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| Messages 1 - 13 of total 13 in this topic |
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 10, 2017 - 07:24pm PT
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Alternative thread title could be "I married a climbing machine!"
Whatever. This weekend she dragged me out of bed and onto the road at 07:00 (PNW version of an alpine start). Three hours later, on the other side of the mountains, we were chugging uphill to the base of her latest secret crag, and, an hour after that, she was warming up on a TR.
I say "warming up" because it was f*#king freezing. North-facing wall, ambient temp below 40, and screaming wind. All I wanted to do was teleport to someplace with a roaring fire and plentiful booze, but she was fully warmed up, and jumped on two new routes. Aced them both.
And we were back in Seattle in time for happy hour. Which we forewent, because both the beer and the food are better at home.
Not much for photos, cuz I was both freezing and fully occupied with belaying, but one will give you a feel for the place, and one is of the climbing machine.
I am blessed.
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Oct 10, 2017 - 07:28pm PT
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You are but I beat you to happy hour.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Oct 10, 2017 - 11:34pm PT
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More photos please! :)
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Oct 11, 2017 - 09:53am PT
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Ah, PNW climbing in the cold. I can barely remember that.
Yes, more photos!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 11, 2017 - 07:52pm PT
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More photos please! :)
I wish.
It was so cold that once we got to the base and I went into belay mode (wrapped in multiple layers) there was no way the camera was coming out. I didn't even follow either of the new climbs -- no way I was putting my bare feet into frigid climbing shoes or shoving my wooden hands into frigid cracks.
So all I can add is one shot of the automobile part of the approach, and one of Mari rapping from the second climb.
Well, that and the promise that when we go back in the spring, I'll take more pictures.
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Oct 11, 2017 - 08:04pm PT
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Wow! Mari is tough. When we go to that part of the world this time of year, we climb in sun. My fingers went white from looking at photo # 2.
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Oct 11, 2017 - 09:22pm PT
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Ghost! That outing sounds like a great excuse to drink that evening.
I remember meeting Mari at COR & vaguely watching her climb some stuff I couldn't climb & didn't want to try, while Steve Grossman & I chatted.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Oct 11, 2017 - 10:02pm PT
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Boreal Vectors?
Solid.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 12, 2017 - 07:41am PT
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No slowing Mari down....!!!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 12, 2017 - 07:55am PT
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Those pics have me geo-geeking, but it’s gonna take a few more espressos.
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L
climber
Tiptoeing through the chilly waters of life
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Oct 12, 2017 - 09:14am PT
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Any photo with rocks and blue sky in it is a great photo, David.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Oct 12, 2017 - 10:11am PT
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Vectors were the best shoe ever. Sadly mine got giant holes in the sides
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 12, 2017 - 10:21am PT
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David you need to eat more doughnuts and that would add you extra adipose. That'd keep yer skinny butt warmer.
I recall being roused outta the sack to go climbing with you. IIRC it was earlier than 0700hrs. We did a first winter ascent.
Yes it was before 07:00. And yes it was a first winter ascent.
It was the FWA of Yak Peak, on a day that makes our little outing last weekend seem like mid-summer. Had to be about 300 degrees below zero, and the wind, when we got to the col below the headwall, was blowing a Force 8 gale. You came as close to buying the farm that day as I've ever seen on a climb, but that's another story (see http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=907556&msg=908343#msg908343);.
What is interesting here is how much the cold impacted me on a day that really wasn't all that bad. Maybe it's just a matter of expectations. When you go out into the mountains in the winter, you expect cold, and if you weren't ready to climb regardless, you wouldn't have gone out in the first place.
But on a day when you are looking out at what seems, visually, to be a gorgeous summer day...
Didn't seem to bother Mari, though. Cold and windy or not, she led two pitches with no falls & no hangs. She and a friend have cleaned quite a few pitches there, and have now done FAs of three or four.
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| Messages 1 - 13 of total 13 in this topic |
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