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Rattlesnake Arch
Social climber
Home is where we park it
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Sep 24, 2016 - 07:07am PT
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Not really that much objective danger compared to other forms of alpinism. Peter Croft is still alive and well, last I checked. Plenty of subjective danger, though.
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crankster
Trad climber
No. Tahoe
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Sep 24, 2016 - 08:48am PT
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There are plenty of High Sierra classics that can be done in a day using running belays and/or roped pitches. N. Ridges of Matterhorn Peak, Mt. Conness, Bear Creek Spire, Lone Pine Peak, E. Ridge of Mt. Humphreys, for example. Not impossible to knock a block off on these, of course, that's the nature of mountains.
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ruppell
climber
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Sep 24, 2016 - 11:52am PT
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From The Good, The Great, and The Awesome about the Evolution traverse:
The year after that I returned again and finally completed the entire ridge, this time alone. I begin at the first hint of dawn and spent all day on this great spine of granite, coming closer than ever before to the ideal traverse. To climb for miles and never leave the skyline.
Croft nails it with that one paragraph. Being at altitude with a 360 view for hours on end is worth it to me.
All of them have sections of loose rock and all of them have a multitude of ways to go around towers and gendarmes. It comes down to being able to read terrain and keep going even after your tired. Because you will be tired.
The other thing to keep in mind is it takes a lot of stoke to keep your mental game high. Being in that terrain for hours on end you need to stay focused and keep your sh#t together. It's easy to back off of most of them almost anywhere. So, if my mental fung shui isn't working on any given day, I've learned to back down. Some times I'll just sit in a spot and try to relax and get it back together. It often works and when it doesn't I turn around and head home.
You can climb all these ridges roped or unroped. My personal choice has always been solo. Call me crazy but when I solo I like to be alone. Add that to the surroundings and it makes for a perfect day for me. I have no one to blame for my failures and no one to high five when I succeed. But I get to know myself a little better during every adventure.
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