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CLIMBING FORUMS AND DISCUSSION

2005 FORUMS  Please post comments below.  The 2003 Forums and 2004 Forums are now archived on separate pages.

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dweeb?? um. email me your new contact info then. susanica at gmail.com

Susan you dweeb, I guess you have to come back up here then don't you. Its going to be a lot of fun out here that's for sure. I didn't get your email btw.

Colin you dork, I was there like 6 days ago, looking at the grand, did you get my email? Jackson is crazy huh

I just got settled into my lodging through August in Jackson, WY. This place is unbelievable. I'm staying at the resort next door to the Gondola and probablly a 10 minute drive from the Grand Teton. If anyone wants to come out and visit and climb let me know at the moment my place can sleep 4 easily without sharing beds or sleeping on the floor. At the end of August I have to find another place to live so no promises on arrangements.

Colin, some of those are great photos. Also, apparenty this page has not been taken down, despite the ITS department telling me otherwise. And I'm in my new Pasadena apartment, back from Bulgaria/France.

I finally put up my hiking/climbing photos on a website. its located at erasableink.smugmug.com. This fall I will either be in Boulder or Jackson, WY I will likely know in a week or two. Enjoy

Summitted Chopicalqui at 20,845 feet (6355 m) on the 20th of July at 8 am. Caps the end of a 5-day-wait in challenging conditions. Base camp, morraine camp (3 nights), high camp, and back down. On top with another Columbian group, but an Argentinian and Norwegian group turned around. Simul-climbed the last two hours, 3 ice walls, but easy. Nearly delirious with pain from previous diarrhea, but have had enough lapromide that i wont shit for a month.

Had a lengthy discussion with a Brad White of Fairview who was ascending the morraine ridge while i descended, shared some cookies because we had run out of food waiting out the storm. Im already crying because Im left out of upcoming expeditions because I don thave enough time to do other mountains and walls and things I wanted to do.

Would like to use this forum to announce that Jacob and I are no longer together. Cheating doesnt sit well with me.

Colin and I did the fun and classic Skywalker colouir on S. Arapahoe last Saturday, but this was overshadowed by Jacob and Ryan doing first D7 and then the Yellow Wall on the Diamond on Fri and Sat. Jacob nearly redpointed the crux pitch of D7 and I think the Yellow Wall all went in good style. They saw Bill Briggs and Jon Krakuer on Friday, and Jacob was pleased to report that he flashed the "crux" pitch of the Yellow Wall which had given Jon lots of trouble the day before. They suffered from their climbs, though: Jacob's fingers hurt so much he had to ask me to open his can of beer for him, and as for Ryan's fingers, let's just say that Jade wasn't a happy camper that night.

I'm now in Long Beach, trying to find an apartment and will head to Europe next Monday. Also, this is important: THIS WEBSITE WILL BE TAKEN DOWN ON JULY 29th. I can probably rehost it on a caltech server starting in October, but until then it will be down. But never fear, it will come back, albeit at a new address. If you email me, then I will respond with the new address once I have it. Also, I wouldn't mind if someone downloaded the source to the forums around July 28th since I'll be out of the country then. The rest of the webpage I have backed up. If anyone else wants to host it, let me know.

Carolyn, it was nice to hear from you. Are you coming back to so cal in the fall?

Hey guys! Well, per Susan's recommendation, I decided to post here after a super long hiatus. We've been getting the climbing in that we can, but do to a 40 hour work week, I haven't really done anything that notable. Last weekend went up to Yosemite and did Super Slab and Munganella which were awesome, though it was hot as all hell and Yosemite was swarming with tourists. The good news is, today was my last day of work, so I am packing up and coming back to Boulder for a bit. I'm looking to be there through the end of July and a good part of August, so let me know who is around and if you are looking for a climbing partner, cause that's mostly all I want to do in Boulder!

Good lord, I feel like a lame ass, quite the story Susan, I'm sure you have more too. I want to see your photos at some point

I don't really want to follow that story, but will anyway. I arrived in CO last friday for a week or two stay (tbd). On sunday my dad and I did Mt. Huron (14,003) in the Sawatch range. Nice peak, bloody hard hike coming from sea level and as out of climbing shape I am. We couldn't make the 4WD parking lot on account of driving the Subi so we settled for adding 4 miles to the round trip distance and hiked in from Winfield. The hike itself was 8 miles round trip with 3,750 in elevation gain. We got started late (10 am) and summited prolly around 2. From the top you can see a lot of 14ers and some lower peaks that would provide nice climbs. In particular, to the south west there are two unnamed peaks at 13,500 and 13,400 that look like they have some awesome snow/rock routes up them. The descent was slow and painful, but the weather held off, more or less, and we made it back to the car around 5:30. Long day for the un-aclimated and out of shape.

I'll be in CO till at least the 11th of July if anyone is interested in climbing, hiking or anything else.

Sorry to post again so soon, but I have been living the past 3 days in a drunken haze stupor laughing my ass off to myself and had to tell someone. Basically, the day I got back from Pisco, I was thrown into another adventure: "El Tour Festival (de deportivas aventuras)¨, which for all intents and purposes, are basically the Peruvian X-Games. Yes. I was on Peruvian TV.

Day 1: Morning after Pisco, I get up at 5:30 because Im talked into going ¨to watch¨ the ice climbing comp. Little do I know that the boys have packed my ice gear and the bus we got on wasnt the normal bus, but "the athlete´s bus." I started noticing all these tv cameras (on the bus) and a vehicle following that would periodically zoom past with a huge boom mic and tv cameramen standing in the truck bed shooting closeups of our faces out the window while we drove up to Pastoruri (5000m or almost 20,000ft) glacier where the comp was. Meanwhile, on the bus with me are possibly some of South America's hottest boys, Im sitting with Peru´s finest snowboarders and some international competitors, and everyone is chewing coca leaves to acclimate. I didnt know what to do, aside from panic, so I slept. We get there and I am exasperated to find myself unable to breathe well at high altitude but we get up to a glacier and well, to make a long story short, I both ice-climbed for the first time, competed in my first competition, and won my first comp all at the same time. hahaha. I cant stop laughing about it because it was so absurd. A slovenian guy fixed my crampons and let me borrow his nice axes ("dont drop them," he said, becuase it was a leashless comp). I made my way to the top and was the first (only) girl to finish the route, but becuase I was technically competing against the guys, I didnt win. After pulling the small roof, and finally getting there, on the way down I was in so much pain I wanted to cry, because my muscles couldnt get enough oxygen and I couldnt open my hands because they were cramped closed from overgripping my tools at the top. I spent the whole day laughing hysterically, I really couldnt stop laughing because I was so filled with joy at the awesome sport. Or just oxygen deprived. I met a few guys that were incredible (young 18 year old amazing prodigys) that I talked to on the way down, sharing an inexplicable bond, and that night we went and trained, bouldering until 1:30 am.

Day 2: Im supposed to meet one of the guys in the morning, but he was called out to help a client with a stove problem in a group that was departing, so I stand around until one of the others spot me on the street and yell for me to get in the taxi because they are going boulder. The granite is incredibly painful, and after topping out on (easy) problem, I couldnt pull anymore and just take a bunch of pictures. They show me Jason Kehl's problems that he put up when he visited, and top out a few other hard problems. We come back and at night I go down to the main drag to watch the Bouldering Portion of the X-games. The problems are not well set, they are just incredible throws to dumb holds. No girls compete, and I feel weak, so I sit it out, and cheer. To give you an idea of what it was like: the comp was held in a BAR. a bar with a bouldering wall. Free flowing alcohol. AND, a tattoo artist as in: "Come, compete in a boulder comp drunk and get tattooed." The buzz of the tattooing was really unsettling all night. Thankfully escaped that one, with only a vague memory of being incredibly cold, NOT getting tatooed, and as I was leaving, this guy came up to me and offered me $50 for my north face denali jacket. It took me about 2 seconds to think, "money, a lighter pack, or no money, and carry the damn jacket" And it wasnt even my jacket (KATIE Im REALLY SORRY, but ill buy you a new jacket). Jacketless, we head to the nearest bar and warm up. I walk into the bar and am crushed by people all of a sudden who say hi to me, get handed a drink and I try really hard to remember who is who, but then they tell me they watched me at the ice comp. One of the guys (who placed the boulder comp) takes me downstairs to dance, and a few minutes later, Im blinded by the light of a tv camera that is filming the party and wants an interview. I back away and my partner does the interview, and during the course of the night they come back again, filming, and blinding.

Day 3: Im supposed to meet people to go to the main climbing competition, but they were all hungover and we all missed each other. I go to the house of some climbers I know, and grab a taxi with some girls there to the comp thats up in the hills. We walk down where Cristal, the Peruvian Beer has sponsored a huge bike ramp, a stage, a giant inflated beer bottle and a big climbing wall in a field--by nightfall, thousands of people would fill this space where a concert took places and winners were presented with those giant checks, you know, the size of a science fair poster board. I barely made it on time and was put in Iso almost immediately. They call attendence, and Im the first on the list. I asked them what it meant, and they said that I would be climbing first. Fuck! The pin a number to my tank top, I get ready, and walk around the corner to a huge crowd. Im told to say hi on cameara to the sponsors, ¨Buenas, soy Susanna de Los Estados Unidos, saludos a la planeta deportista!!!!!!!¨ (smile, wave). Im not nervous at all, because Im so happy to climb, and I want the cash prize, but I know Im not strong enough, so I climb until I fall at the first crux at the second bolt, a delicate static reach to a pinch for a tall person, a desperate, deadpoint lunge for a short person (me). The crowd claps politely, disappointed, but then it had to be the most boring comp on earth because that same crux took out every competitor with exception to the 3 that sent the route. Only 6 out of 10 finalists made it past that point, and did another silly route. One strong girl from Fontainebleu made finals, borrowing my harness (shes a boulderer and didnt have one, but we hung out and gossipped in french). A guy from Spain won. We started drinking at noon. I have no idea when I got home. But I know I walked. That was yesterday.

Happy Fourth of July.

Susan, your adventures put us to shame. Awesome.

Why i sit you need a forum?? -=Ninja

p.s. i cant believe there is a "tower climbing" certification. lol. alright, off to have drinks with the Pisco crew!

Yesterday me and a few partners did Nevado Pisco, 5752m, (or around 18,870 feet) , a mountain that many here use as a "warm-up" for other giants, although it is no piece of cake (at least to me). I summitted first (cuz the boys let me) at 12:26pm, which is about 3 hours late, in horrible conditions. 700m from the top, we nearly turned around because of the time but we continued and by the time we got there we were like manically eating snow for water scooping it up in our hands. We did it in a two-day push, the first trekking 3 hours to base camp 4600m (15000?), then doing the lasst 7 hours the next morning, which actually turned into nearly nightmarish 17 hours total.

I knew when my alarm went off at 1 and there was a sheer layer of ice coating the inside of my tent doors that i was in for it. We made it past the higher camp at around 4 am, negotiating confusing morraine territory in the fucking ascent to the glacier, and started off. Our party of 6 (me, an Englishman, a Scot, a Venezulan, 2 Peruvians) roped up and started around 5 maybe. There is only one technical portion, a 100 foot long ice wall at about 70-degree angled but we got stuck behind a party of 15 czechs on their way down, which was maddening. After we all got up, it was getting close and that was when we were thinking of retreating, but we made it anyway, as a team, after leaving our packs at the top of the wall and fairly sprinting it the last 3 hours to the summit. We were descending late, and on our way back the ice had turned to sugar snow slush as we tried to beat time back. At one point, the first two started sliding, the two of us dug in at the back. I rapped down the wall that was completely fucked and soft (I practically skiied down on my crampons on a power slide), the crevasses that were cracks were become huge gaping holes, and an eternity later we were off the glacier. Me and this other guy got lost in the morraine and I was really starting to feel it because of dehydration and carrying all my ice gear and camera gear until I spotted a cairn that was as far away as it could possibly be and still see it. At 5 pm, our Peruvian guide was like "In my seven years of working the mountains, Ive never seen a girl carry a pack for 17 hours." I tried to laugh but just collapsed in my tent while the guys fussed over lighting my Dragonfly stove (or flying dragon, as they call it in spanish). I have a high-altitude hack (cough) that ive had for 3 weeks and cant get rid of, so i coughed all night, and this morning a big avalanche on Nevado Huandoy woke us up and a storm moved in as we scattered to get off the mountain, leaving behind a very sick Denverite whose friends were attempting the summit in the storm (We gave him Cipro, rehydration salts, water and Loperamide and left him there). We got back into town tonight and I took a cold shower (all that was available) and cant stop drinking water.

Easily the most beautiful but one of the most painful things Ive ever done...and i cant believe it, but am making plans with for the next one, after I swore on the way up, never again. SHITTTTTTtttttttttt! There are 65 peaks over 5000m here (19,685ft) (although Huascaran, the highest, is impossible this season) Hope all is well with everyone.

Im at peace here and am filled with emotions that I cant explain.

God, I wish this computer worked. Hey guys. Ive been in Huaraz for 14 days now. I spent the first week sport-climbing at a new place thats being developped. Its at 12,000 feet and absolutely beautiful. The rock is still new and I took a 20 foot lead fall when a piece broke outside of a 6a (11b) crack, and boy did i scream. Nevermind, I could barely breathe. My partner Lilly and I repeated many new routes to confirm grades (i had to quickly learn the french ratings) and she FAed a new line, which, while we were putting up, our friend pulled a nut when he fell out of the thin crack and chipped his tooth. Its sharp granite, and cool. I climbed with 4 Israelis, 2 Peruvians, a New Zealander, an Argentinian (who is equipping the crag) and Lilly who is from Switzerland. The second time I returned, I partnered with a Columbian climber who I am doing other stuff with this month because he's a shit hot climber. Tomorrow I am going to an ice-climbing comp (dont laugh) and the next day i will be competing in a climbing competition. Im going to enter this and repost because this computer is about to freeze

Colin, are you interested in meeting up and/or climbing next week? I'm driving from CT to CO starting next Wed, and will probably be in Indiana on Thur or Fri. Your new hobby sounds distinctly "Midwest."

It took me four years, but I finally found shit in the midwest that is entertainint to climb....Grain Elevators. We climbed two of them yesterday because we are going to install some antennas on top. They were 150' and 110'. Easy, but entertaining. We take what we can gere here. Its quite a different feeling than being on a wall because the structureis so narrow. The visibility is unbeatable for the same reason, at the top its a 360 degree view, swaying in the wind and everything. I'm looking into getting a tower climber certification so I can climb the 300-1000 foot towers, but that may be further down the road.

Ryan, you still using my ice axes? Just wondering where they ended up.

Congrats, Stephen. Thats some pretty crazy weather. good to hear from you. Peru is pretty fucking rad, its about 40 degrees F here usually, way colder at night. I'm up a little ways here in Cusco (11,150ft). The last week and a half has just been working on my fluency and learning how to get around by myself, but its coming along pretty fast since i am staying with a peruvian family. but i leave in 10 days for a month in Huaras, and there should be some goodtimes there.

After waiting out 5 days of bad weather in Seattle, Boris and I decided to risk a bad forecast and attempt Rainier in a one day push on my last full day in Washington. We slept for an hour at the trailhead, then left Paradise at 1 AM. We hit Camp Muir around 4:45 AM, then the summit at 10:20 AM, following the nice tracks of a huge, slow RMI group through the upper Ingraham glacier. Back down by 3:30 PM. The weather did everything: it started out raining, then snow, then just cold (~10 F). After Camp Muir, it warmed a bit and the sun was out. Higher up, it was cold again and windy, and there was a whiteout when we summited, though that cleared just after we left. Camp Muir was in the clouds on the way down and was toasty (it felt about 95 F), then we descended into a warm snow storm which turned into a cold rain storm. Booth's brother Colin is off to attempt the Cassin Ridge as training for the Rhupal Face. I have pics, but doubt they'll find there way to the website soon. How's Peru Susan? Ryan, I never learned how your attempt on Taylor went. Did you make it to the top?

cover photo is by Roberto Fiorovanti. its a bouldering shot from Hueco Tanks

Dammit! I cant get that here. who took the photo on the cover for this years annual?

Mr. Briggs is one of four climbers featured in an article about Eldo's "Glory Days" in the Photo Annual 2005 Special Issue of Climbing that's out now. It has two good pics of him climbing in painter pants sending 10s and 11s back in the day. check it out

Happy Birthday Stephen! Congrats on the 13, JJ. You're going to make the Diggler your bitch. Best wishes for your wedding, Ryan and Jade! Kim, i'll see you guys when you get here if you need any help. i'll be here in September. Have a great summer everyone!! Catch you on the flip side. (Bank account is still $100 overdrawn, so hopefully I'll be able to make it out of Peru. Otherwise, come visit me). xoxoxoxo

p.s. if anyone else wants to come to california and climb, or stay awhile, or live with me in Camp4 give me a call..... hehe.

i actually didn't send a 13, i just made it up. but it won't be long...

My company website is www.forepointnetworks.com we provide wireless internet to a variety of customers. we've been working for 8 months on it so far, but that was during the year and now we can devote full days to it so it should start moving quickly. Congrats on the 13a Jacob that's awesome. Two more weeks then the cast comes off and I'll be climbing again.

Is anybody going to MountBlank? What’s about accommodation? I've heard that there is an extensive range of huts on both the French and Italian sides of the range. Without a CAF or CAI card or a 'reciprocal rights' stamp it costs about IRЈ10-11 for a bed. From mid-July to the third week in August it is necessary to book overnights in larger huts. Cooking is allowed in most huts provided you have your own stove, etc. I found some information [url=http://www.infohub.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=248]here[url/]

Also notable, but of less importance, was JJ's onsight of "Towering Inferno," a five-pitch 5.11 sport route at Owens River Gorge that he put away on our last day there.

yesterday, the distance runners at Wesleyan that were still training (i.e. the ones that qualified for nations or divisionals) had an impromtu 800m race and invited me to join, so I did. There were 5 or 6 other guys and they were all good, so they pulled me along quite nicely and even though they all beat me, I ran a 2:03.7, which I'm pleased with considering I haven't trained at all.

Boris and I climbed yesterday at Ragged Mtn. There was a spider incident too, and this spider was about 2" across and was guarding his home diligently (which was the crack I wanted to use). I was the one to back down and make a circuitious detour around the spider.

Jacob is on the road now, going to CO. He got out of the Marines for good on Monday. Also, for anyone who doesn't know, he got up a 5.13a, though not as a redpoint. Impressive!

I don't know much about the Jackson Hole area. The skiing is great, they say. I think Grand Teton has some great mountaineering routes, and there's the Teton traverse.

i'm afraid i'm out of the loop on this company of yours, colin. perhaps you can enlighten me?

Does anyone know anything about the Jackson Hole / Teton area? there are some summer employment opportunities at the Jackson Hole Resort. Anything on hiking, climbing, mountaineering and such would be cool.

The plan for me is to get my company profitable so I can either sell it off or hire a manager to work it for me so I can move elsewhere. Our goal is to be out of Bloomington in a year, but we'll see how that time frame works out. my wrist is feeling better, but the cast is still on it for another 2.5 weeks at least. After that I'm going to ask for a brace if possible so I can exercise without the thing starting to reek.

Stephen, the climbing page looks nice. Very clean. (I'm avoiding a paper too)

Hi everyone else, it's been awhile. Colin's crash pictures are... impressive. Stephen pointed out that you can find bikes hovering mid-air with no one on them. I'm looking forward to moving to California, Susan will you still be there? What are your plans? Nice that the best bouldering gym is so close... is it expensive?

Colin, at least some awesome pictures came out of the crash. I'm planning on doing a road trip through Europe with Boris sometime in July and August. We meant to climb at Rumney this weekend but didn't check the forecast until the night before and had to give up our plans due to heavy rain. I'd like to get to Rumney eventually, though I'm running out of time on the East Coast. Colin, will you be in Bloomington indefinitely?

Also, I think Colin had this problem when he tried to post: if you access my page via http://srbecker.web.wesleyan.edu/climbing.htm then you can't post. If you access it via http://condor.wesleyan.edu/srbecker/climbing.htm then you can post. The pages are otherwise identical. The link that says "Click here and try again" will direct you to the "condor" version. And for kicks and giggles, Wesleyan also links to the page via http://www.wesleyan.edu/~srbecker/climbing.htm, which probably doesn't let you post either. Simple, right? I also cleaned the webpage up a little, since I'm avoiding writing a paper (the last one of college, thankfully). I'm no longer linking to email addresses using the "@" symbol since that enables spammers to harvest email addresses from the page. Let me know if you want your email address on the page (they're at the bottom), since I only have a few listed.

oh man, hahha. that sucks! http://www.cyclingnews.com/trackphotos.php?id=photos/2005/apr05/little500_05/B85F9343 How long are you out for? The Red, oooh, good climbing.

What up guys, its been a while. I thought I would humur you with a picture of me last weekend in the Little 5 here at IU. http://www.cyclingnews.com/trackphotos.php?id=photos/2005/apr05/little500_05/B85F9336 I'm the rider in pink doing my best frog impression. The crash happened on the first lap we were in a pack going about 30 when riders started piling up. The result is a broken wrist so I'm out of commission for a while. I decided that when I get the cast off I'm going to get back into climbing so if anyone wants to hit up some midwest spots this summer (Red River Gorge, Jackson Falls, Giant City...) I would be down for it.

finished my thesis

that's because i changed out the photo of me in the shoulder immobilizer and replaced it with a more inspirational pre-accident climbing photo before i sent you that friend request. I don't think the BRC is really soft, but the ratings are often more for endurance rather than individual hard moves. I found the routes much better than they are out here but the setters in Boulder are generally better than in other places. One of the key problems in many gyms is that the setters aren't solid in the grade they set at and attempt to create harder routes just by using smaller holds and reachier moves. I mean, setting is definitely an art (sorry, it's my line of work. or was, before december)

Caltech has a cute little climbing community; we used to do joint outings with them and they even have a little wall on campus. Also the best bouldering gym in SoCal is also about ten minutes away from downtown Pasadena. Come on down.Funny that you guys are migrating out here. Welcome to CA.

Susan, juding by your facebook photo, your shoulder looks like it's in good shape. Jacob, you had better be lifting weights. Speaking of soft grades, what do you guys think the BRC is? The gym here in CT is much, much stiffer, or at least predisposed towards having tiny crimps but soft overhangs.

Looks like I'm going to be in Pasadena next year studying at Caltech. Kim will find out in three weeks if she gets accepted into a teaching program in LA.

Ryan, are you alive, or stuck somewhere on Taylor still?

no, he meant that jtree grades are stiff, not soft. It felt harder than 11a, not easier. Josh grades are notoriously sandbagged, especially for people who aren't used to the type of climbing. Even though it was fun as hell. Fuck, i don't think my shoulder will ever be the same again after ripping it out today. ahhh.

spent the weekend at the red rocks rendezvous vous with susan. it was kinda cool, but only kinda. although i had a clinic with kitty calhoun on aid climbing one with damien and willie benegas about faster clinbing with two and three partners ie. simul climbing and faster movement through belays and stuff like that. it was pretty cool and i learned some good things but mostly everything was geared toward people who are beginning and intermidiate recreational climbers, so i didn't learn as much as i could have. but it was still cool. tried a 12c in red rocks a couple times but didn't quite have the endurance to send it. the moves were easy though. then we climbed in jtree today. jumped on a 11a trad and it thoroughly worked me, but i could climb it next time. the crux is in the first 25 feet in these little slopey pockets wich suck, but after spending plenty of time hanging from my gear (which i was a little rusty on placing), i know i can do it. although they say jtree grades are soft, so maybe 11a isn't quite justice. but after the bottom bit i placed two pieces in the next 100 feet or something cause it was maybe 5.8. but susan is finally getting back on the rock after doing therapy on her shoulder for the last two months, and was able to follow. so maybe we'll lick that sick little sport bug she's had. anyways, i hope everyone else has been able to get in some form or another.

Ryan, how'd Taylor go?

Not really - East coast working 'til mid June, then climb in WA or CO or abroad perhaps, end up in CA. You?

Just curious, does anyone have summer plans yet?

Boris and I tried to Damnation Gully in Huntington Ravine (still Mt. Washington) on Sun. We camped Sat night at the trailhead and froze - it was pretty windy. Because of the wind, the gullies had unstable new snow and the avalanche advisory rated everything "considerable - human triggered avalanches probable" so we didn't do Huntingtons and hiked to Tuckerman's, only to find the same conditions. We ended up doing the easy winter route to the summit and it was uneventful, except for the constant winds with huge gusts at the top. Weather.com says the conditions yesterday were -11 F at 9AM, warming up to -4 F at 3 PM, with constant winds between 54 and 68 mph, windchill at -45 F, and the avalanche bulletin called it the worst weather yet this winter. I have some pictures I'll post someday to give a sense of Mt. Washington.

I <3 Boulder. (Here for the weekend). Stephen your adventures sound fun in a torturous sort of way.

Boris and Booth and I did Pinnacle Gully (NEI 3), one of the better known Huntington Ravines on Mt. Washington. It was rather windy at the top of the gully and some guy claimed it was -5 F, though we doubt this. We used rock gear to protect belays (or just hollowed out a stance in the snow) and at the end of the second ice pitch, two guys (who had held us up for an hour) finally admitted defeat and rapelled off two ice screws that they were willing to leave. So once they were gone, we took their screws (they were shitty Russian Ti ones) and continued up. Boris' and my goggles froze up (Booth did ok with just glasses) so we were having difficulties seeing into the wind and our eyelashes froze a bit, but everything was otherwise uneventful. The ice dinnerplated constantly, but no one fell slipped once We had two sets of ice tools and three ice axes; I lowered my ice tools to Booth at the top of the first pitch, but after that Booth managed to climb with just the ice axes.

HAHA. trespassing. nice, stephen!

Boris and I got one set of ice tools in the mail yesterday, so we intrepidly set out to practice with them today. We went to a huge ice falls on the side of a 4-lane road and had good TR climbing for two hours. We started with a slightly mixed climb then did a fat icicle which I did laps on. This was cut a little short when a state trooper pulled up. He demanded ID, patted Boris down, then spent 20 min. in his car running a scan on our names (it didn't help that Boris had no ID with him). We were charged with trespassing, and Boris innocently said that we were unaware that we were trespassing, which prompted the trooper to walk ten feet over to the obvious sign that said "State Property - No Trespassing," so that didn't work so well. We each got tickets for $92. Damn police. We're going to try Huntington's this Friday.

Ryan, if they did, I'm 95% sure it was a medium. I can check tonight. Boris and I got tools: we have one set of used aztars with extra picks and leashes for $200; we also got a pair of new 2004 Quarks for $200.

Colin and I did the Bastille Crack in January of '02 and I remember it being terrifying. It took me forevever, and Colin had to hang several times on the first pitch. It started snowing and we rapped.

Might try to get some screws from ebay. Will probably avoid used screws. The BD express have the nifty lift-up handle, right?

stephen, did those pants have a size?

Hey guys, Stephen, I'll call Abby tonight. The Charlet Aztars are the tools you want. Jacob has those. When I sell mine, I'll get those. They are wicked light and very well balanced. Good choice. Good job on Washington. Hands down BD express are the only screws I'd recommend. They have (i think) the deepest thread on the market. Don't worry about the overall breaking stregnth of the screw; the ice will break long before the screw does.

I climbed the Bastille crack last sunday with my dad. There is a significant difference between climbing it on an August day with lines, sticky rock and good pro, versus February wind, snow and water. Bad pro, worse feet. Probably one of the hardest climbs I've done in a while. Good experiece. Scary as fuck.

Lead snow school last weekend. Going up Quandary this weekend.

Caitlin, wasn't me. Sorry.

Later

nice job Jacob. I'm a little jealous and trying hard not to swear at you. Caitlin, I don't know of anyone here who went to Grand Teton climbing school recently. Ryan might have gone to the Grand Tetons last summer, but not with a climbing school (as far as I know).

I might get Charley Moser Axars. I'm excited

finally i'm on the board with my first 12a. it was easy though. like a v4 in the middle of a ten, but it was good. soon to be a lot more where that came from. i can tele single blacks, and i'm getting better, but i still need practice before i head down 80 degree couloirs.

I'm looking for a boy I met (he was 19 and with his father) at Grand Teton climbing school this past summer. I am 18 and was with my father and his friend.

I'm looking for a boy I met (he was 19 and with his father) at Grand Teton climbing school this past summer. I am 18 and was with my father and his friend.

on Sat, Boris and Booth and I went up to Mt. Washington. We spotted a steep looking snow gully and climbed that to the ridge, then summitted and came down the Right Gully in Tuckerman's ravine. We're thinking about the steep ice gullies in Huntington's ravine next, but first I need some ice gear (I figure I should buy some, so might as well buy it now). Anyone have recommendations on tools and ice screws? I found used tools (see http://www.alpineadven.com/recentandcurrent/gearsale.html ) for $50 each, but they seem outdated.

Ryan, the pants were REI PT Wind Pro LT Pants - Men's, and were $89. How much do you think it'll cost to ship them? $5 maybe? I'll mail you a check for 50%*$89(*107% for tax) + $5 = $52.61. Sound good?

I took that article after I read it in the office of my physical therapist and gave it to Jacob. Speaking of therapy I have 4 more weeks of rehab, and if it doesn't work out, then surgery. I didn't compete at the last comp (about 80 people were there) because I'm still in an immobilization sling which sucks, but whatever. Have fun Stephen.

Stephen, give me the price and name of the pants. I'll call Abby as soon as I here from you.

I just finished an article about two guys who died on that route on Washinton. They froze to death. It was in National Geographic Explorer. (At least a similar, long ice route) sweet. Have fun.

Stephen, give me the price and name of the pants. I'll call Abby as soon as I here from you.

Ryan, glad you're getting out. Jacob, congrads on the competition results. How many people were there total? Did Susan compete? Have you been getting practice on your skis? I'm jealous of those. Also, I need ice tools. New England has great ice, but I'm not doing anything with it. However, Boris and Booth and I will be attempting a class 4 snow route on Mt. Washington this weekend. We should have some awful winds. There are the famous Huntington Ravines, but we need tools for those and we only have mountaineering axes; our route will be close to Tuckerman's Ravine.

Ryan, let me know if you can buy the REI pants. WHen do you hear back from NOLS?

Hey guys

School again, that's what I'm up to. Closer to done, I guess. I'm too far along to just drop out, but I could care less about engineering right now. Whatever. I'm trying to find another job, too. I'm still working at the ORC, guiding trips almost every weekend. I'm waiting on word from NOLS. Next big trip: my boss and I are going to make a route on the east face of Taylor Peak in the Park. (You guy's have probably seen it from the Petit). The rocky mountain book says there are a couple of M3+ to M5 routes, but there's no topo, so we're just gonna go. Looks good. That'll be in March. Then Jade and I are going to the desert for 10 days during spring break. More canyoneering. Hopefully more technical, though.

I just finished my Avalanche Level 1 certification yesterday. That's good.

Anyway, rock and mountains and rock on mountains are on my mind. Hopefully we can all do something soon.

Later

ca is fine. though lots of roads were closed around here a few weeks ago because of the rain causing mudslides and flooding and stuff. but everythings fixed now. i finished first in the advanced division of the regional comp in pasadena yesterday. too bad there were 14 people in the open division that climbed harder than me. last year i won the beginner division at the same comp. maybe next year i'll win the open. haha. that would mean i'd have to be in california. yeah right. anyhoo, what are you up to ryan?

There is a physics researcher in Nova Scotia who has a large computer cluster (about 200 4 GHz machines), so I used his computers. How's CA doing? The mudslides got a lot of media attention. New England just had 2 feet of snow last Sat/Sun, and we're getting more tomorrow. I was going to try to drip water out of my window to grow an ice-flow, but there are too many complications and I'm going to settle for making a horizontal ice patch on the ground.

what's in nova scotia? and why are the computers so special in canada, eh?

I'm in Nova Scotia for another two days. I've been sitting in front of a computer for about 13 hours a day, and I think my vision is going. Anyhow, the computers here are awesome, even if the weather isn't.

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Misc. inks:

        Ragged Mountain info (in CT)

        Essay by David Roberts (1980) that I scanned in.  pdf and doc formats

        article about altitude from May 29th 2004 New Scientist

        Speed climbing records

        In case you've ever bragged about running 10 miles... running article.

        Mountain Wallpaper

        Climbing Magazine, and their Access Alerts

        Rock and Ice Magazine

        The Spot Gym    (303) 379-8806   

        The Boulder Rock Club (303) 447-2804

 

Page maintained by Stephen Becker.

emails:    (email Stephen to update your info, or add your name)

    Stephen    srbecker at wesleyan.edu   

    Ryan        ryoung at mines.edu   

    Jacob      jjfuerst at yahoo.com   

    Colin        cmmeadow at indiana.edu  

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Site last updated 09/21/2005

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