that made
it feel even more right-on.

thanks.

adam

David Kastrup

unread,
Oct 23, 2002, 4:05:16 AM10/23/02
to
"Michael A. Riches" <rock...@earthlink.net> writes:

> Hey...all these TR's are great. Thanks to everyone that has taken the time
> to write.
>
> My weekend consisted of getting grease and grime clear to my....uhhhh,
> elbows and beyond.

Congratulations. Boy or girl?

--
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum
Email: David....@t-online.de

David Kastrup

unread,
Oct 23, 2002, 4:08:42 AM10/23/02
to
"Melissa" <iamthew...@hotmail.com> writes:

> and no ones' will change based on what they read here. Funny how
> 'belay bitch' doesn't get people as steamed though.

How about `belay slut' or `belay whore'? Maybe `belay hooker'?
After all, some people climb with grappling hooks.

MMooney727

unread,
Oct 23, 2002, 9:52:31 AM10/23/02
to
"Melissa" writes:
>> and no ones' will change based on what they read here. Funny how
>> 'belay bitch' doesn't get people as steamed though.
David writes:
>How about `belay slut' or `belay whore'? Maybe `belay hooker'?
>After all, some people climb with grappling hooks.
>
Nice troll David, but no alliteration.
'belay boy' or 'belay bastard' maybe.

David Kastrup

unread,
Oct 23, 2002, 10:05:26 AM10/23/02
to
mmoon...@aol.com (MMooney727) writes:

Lord Slime was not taliking about "belay biggers"...

Crotch Robbins

unread,
Oct 23, 2002, 12:37:28 PM10/23/02
to
"Jason Liebgott" wrote:
> "Melissa" wrote ...
>
> > 'Back' is relative. It makes me optimistic for gimpy adventures though.
> > Anyone need a jugger?
>
> Ah, I see. I heard "Leo" and "Leaning Tower" and thought he's back to his
> free climbing ways.

The BBC was filming Leo doing a standard aid ascent of the Leaning
Tower as part of his rehabilitation.

Crotch

A. Cairns

unread,
Oct 23, 2002, 5:19:21 PM10/23/02
to

"Adam S." wrote:

> Hello,
>
> So I that I might "live" at work vicariously through you, I was hoping
> to read about what people may have climbed lately.

<snip>

> Anyhow that's my weekend TR. Anyone else?

Thank you for the TR, Adam. I like to live vicariously in California.
Thanks for the invite, too. I love to read short descriptions of what
people have been climbing.

This past "weekend" I visited the Valley, the Meadows, Happy
Boulders, the Needles, Red Rocks, and Lake Tahoe.

Highlights were:

retrieving a camera dropped while chimneying behind the summit block
on Reed Pinnacle, by starting up the Left Side

getting the word from Toni Egger via Tim O'Neill - it don't matter

the Needles, the Needles, the Needles

Jonah (Veggietales) in the Las Vegas casino

the way a storm blew up while we were climbing the day after
seeing Jonah - All right, Lord, we did our job. Now you do yours.

Andy Cairns


Michael A. Riches

unread,
Oct 23, 2002, 9:02:26 PM10/23/02
to
in article x53cqxf...@tupik.goethe.zz, David Kastrup at
David....@t-online.de wrote on 10/23/02 2:05 AM:

> "Michael A. Riches" <rock...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
>> Hey...all these TR's are great. Thanks to everyone that has taken the time
>> to write.
>>
>> My weekend consisted of getting grease and grime clear to my....uhhhh,
>> elbows and beyond.
>
> Congratulations. Boy or girl?

For the time being we'll call it a girl (all 1600 pounds of her), till it
decides it don't want to run anymore (then we might dig out the "B" word...)

Ratzzz...(There "WILLLLLLL" be a Sidekick at the party this year, or I'll be
walking, damn-it...!!!!!)

Fredd

unread,
Oct 24, 2002, 8:10:16 AM10/24/02
to
"A. Cairns" <lek...@intergate.ca> wrote in message news:<3DB71258...@intergate.ca>...

>
> retrieving a camera dropped while chimneying behind the summit block
> on Reed Pinnacle, by starting up the Left Side
>
> getting the word from Toni Egger via Tim O'Neill - it don't matter
>
> the Needles, the Needles, the Needles
>
> Jonah (Veggietales) in the Las Vegas casino
>
> the way a storm blew up while we were climbing the day after
> seeing Jonah - All right, Lord, we did our job. Now you do yours.

Andy, this is way too inside. Tell a story!

Andy Gale

unread,
Oct 24, 2002, 12:19:00 PM10/24/02
to

Michael A. Riches wrote:
cides it don't want to run anymore (then we might dig out the "B" word...)
>
> Ratzzz...(There "WILLLLLLL" be a Sidekick at the party this year, or I'll be
> walking, damn-it...!!!!!)


<snicker> You mean Rat is switching from a big-ass manly-man high rise
Pickup to a cute little girly-girl Sidekick?!?!

'Tsup with that?


Andy

stinkwagen

unread,
Oct 24, 2002, 12:58:30 PM10/24/02
to
Andy Gale <ag...@scripps.edu> wrote in message

> > a couple of belay/hauling gimps
>
> Slime's got a phrase for that.
>
> Andy

Thanks for bringing that up Andy, and soiling a perfectly nice thread.

Chuck

A. Cairns

unread,
Oct 24, 2002, 4:21:36 PM10/24/02
to

Fredd wrote:

Do you know this one?

I gave my love a cherry that had no stone...


Michael A. Riches

unread,
Oct 25, 2002, 12:03:19 AM10/25/02
to
in article 3DB81D74...@scripps.edu, Andy Gale at ag...@scripps.edu
wrote on 10/24/02 10:19 AM:

Uuuuuhhhh, wellllll.....lets just say that there was a serious down turn in
my economy and we're scaling back a bit. That burly beast was costing me
around 600 bucks a month in fuel, where-as the current Samurai (it too has a
6 inch lift, 31 inch tires and a bit of fun stuff done to it...) costs me
only 200 dollars a month in fuel. The Sidekick should do even better (that
is till I get the lift and the tires on it...).

Ratzzz...(Once I get the Sidekick running the Samurai gets a new powerplant
and a total makeover from stem to stern....)

Charles Vernon

unread,
Oct 25, 2002, 12:56:37 AM10/25/02
to
"A. Cairns" <lek...@intergate.ca> wrote in message news:<3DB8564F...@intergate.ca>...

Ah!

I gave my love a chicken that had no bone...

Howard Young

unread,
Oct 28, 2002, 2:12:19 PM10/28/02
to
Topped out on the Shield Saturday night. Right now all I can remember is
wind, manky rurp slings, and #4 sawed offs. TR coming, once I can bend my
knuckles again.

Howard
"Michael A. Riches" <rock...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:B9DB591C.1FB9E4%rock...@earthlink.net...

D a v i d E m r i c h

unread,
Oct 28, 2002, 2:17:36 PM10/28/02
to

"Howard Young" <youn...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:n_fv9.10565$VJ5.6...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

> Topped out on the Shield Saturday night. Right now all I can remember is
> wind, manky rurp slings, and #4 sawed offs. TR coming, once I can bend my
> knuckles again.

Congrats Howard!!

When Winter weather struck here last week, I was thinking you might be a little cold up there.

David

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