3rd annual JAY-TREE gathering!

So, anybody going to be at the gym tonight? Believe it or not, I am actually in town!

Well, the problem wasnt that she is smaller than you the problem was she wasn't belaying you properly. "the rock she was sitting on" that is not right. She should know better...oh yeah, this is epic jen...i forgot.

So I fell off of Bacon Taco in Holcomb on Sunday. Jen was my belay and she nearly fell off the rock she was sitting on. Later that day I'm on that 10a on Motherload... the crimpy/sustained one. Fall off of that from about 10 feet and end up back on the ground. I'm thinking "Whoa, I'm not stopping!" Little people should not belay big people! Or they should choose their stance wisely.

And here's another reason not to go vegetarian! http://veganz.blogspot.com/ Yeah, like any of us are going veg!

I want to climb :(

Oh, BTW OCT 4th is the beginning of Josh season if the temps are ready for us. RIGHT?

Hi all.......been mia for awhile and it doesn't look as if it is going to get much better anytime soon...I hope u all still love me (or at least are willing to climb with me!)

So El Fucko....I mean Fuego, how do you feel now that you are an old man?

So for those of you out of town or just too lazy/lame to make it to Tahquitz.
Saturday:
The Vampire (11a) is possibly the finest route I have been on to date....and pretty damned spicy too! I followed Vern on this one and the easiest moves are at least 10+....the hardest are 11a.
I Lead Human Fright (10a) onsite. We only did the first 2 pitches as after that you have easy face climbing to Lunch Ledge and top off (been there done that)......we chose to rap off and speed things up. Vern did the Glossary 11b (1 pitch) which I declined to follow and then he finished the day doing Bedrock 11a/b, the only reason he did Bedrock was to get 2 bail biners and he finished the pitch just as daylight ended. A couple next to us had been asking us for help in finding Fingertrip and then as they rapped off of the first pitch their rope had gotten stuck in a tree which I subsequently freed for them. Well Vern needed a second rope to rap off of the 160 ft+ pitch he had just climbed so the couple next door was kind enough to lend us their rope for him to use.
We hiked down in darkness via headlamp and arrived back at the car to find a foil wrapped Turkey Sandwich (CA's calling card) waiting for us at the car (thanx JS CA and JB) YUM.
Sunday:
Well since I wasn't invited to go climbing at Big Bear I ended up going to the Back Bay and Kayaking with LP (shut the fuck up, we're still Friends) for the day.........I would rather have gone climbing but I guess Dave don't luv US no more. Then again given who Big Dave was climbing with I'm surprised it didn't rain.

So I got my shoes back on Friday night... they look like new, but he re-randed them again? I didn't think they needed it done but whateva'! The thick sole is really thick... like uber-edging machines now. Now I just need to get my other shoes done and I'll be set for another season! Can't wait to cram them into a crack! Jen H, C, and I went up to Holcomb yesterday. No one was there, almost creepy. We did a circuit of 10's and I am sore today, but a good sore. In the back and hands. My technique and balance on face is really messy. I can get up them but I'm pulling way too much with my hands. Mass x Distance = Dave Falling! Also just a heads up... Maggio's, located by the Sav-on off of Big Bear Blvd has some of the tastiest and cheapest italian food we've found. Cheap beer and wine too.

Jenn, I got the stickers! I'll be trimming and affixing them to my helmet this week!

Hey Thanks for the Sammitch!

Well I don't think I'll be home enough day's to do all these this winter. It sounds Like I'm gonna do another tour after this one. I'd love to try.

Damnit!!! Even Caties the Cap'n! Well, I guess we know how this relationship is gonna go.

For Jenn B
5.3 * B-2 Crack Quail Springs Trashcan Rock Fun, short route
5.3 * Beginner's Three Crack HVCG Intersection Rock
5.3 * Double Crack Crack Indian Cove Short Wall
5.3 * Upper Right Ski Track Crack HVCG Intersection Rock
5.4 ** 39 Steps Crack Wonderland
5.4 ** Bong, The Crack HVCG The Blob Excellent beginner lead
5.4 * Eschar Crack Quail Springs Trashcan Rock Good beginner lead
5.4 ** False Smooth as Silk Crack Lost Horse Freeway Wall
5.4 * Route 66 Crack Wonderland Ellsmere Island Excellent fist crack
5.4 * Squat Rockets Crack Indian Cove Billboard Buttress Very fun
5.5 ** Cellbound Face Indian Cove Jailhouse Rock
5.5 ** Elementary Jamming Crack Geology Tour Road The Tortuga
5.5 * Mr. Rogers Mixed Sheep Pass Televison Wall High quality rock
5.5 ** Right On Crack Sheep Pass Saddle Rocks 3 pitches
5.5 * Wilson Regular Route Crack Lost Horse Lost Horse Wall
5.6 * Circe Face HVCG Cyclops Rock A fine, steep face route.
5.6 * Cute the Moon Face Indian Cove Split Boulder
5.6 ** D.E. Chimney Crack Echo Rock The Gulley
5.6 * Deflowered Crack Outback Steve Canyon
5.6 * Diagnostics Crack Belle CG Castle Rock Somewhat devious
5.6 ** Double Dip Face Echo Rock Echo Rock Excellent beginner slab climb
5.6 ** Duchess Crack Indian Cove Feudal Wall
5.6 ** Fote Hog Crack Real Hidden Valley The Sentinel
5.6 * Fresh Combination Mixed Stirrup Tank Pyramid Tower
5.6 ** Leaping Leana Crack Real Hidden Valley Locomotion Rock
5.6 ** Mikado, The Crack Indian Cove Feudal Wall
5.6 ** Mike's Books Crack HVCG Intersection Rock Direct start is 5.8
5.6 * Moment's Notice Mixed Echo Rock Echo Rock R Rated
5.6 * Plain But Good Hearted Crack Indian Cove King Otto's Castle
5.6 * Serpent Scales Face Indian Cove Indian Palisades Corridor
5.6 ** Stemski Crack Live Oak Whispering Wall
5.6 *** SW Corner Face Ryan CG Headstone Rock
5.6 * Tranquility Crack Indian Cove Moosedog Tower

Jenn's reward will be to lead either White Lightning, Overhang Bypass or Sail Away.
Same deal as Dave Zac and Kirk.

Dave, Zac and Kirk
And your reward for leading all these climbs (clean no falls, no takes).
You get to lead either Spiderman, Exorcist or Right V crack........
If any of the three of you lead one of these 3 climbs then I'll buy you Dinner at Crossroads.

yeah.....whatever, I'm the cap'n too

1. If ye were responsible for naming yer pirate ship, what would she be called?
Mad Molly
2. When engaged in a life and death battle with the dread pirate hunter, Captain Snotty, my weapon of choice is ....
A bag of feral cats.
3. Fighting is...
An excuse to use me cannon wicks in me beard
4. What is the number one reason you want to be a pirate?
Do I have to choose between the gutting and the garroting?
5.Just before the act of love, I am bound to say ...
"Prepare to be boarded."
6. The best pet for a pirate is ...
A parrot.
7. Every pirate should end his days ...
Going mad and charging the cannons of the fort with a spoon.
8. When the young ones tell tall tales of my adventures in life, I want them to refer to me as "(My name), ...
... The Mad Skull Splitter"

You are a Pirate Second Class

Do you remember the last time you took
a chance? I do. It was when you decided
to leave the security of your mother's womb
and headed for the bright light. It's time
to head for the next bright light, my friend.
Creativity is not your strong suit. You
are good at doing what you are told to do
and that, in itself, is a gift. It's not a
gift to you, mind you, but rather a gift to
those who will be there to tell you what
to do. You like long walks on the beach and
cuddling, but would never admit that to your
Guy friends who think you are okay but can't
always remember your name. Tapioca pudding
seems a bit extreme for a fellow such as
yerself, what with all the bumps and stuff.
It's a good thing ye be on a pirate ship,
otherwise, ye'd would be walkin' because ye be
positively pedestrian. Have a nice day.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

Dammit, I'm the gay pirate!

You are The Cap'n!

Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any man that stands between them and the mantle of power. You never met a man you couldn't eviscerate. Not that mindless violence is the only avenue open to you - but why take an avenue when you have complete freeway access? You are the definitive Man of Action. You are James Bond in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. Your swash was buckled long ago and you have never been so sure of anything in your life as in your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off their head if they show any sign of taking you on or backing down. You cannot be saddled with tedious underlings, but if one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

That's a nice little list o' climbs... guess Davey's gonna learn to fly this winter! I don't know what the hell I am doing this weekend. I vaguely recall saying "Tahquitz this weekend" not to say that I am trying to shirk it... I just haven't had it in my mindset. It'll depend on two things, getting my shoes back since the others are down to the leather again (DOH!!!), and what C feels up to. She is having a bad week (Well two weeks actually). She'll probably want to climb so It'll come down to my shoes.

So the Staff Training was really great. My Staff is now capable of enormous performance. Actually, they did great, much better than last years bunch. Monday evening after a little car trouble with one of the students, we arrived at Serrano only to remember that campfires were banned. Kabobs quickly turned to Stir-Fry. We sat around that night telling dirty jokes, a great sign of group compatibility. Tuesday we went over the forty-something page long manual then headed up to Holcomb and TR'd the 5.5, 5.7, and 5.10b on the end of Motherload. Taught them to belay and got them climbing, all for the very first time. They had a blast and wanted to climb more to that's a good sign too. We did the hiking approach from the south since we had the Van, it's total cake. Not 15 minutes if you hike fast. It spits you out at Coyote. No real trail that I could find, just dead reckoning, and you can see the main pinnacle from the parking area if you know what you are looking for. Wednesday we sacked camp and headed to the lake. There was a pretty good wind going so we paddled against it at first up to the solar observatory, about a mile and a bit. They flipped and splashed each other the entire way. Last thing we did was orienteering, which is apparently my "specialty." It's boring shit, important, but boring. We got back to campus around 6:30pm. They promptly jumped out of the Van and put everything away properly of their own accord. I reiterate that they are a great group.

I'll either email of call about climbing if I can make it. If you want to do Magic Mountain on Sunday give me a call. Otherwise screw you in the eye hole and I'll see you soon!

So who's climbing this weekend?


kinda want to know, cuz if no ones going I'm gonna bail.

I feel that popes, touch and go and sphincter quits are more like test pieces for that grade, not prep climbs.

the SCMA crack climbing work shop for Zac, Kirk and Dave
(yes I could link it but I went to the trouble of looking up all the crags for you)
PREP CLIMBS A
5.7 Bighorn Hand Crack p. 60 smith rock (wonderland north)
5.7 Smooth as Silk p. 95 freeway wall
5.7 Double Dog Leg p.98 shorter wall
5.7 Classic Corner p. 109 beetle buttress
5.7 Bush Crack p. 120 losthorse ranger station wall
5.7 White Lighting p.125 hemingway
5.7 Scrumdillishus p. 131 dairy queen
5.7 Frosty Cone p. 131 dairy queen
5.7 Mr. Misty Kiss p.131 dairy queen
5.7 Double Cross p. 189 old woman
5.7 Nereltne p. 223 rock hudson
5.7 Life's a Bitch and Then You Marry One p. 279 dissolution rock
5.7 Mental Physics p.298 lenticular dome
5.7 Wisest Crack p. 379 cowboy crags
5.7 Dolphin p.463 isles in the sky
5.7 Crackup p. 482 laughter rock
PREP CLIMBS B
5.8 Right Sawdust Crack p.32 trashcan rock
5.8 Baby Roof p.53 ellsmere island (wonderland north)
5.8 Dinky Doinks p.97 tiny tots (losthorse)
5.8 Sail Away p.157 +/- hidden tower (rhv)
5.8 The Flake p.187 intersection rock
5.8 Dog Leg p.189 oldwoman (hvc)
5.8 Hands Off p.197 the wall (hvc)
5.8 Tennis Shoe Crack p.210 stevecanyon (outback)
5.8 Right Peyote Crack p.224 peyote cracks (outback)
5.8 Small World p.394 small world cliff (sheep pass)
5.8 Music Box p.473 castle rock (belle cmpgnd)
5.8 Where 2 Deserts Meet p.477 bovine dome (white tank cmpgnd)
5.8 Crank Queenie p.529 varnished wall (ic)
5.8 Taken for Granite p.550 rattlesnake buttress (ic rattlesnake canyon)
5.8 At Your Pleasure p.353 upper walts route (queen mtn)
LEVEL 1 AND 2 up to 5.9
5.8 Nurn's Romp p. 384 hall of horrors (sheep pass)
5.8 Gem p. 445 conans corridor (jumbo)
5.8+ Continuum p. 459 future games (split rocks)
5.9 Cake Walk p. 96 freeway wall (lh)
5.9 Dummy's Delight p. 178 houser buttress (rhv)
5.9 Looney Toons p. 223 rock hudson (outback)
5.9 Middle Peyote Crack p. 224 peyote cracks (outback)
5.9 Pope's Crack p. 245 echo rock
5.9- Room to Shroom p. 278 room to shroom (barker)
5.9 Touch and Go p. 241 touch and go (echo)
5.9 Sphincter Quits p. 154 sports challenge rock (rhv)
5.9 North Overhang p. 187 intersection rock (hvc)
5.9 Orphan p. 189 old woman (hvc)
5.9 Colorado Crack p. 445 conans corridor (jumbo)
5.9 Invisibility Lessons p. 459 future games (split rocks)
5.9 Super Roof p. 210 steve canyon (outback)

Ralph quotes: Hi, Super Nintendo Chalmers!....( to superintendent Chalmers )

So who's climbing this weekend?
destination: Tahquitz
afterwards: "Q" at daves?

Some really interesting food for thought going on here on rec.climbing concerning
women as equals (climbing partners)

Mexico Online: Hildago's Call for Mexican Independence - Grito de Dolores

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in

waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht

the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a

toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae

the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a

wlohe.


Amzanig huh?

FELIZ DIA DE INDEPENDENCIA! VIVA MEXICO!!!

fatality on Nutcracker

Ahoy mateys! September 19th be talk like a pirate day!
check it out
ARRRR talk like a pirate

So I haven't been able to get on the web for a while, but here is the story of my travel. I Flew out of Ontiaro airport with a layover in Houston to get to Missippi. Well coming into Houston we got redirectied beacuse of rain. After flying in circles for 2 hours the piloit gets on the PA and says "Well folks we're running out of fuel and need to make an emergency landing in Austin... no need to worry." Well after landing we were stuck on the ground for 2 more hours. We finally took off did a couple of circles around Houston and before we landed the piloit gets back on the PA and says "Well folks just to let you know the runway is wet and this may be a bumppy landing so be ready for anything." uh well that was scarry. After all that I missed my conecting flight and almost missed the show the next day but I bought a ticket on another airline to get me there on time. So after a few redneck states I'm now in Chicago. I hope everyone is well.

So you think your Kung-Fu is good, eh? Your Crane style is no match for my Monkey Style!

So at first I was gonna take down that pic of me that Jorge dug up, but then I thought... damn I look good!

Now just to give you the full story. I "learned" the Davey Crocket Explorer Canoes during the summer of 1999. Your first week out there your ass and back would absolutely kill you, cramping up at every opportunity. We'd "payadul" these 22 person boats around the Rivers of America everyday from 11am until 6pm and although the boats were "unsinkable" we certainly did try. You could stand on the gunnels and rock them back and forth, jump up and down and 'cause the person on the other end to jiggle (fun, if you had the right partner, bouncy bouncy), and every so often "hook" which is to catch another canoe and ram their rear causing them to spin out. This pic was taken with my buddies Jerome and John at the end of my last day at Disney. Since I was the scheduler I put myself on Canoes. What better way to end a job!

muahahahaha!!!

I look just FABULOUS!!!

img src= "http://members.aol.com/apowderhound/Canoe" width=350 height=250 alt="look at my arms...they are so, how you say.... enormous" align="center"

This is what happens when you leave stuff out in the open.

Muahhahahhahaha!!!

EDIT: GOT RID OF PIC CUZ TOOK TOO LONG TO LOAD

FUCKING FUCK!!!! I just lost my post. GODDAM MUTHER... (breathes deeply)... bummer.

So it went a little something like this. I'm listening to the internet radio and there's a song on about "psycho ex-girlfriend" being sung from the perspective of the new girlfriend. "Uh, she needs help, still trying to get up on him." Funny, Sad, True.

LD has been around, kinda. He's been privately emailing me regarding things I post on my blog. I kinda wish that people would just post comments instead of privately emailing me.

Looks like we'll all be in Holcomb. Hey Art, why you no coordinate with us anymore? Only with RC people? I no feel love at this juncture! I like Adam too, but Gordo has a little something for ya as well! So I called C last night. She was sitting in the living room fondling her new cordalette and 'biners. Just clipping and unclipping things.

On a personal note I think I need to start being nicer... People have been really pissing me off lately and instead of just letting things go like I normally do I've been really confrontational. Really close to starting a fight at least 3 times in the last month. I swear I don't know what it is, like my other nut just dropped and I got a surge of testosterone. Anyway, if you happen to see me getting really worked up this fall, hit me in the throat or something to calm me down, I really don't want to get into a fight. Hopefully I'll resolve it soon, figure out why I am so edgy lately.

Well, aren't we all just a bunch of slackers. No one seems that enthused any more. WAKE UP!!

Raven Book Press: "Would you like to receive a free guidebook?"

El Fuego and his Perro, Kirk,
are camping in the desert. He sets up their tent and both are soon asleep.

Some hours later, El Fuego wakes his faithful friend.
"Kirk, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."

Kirk replies, "I see millions of stars, Big Guy."
What does that tell you?" asks El Fuego.

Kirk ponders for a minute.

"Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and
potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo.
Chronologically, it appears to be approximately quarter past three.
Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful, and we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.

What does it tell you, Big Guy?"

El Fuego is silent for a moment, and then says,
"Kirk, you pendejo. Someone has stolen our tent!"

Jenn and I are at Big Bear this Saturday. Day trip only.

I have too much time on my hands......
On the other hand there's not enough time in the day to do everything I want to.

I was telling Art about the bonfire and he wrote this...

"Jen got stuck talking to Eeeky Weeeky for half an hour!"

Only Jen could go to the bonfire and have an epic......

Classic!

Oh and on an interesting side note my friend Bryan is being stalked by the blond phone angel chick on tv

Well I stayed at Hurricanes and drank with some friends I haven't seen for a year or so.
Got home at 3am.
So how was the Bonfire?

Haha, I got censored on the ODC! Some idiot posted titty pics on his trip report so I linked them to the discussion board in a post. Took Tim about 45 minutes to catch wind of it after that! all pics and posts are now deleted!

There are three established incarnations of Grendel in literature.

Beowulf -- The original Grendel was a monster in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. Descendant of Cain, mere-dweller, and with the meanest mother around, he was the hero Beowulf's first foe in the work.

Gardner's Grendel -- In 1972 (?) John Gardner published the novel Grendel, a retelling of Beowulf from Grendel's point of view. He portrayed the "ridiculous hairy beast torn apart by poetry" sympathetically, and walked him through the Great Concepts of western civilization, considering them from the outside with an existentialist edge.

Wagner's Grendel -- In the back of issues of his comic Mage, Matt Wagner began a storyline about criminal mastermind, assassin, anti-hero Hunter Rose, a.k.a Grendel. After a single short book and several separate short story arcs about Hunter Rose, the series spun out into a 50 (?) issue epic spanning centuries and the world.

Grendel is the monster that lives under your bed. It's Grendel's foot that makes the floorboards creak at night after you've put out the light. Grendel is the horrible thing that lurks in the darkness and waits for you to go to sleep.

So you have the flag art?

FISHY!!! OK so now it looks more discernable as something other than text... it's a link!

Ya know, I just strive to be a well rounded citizen of the world! I think that if I neglected to sample all that life puts forth, then it would be a wasted life indeed. I would have made a good Bohemian!

Just give me good friends, experiences, and hopefully I do a little good for others in turn.

comments section blows

Yeah well we're all pretty laid back (except on Lead), and we all take pleasure in things.
My point being Dave takes it to a whole new gordo-ist level.
With a certain childish glee.......kind of the same joy I get throwing rocks at his tent in the morning.

since the comments section isn't working I'm posting here.

I think I do take great pleasures in the simpler things...I'm not a complicated guy, i try and take things as they come and not worry about things... no need to stress over things in life.

You know I've noticed that Dave takes great pleasure in the simpler things in life.
Eating Gyoza, going to the Fair, hanging with friends, stuff like that.....just being Dave.
I think we should all strive to be a bit more like Dave.......only not as ummmmmmmmmm Big Boned.

Dave-isms
"Are you watching meeeee!"
"Waah my pussy hurts"
"Well, that was a buncha rambling crap!"

THIS IS FOR DAVE: Boreal is discontinuing sales in the US...
Rock Climbing.com View topic - News on Boreal USA???

Indian Cove update

flash floods in Indian Cove....Indian Cove closures

I emailed El Jefe Loco the Needles TR........here's his response

Art,
Sounds crazy. I miss you guys and the days of Josh. I just started
climbing again. Granted it is usually once a week since I get only one day
off. 80 hours /week has occurred often so it is hard to do anything other
than sleep. I went to a couple sport crags and found the ratings to be 1-2
grades lower than josh. I was (not climbing for a while) able to flash an
11 which would never be harder than 10C at Josh. I actually got two days
off this weekend and went to a place call Leavenworth. Lots of good stuff
and got to trad again. The rating there was solid and got spanked on an 11
a. Basically got a mental spank. I am looking forward to climbing more now
and I have become better at time management.

Well dude..keep up the climbing. We will meet again for some
climbing...maybe this month when I come home for Sept 27 th weekend.
Tim

Here is my moment of blog zen for the day taken from a random blog I stumbled across... "Semen is somewhat sweet and goes well with nachos. I learned this by accident. It's an understandable consequence when you mix food, porn, and a Lazy Boy recliner. I guess all of this has taught me that everyday offers a new morsel of knowledge and experience, and that it's the little things that make life worth living."

BWAHHAHAHAHA! Cum Nachos! Mmmmm!

OK guys, CA and I are going to Holcomb on sat morning, who's up for some climbing? Give me a call. Sounds like wingnuts after the gym on thursday....

so tonight "L" handed me my walking papers.
I should have stuck with "M".
the nice girls don't want me and the bad girls......are just bad for me.
that's life I reckon.

Well we must of done pitch 4 and 5 wrong on sahara terror. The other pitches sound right but I thought I was gonna die on p5. So you know what that means... we must redeam ourselves. Come on Jorge lets do it

Well, my weekend was downright good! "C" did her first trad climb and multipitch to boot. Did and awesome job cleaning my passive and handling the belays at the anchors. And yes, she even caught a fall... I fell outta the crack on the first pitch, DOH! Quote upon reaching the slab "You want me to climb this (as she pats the blank rock face)?!" I'm planning to do the Josh circuit I did when I started leading, gonna get my grade up again. Toe Jam, Bussioneer, White Lightning, Dappled, Double Cross (Ugh!), etc.

Rest of the weekend was pretty mellow... Finally saw Lord of the Rings: Two Towers. Long as hell but pretty cool. New roommate Mandy arrived Sunday morning. She's really cool. "C" and I took her to breakfast and Coldstones for iced cream. They apparently don't have Coldstones in Indiana, but somehow managed 3 Tibetan restaurants?!?! She brought her fish, a Beta named Brewster, out in a nalgene!

And lastly, I finally got to go to Mitsu-wa market. I was totally stoked to see all the things I had been munching on in nippon. I had to resist buying half the stuff in there. "C" and I made gyoza. You'll be happy to know that mine had meat in it!

Sorry this is so long Jorge.

If you've never seen anyone fall from 20 feet above their last piece of protection it happens amazingly slowly and absolutely terrifying.
A 20 foot runout above a bolt will lead to a 40 foot fall and that's without factoring in rope stretch or slack in the system (for the newbies). For example 5 feet above a bolt means a 5 foot fall TO the bolt and an additional 5 feet PAST it. Get it....your pro is below you (5 ft) and you fall below IT(5 ft) which equals 10ft.
Vern cruised the crux section....steep and thin, real thin with hard technical moves. At this point he's past the 4th bolt and really high off the deck. He's on easier ground and the climbing has been reduced to 5.10+ moves on glacier polished slopers, the angle has eased up a lot too. "Art watch me my feet are really insecure" Vern slowly creeps upward one foothold at a time. He looks solid.....I quickly glance at the rope to check the slack in the system, too little and I could pull Vern off the rock......too much and well...that would be bad.....very bad at this point. Vern once again calls out "watch me" (he says this every time he moves) I'm watching him really closely, I'm a bit nervous because Vern's a really good face climber and he should be on easy ground at this point but he seems a bit stressed. We've been doing some runout 5.11 face climbs all weekend often having to pull the crux before reaching the first bolt and this is the first route Vern seems a little insecure on.
Vern lifts his left foot and does a cross over step to his right.
He begins to lift his right foot in order to high step onto a hold up and right.
Vern's left foot pops and he falls onto his side and starts sliding down the rock.
Time slows down.
I'm serious, I had the same thing happen when I took a 15 foot upside down fall on Illusion Dweller.
Time slowed down. I look down and to my left and realize I can jump down about 4 feet, so I do it.
I land and begin hauling in slack as fast as I can.......Vern reaches the beginning of the vertical section.
Shit! It appears as though he's going to land on the ramp that parallels the base. I've got the rope locked off but am still holding slack in my left hand (there's a lot left) Vern flys into the air and swings back to the bolt line.
The rope comes taut in my left hand and I release it catching Vern with my right hand locked off around my ass. Vern ragdolls at the end of the rope and I slam forward into the face as I catch the fall.
Vern lives.
The damage......Vern scraped up his ass and bruised/bloodied his elbow.
I've got a minor rope burn on my left hand across the base of my middle and ring fingers from not releasing the slack end of the rope quickly enough.
But I caught the fall and Vern lived.
Afterwards I clean/toprope the route, the runout section has 5.10a/b moves on incredibly polished slopers.
As soon as you place your foot and weight it your toes start to slide off......it's like smearing on ice.
The same goes for your fingers......I find myself pinching crystals/pebbles in the face to stay on.
Huh.......welcome to Ice climbing in the needles, next time we bring crampons.

OK according to this TR we musta been off route....I wonder what we were on.

Google Search: sahara terror hot day group:rec.climbing group:rec.climbing

Needles day One:
Make camp
Hike to Dome Rock
follow Vern on
3 11a-11b routes
1 10a/b
1 10d
1 10+ (Tobins Dihedral) feels like J-Tree 10d.......not gym 10d........J-tree 10d an absolutely brilliant route
We take no falls and no hangs
Day Two
Hike to main Needles
follow on
1 10a
1 11a/b
Vern takes a 30-40 ft whipper
I thought it was 30 ft all the other climbers in the area thought it was 40 ft.......Vern lives
Vern tests his bruised arm by flashing an 11b
I have a rope burn on my left hand (minor) and stop climbing for the day
Vern flashes a few more routes and we call it a day
Day Three
break camp drive home
Take long long long shower
drink beer
So what'd you guys do?

Dave are we up for climbing on Tuesday?